The Sun.
London, England, 1810-01-27 00:00:00

terwards appeared mere formidable than crer, be-
ing 50,000 strong. He believed the Noble Lord
gained his information-on that suject from the Mo-
niteur, a paper which he seetnedeo have peresed with
- great attention. He had however, to state, that the
army which , had appeared at Placentia was not
that that had been 'defeated by Lord Wellington.—
Souls' s force, it was well known, •had consisted of
two divisions,; Soolt was a senior commander, and
was nominally the-head of that force commanded by
Ney and Mortier. Some of the facts stated by the.
Noble Lord were at variance with those advanc-
ed by the Honourable Gentleman who had given
him his support. .He did not ask the House to
give credence either to the • one or to the other,
as he thought both equally unworthy their belief.
Nor was he more anxious that they should give credit
ro him. He only wished them to wait till they had
an opportunity of inspeCting the documents which
were to be laid before them. Had the Noble Lord Con-
fiped-hirnelf to Walcheren' as he at first intended,
be might .have saved himself the trouble of making so
long a , speech, and. a shorter answer, would then
have , been necessary. • He bad coniPlained of many
circumstances cormeCted with the Expedition, of
the 'delay before it sailed, and the time which
elapsed before the evacuation of Walcheren, &c.
Might not, those circumstances be satisfa&orily ex-
plained by the Papers which were to•be produced?
After thanking.' his Majesty for the inforMation
be, had been pleased ro promise them, would
it• be consistent with - their dignity, or' respeaful
to their Sovereign, 'to pledge eitemselves to insti-
tute an inquiry before those were received ? He did -
not say the promised docuMents ought not to be
inspeCted, but it might be that the criminality at-
' tacked to those concerned in the late expedition,
would fall on persons who could not with propriety
be. examined at their bar, If, for instance, the
feult should appear to. rest on the General Officers,
would the Members-of that House. form themselvei
into a Court-Martial, or would they'send those Of-
- ficers to answer for their conduct before a proper
tribunal. ?, Why should the. House pledge itself
to go into sech an inquiry,?. It vas inconvenient,
, and not only was it inconvenient, but it was abso-
' lutely .contrary to public justice. He never -knew
such an inquiry prove satisfactory—(Hear, hear,
hear !). By Gentlemen's cheering, he supposed he
sets to understand that they admitted that to be a MCI.
If. so, it •was add that they should be so anxious *for';
an inquiry, which they appeared, so {ouch to de.
precate. The Noble Lord had ,in no small degree
weakened his own arguments- (if he did not compli-
ment him too much in, calling what had fallen from.
him arguments), as after speaking for an hour,and a •
half, atter exhausting every term of reproach that it
Was in. his power to bestow, he.had -at last- said 'he
could not form a proper -judgMept on the subject
without seeing the promised documents! This was
evidently done with a veew of reserving tobiinself
a voice oir.another occasion. This he might find
-very-convenient: He had said with a gentle air, -a
tnild voce, and a subdued accent, that he would
not erejentge the case ; but with 'his loud voce L
he had told them with approrrate.` ges•iculationi
that the facts, he had stated • to them spoke. fOr .
themselves, -arid cirried -condemnation on the face
-them. Having thus far addressed himself to the
Noble Laid, he would now take some notice of the
Hon. Gent. by whom he had been seconded. A
speech snore against that which it was' intended to
support he hadneverheard. He had complained of
a watil of twat{ to prevent supplies being conveyed
from. Cedsand to Flushing. He asserted that no such
inconvenience had been experienced. He felt no he-
sitation in eantradiaing him. He had means of
knowing more on ghat subject than the• Hon. Gen-
tleman, and when asset tion went against assertion,
ip what manner would the House think it necessary
to plede,e itself to institute such an inquiry as had
• le:cn called for? Would it be respeaful to the King,
after the vote recently giteh, to give that foe Which

they 4.vere now called onbetore the papers were now
'pro.lticed ? Before they knew whether Ministers
or Generals wire likely to be the subject of that
inquiry ? It was not candid to take • the opinion
of the Horse twice on the same subject, and the
present question differed only in words from that
Which they had so lately discussed. He wistied the
House distinctly-to understand thathe did not op-
pose inquiry, but that he only wished it deferred till
they were in posses,ion of those papers, which alone
cauld enable them. to decide where or not it would
be necessary. He concluded by aiming
.the previ-

pus question.
• Mr. Biniu sT said the-list Speaker had not an-
su ered tie Noble 'Lord, to wherrnhe thought the
ceuntay so much indebted. .It was,the • undoubted
night of that House to investigate.artysubjea, a right
which they might exercise without nay disrepect to
his Majesty. He had been' misunderstood on a &r-
-ler night. •The reason he Toted as he •did was;
that it, app:?ar,d to him the •amendment expressed
an opinion 'a4:L•ady formed on that ,subject „they
proposed to inquire into. It was admitted that a
prima facie inquiry was necessary ; but because the
:Noble Lord gave the grounds on which he wished
for such -an inquiry, he-was accused of pre-judi—
ing the ease. As it was admitted an inquiry fitvas
Pecesnry, the • Noble Lbrd • ought to •be praised
for the candour .he had 'displayed, as ;be had left
the time and the mo;le of making the inquiry to
his Malady's inisters.-7-All he imant to say was
f‘ Whatever, papers you may may have to lay before
Us, we will consider them in the Committee.!'--
He
doubt"d whether the papers wctild give him sa-
tisfaction. - Many .things inight,.arde from viva
voce examinalion,. which otherW4 would not be
known: • After sorne.adiinonal.oServationS on the
'bearings of the :various arAurnOts made: ease of
in the discussion, he declar the calcßilatitiris
on which .•the • Expeditions wereiu,Oderta'ken
to
134 beyond his :comprehension..' He gave itsas his
opittiOn that the, House shotild, pledge itself to go
iuto 3' Committee on the Subject. When that Cope=witted was formed, lithe papers should be fbund sa- -
tiSfactPry the subject need. • then be pursued no
farther. He concluded yindicating: the coati try • from
the charge of unjustly assailing the conduct o!lGene.
• .11 Officers. • •
Mr.-fuLLER complained of :thejortg speeches
made by GenVemen; which in-evgntocl. others. from
fbliveriug couciseopinions; agiliat‘par briefly speik
•
tpg favour of the propped Iz gtiirj, aeCommended
- -

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