if adjournment for a fortnight; and his allegation to support that proposition was, that the physicians had assured him that his Majesty's malady was abating, and that he was in a state of progressive amendment. The declaration of a minister was not exactly what would justify them in taking the fact of the necessity as established. In saying this, he did not allude to any one minister more than another. The observation applied to the office of minister. The house ought to look for better evidence. Even one physician were examined, it would be something; and if he established the necessity, the house would then proceed to act accordingly, and he himself would have been happy to second the motion for adjournment. But the conduct of the right hon. gentleman placed him in a most painful and difficult situation. If the right hon. gentleman had moved an adjournment only for a week, he should have found much less difficulty in acceding to the proposition. If his Majesty continued to improve, they might then adjourn for another week. But suppose his malady took a decided turn for the worse, he believed that then the right hon. gentleman himself would regret that he had proposed to adjourn for a longer period than a week. He, (Mr. Ponsonby,) was therefore anxious that the house should not adjourn for more than a week. Mr. Canning admitted that this was a question on which it was possible to entertain different views without impeachment of motives in any quarter. The hon. gentleman opposite seemed to think that, as the house had met, it was its duty to proceed to some act of business. This, however, was a matter of discretion. It was no dereliction of duty in the house to wait for a short time, to see whether its interference would be necessary. This, under the circumstances, he thought it adviseable to grant, and would, therefore, support the motion for adjournment. Mr. Tierney, in explanation, disclaimed any idea of an examination of the Physicians by parliament. All that be and his friends contended for was, that they should have a regular and authentic assurance that there was a reaSouable prospect of the speedy termination of the King's malady. The examnation might have taken place before the privy council, and nothing more need have been given to the house, than the general result. He implored the house not to think that they had contended for an examination of the physicians at the bar. They had required nothing more than that proper ground should have been laid for the step which they were called upon to take. Mr. C. Wynne spoke a few words against the adjournment. Mr. Sheridan reminded the house of what took place at their last meeting. The right hon. gentleman had then declared, that unless the renmstances with respect to his Majesty's heal here more unfavourable, he would call on them to consider the propriety of their farther adjourning. Those circumstances, fortunately, were not more unfavourable, but, on the contrary, were more flatttering to the wishes of the house and the country. The right hon. gentleraan therefore, called on them to give their sanction to a farther adjournment, in expectation of his Majesty's speedy recovery. With respect to the period of their adjournment, he could not help thinking that he proposed a moderate time for the sake of unanimity, however, he should have no objection to an adjournment for one week only, but this he was afraid would not produce the desired effect, as the hon. baronet (Sir F. Burdett) had declared that nothing less would satisfy him than an adjourument from day to day. The hon. baronet had expressed his wish that the executive power should not remain vacant. A precedent had been alluded to in 1804, but he believed it was that of 1801 that was intended. Had parliament met, it was said, and it should appear that his Majesty was incompetent to the duties of the executive, the two houses of parliament might proceed to supply the deficiency. This was precisely the case in 1801, when the notoriety of his Majesty's illness was as much as the deficiency of any act could have rendered it. The minister had declared that the state of his Majesty's health had prevented his receiving the seals of office. His Majesty had on that occasion been six weeks ill, which was longer than he had been now. At last, a member of the house (Mr. Nicholls) gave notice of a motion to take into consideration the means of supplying the defect in the executive. Having heard of this notice he (Mr. Sheridan) came down to the house and moved an adjournment for a few days, which was carried. On that occasion no formal enquiry was thought necessary, and the very first thing that the King enquired after his recovery, was, whether or not any public enquiry had taken place respecting the state of his health, and on his learning that no enquiry bad been instituted, had expressed himself highly gratified. (Here there was a call of Order; and Mr. Sheridan said, that perhaps he might be out of order, but every gentlemar present would easily surmise what it was his intention to say.) It had been said that the testimony of the physicians was necessary, but there was no doubt that ministers, before making the report they had now heard, had examined them and ascertained their opinion. He was not unwilling to agree to a shorter adjournment, if the hon. baronet pleased, but was afraid, from what that hon. member had said, that he was not disposed to accede to any adjournment. Sir S. Romilly, disapproving of the adjournment, was anxious to give his reasons for the vote he should give on the occasion. He entirely coincided with the opioion expressed by the hon. baronet, that the house would better fulfil its duty by adjourning from day to day. He had not heard from his right hon. friend (Mr. Perceval) any reason why the house should, by so long an adjournment, put it out of its power to proceed to act, in case of necessity. The members had been assembled from all parts of the country, and now that they were met, why was the country to be deprived of their assistance in case of emergency? Mr. Bathurst had trusted that there would be no difference of opinion on this occasion. With respect to the report that had been made them, it was necessary they should either trust to it or call the physicians before them. To the latter proceeding he should feel extremely reluctant, so long as any hopes remamed of recovery, and at present he thought it far from being necessary. He acquiesced entirely with the motion. Mr. Elliot wished that a more official and satisfactory communication had been made. Mr. Wilberforce did not think that an examination of the physicians at their bar was necessary to constitute a parliamentary ground on this occasion. He had heard the statement made by the right hon. gentleman, and that he thought sufficient to warrant their adjournment. It was evident from the most respectable authority that his Majesty was better, and no gentleman, he believed, with the exception of the bon. baronet, would contend that in such circumstances they ought to do any thing but adjourn. To those gentlemen who were for adjourning from day to day, that they might have an opportunity of acting as circuinstances required, he would say he had particular objections to this mode of proceeding, as it would be necessary for them to have a report, every day, of the state of his Majesty's health, and these various reports, with the feelings to which they would give rise, would lead to the most unpleasant consequences, not to mention the necessity they would be under of deciding every day whether his Majesty was better or worse. It was said that we ought to have more satisfactory assurance of his Majesty's state of convalescence; but he trusted that no man would doubt the honour of a member of parliament, and particularly of a right honourable gentleman so high in office, whose honour he considered as a sufficient security for the information they had received. Under all the circumstances of the case, he was friendly to the adjournment, which he should have opposed, had there been no prospect of his Majesty's re FOREIGN INTELLIGENCE. FROM THE LONDON GAZETTES. Downing-Street, Nov. 19. Dispatches, of which the following are Copies, have been received at the Earl of Liverpool's office, addressed to his lordship, by Lieut.-Gen. Viscount Wellington. - Pero Negro, Oct. 20, 1810. MY LORD, - Since I addressed you the enemy have been employed principally in reconnoitering the positions occupied by our troops, and in strengthening their own.In effecting the former object they have skirmished with the troops on our out-posts, who have always conducted themselves well. On the 14th. they attacked with infantry, supported by artillery, a small detachment of the 71st. regiment, which formed the advanced guard of Lieutenant-Gen. Sir Brent Spencer's division, near Sobral de Montagaree, in order to cover one of their reconnoitering parties. This detachment, having the hon. Lieut.Col. Cadogan and Licut.-Col. Reynell at their head, charged the eneany in the most gallant style, and drove them into the town. The whole of the 8th. corps d'armee, however, and part of the 6th. arrived on the ground near Sobral on that evening; and I therefore thought it proper to withdraw Lieut.-Gen. Sir B. Spenver's division from the advanced situation which it had occupied, and these tropps marched to Zibreira, about one mile in the rear, on the 15th. in the morning. The gunboats on the Tagus, under Lieut. Berkeley, with which Admiral Berkeley has supported the right of the army near Alhandra, have likewise been engaged with the enemy's reconnoitering parties, and have been of great service to us. I have the pleasure to inform your lordship, that the report which I communicated to you in my last dispatch, regarding the march of the detachments of troops under the command of Gen. Barcellar, has been confirmed, Col. Trant arrived near Coimbra on the 7th. and immediately attacked the enemy's out-posts, which he cut off from the town, and he then pushed into it, and took possession of it. The resistance made by the enemy did not last long, and he took 80 officers and 5,000 men (principally sick and wounded) prisoners. I have the honour to inclose the copy of his report to Marshal Beresford, and of a letter from Marshal Beresford upon this suc CCSS. On the following day Brig Gen. Miller and Col. Wilson arrived at Coimbra with their detachments, and they have since taken about 350 prisoners, being soldiers who had straggled from their regiments, on the enemy's march, as they say in search of food. Col. Wilson has since advanced to Condeixa, with an advanced guard of infantry and ca valry, and Brig. Gen. Miller is at Coimbra. I inclose a letter from Marshal Beresford on these transactions. A detachment from the garrison of Peniche, sent out by Brig.-Gen. Blunt, under Capt. Fenwick, has been successful in a similar manner, and has brought in 48 prisoners made in the rear of the enemy's ar my, having killed nine; and LieutCol. Waters, who has been employ ed by me with small detachments of cavalry and infantry, also in the ene my's rear, has taken many prisoners. The difficulties which the enemy experience in procuring subsistence, owing to their having invaded this country without magazines, and ha ving adopted no measures for the security of their rear, or of their com munication with Spain, has rendered it necessary for the soldiers to straggle in search of food; and not a day passes that prisoners and deserters are not sent in. All remained quiet in the north of Portugal, according to the last accounts. Marshal Moitier retired from Zafra and Los Santos on the 8th; and, according to the last accounts, he had arrived at Seville with the troops under his command. Gen. Ballasteros had followed him to the neighbourhood of Castilla de las Guardias, and the Portuguese and Spanish cavalry had moved on from the Guadiana towards the Sierra Morena. In the mean time, the infantry of the Marquis de la Romana's corps was put in motion for this quarter on the 8th. instant and the head of it (the division under the sommand of Gen, O'Donnell) arrived at Cabeca de Montechique yesterday, having crossed the Tagus in the morning.-My last accounts from Cadiz are of the 4th. instant. I have the honour &c. WELLINGTON. Fort Sobral, Oct. 17. MY LORD, I have the honour to report to your lordship, that, by letters from Brig-Gen. Miller, from Coimbra, I am informed of our northern militia having entered that place on the 8th inst. Col. Trant, with the Oporto militia, it appears, (I have no report from that officer) first entered it; and Brig.Gen. Miller, and Colonel Wilson, who, with the militia of the Minho, and some regular cavalry, had followed the enemy along his own line of march, on the eastward of the Siera of Caramula, entered a few hours after Colonel Trant. Brig.-Gen. Miller had collected, of stragglers and pillagers left in the rear of the French army, about 350, and more were continually bringing in. Colonel Wilson, with an advanced guard of about 200 cavalry, and four battalions of tilitia, was to be at Condeixa on the 10th and 11th. The whole of these prisoners have been sent off to Oporto. I have, &c, W. C. BERESFORD. Cazal Cochin, Oct. 20. MY LORD,Since writing to your lordship the information I have received from Brigadier-General Miller relative to the re-occupation of Coimbra, I have received from Colonel Trant a more de tailed statement of the circumstances, and which I have the honour of annexing a copy for your lordship's information. The prisoners, by Colonel Trant's statements, appear to have been more numerous than by the first accounts we were led to consider them; three or four hundred afterwards collected by Brig.Gen. Miller, dispersed in plundering parties in the neighbourhood of Coimbra, will have to be added to what Colonel Trant captured. The circumstance and mode of the re-occupation of Coimbra is an additional proof of the activity and prudent enterprise with which Colonel Trant has fulfilled the objects of the instructions given to him, and which I have no doubt your lordship will appreciate. W. C. BERESford. Colonel Trant to Gen. Beresford. I feel great pleasure in informing your excellency, that I have this day happily entered Coimbra, with the loss of only very few men killed or wounded. In my letter of the 6th instant. I had the honour to inform you, that I intended to march to Mialbada in the course of the day, for the purpose of joining the corps that were there under the command of Brig -Gen. Miller and of Col. Wilson, and of combining an attack against this city; but when I arrived there, I was informed that these corps had been delayed for want of supplies in the country adjoining Busaco, which was entirely exhausted; and, also, that their cavalry could not advance rapidly on account of the fatigue they experienced in their first marches. The only alternative that remained, in order to prevent the enemy from taking any means of defence in Coimbra, I be ing only three short leagues distant from that city, was to put myself in march for Coimbra, with my own division alone, it being very probable that the enemy were ignorant of my arival at Mialhada. I therefore began my march at noon, the advanced guard being composed of a squadron of cavalry, under the command of that brave officer, Lieut. Doutel, whom I had occasion before to mention to your excellency. This squadron was supported by 200 light troops. The regiment of Coimbra had the post of honour in front of the column of infantry. My plan of attack was to enter Coimbra by two points at the same time; one division by the road of Oporto, and the other, separating itself from the column at Fornos, was to gain the heights which begin at the town, and to enter by the gate of Santa Anna, marching forward to Loreto; but this plan was only to take place in case the enemy met them at the gates. 4000 are on their march for Oporto, including one whole company of the Emperor's marine guards. Three thousand five hundred muskets fell into our possession, nearly the whole of which were charged; from whence you may judge of the number of effective men. I have distributed these arms among the ordenanza of the country, We found no artillery, but we have taken a quantity of cattle and sheep, which the enemy had collected for the subsistence of their troops. There are about 80 officers among the prisoners, as well as I can judge. M. Flaudin, the commissary in chief, who acted as governor, remains sick at Coimbra. From the nature of the attack, your excellency will easily perceive the difficulty that there was in preventing the soldiers and armed peasants from plundering the prisoners; and I am sorry to say that the latter committed some acts of violence, but I believe only six or eight French have been the victims of their resentment. I have to observe, that nothing can exceed the state of misery that prevails in this city. The enemy, not content with having plundered every part of it, and robbing every one they met, set fire to some houses, and had heaped up in the streets, in the greatest disorder, all the provisions that the army could not carry along with it; so that it could scarcely be expected that about 800 soldiers, natives of this city and its vicinity, sur At a small distance from Fornos, upon the road of Mialhada, I fell in with a detachment of the enemy to the left of that town, and beginning to fire, I pushed forward the cavalry to Fornos, and fortunately cut off their communication with Coimbra. This detachment surrendered, after losing several men; and not meeting with any troops of the enemy, I ordered the cavalry to advance at a gallop by the principal roads, and that crossing the bridge of the Mondego, they should take post on the road to Lisbon, for the purpose of cutting off all communication with the army; which was executed with great spirit and bravery by Lieutenant Doutel, with the loss of only one dragoon killed. I or dered that the divisions of infantry should march towards the principal places in the city; in doing which they met with,rounded by their wretched relatives and a resistance that lasted one hour. Our only loss was two killed and 25 wounded; among the latter was Col. Serpa, of the regiment of Penafiel. This officer commanded the first brigade, the conduct of which deserves your excellency's approbation. A greater force of the enciny, which was stationed at Santa Clara, in the quarter of the Mondego, kept up an irregular fire for some ime upon our cavalry when they passed the bridge; but the French officer who commanded it, when he observed that Lieutenant Doutel crossed the bridge, proposed a capitulation; I was present at this parley, in which no other proposition was admitted than that the enemy should surrender at discretion, with the promise of being protected against the insults of the peasantry. The troops laid down their arms and retired. I have reason to believe that the num ber of prisoners exceeds 5000; uf which acquaintances, could be patient witnesses of a scene of devastation in which their property was destroyed in so iniquitous and scandalous a manner. However, I beg your excellency will believe that I did every think in my power to protect the French that fell into our hands; and after the two first move. ments of violence, I succeeded in securing them against insult. As the corps of Brig.-Gen. Millar and Col. Wilson will arrive here in the morning, I propose to leave one of my brigades, and proceed with the rest of the division, with the prisoners, to Oporto; for the animosity of the mhabitants is so much excited by the recent passage of the French army, that I consider my presence absolutely necessary, and particularly in the districts between the Mondego and the Vouga. NICHOLAS TRANT. |