The Statesman.
London, England, 1810-07-12 00:00:00

LONDON', •4711IRSlidr, .161:,r 12, Islo

DR. MILNER'S LETTERS. .
To-morrow will be published, Price 2.4. (M.
THE FIVE LETTERS of the Right Rev.
DOCTOR NH LN ER, whith appeared in The &alio
man, developing all the FACTS, relative to the Impoirtaat
Question between the Rev. DOCTOR, and the Right Hat.
PONSONII respectingthe VETO; :tad folly
explaining, and wholly exposing the CO:MIXT of the
JUN TA at STA NIIO P LET. •
*.* The Pehlicationef these Letters is delayed for a few
days, in roworquence of the Editor having received a Co
of au ADDRESS, in the Latin lam‘olage' !opted/nil
ed by a Synod of all the IRISH CATHOLIC BISHOPS.,
Witt in Dublin on the Kith of kebru.iry last, to all the CA-
THOLIC PRELATES and DIGNITARIES' throughout
the World; being a PROTEST agninst the .Yinletrce ever-,
rised on POPE PMF.4 VII. by.the FRENCH EMPEROR..
and which most interesting Document never wan pahllallit,
and is therefore now traordistiug by the rjaitor,And.milllt bir
imierted ata aw Appeettor to Dr. MILNER's Letter*.
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REVIEW OPTIIE LATESEgSIO+V OF

-PARLIA4IEIV.7'.

[Continued from our Paper of yesterday.]

It seemed to be as principle, gelierally asquies.
cell in by the House, that not being themselves
of the military or naval profession, it would be:
unfair to decide or pronounce on the conduct of
the officers engaged in this expedition. Wu skill 1
I
not venture upon doing what they thought theta.]
selves inadequate to, but confine oursel►es to..the
privilege of the vulgar, that of forming-oaq opi. '
nion of the wisdom and propriety of measures by
the event. And yet it might be urged, against the
maintainers of this doctrine, that if they had nu
right to 'pronounce a definitive judgment upon this
part of the subject, there was little use in touch.
ing upon it, and that much of the public time
was wasted by what they most have considered
' u an irrclative discussion. In the 'florid Pane.;
gyric of the British constitiition, which appears in
, Mr. BURKE'S celebrated pamphlet on the French
Revolution, lie dwelli particularly on the consti.
tution of the House of Commons, made up, as
he observes, of persons of every liberal profes...
I sion, and from this heterogeneous composition,
enabled competently to judge on every subject three
could occur during the discharge of their legisla.
tive or other functions. Although the mind of this
illustrious man seems to have been wrought up to a
pitch of enthusiasm In favour of the Government
of his own country,, from the conttrast which it
pretiented to the then anarchy of France, yet we
cannot forbear assenting to the truth of this re.
mark, and the justness of the consequences
which the' writer deduces from it. And, yet,
were the principle, to which we here allude, to
prevail universally, the House of Commons would
be litetally competent to decide upon nothing ;
because thegreat majority of the members being'
of no profession, where any question emerged
connected with professional pursuits, (and it is '
scarcely possible to conceive any one of a dif.
recent nature) they must decline interferiog with
whit, according- to this principle, they ought
to consider as either above or below their eapa.
• city.

, -

• .
•

It is not pretended that the failure of the expe.
dition arose from the it eakness or inadequacy of
the means employed to ensure its success, for these
are allowed upon all hands to have been abundant.
No eiitOwarti accident occurred, none. at least,
that ordinary intelligence and foresight ought not
to bane anticipated; want of success; that', can
be accounted for only by want of conduct Upon
the part of those who were charged with the axe.
coition ,or the *Mita:N3;la% or by a 'suppositirm
that the ohject_itaid .
Iss
.
cai4
fiebe 'ltem that the' House of Com-
mons-is Ineotiiiidtent to decide, recourse ought I
to be had to some other tribisiti4 and lit the
latter, the whole failure recoils opals.'
those, who were ignorant and , presurnptuons
enough to undertake what.ctiuld not be executed.
This is the dilemma, to which vulgar ree.
coning (and we pretend to lOthing mere) rea'l
duces the parties ; and' whtchever. burn of It tisk
Minister thinks proper to lay bold of, it Will be',
, itnpotisible for hint to avoid that blame,- *sack
every impartial mind in the United Empire imputes
to him.
But if blame is to be imputed to the Minister,
with the same impartiality we 'mast allow him the
merit of originality. The idea of taking Antwerp
by a coup-de-main would probably never have en.'
tered the brain of Bositia,wrt. if irbt alined
by theadvocatei of Loral Camrs.Sttiarsil and 'W.
• •
'Pe Taira I, we do not., *Jed. Mr. _CANNI'io,
Mho, it appears, din not entirely condor: in the
mestere) that neither- would they have undertaken
• •
Such a selmolit *!bey been,nequainual with the
• atiiitio . •
real n of .1 hat fortress—we arc willing to
..ellow. Theft the full force of
,a plea, which, i 4
drawn front their ignorance. But 64 ignorance,"
says Mr. Fox, " in a Prime Minisler, is ecrinienf
the first magnitude ;" and if, with all the morns
of obtaining intelligence upon that head within
their reach, and with very little scruple, we should
apprehend, as to t1va.,,,mada....4 conplioying them,
„accurate information --avapsttot to -he hail, nits es.
'sedition ought never
,to .hove been undertaken.
—lt is, we think, impasSible to refute this tea.
stoning, Whieli "ought' to have occurred ei priori
to our viers, because it is • founded upon the
broad and obvious principles -of common sense,
the best guide in political, as well as in domestic
rife. • , _
But let us proceed.—As the plan, no matter Whe.
titer ill or judiciously formed, • was to take Ant.'
werp by a coup.de!main, that is, by a sudden at
tack, which should, not allow the enemy time for
recollection, much has fur preparation, Celerity
was indispensably nereisstryl.os froin any, the
• least delay, he mustllave obtained time fur both.
Thii, too, appears to be fully obeions,,yet Uncoil
that was not sufficiently so to strike' the sagictuue
mind of the British Conimander in Chief, who, at
the poet says, "Neer looked forwied farther than
hi! nose." • instead "of advancing at once to the
-immediate object of the .Kirtedition, the seseral
towns and villages-of Welchem; must be
summoned, besieged, and taken, with ail, the
-66' prig' pomp, and, circumstance of 'glorious
war,"
und'a'iist space of time is consnmuti in the
Cruel, becausautittecessury, butubardmen(ef Fresh.
' But, at length, by the valour
.of .Our.lipet
and,.artny," as the Minister's speech from the
Throne pompously expresses it, the possession of
Waichervn is secured ; Flushing 'has surrendered;
and the Right Both the Earl of CuATUAst begins
to chnsbler " the ulterior objects of the Exited.
Sion." , There is something, or rather a good deal
of trick, in the nse of this term ulterior; which
geoid imply that the contrivers of the Expedition*
intended' it to embrace a great, variety of objects;
that it was to pursue a series of plans in regular
concatenation ; that there Were primaryvulterior,
.and ullinzale objects to he' attained. -Now the
avowal that Autwerp was to have beet' captured by
a coup.de.mnin completely repeluthis " foregone
Iconclosiote," and proves to a certainty that . that,
with its tiecestary consequences, the seizure of
the ships, the burning of the arsenals, and the du.
struction of the port, was the immediate anti sole
object which the armament was intended 'to ac.
coaiplish. It is not pretended that our troops
were to have advanced farther Lao the country ;
beciese such a pretence would lead the Minister to
declare, that he meant to invade the territories of
France, and, as there is then no point at which
he Cold have stopped in his imaginary career, it
must have ultimately conducted •him to the told pro.
ject of " marching to Paris." The capture, then,
of Antwerp was at least the ultimate object Of the
expedition, and ought to have been immediately
attempted. "But soft, by regular approach, nut
yet ;" there is South Beveling, atilt North Beve-
land,
and Baths, and a hundred otbee:puittls to be
stewed and before we' proceed to any one of
these ulterior objects of the eapedition, we must
hold a Council of War, the expedient Of the Great
Cones, who •was a very rash man in comparison
with Lord Cuss:mast; " hetsetar," as he Wilhite.


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