HISTORY OF EUROPE. 



149 



aVms, by passing over without 

 notice the errors of the former 

 campaign. On these grounds he 

 moved two resolutions, which 

 were to the following effect : — 



1. *' That it appears to this 

 House, afterthe most attentive ex- 

 amination of the papers laid be- 

 fore them relative to the late cam- 

 paign in Spain, that the safety of 

 the army was improvidently and 

 uselessly risked, and every loss and 

 calamitj' suffered, without ground 

 on which to expect any f!ood re- 

 sult; and, that the whole did end 

 Id the retreat of the army. 



2. " That previous to entering 

 on this campaign, ministers did 

 not procure the necessary inform- 

 ation of the state of Spain, and of 

 its military resources; of the sup- 

 plies that couid be. afforded, &c. 

 &c. ; and that the result of this 

 rashness and ignorance was a re- 

 sult the most calamitous." 



This gave rise to a short de- 

 bate ; the principal topics of 

 which have been discussed again 

 and again in the debate on the 

 king's Speech, the motion for a 

 vote of thanks to lord Wellington, 

 and on other occasions. 



The Marquis of \V'elIesley, in 

 the course of a very animated and 

 eloquent speech in reply to lord 

 Lansdown, hit off the character of 

 Buonaparte with singular brevity 

 and felicity. " Experience had 

 sufficiently shown, that there were 

 no means, however unprincipled, 

 that Buonaparte would scruple to 

 employ for the attainment of his 

 ends. To him force and fraud 

 werealike: force, that would stoop 

 to all the base artifices of fraud ; 

 and fra\id, that would come armed 

 with all the fierce violence of 

 force." The Marquis concluded 



with a pathetic exhortatiort to 

 stand by Spain, in which there 

 was still life, and a high and proud 

 spirit of patriotism, to the last — 

 Tlie Earl of Moira observed, that 

 from the whole of the statements 

 and animadversions of the noble 

 marquis, not one sound position 

 could be deduced hostile to the 

 resolution before the House. It 

 was the good or bad conduct of 

 his majesty's ministers, with re- 

 gard to the late campaign, alone, 

 that was the present question. 

 Much as he wished lor success to 

 the Spanish cause, his conviction 

 was, if it were meant to manage 

 matters as they had hitherto been 

 managed by his majesty's minis- 

 ters, it would be better at once to 

 bring all our troops away from the 

 peninsula. Yet he begged not to 

 be understood as one who would 

 recommend the desertion of Spain 

 while any prospect of success re- 

 mained : on the contrary, he 

 would afford every possible aid to» 

 wards combining and concentrat- 

 ing the energies of the Spanish 

 people fur the attainment of their 

 great object. 



The question being loudly calU 

 ed for, the House divided: For 

 the marquis of Lansdown's mO" 

 tion, 33 : against it, 65. 



House of Lords, June 13. Earl 

 Grey submitted to the consider- 

 ation of the House the state of 

 the nation. He called their se- 

 rious attention to tlmse causes 

 which, in his mind, had produced 

 the dangers that pressed upon them 

 in the present emergency, and to 

 the policy which it was incumbent 

 upon them to adopt, in ord?r that 

 they might be enabled effectually 

 to meet, and uitimately to sur- 

 ciount them. Lord Grey con- 



