The Statesman.
London, England, 1810-03-31 00:00:00

R ST AVESM Ml.

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--e-7".4 Ai' s•"""''"rt:---- I .
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than to have sent them 'Spain. Tel litughl
The Right Pion. Gent. ( r. Causing) from his
speech the other night, evidently showertthat from
the first he had no hopes of success from the expedi.
tion. The Hon. Bart. conk! not conceive what right
the Right Honourable Gentlemanhad to declare,
that he alien ld tote against the resolutions. Why,
he was ono of the accused, and with equal justice
might a ;rimiest jump into the jury-box in a Court
of/Justice, and say, 64 Come; I will snake one
among you.”—[huor, : hear '.] The proper
course to piirsue would be for the Right Honour-
able Gentleman to withdraw when the vote was
about to be takes.—[lteae, hear !] The Ho•
nourable Baronet, after making stone further ob.
servations, in which he attributed the losses to the
disunion in his Majesty's Councils, who were
waiting for the Eastern Star (Marquis Wellesley)
to illumine the deck horiion, concluded, support.
ing the resolutions of thu Noble Lord.
General LOFTUS said, that he had listened
with the same degr as of attention to the Honour.
able Baronet's speech as he had tu. all that hail
been advanced by the Honourable Gentleman who
had spoken upon the present important subject,
and was convietwil that the mum this Subject was
disettesdd, provided it was with that temper' amid
patience that had hitherto, so much to the credit
avid.huiour of the House, shown itself through.
out thealetutte, the more the; country would see
' Iliat Falistwrs were hoiltl4: to undertake such an
eaterpaita ae Abet which had been undertaken
against die greet and gronieg force of the enemy
in ,the Scheldt ; that to consider the important
question fairly, they must rook 'tee th, actual
situation or Europe at the time thket'esnedition
took p'etee, partit;ulatly to the • of the
French and Austrian omits.. ok,
.:Rantibe,
I and the severe check' the French it Alet with,
Ts
which obliged Bonaparte to lay" tiptd. his tients
for such a length of time, waiting for reinforce-
meets from the interior of France, from the lute.
rior of Holland, from the Netherlands, and from
the very shores of the Scheldt. Therefore, if
there ever was a time for this country to make a
great exertion, it was at the time this expedition
look piece, which was nut only a great diversion
fur our-Ally, the Eniperor of Austria, but also,
way that w hiels • we .4 ere called upon to make (torn
nor own situation, cost what it would. That a
Government that consulted the good Of the poo.
ple ought ever to be mindful in preparitig against
any snitch'', attack ; and whatever the people may
say or think, whatever those who have only the
interest of the people at heart may wish for, yet
a Government who are mindful of the true interest
of the State, ought to he prepared for the preserve-
tion of that Stale. • The Honourable General then
desired they would look to France is it's all her
gigantic powers at present...Au look at her in pos.
session of the Netherlands—to look at her in
possession of the Flemish !torts, and then to look
at the narrow seas, snot • tii recollect, that Hul:
land was uut that Hollaod. that once could and
did preserve the balance of Europe, and then fair.
ly to lay their hands upon' their and say, if
a Government, consulting e security of the
country, were nut bound to • undertake sacs an
enteroriee as that which had been 'iandettaken
agaiost the enenis's aleraiing and growing force
in the Scheldt ? That it• moat have tont since-been
seen, that if. France was allowed to keep posses-
sion of the Netherlands for eity length of time,
that.it would not be in the power of all. Europe
to.set any bounds to the progress (Alter arms.
That we had seen the United Provinces falling
under her power, and that she had all the corn.
mend of that praiser at present ; she bid carried her
arms into Germany, and tier coequal there as,far as
she pleased ; and that her great object now a as, to
possess herself of the cenvmatel of the narrow
seas, so that our trade shield neither go Out or re.
turn, but at her pleasure; that it was almost fatal
to England that Frence thorild be in possessien of
the Flemish ports, for.if any accident was to be.
fat our ['eats at sea, that great extent LC coast,
onr North-East coast, was *int ke.i and open to the
enemy—that the failure of the Expedition led
Trim to call upon Ministers to nay attention to that
Nurth.East coast, particularly to Yarmouth; and
the neglected batteries there, also to flue neglected
bettertes at Lowestolf, and the point of Lothian
had one of the most important features in this
country, fur he could venture to say, that if the
enemy possessed himself of that position, it would i
be difficult to remove him from it. It was full of
resources, and one of the strongest positions in this
Country, but that which had been least thought
of, and the moat neglected. The Hon. General
then desired to-draw the attent' of the House to
what had been advanced as to the impression an
argosy might have upon a fortified town, fully in.
habittel, and strewed that the great Duke of
Marlborough, after the battle of Ramillies, up.
peared before Antwerp, them in a strong state of
defence, which-had in it twelve regiments ; but'
that the Duke being in possession of the avenues
to the place, the inhabitant* induced the -Genevai.
to surrender rather than risk the destruction of the
town. That in the same •campaigu the Duke of
Marlborough appeared before Ostend, one of the
strongest towns in the Low Countries, which
after three days siege surrendered by the influence
of the populace. He now drew conclusions'
(rem these histurical facts, that Govertiment was
justified to entertain such an Expedition as
that which had been andertakeu against the
Scheldt, and against AntwerN even if there
was only a single chance of success, the , ob.
jcct •begng so great; but he maintained that.
hail Cadsand been possessed according to the plats,
and had oat the Admiral been obliged, by the
weather, to awry the fleet into the Itoompot,
the Expedition must 'have succeeded, that the
enemy not being able- to .defend the important
peat of Baths, was a rouf of the weakness "or
their force in Antwerp, fur had they !teen strong
there,' they never worth, have given up Baths• in
the manlier they did, and e hick opened the whole
:west Scheldt to our fleet on the '2(l of August;
this picture was we strong a one, so strongly im.
pressed upon the Cionimander in Chief of lhe land
forces, that he early detached that gallant and ex.
cellent officer Sir Jahn Hope, to secure that fort,
and had the wind allowed of the tiair.ports getting

up the West Scheldt, the Hbnourable General '
maintained that the Expedition Would, in all human .
probability, have succeeded.
Sir ranNcts IAYRDErr was very much
surprised st the doctrine which ho had hoard,
that because it was an object of vital importance
to. destroy Antwerp, we should therefore have
undertaken it with means inadequate to its exe.
cutimin. He had thought, that in proportion to
the importance of the object ought to be the
means employed. Surprised as he was at this',
however, he confessed his astonishment was in-
creased in a tenfold degree at the cool indifference
with which this Noble Lord opposite had affected
to argue on calamities which had been derived to
the country from his auspices—calamities more
disastritu,, more disgraceful, and more dreadful
than had arisen from any other expedition in the
history of the war down to the present period.—
The Noble Lord had expressed a wish to have this
expedition tried by the fact. In his opinion, that
owl precisely the ordeal by which, in order to suit
the interest •of the Noble Lord, it ought nut to
he tried; because there .was not one single fact •.
which did not militate directly against its atlop.
tiun.—The Right Honourable Gentleman. up.
posite had, on last night, entered into a long
and laboured defence of the Expedition ;—and
in order to distract the mind of the House from
the only point to which. it should be directed,
he took a survey of the situation of the whole
world ; and argued, that an Expedition ought to
have been sent somewhere.. He stated that it could
nut be sent to the North, or to Germany, or to
Trieste, without considerable danger ; danger, in.
deed, of total failure. Ile had even, in his fancied
speculations, talked of treading the Straits of Gib.
• raltar, and prophesied great danger' from such an
attempt. He was nut disposed to deny' that
every one of those Expeditions might have
been abortive and ill-advised in the adoption ; but
he would deny that any one of them could have
met with more complete failure, or more cala.
mitous consequences, than did the one which was
acted wt.—[lleat., hear l]Neither the menaced
Prussian criny, nor the Straits of Gibraltar, nor
the Mediterranean Sea, could be inure frightfully
fatal than themandate which sent our brave and pa-
tient troops to fall before an iovincible enemy, the
plague, its the marshes of ‘Valcheren. Ministers,
however, did not think so ; they determined to send
out an Expedition, and out they sent one, without
having obtained one particle of information as to
how it s!toutti proceed, or, taking one single' pre.
caution against the many perils which impeded
their progress. In March last, the Noble Lord con.
ceived the idea of this campaign ; fie thought he had
a disposable force, and since he had it he was de-
termined ha waste it; and so he sent to the Common.
derin Chief fur his opinion off thesubject.TheCom.
mander in Chief sent, back for answer, that he could
not spare 16,000 men fur the purpose ! Sixteias
'thousand men out of the enormous establishment
pail forty the country The Expedition could
• not therefore sail in March. No; necessity and
the )irutletice of the Ministry prevented it. The
rove -was not then to be met with, and the ships
might then have been taken; and so the Expedi-
lion was defcrted until the raging of the disease,
and the safety of the armament. In July then
they set out to carry the fever, Antwerp, and the
jive', by a coup.de-)Hain—[Haar !]—*" coup.tk.
vita! and yet it appeared eby the orders of the
french Emperor to his Officers, that he was ape
. prised -of the intention even so far back as March.
If het,fstl not this certainty, such were the ca-
bals andiracillation of the Ministry, that he would
not believe they had themselves conceived the
project at that period. He could out help now
making one inference, however, from our poverty
of force in March last ;-'which was, that the House
and the country had been most grossly deceived in
the estimate of our loss daring the preceding cam.
paign in Spain, which had been laid before them
by Ministers. if this estimate had been true,
it was impussiblo that we should not have had
forces enough to send the expedition to Wal-
clieren ; but the estimate was not true. We
ha‘l lost much more than the Ministers chose
tot disclose, and the country was duped into
.as opinion, that' its situation • was more - pros.
perous than it was. [near) hear!] At length,
however, the Noble Lord undertuok the Ex,
podition with what disposable force ho could ma-
I ter, against the great skill of the French Em.l
peror, and the great power of France,' • wilich
was now, in elfect, all Europe. The Noble
Lord, however, wrote a most curious letter to
the Commander in Chief, pointing out the advan.
tages of the Expedition, and declaring, if it was
nut then undertaken, that Antwerp would soap
be impregnable. After this, shat did he do ?
Why, commenced this important Expedition,
without one single iota of itiformation I He sent
out an immense armament, merely to see whether
a blow might not be somewhere struck against the
enemy. The Noble Lord dispatched the Expedi.
Hien .at last withomit information oft-. which to
I proceed, without a plan to guide it, or the sup-
posed opposition of any dasiger, until it reached
Bathz, where all its operations terminated! From
!.the departure of the expedition, till its arrival at
Bathz,. there was not one step which did nut de-
mand enquiry. It was sent out without an idea of •
danger till it came to Bath; and yet at that
very place did this great army, conducted by
gritder folly, end its catalogue of disease arid,',
disasters by an announced failure—[/tear I hear !]'
To semi out this expedition, however, time Noble
Lord was determined, because lie considertil that
there was a fit disposable fur& in the country; a
supposition taken up in direct opposition to every
military opinion he had asked.. The Noble 1...r.1
was like the poor man in Horace, who could not
1w persuaded that all the wealth in the country.
did not belong to him. The indifferenve of
the Noble Lord was now detestable; the cafe-
mitie's which he entailed on the country o cre hor-
rible, frightful beyond expression, Auld the levity
'with which he treated the subject now truly dread.
fill. The Noble Lord had an idea, that because
Antwerp was at the moment is ithout truoes, he
might take it at once without difficulty. This aas
a most fallacious idea. • There was nut, most Fru-
: bably, at this moment, a perfect praiser, either at

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Toelob or Brest ; and yet whiti i"---
cuuld conceive the notion of takniii:
coup-de-maim ft If these things were
is
:slsl.
to be!:
1 sisted in—if the forces of the Country were ,„'"":
thus unnecessarily and unprofitably squanier'L"
Thewas iNniti:loilsesitleerdiiielitadt,ofiof:reetweere, how*
thought
pro-
per-': it would end.
taafkt eh
the
orctsmi:aeei
nun
i tatopinionsctdiricerybi,o,
ulti
C !hiui
indeed,oi
et
fh;e h possibility
referredciksai
ebtwil
producedi
iftloyoudtohrefi c takekg:con,al:e
t ii
Antwerp by a coup-de-main. He asked the op* i:,
oabisoucct
in reply, full of official form, full of affec-14-
science, assittned pomp, and perfect boo.
)oviisfueilthiiieuha:sellieesttutiiiistio:
All of them said, if you do so and so, you ma;
succeed ; yeeall agree upon the idea of the coto,
hpeu otii:iitalitilg the fever test:
de-main upon Antwerp being absurd. Gird' i
Brownrigg propaoisidesottiwoomperlawceass ofira perazik:ak4:
there were some slight objeetiuns to both; the eat';
was impossibic,
'alnhde attemptthe
otherbyp was
hiOns,teeuvlleii
vwearsy t Doubtfulhemilitary
r part success.
of
t
out;
the same miserable deficiency in means, plan, lj
information, attended the navy ; the Nob;
Lord at the heal of the Admiralty knew nuennt
at all—he was quite ignorant on every :abject 0.1
which he should be informed ; so was Sir Itirhara
Straehau; he told Lord Mulgrave so, .but Leh
Mulgrave was nut to be persuaded even by fee.
4t N 0,,, said he, '6 you ceitainly du 'MOW N.
thing, but that is the reason I have great can
dence in yen." Thus went forth this disastee,
Expedition, to diminish the honour of our arse,
and destroy the best hopes of England. Detir,
hear!] in 15 days, it was calculated we flesh
have reached Antwerp by Ostend; this was t.,
dilatory for a coup-de-muin, and was abandoned;
the other plan of landing in Waleheren ire
adopted, and even before we gut to Katlic the 3
days were exhansted. [hear, hear!] But still tie
Ministers and Oft.: Commanders weredelighted-se.
tual compliments passed between them—it was Ile
most goud.itat st red cahmlition lie east heard of. Tie
Ministers praised Chatham for his vigour, audio
praised the Ministers for their preparations; asil
so he went on gaining laurels and battles, care.
ing towns never beard of before, by a oath.
de-main, and bearing down every thing befog
him, fur the very best of reasons, became heels
not opposed, until at last a wet ditch at Middle
burg arrested his progress, and ended his achieve
meets; [hear 1 hear !] As '
to the Nan),
the occupation of Cadsand had been Mid
as an indispensible preliminary,_ and thee
areortlingly the Marquis of Huntley preemie];
but when he arrived, the whole fleet of England
could not furnish him st itli boats to land his sot.
diets, and so the indispensable object was relin.
quished [Hear, heart]. Some persons, it wit
true, had said, that this (entire was nut attribute
ble to the want of boats ; but the Marquis of
Iluntly gave a different oi. Ilion, and that Was all
the answer he would give to the objection. Tro
letters were written on the suhjcet—one from die
Admiral, and the ether teem Captain Owen: one
.of those said the weather was very fine, and the
other said it wet very bad ; one. said there was
plenty of boats, and the other said there 'eremite;
and in this pleasing state of uncertainty, which he
would not seek to obviate, rested the question.
At last, however, after many doubts, and fail.
ures, and disasters, the batteries were opened
upon Flushing, but at such a distance, that they
.could not even silence a little adianced battery be.
fore the town. The hattery, however, was Mutt
and the dreadful bombardment succeeded. Thus
it was with ruin its our acts, met hypocrisy
in our promises, we attempted to conciliate the
people whom we affected to compassitiane ,
under the iron despotism of Buriaparte. %Ye
destrojed their habitations ; we desolated their
land, and we then told them we Came for their
preservation ! Inhuman in our prosperity tu•
wards the natiees, the ague attacked us, and
then our minds changed ; we became suddenly
humane to all, except to our own poor suldien,
whom, lest we should offend the island, we left
in their sicEncss to perish, without a dry spot
' whereon to lie, or a roof to protect them ! This
humanity was perfectly -consistent with our as.
nagement all through. Fur instance, Sir Bone
Popham was the only person, except the pilot of
the fleet, who was supposed to know the naviga-
tion of the .Rcheiilt. To him was eotrusted that
the conduct of the Fleet up to Baths. What "
he do ? Why, he attempted to go by the West
'Scheldt, until, by his failure, he found out he
might to have tried the East Scheldt. Thus the
best-informed man in the fleet took the count
the most contrary to his interest.--Tile cal.
lint Captain next wont itioegit the Veer Gat,
and Lord Chatham seenied to think; bccawie Oil
had been accomplished, that the enemy must!).
totally titconifeed. All they hat to depend on
was the utter impossibility 'of thee passage'! Sir
,
Heine was next sent to. aki-rtsia the 111030
to South Be' etantl, and be proceeded to the
north. Ile might just as well bare set out from
that Hutise fur Kensington over
Westaiiii,ter•
bridge!—[Hear, heart]—On the filth, at Vet,
upthvY gut to Battle, and then they came to
.a
stop. Sir It. Straehati, taking advatitser of the
1
pause, venturedto hint that 'it woul,l I” e''"''venient to knew upon w hat plan the conitim 'l,-
, [sedition meant to proceed. A.Cohitcil of War **s
callvd—i hey bad now come to the grand poiaf(pito,
which in future all their operations were toproc"..l;:
What did. they, d u '?— They sit of bonne.Peg!:
head] Trios ceded an Elp edition which ass_a!:i.
dertaken.by igivorratstkoind executed by iit bs,,,
litY—gh Expedition. which wasted the what're.
~1..
the country., the fleet of our troops, and the l',.
icier of our flinty—all Expedition platoteil by V%
ranee and iopildence the most unparaili•leal•lML'lt
might censure him for nooccevary *3")",..1..
lot cloth) not help reeling,• nor email he dna ~e
pression strung enough fur that feeling: a
ttintislit sincerely, that every wan wilt' hail any
concern whatever in this .I.2spetli4o" 3toisi 11,^ 4
he,irq lac
! criminal before tjle country— [Mar! ,itiros
I Ministers Ivere presuinpluous, ant/ the
hi both services ignorant ; line nu!"n, li,
6„ft.
‘ than the impeichmut of the Arcs atiu a

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mitud time of the Expedition itself was preaump.
five against its probable extent as a dives:slots. The
1 expectation ought to have be.en that the force
-bronglit against it would be the collected [tonna.
scent force of the country, and not any returning
force, from the Danube. Nur could the Expedi—
lion be defended by a reference to the intentions
of former Governments, for those intentions were
confined to an attack on Fleshing. An attack. on
Flushing alone might have been made by a coup.
de.vraix, with small expense, with little risk, and
with,great probability of success. It was indis-
pensable that those who planned so great an enter-
prize, should be possessed of full information.re-
specting the great object against which it was to be
directed. The Expedition failed fur want 9f infer.
matiun, with this further feature, thatGovertiment
could not • produce a single naval or military autho-
rity in support of their plan ; for certainly a pro-
position to military men, on suppositious grounds
ao institute a coinparison between two plans, and
preference given by them to the one plait over the
other, could, by no means, be called an opinion
or an authority... The Noble Lord had argued,
that as the ulterior object of the Expedition was
nester attempted, the policy of it could not be can.
Teased. This he denied. Those consulted had
spoken_ of the Eipedition as affording little pros-
pect of success. The Medial Who was to cum.
mand, when he had expressed himself to thit effect,
win told to go on and be would do very 'well.
There never was a case iii which a etinjOlist con.'
saltation of both services was wore 'necessary.
The plan was deficient ; the Expedition Could, In.
deed, hardly be said to have any plan at all. :The
Host. Gentleman then took t comprehensive view
of the operations of the ulna-meet, from which
he ioferred the want of a proper combination for
tlre 'attainment of the object in view, which, he
was of opinion, could hardly be gained under cir.
cumstances the most favourable. Hu then ad.
relied to e hat had becu said respecting the West
India Islands, which he contended was no jesti.
fiCation of the conduct of Government in ex.'
'seising an army 'o the ravages of the climate at
Walcheren. • The question was, did the Exitedi.'
thin appear justifiable, or did it call for the een_
sure or 'the House ? On that the country expected
thorn tntlecido.. .lit: might have to say something
more on the second question, as be undetstood au
atileodment was to be moved, though he hardly
comprehended the nature of it, as it seemed to
aim that if the plea rot up for the retention of
Walcheren wits douse away, there was no ground
On which an aureadment could possibly stand.
' Mi.yEELV. defended Ministers in a very able
speech. Ile thought it unn• cessary. to state the
grounds on which the Expedition 11411 beeit.sent, as
ho• coissidtreit it established that•at the lime the
plan was formed, there existed the fairest pros-
pects of 'success. • It .had 'been laid down .as an
axiom by an lion. Member 'oppipite; that Eng.
land shuttld hayu .nothing t., do with Continental
uperatiank, • bat in cases where nieces, was hardly
doubtful. Where we deviated horn the line of
conduct dictated. by selflalefence,-. the objects...oi
view should certainty, be greet. Bet',were they
not greatjn. tke. preeent iestaiteei. lie w,,01i141, *ski
Helium& he might cutifidentry ask' *ditty,
If at tt time when the cff4ris of Frassire-to.segeste.
rate her, nasy.tekee so intinenselt it wa4 :the drity of
England to remain .guiet? If' site, sertile .lids isle
lluesice of France spread ter .o'V:oat' around,
.Mould think herself happy in -not being included
among the sufferers, and, glad to lie safe herself,
view with apathy the subjugati. s of others ?
The P:xpetlition had not been undertaken in con-
segnence of the Anstrian war. project had
been in contemplation for years. Were we to give
sip our plans because Austria went to war with
France ? , lio should • rather think the contrary.
With respect to what had been said as to direct co.
opention, 'he Would ask if our interests were so
identified with Austria that we should employ for-
thoessid&tnets in. her service—nay place them
completely at her disposal ? While
.perseing an
object of our own, we had not, however, been
unmindful of her interests. When the Comman-
der in Chief was first consulted un the subject of
the Expedition, in March, it was only proposed
to-employ 16,000 men, and the reduction of
Flushing and Walcheren were 'its objects. In
May, however; the Austrian war having broke
out, the plan was greatly enlarged, anti its objects
extended, that by making a formidabk,
the cause of Austria might be assisted. The lion.
Gout. thee spoke •at some length on the strength
and importance of Antwerp. A period might ar-
rive at which the Ruler of France mielit possess,
the means of attempting to establish his power Otis
the ocean, as he had succeeded its doing MOO*
land. He would fur a moment suppose that tint.
arris -.1, and suppose that House called upon pr k
eistioin to deliberate on the means of averting the
intruding danger. At Such a time what would
trot the Hon. Gentleman opposite say, whose elo.
(*ace 'hid 'been.- so powerfully exerted against
these who hail planned the 'Expedition ? Would
ire not at such ',crisis blame them for shutting their
eyes tothe growing strength of such a place, and
would it thou be thought a sufficient excuse for not
attempting to check it in its progress, should Mi-
nisters allege in their defence that the forts of I.il.
Iv and Lief kenshoeik were not dismantled, and
that the culiuter%clrp of Antwerp had been, fenced
with stone? With respect to the Military opinions,
it was to be remembered that every one of -them
had been given prior to the battle of Aspern.—
That battle produced changes of some importance.
After that, those who before despaired, began to
hope ; and those who hail hoped, exultid in the
idea that the charm was broken, and that the
dread of Bonaparte's invincibility would he felt no
more. All the military opinions to which he had
alluded stated, that there were two lines of trite.
rations which might be pursued, and that the first
was' west daugerous. The • ascend had in emit.
guence been preferred, yet it wag said that no at.
tention at all had been paid to thorn. Lt expoli.
tions of .such a nature there were two points of
hazard, the one of. victory, and the °then of de.
feat. We had exposed ourselves by this ExPstil-
doll to the Ward of victory, but not to dint bf
defeat, is, at any time we had the mast of se.
curtly einbarkirig. We bid taken ti large track

martial ma the others, could, or ought to sat
viol the country. IN,all their proceelngs there
Mara untrkeil dieregarit for their country, and
c,..,01eas concern merely fur their own iuterests.;
Fe.,.04 beginning to the end they were all the same ;
ill wipeout, presumptuous and imbecile. As to
.Commander in Chief, he could not help say_
that the result or the inspection of the papers'
9., the table was merely wonder how nay man,
with the feelings of o Gentleman, could act as he
4i..; how any man, possessed of such conscious
coif Id retain his situation. The Noblest'
L as very anxious to separate the question of.
Medical Board, from thatuf the merits of this
Tide he could.not du; it excited In
)3iso the instant recollection of the breve men who
kll victims to the disease.. The 1': ureic Lord betray. ,
fil, indeed, through all his speech a callous insetisi.
laity to the miseries ho had caused,trtily shocking ;
,i„,rted with Ohe deaths Which. he had °tea.
Imo, and even presumed to persuade the coon.°
' that its ealainities were honours!. lie dared to
covere himself to Chatham, Nelson, St. Yin_
cot, and those heave heroes who hail directed our
seer to constant and imperishable glory.
~as amazed how he dared to meotion the noose.
these great men on each 4;1 eccusi ms.
irali Why, this dreadful Expedition had cost
ow country, on a serious calculation which ho had
pale three times as.naany lives as all the,glorious
nisei eictoties. which ere had gained since Ilia them.
reareamet of the war ! • [Mar ! hear I] This
was the EePcilition of which the Noble Lord had
sleeted to speak so indifTerently. • lie spoke ofiev,
Wail, jest as a girl of thirteen would of a puppy
fie wanted language to expresss his indigna.'
nos at such couduct. The. Itightil on. Gentleman
bet, indeed, spoken more feelingly• on. the se hjeet,
le.t he h ul used some arguments which shocked and
sounislnd him. Ile seemed to speak as if he
)1.1,1 found a shield fur all his disgraces in extritteic
cases, and even ventured to impute the SOICteIII4I.
of the enemy to the despotism by which they were'
vented T. What did he mean to• impute .our:
lessee to the freedom of our Constitiiiihn ! It was
a onestrous. doctriite refuted by all history, and
imberbely indeed when it was considered that it
coercion) a mats who held the reins. of Govern.
neat so kit and who was so likely .to resume
Ara. Meeitiavel, a . haishud politician, had
&tared that the greatness of the Homan • people
was founded on their.. freedom. They had
Indeed ilottrielted, ats..l they so fleurished by
opposing despotiern With vise Arai* of liberty.—e
Sr did Athens--e—slier eloquence and her free
aril, resisted numbers id) • success. If
melt a principle bail been the principle of the
Minot 11. m. Genflettian's.sotioo, then indeed all
lair calamities WUre expi iipetL lilt should now
vote heartily for the resolutio**, and the only ee-
rie:mace whick.he felt wale "at their nut going to
rs nopeachnient and Court 'Marital.. When he
soil this, hooever, he declared he saw no good to
the reentry from t he'd .sinissa I or inittere,
6sa it was fittlii wed hj a total change of measures.
[h=er, heir, hear 1] If we withal° tie retested
ff.ool oar present eperilone- • sithetioft,
.• we lust
lure Itet'orm —Reform a hid, Would refire and
b.rodolists the .anttietit fatitlivisental
of nut Courstitntiou. Unless this was obtained,
lkiifiertinwrfirlnve the eonntry would besatisfied.
From.the foIIN qf nut deiriauding this air se all OM'
etionitirs. .iertens it arose this Expedititni—this
dad of corrupiiiin, expiring by its oWn.iolserent
haberitity. All their calamities,'lll &dr die.
pares, were derived from the woof of a fait and
espial representatinn.. To that, and . that alone,
die people ought to lotik.—it. would. be folly'
to
expect relief from any other cause. Ir this watt
• obtained,' they would no longtir see Miniele.
;id weakness working an abandoned prostitution.
This was their only avenue of cacti,* from . ruin,
helium ruin. For himself, he cared not, if that
ruin was to r tme, whether it caul(' in the shape
of a reeve borough, or an • °eels iron despotism.
The present immediate qiiestion he Aortic! now.,
decline; he did Rot wish to think of it ; he could '
lot with any temper speak of it. If in private life
be saw the catastrophe of men, so brave, so pa.
tient, so mart e rid, lie could tall it nothing else
than cool, 'deliberate, atrocious murder. ['Mar,
hear, head] Though Ministers within twelve
hours'sail art Walcheren might have had every in-
formation, they would not deign to seek it, but
sent their soltriers unheedingly to the grave. They
now called fur vengeance—the lioneur of the
Reuse was pledged to give it ; 'and, for himself,'
be would say nothing but instant impeachment
and Court Martial should satisfy the nation for the
tract effusion of their army's blood.
..Mr. BATH uasT began by observing, that the
nen. Baronet had spoken of the the freedom of
ancient States as having enabled then, to cope with
more powerful despotism. Did the lion. Bironet
recollect annther quality beloneing to. those States
by which they were eventually subjugated to the
Oppre.,Or ? Wag this but the degeneracy of that
liberty into licentiousness, and the presence of i,..
dirilnals never wanting in any country to persuade
the people that they might enjoy more than their
stations qiialified them to enjoy ? It was this spi.
sit which reduced Greece to the power of the Ma.
telnnian Monarch. And by the help of factious
citizens his rival was delivered into the hands of a
military despotism. [llear! hearl3 With res.
I*" to the subject before the [Luse he should °e—
villy but a few moments of their attention. lie
conceive) that the Noble Lord and the t Ho.
hnurable Gentleman had -not placed the question
quite on fair gr.otrids. They had stated it as a di.
that heing under an engagement to an ally,
and hs.eing a large disposeable force at their come
tosil, it eras incumbent on thorn to employ it in
the relief of their ally, although there were no
Paints of contact by which it could be rendered
tn'inctstly serviceable. lie knew of oar claims of
l't'iicy or jes.iee which required such a measure.
It was to be regretted that the habits of the House'
dill not qualify them tit otter minutely into militia.
try °Pe"tiotts'
although it was indispensable that
they shoelti carefully watch over them. The na.
ture of theC rns,.• •
ittiti eon required such a check up.
leveriersent. The first point of view in which
would consider the Ecpetlitioit was an iitteedetr.
6.1.22.12_"". • How was it so to operate? The He

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of land, several forti, and many prisoners. The
testimony of General Brownrigg showed be hid'
been in favour of it, and that of Sir John HO*
went to strengthen whit he (General Brownrigg)
had advanced. If it had been said an expedition'
should be sent to the Tad, on arriving there,
should the Tesel be shut, where fßottitl be the.utk
lity of such an'experlition ? That might bo urged,'
but if before an expedition so seat conk) arrive
at the Texel, a storm should arise and prevent the
attainment of its object, that was no reason why
the armament should not have been fitted out. Sir
Home Popham had said, if they were in posses.
session of both sides of the Scheldt, they could
get up to Antwerp. Had they succeeded'in get.,
titig possession of Cadsand, they would have had,
both sides of the Scheldt, and the, accomplish.
ment of tke ulterior objects of the Expedition
might have followed. Sir It. Strachan had stated to
them, that the weather wits more than commonly
unfavourable for the season of the year. Under
all the circumstances, he hoped the House would
find no difficulty in agreeing to the gallant Gene-
ral's resolutions. On the 10th of October it was
not known that peace would be concluded between
France and Austria. It was not 'till the 30th
that peace was actually signed ;' and, on the 9,lth
and 27th, Lord Liverpool wrote to general Don,
respecting the destruction of the works, and the
evacuation of the island. As to the retention of
Walcheren for such a period, Tie thought Austria
might probably, through that circumstance, have
obtained better terms than might otherwise have
bbea granted. Another consideration which might
justify retentials was we.had reason to believe
unhealthy season was about to subside. Dr: Keitial
wrote, that as the frost set in thu sick appeared
to get better. The works` of Flushing could not
be destroyed earlier than they were, as it wise,
neressary the army should be entirely embark.:
ed 61'4. He was not insensible to the loss we:
had sustained. • He did not undervalue those
brace fellows who had lost their lives at Wal.
chervn : but lie did not think, with a Noble
Lord, " that they were sacrificed to the manes'
of Austria's fallen greatness,"- nor As .an Hon.
Gentleman had said, " that they fell victims to
Ministerial weakness." He was surprised at
some of the expressions uttered by Gentle Men op-
posite. Did they think their opponents were nut
men ? They could not think so, as they 'meat
know them to he anxiously alive to the feelings of
humanity. He would say no more, but that he
should give the resolution of the gallant General
I his cuponrt.
The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER
felt extreme regret that, in' the present exhausted
state of argument, he should be obliged to coter
into a 1•,n4 discussion, not only at that ed.'
vaticed hoar, but after the house' had been ocCu...
pied is tlje smile consideration anti debate for
five successive night. There was• nothing new
to emninand attention ; but he apprehended
that the [louse might consider him deficient
in respect to it and to himself, if he withheld
his,ab•ervations our the uccasion. In the course
of-!the d.that..4 it had been stated on the OpPu.
aka side,..that the Expedition was of such a na.
tore, as to bein no sense justifiable ; but when it
was in the nett sentence asserted that.this was the
sole ground on which the failure stood, he felt the
greatest consolation. Few were acquainted with
what the real object "of the Expedition was, and
' the magnitude of the importance annexed to it.
It was not intended for the destruction of a few
ships, bet for a purpose of the most vital int.
portaece to the nation and indescribable was the
regret be experienced when it was found necessary
to give op what had been acquired: As to the
manner of the Expedition, it had been much talk.
ed of, while its failings were ascribed to the im-
becility of those who directed it, and to the ince.
picky of the Administration. Was it possible,
that lie who might come lilt() the war councils in
the event of the present Ministers being removed
[No, no, from the Oppositions]—Was it possible,
lie said, that he should attribute the failure to inca-
pacity?—When the last Administration were in
power, (lid they husband the resources of the
country' in the Expedition to Buenos Ayres.
[No, no.] The Honourable Gentleman should
recollect, that ho was now merely comparing re.
spective merit ; [Cries of Hear! and No !] if the
Hon. Gentleman changed sides, and-argued on the
nature of the expedition, they would consider such
a„comparison an object of national importance.
—lt had' been said that the observations of
his Noble Friend (Lord Castlereagh) were ioap.
likable to what concerned the House; but in his
opinion whatever in any manner referred to a
tittliject of such importance, it behoved that House
strictly to examine them. The military opinions
.delivered at the Bar should have baen more re.
spear(' ; and the authority of General Brownrigg
should have as much weight as that of any Gen.
tlemati opposite. It seemed to have been quite
forgotten by the other side, that when it was de-
sirable to attack the means or annoyance to this
country, even the destruction of the bason at
Flushing wet impdrtant. • Such was the opinion
of Lord Nelson, Slrfli Popham, and every ex-
perienced Naval Officer ; and of such importance
was the destruction of Antwerp, that Ministers
(vetild have 4P.ceii justifiable, if, for the accom-
plishment of this and, they ran even' greater risk
than they did on the present occasion. The
means which were there of building at once nine
or ten ships of war—the harbour capable of con,.
tanning SO more, it combined to make it an object
of „the greatest exertion. He was much surprised
when, ho beard the false( syllogism respecting the,,
Scheldt. Notwithstanding every imputation, he
never had heard any thing so absurd from hie.
Noble Friend. When the state of Austria and.
France was so critical, when the balance of fat
was suspended between the two Powers, the,
stuallest,assistance was useful ; then was else time
to consider what our means were, and how, we
should apply them. If, as it had been recommend-,
ettby some, the'Expedition had gone to Germinyi
of Spain, every 'attempt •oU thSt kind* would hittel
proved abortive. If Lord Wellington's'arnrYl
were int-seated, from thu posture of elreirevjr.
stead of a, service it o mild have been an injury: s
if it had been sent to the North, it wudld hate

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