The Sun.
London, England, 1808-06-25 00:00:00

-ition fully justified. his appointment to
such critical responsibility. lit the same
Must Observe, that 'the accidental pre-
Seoce, of that .Officer .in -England to take the corn-
, mand of the Swedish Expedition, deserves expla-
nation ; I say accidental, because if public report is
to be credited, the arrival in England of Sirlobtr
Moore from Sicily was as unexpeCted by his Ma-
jeaty's Ministers as by the Country at large. Ircer-
tainly appears -.extraordinary, that • a-,force of
10,00 Men, employed in the, ,defence of such
an import poMt as Sicily, sbonld, reach the English
shores without the previous knowledge of Govern-
mem. Did this arise from any clerical error in
the orders, or frony any blunder of another de-
Fcription? . Without dwelling any longer upon this
point, I will proceed, Sir, to , the principal cir-
ctinistlnce, which is, as I before observed, •that
there is now lying in the ports of. Sweden a large
British forte, completely inactive ; and that at a pe-
iicd ofthe year the, most favourable for military
}erations. From the. manner in which the Right
on. Gentleman opposite spoke of the sentiments of
the King-of Sweden, when the Swedish Treaty was
presented to the House, one, might have been led to
suppose, that when the time of action arrived, some
,previous concert would be estatilMled with respect to
the mode in which-the troops sent by this Country
should be employed. It was, therefore., Sir, that
the public became extremely surprised to learn, that
. , imsuediately on the• arrival of the troopi under Sir
John Moore, in Sweden, the Quarter-Matter-kOeneral

(an Officer whose abSence palsied an army) wib sent
, back to this Country .for instructions ; and that on
his return to SWeden Sir John Moore set off-for
Stockholm to concert a plan _of operations. These are
points which demand explanation. I wish also to be
informed by the Right Hon Gentleman opposite,
respecting .the commercial relations between Great
Britain and, Saved 6n. Have arrangements been made
that our commerce shall not be completely db-
fated. by, our best Ally ? The Right Hon. Gentle-
man said on a former occasion, that he trusted
,to
the justit.7o, to the liberality, to the discernment of
the ,E.ing -of Suieden, to' have our cortimereia4 plans

seconded by him. :Have the expectations of the
Right Hon. Gentleman' been fulfilled ? Not any
thing more, Sir,, oocurs. to me on which to call the
attention of his Majesty's Ministers, except that
must important subject-which formed the basis, of
the motion that' I had:the honour of submitting to
the I-louse on the 29th February last. I then stated,
that it did not appear to me degrading toa his COun-:
try to propose:a negotiation for peace with France.
in the interval which has elapsed, at no period has
it appeared to me that such a proposition would be
degrading. Nor can I anticipate during the recess
which is.: about to take place, any ciremustances,
the occurrence of .which can by possibility render it
inexpedient or degrading, on the part.cf this Coun-
try, to opeil such a negotiation. Having said thus
much, Sir, I shall sit down, trusting to -the"cen-
dour of his Majesty's Ministers, that they will afferd
to me and the Country every satisfa&ory explana-
ticn with regard to those subjects on which they
can communicate information without detriMent to
the public service." •
Mr. Secretary CANNINq replied to the. following
efibct
" Mr. Saeaker—The Hon. Gmtleman ileeds no
apology for making any observations, or proposing
any questions to his Majesty's _Ministers, which to
him may seem advisable. I will endeavour, Sir, as
far as lam able, and with the utindst disposition to •
frankness on 'my part, to give to the Honourable
Gentleman theisatisfaaion which he a.equir 'ca.,. In
doing this I will begin with thosetOpices with which
the. Honourable Gentleman concluded his °bier.
vationL --The Honourable Gentleman expresses
greiit, surprise that the armament sent to the as-
sistance of the King of Sweden has 4,0 t yet com-
menced..aCtiVe operations. The answer to this
remark, Sir, isle be found in the'proposition
this • armament was sent to the assistance of the
King of Sweden. It was sent to co-operate with the
Ibrces of an ally ; :to be subjea tie: plans of war-
fare which that ally might direct ; if in the interval,
that • has elapsed Ifont the fitting out of the Expedition
considerable changes have taken place in the posture
of affairs, and in 'the military councils of Sweden,
that circumstance would sufficiently accc'utit for the
inaaivity of the British force.' Ilany blame can be
impeted, to his Maje Sty's Government on this head,
it must be for the decision which pro;eCled the .Expe-
dition, and for the promptitode
,which that de-'
cision was earijed into exectnion; without waiting
until 45 possible, chance. vanished .01 its remaining
unerupleyeid on its arrival. But the lionourabie
Gentlenum expresses great surprise that the eallaht
Commander 'at that Expedition was found hi En-,.;-
land to he placed at the head Of it. have in
a great measure explained this circumstance on a
former occasion. The force under thecommand of
Sir'John Moore, in Sicily, was removed from Sicily
fa Gibraltar at the eve of a considerable military
operation in that quarter of the Continent, and when
it was highly iinportant to
,atfard the army engaged
in that operation the double chance of .receiving aid
from at home and from abroad. Sir John Moore
at rived at Gibraltar' in the latter end of November,
two days after the emigration of the Royal Family
of Portugal. Having waited for some time, of course
in vain, for acommunication with Sir Sidney Smith,
be, in pursuance of. his orders, and not in conse-.
quence of any error, returned home. As to the im-
policy of leaving Sicily with an'inadequate garrison,
1 am ready to adinit, that if it 'were possiblen would
be highly-desiislisu to attend, at same time, to
every point of our military defence ; hut, Sir, this is
impossible, there are occasions on.which a small risk
must be run, for the hope of performing a greet ser-
vicb. On this principle it was, that, his Majesty's
Oovernmenf thought it 4civiseable to weaken, lor a
titne, the garrison of Sitily. Whether, in doing so,
they were or were: not justifiable, it is,for the Coun
try.to decide. I now advert, Sir, to the qtaestions•
Of the Hon. Gentleman connected with our cotri7
merce. He asks, whether his Majesty's Govern.
mebt have any security for the co-operation of Stie.
den in their commercial arrangements. Sir, I have
no doubt but at this moment a Treaty has heen
signed at Stockholm, not of indulgent, but ofbearty
co-operation in those arrangements. As soon as the
Swedish Government were told what, was expeEte&
ftorn them by this Country, withoot weitieg for
the 'formalities of a Treaty, they: entered cordially
into our views ; but, Sir, it was thought advisable
that a regular Treaty should be concluded, and I re-

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