The Sun.
London, England, 1801-02-20 00:00:00

tion, or to nth any risque.beybnd that which the
ultimate objea of the • Expedition, would -justify
theme in taking. At all events, •Ministers ought
not to be attacked, both whys; there was• no
danger, the Ministers certainly could not be ac.
cused of exposing the Army ;. and if it. was an
Expedition which was attended with great difli,
culties, certainly Ministers ought not to be cen-
sured for having failed in au attack upon a place'
too 'strong to be carried. The Hon. Gentleman.
talked of examining people to obtain information
but did the Hon. Gentleman
,suppose they were ,
to. examine Witnesses as at an Qlcl Bailey trial,'
when the very circumstance of asking a question
was enough to excite suspicion ? Besides this,
the Hon. General was desired to
~consult with
Lord Sr. Ville ENT, and aEtually consulted with
him on board his own Ship. He (Mr. DUNDAS)
was• certainly not present at the interview, but
tlic accounts which he received after it had taketv
place, were such as induced`him to entertain very
sanguine hopes of success*. Under these circum-
'stances. he would again ask the House, if Mini-
sters were to blame ? It was true, that from the
circumstance of our Frigates having been blown
off from their station before Ferrol, the Hon.
General was deprived of one means of informa-
tion ; but. that: was 'not the fault of Ministers,
for they communicated every information of
which they were possessed. No body had made
any complaint -that the Armament had not been
well fitted omit; or that there had been'any failure
in the Civil Department. No blame, therefore,
he contended, could attach .upon His Majesty's
Ministers ; and as to the Hon. General, the state-
ment which he had made this night, independent
of his long-established charader, would, he was
sure, rescue himlrom every imputation.

*HORNE TOOKE said, he should vote
' Motion, though it was against his' own
i est, for if the House should- not think it
.worth their while to inquire into a matter of this
importance, Old Saturn would hardly be able to
gain their attention, and Priest -or no Priest
could scarcely appear worthy of their considera-
tion. But he should do on this occasion what,
undoubtedly, many Gentlemen in that House
often did, namely, sacrifice their private interest
to a sense of public duty. He should also make
another sacrifice, and defend the Right Hon. Gen-
tleman who had spoken last; he should defend
him for the first, and probably for the last time.
This appeared at first to be a mere Military ques-
tion, but the Hon. General had done what he
promised, viz. to make it easy to decide upon.
From what he had seen, he was inclined to think
this Question was likely to be lost ; but there
seemed to be certain feelings on both sides of-the
House, which prevented them from arguing thia
Question fairly and fully. . The Hon. General
had stated that, in his opinion the Ministers
were justified in umfertaking the Expedition;
and the Right Hon. Gentleman' who spoke last,
had defended the Hon. General for the manner in
which the Expedition had been concluded. Each
Party defended .the other -, but if it was to be ar-
gtied in this manner, the truth of the Question
would be lost. It did appear however to kiln,
that what had fallen from ' the Right Hon. Gen-
tleman who spoke last, had been corroborated by
the Hon. General ; but at the . same. time the eY
planation of tin. kinn, neural lid induced him to
think there was something wrong. He did not
like to hear a, defence rested upon a Madrid Ga-
zette. He would, without meaning any personal
offence, suppose it possible that the Hon. General
kid not dope every thing which he mighty
have done, and he would ask, whether there
ever was a General who could not make
as good a defence as that which they lnid just
heard r The Hon. General would not allow the
Navy to be judges, because they were not near
enough to observe th'e place. The inferior Offi-
cers of the Army were not allowed to be judges,
because they were employed at their stations;
who then was •to judge- of the Hon. General's
condua ? 'Why, the Hon. General himself. It
really appeared to him that the case was in flavour
of the Right Hon. Secretary, who had, ,in his
opinion, compktely exculpated himself from all
blame. if, 'however, 'as he before said, this
question was not carried, it woulct be in his fa-
vour ; for if -the Houscwould lint inquire, into
~this great and ' important-question, they would
,1 inquire what a Priest was, or what kind of
. ion remained upon
.him after 3o years qua_4 inn. He should now conclude with giving his
tithe for the MOtion; and wlthdefending the Right
Hon. Secretary, . who never had defended him. ;.
Lord BELGRAVE opposed the Motion.

Sir JAMES PULTENEY, in explanation,
said, that he had not relied upon the Madrid Ga-
zette ; but as it was natural for the Enemy, after
having been successful, to:state ikeir force rather
lower than higher, he thought himself justified in
supposing they had stated their forces as low as
they could. He still .continued.to think that the
Navy, who could not'see the place; and the in-
ferior Officers of the Army, who were emphiyed
at their station, were not the best judges, but he
‘voula leave it to the Geitered Officers who had
examined the place.
Colonel GA,SCOY NE conceived this to be a
subjea which called for Inquiry, and therefore
should vote for the-Motion.

Mr. ELLISON said, if he was in the situation
of the Hon. General, he should be extremely
anxious for an Inquiry into his copduCt ; perhaps
he should have applied to hits D4LESTY to order
a Court of Inquiry. In the Navy, a ship could
not be lost without an, investigation of the con_
duet of the Commanding Officer, and certainly a
great Expedition like this deserved Inquiry ; the
Nation in general called for it, and he thought it
was due to the Hon. General, :and to the Officers
and Men of the gallant Army he commanded.
Mr. .rlrr said, he was very ready to agree,
that where there was any round laidlor Inquiry,
the House ought to entei into it, though perhaps
such an Inquiry would be better condu(ted by ,a
Military Court., than by a Committee of that