726 



BRITAIN. 



Britain. 



1810. 



tsle of 

 France 

 taken by 

 the British. 



The French 

 make an 

 unsuccess- 

 ful attempt 

 uponSicily. 



flag of truce was dispatched to the governor, who at 

 first refused to capitulate ; but a shot from Fort Bel- 

 gica, and a threat of storming the town, produced an 

 immediate and unconditional surrender. Seven hun- 

 dred disciplined troops, and three hundred militia, 

 grounded their arms to this handful of Britons. A- 

 bout I, .400,000 worth of spices were found by the 

 victors. But the capture of the Isle of France forms 

 by far the most important feature of success in the 

 year. This place had been a nest for the enemy's 

 marauders, and enabled their privateers to lord it 

 over the seas of India, whilst their greatest navies 

 durst not venture from the harbour in those of Eu- 

 rope. Admiral Bertie commanded the squadron 

 which sailed against this settlement : the army was 

 commanded by General Abercrombie, son of the 

 victor of Egypt. 



The armament arrived off the island on the 28th 

 of November. On the following morning, a part of 

 the troops under Major General Warde landed with- 

 out opposition in the bay of Maypon, the enemy re- 

 tiring on their approach. Lieutent-Colonel Smith, 

 with his brigade, followed next morning, and gained 

 the open country without much opposition ; some 

 shots only having been fired by a small picket, by 

 which a few men were wounded. The army moved 

 forward the next morning, and took up a position 

 about live miles from Port Louis. Falling in with 

 a corps of the enemy in a strong position, with field 

 pieces, our advanced guard, under Colonel Campbell, 

 charged them with the greatest spirit, and compelled 

 them to retire. The next morning, while making 

 dispositions for a general attack, the enemy asked 

 and obtained terms of capitulation. The garrison, 

 naval and military, with their effects and baggage, 

 were to be sent to France, without being considered 

 prisoners of war. The inhabitants were to preserve 

 their laws and religion, and property to be respect- 

 ed. A 52 gun ship, 5 frigates, three 30 gun prison 

 ships, a sloop of 22, and two brigs of 14 guns, a 

 schooner, and several gun-boats, with 28 merchant- 

 men, were made prizes in the harbour. 



In September, the enemy made an abortive at- 

 tempt on the island of Sicily. At daylight, on the 

 morning of the 18th, a great body of King Joa- 

 chim's flotilla appeared to be preparing an attempt 

 to land between Messina and the Faro. While their 

 movements engaged the attention of the main body 

 of the British force, a debarkation was effected by 

 a detachment near St Stefano. This corps consisted 

 of 3500 Corsican and Neapolitan troops, who had 

 crossed the straits in forty large boats, and gained 

 the Sicilian shore before the dawn. Upon the first 

 alarm, General Campbell repaired to the menaced 

 quarter, where he found the German riflemen enga- 

 ged with the enemy, and two other regiments occu- 

 pying the post of Mili to prevent the advance of the 

 French upon Messina. At day-break, he perceived 

 the enemy already on the heights, and extending 

 from thence to the beach. By a brisk attack, they 

 were speedily put to the route ; and besides a num- 

 ber of killed and wounded, 900 were intercepted in 

 their retreat to the boats, and made prisoners. On 

 the side of the British, only three private soldien 

 were wounded. 



When parliament assembled on the first of No- 

 vember, ministers were obliged to announce very 

 melancholy intelligence respecting the state of his 

 majesty. The houses had been prorogued to that 

 day, and it was known to have been the royal intei. 

 tion to extend the prorogation, but from the king's 

 state of mind, the Lord Chancellor had found 

 it impossible to procure a new signature. The 

 Chancellor of the Exchequer stated, that the 

 symptoms of his majesty's disorder were exceeding- 

 ly mild ; that the strongest expectations of his 

 speedy recovery were entertained, and made a mo- 

 tion, which was readily agreed to, that the house 

 should adjourn for a fortnight. 



During this first adjournment, the public anxiety 

 was deeply fixed on the daiiy bulletins respecting 

 the sovereign's health j but, from these vague an- 

 nounces, it was difficult to form an idea of his real 

 situation. General and indistinct as they were, how- 

 ever, and each successively referring to a former one, 

 as vague as the succeeding, they conveyed, upon the 

 whole, an unfavourable expectation. 



At the meeting of the 15th, the Chancellor of the 

 Exchequer proposed another adjournment, and car- 

 ried it in spite of the strong remonstrances of seve- 

 ral members of the opposition, who contended, that 

 the adjournment ought to be only from day to day, 

 and that it was highly improper during a period of 

 war, expences, danger, and difficulty, to remain, 

 without consulting tor the appointment of a new 

 executive. 



On the 29th, the report of his majesty's physi- 

 cians was submitted to the House of Commons, as it 

 had been given before the Privy Council. Mr Per- 

 ceval still holding out hopes of recovery, proposed 

 a third adjournment for a fortnight; declaring, how- 

 ever, that unless at the expiration of that time there 

 was a prospect of speedy convalescence, he should 

 not propose any farther delay to taking parliament- 

 ary steps for supplying the deficiency of the regal 

 power. After considerable opposition, the adjourn- 

 ment was carried as proposed. 



On the 13th of December, committees were ap- 

 pointed to examine the king's physicians. The ex- 

 amination took place on the following Monday. All 

 the physicians agreed in confident hopes of his ma- 

 jesty's ultimate recovery ; but none of them could 

 predict the probable duration of the malady. 



On the 20th of December, the commons resolved 

 themselves into a committee of the whole House, to 

 consider the state of the nation ; when Mr Perceval 

 produced his plan of the regency, of which, the 

 first important feature to be considered, was the ap- 

 pointment of the regency by bill, (not by address 

 to the Prince of Wales,) conformably to the prece- 

 dent of the proposed regency in 1788. It was a 

 point understood on both sides, that the Prince of 

 Wales was to be the sole regent ; but, in the de- 

 bates which had already taken place, the opposition 

 had taken the same ground as in the former ques- 

 tion of the regency in 1788, and proposed the 

 immediate measure of conferring authority on the 

 Prince by address. Mr Perceval, anticipating the 

 arguments for this proposal, contended, that the 

 main objection to the procedure by bill, was equally 



Britail 



Glo.UiU] 



ISlp. 



Meeting i 

 parliameo 

 Nov. 1. 



Proceed.' 



in^s re- 

 fpecrmg 

 the Kmg'i 



illness. 



Report o! 

 the physi- 

 cians. 



Examina- 

 tion of ih 

 King's 

 physician! 



Mr Perce- 

 val pro- 

 duces the 

 plan of a 

 regency. 



