§ The she-rifts of London at the bar presented to the House,—A Petition of the lord Mayor Aldermen and Commons of the City of London, in common council assembled, setting forth, "That they have observed with grief and concern that a Bill has been ordered to be brought into the House for granting a pension of 2,000l. per annum for the term of three lives to the right hon. lord Viscount Wellington; and they beg to represent to the House, that a measure so extraordinary in the present situation of the country, under all the afflicting circumstances attending our armies in Spain and Portugal, under the command of that officer, cannot but prove highly injurious in its consequences, and no less grievous than irritating to the nation at large; and that in making these representations to the House, the Petitioners are urged not more from motives of economy and vigilance in the present period of difficulty and distress, than from an anxious desire, that when such marks of national gratitude are bestowed on any of the gallant defenders of their country, they shall be given in concurrence with the general sentiments of the nation, and in strict conformity to the claims of the individual; and that entertaining these sentiments, it is their painful duty to state to the House, that admitting to the utmost extent the valour of lord Wellington, the petitioners do not recognize in his military conduct any claims to this national remuneration; and that in the short period of his services in Europe not amounting to two years, they have seen his gallant efforts in Portugal lead only to the disgraceful and scandalous convention of Cintra, signed by his own hand, a transaction the sound of which must be ever hateful to British ears, and which has fixed an indelible stain on the character and honour of the country; and that in Spain the petitioners have seen the valour he displayed in repulsing the 601 French at Talavera, with immense loss of lives, produce no other consequence than his almost immediate and rapid retreat, under the mortifying and disastrous circumstance of being compelled to leave his sick and wounded to the care of his enemy; and that as yet the petitioners have witnessed no enquiry into either of those campaigns; and they conceive it to be due to the nation before its resources shall be thus applied, that the most rigid enquiry should he made why the valour of its armies had been thus so uselessly and unprofitably displayed; and that in addition to the reasons the petitioners have stated against this lavish grant of the public money to lord Wellington, they beg leave to remind the House that this officer was employed in India for several years in a variety of services, by far the most profitable that can fall to the lot of a British officer; and that himself and family possessed for a long period of time in that quarter of the world the most ample means of securing to themselves the most abundant fortunes; and that since their return to Europe this family has been in constant possession of the most lucrative offices and emoluments of the state; and the petitioners have seen lord Wellington himself enjoy the singular advantage of holding one of the greatest civil offices of the government, whilst he was in the exercise of his military command in Portugal; and they beg to state to the House that the lord Mayor, Aldermen, and Livery of London did agree to petition the King for a rigid, impartial and general enquiry into plans upon which the expeditions to Spain and Portugal were undertaken, as well as of that to Holland, and into the conduct of the commanders to whom they were entrusted; and that in direct violation of their established rights, the lord Mayor and Sheriffs, when they attended to deliver the said petition, were not only prevented from delivering the same to the King at the levee, but also denied a personal audience of his Majesty; that they beg to impress it on the House that such right was never before questioned or denied, and they were thereby prevented from laying their just complaints and grievances before their sovereign; and they conceive it to be a high aggravation of the misconduct of his Majesty's unprincipled and incapable advisers, that they have not only placed a barrier between the King and the people, but in the very face of these complaints, and in contempt 602 and defiance of public opinion, advised his Majesty to recommend to parliament the said grant to lord Wellington: and that when the petitioners take all these circumstances into their consideration, when they reflect too that the unanimous and grateful feelings of this country have never been appealed to for any similar remuneration to the family of the ever to be lamented sir John Moore, who after a long career of military glory, in the constant performance of his military duties, and receiving only his ordinary pay, after having shed his blood in almost every battle in which he was engaged; at length, to the irreparable loss of his afflicted country, he sacrificed his life in its defence; considering all these circumstances, the petitioners submit to the House, that there can be neither reason nor justice in making the proposed grant to lord Wellington; and therefore praying, that the Bill for effecting that purpose may not be permitted to pass into a law."—Ordered to lie upon the table.