148 ANNUAL REGISTER, 1810. 



creasing, andalarming evil, arising 

 from a want of a sutlicient num- 

 ber oP places of worship in tlie 

 established church in populous 

 parishes. In consequence of this 

 want of accommodation, many 

 communicants of the established 

 church were induced, rathur than 

 not attend an)' place of worship, 

 to attend dissenting meeting- 

 houses. This, he said, was a sub- 

 ject that demanded the most se- 

 rious consideration ; and in order 

 that the House might have infor- 

 mation before them relative to it 

 in the next session, his lordship 

 moved an address to his Majesty, 

 praying, " That the archbishops 

 and bishops might be directed to 

 prepare in their respective dio- 

 ceses, to be laid before the House 

 next session, a statement of the 

 number of places of worship of 

 the established church, in parishes 

 having a population of 1000 and 

 upwards, with the number of per- 

 sons such places of worship are 

 capable of containing ; and also 

 thenumber of dissenting meeting- 

 houses in such parishes." The 

 motion was agreed to. 



When the session began to draw 

 to a close, it became natural, as at 

 its commencement, to bring under 

 the consideration of parhament 

 the great subject that, for the pre- 

 ' Bent, was paramount to all others, 

 and to which so many other sub- 

 jects of discussion had more orless 

 a reference. 



House of Lords, June 8. — The 

 Marquis of Lansdown, in pur- 

 •uance of the notice he had given, 

 rose to call their lordships' atten- 

 tion to the affairs of Spain, the 

 papers concerning which had so 

 long lain on the table. He begged 

 to remind their lordships, that the 



same ministers under whose jum- 

 ble of generals the disgraceful and 

 lamentable convention of Cintra 

 was made ; the same ministers, 

 under whose auspices the gallant 

 and able Sir John Moore and his 

 army were sacrificed, still remain- 

 ed intrusted witii the direction of 

 the military resources and aftairs of 

 this country. It was clear from a 

 letter of the late Mr. Secretary 

 Canning to Mr. Frere, that minis- 

 ters knew they were in an error 

 in expecting any aid from the 

 auxiliary forces of Spain; yet they 

 had undertaken a second cam- 

 paign, and embarked another ar- 

 my in the same cause; acting pre- 

 cisely on the same principles which 

 had before led to failure. Lord 

 Lansdown proceeded to illustrate 

 their incnrable incapacity, blind- 

 ness, and incorrigible presumption 

 and obstinacy, by a number of 

 facts relating to their conduct, not 

 only respecting the campaigns in 

 Spain, but the whole war, there 

 and in other quarters. Towards 

 the conclusion of his speech, he 

 said, he did cherish the hope, and 

 would cherish it to the last, that if 

 ever Europe was saved, this coun- 

 try would be an important agent 

 in that great event. But it could 

 never be accomplished by rash ex- 

 peditions, without consulting the 

 means of our allies. The desirable 

 object was to be achieved only by 

 a prudent use of our resources. 

 Such was not the use made by his 

 Majesty's present counsellors; and 

 it was important that theii' lord- 

 ships should be convinced of this* 

 from the ineflSciency of what they 

 had already attempted. The more 

 so, indeed, that their lordships 

 were in so.ne measure parties in 

 the calamities that attended our 



