"

but even now the common vocabulary | lential marshes of Walcheren! The camcould not supply him with a phrase paign of the noble lord, indeed, disdained strong enough to express his ridicule of any limitations of time; he "was not them; he had absolutely coined a new bound to a day." There was a slight dif-, word to express his disregard of the evi- ference in this respect between the plan dence of sir W. Erskine it was (said the of gen. Brownrigg and his; the gallant noble lord) grotesque" and " chival- general was bound to a day-all his success rous." Grotesque was a term applied to depended upon being in such a place on a testimony not very intelligible and cer- certain day; and most dismally for his tainly not familiar in the courts. It might campaign, did it fall out that he could not be dullness of comprehension in him, but in the nature of things by possibility, ar he really did not comprehend the mean- rive at that place on that day. He would ing of it. "Chivalrous," however, as for instance, in the ardour of his fancy, might be sir W. Erskine, he was content buoy the river and convey the whole to take him as commander of his army, fleet up the Scheldt channel in a few he would give gen. Brownrigg to the hours. This it required fully a week at noble lord, and they would take the field least to accomplish; and thus the genethus arranged he had no fear for the ral's famous plan fell to the ground, and issue; and he saw by the noble lord's for this simple reason, because it was imsmile, that he was willing to fight him on possible. Little mistakes in time would his own terms. The evidence of his ge- not appear surprising. When the whole neral he must defend from the imputations channel was to be buoyed, the general cast on it; and he had no hesitation in said one day would finish the business; pronouncing it as clear, distinct, and eru- but when the pilot was consulted, he redite, as any he had ever heard. It was quired a week for this purpose. He was now most consistently discredited, be- not disposed to deny gen. Brownrigg's cause it was true; and all his predictions integrity; but he could not avoid suswere ridiculed and denied, because every pecting the deficiency of his judgments. one of them had been calamitously re- Even in attempting to bear up before alized. Flushing, the two admirals' ships ran ashore; and had it not been for the panic of the enemy, might have been instantly consumed with red-hot shot. Who would believe then, that the gallant general, enterprising as he was, could, possibly, in a few hours, convey up above one hundred ships, through the more extended, more intricate and consequently more difficult navigation of the whole river.

The noble lord had very freely condemned gentlemen who differed from him on this most important question for conceiving speculative campaigns, and then insisting that they should have been acted on. He was content, however, to take the campaigns of the ministers themselves and to try them for their conduct by the test of their own absurd projects. They were two in number; the first was the campaign of the noble lord and general Brownrigg, They commenced most valiantly. Our they went, fighting side by side, and bearing down every impediment. Nothing could withstand them, until at last, unfortunately, the noble lord advised the gallant general to take firebrands, proceed up the Scheldt boldly, and burn the ships" Indeed (said the gallant general) that is impossible, I am tired," and so ended the exploits of the combined commanders, and the glorious hopes which they had originated. The other campaign was that of gen. Craufurd: and most valiantly did that hon. general cut and dash at every thing which came before him, and a most noble issue had he conjured up; when, unhappily, the vision vanished, and the army appeared at a stand, perishing in the pesti

There was, now that he had disposed of the gallant general's most chimerical and fanciful campaign, one circumstance in the evidence which he must allude to, and which, in his opinion, subjected the noble lord to the most severe account and the heaviest responsibity. It appeared that lord Chatham did not know the situation of the arsenals at Antwerp. Now, from intelligence laid before the secret Committee, it was proved that the noble lord did. What was the reason that he did not, as in duty bound, inform lord Chatham? How would he answer to the country for this most culpable neglect. How could the right hon. gent. avert the still more serious responsibility of allowing his incompetent colleague (as he conceived him) to remain in office, and to commit so flagrant a breach of his public duty? He did not wish, indeed, to pro

duce any comparison between the noble | Sir, (said Mr. W.) how your vigour was lord and the right hon. gentleman. The able to stand it, though my surprise is noble lord bad most unquestionably much abated, when I consider the exerthrough the entire progress of this questions which you are ever ready to make tion, conducted himself in the most candid for the general interest. I really, howand manly manner; he had declared he ever, had sunk into a slight oblivion during did not shrink from responsibility, and he some of the sieges; though, in truth, few had consistently voted for inquiry. The of them took much time. And, when I right hon. gent. on the other hand, had awakened to resume my services, happenaffected candour, and acted with dupli- ing to ask from a friend near me, how far city; he had pretended that he sought in- we had got "Oh, (said he) our general vestigation, and yet he voted steady and says, by God, he has just taken Bergenstaunch against inquiry. He now, in-op-Zoom.' deed, talked of the benefits of this inquiry, when he could no longer avert its prosecution, and pretended to panegyrise that which could have no good result, unless it involved him in merited condemnation. Since this inquiry had proceeded, he had only to regret that the names of the different members did not go forth coupled with the questions which they had separately asked the witnesses: considering from whom many of the questions had come, the effect would have been extremely diverting. The noble lord, for instance, had asked captain Woodroffe (who had surveyed the whole country from the top of a church steeple,) what good he could foresee from the Expedition? The witness answered, "none at all." Foiled in this, the noble lord begged of every one to tell what a desperate weapon Congreve's rockets were. Now this was hardly fair; it was like a tradesman puffing off goods in which he had a concern: but in the end, the noble lord made no use whatever of these destructive instruments, in his speech. But what was the answer of Mr. Woodroffe with respect to them?-Why, that these rockets were deemed very troublesome things; but that of their effects he knew nothing whatever-and who did? Of this evidence, however, the noble lord made no use, and no one could see his object in introducing it. The noble lord, indeed, seemed to have forgotten the greater part of the evidence and documents which he had adduced himself. It did not suit his interest to refer to them, and therefore he had most prudently abstained from touching upon that irrelevant part of the evidence.

He begged pardon of the hon. gent. opposite (general Craufurd), but he really was led away from his campaign by the noble lord; but to tell the truth, he had indulged in a gentle slumber during part of its fatigues. I have indeed wondered,

This oath would, he hoped, never rise in judgment against the gallant officer, but be forgotten by the generosity of the angel alluded to by that interesting writer, whose pictures from nature the gallant officer's speech was strikingly calculated to call to one's recollection. The gallant officer, whose services he knew and respected, was no doubt as tender, as he professed to be of the blood of the soldier, as he was known from his conduct upon service to be prodigal of his own. The gallant officer however, might, like Mr. Shandy, be anxious to mount his hobby horse upon military tactics. The siege of Bergen-op-Zoom might be as familiar to his imagination as that of Namur was to Mr. Shandy. But neither the gallant general nor his friends, the ministers, were fit to cope with Mr. Shandy. Mr. Shandy had plans of all the towns he had to invest, but neither the gallant officer nor his friends had a single plan. The gallant officer, however, expressed a readiness to forfeit his head if he could not accomplish his whole project. But his head was perfectly safe, for he might rely upon it, that he would never be sent to put his project to trial. No, the country had too much of such trials to accede to another, and he trusted the House was too sensible of the nature and consequence of the trial which had taken place, to accede to the gallant general's amendment. What, after the farce and the tragedy which marked this Expedition, was it possible that the House could adopt the proposed amendment, which would go to take away the very substratum of his noble friend's resolutions? What, after the noble minister of war's frequent exhibition of an immense army, on paper, illustrated by the slow difficult preparations of a comparatively small force.-The noble lord, could not therefore so easily get rid of his responsibility. He gave him the credit, indeed, of not shrinking from it; he gave him also the credit of affording a full and complete pre

ly affecting was the interview! The fleet sailed-how sad was the parting! The noble lord stood on the shore saluting the jelly alderman, and catching his last sigh-when the worthy baronet, in the words of the ballad :

paration to the Expedition. The soldiers | agree to the gallant officer's amendment? were well equipped, and the staff quite This document from the French officer completed. "Even (said Mr. W.) even- was indeed a curious article of informathe city staff was perfect. The good tion for the noble lord to rely upon. It city of London was represented by the was casually formed in 1808, and de. jolliest of her aldermen. (Loud laughing.) scribed the positions of the French army To him the noble lord paid the most mark- at that time. Yet this document was aded attention. He went to Deal. He was duced to justify a great military move the last person he saw. Oh! how tender- ment in 1810; because from some loose intelligence since obtained, it was inferred that nearly the whole of that army had gone to the Danube. Such was the nature of the intelligence upon which the noble lord set our military resources in motion. But the noble lord would, it seems, call over the French emperor to bear tes timony in favour of his character and the policy of his arrangements. This call, however, the noble lord must expect now to be answered according to the old adage, Last night (said Mr. W.)" that he was married, and could not come." And may that marriage, said the hon. gent. be productive of general felicity, by leading to that peace which France has so often attempted, in vain, to establish with this country.

"Waved his lily hand, "And bid his noble friend adieu."

He had, perhaps not very consistently, indulged in some farce on this subject alas! he was now come to pure unmixed tragedy: he was now come to a melancholy estimate of the prodigality of human life, and the wanton extravagance of human happiness: he was come to consi

But at last the envious winds interfered -the Phoenix spread her wings, and wafted the turtles and the alderman to the destined port. I looked about for him, when an allusion was made to the expence at which the city estimated the Expedition. The jolly baronet was away, but another kissed the rod. He is also a baronet, but that is not sufficient to describe him, there are so many of them; he may be known, however; his face is less round and less ruddy than the other. There were no less than three of them there huddled together on the same bench-three baronets, all elevated for unheard-of-services. But he must leave the aldermen, however reluct-der the cruelty of men who had sent our antly, and return once more to the noble troops to perish unnecessarily and inglo lord. The army, it must be allowed, when riously in the most unhealthy climate in it did go, was fully completed in every the world, at its most pestilential season! thing; the more therefore the guilt of It had been said by way of extenuation of the noble lord and his colleagues, to send the conduct of ministers, that the last seait to a place where so many were certain son was remarkably rigorous: he had to of perishing, and consigned to a premature state, from good authority, that it was one and inglorious grave. They might have of the mildest ever known in Walcheren. saved them from that calamity, had they-As to the question of the gallant geneattended to the advice and opinions of the ral, whether the nation would consent to officers they insulted, by asking in mockery give up the West India Islands, because for their opinions, upon which they were their climate was unfavourable to the predetermined not to act. But the noble health of our troops, he would declare for lord dealt hardly by his witnesses, for himself, that he did not know whether he when they gave evidence, such as he would wish to occupy so many of these wished, he would have them believed: but islands. Certainly he never would conif they did not do that, he impeached their sent to retain St. Domingo, at the expence testimony. After the production of such of so many lives as the attempt to obtain witnesses as Mr. Coke, and Mr. Pole, toit had cost this country. Nor would he attest in fact, nothing at all, and the document found upon the dead French officer in Catalonia, to furnish satisfactory proofs of the noble lord's accuracy of intelligence -after the melancholy catastrophe of this ill-concerted and ill-executed Expedition, was it possible that the House could

VOL. XVI.

assent to the detention of Walcheren, however important it might be deemed in any point of view, even at the hazard of such sacrifices as that island had occasioned. The retention, indeed, of this island was from the beginning evidently impracticable. Our troops had not been long there 2 B

when they actually became, from the pro- | gress of disease, quite unfit for active opeFation, even had the ulterior object of the Expedition been attainable, and required their aid for its accomplishment. In fact the unhealthy character of this island was not to be doubted. Let the House look to the evidence of captain Puget, and to that of many others; let them look to sir Lucas Pepys, to him, who made such a curious exhibition before the House, who, at first, stated that he did not know any thing of hospital diseases, and came back again to explain his meaning, that he did not know any thing of the internal arrangements of hospitals, as if that could be considered his original meaning. As, well, indeed, might a man be supposed to look into a pair of empty jack boots to ascertain the state of the legs which once wore them. But, yet sir Lucas Pepys, as well as Mr. Keates and Mr. Knight, still asserted, that the misfortune attached to the Expedition owing to the progress of the disease at Walcheren, was not attributable to them. Surely then, this case ought to be inquired into, in order to ascertain the guilt. For what guilt could be greater than that which led to such calamity?

tracted operations and suspended attacks. -Whatever might be said of the capture of Fribourg and Ismael, that of Copenha gen was not surely a coup-de-main, although so denominated by the noble lord. Ås well, indeed, might the attack made by his friends and himself upon the ministers, if victorious upon this occasion, be considered a coup-de-main. They had opened their trenches upon the 23d of January, against ministers; they had frequently mounted the glacis, been victorious, and been repelled, but he hoped they would on this discussion finally triumph for the benefit of their country, still their triumph could not be deemed a coup-de-main, unless in the noble lord's singular construction of the phrase.

Now, as to the retention of Walcheren, he declared that he considered that unfortunate proceeding attributable principally to the right hon. gent. who spoke last. He was to blame, for it was he, who, by throwing the apple of discord among his colleagues, produced a degree of confusion and disorder in their councils, which unfitted them for some time for almost any measure of government. In fact, as soon as they recovered from that confusion, that ill-fated island was abandoned. The hon. gent. felt that much more might be said upon the subject; but from the late hour of the night, he was unwilling to trespass farther upon the attention of the House.-Exhausted as he then was, and as the House was, he should conclude by demanding their unanimous and prompt decision. The nation demanded their decision; the wreck of our brave army de

But the noble lord, with his usual singularity of phrase, called this a speculative disease. What did he mean by this? Was there any medical man so ignorant, as not to know that the disease certainly awaited our troops, and was not that certainly soon experienced and fatally ascertained? The House had many returns before it, as to the progress of this disease; but did the noble lord know any thing of the state of the troops at this moment?manded it; the martyred thousands whom how few of them were now, or even likely to become, fit for service? One fact alone which had come to his knowledge was sufficient to demonstrate the mischievous effects of this distemper. Out of 128 men composing the light company of the 3rd regiment of guards, all picked men, which went out to Walcheren, not one man was now fit for duty, it being necessary, that those who survived should be nursed like children. Such then was the consequence of an Expedition, the main object of which was to be achieved suddenly; was to be done, as the noble lord termed it, by a coup de main. But the noble lord had quite a peculiar conception of that military phrase, instead of regarding it as a prompt decisive effort of courage, he really seemed to consider it as tantamount to a siege to the slow progress of pro

we had left to rot in Walcheren demanded it.-There is, indeed, (said Mr. W.) from the centre to the circumference of the empire, one, united, universal, heart-rending cry for justice. Give it then to the supplications of the people; give it to the sorrows of the army; give it as the last consolation to the widows and orphans of the dead; Give it as a pledge of the honour and integrity of the living. To the people of England, and to the cause of humanity, the punishment of those who have created such enormous evil is a necessary act of duty. The memory of the dead, and the honour of the army call for vengeance upon the authors of this Expedition, and I trust in God that the House will attend to the call.

Captain Parker said a few words in vindication of the Expedition; after which the House adjourned.

HOUSE OF LORDS.

Friday, March 30.

pondence by the government of this country, until the period when his Majesty's present ministers, upon a former oc casion, yielded up their offices, and published without discrimination or selection, a mass of correspondence with foreign powers, several parts of which ought never to have been made public, and the publiçation of which have tended materially to injure the interests and the character of the country. It was then in contemplation to have made a formal complaint to Par liament of such extraordinary conduct, and he now most unfeignedly regretted that he did not upon that occasion agree, that such a complaint should be made, as it might have prevented a repetition of conduct so unworthy and so disgraceful. He felt it to be now an imperative duty to make a complaint against the ministers, for having published documents of a confidential and private nature, tending to compromise the honour and character of the country, to betray its interests, and to endanger the lives of individuals. The papers respecting the Campaign in Spain, which had been delivered, were full of passages which were most improper to be published. It surely ought to be considered as an incumbent duty of every government, to refrain from publishing any remarks, tending to bring into discredit the general in the chief command of the troops of an allied power, still more to refrain from publishing observations to this effect, which were merely matter of opinion, or at most but of loose suspicion.

[CAMPAIGN IN SPAIN.] Lord Grenville rose, in pursuance of his notice, to call the attention of the House to certain parts of the correspondence respecting the Campaign in Spain, which he contended had been very improperly made public. He felt himself somewhat embarrassed with respect to the course he ought to pursue his objection being to the publicity which had been given to certain parts of the correspondence; but the mischief which must arise from the disclosures made through the strange, unaccountable and unpardonable negligence with which this correspondence had been thrown on the table, was, he was afraid, already done. This correspondence had been already printed and published through that House, to Europe and the world, and the consequences would, he much feared, prove highly injurious to the interests of the country. An inconvenience might sometimes necessarily arise with respect to the conduct of negociations from that free discussion which was inherent in the frame and essence of our constitution; but it was an inconvenience greatly overbalanced by the advantages derived to the country from that free discussion. It was, however, a sacred duty at all times incumbent upon the government, to take care that this inconvenience should never be unnecessarily increased to the detriment of the interests of the country, and the injury of its character amongst our allies. It was peculiarly a sacred duty in the King's ministers to take care in the publication of papers relative to negociations, and connected with our transactions with friendly states, 1. That the public councils of their governments should not be betrayed, and that no improper reflections should be made public upon the governments themselves. 2. That no publica-ed leave for their production; but let the tion should be made of the quarrels or disunions of the leading persons of such governments, or of those confidentially employed by them. 3. It was, above all, a most sacred duty to take care that the safety and the lives of persons confidentially employed by them, or on the part of this country, or from whom information was obtained, should not be lightly compromised, or wantonly put to hazard.

The principles of conduct, which this duty imposed, had been uniformly acted upon in the publication of diplomatic corres

His noble friend who moved for these

papers had worded his motion so as to leave to ministers the opportunity, as was their duty, of selecting such parts as were consistent with public safety and individual security; that motion being for copies and extracts. That House was no party, therefore, to these disclosures, nor he was sure, was his Majesty, when he grant

House see what they contained. The whole tenor of them was to show the wretched weakness of the Supreme Junta, and especially to impugn the character and conduct of the commander of the Spanish armies. Let their lordships turn over all the proceedings of parliament, and they could not find an instance in which, just at the close of a campaign, a foreign commander was thus brought before parlia ment with whole pages of invective against him. Such shocking injustice had not before stained their proceedings. He knew