HISTORY OF EUROPE. 



29 



truth, that if he did not remove 

 them, he would lose the country. 

 These were the sentiments of his 

 heart; he spoke them as a solemn 

 duty, which he found himself bound 

 to express. It was probably the 

 last time he should trouble their 

 lordships, and with that, said the 

 noble admiral, I wish yourlordsliips 

 a good night. ( At these words the 

 noble earl instantly walked out of 

 the house.) 



The Earl of Grosvenor admitted 

 that there was not much in the ad- 

 dress to admit a diversity of opi- 

 nion. He cordially approved of 

 that part of the speech which ex- 

 pressed a determination to give all 

 possible assistance to the Spani- 

 ards, so long as they should conti- 

 nue to be true to themselves. He 

 did not despair of the Spanish 

 cause, provided that the vast means 

 of this country were employed in 

 the manner best calculated to dis- 

 tress and embarrass the enemy. He 

 also concurred in that part of the 

 speech which expressed disappro- 

 bation of the Convention of Cintra. 

 —His lordship severely censured 

 that military arrangement, by which 

 a British army was sent into the 

 heart of Spain, when it should 

 have been sent to the foot of the 

 Pyrenees. It should have been 

 sent to a situation, where it could 

 not be exposed to the possibility of 

 being obliged to retreat. 



Lord Viscount Sidmouth approv- 

 ed of continuing to support Spain 

 as long as any hopes remained. 

 But he was not prepared to thank 

 his Majesty for a treaty of the con- 

 ditions and engagements of which 

 he was wholly ignorant. 



Lord Grenville observed, that it 

 was the constant practice, until the 

 present administration came into 

 office, to refrain, both in the speech 

 and in the address, from calling 

 upon parliament to deliver any de- 

 cided opinion approving of past 

 measures, the documents relating 

 to which were not in the possessioa 

 of the House, or expressing a de- 

 termination to support any future 

 system, the details of which had 

 not been communicated. With 

 respect to the policy of sending a 

 British army to Spain, he did not 

 mean to say, that there might not 

 be circumstances under which it 

 might be expedient to send Bri- 

 tish troops into Spain, but during 

 the last summer there was no pros- 

 pect that ought to have induced 

 any reasonable man to send a Bri- 

 tish army into the interior of Spain. 

 He did not mean, however, to ap- 

 ply his observation to naval co-ope- 

 ration, by sending fleets with troops 

 to annoy particular parts of the 

 coast, to keep the enemy in a con- 

 stant state of alarm, and to obtain 

 partial advantages. With the Py- 

 renees unlocked, and the road be- 

 tween Paris and Madrid as open as 

 that between Paris and Antwerp, 

 there was nothing that could justi- 

 fy our sending into the interior of 

 Spain 30 or 40,000 British men 

 to meet an army of 200,000. " I 

 can compare such a measure,'* 

 said his lordship, " only to the far- 

 famed march to Paris,* to which 

 it is fully equal in its wildness and 

 absurdity. It is perfectly clear 

 that it must rest with the Spanish 

 people themselves to maintain 

 their independence, and that with- 

 out 



• Hecommended in 1 793 by the present Earl of Liverpool, then Mr. Jenkinson, 

 in the House of Conamons. 



