248 ANNUAL REGISTER, 1810. 



mitted to sacrifices as unexampled 

 in the history of this country, as 

 they have been injurious to nume- 

 rous classes of its inhabitants, in 

 the hope and confidence that, the 

 councils of your majesty being 

 directed by wisdom, by prudence, 

 and fidelity, the privations of your 

 subjects would be but temporary, 

 and that their zeal and sacrifices 

 would be ultimately rewarded by 

 the security of your majesty's 

 throne, the prosperity of your do- 

 minions, and the confirmation of 

 their own liberties and indepen- 

 dence. It is, however, our duty 

 and our misfortune to have it to 

 state to your majesty, that we dis- 

 cover neither wisdom, prudence, 

 nor fidelity, in your majesty's ad- 

 visers ; that their acts are marked 

 by every appearance of rashness, 

 incapacity, and folly; and that, un- 

 der the government of persons so 

 apparently inadequate to avert the 

 dangers and difficul ties of the coun- 

 try, we see no end to our misfor- 

 tunes. 



" We humbly crave leave parti- 

 cularly to call your majesty's atten- 

 tion to the fruitless efforts of your 

 gallant army during the last year 

 Your majesty's advisers and com- 

 manders had for their guidance and 

 instruction in the last campaign in 

 Spain and Portugal, the melan- 

 choly experience of the ever-to-be 

 lamented sir John Moore, and the 

 sufferings of his brave followers : 

 and yet a second British army, su- 

 perior in numbers to the first, and 

 alike conspicuous for its gallantry 

 and zeal, was sent there, and hur- 

 ried on into the heart of Spain, for 

 no other purpose than that of mak- 

 ing an useless display of valour, 

 and meeting its own destruction. 

 We crave your majesty's gracious 

 attention likewise to the fatal expe- 



dition to the Scheldt ; when the 

 flower of your troops, without the 

 opportunity of performing any ex- 

 ploit worthy of them, were per- 

 mitted for months to perish by dis- 

 eases peculiar to the climate, and 

 which your ministers must have 

 known to be prevalent there at the 

 time when they thus doomed your 

 majesty's troops to destruction. 



" It is with equal grief and shame 

 we are compelled further to submit 

 to your majesty's attention, that, 

 whilst the armies of your empire 

 were perishing by famine and the 

 sword in Spain, and diseases in 

 Walcheren, your majesty's minis- 

 ters, regardless alike of the honour 

 of their sovereign and the dangers 

 of the country, have consumed the 

 time (which ought to have been 

 exclusively devoted to the public 

 service) in the most disgraceful 

 squabbles, intrigues, andcabals;and 

 have not hesitated, by publishing 

 these transactions to the world, to 

 exposeyour majesty's councils, and 

 the character of your government, 

 to the ridicule and contempt of sur- 

 rounding nations ; and to prove 

 themselves the faithless and un- 

 worthy servants ofyour majestyand 

 the public. We humbly, therefore, 

 supplicate your majesty, that you 

 will be pleased to institute a most 

 rigid inquiry into the causes of the 

 calamitous issueof the two expedi- 

 tions toSpainandthe Scheldt; and 

 we rest assured that your majesty 

 will do all that lies in your power 

 to prevent therecurrence of similar 

 disasters, by bringing to condign 

 punishment theauthorsof our mis- 

 fortunes. We cannot conclude 

 this our humble petition to your 

 majesty, without alluding to your 

 majesty's gracious answer to a si- 

 milar petition from the mayor and 

 common council of the city of Lon- 



