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

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!ailed; if to &chi', dertion was there idtpeisiblr.
In a word, any expedition, when the time should be
protracted, was totally out of the question; fur
the resources of the country Would not be compe.
tent to supply such an army
,for any levels of
time. We werecalled on by our. allies fur
lance • and no other mode of effect presented it..
self but that which was pursued. lie acknow.
lodged tnat Government, previous to the Klptr.•
dition, had been informed of the armistice ;
—but he would ask, was, •er was not the
necessity of the. object strengthened by this oc••
cerrence 2—However it might be doubted by
Gentlemen en the opposite side, it must be ad.
milted, that in the state of the war between Ana..
tria and France, they afforded a diversion ,to us,
however we ifforded a diversion to tbem,[Hear !
hear !]--The converse of this proposition, cannot
be denied—of time and season we had no choice;
we were to look only to the period when we could
accomplish our ends, ant! it 'must be acknowledged
that though the means were insufficient, our object
was great. From the evidence adduced can it be
stated that the object wu impracticable? We
certainly never contemplated it but as one ex.
posed to risk ; yet it must be recollected that
had not disease spread its malignant ravages,
failure, nor any other disaster,- would have
succened, ...Bat when It is stated that the.glory of
the British arms is for ever tarnished, it •is Imo
possible to conceive what the state of that mind
is, which makes suck an assertion. [Loud
sheering.] No, it is not tarnished, unless by
the statement resulting from a quality of oppo.
eition • which never fails to rise against the most
•
salutary 'Measure% "'Witt respect So-lise lesprac:
ticability of the measures, it• has bun stated
that the wind and weather were adverse; it mast
then be taken into consideration, that if it be dc.
nominated justice to attach •disgrace and censure
tolailtires arising solely from these, we must take
leave of all claims to glory, and determine new
to go on an expedition again. [4oud cheering.]
It has been noticed that on account of those •ele.
meats it was necessary to set out before midsam.
mer; that when the Expedition arrived, the sea.
son was such as ought to have been expected.—
This assertion, however, can:tut be maintained ;
for, from the statements of iir R. Strachan and
Sir R. Keats (to use the expression of the lat.
ter), the weather was most unkind sod adverse; it
had been observed that the direction of the wind
' was favourable; it is true, the direction Was
so, but very good effect win destroyed 17 its
violence pear, hear !] —That this cause
should be applied to his Mejesty's. Ministers,
is not a fair nor just ground- of accusation.—
It was the opinion of the Admiral, that pro.
'Med the right bank of the Scheldt was se.
cured, it would be easy to conduct the fleet
to Satitvliet ; but the Gentlemen pf the oppo.
site side had-declared that the opinions of the Ge.
nerd! Officers were-totally unfavourable to the pro.
ject. Now if we but consider the opinion of the
Officer most unfavourable of all, it will be found
that he conceived the obtaining the Object would
be unattended by any danger ; for it was not of
the safety of the approach to Antwerp he was
doubtful, hut. of the return from it,- and this
through the apprehension that a large force might
asslanble and endtitger the retreat. A strong evi.
denco ref the force of the country appears front
the account ot the 11th of 'Angst, which states
that the enemy's force in the neighbonitiond of
Antwerp, 'Borgeo.op.Zoom, &c. consisted of
26,000 men, 2000 •of which were two or three
regiments of French guards, .1200• regular troops,
the rest of pressed men, &e. This is a satisfac.
tory proof of the want of the means _of opposi.
lion ; these forces were all divided in the va.;
rious towns, yet, it was said, that they were
all in Antwerp, not :thinking that Lillo and the
other forts were to be supplied from this. It wet
mot fair to state things in this manner. The Ho.
.nourable Gentleman opposite had asserted that
the almoner in which the expedition was conducted
was not according to the designed Ohne It is
true, it was not ,Sir H. Popham's orders that
Flushing.was to be taken; it was a simultaneous
movement, and it can be learned from Genacat
Brownrigg's opinion, that after the-investment t:M.
Flushing every other object could be accomplish.
ed. Another difficulty seems to have occurred
from the expiession, that when a " sure footing" .
was established in Walchcren, Sir J. Hope should
then proceed to South Ituveland. The mean.
ing of this was simply, that when a !adding,
should be effected, thew South Beteland was
to have been the next object ; • and this, in
point of fact, was accomplished on the 3d
of August. It will be perceived, from inspect.
ing the orders of the Admiralty, that the invest.
ment was to have taken place by sea ; it would
have been totally impossible then to threw rein.
forcements into Flushing. • It could not be de.
claret], that the capture of Cadsand wasno object;
but, above alt, itnattst be.. denied that there was
any force collected
,in it; for if the wind bad per.
mined a lauding to take place on the 30th, there
was no garrison to oppose its destruction; and
.free passage was opened up the Scheldt. 'lt had
been stated that there was a .deidlency of boats,
but this was not the case ; there were butte enough,
but Irons the • tiolonce of the weather they
could not act, of course no fault could be
found with that part of the operation ; for if the
army had secured the two rides of the river, on.
the 30th, they could have passed free, and arrived,
in duo time at Bath;;-unhappily, however, an •
untoward combination of even ts precluded the el. *
pectell success. From the'atidence it appeared, -
that the buoying the river alone -would have it. •
qulred &week ;• but the opinion of Sir R. Knott',
an officer, eiperienced, and who was on the spoto
declared that the whole might be a work of three
'days. It is unfair' from mere evidence to declaim
the imP*44IO.I:4IPI At Majesty's •MiniSten
complicbing itieWsiotivro ; tAllt nb. expectation can
formgdocsogOottikhere is sigier.
116494 P910444404e5e.• Mar 1] .give ttre
9.er4weet) off' ctads' t eels..,entioisvopsg .
reinbit lion, and place himself in his situation ;
but at the same ti ne he (Mr. Perceval) should be
lallowedsonte credit for endeavouring to keep hit* •.
out of it [.if laugh]. The Right Hon. G..mtle.

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