The Sun.
London, England, 1810-02-20 00:00:00

LORD CHATHAM's NARRATIVE.

_ .
.
On the motion for the House going into the'
Committee on the' Expedition to the Scheldt, .
Lord FOLKESTONE observed, that the IttgoirY:a
Vaticed so slowly, that though a fortnight 'had poss.._
ed since the commencement of it; nothing of-ito'.• • -
portance bad been done. He thought it
proper to allot more time to it. He had, 1161A/67.1A.7,1,
to-tall the, attention of the B ouse to soniettlit)Pa(-iftl
-extrabalinary. A paper had been called fir a-lc'''.
nights back, which he conceived there would hitv°,:
been a great difficulty in'pooducing, and the iir(l--
du&ion of which he thought a great irregularity.-- ,
The, House, he thought, would pause before: 0111
consented to admit it. The paper was a .narrati'-o
relating to the condfid of Lord Chatham, giver` ill •
by him to the King, without the intervention of
any Officer whatever. It 'was drawn up withjot.
being addressed to any one—without any sort 01,
heading, and subscribed Chatham, and purportec..
to have been presented to the King. How we''
they to know that it was correct ? Who Nirzs resPen-
sible for it ? It was slated to hate been I)rodur_'.edtty
F.
ntiolet irihtallenc7llHooroZf althtebtxi(;ll-11e6)(1.11erH(ohNev, cLarn(Yred that‘vas
the Chancellor of the
.4xchequer should produce a
paper on military matters ? Another extraordinary
thing, was, that they were informed by the news-
papers-some months ago that a. paper of the kind
bad been put into the King's hand. Now the paper
in question was. not moved fur before the tSib
_of
February, and though it pureortt..d to have been .
written in OetOber, it appeared not to have. been
presented to the. King till the 14th, the day before
it was mentioned in that House. How did they
know but it was not in 'existence more than 48
hours. before it was moved for ? How did theY
know it had not been put in existence:On that ".":
casion y The order under the sign manual diretteu
him, as Commander of the Exi.edition, to corre•
spond with the Secretary of -State; instead 'of doing
so he ',lad gone to the, King with' his narrative. He
had. not read it himaell; -he knew nothing of Its
contents. . The Heuse ought to be cautious. hot''
they received a document under such circumstances.
How had it been produced ? Had it.come frorh
any offiee,' Or had'i he Chancellor of the Exchequer
'been into his Majesty's closet for it ?
Mr:CANNING-apprehended the paper was address-
ed to the King, and not to any Minister under
I.vhom he had- been employed. He though
question whether it should be received in that form
ought to be seriously v‘ei&hed. He did not know
of thing that could do away or even qualify the
objettion. He should it every.order must be
supposed to be addressed to-- sane responsible 011ie
cer,- and it, would lead to. the most serious conse'l',
quences, if papers were thus submit tt cl to the Kings
instead of being 'conveyed in a constitutional
ner tei that House. The House Might get i'n°
`cry unpleasant sittsation, if, having lead this P 3;
-per,--they were to go into a mixed centersat,ioll on
0
the.sobjett. He thought nothing v.-as to be
cbhatraßietewrit.ollfdrCa wornthmeall)idaleire. rip as
of a Cabinet Minister. It should be vvithdiawn at'
'addressed to tlie "Secietary of State; to be by hei'6..t
communicated to the HOU3O: This lineof cod,' -
be„f tht%;
Chief,it .vvasai‘lvdrintt(e)tniiniithiria7_,,:
humbly submitted, to. the coesideration
House, as becoming acquainted vt'ith the contents of
the paper might, instead of siiiiplifYis*/ retie
make.the business more complex than it vote'
otherwise be. This he proposed OS'Il simple rerny
by which they Might avoid inconvenience.s of Coo"
siderable magnitude.
413
The CHANCELLOR of the EXeHEQUER agreed 4'
of
his Right Houourable Friend, that the
.receiving the' paper could not be colleeted from
ttS
contents. He boa ever' contended, that the 0°134-
. had not been taken by _surprise. The paper -vas
'described when it was moved for, anti 111",'0 *as9e •
• ty o'
. rite ,time when any doubts as to the proprie
receiving it ought to have been expressed, if-sucDr
ought to have been expressed at alt.*: The papa
had been depwsited in the Office of )he SecretatY
of State for the War Depi.rtuient,. and the res 1)""
propriety
sibility, if .any,
must attach itself to Lord Liver-.
pool. He could see no objection to the paper being
read.
be-- '
General Lori. had no intention of talcirlg -
House by surprise; on the contrary, he WO glve-n
notice of the motion for producing the paper.
- [The -Narrative- was thee- reed. Irepriricipalif
related to -the operations of the armament previous,
tilt;
oi
pt its
rlanding s
f;
ori ts
debarkation, progress up the Schekh
and the ,10
tlje
11011 With the Admiral, .Sir R. Strachan; on
bead. Amoeg other observations, it WaS therein."
• stated, that the Cemmander in Chief had.comina-
.oleated with the `Admiral- Sri • the 3d' Ateeat,
011
the, pre,sino- necessity -of m tid
`raking a Isllng
the utino,tt)dispatch. To that communication
•no •
answer'r. had been returned until 'the. Bth. titter
some farther observations, it concludes with swoop
that the Adrhiral. would, no doubt, account for
delay-which arose-in- the iia\al part of the atiitla7.7
meat, se far as res. eeted :the want of ;
in landing.] 7 -
Lord.FeeregTotas was at a loss. to conteive;hl
the paper could be got rid of, fiat ing (ince,
laid upon' the table of the House. Ha e,els
the genourab,le Member ha d for it,; pro lot:'
tiOn, and he was sorry ;ii.so that -the li,ight 11%'";
Gentleman had produced it, hecanie the taper, h'"
fob:11d its way to the Royal i-:reSence in a most- "li.
constitutidrial- rnanni!r, and fat w hich no• Minister,
was responsible. - Thu Noble Lord wo=rld be -Or°
to hear ftom the Chair in what manner it could..bo
disposed of.
YORKE apologized for having Misundersteea
the nature,eifinahat wari,d:cri before the 'Haase- I.l`-.
thou ht the raper (night to have.beee objeeiJed
when It was about to be refe ed to, the

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