Star.
London, England, 1801-02-20 00:00:00

ronly get off at a particular time of the tide.'
der there circumftances, if the enemy had been
allowed to recover from their firft impreffion °fez-
peaing an attack, and had been prepared to fol-
low us on our retreat, Ii conceive that whatever
other advantages our troops may have polfeffed, we
could not have effetted it without considerable lots,
perhaps the ruin of the rear guard. Thefe confi-
%tend ons left me no, choice in the line of condua
I was to purfue ; but as they could not be in
the contemplation of the other Officers of ei-
ther fervice, who raw no reafon why the at-
tempts fhould not at leaft be tried, and who
knew that we had fuceeeded as far as it
bad beck tried, it is not unnatural that met; of
high fpirit and sanguine difpofitions thould
feel difimpointment, and be diipofed to impute
blame. The Hon. Gentleman has talked of the
difference and the difputes which exißed between
the army and navy employed in the fervice. Of
that difcord, I confers I never heard before. He
has thought proper to cenfure my condua in land-'
ing my whole force in the firit inftance, when
2000 men would have been fuffieient to afcertain
how far the Elate of the garrifon rendered my at-
tempts upon it wife or pradicable—but it furely
would have been a strange fpecies of generalfhip
to hazard zOOO men in a country, when none
could be afforded, without having tome idea of
the force of the enemy they might have to en-
counter. The Hon. Gentleman's affertion, that
the Officer of Engineers was excluded the Council
has not the ilighteft foundation in faCt—that Offi-
cer was prefent at the Council of War which I af-
fembled. With regard to the reported facility
with which that fort might have been taken, that
Officer's opinionwas deadedlyagainft the attempt.
What a gallant Officer might have done if he had
not been wounded, I cannot pretend to judge of,
but if the exploit particularly expeeted from him
was the capture of the.village of Grana, there
were other officers by whom that village was taken
polfctrion of, and they found none of thofe gores
or arfenals with which the Hon. Gentleman had
been taught to think it abounded. • The Hon.
Gentleman has talked in high terms of the fix-
cefs of the troops, certainly we landed fafely, and
with inconfiderable lots approached the heights
which are faid to have commanded the town ;
but it was the opinion of the Officer of Engineers,
whofe opinion deferved every deference on fuch a
• fubjeft, that we derived no advantage from the
polliffion of thofe heights, and that cannon placed
upon then could do no execution on the fortifica-
tions of Ferrol, from which they were at a great
dittance. The Hon. Gentleman has dwelt upon
the bravery of the 52d regiment: I have no
.objeilion to acknowledge their fpirit and gal-
lantry ; but of their exclaiming with three cheers
.their ardour to march to the attack of Ferrol,
.was quite ignorant till now. As to the variety of
offers which the Honourable Gentleman had Rated
to have been made on that occafion, they were,
if made at all, kept a perfea feetet from me, and
as to the redoubt which was propofed to be taken
by one of their offers, I am now at a lofs to know
where it was ; I am Pure there was no fuch redoubt
to be Peen. The converfation of the tailors with the
privateer I (hall pats by—the murmurs of the
Army, that they had loft an opportunity of
making their fortune by the capture of Ferrol,
does not furprife me : perhaps their difcontent on
that ;core was the chief reafon of the clamour
and injurious reports that have gone abroad on
this fubjeCt. The reported drowning of 400 men
in a tranfport, I am pal as ignorant of as the pub.
lic at large, befOre the Honourable Gentleman
mentioned it. Of the poffibility of taking Belle-
ifie, with other opinions advanced in the letters
read by the Honourable Gentleman, I (hall not
detain the Houfe by taking any notice, though I
Ihould have no objeCtion to follow the Honourable
Gentleman Rep by Rep : and I hope that if any
other Gentleman, in the course of the Debate,
thould mention any new reports, the Houfe will
grant me the indulgence of obfcrving upon
them. I have taken up much of the time of
the Houk, but I beg to fay one word more,
which I hope will he confidered neither as
trefpaffing too much on their indulgence, nor
as any thing improper in me to mention—
[a :aural cry of hear! bear!]—By accidents which
perhaps no human prudence could forefee, and in
which neither his Majefty's Minifters, the Admiral,
or myfelf, had the finalleft blame, I was difap-
pointed on my arrival at Ferrol of intelligence
which I had confidently expeCted, and on which I
had depended, in a great meafure, for our future
operations. I (hall further add, that, as far as I
am enabled to judge upon that head, his Majelty's
Min:fters were, in the then Rate of the war, perfeet-
ly jullified in employing the body of troops which '
they had placed under my command, in the man-
ner in which they wereemployed, and in giving me
the inftruCtions under which I acted. I was undoubt-
edly apprifed, before my departure, of the inform-
ation which had been received upon the fubjea of
Ferrol, and though that information did not prove
to be correlt, there was, in my opinion, upon
the face of it fuch rational ground- of hope, as
juflified the enterprize fo far as it was intended
to be pufhc.l, and under all the circurnftances of
the campaign. I have taken up too much of the
time of the houfc—[a c.y .f beer! beer I]-1 (ball
therefore conclude, only begging to fay, that not-
withltanding the outcry wlocli has been made, and
all the obloquy to which my condutt has been ex-
poled, from the Aippofed batty re-embarkation of
the troop, I I:are never felt a moment's regret on
that ICCOMit. Even if I had not been fupported
by the opinions of the General Officers—if
the enemy had publifhed no accounts, confirming
any ftatement, and if the quellion had not been
Poch, and brought to fo (bort an ilfue, that Mili-
tary Men may decide upon it, now or at any fu-
ture period; even, I fay, if ibefe circumflances had
not trifled, 1 thould have felt confcions of has ing
done my duty—and I mutt further fay, I thrai:J
have thought myfelf uuworthy of the fituatioa in
which I Lid the honour to be placed, if after
making up my mind upon the (obits, I had, with
a 44mv to my own repatat:un. or to convince the
army and the world of the neceffity of what I found
myfelf compilled to do, been guilty of hazarding
Lc an hour the (day classy part of my corps, or

throwing away ufelefsly the life of a fingle man
under my command.
Mr. JEKYLL raid, his Hon. Fricnl (Mr. Stir?)
deferved thanks for having brought forward th.:
prefent motion ; and he was alfo entitled to the
thanks of the Hon. General, who was furni flied with
an opportunity of making a defence as fatisfaCtory
to every perfon who heard it, as it mutt be ho-
nourable to himfelf. But, while the Hon. Gene-
ral acquitted himfelf from 411 manner of imputa-
tion, he brought forward the leveret and heavielt
charges againft his Majefty's Minifters, who had
fent him out upon an expedition, without plan,
projed, cr information. But after having planned
and aCted upon all thefe ufelefs proses, the
Minifters came down as mere men of draw :
They might, indeed, tell the Houfe, that a day
would come when they ihould give a full account
of their conduct ; but in two or three days time
they would come down to the Houfe, and fay they
were no longer refponfible, becaufe they were
no longer Minifters. The manner in which this
expedition terminated was a ftain upon the British
name and the Britifh chara&er; and Minifters
could never juftify themfelves for running the rifle
of wafting the effeftive force of the country, and
for lavifhing fo much blood and treafure. If they
were not now made refponfible for the Expedition
to Ferrol, no refponfibility could ever be expeeted
to attach to future Minifters.

Mr. Secretary Dusting obferved, that the
Learned Gentleman who kilt fat down appeared
to be equally regardlefs of what had fallen from
the Hon. over of the queltion, and from the
Hon. General. The former fated it to have been
the opinion of both naval and military men, that
the Expedition was perfeetly pratlicable, and might
have been attended with fuccefs ; which opinion,
if true, roof completely removed all manner of
blame from chore Minifters who had planned it.
If therefore the Hon. Gentleman laid the fault
upon Minifters, he mutt have abandoned all the
great authorities quoted by the Hon. Mover, Sind
acknowledged that no difference of opinion had
exitied between the naval and military Officers
employed in this fervice. For his own part, he I
was glad to find the matter take this turn ; becaufe
he feared that there might have been a breach
between both theft (cranes, which would be high-
ly injurious to the country. If any inquiry on
this fubjedi was at all neceffary, might there not
be found a more proper place fur inflituting it
than in the Houfe of Commons ? But accol-ding
to the Learned Gentleman's ftatement, the Houle
was not any longer to confider it as a military in-
quiry ; for all the charges and the clamour again('
the Commanding Officer were now dropped and
converted into an attack againft Minifters, for their
want of forefight in fending out fuch a fnfitlefs ex-
pedition. But while the learned Gentleman was
making thefe attacks againft Minifters,he feemcd to
forgot what had fallen from the Hon. General,when
he laid that he had been furnifhed with all the in-
formation which could poffibly be obtained,fuch as
completely juttified him in making the attack, and
furnithed him with rational hopes Of fuccefs. He
clerked therefore that the learned Gentleman
would not loofely a Wert that his Majefty's Mini tiers
had fent out an Expedition without fuflicient in-
formation. AU thefe were fine words ; they were
all prepared before even he heard the Hon: Gene-
ral's defence ; and he came down to the Houfe
determined at all events to lay the whole blame on
his Majefty's Minifters. Mr. Dundas then Paid that
he had no manner of objeeion to fate to the Houfe
the grounds and the objea of the Expedition; he
would candidly avow that the Armament which
had been fitted out in the earlier part of the 'aft
campaign was not defined for Ferrol, but was in-
tended for the accomplifhment of a very different
purpofe. Let it not therefore be Paid that the at-
tack made by thisforce on Ferrol was attended with
any expence, beeaufe the expence of the Armament
would have been the fame, whether the attack
was made or not. It had been the earneft with
and intention of Minifters to employ a great force
in loch a way as might be belt calculated to co.
operate with the Allies of Great Britain, who
were at that time fighting on the Continent. His
Majefty's Government had received communica-
tions from the Allies, that the greateft advantages
might be expeBed to follow their efforts, by cauf-
ing the enemy's force to be divided, and that might
be done by making diverfions in various places, by
threatening to invade them, and by railing alarms
on different parts of their coatis. The enemy
might thus be compelled to appropriate a pat t of
their force to the proteeion of their coatis, which
Mould be much greater than any force that this
country might employ for that purport-. Certainly
the Nile was the place from winch it was intended
that the greateft part of there operations ffiould
be carried on. But at the fame time it was in-
tended that familia operations Ihould be carried on
from Minorca, Gibraltar, and other places in the
Atlantic and the Mediterranean. A fcene of fatal
reveries had, howtver,fruftrated there views. The
vieories gained by the enemy in Germany, the ge-
neral inadaivity which afterwards prevailed on the
Continent, and finally, the battle of Marengo, pre-
vented thole plans originally projeaed from being
carried into Sift.('. What wasto be done under there
circumfances? This country found its interests
threatened in two ways—in the firli place, an at-
tack appeared to be meditating againft Portugal,
on the part of Spain and France; and at the fame
time was perceived the firti dawning of that Mari-
time Confederacy which had fince been formed in
the North of Europe. To guard againft on: of
thefe evils, it was thought that a confiderable
part of that force which atfirft had been defined
for other purples, might be very ukfully em-
ployed in defending Portugal againft any at-
tempts on the part oi Spain, and that this could
not be done in a better way than by attacking
Spain on her own crafts. It was impollible that
any thing could lead more effectually to the AC-
comprifhment of this objet, than that of tai.ing
away the Spanilb (tips that were at Ferrol and Ca-
diz. The only line that Miniliencould have par-
fired on fuch an occafion, was to lay the informa-
tion received by them concerning the fate of the
force at Ferrol before the Generals, who were In,
take the fubjefi into confideration, and give their
I opinion as to the pra.'ticabilit y attutk agaraA

that place. They were furninted whit fuch infur•
mation as afforded rational hopes of ftfecefs ; and
that was as much as could be expeded. But if
any Gentleman could accufe Minifters With having
direded fuch an attack to be made at all hazards
and at all rilks, whether it was likely to be fucceff-
ful or not—in that cafe he admitted that Minifiers
were highly culpable. No fuch thing appeared,
and it would be highly unjuft to impute blame to
chafe who had direded an expediuon, which, if
fuccefsful, would have produced the molt impor-
tant advantages; and which, though nnruccefsfid,
was an expenment they were perfon fly julhficd in
trying. The plan was not only communicat-
ed to the Honourable General whom henow raw
in his place, but to that great and diltinguifhed
officer Lord St. Vincent, who then had the com-.
mand of the Channel Fleet : both of thcfe approv-
ed of the plan ; and the accounts he had received
from them both, rendered him more confidentithan
he had been before as to the fucccfs of the under-
taking. The Hoisfe would therefore perceive
from his flatement that the real objet of this
Expedition was—that it was an etperiment left
to the difcretion of an officer, with a full confi-
dence that each difcretion would be exercifed with
that manly gallantry, that zeal and ability, which
belonged to him as a foldier from his earlieft life.
Upon there grounds he would refill the enquiry.
Mr. HORNE TOOKE rote and fpoke in favour of
the Enquiry.—ln fupporting the motion (faid he).
which has been made by my Honourable Friend,
I am about to do that which no doubt is frequently
done in this Houfe, for I am about to facriffee my
intereft to my duty. Surely, Sir, the Houk will
never trouble themfelves about Old Sarum and
its Member, they will never enter into an enquiry
about whether a prieft is or is not worthy of a feat?
if they refufe a Committee of Enquiry upon this
great queflion, which involves the honour of the
nation. In what I am going to obferve, like-
wife, 1 even facrifice my willies to the caufe of
truth, for it will not be fuppofed that I am
prompted by inclination when I undertake the de-
fence of the Right Honourable Gentleman who
has jolt fat down. This queffion, when firfi
brought forward, teemed to be wholly of a mili-
tary nature; but the Honourable General, in the
courfe of his long flatement, has made it plain,
and fuel' as every man is qualified to decide upon.
—ln this Houfe, Sir, I have obferved thatit is of
advantage to men individually to have connetions.
It is of advantage often to the public, however,
that they thould have none. On both fides of the
floufe men are influenced by them, and a regard
to them frequently prevents the full inveffigation
and the nnreferved difcuffion of a fubjeEt. From
their connedions and their bias I am perfectly
free. One Honourable Gentleman, after admit-
ting that blame ezifted fomewhere' faid, that
Minifters were entirely exculpated by the flate-
ment of the Honourable General who commanded
the expedition. On the other hand, the Right Ho-
nourable Secretary, or whatever elle he may now
be, juftified the Hon. General in the execution of
the plan. This fort of mutual apology and de-
fence may do very well for the parties that are
liable to accufation, but when a quellion is fo dif-
cuffed, truth is utterly loft fight of. Perhaps the
-next Secretary of State might find it convenient to
depart from both conclufions and to adopt a new
line of juftification. Amielft thefe oppotite (late.
merits I feel Tome embarraffinent. Though an old
man, I am a young Member; yet when a difficulty
occurs inthe choice aground, I think it fafelt and
beat° prefer that which 'confider to bej uft and true.
Some Gentlemen have expreffed their fatisfadion
with the explanation which the Honourable Ge-
neral has given of his condull ; but it is that very
explanation which induces me to think that there
mull be fomething wrong in the execution of
the plan. The principal authority on which the
Honourable General relied his defence, was the
Madrid Gazette, and a letter by which it was
accompanied. The Spann Minifter of Marine,
it teems, gives a free liatement of the preparations
that had been made to receive the attack, the excel
lent pofture of defence, of the plan, and of every
thing that could exalt his own reputation for vigi-
lance and promptitude. But furtly Minifters mull
know, too well, from their own experience, that fuch
pompous accounts are not to be taken as exadly
true. But confider too, whither this fpeeies of jolli-
fication, if admitted in favour of the Honourable
General, would carry us ? Will the Houfe acqui-
efee in the compliments which a Spanilh Minifler
choofes to pay himfell, when this would be to infer
a ccnfure upon our own ? If the Miniflers of
Spain had every thing in fo good a Rate of defence
at Ferrol, it is clear that the Minifters of this coun-
try mull have been deceived in their views when
they refolved on the Expedition. The houfe then
mull choole whether they will acquit the Hon:
General upon a defence, which, if well founded,
implies that the planners of the Expedition were
deficient in Mentz:nation. Betides, fuppouing a Ge.
neral who a&ually had not done his duty to have
been arraigned of mircondud, could he not, though
guilty, have made the fame fort of defence ?
Look at it; weigh it : Who arc to be the Judges
of an officer's condo& ? Not the Navy, rays the
Honourable General, for they could not tee the
place ! Not the inferior officers, for they were do-
ing fomething elfe at the time. Tlru*the General
is the only perfon competent to decide on the pro-
priety of his own medures ; all other teffimony is
rejeded. k does not appear tome therefore, that
the I Honourable General has fully juftified himfelf :
The Right Honourable Secretary appears to have
exculpated himfelf ; but, to ckar up all doubts, let
the houfe enquire. I hope, Sir, that the queftion
will be carried, though if it is, the precedent may
prejudice my perennial intereft in the fcqucl. lithe
-Houle refute to go into a Committee of Enquiry, I
repeat, with what propriety can they enterin to the
merit* of the Borough of Old Sarum and its
Member ? How can they plunge themfelves into
enquiries and difeullions about what is. or what
is not a Prieil, and whether a thirty years
qu trantine is not fufficient to guard againfl the
iafretion of his origivl charader. Yet, in re-
cr.mnreniling this line of conduß to the Houfe,
I facritice my iatereft to my duty, as well as ,
Wave ray withcs to truth in defending the
kight llonourallc the Secretary of State, a ter-

♦ie* which he never has done, and I dare fay &ley,.
will do for me.

Lord BeLGILAVE oppofed the motior.
Sir James Pu LTENIY explained. It v. 11.1 not eor.
rest he obfervcd, to fay that he had retied his de.
fence folely on the Madrid Gazette. He had a?.
duccd many other rounds of juilification. He h
quoted the authority of the Madrid Gazettes, he
caufe, after a campaign, or after a faced's, it 9,,t
anal to underrate the mean by which it had 401
obtained.

Colonel GASCOIONE conceived this to be a fut..
jea which called for inquiry, and thLiefore fhoui I
vote for the motion.

Mr. Ettiewt fupported the motion for inquiry;
but at the fame time he thought it would have
been a better mode to have referred the go:Rion
to a military tribunal
Mr. Pitt agreed that a Military Court was the
molt proper tribunal to condos% public inveltig...-•
Lions. But he could not admit that mere failures,
unaccompanied by thofc circungtances that point
out blame fomewhere, affords of itfelf any ground
for enquiry. Enquiry could not with prudence
be entered into, but when pi eflimptions were to
thong as t 9 require for the livered and honret
of the nation that they thould• be cleared up.
It has been Rated, that doubts and reports
had gone abroad, and agitate men's minds on the
fubjea of the expedition. Whatever doubts Ger-
tlemen may have come into the Houfe with, their
doubts mutt be removed by the very candid, dif.
tine, and manly ftatement of the Hon. General
who commanded the expedition. If it be thougl:t
as it had been Rated, that the mere circumflance
of the Expedition having failed was a preemption
againft the Officer who conduaedit ; if it be laid
that the object fhould have fucceeded, nay, that
it would have fucceeded, timely it was a condo.
ran that exceeds all the rapidity even of military
movements, to infer that the Mi ni fters who planned
the Expedition were deficient of prudence and de
tote of information in its adoption. There was in.
formation enough to fatisfy the utility of the plan.
Lord St. Vincent gave his fuffrage in favour of ,t.
His Lordthip, who, happily for the country,
this. moment accepted a fituation which no man c
better qualified to fill with the fame glory and tac-
cefs which marked theAdminiltration of the noble
and illufh ions perfon whom he fucceeds.—Mr. Pita
then proceeded to vindicate himfelf and his col-
leagnesfrom the charge offkulkins out of office. Al-
though they continued to fill their refpeCtive offices
as a matter of accommodation, they lhould always
hold themfelves refponfible for their pail conduct ;
nor did the fituation in which they flood conaitute
them thofe non-dcfcripts which the Hon. Gentle-
man had been pleated to reprefent them.
Mr. GREY obferved, that in the belt of times, it
has been the practice of this Houfe to inßitute en-
quiries into the condo t of expeditions, both naval
and military; and if the honour and intere ft of the
country were involved upon this fubjea,be thought
the Houfe would not do its duty if it refufed the in-
veftigation. He confeffed, that every thing he had
heard of the Hon. Gentleman made him unwilling
to fuppofe, that the honour of the country could
fuffer under him; but it was clear, that the honour
of the country had fuffered by this expedition, and
therefore, as a friend to the lion. General, he ad-
vifed andl preffed for an enquiry, in ordcr to afeer-
tain where the blame really relied ? The Hon.
General had entered into.an explanation, which
he would not fay didnot jultify him : but as counter-
declarations had been made, an enquiry, he con.
tended,was become abfolutely neeelfary. We ought
to have Tome betterevidenee than that of the Madrid
Gazette, and the flatement of a French agent. Th.
Right Hdn. Gentleman had Rated the views- on
which the force was employed. He laid, it was .e
great object to create a dive:lion ; but this diver.
lion was not attempted until the French had evet y
where been fuccefsful ; and it was then thought.
that by attacking the marine of Spain, ibmetliii,:;
might be procured to be inferted in the Gazette
to dazzle and deceive the people. The force ori-
ginally employed in the expedition confifted of
t z,OOO men, who were joined, after the attack upon
Ferrol, by 3000 more. With this force of 4a,000
men did we proceed againtt Ferrol, and every thing
failed. We gained poffeflion of the heights, and
yet returned without making an attack. The Ho-
nourable General had !kid, with a feeling very
commendable to him, that he would norrilk the
lots of lives in an attempt upon a place, when the
attempt vas not likely to be fucecfsfnl. But was •
it poffible for us to fee fuch a force landed, anJ
come away, without futpeaing that the expedi-
tion WAS either abandoned precipitately, or that
the information upon which Minifters proceeded
was not accurate ? While fomc lay the blame up-
en the General, and others upoti the authors of
the expedition, and Come upon buds, it was impof-
tible but that blame mull reft fomewhere. We had
teen a large misty, efcorted by a large fleet, and
we had teen it come away withoutdning any thing.
After arguing thequeftion in a variety ot Mapes, Mr.
Ores. concluded by giving his :taint to the motion.
Earl Terms was of opinion that blame at-
tached Ibmewhere with rdpect to this Expedition.
The naval and the military affiitance was great.
The Houfe had heard the Honourable General ;
but, without meaning to cart the 'flight& re-
flection upon him, they had only heard one fide.
His Lordthip therefore was for an inquiry.
Mr. Deer alfo fupported the Motion.
General Lorrus Paid a few words.
Mi. PIFRILEPOSIT, in a fhort IPeech, fupported
the Enquiry.
Sir James PULTESET Paid in explanation, thitt
his Corps when it landed confdled of 9300 effec-
tive men; that the reinforcement which arrived
was t7oo or tBOO, ea thin the whole might fairly
be called a Corps of 11,opo men.
Mr. STUAT replied.
The Houfe then divided : For the motion, 75
Againft it, ta4.
Adjourned, at half pall eleven o'clock.

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