34 



ANNUAL REGISTER, 1809. 



could give the inhabitants of that 

 femote quarter protection ? But, 

 he was warranted from the evi- 

 dence before the Court of Inquiry 

 to say, the aid was applied for, not 

 for Gallicia, but for the Pyrenean 

 frontiers. What was the situation 

 of the French at that time? Buo- 

 naparte in the plenitude of self- 

 confidence, had imprudently dis- 

 tributed his forces in small divi- 

 sions all over the kingdom. The 

 natives rising throughout the pro- 

 vinces, indignant at the perfidy of 

 fheit* enemy, were competent to 

 the utter destruction of these scat- 

 tered legions. What was then our 

 duty ? It was to interpose 50,000 

 men between Spain and France, 

 which would be increased to 

 150,000 by the zeal of the natives. 

 This immense army, organized and 

 disciplined as it would have been, 

 blended with British regulars, 

 would take possession of the 

 passes, and the consequence would 

 have been, that not a Frenchman 

 could have entered or quitted 

 Spain, unless he had cut his way 

 through this prodigious force. It 

 was not enough to drive the French 

 out of Spain, not a subject of Na- 

 poleon should have passed the 

 frontiers, unless exchanged as a 

 prisoner. Then would have been 

 the moment to have called on Aus- 

 tria, and to have told Iier, that her 

 existence depended upon immedi- 

 ate hostility against France — to 

 have informed her, that the Bri- 

 tish forces, supported by their 

 ally, were hovering, like a dark 

 storm, on the summits of the 

 mountains, and would pour on- 

 ward in a torrent, to spread devas- 

 tation in the plains beneath, the 

 moment she should declare her 

 purpose. All these golden oppor- 



tunities had been lost by the gross 

 mismanagement of his Majesty's 

 ministers. Nor could he concur 

 in the address in what respected 

 the Convention of Cintra. The 

 speech of the commissioners was 

 designed to screen from accusation 

 the real culprits. He had said, 

 in common with his colleagues, 

 that there was no ground for any 

 further military inquiry; but this 

 was not saying that there was no 

 ground for inquirj' at all. 



The Earl of Buckinghamshire, 

 while he approved of the exertions 

 made by ministers in favour of the 

 Spanish Patriots, could not refrain 

 from expressing his disapprobation 

 of the manner in which our gal- 

 lant troops had been employed. — 

 The address was agreed to ; and 

 the Earl of Liverpool gave notice 

 that, on Monday, he should move 

 the thanks of the House to Sir 

 Arthur Wellesley, and the other 

 officers and troops for the victory 

 of Vimiera. 



On the same day an address to 

 his Majesty, in answer to the 

 lords commissioners speech, was 

 moved in the House of Commons, 

 after a number of prefatory obser- 

 vations on the different subjects 

 touched on, or alluded to, in the 

 speech by the Honourable Frede- 

 rick Robinson. — This motion was 

 seconded by Mr. S. B. Lushlng- 

 ton. Among other remarks Mr, 

 Lushington observed, that the 

 faith of Great Britain, solemnly 

 pledged to Spain and Sweden, 

 ought to be religiously observed, 

 and that the preservation of that 

 faith, in all cases of difficulty and 

 trial, was the surest tower of safety 

 to this country, and the best hope 

 of deliverance to the rest of the 

 world. If we should desert thecause 



of 



