246 ANNUAL REGISTER, 1810. 



hcGn unhappily engaged, and 

 which most forcibly mark the im- 

 becility of those distracted councils 

 which have so scandalously lavish- 

 fid the blood and treasure of a gal- 

 lant, loyal, and burthened people. 



•' Towards the close of the pre- 

 ceding year your faithful citizens 

 humbly expressed to your majest}' 

 their deep concern and disappoint- 

 wentat the disgraceful convention 

 of Cintra ; but we have yet to de- 

 plore that due and efficientinquiry 

 has not been made into that dis- 

 graceful transaction. 



" It is equally painful to call to 

 your majesty's recollection the 

 melancholy fate of a second army 

 assembled within the peninsula, 

 under the gallant commander sir 

 John Moore. Ignorant alike of 

 the state and disposition of the 

 Spaniards, and the force and de- 

 signs of the enemy, this army, 

 being sent into the interior of 

 Spain, was in imminent danger of 

 being captured : in this critical 

 emergency, and state of agonizing 

 perplexity, abandoned to their own 

 resources, this hapless but merito- 

 rious officer at length discovered 

 that he had no safety but in flight: 

 with the loss of his ansmunition, 

 horses, specie, and baggage, and 

 harassed and assailed on all sides, 

 he secured the retreat of the re- 

 mains of his gallant followers by 

 the sacrifice of his own invaluable 

 life. 



•' Deriving no benefit from ex- 

 perience, a third well-appointed 

 army, under the command of sir 

 Arthur Wellesley, was hurried into 

 the interior of Spain, alike ignorant 

 of the force and movement of the 

 enemy, where, after an unprofitable 

 display of British valour and a 

 dreadful slaughter, this army, like 

 the former, was com[)elled to seek 



its safety by a precipitate retreat^ 

 before ( what we were led to be* 

 lieve) a vanquiehed foe, leaving 

 thousands of our sick and wounded 

 countrymen in the hands of the ene- 

 my. Thisloss,like others, haspass* 

 ed without inquiry; and, asifimpu- 

 nity had placed the servants of the 

 crown above the reach of justice, 

 your majesty has been advised to 

 confer titles of honourable distinc- 

 tion on the general who had thus 

 exhibited a rash and ostentatious 

 display of unprofitable bravery. 



" After these multiplied errors, 

 and in defiance of reiterated expe« 

 rience, we haveseen anotherexpe- 

 dition, yet more expensive, raor6 

 disgraceful, and more calamitous 

 than the former. Thisarmament.de- 

 layed until the fate of Austria was 

 decided, landed on the unwhole- 

 some shores of the Scheldt; where, 

 after some unaccountable state of 

 inaction,thousands of ourbrave sol- 

 diers have miserably and inglori- 

 ously perished by pestilence, pri- 

 vation, and disease, without having 

 accomplished one national object. 

 On such an expedition, planned 

 and conducted by a minister, who 

 it is now known had been pro- 

 nounced unfit for his office by his 

 colleagues — an expedition that 

 touches all minds with shame, and 

 fills all hearts with agony, it is too 

 painful to dilate. 



"We cannot refrain from repre- 

 senting to your majesty, that while 

 the affairs of the nation have been 

 soshamefullymisconductedabroad, 

 the most scandalous waste, profu- 

 sion, and mismanagement, have 

 prevailed at home; and your ma- 

 jesty's confidential advisers, desti- 

 tute of all those qualities essential 

 to good government, and regard- 

 less alike of the sufferings of the 

 people and of the honour of their 



