DEBATES ON THE TREATY WITH SWEDEN.
On the 11th of June a treaty with Sweden was laid before parliament, which excited strong animadversion. By the solicitations of the Emperor of Russia the king and crown-prince had been induced to enter into the confederacy against France; and it was resolved, that, as the Danes had been subservient to French interests, they should be deprived of Norway for the gratification of the Swedes. To this stipulation the British court had acceded for two reasons:—first, that by the occupation of Norway the Swedes would be better enabled to secure their independence; and, secondly, because it was desirable that a country which abounded with naval stores should be possessed by a power friendly to England. The Swedes, also, were to receive a subsidy of one million from the English treasury; and the island of Guadaloupe was to be ceded to its monarch, on condition of his opening a depot for British goods at Gottenburg and other ports, in defiance of the continental system. Lord Holland deprecated the transfer of Norway; denounced the cession of Guadaloupe; and opposed the subsidy as inconsistent with the financial difficulties under which the country was labouring. The treaty was disgraceful, he said, both to Russia and Great Britain; and he expressed his disgust at the gross inconsistency of the two courts, which had so loudly exclaimed against Napoleon’s encroachments. Earl Grey was equally severe in his censures; but Lord Holland’s proposal to suspend the execution of the treaty was rejected. In the commons a similar debate took place; Mr. Ponsonby taking the lead as the opposer of the agreement; but a proposal to the same effect as that made by Lord Holland was rejected, and the prince regent was subsequently gratified with a compliant address.
PROROGATION OF PARLIAMENT.
The session closed on the 22nd of July with a speech from the throne, in which the prince regent expressed satisfaction at the favourable state of affairs on the continent, regret at the continuance of the war with the United States, and his approval of the arrangements for the government of British India. He concluded by expressing his resolution to employ the means placed in his hands by parliament in such a manner as might be best calculated to reduce the extravagant pretensions of the enemy, and facilitate the attainment of a safe and honourable peace.
GEORGE III. 1812—1814
AFFAIRS OF SPAIN.
The Russian campaign had operated favourably for the progress of the British arms in Spain. The catastrophe by which it was concluded not only prevented Napoleon from re-enforcing his marshals in Spain, But it also obliged him to recall the best of them; and among them Marshal Soult, whose generalship had cost Lord Wellington very serious thoughts. Still the French in Spain were formidable. Soult left behind him 70,000 men to oppose Wellington; and there was still an army, under Suchet, in the eastern provinces. At the opening of this year the French armies were thus disposed:—the army of Portugal, under General Reille, was in and around Valladolid; the army of the centre, under Drouet, was distributed round Madrid; and the army of the south was at Toledo. All these forces were under King Joseph, who was assisted by Marshal Jourdan; Generals Clausel and Foy commanded separate divisions in Aragon and Biscay. Against these forces Lord Wellington could only bring 63,000 British and Portuguese infantry and 6,000 cavalry, on whom he could rely; for, though measures had been taken to improve the Spanish troops, their slothfulness and indiscipline were evils which could not be suddenly remedied; and therefore his lordship did not expect great things from them. He commenced operations about the middle of May, making the allied army enter Spain in three separate bodies; the left under Sir Thomas Graham, the right under General Hill, and the centre under his own command. The French were alarmed; and on the 1st of June they were in full retreat before Graham. Subsequently the three divisions of the allied army united; and Wellington was also joined by the Spanish army from Galicia, and by a Spanish force from the south. Thus strengthened Lord Wellington advanced towards Madrid; and as he advanced Joseph Buonaparte again took refuge in flight. The French army retired to Burgos; but as Wellington approached they blew up the fortifications of the castle, and retreated to the Ebro. A strong garrison was thrown into the fortress of Pancoros, a little in advance of the river, and they conceived that they could defend this line; but Lord Wellington found out a new road through a rugged country, completely turned their position on the Ebro, and drove them back upon Vittoria, after a successful engagement at Osma. Lord Wellington still pursued them; and on the 21st of June he gained a complete victory over them on the plains of Vittoria. In this battle the enemy lost one hundred and fifty-one pieces of cannon, four hundred and fifteen waggons of ammunition, all their baggage, provisions, and treasures, with the French commander’s, Jourdan’s, baton of a marshal of France. Their loss in killed and wounded, according to their own statement, amounted to eight thousand men; while the total loss of the allies was seven hundred and forty killed, and four thousand one hundred and seventy-four wounded. The French army was, indeed, reduced to a total wreck; and they saved themselves from utter destruction only by abandoning the whole materiel of the army, and running away from the field of battle like an undisciplined mob. About one thousand were taken prisoners in their flight; but, lightened of their usual burdens, they ran with so much alacrity that it was generally impossible to overtake them. The spoils of the field also occupied and detained the troops of Wellington, they thinking more of the money and the wine than the flying foe. Lord Wellington, however, continued the pursuit; and on the 25th took the enemy’s only remaining gun. This victory was complete; and the battle of Vittoria was celebrated in England by illuminations and fêtes; while the Cortes, by an unanimous vote, decreed a territorial property to Lord Wellington, in testimony of the gratitude of the Spanish nation.