we ought not to unnerve the arm of national defence, or fuffer individual lofs to weigh against the general good of our country. Upon a review, therefore, of the queftion, he muft ftrenuously object to all military criticifm on any part of military operation; and he felt it his particular duty to refift a motion which could not be productive of any actual benefit, and at the fame time might clog and harass the measures of government. want of every thing; that they had been led to battle when, from ficknefs, they were completely unable to fight; and that an important engagement was loft, by the English having been two hours beyond their appointed time in beginning the attack. An inquiry was the only means by which thefe allegations could be difproved, and the honour of our brave countrymen vindicated. The right honourable fecretary had affirmed, that the defign of this glorious expedition-(an expedition which had neither been difaftrous nar expenfive, which indeed had rather been lucrative, in a commercial point of view!)-was threefold. Mr. Bouverie faid, that none of these arguments had convinced him of the impropriety of the inquiry. After the conftitutional force of the country had been demolished to fit out the expedition, it certainly had failed with circumftances of difgrace to the British name. Was it not the duty of the house to investigate fuch a bufinefs, and afcertain whether blame was to be attached to the projectors of the plan, or to thofe to whom the execution had been entrusted? An investigation could give no juft caufe of complaint to our allies, and could only be op-ed with excellent effects, and might pofed at home by those who were confcious it would not redound to their own credit. Mr. Tierney rofe, expreffing much furprife that fuch an objection fhould be urged as the danger of offending the Ruffians, and exciting jealoufies which might injure the caufe we had jointly undertaken to fupport. It feemed to be forgotten that these jealoufies already exifted: each party afcribed the failure to the mifconduct of the other; and inquiry would end groundless recriminations, by fixing the blame where it ought to fall, and thus reftore cordiality between them. The Ruffian general had caft the fouleft imputations upon our gallant army, in the face of all Europe; and had written to his fovereign that his men were in Firft, the poffeffion of the Dutch fleet, which, for his own part, he believed to have been a very fubordinate object, and of infinitely lefs importance than it was now reprefented to have been; fecondly, the deliverance of Holland from the yoke of France; and, thirdly, to make a diverfion in favour of our allies. This plan was often attend have been of fervice in the prefent inftance; but furely there was little advantage in faving an Auftrian by the facrifice of a British army. What were the benefits which refulted to the allies by our landing on the coaft of Holland ? We were told it operated at Novi: he wondered it had not been afferted as the caufe of the capture at Seringapatam. General Maffena defea ed the Auftrians when our troops were on the continent; the battle was fought on the 15th of Auguft, and on the 10th of September there was fcarcely a French foldier in Holland. It appears then, that only one object of the three had been fuccefsfully purfued; and even here the fleet we had gained we could not employ ; it furrendered to us only in the hope of offerving foon under the ftadtholder, and the failors teftified the utmost diffatisfaction on being brought to this country in the manner in which they were. "We demand (faid he) the reafons which justified the attempt of delivering Holland; but the honourable gentleman fhrinks from the inquiry. It would be improper (he tells us) to difclose them, and refers to the prime minister of queen Elizabeth, lord Burleigh, whofe conduct he profeffes to follow." Government was not justifiable in making the attempt; attended, as it neceffarily was, without being affured of the good-will of the natives. What objection could there be in laying before the house the favourable intelligence they had procured from the Dutch, if any fuch exifted? Without infifting on the names, let the copies of their letters be produced. This method was fuccefsfully practifed in the last war, in the affair of Ufhant; why then must we have only the affertions of minifters on fo importanta tranfaction to England and to Englishmen? There was fuch a thing as a fecret committee; the affairs of the bank had been laid before it, and the most inviolable fecrecy preferved refpecting the communications. If preffing invitations had been fent us from the Dutch, it was extraordinary that no figns of cordiality appeared, either on the landing of the army, or on their remaining in the country, in prodigious ftrength, during fix weeks: in all this period no one man of eminence declared in their favour. If we were invited to the Helder, we were foon taught what ftrefs was to be laid on thefe amicable difpofitions of the perfidious Dutch, and ought inftantly to have given up the enterprife. If the invitation came from other parts of the coat, where the inhabitants would have given us a 1800. better reception, what did we do at the Helder? Let minifters account for their conduct, and exonerate themf lves from fufpicions, too ftrong to be removed without proofs, by producing the documents (if any fuch exift) on which this ill-fated expedition had been planned. It was unconftitutional, nay more, it was an infult on the houfe, to fay this could not be done confiftently with the prefervation of fecrecy. General Abercromby landed on the 22d of Auguft with 10,000 men: he got poffeffion of the Helder: he was reinforced by General Don on the 27th with 5000. Was it not firange that 15,000 men, headed by an able general, and going by invitation, fhould think it imprudent to advance? Had the Dutch been well affected, why did they not declare themfelves?-No French troops were then in Holland to keep them in awe. Their expectations must have been fully anfwered in the force devoted to their relief; yet no perfon teftified the leaft attachment to our caufe, and from that moment the enterprife was hopeless. There were fome questions which only general Abercromby could anfwer; and on his account, Mr. Tierney faid, he wifhed for an inquiry, as he did not doubt but it would terminate to his honour, and probably prove him to be the firit of war minifters; though he could not but remark that most of the expeditions under his aufpices had been fingularly unfortunate. St. Domin go, where more guineas had been expended and more lives loft than the honourable fecretary had been pleafed to ftate, was at laft evacuated; Quiberon was evacuated; Corfica was evacuated. But when fuch an expedition as that 'to Holland was deemed neceffary, why did not the duke of York fail at the fame L time time with general Don? Why were ail our forces fent to one place, and 43,000 men cooped up in a narrow peninfula, where but few could act at a time? It was strange that minifters, who were fo fond of making diverfions, did not think of making a diverson in fome other quarter. This was a point which only mili. tary men could determine; and the houfe was bound to examine officers, that the truth might be made known. Whether his royal highnefs concluded the capitulation from inftructions or from his own judgment, he should (in his opinion) have demanded an inquiry, and this was the only way the difgrace could be transferred from himfelf, and the gallant officers who ferved He had no reason to under him. apologife for the liberties he ufed with the name of his royal highnefs, although he might one day become his fovereign, for he would not think the worfe of that Englishman who was moft folicitous for the honour of the British army. We gave up 8000 feamen, whom, it feems, were mere lumber had his royal highness been of the fame opinion, he would not have befitated in complying with this requifition of general Brune, but inftantly have made the furrender of the prifoners. The capitulation had infixed an indelible blot on the national character, and tarnished the failors' honour: a king's fon, commanding 40,000 men, capitulated to a French general who had only 31,000! In the calculations made by the honourable fecretary, the Ruffian fubfidy, which amounted to a million fterling, had totally been omitted; alfo the levy-money, given to thofe who volunteered from the militia; and the expence to the nation of the families of thofe who had been killed or wounded. Per haps only 185 died actually in the hofpitals; but how many of the wounded died without being brought thither, and not numbered amongst the flain? How many left it uncured? and how few of those would ever again be able to gain their daily bread! The other fide of the argument was equally unfair; the Dutch fhips are not our affets, we had them only on truft. He questioned whether the number of feamen would be reduced. Lord Duncan kept a very large fleet yet in the North feas, and the expedition had been in every view difaftrous; nor would it be the leaft of its evils that it would involve a British parliament, as well as a British army, in difgrace, if this inquiry was rejected. Mr. Percival thought the gentlemen on the oppofition were very inconfiftent, in perfifting in opinions proved to be repugnant to the fentiments of the people, of whom they called themfelves the organs. They feemed to wish to perfuade them. that the houfe was degraded, and, in the votes which were pafled, not actuated by any regard to their honour or welfare. It had been conceded, that the object of the expedition was Britifh, tending to the interefts of the country; it had been conceded that our commanders and officers were not only unimpeachable, but highly honourable; it had been conceded that one great obje&t had been gained by the Dutch fleet; yet a glaring contradiction appeared-though the fleet was captured, and this capture was of the utmost importance to us, an ho-. nourable gentleman had much regretted the means, which he called the treachery of the feamen who manned it; he acknowledged that we could only be fuccefsful in the expedition by the co-operation of the inhabitants of Holland, and the favours favourable wishes of the Dutch army, yet feemed to forget our object of delivering that country from the French could only have been completed by what he was pleated to call treachery and fedition. The propofed inquiry was to afcertain if there was any blame imputable for the partial failure of the expedition, and to whom. A fecret committee had been mentioned as the best method of obviating any bad confequences which might arife from public difcuffions; but he much doubted, from the number of members who would fit in it, and a variety of circumftances, whether fecrecy would be the refult. Another expedient was, to have blanks for the names and places whence the letters were dated; but the whole letters must be left blank, or they would difciofe the channels of intelligence, our means of information refp. &ting the country, and all which our intereft required we fhould conceal. The question whether we were abfolutely invited to land at the Helder had been repeatedly urged. Might not the invitation come from the interior of the country? The troops must have landed fomewhere, and the place must have been left to the direction of thofe who planned the whole. Phefe inquiries could not be fully answered without making difclofures extremely prejudicial to our own interefts and the allies. Much had been faid of our capitulation, which, abstractedly confidered, was not a very honourable termination of a military expedition: but this was only abstractedly confidering it; for we had accomplished two great points out of three: the third was found to be unattainable, and our next object was to effect the return of our troops in the best manner poffible. Under thefe circumftances, there remained no alternative but that of inundating the country, or of facrificing a thou fand men of the rear guard of our army in the embarkation, which certainly the honourable gentleman would allow (after fo eloquently deploring the effufion of human blood) to have been a lefs humane and honourable expedient than that we adopted, which was to give up Sooo French prifoners. Mr. M. A. Taylor affured the houfe that the fupport he should give to the prefent motion did not arife from any thing like a party fpirit. He anxioufly hoped that parliament would inquire into the mifcarriage of an enterprife which had disappointed the expectations of the British nation: he was cer tainly happy that in a degree it had fucceeded; but when fo large an army had entered Holland, without being able to accomplish any thing like the object they had in view, fome folid fatisfactory reafon fhould be affigned for fo public a difgrace. Parliament fhould not reft fatisfied with the ipfe dixi of a minifter: but Mr. Pitt, throughout his whole ad miniftration, would never confent to any inquiry; and if the houfe did, not prefs it upon the prefent occa. fion, it was plain that their inquifitorial capacity was gone. Mr. Addington obferved, that having maturely and difpaffionately confidered the nature of the propofed inquiry, it appeared to him to rest upon two grounds: first, the propriety of judging any meafure by its event; and, fecondly, that in confequence of a failure there fhould be a neceffity for inveftigation. It ought to be recollected, that the worft-concerted plans had often produced the moft brilliant fuccefs, and the best terminated in difafter. No human being could command fuccefs, and no exiting government L 2 controul controul the elements. He concluded with an eulogy on the skill of our generals and the intrepidity of our army. Mr. Sheridan faid, that, after having trefpaffed fo long on the patience of the houfe, he was induced to make but a few more obfervations upon the word difgrace being confidered fo obje&ionable by minifters, when applied to this expedition. It was indifputable that the mere failure of an expedition was not in itself a difgrace a town might be befieged and taken, though the garrifon had displayed the greatest courage and perfeverance. But what included difgrace in a military expedition was, when a country was deluded by promifes which were not performed when a people were tempted by offers of protection to manifeft their fentiments-and, inftead of the protection held out, the planners of an expedition were obliged to capitulate for their own. retreat; and this had been the fact in the prefent inftance. The people indeed did not obey the invitation; but if they had, trufting to the promifes of Great Britain, muft they not inevitably have been abandoned? The term difgrace fixed upon the men who, without certainty of fulfilling their word, pledged it, and, boafting of their power, committed the nation by their folly and incapacity. Two of the great objects were faid to be attained: he denied the fact; two of them were incompatible. If it was one to replace the ftadtholder, it could not be one to take away their navy for our own ufe. But it was a diverfion: Holland was the worst of all other places for a diverfion, for, by the nature of the country, a very inferior body of troops could fuccefsfully refift a greatly fuperior force. He would agree that it was a fair thing to call a defcent by this name, where, landing on an enemy's flore, we drew great bodies of men from other quarters, and kept them in play; but it was quite another thing when, having landed with the profeffed object of replacing an exiled authority, and failed of fuccefs, we came home, and called it a diverfion!-Mr. Sheridan concluded by expreffing furprise at the conduct of minifters, particularly upon this occafion. He did expect they would endeavour to render the inquiry nugatory, but not that they would attempt to colour a pofitive refufal with plausible pretexts! He lamented, for the fake of the army, for the fake of the houfe, and for the fake of the country, that they thought it confiftent with common decency to get rid of the fubject by fuch means. The houfe divided: for the motion 45-against it 216. In our accounts of the financial arrangements of the year, we thought it neceffary to notice the fubfidies to foreign princes; but as the debate took a more general turn upon that fubject, we have referved it for the prefent chapter. On the 14th of February his majefty's meffage, relative to his negotiations with the emperor of Germany, the elector of Bavaria, &c. being read, lord Grenville moved the addrefs in the house of lords. It would be a waste of time, he faid, after the uniform votes of the houfe on the neceffity of profecuting the war with vigour, to enter into detail on the matter under prefent confideration. By parliament it had generally been admitted that it was the truett policy of Great Britain to procure the affifiance of continental ftates by fubfidifing their sovereigns; and it was upon this principle that his majefty had negotiated with |