HISTORY OF EUROPE. 



37 



to have decided. System they had 

 none : on one day they gave the 

 preference to this plan, and on the 

 next they changed it for another. 

 If any reliance can be placed on 

 the communications which have 

 been made in the various newspa- 

 pers, as to the proceedings of the 

 Board of Enquiry, it would seem 

 that Sir A. Wellesley was sent out 

 by his Majesty's government with- 

 out any specific instruction, with- 

 out any direction whither he was 

 to proceed, or with what authority 

 in Spain to consult. Indeed, he 

 appears to have sailed with a sort 

 of adventurous roving commission : 

 — to do whatever he pleased ! — It 

 is next to be considered, whether 

 the force under his command was 

 sufficient for any really serviceable 

 object. For nothing could be less 

 likely to serve the Spanish cause 

 than to send out to that country a 

 force not competent to keep the 

 field itself, and not able to co-ope- 

 rate with the force which we were 

 told the Spaniards had in arms. It 

 appears, that Sir A. Wellesley had, 

 on his arrival at Corunna, consult- 

 ed with the Junta of Gallicia, and 

 that that body had recommended 

 to him not to debark at St. Ande- 

 ro, but to proceed to Portugal and 

 make that country a point of union 

 and connection between the nor- 

 thern and southern provinces of 

 Spain. That the Junta of Gallicia 

 were very anxious to get rid of a 

 French force, in possession of a 

 country on their rear, is what few 

 could doubt; but how a compliance 

 with their wishes, by the commander 

 of a British army could have tended 

 to the delivery of Spain, is that ac- 

 count for which all men are at a 

 loss. Because, if Spain had been 

 relieved by the expulsion of the 



French force from its provinces, 

 there was little doubt that the ene- 

 my, in possession of Lisbon, would 

 have been compelled to submit. 

 The smaller country was depend- 

 ent on the greater for its deliver- 

 ance from the invaders; but it by 

 no means followed, that the pos- 

 session of Portugal extended a re- 

 ciprocal protection to Spain. How 

 did the facts unfold themselves ? 

 You have expelled the enemy from 

 Portugal, and since that he has en- 

 tered Madrid, defeated three Spa- 

 nish armies, and is at this moment 

 in pursuit of your's. " We learn," 

 said Mr. Ponsonby, " this night 

 from his Majesty's speech, that his 

 arms, though at first honourable, 

 have terminated in an armistice 

 and convention, of some of the ar- 

 ticles of which his Majesty has felt 

 himself obliged to declare his form- 

 al disapprobation. Wlaen or where 

 this disapprobation has been de- 

 clared, is to this moment a secret 

 to me. It is not a little surprising 

 to be told that his Majesty had de- 

 clared his disapproval, whilst at the 

 same time no explanation is given 

 of the points to which it was di- 

 rected. But it would be far more 

 surprising to find that this House 

 was not determined to canvass the 

 whole of this transaction, in order 

 fully to ascertain what were the 

 points which called for censure, 

 and to whom the delinquency was 

 to be attributed. But it was not 

 only in sending the British troops 

 to Portugal in preference to Spain, 

 that the vigour of the King's mi- 

 nisters was illustrated. It was 

 also to be traced in the various 

 equipments of the army. It was felt 

 in the want of artillery, in the de- 

 rangement of the commissariat, in 

 the scantiness of the cavalry force. 



Was 



