CHAPTER XII.

MOTIONS OF THANKS TO SIR DAVID BAIRD IN BOTH HOUSES OF PARLIAMENT- SIR DAVID'S REPLY RETIRES INTO THE COUNTRYCREATED A BARONET-MARRIES

REMOVES TO SCOTLAND-VISITS

LONDON PREFERS HIS CLAIMS TO A MILITARY PEERAGE-THEY REMAIN UNNOTICED-APPOINTED TO THE COMMAND OF THE ARMY IN IRELAND -LETTER TO THE DUKE OF YORK-SIR DAVID'S OPINIONS UPON THE STATE OF THAT COUNTRY-HE IS SWORN OF THE PRIVY COUNCIL-VISIT OF KING GEORGE THE FOURTH TO DUBLIN -SIR DAVID RENEWS HIS CLAIM TO THE PEERAGE-REDUCTION OF THE TROOPS IN IRELAND-SIR DAVID'S REMONSTRANCE-LORD welLESLEY APPOINTED

LORD LIEUTENANT COMMAND REDUCED ΤΟ THAT OF A LIEUTENANT-GENERAL-SIR DAVID RETURNS TO ENGLAND- LETTER TO THE DUKE OF YORK -HIS ROYAL HIGHNESS'S ANSWER-LETTER FROM MR. PEEL-SIR DAVID MEETS WITH A SERIOUS ACCIDENT -CONSEQUENT ILLNESS APPOINTED GOVERNOR OF FORT GEORGE ATTENDS THE KING'S LEVEE- RETURNS TO EDINBURGH-INCREASED ILLNESS-IS REMOVED TO FERN TOWER-TEMRELAPSE-CONCLUDING DETAILS

PORARY AMENDMENT-SUFFERS A
AND OBESRVATIONS.

ON the 25th of January, Lord Liverpool in the House of Peers, and Lord Castlereagh in the House of Commons, moved the thanks of Parliament to Sir David Baird, and the officers and troops under his command, "for their gallant conduct in repulsing a superior French force before Coruña.”

In the debate which strangely arose out of this motion, Lord Moira arraigned the conduct of minis

ters, as having marred the greatest opportunity that ever presented itself, and declared, that all hopes which might have been formed of establishing an alliance on the Continent had utterly vanished; and his lordship, having declared that not a state in Europe would have anything to say to England, added, that nothing but the interference of the country itself could save it, by putting an end to a system of weakness and incompetence that was hurrying it into ruin.

Lords Mulgrave and Sidmouth ably defended the policy of the Government, and the latter noble lord, in repelling the gloomy forebodings of the noble earl, said, in eulogizing the conduct of the gallant officers concerned in the campaign, that when he considered the disadvantages under which the battle of Coruña was fought; that it was after a rapid march of seventeen days successively, by routes hardly practicable, through a country affording no resources; it appeared to him as one of the most noble instances of courage and patience that the military annals of any country could boast.

Lord Grenville, who, in common with all the noble lords who spoke, eulogized the valour and perseverance of the Generals commanding, and the gallantry of every individual composing the army, took a similar tone with Lord Moira:-"The conduct of the troops," said his lordship, "is above all praise. They discharged their duty to their country. The failure and slaughter through which they had passed to the last exhibition of their valour,

66

they owed solely to the disastrous councils which employed that valour upon a frantic and impracticable object." His lordship subsequently denounced the expedition as " visionary and frantic," and concluded an eloquent speech, replete with praises of the army and its commanders, with this prophetic sentence: "Disasters might have been expected, but success was impracticable. The fault was in the system, in the advisers of this notable plan for opposing the overwhelming power of France, and not in the brave men who were charged with the desperate task of executing it. Of a country so governed, and so content to be governed, no sanguine expectations could be entertained."

Lord Grenville and Lord Moira were replied to, by Lord Westmoreland, who observed, that it was rather strange that the latter noble earl, who had expressed such deep and unfeigned concern for the failure of the expedition to Spain, had none of those poignant feelings for the little military disasters that took place under the administration of which he formed a part,- for the brilliant enterprise at Alexandria, the no less noble achievement at Constantinople, or the triumphs of Buenos Ayres.

"It was strange," continued the noble Earl, "that the noble baron (Grenville,) also never gave vent to his sorrow in that house when the subject of the return through Holland, much more calamitous than this to Coruña, was under discussion, or when the troops were brought away from the Helder. Their Lordships heard nothing upon

those occasions from the two noble lords, of useless sacrifices of British blood and valour. He lamented that they did not then display a portion of that exquisite feeling with which they appeared to overflow at present."

The motion of thanks was carried unanimously. Lord Castlereagh, in the House of Commons, moved the thanks of the House to General Sir David Baird, and all the other Generals and Officers engaged in the battle of Coruña, and of high approbation of the conduct of the non-commissioned officers and privates of the army, for the valour displayed by them on that day. This motion was carried unanimously.

On Monday, January 31st, the Lord Chancellor acquainted the House that he had received a letter from Sir David Baird, expressing his gratitude for the honour conferred upon him by their vote of thanks for his conduct in the battle of Coruña.

On the following day, in the House of Commons, the Speaker acquainted the House that he had received a letter from Sir David Baird, in answer to the communication he had made to that gallant officer, of the vote of thanks passed on Wednesday last to him, and to the army under his command.

The Speaker then read Sir David's letter, which shortly expressed his thanks to the House for the honour thus conferred on him, and the army under his command, and a high sense of the approbation of Parliament. It concluded by requesting the Speaker to make these sentiments known to the House, and

particularly thanking him for the very polite and flattering manner in which he had conveyed the sense of Parliament.

After receiving these testimonies of national gratitude, and having been honoured with the red ribband, Sir David suffering extremely, not only from the amputation, or rather, extraction of his arm from the socket, but from a wound, simultaneously inflicted by the same shot, in his side, sought the advantages of repose after his long and arduous course of service; and accordingly purchased a small estate in Hertfordshire, called Yardleybury, at which place he constantly resided, with the exception of occasional visits to London, until the spring of 1810.

On the 13th of April 1809, he was created a baronet, with remainder, in default of male issue, to his brother, Mr. Baird, of Newbyth; a distinction, however, which he considered so inadequate to his services, that it was with reluctance he accepted it at the persuasion of his friends.*

On the 4th of August 1810, Sir David Baird married Miss Campbell Preston, niece of Sir Robert Preston, of Valleyfield, Bart.t

A baronetcy of Scotland has been in the family of Baird ever since the year 1695. On the demise of Sir David, he was succeeded in the new baronetcy of 1809 by his nephew, now Sir David Baird, who married August 10th, 1821, his cousin, the Right Honourable Lady Anne Kennedy, eldest daughter of the Marquis of Ailsa.

†The family of Preston is of great antiquity; their original seat was Craig Millar Castle, near Edinburgh, the magnificent