GENERAL HISTORY, 



(35 



CHAPTER IV. 



Motion of Marquis Wellesley relative to the conduct of the tvar in the 

 Peninsula. Motion of the Earl of Darnley for an inquiry into the 

 circumstances of the tvar with the United States, particularly the 

 naval part of it. 



ON March 12th, the Marquis 

 Wellesley rose in the house 

 of lords, to make a motion rela- 

 tive to the conduct of the war in 

 the Peninsula. «' What secret 

 cause (said his lordship), what 

 malign influence, amidst the re- 

 joicings and acclamations of tri- 

 umph, has counteracted the briU 

 liant successes of our arms, and has 

 converted the glad feelings of a 

 just exultation, into the bitterness 

 of regret and disappointment?'' 

 After some other questions to this 

 purpose, which, he said, deserved 

 their most serious attention, he 

 concluded, that if their lordships 

 should find that these events are 

 not to be attributable to want of 

 resources in the empire, but to the 

 imbecility of those who direct 

 them, It would be their duty to 

 pronounce judgment upon the men 

 who have enfeebled our means, 

 and betrayed a mighty cause; but 

 if it should appear that England 

 has done her utmost, and her ex- 

 ertions are vain and hopeless, it 

 would be for them to consider 

 whether we should not tread back 

 our steps, and cease to contend 

 against an impossibility. He then 

 stated the object of his inquiry to 

 be, whether the ministers had ade- 

 quately managed the resources of 

 the country during the laet year ; 



and to that end he first took into 

 consideration the state of affairs in 

 Spain, and the exertions of this 

 country in her aid. The object of 

 our policy, he said, was to admo- 

 nish those nations which required 

 our assistance, that they had only 

 to assert their independence in or- 

 der to obtain it. It was always his 

 own firm conviction, expressed 

 both in and out of the house, and 

 in the cabinet, that the hope of 

 Europe lay in the exertions of 

 Spain and Portugal, aided by the 

 British arms. It was perfectly 

 known to his majesty's ministers, 

 that as early as April, 1811, Russia 

 was laying the foundation of the 

 great effort she has made, and is 

 now making. The disposition of 

 a large part of the army and popu- 

 lation of Prussia was in favour of 

 the cause of Russia ; and Austria 

 was desirous of asserting her inde- 

 pendence, but did not dare to do 

 it. The situation of Sicily also, 

 through the wise conduct of lord 

 W. Bentinck, was become such as 

 to set at liberty the great British 

 force by which it was held, to co- 

 operate in the common cause. 

 These and other advantages ren- 

 dered it now proper to make great 

 exertions on the Peninsula, where 

 the experiment had first been tried 

 on a smaller scale. 

 [D2.] 



