to the earl in consequence of his desire to make some alterations in it: that the report thus altered, having been again presented to the king on the 14th, was directed by his majesty to be delivered to the secretary of state, and no copy of it was kept by the king. Mr. Whitbread, on the 2d of March, moved wo resolutions respecting this matter one stating the fact as above mentioned; the other a strong censure of the same. After a long debate the previous question was moved, but negatived by 221 to 188 voices; and, the first resolution being then carried, Mr. Whitbread waived the second, and admitted a modification of it proposed by Mr. Canning. It was then determined that the resolution should be entered on the journals of the house; the consequence of which was that lord Chatham resigned his office of master-general of the ord

nance.

When the proceedings relative to the Walcheren expedition first came before the house Mr. Yorke moved an enforcement of the standing order for the exclusion of strangers, and continued to move it from day to day. Mr. Sheridan therefore moved a revision of the standing order, which was vehemently opposed by Mr. Windham, who launched into a furious invective against the reporters. This singular tirade was answered with spirit and :emper by Mr. Stephens, an eminent civilian, who had himself in his earlier days, he acknowledged, been a reporter of the debates.

There was at this time a debating society in London, under the name of the British Forum, the president of which was John Gale Jones. On the 19th of February a placard appeared, informing the public that a question had been debated at the British Forum, 'Which was the greater outrage on the public feeling, Mr. Yorke's enforcement of the standing order of the house of commons for the exclusion of strangers, or Mr. Windham's attack on the liberty of the press? And that it was unanimously decided, that the enforcement of the standing order ought to be censured as an insidious and ill-timed attack on the liberties of the press.'

Jones was accordingly cited, on Mr. Yorke's motion, before the honorable house on the 21st of February, when he avowed himself the author of the paper, and, notwithstanding an apology, was committed to Newgate.

On the 12th of March Sir Francis Burdett, who had not been present at the former proceedings, called the attention of the house to this subject in a speech in which he ventured to deny altogether the power of the house to commit: and on the 24th of March there appeared in Cobbett's Weekly Register a letter, entitled 'Sir Francis Burdett to his constituents, denying the power of the house of commons to imprison the people of England.' This publication was brought before the house on the 26th by Mr. Lethbridge, and Sir Francis acknowledging himself to be the author, Mr. Lethbridge on the following day moved that the publication in question was a libellous and scandalous paper, reflecting upon the just rights and liberties of the house; and that Sir Francis Burdett, who suffered this paper to be printed with his name, had been guilty of a violation of

those privileges. These resolutions being agreed to without a division, a motion was made by Sir Robert Salisbury for his commitment to the tower; and an amendment, softening the sentence to a reprimand, was rejected by 190 votes to 152. On the 6th of April the warrants for commitment were delivered to the serjeant at arms. That officer, on going to the house of Sir Francis, was informed that he would be ready to receive him the next morning; which being construed by that officer as implying that he would go with him peaceably to the tower, he retired. He however returned, accompanied by a messenger, who said that the serjeant had been severely reprimanded by the speaker for not having executed the warrant; the legality of which Sir Francis now denied. He declared his determination not to go unless compelled by actual force.

After a delay occasioned by the speaker's consulting the attorney-general respecting his authority, the sergeant went on the morning of the 9th of April, attended by a number of police officers, and a detachment of cavalry and infantry, to convey Sir Francis to the tower. An entrance being forced into his house, he repeated his objections to the warrant, and declared that he would yield only to force. The constables, on this, advanced to seize him, when he was led by his brother and a friend, taking his arms, and conducted to the carriage in waiting, whence he was conveyed to the tower. As the escort rereturned, a numerous mob assembled in Eastcheap, and attacked them with stones and brick-bats. At length, the attack becoming serious, some shots were fired, by which two or three lives were lost, and several persons wounded.

On his liberation, Sir Francis Burdett brought actions at law against the speaker of the house of commons for issuing his warrant, against the sergeant-at-arms for executing it, and against the constable of the tower for keeping him in custody, in all which he failed, on the plea of the legality of the warrant. His confinement was not terminated till the prorogation of parliament.

On the 16th of May the chancellor of exchequer brought before the house of commons his annual budget of finance. The supplies voted were stated at £50,500,000 for Great Britain and Ireland; and among the ways and means for the former were the war-taxes, estimated at £19,500,000, and a loan of £8,000,000. No new taxes were proposed; and a very favorable report was made of the commerce and general prosperity of the country. The foreign subsidies of the year were £400,000 to Sicily, and £900,000 to Portugal; and a vote of credit for £3,000,000 was passed to meet emergencies.

At the beginning of this year the cause of Spanish independence, as far as it depended on the people of Spain, was almost hopeless. The most interesting events of the campaign occurred on the side of Portugal. The great effort of France was to obtain the entire possession of that country. For this purpose it had been determined to commence with the reduction of the fortresses of Ciudad Rodrigo and Aimeida. As soon, therefore, as the capture of Oviedo and

Astorga had set at liberty a part of the French troops employed to keep in check the Spaniards of the northern provinces, marshal Ney began to invest the former, and it surrendered July 10th. In the mean time marshal Massena arrived from France, to take the command of the army destined for the conquest of Portugal, and consisting of about 80,000 men.

Almeida was next invested, and the trenches were opened in the middle of August. It was garrisoned by 5000 men, partly English and partly Portuguese, commanded by British officers, and its governor was brigadier-general Cox. The vigor of the defence would probably have long retarded its fall, had not a bomb alighted on the principal magazine, which occasioned a terrible and most destructive explosion. Massena now withheld his fire, and sent a flag of truce offering terms of capitulation, which, on the 27th of August, were acceded to. The great contest for the possession of the country was now to commence. During the siege of Ciudad Rodrigo the principal post of the British army was at Guarda, whence the French lines might be descried, but nothing of consequence could be undertaken for its relief. After the surrender of Almeida, lord Wellington concentrated the different divisions of the allied army, and began his retreat towards Lisbon. He had formed a defensive plan, to which he steadily adhered. At the same time he put fully into practice the efficacious, though severe policy, of rendering all the country in the line of march entirely inhospitable to the French. On the 21st of September all the force under Massena was concentrated at Viseu, where it halted for a time; during which lord Wellington passed to the right of the Mondego, and occupied with his centre and left wing the Sierra Buzaco, which extends to that river. Massena, on arriving in front of his position on the 26th, resolved upon an attack. The French pushed up the heights with great courage in different parts, and one division reached the summit of the ridge: they were, however, met with equal resolution at the point of the bayonet, and were finally repulsed with great loss, 2000 men being left on the field. The loss of the English and Portuguese was also considerable. Massena now made a circuitous march upon Coimbra; but lord Wellington anticipated his object, and arrived there before him. The place, however, affording no advantages for defence, he continued his retreat to the strong lines of Torres Vedras.

The French emperor was now at the zenith of his glory, and the Seven Provinces of Holland were inseparably annexed to the French empire. The Valais of Piedmont were also annexed to France, for the purpose of securing the passage of the Alps by the Simplon; and possession was taken of the Hanse towns, and of the whole course from the Elbe to the Ems,-commanded, it was said, by circumstances. The electorate of Hanover was annexed to the kingdom of Westphalia, and its very name was abolished; and to that country, and all the other dependent kingdoms, the conscription laws were extended. In France, the chains of despotic power were rivetted by spies, arbitrary imprisonments, a

rigorous police, and restrictions on the liberty of the press.

An event took place this year in Sweden, which may be ranked among the most extraordinary occurrences in European history. On the 29th of May the prince of Augustenburg, presumptive heir to the crown of Sweden, died suddenly; and a diet was assembled in August, 1810, to fill the vacancy. In consequence of a strong letter of recommendation from Napoleon, the king of Sweden proposed marshal Bernadotte as the person on whom he wished the choice to fall; and, on the 1st of November, Bernadotte was installed.

The isles of Bourbon and France, in the Indian Ocean, which had so long been a great annoyance to our East India trade, were this year brought under the dominion of Great Britain. Lord Minto, governor-general of India, having laid the plan for their reduction, a body of Europeans and Sepoys, about 1600 of each, sailed from Madras, and, being joined by about 1000 more from the island of Rodriguez, the whole under the command of lieutenant-colonel Keating, with a fleet of men-of-war and transports, the expedition arrived early in July off the island of Bourbon. Dispositions were made for an attack on the principal town, St. Denis, but it was prevented, on the 8th, by an offer to capitulate on honorable terms, which were granted. The other town, St. Paul, was taken possession of on the 10th, and the whole island submitted.

In the month of November a body of troops, consisting of 8,000 or 10,000, from India and the Cape of Good Hope, commanded by majorgeneral Sir John Abercromby, and a fleet under admiral Bertie, took possession of the Mauritius, or Isle of France. The garrison was sent to France, and to be at their own disposal. This was the most valuable of the remaining French possessions to the eastward of the Cape of Good Hope. Three frigates were afterwards despatched to destroy the French batteries on the coast of Madagascar, which being effected, there was not left to France, at the beginning of the following year, a slip of land in either Indies, nor a ship on the Indian Ocean.

On the 17th of February the Dutch settlement of Amboyna, with its dependent islands, was surrendered to a British force from Madras. A party of seamen also, commanded by captain Cole of the Carolina frigate, having on the 8th of August carried a fort upon Banda Neira, the whole island of Banda, the principal of the Spice Islands, with its dependencies, though protected by 700 regular troops and 300 militia, surrendered unconditionally, and afforded a rich prize to the captors.

The differences between the governments of Great Britain and the United States of America still remained unadjusted. On the recall of Mr. Erskine, Mr. Jackson had been sent to succeed him; but the firm and unyielding tone taken by him, with the disavowal of Mr. Erskine's agreement, contributed to render him unacceptable; and the American resident in London was instructed to demand his recall. Mr. Galatin, treasurer of the States, now sent letters to the different collectors

of the customs, announcing the abolition of the restrictions with regard to France, she having revoked her edicts, but declaring that they would be revived in full force with regard to Great Britain on the ensuing 2d day of February, should she not in like manner have revoked her decrees. By a second letter he gave his opinion, that, in the case above-mentioned, all British goods arriving subsequently to the 2d of February would be forfeited.

The princess Amelia expired on the 2d of November 1810; and the king's mind received a shock from the illness and death of the princess from which he never recovered. The parliament had been prorogued to the 1st of that month, and a commission prepared by the lord chancellor, under an order in council, for a further prorogation to the 29th; but, as the sign-manual was wanting, the two houses met on the day previously fixed. The illness and inability of the king to open the session being announced, an adjournment of a fortnight was agreed to; and the members of both houses were summoned for the 15th. This was followed by a second adjournment to the 29th, and again by a third to the 13th day of December. The physicians, on examination before the lords of council, and afterwards before a committee of both houses, accorded in their firm belief of his majesty's recovery; grounding this expectation on the general state of his health, and the precedents of 1788, 1801, and 1804. At length Mr. Perceval, adopting the mode of procedure of 1788-9, moved three resolutions, affirming, 1. The incapacity of the king; 2. The right of the two houses to provide the means of supplying the defect; 3. The necessity of determining upon the means of giving the royal assent to a bill for that purpose. The opposition, waiving altogether the question respecting the right of the prince of Wales to the regency, merely proposed that the prince be addressed to take upon him the executive duties. This was negatived in the house of peers by 100 to seventy-four, and in the commons by 269 to 157 voices.

The resolutions moved by Mr. Perceval having been carried by great majorities, that minister apprised the prince, by letter, of the restrictions he meant to propose; and, in a brief reply, the prince referred to the letter which he addressed to Mr. Pitt in 1789. The other members of the royal family also transmitted to Mr. Perceval their protest against the restrictions. The grand division on the question of restrictions was carried, on the 31st of December, in favor of ministers, by 224 to 200 voices. The regency finally passed into an act on the 5th of February 1811. The restrictions were to remain in force to the 1st of February 1812. The restoration of the king was provided for by a simple notificaion to the privy-council, by the queen and her assistant counsellors, viz. the two archbishops, the lord-chancellor, the lord chief-justice, the master of the rolls, the duke of Montrose, and the earls of Winchelsea and Aylesford.

11. From the Regency to the death of George III. From the avowed sentiments of the prince, it was generally expected that a total change of

administration would take place; and in a letter to Mr. Percival, announcing his intention of continuing the present ministers in office, he explicitly stated, that duty and affection for his beloved and afflicted parent alone had dictated his decision. So strong, indeed, were the prepossessions at this period respecting the king's recovery, that the leaders of opposition themselves were believed to be indifferent to the acceptance of office. The first measure submitted to the regency parliament opened on the 12th of February 1811, respected the Catholic committee of Ireland; a standing delegation, consisting of ten persons elected from each county, charged with the management of the affairs of that body.

This kind of organisation gave an alarm to government, and produced a circular letter from Mr. Wellesley Pole, secretary to the lord-lieutenant, requiring the magistrates of Ireland, in pursuance of an act of the thirty-third of the king, to cause to be arrested and committed to prison, unless bail should be given, all persons within his jurisdiction guilty of having been in any way concerned in issuing notices for such election or appointment. On the 18th of February the earl of Moira brought the matter before the house of lords; and asked ministers, whether the measure had been settled by them before Mr. Pole's departure for Ireland? The earl of Liverpool replied that they knew nothing of the matter until the news arrived, but that it was accompanied with reasons for the procedure which justified it. The subject was introduced in a similar manner into the house of commons by Mr. Ponsonby, when Mr. Perceval made the same assertion. In the mean time Mr. Pole having arrived from Ireland explained in his place in the house of commons the whole transaction. His principal object was to show in what respect the proceedings of the Catholic committee of 1809, which had not been interfered with, differed from those which produced this act of government.

In answer to a question from Mr. Ponsonby, whether the law officers had been consulted on the occasion, he affirmed that the lord-lieutenant had taken the opinions of the lord-chancellor and the attorney and solicitor-general, and that the latter had drawn up the letter issued by himself. In conclusion, Mr. Ponsonby's motion was negatived by 133 against forty-eight votes.

The Catholic petition was presented to the house of commons by Mr. Grattan on the 20th of May; and on the 31st he moved that the same should be read, and also the votes of the house conveying thanks to the armies under lord Wellington and general Graham, in which were many Irish Catholics. From these documents he took his ground, to show that there was nothing in the Roman Catholic religion itself which encouraged disaffection, but that the manner in which the Catholics had been treated by government was the true cause of their discontents. After enlarging with great force on these heads, he concluded with moving that the petition be referred to a committee of the whole house. The motion was ably supported by other speakers; and, on the other hand, it was opposed on the grounds of a supposed inherent principle of intolerance

in the religion of Rome, of the apprehension that the Catholics would still be rising in their demands, and of danger to the Protestant establishment should their claims be allowed. On a division, there appeared for the motion eightythree, against it 146.

Lord Donoughmore introduced the petition into the house of lords on the 18th of June, when he moved for referring it to a committee. But the division on the motion gave, contents sixty-two, non-contents 121.

The Irish Catholics were too zealous and confident in their cause to regard their parliamentary defeat as a reason for renouncing their plans; and the summer was actively employed in meetings for the nomination of delegates, several of which were attended by Protestant gentlemen, who regarded Catholic emancipation as a branch of the general liberty of Ireland. On the other hand, government resolved not to submit passively to the violation of its injunctions. An aggregate meeting being held at Dublin, July 9th, for the appointment of delegates to the general committee of Catholics, five persons were apprehended by a warrant from the lord chief-justice for a breach of the convention act; one of whom, Dr. Sheridan, was put upon his trial before the court of king's-bench in Dublin; but the jury brought in a verdict of not guilty.

In the debates relating to the regency bill, in the house of lords, earl Grey had taken notice of the circumstance of the king's having been suffered to perform some of the functions of royalty in 1804; and Mr. Whitbread brought forward in the commons a motion for a committee to examine the lords journals for the evidence of the physicians respecting his majesty's health in 1804, and to report the same to the house. Lord Castlereagh rose in defence of the chancellor, at the same time declaring his readiness to share the responsibility of the transaction referred to. The defence turned upon the unanimous declaration of the physicians as to the king's competency to transact business on February 27th, though none was submitted to him till March 5th. On the 9th it was necessary to obtain his sign-manual to the mutiny act, which could not be deferred without danger. In these and other instances the physicians had sanctioned the application to him. Mr. Whitbread, in reply, pledged himself to make out the whole charge, if opportunity were given him of cross-examining the physicians. His motion, however, was negatived by 198 against eighty-one.

The operation of the Berlin and Milan decrees, enforced as they were by the orders in council, had now produced the most fatal consequences to the mercantile interest. The loan for the last year had sustained a ruinous depreciation; and, the foreign demand for British manufactures being greatly reduced, numerous failures were the inevitable and melancholy result. A select committee was appointed to enquire into the state of commercial credit, who recommended as a temporary expedient an issue of exchequer bills, to the amount of £6,000,000, for the relief of such persons as could give satisfactory security for repayment.

It has been mentioned that the regent, con

sidering himself as the possessor of only a restricted and temporary authority, declined taking any part in public transactions, and allowed the ministers whom he found in office to pursue their own plans without interference. Yet one act, which soon followed his accession to power, was certainly regarded as a spontaneous exertion on his part; this was the re-appointment of the duke of York to the office of commander-in-chief of the army.

Lord Milton, on the 6th June, after various observations relative to this transaction, moved the following resolution: That, upon a deliberate consideration of the recent circumstances under which the duke of York retired from the army in March 1809, it appears to the house that it has been highly improper and indecorous in the advisers of the Prince Regent to have recommended to his royal highness the re-appointment of the duke of York to the office of commanderin-chief.' The chancellor of the exchequer fully acknowledged the responsibility of ministers for the measure, but contended that, when Sir David Dundas had expressed a wish to retire, they

could have no doubt or hesitation as to whom they should recommend to supply the vacancy; and no vote had passed the house to preclude the duke of York's restoration. It appears that a considerable change had, by this time, taken place in the minds of the majority of the members relative to this matter, as the votes against it, on a division, were 296 to forty-seven.

The measure of an interchange of the militias of Great Britain and Ireland was introduced into the house of commons, on the 17th of May, by Mr. secretary Ryder, who moved for a bill to invest the crown with a power to that effect. By a clause of this bill Irish Catholics serving in England were entitled to all the civil, military, and religious exemptions which they possessed in Ireland. This, in fact, was the measure in relation to which the cry of No popery' had been raised against the late ministers.

Parliament was prorogued on the 24th July, with a speech in the Prince Regent's name, delivered by commission, in which great satisfaction was expressed with all the measures of the session.

The peninsula of Spain and Portugal still continued the grand theatre on which the contest for the liberties of Europe was maintained. The campaign commenced at a very early part of the year.

On the 25th of February an armament was sent out from Cadiz, under the command of lieutenant-general Sir Thomas Graham, who disembarked a body of English, Spaniards, and Portuguese, at Algesiras. The object of the expedition was to attack the French who were employed in the siege; and, the landing being effected on the 28th, the allied army arrived, on the morning of the 5th of March, on the ridge of Barossa, about four miles to the southward of the river of Santi Petri. Here the French army consisted of about 3000 men, formed in two divisions, and in a high state of discipline and equipment. The allied force scarcely amounted to 6000 men, of whom about one-half were English. A battery of ten pieces of cannon, under the direc

tion of major Duncan, opened on the enemy's centre, and the right of the allies attacked general Rufin's division on the heights; while lieutenantcolonel Barnard's battalion, and a detachment of Portuguese, were engaged with the enemy's tirailleurs. But Laval's division, notwithstanding the havoc made by major Duncan's battery, advanced in imposing masses, and opened a destructive fire of musketry. The left wing of the allies now advanced, keeping up a constant fire; and a most determined charge of the sixtyseventh regiment and the three companys of guards, supported by all the rest of the wing, decided the fate of general Laval's division. The eagle of one of the regiments of light infantry was taken by major Gough.

The right wing of the allies was equally successful. The French lost, on this occasion, about 3000 in killed, wounded, and prisoners, with one eagle, six pieces of cannon, their ammunition waggons, and a number of horses. General Bellegarde, chief of the staff, an aide-du-camp of marshal Victor, and several other officers, were killed, and many were wounded and taken prisoners, among whom were the general of division, Rufin, who soon after died. The loss of the allies amounted to about 1240 killed and wounded.

About the same time that the British arms were so successful on the heights of Barossa, marshal Massena commenced his retreat from Sar.tarem, where he had never been able to attack lord Wellington. Scarcity of provisions obliged him to retire. The British general, having the Tagus on his right and Lisbon in his rear, was in a commanding position which ensured ample supplies. Massena was closely followed by lord Wellington, whose van attacked the rear of the French on the 11th of March, and gained a considerable advantage. But this success was more than counterbalanced by the loss of Badajoz, which surrendered on the same day to the duke of Dalmatia.

Lord Wellington now made arrangements for the blockade of Almeida, and employed the interval of active operations in a visit to the corps under the command of marshal Beresford in Spanish Estremadura, consisting of a united force of British and Portuguese. After repulsing an attack from the French on the 7th of April, near Olivença, he took a position whence he could invest that place and Badajoz. Olivença surrendered to the marshal on the 15th; and lord Wellington having had an interview with him, during which they established the blockade of Badajoz, returned to his army.

On the 15th of April the fortress of Olivença surrendered to the allied arms; and it was determined to lay siege to Badajoz with vigor. But on the 12th May the re-advance of marshal Soult was announced by general Blake, and the three commanders resolved to give battle to the enemy. With this view the siege was raised, and the army took a strong position fronting the banks of the Albuera.

Early on the morning of the 16th of May the French passed the stream, designing to attack the Spaniards under Blake, and to turn the right wing of the allies. After an obstinate resistance

the enemy gained the heights, but, Sir Lowry Cole bringing up the reserve, the enemy were driven from them with great slaughter. Their attack on the village and the bridge in the centre was likewise successfully repelled by baron Alten of the German legion, which, with the division of general Hamilton, defended that post; and the whole French army, after six hours' fighting, repassed the Albuera with precipitation. Soult is said to have acknowledged, that, in the long course of his military service, he had never before witnessed so desperate and sanguinary a contest.' The siege of Badajoz now re-commenced.

Towards the close of September the British troops again took the field, threatening Ciudad Rodrigo; but, before lord Wellington could complete his preparations, Marmont assembled a vast force, amounting to 60,000 men, with a view of turning the left of his position. His able antagonist, aware of this design, made a timely movement beyond the Coa; on which Marmont withdrew. During these operations general Hill, being joined by a Spanish force, on the 28th of October, surprised and totally defeated a corps of the French under general Girard, at Arroyo del Molino, the enemy losing 2000 men, with their artillery and baggage.

The principal event of the summer campaign in Spain was the siege and reduction of Tarragona. Marshal Suchet marched against this important sea-port of Catalonia about the end of April; and on the 5th of May he completed the investment of it as far as the sea. A furious assault on the 21st, after great slaughter on both sides, put the lower part of the town, which the besiegers had got access to through the capture of an outwork, in the power of the French. The garrison, however, still held out, till, on the 28th, a practicable breach being made, the assailants rushed in, and almost immediately carried the place. Suchet, who appears not to have been unwilling that a terrible example should be given by its fate for the purpose of intimidation, related, in his account of the transaction, that 4000 persons were put to death in the city, and of 10,000 or 12,000 more, who endeavoured to escape over the walls, 1000 were sabred or drowned, and 10,000 made prisoners. By this conquest, the French became possessed of the whole coast of Catalonia. In the month of September Suchet entered Valencia, and on the 27th took possession of Murviedro. He then opened trenches against its fortress, and made several vain attempts to carry it. In the mean time general Blake, collecting all the disposable force in that quarter, occupied the heights above the besieging army, where on the 25th of October he was attacked, and, after a well contested battle, was defeated. On the following day the fortress of Murviedro capitulated. Suchet then advanced to the suburbs of Valencia. On the 26th of November he attacked Blake's protecting army, the cavalry of which being routed, the infantry took shelter in their intrenched camp. was afterwards forced; on the 25th of December Valencia was invested on every side.

This

In the beginning of 1811 the Spanish Cortes issued a proclamation, declaring that they would not recognise any act of Ferdinand VII. while