206]; ANNUAL REGISTER, 1814. 



sider the devastation mnde at 

 Washington, which he condemned 

 in the most nnqualiiied manner, 

 as an act which couki tend to no 

 useful purpose, and which gave 

 the first example of recurring to 

 the maxims of a barbarous and an- 

 tiquated policy. It had, indeed, 

 been defended on the ground of 

 retaliation, which, however, ought 

 to have been expressly stated at 

 the time. A subsequent procla- 

 mation had been issued, in which, 

 on the same ground, a necessity 

 was declared of carrying on war 

 against the private property of the 

 American people. If it were true 

 that we were in a situation which 

 imperatively called for such mea- 

 sures, he trusted that parliament 

 would be made acquainted with 

 the circumstances which had 

 brought affiiirs to such a deplora- 

 ble crisis. "With respect to the 

 general state of Europe, his lord- 

 ship could not avoid mentioning it 

 as a great omission in the speech, 

 that no notice was taken of our 

 still keeping up on the Continent 

 an army of 40,000 men. In what 

 part of our history was an example 

 found of such a force in British pay 

 in a time of profound peace, and 

 what power had a King of Eng- 

 land to keep it witliout consent of 

 parliament ? On the whole, the 

 speech appeared to him ill suited 

 to the existing state of the coun- 

 try, and with these objections it 

 was impossible for him to give his 

 approbation to the address. 



The Eur I of Liverpool could not 

 agree with the noble baron that 

 the address was marked by any 

 peculiar features of a warhke cha- 

 racter. He thought it more con- 

 sistent with the dignity of the 

 crown to describe the state of tli« 



country as it actually was, than (o' 

 hold ou8 hopes as to the result o^' 

 events and proceedings still de-> 

 pending. The Earl then went 

 through the several objections of 

 his lordship, and replied to each. 

 He justified the acts at Washing- 

 ton as an exercise of retaliation ; 

 and with respect to the proclama- 

 tion of Sir Alexander Cochrane, he 

 said that a subsequent instruction 

 had been sent to the commander 

 on that station. As to the circum- 

 stance of keeping up a large army 

 on the Continent in time of peace, 

 he allowed that there might be no 

 precedent for it, because no state 

 of things similar to that in which 

 the war concluded had ever before 

 existed. The policy of the mea- 

 sure was connected with the state 

 of our foreign relations, and might 

 become a future subject of discus- 

 sion. 



The question for the address 

 passed without a division. 



In the House of Commons tlie 

 address on the speech was moved 

 by Lord Bridport, and secondetl bv 

 Mr. Graham. A conversation on 

 a variety of points relative to the 

 state of politics, foreign and do- 

 mestic, ensued, which, after the 

 summary above given of the debate 

 in the House of Lords, it is unim- 

 jjortant to specify. The address 

 was agreed to without a division. 



Though in this short session of 

 parliament several topics of im- 

 portance were introduced to the 

 notice of both houses, yet as the 

 greater part of them were only 

 snggested as matter of future dis- 

 cussion, we shall confine onr re- 

 port to the few subjects on which 

 the proceedings were final. 



On Nov. 11, Earl Fitzicilliain 

 rose in the House of Lords for the 



