to massacre their European officers whilst assembled at an entertainment to be given by the British resident at that court. It was disclosed by a confidential sepoy, and the ringleaders were seized upon, two of whom, native officers, were blown from a cannon in front of the line drawn up to witness their punishment. Several Nairs and Faquirs, instigators of the mutiny, were afterwards hung.

Governor Farquhar of the Mauritius made public, in May, a correspondence with Rear-Admiral Stopford at the Cape of Good Hope, in which the latter announces his receipt from England of the act imposing fresh penalties against any further traffic in slaves, and

declares the impossibility of suffering the admission of slaves into the islands under his excellency's government. At the same time the governor informed the merchants, planters, and other inhabitants of the islands, that regulations had been made for trade between England and them, by which they were placed on the same footing with the private merchants in other parts

of India.

Accounts were received from Persia that a definitive treaty of alliance between that government and Great Britain had been concluded by Sir Gore Ouseley, on terms highly advantageous to this country.

CHAPTER

N November 24th the House

commission was appointed for the new parliament. The attendance of the Commons was then requested, and the commission was read. The Commons were then directed by the Lord Chancellor to proceed to the choice of a Speaker; and on the same day, a number of members having been sworn, Sir John Nicholl rose, and proposed the late Speaker, Mr. Abbott, for that office. His motion was secouded by Mr. Cartwright, and was received with great applause from all parts of the house. Mr. Abbott was accordingly placed in the chair, and the house adjourned to the next day. The other usual forms being gone through, the Prince Regent, on the 30th, came to the House of Lords in state, and delivered a speech from the throne. After touching upon his Majesty's lamented indisposition, and the diminished hopes of his recovery, his Royal Highness adverted to the successes in the Peninsula under the conduct of Lord Wellington, and their final good effects, notwithstanding his retreat from Burgos, and evacuation of Madrid. He then mentioned the restoration of peace and friendship with the courts of

Petersburgh and Stockholm, and

resistance made by Russia to the arms of their invaders auguring a happy termination of the contest. He informed parliament of a supplementary treaty entered into with his Sicilian Majesty and hinted at the new measures concerted with the government of that island, for an active co-operation in the common cause. With respect to the declaration of war by the United States of America, he observed, that it was made under circumstances which might have afforded a reasonable expectation that the amicable relations between the two countries would not be long interrupted; but that the conduct and pretensions of that government had hitherto prevented any arrangement for that purpose. He took notice of the defeat of the attempts against Canada; and said, that his efforts were still directed to the restoration of peace, but that until this object could be attained without sacrificing the maritime rights of Great Britain, he should rely on their support for a vigorous prosecution of the war. The conclusion of the speech recommended an early consideration of a provision for the effectual goverment of the Indian provinces,

in consequence of the approaching expiration of the charter of the East India Company. It adverted to the success of the means employed for suppressing the spirit of outrage and insubordination which had appeared in some parts of the country, and expressed a hope that atrocities so repugnant to the British character would never recur; and ended with the usual declaration of confidence in the wisdom of parliament, and the loyalty of the people.

The accustomed complimentary address was moved in the House of Lords by Lord Longford, and seconded by Lord Rolle. The Marquis Wellesley then arose, and after an introduction alluding to a passage in the speech expressing the Prince Regent's conviction that he should find no want of that firmness and perseverance in the prosecution of the war, which had distinguished parliament on former occasions, he proceeded to a review of the events in the war with Spain. Laying it down as a principle that the war was necessary in order to check the ambitious projects of the French ruler, and divert his forces, and affirming that the successes of the last campaign, imperfect as they were, had been felt in Russia as the salvation of that empire, he drew the inference, that whilst France was engaged in the north, we ought to have redoubled our efforts in the opposite quarter, and to have strained our resources to the utmost extremity." "I wish, my lords (said he) we could fix in our minds some definite idea of the object of our exertions in the Peninsula. My own idea has always been, that the true object

The

of the Spanish contest was, the expulsion of the French forces from Spain. This is the clear practical object at which we ought to aim. With this, then, in our view, let us inquire what has been done, compared with what might have been done. I have said elsewhere, that it was my opinion that the war in the Peninsula had not been carried on with adequate vigour for this purpose." marquis then went on to a critical examination of the last campaign in Spain, in which, while paying a tribute of praise to Lord Wellington, almost exceeding the modesty of fraternal eulogy, he attempted to show that his plans had been continually cramped by a deficiency of strength, that supplies were scanty and tardy, that cooperation was feeble and ill-directed, and that the system adopted by ministers was "timid without prudence, and narrow without economy; profuse without the fruits of expenditure, and slow without the benefits of caution." His lordship commented upon other points touched in the speech; but concluded with saying, that he should move no amendment on the address, and that his chief intention had been to press upon the house the great subject of the Spanish war, in which we had no alternative between vigour and defeat.

Lord Liverpool in reply observed, that it was extremely easy for the noble lord to sit down in his closet, and wish for, or imagine, a particular effort of any given magnitude; but must not every exertion depend on the applicable resources of the country,

and

and be proportioned to the demand Inade upon it from other quarters? He desired to know what additional exertions could have been made. They had, in effect, grown with the progress of the war. Three or four years ago it would not have been thought practicable to make those efforts in the Peninsula which the country had recently witnessed. He then made the following statement; that independently of the force required for the maintenance of our Indian empire, our colonial possessions, and for our domestic defence, we had, on the 25th of June, in Sicily, the Mediterranean, and the Peninsula, a force of 127,000 men, of which the British troops (including the Germans) amounted to 91,000, and the Portuguese to 36,000. In June last, Lord Wellington had under his command 58,000 British troops, exclusive of Portuguese. Since the 24th of December last, not fewer than 20,000 men and 7,000 horses had been conveyed to the Peninsula. He said further, that never had any requisition been made by Lord Wellington that had not been complied with. Lord Liverpool made observations on some other points in which the marquis had formed objections to the speech; and with respect to the omission of mentioning the Catholic question, he acknowledged that for his part he had not been able to see his way to any satisfactory adjustment.

Lord Grenville restated the views on which he had originally opposed the war in the Peninsula, and attributed the disappointments there chiefly to the delusion of ministers in trusting to the co

operation of the Spanish armies. In adverting to the American war, he said, he could not repress his astonishment and indignation at the language of those who professed their belief that the abandonment of the orders in council would necessarily lead to the restoration of peace. There was a time when such a concession would have produced both peace and alliance; but, as in the first fatal war with America, concession was made too late. He thought the house was indecently pledged in the address to the prosecution of this war, though not a document was produced to prove its justice.

After some other speaking on the occasion, the address was agreed to without a division.

In the House of Commons, the address on the speech was moved by Lord Clive, who was seconded by Mr. Hart Davis. Mr. Canning then arose, and very exactly pursued the same line of argument and eloquence with that followed by Marquis Wellesley in the other house. The vigorous prosecution of the war in every quarter was the point which he principally laboured to enforce, and he concluded amidst expressions of applause from different parts of the house. Lord Castlereagh then took up the ministerial cause, on the ground that Lord Liverpool maintained in the House of Lords. Mr. Whitbread afterwards made a number of observations, the general tenor of which was, to moderate the high-wrought descriptions and sanguine expectations presented in the speeches of those who preceded him, and to inculcate the propriety of taking the opportunity of a time

at

at which the different contending powers had all experienced reverses, to set on foot negociations for peace. He then proposed an amendment to the address, which consisted in omitting the warlike part of it, and terminating by recommending to his Royal Highness the Prince Regent, in the present state of affairs, when no dishonourable object could be imputed to great Britain, Russia, or France, the commencement of overtures for the general pacification of Europe.

Sir George Heathcote seconded the amendment, and some other members joined in the debates, after which the address was voted without a division.

On the question for bringing up the report of the address in the House of Commons, December 1st, Mr. Creevey rose to notice the omission in the speech of any mention of the state of the revenue and commerce of the country, and after some observatious on this head moved, as an amendment, that the address be brought up this day week. It was seconded by Captain Bennett; and the question being put, a desultory debate or conversation ensued, in which a number of members gave their opinion on various topics suggested by the address; as, war and peace, the finances, the dispute with America, &c. These, on the present occasion, could be discussed only in a very cursory manner; for, as Mr. Ponsonby remarked, addresses were now merely complimentary echoes to the speech, and were no more pledges to any specific measures to be proposed by ministers, than

the signature of "your very humble servant" to a letter, pledged thesubscriber to a particularservice. Two facts, however, were stated by the Chancellor of the Exchequer which may deserve recording: that in 1809 the sum of 2,800,0007. had been granted for the service of the Peninsula, and during the eleven corresponding months of the present year, no less than 11 millions had been applied to the support of the Spanish cause; and that, while the exports of the kingdom were in the last year but 81 millions, in this year they were 13 millions. He also explained a supposed idea thrown out by him concerning a tax on capital, to have been no more than an assertion, that if the necessity of such a tax should occur, the nation would bear it rather than submit to an insatiable and insolent enemy. The address was then read and agreed to.

Thanks to Lord Wellington, and a grant to him of 100,000l. to be laid out in land, were the subjects which next engaged both houses of parliament; but as they exercised the oratory rather than the argumentative powers, of the different speakers-since there was scarcely any other contention than which party should most highly extol the merits of the illustrious general-it is unnecessary in this place to record any particulars. The votes on both questions passed unanimously.

A second reading of the renewed gold coin bill being the order of the day in the House of Commons on December 8th, Mr. Creevey rose to state his objections to the Bill. He said, that when the

bullion