mencement of hostilities, whatever they were, he thought the allies should adhere to them.-(General murmurs)-He was not surprised at these murmurs, as he had expressed himself in so general a manner; but his idea was, that there should not be any material altera tion in the basis already proposed, otherwise the war offered no prospect of termination. With respect to the assistance to be given to our allies, it should be limited only by the means of this country. On the points of domestic economy, he regretted that the speech took no notice of the Roman catholics: he had been informed that the right hon. gentleman in the chair had, in a speech in another place, alluded to that respectable body of our fellow-subjects; and he trusted that, when the circumstance came under the consideration of the house, it would be proved that the right hon. gentleman was (as he certainly had been) the unauthorized and unauthenticated expositor of the feelings of the house, supposing what was reported of him to be true. The hon. gentleman concluded by giving his assent to the address, recommending a perseverance in moderation as the only way to secure peace. The speaker rose and declared, that whenever the speech alluded to, as delivered by him, should be brought before the consideration of the house, he was confident that he could prove himself justified in the sentiments he had delivered.

After a few observations from Mr. Wynne, the question was put upon the address, which was agreed

to nem. con.

Nov. 5.-Mr. serjeant Onslow gave notice, that pursuant to an intimation he had given last session, he should on Tuesday the 30th. move for leave to bring in a bill to

repeal so much of the act of the 5th of Elizabeth, as went to impose a penalty on persons exercising any trade without having served a previous apprenticeship of seven years.

Lord Compton brought up the report on the address, which was agreed to, and, on the motion of lord Castlereagh, was ordered to be presented to his royal highness by the whole house; and also, that such members of the house as were of his majesty's privy council should take his royal highness's pleasure when he would receive the same.

House of lords, Nov. 8.-The lord chancellor read, and delivered in, the answer of the prince regent to the address of the house; in which his royal highness thanked their lordships for their dutiful address, and for their assurances of support in those exertions by which, in concert with his allies, the blessings of peace might be attained, and the independence of Europe secured.

Earl Bathurst said, he now rose to call their lordships' attention to the brilliant events of the campaign which had followed the battle of Vittoria, to the efforts by which the French had been repulsed in every attempt to retain a footing on the frontiers of Spain,-to the reduction of Saint Sebastian,-and to the final establishment of the allied army on the territory of France. No sooner had Bonaparte heard of the discomfiture of his army at Vittoria, than he sent marshal Soult, one of the most skilful of his generals, investing him with extraordinary powers, for the purpose, if possible, of retrieving his affairs in that quarter. Soult, accordingly, having united the divisions of the French army that had been expelled from Spain, and having received considerable reinforcements, on the

25th of July commenced a series of attacks, which it required the greatest valour and firmness to repel. On the 28th Souit attacked with great impetuosity, but was completely repulsed. Early on the 30th lord Welligton determined to attack in his turn; and the effect of his skilful and decisive movement was, that the French army was thrown into greater confusion and dismay than even after the battle of Vittoria. Thus were disappointed the expectations of Soult, who appeared to have flattered himself, not only that he should relieve Pamplona, but also be able to drive the allies beyond the Ebro.

He would next direct their lord. ships' attention to the siege of St. Sebastian. An attempt was made to relieve that fortress, and with that view the French general directed an attack upon the bridge of Vera, which was held by Spanish troops. On this occasion the enemy was so gallantly repulsed by the Spaniards alone, that though there were two divisions of British troops in their rear, it was unnecessary for them to move to the support of our allies. Never was any assault made with more vigour and heroism than that upon St. Sebastian's; and in it the Portuguese troops had par. ticularly distinguished themselves. The Portuguese had, indeed, been so long acting with our troops, that they were in a manner confounded with them. There had been no desperate undertaking-no daring assault-in the course of the campaign, in which the Portuguese troops had not borne their full share. And here he could not help taking notice of a foul calumny which had been published in a Spanish paper, containing the most unfounded reflections on the conduct of the British troops, and of their officers.

Their lordships must be aware, that this calumny must have come from some of those partisans of France who were still to be found in Spain; and who, under the pretence of a patriotic jealousy of foreign influence, had omitted no opportunity of calumniating the allied troops. Their lordships must be aware, that amidst the ungovernable fury attending the assault of a besieged town, irregularities would take place, notwithstanding all the efforts of the general or officers to prevent them: but he utterly denied that there had been any such excesses as those represented. Sir Thomas Graham remained on the spot a full month after the assault, and never received any complaint of excesses, on the part of the civil authorities. He himself was in the town after the assault, till the surrender of the castle; and never had any complaints made to him by individuals. One of the charges, however, showed the falsehood of the whole:-the British troops were accused of robbing the churches. Now certainly all Spain must be aware that the French had hardly ever entered or remained in a town, without sacking the plate of the churches. But the charge was as absurd as it was false: for the churches of St. Sebastian had been wholly converted into barracks or hospitals; and in such a state, it could hardly be supposed that the church plate would be left staring the inmates in the face. The charge of not following up the assault of the castle, because the troops were engaged in plundering the town, was false-doubly false. Our troops, with that heroic ardour which had been still more excited by resistance, followed up the enemy to the very gates of the castle, and suffered severely. They could hard

ly

ly be withdrawn by their officers; and general Graham himself reprehended the officers for indulging their too great ardour. The charge that our troops set fire to the town, for the purpose of de. stroying it, was equally false. Nothing could be further from our interest than to do so. It was suggested, indeed, that shells might compel a more speedy surrender, and sixteen howitzers were sent by lord Wellington; but of these, never more than four were made use of.

There was one charge, however, to which the British troops would plead guilty; and that was the charge of having saved the lives of six hundred Frenchmen, when, by the laws of war, they might all have been put to the sword. When the place was stormed, these men threw down their arms, and implored , mercy; and the British soldiers, though heated by the ardour of attacks, smarting as they were under the pain of their wounds,-or scorched with the flames of houses burning around them, did yet spare the lives of those who threw themselves on their mercy. He had heard sir Thomas Graham speak with admiration of the conduct of our troops upon this occasion. This, however, was a charge of which the framers of the calumny would not have been guilty: they would have murdered the whole in cool blood, even though at the expense of their marked predilection for France. He begged their lordships' pardon for this digression; but he could not help stepping aside to notice and refute this calumny on the British army.

The noble lord concluded with moving the thanks of the house to field marshal the marquis of Wellington, for the distinguished skill

and valour which he had exhibited in the operations succeeding the battle of Vittoria, by which the French had been expelled from the western frontiers of Spain, and the allied army established on French territory: which being carried,

He next moved the thanks of the house to general Graham, for the skill and gallantry which he had displayed in and subsequent to the battle of Vittoria; and particularly for the ability and skill which he had manifested in the siege and capture of St. Sebastian's. He had been induced to propose a separate motion of thanks to sir T. Graham, on account of the peculiar circumstances under which he had retired, carrying with him the admiration and affection of all those who knew him, or had seen or heard of his conduct as a general, after having in such a distinguished situation led the armies of his country with such splendid ability, gallantry, and suc

cess.

The thanks of the house were then moved to sir Rowland Hill, and the other officers, non-commissioned officers, and troops, British and Portuguese: all these were agreed to nem. diss.-Adjourned.

Similar motions were made, and passed unanimously, in the house of commons,

House of commons, Nov. 8.Mr. Holme Sumner rose according to notice he had given, but stated, that he felt very considerable difficulty as to the mode of proceeding, in a matter which so much concerned the character and honour of the right hon. gentleman in the chair. In the present stage of the business, it was his wish to put the house into the possession of some document on which to proceed; otherwise it would be useless to say many words on the subject. Those

who

who entertained opinions similar to those of a noble lord, (lord Morpeth, who had given notice of a motion on the subject,) and those who thought very differently, must equally feel how impossible it was to proceed, without the production of such a document. He believed that it was not unusual, in such circumstances, although no official document existed, to move that Mr. Speaker be desired to print the speech which he had delivered. It might be, perhaps, expected, that he (Mr. S.) should state to the house, what were his ulterior views, should such a motion be granted. To do so, however, at that moment, he should be perfectly at a loss: but as he had communicated his intention to the noble lord, he hoped it would not be thought unfair, if he made some inquiries of him respecting the object on which he had founded his notice, He thought that the candour and liberality of that noble lord would allow him to ask, whether his observations would have a tendency to criminate the conduct of Mr. Speaker, by imputing to him conduct which was justified by no precedent; or, while following precedents, the giving an unfaithful exposition of the sentiments of the house of commons? In either case, what was due to the house itself, and to the purity of its proceedings, seemed to render it impossible to refuse entering into the considera tion at an early period. If the noble lord intended his motion only as a vehicle for his protest against those principles, as stated by Mr. Speaker, upon which the house rejected the bill in favour of the Roman catho. lics, it was, so far, a matter of per fect indifference to him, whether it was discussed now, or at some future period. The absence of many

of the Irish members had been mentioned by the noble lord, as a reason for delay; but then it should be considered, that it was the duty of those members to be present now in parliament, and not the duty of the house of commons to wait for them. If nothing more was meant than an indirect way of renewing the discussions of the Roman catho lic question, he should not object to waiting for the Irish members, who had so great an interest in the subject. Under all the circumstances, he should conclude by moving, that Mr. Speaker be desired to print the speech made by him to the prince regent, in the house of lords, on Tuesday the 22d of July last, on presenting a money bill: which was carried.

Nov. 10.-Mr. W. Dundas, in a committee of supply, observed, that the naval expenses had exceeded in two branclies, victualling, and wear and tear; which last was imputable to the extended nature of the service on which our navy had been engaged.-He moved, that 140,000 seamen be employed for the service of the ensuing year, and 31,000 marines.

Mr. A. Baring was surprised that there should be an increase of expense in this department of service. When the battle of Trafalgar was fought, we had 10,000 seamen less than now. A few years ago, too, we had the Baltic and the ports of Spain to guard.-As for the war on the American coast, the republican frigates went in and out at pleasure; and we kept thirty or forty sail off the Chesapeake, employed in burning houses and sheds, and lowering the British character. We had been driven from Lake Erie, and commodore Yeo was too weak to face the enemy on Lake Ontario.

Lord Castlereagh said, that many difficulties attended the distribution

of

of our navy last year. Without the aid of the Russian fleet, we should not have found it effectual for all our purposes. The demand on the American station had been pro. digious. When retrenchments were justifiable, ministers would be eager to make them.

Mr. Croker said, that the French fleet in the Scheldt ready for sea amounted to 16 sail of the line-in the Texel there were 5 and sometimes 10-at Toulon there were 50 sail of the line, which surely required watching. He could not tell why sir J. Warren had 30 pen dants in the Chesapeake; but the hon. member might be a better admiral than sir John. The naval administration was always ready and able to defend itself.

Mr. Baring observed, that he was very far from supposing that he was a better admiral than sir J. Warren; but he thought it required no great ability to make a better navy secretary. The fact was, that the navy had been very ill employed.

The resolution was then carried.-Adjourned.

Nov.11.-Lord Castlereagh said, that there were points of the utmost consequence to this country, both in a commercial and a political view, where a corps of 10 or perhaps 20,000 men, co-operating with our maritime strength, might turn the tide of success in our favour, and we might rescue an old and useful ally from the grasp of the enemy. An exertion proportioned to our means was therefore peculiarly desirable at this crisis.

He

was happy to state, that both the regular and militia force remained at as high a point of numerical strength as ever, notwithstanding the late strenuous exertions abroad. It reflected the highest credit on the

illustrious individual at the head of the war department, that, such was the attention paid to the health and discipline of the army, our annual loss did not exceed one-7th or 8th; that is, in 230,000 troops, the general amount of casualties,—deaths, discharges, desertions, &c.-did not exceed 25,000 men. Notwithstanding the sanguinary events of last year, our total loss was not more than 30,000.-The present mode of recruiting would keep our army up at its present number.-Since 1805, the militia had supplied the regulars with 100,000 men; which would never have been the case, had the old prejudices prevailed; and then our military character would not have been what it now is, nor would Spain and Portugal have been redeemed. The militia was now composed of 70,000 men, a large proportion of which, he was sure, was anxious to extend their services. His intention therefore was to bring in a bill, which provided, that in the number of men who might volunteer into the regular army, not more than three-fourths should be taken; and if a certain number of men would go, the officers should be allowed to go with them, up to the rank of a captain, and who should receive half-pay. The officers, after a certain time of service, should be considered as having permanent rank corresponding to that they had in the militia. Öne hundred men to admit one captain, one lieutenant, and one ensign, who at first would be entitled to half-pay, and, after one campaign, to fill every situation in the army.-He had also another plan to propose, which was, that both officers and men, of the militia, should be allowed to volunteer as militia. The officers would be considered as still belonging to the militia, but would return home