Mr. Whitbread begged to ask, whether Lord Hutchinson was a party to he intention of sending further subsidies to Prussia, in addition to the sum specified in the motion? And as the name of that noble lord had been introduced, he could not help asking another question, arising out of the statement of a right honourable gentleman on the ninisterial bench, on a former evening. The right honourable gentleman had stated, that the proposition of the noble lord's new military arrangements was delayed in consequence of the events of the war on the continent, which were quite unexpected by ministers. Now, he would ask, and indeed one would be surprised at a negative answer, whether Lord Hutchinson had not conveyed to ministers any indication or prognostic of what had occurred? Surely an intelligent officer, observing the situation and circumstances of such a mighty army, would, one should think, be enabled from what had occurred, to form some judgment as to what was likely to happen. But in point of fact, he would wish to know whether Lord Hutchinson had not made any communications upon this head to his majesty's ministers, as to the deplorable result of the war between the Russians and French, and as to the causes which led to that result?

Mr. Canning did not conceive the relevancy of the honourable gentleman's questions to the question immediately before the committee; yet he had no objection to answer them as far as could be consistently expected from him, as matter of hearsay. Unquestionably there had been communications from Lord Hutchinson as to the causes which led to the unhappy result of the campaign. Amorg these, several were dwelt upon, such, for instance, as that the event would have been more favourable if a general battle had not taken place at the time it did. But there were other contingencies more immediately applying to this country, and involving the conduct of the late administration. In some of the first communications received by ministers, it appeared that a degree of expectation prevailed on the con inent of receiving military aid from this country. Whether Lord Hutchinson was authorised by the late administration to excite such an expectation, he could not pretend to say, but certain it was, that the present ministers did find that impression among the allies very strong; indeed, without an at m of preparation to justify it. The right honourable gentleman expressed his

regret

589 regret that he should be under the necessity of entering into this subject, particularly in the absence of a noble lord (Howick); but he was forced to it by the observations of the honourable gentleman, and he must say, our continectal allies did entertain an expectation which the late ministers had taken no step whatever to fulfil. On the contrary, they had, just before their removal from office, dismissed all the transports. There was another contin geney also alluded to in the dispatches which ministers received soon after their accession to office, and that was with regard to the state of Prussia. It was stated, that unless that power was supplied with arms and money, she could not go on; and both were sent to her with as much promptitude, and to as great an amount, as was thought prus dent or necessary in the first instance. These, the right honourable gentleman added, were among the causes which were stated to have led to the disastrous results of the late campaign; and he trusted the honourable gentleman would consider them as sufficient answers to his questions. The right honourable gentleman concluded with repeating his regret, that he should have been pressed by the honourable gentleman to go into those points in the absence of the noble lord already alluded to.

Mr. Whitbread began by observing upon the consequences of the question, which he had thought it his duty to hazard. He felt it material that the country should be informed upon these points, and he wished for information himself, as he had no other knowledge upon the subject of our conduct with regard to Prursia, than what was fur nished by the public papers. In what he could collect from the right honourable secretary, it seemed on the whole, that Lord Hutchinson had communicated enough to justify a tolerably accurate opinion as to the result of the campaign. For what opinion could be formed of the prospects of Russia, if the only hope that remained for her, with an immense army on her own frontiers, and adundance of supplies, was the avoiding a general engage ment with a French force, so many hundred miles from its own country? If those who were last winter so much in the habit of extolling the Russian power; of exaggerating every advantage obtained by the Russians, and every dis advantage suffered by the French, were, at the opening of the campaign, to find the Russians in such a situation as to rest its hopes on the delay of a general engagement; if

they

they saw a letter from Lord Hutchinson, stating the policy and necessity of such delay, what would they think of their own judgments? What would he most deluded of them think as to the prospects of the Russian army? How then were the public to appreciate the wisdom of those ministers, to whom, with the information which Lord Hutchinson furnished before their eyes, the late events on the continent should have come quite unexpected?"

With respect to the right honourable gentleman's ani madversions on the late administration, as they were drawn from him by the questions which he felt it his duty to put, he would take leave to say a few words in reply to that right honourable gentleman. First, then, there was a marked difference between the course which the late ministers were justified in pursuing at the commencement of the Prussian war, and that which it was the duty of the present ministers to follow. In the former case, Prussia was actually at war with this country, and for Hanover, too, which France was at the time negotiating to give up to its Jawful sovereign. This negotiation terminated at a time when it was impossible to send an army to the aid of Prus sia or Russia, even were it expedient to do so, which he very much questioned. For if Russia and Prussia could not maintain themselves against France, his opinion was, that we could not furnish a force that could materially as sist them. But, to return to the comparison. The intention of the present ministers, with reference to the allies, was different from that of their predecessors. They were of opinion, that the allies ought to have been immediately assisted, and why did not they immediately act upon their opinion? With the exception of subsidies, they did not. But the tight honourable secretary had said, it was not in their power, because the transports were dismissed. Now it happened, that they came into office at the beginning of April, and yet they had done nothing; sent not a man to the continent until the middle of June, although a scarcity of transports was the last thing at all apparent. They complained of this scarcity, and yet, what was the fact? Why, that notwithstanding the considerable armament sent to the Baltic, they, within a fortnight afterwards, found transports to send out from 10 to 20,000 from the Downs. Now, if they could do so in so short a time, was it at all probable that a scarcity of transports could prevent any expedition to the continent, from the beginning

of

of April until June? But the fact was, if he were rightly informed, that there was no scarcity; although, in conse-" quence of the order of the late ministers, no less a sum tiran 40,000. a month was saved to the public by the dismissal of unecessary transports, which could be taken up when occasion required them.. The honourable gen leman apo-1 logized for trespassing on the attention of the committee," with those few words, which he honght it necessary to offer in vindication of the conduct of his friends. Bab

Lord Castlereagh observed, that it would require more time that he was then willing to occupy, to enter at length into these points on which that style of independent commentary, in which the honourable gentleman who spoke last generally indulged, had on this occasion committed his frien ls. But there were a few topics to which he would beg, to call the attention of the House. First, as to the right honourable gentleman's allusion to the conduct of his friends, with regard to Prussia: did it follow, be would ask, that because we were at war with that power, our government was discharged from all those maxims of political sagacity which ought to have influenced its proceedings, in the then state of Europe? Our government ought to have been pepared for the event. The conflict between Prussia and France was by no means uiexpected. For five months before it took place it was foreseen by all to whom the character of statesman belongs; at least for two months it was quite visible. It betrayed, therefore, a gross want of attention and political sagacity, not to have been prepared for such a result. But so they suffered themselves to be the dupes of a delusive negotiation, which exposed them to the deri-ion of Europe, which bound them to their own disgrace, by allowing an oportunity to pass by in which they might have afforded effectual aid to the great struggle of our allies.

The honourable gentleman had expressed a wish to know, whether there was any thing in the military circumstances! of Prussia which could warrant the advance which the present ministers proposed to make to that power A He' would, upon the best authority, answer the honourable gentleman in the affirmative. It would be recollected," that the success of the battle of Eylau was principally owing to the brilliant conduct of the Prussian corps com manded by General L'Estoque. At the time, indeed, that the projet of the treaty with Prussia w s drawn up, ministers

ministers had information upon which they could fully rely, that that power had included its garrisons in Silesia, its corps in the field, and its new levies, no less than 90,000 men at its disposal. Was that a force such as, notwithstanding the loss of territory, to render the treaty of supply alluded to by the bonourable gentleman deserving of an improvident character? If the late ministers had stepped forward to aid such a power, the result might have been materially different. But no, they excited, or at least suffered, the expectation of aid to prevail, without taking any means whatever to gratify it. So that when the present ministers came into office, they found the expectation without the means. They found that an aid of cavalry was particularly looked for on the continent, as that most requisite to Sweden, and that also which could be best spared by this country. But what were their means to forward this supply? Why, although cavalry is that description of force which required most preliminary preparation to convey, they actually found in readiness but one cavalry transport. Yet the first communication they received from the continent on their accession to office, expressed surprise that the cavalry had not arrived. Would this unprepared state suffice to account to the last speaker, for the delay of the present ministers in sending supplies to the continent? As to the statement of the right honourable gentleman (Mr. Windham), that the transports dismissed produced a saving to the country of 40,000l. a month, that right honourable gentleman, speaking on the spur of the moment, stated, no doubt, accurately, what his memory enabled him to say. But the right honourable gentleman was mistaken as to the amount of the saving, for it would not exceed 4,000l. a month. But perhaps the order to the transport board was issued with a view to save; to fall in with the arrangement of what was called the grand financial plan of the noble lord on the opposite side (Lord H. Petty), who calculated the expence of the country at thirty-two millions; a sum which could by no means answer the public demands during a year of war. But the economy which such an order implied, would, in'. fact, turn out profusion. Here the noble lord animadverted on the nature of the order to the transport board. First, it desired the dismissal of all transports, which, had it been complied with, would have been productive of considerable expence. The transport board remonstrated with the

treasury