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The History of England in Three Volumes, Vol.III. / From the Accession of George III. to the Twenty-Third Year of the Reign of Queen Victoria cover

The History of England in Three Volumes, Vol.III. / From the Accession of George III. to the Twenty-Third Year of the Reign of Queen Victoria

Chapter 726: HONOURS CONFERRED ON WELLINGTON, ETC.
By Edward Farr
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About This Book

The volume traces British political, parliamentary, and military developments from the accession of George III through the early nineteenth century, chronicling changes of ministry and cabinet, debates over colonial taxation and the American conflict, parliamentary controversies involving figures such as Wilkes and Warren Hastings, questions of Catholic relief and slave-trade abolition, and responses to the French Revolution and Napoleonic wars, including major naval and continental campaigns, the union with Ireland, and domestic legislation on finance, civil liberties, and parliamentary reform.

HONOURS CONFERRED ON WELLINGTON, ETC.

The news of the important events which had taken place in Fiance arrived while the spring session of the British parliament was sitting. Loud acclamations were heard from every part of the house when Lord Castlereagh, who had been our negociator at Paris, appeared again in the house; but louder and longer still were the shouts of applause, when the great general, who had recently been raised to a dukedom, took his seat among them. A splendid provision was settled on him by parliament. In addition to a former grant of £100,000 the chancellor of the exchequer moved a farther vote of £300,000 for the purchase of an estate for him, but at the suggestion of Whitbread and Mr. Pousonby, two leading members of opposition, it was increased to £400,000. Moreover, the house of commons conferred on his grace the unprecedented distinction of sending a deputation to offer him its thanks, as well as congratulations on his return to his own country. The duke acknowledged this compliment in person on the 1st of July, on which occasion he was greeted by all the members with enthusiasm, and addressed by the speaker in an appropriate and animated speech. Nor were the duke’s companions forgotten. Grants and peerages were bestowed on Sir Thomas Graham, Sir William Beresford, Sir Rowland Hill, Sir John Hope, and Sir Stapleton Cotton. But there was one name omitted in this list which gave general dissatisfaction in the country—the name of “Picton,” by whose sword the British troops were led to the victorious assault of Ciudad Rodrigo; by whose daring hand the British standard was planted on the castle of Badajoz; whose battalions, when the usurper of the Spanish throne was driven to his last stand at Vittoria, filled the centre of that formidable line, before which the troops of France fled in dismay; and by whose skill, prudence, and valour, exerted in a critical hour, the enemy was foiled in his desperate attempt to break through the barrier of the Pyrenees. Picton received the thanks of the house for his valorous conduct for the seventh time; but that was all, his services were left unrewarded.