58 



ANNUAL REGISTER, 1809. 



of reducing the French, and driv- 

 ing them from Portugal. To the 

 want of sufficiently precise in- 

 structions, and to the want of ca- 

 valry and artillery horses, was to 

 be attributed the conclusion of the 

 armistice — that armistice which 

 transferred to Spain an army that 

 had been locked up in Portugal, 

 and carried to ports so near the 

 Pyrennees, that before the end of 

 the campaign, it was found on the 

 theatre of war, acting hostilely 

 against Spain. 



With regard to the compromise 

 with the Russian navy in the Ta- 

 gus. Lord Petty observed, that so 

 late as the year 1807, it had been 

 suggested by Lord Strangford, 

 that it might be possible to reduce 

 the Russian fleet, by blockade to 

 such a s(ate, as would, in all pro- 

 bability, lead to a maritime con- 

 vention. This was followed by a 

 letter from the admiralty to Sir 

 C. Cotton, authorizing him to con- 

 clude a maritime convention, on 

 the terms on which the convention 

 of the Tagus, as far as it related 

 to naval affairs, was concluded. 

 This was precisely the principle 

 which had been suggested by the 

 noble lord on the 16th of April, 

 and nevertheless, when Sir Charles 

 Cotton has concluded a conven- 

 tion on the same basis. Lord Cas- 

 tlereagh thinks it ingenious to 

 turn round upon the gallant admi- 

 ral, and exclaim — " Thou canst 

 not say I did it." — Lord Petty 

 said, in conclusion, " If the glory 

 of our armies be rendered unavail- 

 able by the weakness of our coun- 

 cils ; if valour in the field be de- 

 feated by incapacity in the cabi- 

 net ; let us at least discriminate. 

 With this view I shall propose, 

 with deference to the house, the 



adoption of Resolutions, intended 

 to record a most important com- 

 mentary on the past, and to present 

 a most instructive lesson for the 

 future. The Resolutions were, 



I. " That the convention con- 

 cluded at Cintra, on the 30th of 

 August, 1808, and the maritime 

 convention concluded offthe Tagus 

 on the 3rd of September, 1808, 

 appear to this house to have dis- 

 appointed the hopes and expecta- 

 tions of the country." 



IL •' That the causes and cir- 

 cumstances which immediately led 

 to the conclusion of those conven- 

 tions, appear to this house, in a 

 great measure to have arisen from 

 the misconduct and neglect of his 

 Majesty's ministers. 



Lord Castlereagh congratulated 

 the house on the knowledge, that 

 if the course adopted by govern- 

 ment was not altogether approved 

 by the noble lord, he did not 

 quarrel with it. He did not ask 

 for any farther inquiry. Li the 

 observation he had made on this 

 subject, he had been guilty of 

 some small share of supereroga- 

 tion. On the great question rela- 

 tive to the mode of applying our 

 military force in the cause of 

 Spain, in answer to Mr. Ponsonby, 

 he said, ministers had, at the com- 

 mencement of the campaign, a 

 disposable force of 5,000 men un- 

 der General Spencer at Gibraltar ; 

 of 10,000 men at Cork under Sir 

 Arthur Wellesley. The force un- 

 der Sir J. Moore could not be cal- 

 culated on immediately, as its get- 

 ting free of the Baltic was uncer- 

 tain, so that there was no probable 

 chance of these three corps be- 

 ing brought speedily together 

 in the same service — still less in 

 one expedition. They would, at 



all 



