Lords Sitting of 24 April 1809

MR. FRERE.
Earl Darnleywished to know from the noble Secretary of State, whether it was the intention of ministers to recal Mr. Frere. He had heard that there was such an intention, and if so he should be satisfied; but if not, he considered the conduct of Mr. Frere to have been so improper towards sir John Moore, that he should feel it his duty to call the attention of their lordships to the subject. He could not, however, at present name any day, nor could he state the precise terms of his motion.
The Earl of Liverpoolsaid, he was ready to vouch for the zeal and ability of Mr. Frere, and was convinced his intentions were good, but he had said on a former occasion, and was now of opinion, as were also his colleagues, that Mr. Frere had, so far as related to the circumstance mentioned respecting sir John Moore, adopted an improper mode of carrying his intentions into effect. Whilst upon his legs, he wished to set himself right with respect to a misrepresentation that had gone abroad, of what he had said on Friday respecting the amount of British cavalry in Portugal, on the 22d of August, during the negociation of the Armistice. He was stated to have said, that the number of our cavalry on that day in Portugal exceeded that of the French, whereas what he meant to state was, that it was known to sir Harry Burrard, that a considerable reinforcement of cavalry was on its passage. It had in point of fact arrived at that time in Mondego Bay, but that could not be known at the period of the negociation, the knowledge, however, of its being on its way thither ought to have had great influence in the negociation.
The Earl of Suffolkcalled the attention
174
of their lordships to the circumstance of several horses being killed during the retreat in Spain, in consequence of there being no shoes for them.
Earl Grosvenorstated, that a misrepresentation had gone abroad of what he had said respecting general Anstruther, who, he was stated to have said, had died for want of nourishment. On the contrary, that officer experienced every possible attention from his staff, and from those around him. Whilst Upon this subject, however, he wished to throw out for their lordships' consideration the propriety of relaxing a little the strictness of their orders, as the best way of preventing misrepresentation.