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evacuate Andalusia. Several reasons operated to call for the execution of this plan: the siege of Cadiz was pressed by the enemy with an increasing force and accumulated means, and there was reason to fear that that city might ultimately fall. It was besides of importance to rescue the Spanish government from the confined situation in which they were placed, cooped up within the walls of Cadiz, where their determinations were liable to be swayed by local interests, and through which their influence did not operate in a manner to be desired in Spain, and still less in the dependencies of Spain; it was also of great importance to compel the evacuation of Andalusia, the enemy not being in the same situation there as in other provinces. In Castile, for instance, their possession nearly amounted to this: In every village they were obliged to barricade themselves to guard against attack; and if between village and village the distance was more than five or six miles, they were under the necessity of erecting a redoubt midway. But in Andalusia the enemy were in complete possession of the province, and from having been so long there, there was reason to fear that the inhabitants might become too much disposed to sub. mit to them. All these motives operated powerfully with lord Wellington to march without delay into Andalusia, it being known that Marmont had no battering train, and therefore could not lay siege to either Ciudad Rodrigo or Almeida, and his advance might be checked by detachments from the main army. Badajoz was taken by assault in less time than was calculated upon by lord Wellington, but he then received information of the 1813.

advance of Marmont; and what was of still greater importance, he found that neither Ciudad Rodrigo nor Almeida had been provisioned, although he had left precise orders for provisioning these fortresses three weeks before, and one week would have sufficed to supply them with the requisite provisions. It became necessary, therefore, for lord Wellington to attend in the first instance to the provisioning of those fortresses; otherwise Marmont, by blockading them, might have reduced them to surrender in a short time. This having been effected, it was then found that Marmont had received a battering train from Bayonne; and the projected operation in Andalusia, which it was intended to execute before the rains commenced, could not now be entered upon without endangering the health of the troops from the effects of the rainy season. Under these circumstances lord Wellington determined to march into Castile, still with the view of ultimately succeeding, by this operation, in freeing the south of Spain from the enemy, and raising the siege of Cadiz. It was previously necessary to cut off the communication between Soult and Marmont, and this was effected by taking possession of the bridge of Almarez. After a brilliant attack at this place, considerable magazines were established, without which Soult could not venture to detach troops to Marmont. Lord Wellington then crossed the Agueda, and advanced to Salamanca. After the capture of the forts of Salamanca, a variety of manoeuvring took place. Marmont crossed the Douro at Tordesillas. Whilst the two armies were manoeuvring, lord Wellington saw an opportunity by which he might have gained a

B

brilliant

brilliant advantage; but he declined it, because he did not think that any decisive result could be produced. Nothing could be more honourable to lord Wellington than the desire by which he was actuated to spare the lives of the soldiers under his command, where the sacrifice could not produce any decisive advantage; thus giving up what must be considered as most dear to a soldier, the glory and renown accompanying a brilliant advantage gained in the field, for the sake of sparing the lives of his soldiers, and reserving them for situations where the real interests of the country required the sacrifice. Atthis period, such was the situation of the armies, that lord Wellington had to balance between conflicting difficulties, and a more anxious situation could scarcely be conceived. Atlength the moment arrived--lord Wellington said, "Now I have it;" and the army was immediately in as complete array for action as if they had been prepared for it from the morning's dawn. His lordship proceeded to describe the battle, as detailed in the Gazette, and observed upon the fall of general Le Marchant, who had died leaving an orphan family, that for these, he trusted, the country would provide. Gen. Le Marchant's services had been eminent; his exertions in the military college had materially contributed to give skilful officers to that army in which he was himself so eminently qualified to hold a command. The result of the action was the complete defeat of the enemy, and had there been a little more daylight, their army would have been entirely annihilated. During the march of the army into Castile, several letters were intercepted from French officers; and were they made public, he was

satisfied they would say more in praise of lord Wellington than any thing he could urge. It appeared from them, beyond all dispute, that by his operations every movement of the enemy was anticipated, every expectation of theirs frustrated, and every fear of theirs realised, insomuch that they said, "he must read our correspondence, or come in some way at a knowledge of what we intend to do." He should not now attempt a panegyric upon the great and eminent merits of lord Wellington, leaving that to others better qualified than himself, satisfied that no language he could use would do adequate justice to the merits of that commander, and that a feeble effort of praise shed no lustre on the object it was intended to adorn. His lordship concluded by moving the thanks of the house to the marquis of Wellington.

The motion was seconded by the marquis. of Lansdowne, and carried unanimously.

In the house of commons lord Castlereagh made a similar motion, which he prefaced with a long and interesting speech.

The question was putting, when Sir F. Burdett rose: "Sir, I do not profess myself to be a judge of military affairs, and therefore by no means rise for the purpose either of criticising the operations of the noble marquis to whom we are called upon to return thanks, or to attempt a refutation, in a military point of view, of any of those rea sons which the noble lord opposite has adduced to show a well grounded title to those thanks, But without being in the least disposed to detract from the repu tation of lord Wellington, or intercept his fair rewards, I may be permitted to express my dissatis

faction

faction at hearing the victory of Salamanca extolled as more bril. liant and more important than any that was ever gained by the greatest commanders. Let us, after this extravagant boast, direct our view to that page of our history which records the battle of Blenheim, in which the enemy, besides having one of their best generals, marshal Tallard, taken, lost near 100,000 men, and 100 pieces of cannon. Is this, sir, a victory, the brilliancy and importance of which can suffer by comparison with that of Salamanca? Besides, was it really expected that we should retire so soon after it? If not, let us recollect under what circumstances the enemy have deprived us of the fruits of our exertions. They were exhausted by the great efforts making against Russia, and their armies discouraged and separated by the reverses which they had sustained; yet have these armics, broken and dispirited as they were asserted to be, completely turned the tide of success, and driven our troops back upon the frontier of Portugal. Now, sir, this does show either a great and inherent weakness in Spain to resist an invader, such as should lead us to think the cause in which we are embarked hopeless, or it shows much mismanagement in the conduct of the war-mismanagement which, if it subsist, cannot be solved by a boast outraging all common sense and reason, that we are not disappointed of our object, because we have caused the siege of a city to be raised, and continue to hold two fortresses. Now, sir, the noble lord touched upon a matter which I conceive to be of very great importance, the failure of the siege of Burgos. We understand from the noble lord, that this failure is in no degree im

putable to the great commander who had conducted that siege. That lord Wellington or that mi. nisters are in fault, is a dilemma from which no ingenuity can effect an escape; and as we have the as surance of the latter that no blame can be attached to the gallant commander, they stand self-condemned. And we have a fresh instance of that incapacity for the affairs of government, which has marked their whole conduct, and which is rapidly reducing the country to a state of misery, from which it cannot be retrieved by panegyrics, however numerous, though given by orators not inferior in eloquence to the noble lord himself. I shall now, sir, beg the indulgence of the house while I follow the noble lord to Russia; and here I cannot but shudder, when I behold him exult in the dreadful calamity under which so great a proportion of the unfortunate people of that country have lately suffered. I allude, sir, to the conflagration of Moscow. Is it a meet subject, sir, for triumph, when a splendid city sinks in flames, when her wretched inhabitants, to the amount of two or three hundred thousand, are driven forth to find a death which shall make them regret having escaped the fury of that element which had consumed their properties? When the soldiers who had become helpless in defending her, were left to perish along with her, are we to be shocked by the triumph of the noble lord, and called upon to unite in it because the French emperor was disappointed of the winter quarters. he had hoped for,-as if this were ground sufficient to justify exultation in the face of calamity such as no feeling mind can contemplate without horror? And are we further to be called upon to admire.

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the magnanimity of the emperor
Alexander, because, safe himself
from the perils of war, and un-
touched by the hand of famine,
retired in his palace, he bore with
unequalled fortitude the misfor-
tunes of his subjects? The appeal,
sir, will find many hearts in this
house which will not vibrate to it,
and the possessors of those which
car, should set bounds to their
triumph and admiration, when they
reflect how probable it is that the
return of spring will bring with it
a renewal of hostilities, which can
hardly fail to be attended by conse-
quences but little calculated to meet
the sanguine hope in which they
now unduly revel. With respect
to the peninsula, the Spaniards do
not join us cordially in the contest;
they do not seem very much at-
tached to the cause for which we
are fighting. I am aware that an
opinion of an opposite nature is held
by many persons; but let us look
to the authority of the persons most
competent to form a correct opinion
on the subject. What is that of lord
Wellington? That general expli-,
citly tells us that we are not to ex-
pect any effectual co-operation from
the Spaniards, that we must rely
on our own exertions alone if we
wish to bring the contest to a fa-
vourable issue. And here, sir, let
me observe, that pursuant to this
advice we should act as if we knew
that we were to depend upon our
selves; we should give due vigour
to our efforts, or suspend them al-
together; we should make our
election at once between peace and
war, and abandon for ever that
contemptible and vacillating system
in which we employ vigour to pro-
duce as it were exhaustion, but not
To the authority of lord
Wellington we can add that of the
marquis Wellesley, than whom no

success.

man is better acquainted with the character of the Spaniards, or can form a better estimate of what we are to expect from their assistance; and what is his testimony? He has declared that the Spanish armies are scattered before the legions of the enemy, like the vapours of a summer morning, which for a short space resist the beams of the ascending sun, and then are seen no more; and it is from this consciousness of the weak constitution of the Spanish armies, that this same nobleman has stated his belief that no blame is imputable to general Ballasteros for not preventing the junction of the French generals. I must repeat, sir, that I shall cordially join the vote of thanks to lord Wellington, though I could not forbear availing myself of the opportunity that offered of delivering the sentiments to which the house has listened with so much indulgence."

Sir Frederick Flood and some other members spoke, after which the question was put and carried.

Lord Castlereagh said, that it would not be necessary for him to make many observations preliminary to the motion he had now to submit to them. He rose to move for a public monument to that distinguished officer lieutenant-general Le Marchant, who fell gloriously at the head of his troops in the battle of Salamanca. There was another circumstance which would endear the memory of this brave man to the house and the country. He had been for many, years at the head of a very valuable body of men, who had profited greatly by his instructions, and would doubtless yield many excellent officers for the service to the country in future times. He concluded by moving an address to

the

the prince regent, praying that a public monument might be erected in the cathedral church of St. Paul to the memory of general Le Marchant. The motion was carried.

The chancellor of the exchequer moved for leave to bring in a bill for continuing the act of last ses sion, relative to gold coin, which was to expire about the 24th of February 1813.

Mr. Whitbread disapproved of the act of last session, and asked if there was any foundation for the report, that agents were employed by government to purchase gold and silver coin? This was positively denied by Mr. Vansittart; but he confessed, in answer to Mr. Whitbread, that an offer had been made to him, through the medium of a friend, of 27,000 guineas at 25s. each.-Leave was granted to bring in the bill, which was finally. passed.

December 7.-The earl of Liverpool in the house of lords said, in rising to move an address of concurrence, in answer to his royal highness the prince regent's most gracious message, he should think it a waste of their lordships' time to enter at length into the merits of the great general who was the object of it, satisfied that respecting these merits there was not a dissenting voice in the house. He would only mention shortly, that during four campaigns this gallant general had devoted himself to the service of his country, regardless of every personal consideration; that he had encountered some of the most eminent generals of France, Victor and Jourdan, Massena, Marmont, and others, and over all of them had gained the victory; that he had encountered, during these four campaigns, the greatest fatigue of body and

mind, so much indeed as to render it matter of surprise, that his bodily strength, or the powers of his mind, could bear up against the fatigue he had to encounter; that during that time he had suffered no consideration, personal, private, or political, to detain him a single day from the service in which he was engaged; and that this illustrious commander had, for his eminent services, repeatedly received the highest honour that could be conferred by parliament, having eight times received the thanks of parliament, six of them as commander in chief. Lord Wellington, from all these services, had derived no pecuniary advantage; and the facts were, that his private fortune was rather diminished than increased. It was under these circumstances that he proposed to their lordships, to concur in the object of his royal highness's message, satisfied that justice to lord Wellington called for the provision which it was now wished to make; and, at the same time, that it was the wisest policy a country could adopt, liberally to reward eminent public services, not only as it regarded justice to the individual, but looking also to the advantage to be derived from the calling forth the exertions of great talents, by the liberal reward conferred upon distinguished public services. In every view, therefore, of justice, and of a sound and wise policy, the present measure was called for. As a matter of convenience (the amount of the proposed grant not coming regularly before that house in the first instance), he would just mention that it was intended to propose a grant of 100,000l. to be vested in land, under the provisions of a bill, which would hereafter come before, the B 3.

house

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