The British Press; or, Morning Literary Advertiser.
London, England, 1808-02-09 00:00:00

that Power felted upon the dominions of the Elec.
tor of Saxony. under the pretence that, the latter
had joined an
.ta treaty to partition the Prussian
territories. This attack upon an nnotleadiag
state excited the indignation of Europe, nor w.:s
the I:reduction of tlie.copies of the alleged treaty,
or t4e actual iwasession of the treat y itself, r,afficieat
to airframe it. It had been stated as a matter of
eourtre, that Zealand was unable to protect itself.—
This heWar not eilling to wirnit ; indeed, from the
dispatches, and from the groutal upon which the
Resolutions of Thanks *ere` Voted by the House,
it was impossible to conclude' but that island
was competent to a stout resistance to Ilona-
parte. It had been said that -there were thirty-
five thousand military in Zealand, which,
together with the twenty-five thousand in Holsteir,
would have altogether presented a formidable
force to any invasion from the north of Eitrope.—
Highly as tie valued the talents and pre-eunnent
services of the gallant officers who conducted that
expedition, he should still eonsider their late ser-
vices not entitled to the thanks of that House, ut-
hkss the force they had to cons end with in Den-
mark was of much more efficie. t d scription than the
servaats would admit, in irgiting the merits
'fwal principle of the expedition to the Baltic- The
'Noble Earl dwelt with ccmsidernhle strength on
the unjustifiable nature of that measure, and felt
Persuaded that the time world arrive, when even
its tnostaarignine aspporters would regret its exe-
cntion, and vuialy wash that it never had taken
place :
" Turnn tempts reit, ammo cam uptaverit emtunt
" Intactum Pall!ante, et cum .ptia iota, diet:slue •
(Merit.- ---

Lord Rt At' BY asked the House to relied
on the midtary means of France, on the power she
possessed of carrying her intentions of hostility into
effect, and oft he unwearied perseverance witherhish
she sought the ruin and subjugation of Engiand.
In such a state of and with thatlniowledge,
were Nliuisters to remain inactive until the mis-
chief was arranged ? Were they to leave ttic mist
important interests of foe country to the fluctuation
of winds and currents ? If they had, they would
have justly deserved the reprobation of the
House and the cotintry. There was notliicg
in the past conduct of Denmark to justify the
inference, that her resistance would be corn- •
ineaserate to the desirs of France. The
state of the continent of Europe was the best justi-
fication of the late seizure of the Danish navy,
independent of those arrangements in which the
plan of a nes- MilitiMit Lonfe4eriey- was formed
against this country.
The Earl of MOIRA, after some preliminary
obscrcistions, isroceeded thus'—•• My Lords, all
solid grounds, all real argument on the principle
of necessity, have .been abandoned by Ministers,
and all the e;.cuse, for they have dcacended to ex-
cuse, for their attack upon Deinnark, is nothing
but speculative convenience. I grant that there
is nothing in Europe towards which the Ruder
of France has not bent his mind, with a view to
consider how he might form it into an engine of
destruction against this Country; but what spat-
torn, what appearance, I ask, has there been cf
Denmark Navin.; entered iuto any collusion with
France agiiinst the British Empire? Even this rat. h
however, it seems, has not been required, ind it
has been stated, that the possible chance of tl a
Danish fleet being employed against us is deem( d
sufficient for the pi aitication of the proceeding
Now, it must be clear, that Denmark could not
ha a taken that coarse, nor Eaglarid have acted
as she has done, without Violating. her neutrality,
and therefore we lied the seennty of centrality
against that chance ; a security which appears from
her conduct to have been conside:ed by her suffi-
cient against all attack on the part of England.
But iu order to trace a hostile purpose to Den-
mark, Ministers have said, Cy the assembling
of the army in Holstein c4unenced with the
views of this country for the; recovery of Han-
over : but this is not true ; the army of Holstein
began to assemble in that Duchy previous to the
attadc of the French upon Hanover, arid at a time
whea it would have been sided duplicity if it had
not taken that position. I do believe that Dun-
mark felt secure against the attack of France, ou
the ground that it was not the interest of France to
attack her. From her own character, and that of
the getout Prince at her head, I do believe that
she would have fought gallantly ; aye, and per-
haps successfully ;
_for success, in such a contest,
depends more upon the public disposition and
!limit of a couatry, than upon numbers. To that
issue, the French, however, were not likely to
push Denmark, for they must have been aware
that their attack would throw the Danish army into
the arms of England. (Hear! hear!) Admitting •
the army in Holsteia to have been attacked by the
French, there was nothing to prevent its retreat
into Zealand, where the Danish forces, thus cone .
tmted, would have mounted to 35,000 men. Now,
I would ask, how was such a force to be attacked
in such a situation by France ? A few individuels.
I grant, ,might pass from the Continent into Zr a-
laud, but how was a great French army to be car-
ried over? What ways and means had France
for such an expedition ? Admitting, • however,
that under a fortuitous combination of circum-
stances, a French army in a chance moment
should succeed in throwing itself into Zealand,
that would not be decisive. It would hay.. no
means of support ; it would be cut off from all its
r&ssurees • for it would be too much to phourne,
that the chance which favoured the descent would
continue so furnish necessary and regular supplies.
But what would have been the result of this, which'
is the most unfavourable case we can presume ?
Why, the Danes would ha...e then accepted ssF.tt
you offered, and for their refusal of winch, they are
now reduced to their present state. It would have
been folly in them to have acted otherwise. It
would have been worse than fully in them to refuse
the means of preserving their neutrality with you,
and maikiugsucceesful resistance against the attack
of France. Bat what is the consequence now of
all your success ? la my conscience. I think that
seven times the number of ships seised at Copen-
hagen would not compensate for one half of the
injury which this unfortunate eltpedition has he-
fleeted upon the country; and I do not think that
the loss of seven times the number of 'hips wcu'd
have so much affected its interests. Hitherto all the
Powers of the Continent have givens rel u chat groar-