The members of parliament, in oppofition to government, not only oppofed the grant of a fupply for the entertainment of new armies, but called them to account for the ufe they had made of thofe already at their difpofal. On the tenth of February, Mr. Sheridan, after a very long fpeech in the houfe of commons, in which he acquitted the commander-inchief, officers, and army, that had been fent to the Helder, of all blame, but arraigned the impolicy, ignorance, and railnefs of minifters, moved, "That the houfe refolve itfelf into a committee of the whole houfe to inquire into the caufes of the expedition against Holland." tion, he faid, which did not fall within the fcope of the charge committed to the honourable gentleman who had made the motion, as a member of parliament. He thought it his duty to relift a motion of inquiry, which could not be produc tive of any benefit, at the fame time that it might confiderably clog and harass the measures of government. Mr. Bouverie thought that the bufinefs fhould be inveftigated, in order to afcertain whether blame was to be imputed to the projectors of the expedition, or to thofe to whom the execution of it had been intrufted. So allo thought all the members who fupported Mr. She ridan's motion. Mr. Tierney, in the courfe of a long speech, in which he made many threwd remarks, faid, “The capitulation feems to me to enfix an indelible ftain on the national character, and inflicts a deep wound on the foldiers honour. A king's fon, who commanded forty thoufand men, capitulated to a French general who had only thirty-one thouland. We owe it to our fovereign, and we owe it to our constituents, to inquire ftrictly into the caufes of this unheard of difgrace. The expedition either failed from unfore leen accidents, or from the folly of thofe who planned it. Let these circumftances, then, be ftated, or let the guilty be dragged forth to punishment.' Mr. Dundas role to affign the reasons why he could not give his conlent to the honourable gentleman's motion. He touched on the various topics, political and military, introduced by Mr. Sheridan, and infifted much on the advantages that had accrued to Britain by the Dutch expedition, particularly the Mr. Percival allowed that capicapture of the Dutch fleet, and the tulation, abftractedly confidered, diverfion of the French arms from was not a very honourable concluthe Upper Rhine to Holland.-Mr. fon to a military expedition. But Dundas, on a review of the whole that was a mere abstract confideraaffair, objected to all public mili- tion. Two of the three grand obtary criticism on any part of military jects of the expediton were atoperations. This was a confidera- tained; the Dutch fleet was cap tured; fured; and a strong and powerful diversion was effected in favour of our allies. The third was found not attainable. The confideration then was, how the return of our troops to their own country could be beft effected. And the expedient that had been adopted, for this purpose, appeared to him to be the beft that could be adopted. It was not difgraceful, because it was merely an adaptation to circumftances, which were countenanced by the attainment of the other objects of the expedition. Mr. M. A. Taylor affured the houfe, that the fupport he was ready to give to the prefent motion, did not arife from any thing like party fpirit. In doing fo, he acted in conformity with the wishes of a great majority of the country, on whom the failure of the expedition and the capitulation of the duke of York had made, the moft deep and ferious fenfation. The attempt to refcue Holland he had always fupported. He therefore wifhed to be informed, on what ground the expedition was undertaken, and why it was not fent out earlier; for the lateness of the attempt was, in a great measure, the caule of its mifcarriage. As to the mode in which the militia had been treated, in being, in a manner, incorporated with the army, he had always difapproved of it. The country gentlemen were driven from the militia, and its principal officers were difgufted. If, on occafion like the prefent, the houfe did not prefs for an inquiry, their inquifitorial capacity was gone. Blame must be imputed either to the army or mi nifters; the inquiry would decide on which of them. Mr. Addington thought it impoffible to fuppofe that the Dutch would, if favoured with an opportunity, fupprefs their forrow, their regret, and indignation at the yoke impofed on their necks, by the French republic. He contended that government would have been guilty, in a great degree, had it not made an attempt for their deliverance. He concluded his speech with an eulogy on the fkill and valour of the generals employed in the expedition, and the courage and intrepidity of the army. Sir J. Murray Pulteney rofe merely to correct an error of Mr. Tierney's, refpecting the numbers of the refpective armies. The English and Ruffian army had been flated at forty-five thousand men, and that of the French at thirty-five thou fand. He did not pretend to an accurate knowledge: but he believed the number of the former might be eftimated at thirty-fix thousand men, * of whom there were found, at the end of the campaign, to be about ten thousand in killed, wounded, and miffing. The French might have had twentyfive or thirty thousand in the action of the fecond, and from the fixth to the time when the convention was agreed to, the enemy was continually receiving reinforcements. Large bodies of troops had been drawn from the frontiers of France, which were replaced by troops from the interior: and, therefore, the force of the enemy, which was fuperior in numbers, was every day becoming more fo. Had the army * Our readers may recollect that this correfponds very nearly to our statement of the matter in our laft volume. been treble the number of the enemy, it must have embarked. There was, in his mind, a clear, evident, and abfolute neceffity for making a facrifice, in order to embark with fecurity. Mr. Sheridan's motion, on a divifion of the house, was negatived by 216 against 45. On the twelfth of February, lord Holland made a motion, in the houfe of peers, to the fame effect, on the fame fubject. His lordship was of opinion, that the principal fhare of the difgrace, with which the expedition was attended, was to be imputed to minifters, and none to the commander, the officers, or the army. Having pointed out what he confidered as great errors, blunders, and omiffious, and alfo fome of the advantages that muft revolt from inquiry, he faid "We know that it is natural to impute the blame of unfuccefsful military operations to the commander of an army. In this country, fuch blame may not be imputed; but, in Europe, the charge will be made, and it ftands fupported by the ftatements of general d'Effen, in the Peterburgh Gazette. It is neceflary to demonftrate the truth, by a fair inveftigation. By no other courfe can you fatisfy the demands of your national honour, and your military reputation. At a moment, too, when it is decided that the war fhould be continued to a period which we cannot fix in idea; when new expeditions are, it is rumoured, about to be undertaken, it becomes you to afcertain how they are likely to be conducted, by inquiring what has been the ability and the wifdom difplayed in other inftances, by thofe who plan and conduct them Is it not proper to inquire whether minifters may not again be encouraging thofe delufions by which they have already been mifled? They rely upon the favourable difpofitions of the French people to justify their attempts for the restoration of the house of Bourbon. The proportion of the difaffected, in France, feems, however, to be lefs than it was in Holland. If the expedition to the Helder failed, by the rafhnefs, the negli gence, and incapacity of minifters, will you encourage them by your acquiefcence in paft mifconduct and former difgrace, to embark in fchemes fo much more doubtful in their policy, and likely to be fo much more perilous in their confequences? I move, therefore, that the house refolve itself into a committee of the whole house, to inquire into the cautes of the failure of the late expedition to Holland. The earl of Moira coincided with the noble lord in his fentiments refpecting the illuftrious perfonage who conducted the expedition.That he did not appear in his feat. on the prefent occation, he was convinced, proceeded from deli cacy, leaft his prefence might reprefs the full difelofure of opinion on a queftion on which he felt himfelf fo deeply interefted. Were that illuftrious perfonage to yield to the impulfe of his own mind, he was fatisfied that he would folicit inquiry. But the great objection to fuch a with was, that it neceflarily connected itfelf with the public good, and therefore he preferred to fubmit to ill-grounded calumny, rather than ritk the intereft of the country, by a perfonal vindication, As to the general queftion, he put it to the candour of the noble lord not to prefs it against men who flood upon a ground where it was impoffible impoffible they could make a defence. The difficulty of operations in Holland was admitted, and, that fuch an enterprize could not fucceed without the co-operation of its inhabitants; that minifters were aware of this, and were confident of fuch co-operation, it was therefore natural to prefume. But this very circumftance was a fufficient argument against inquiry. The dilemma, then propofed by the noble lord, whether or not the people had an opportunity to rife.Lord Moira withed not to be enter tained. To determine that point, to juftify the confidence of co-operation, would inevitably lead to the most dangerous difclofures, to the public defignation of our friends in that country, their number and fituation, and of the whole correfpondence on which the confidence of Co-operation was founded, and the practicability of the object prefumed a procedure that might not only prove injurious at the prefent moment, but interfere with all future operations of a fimilar kind. In candour, therefore, to the minifters, to the illuftrious perfon at the head of the army, and to all the parties concerned, and from a confideration of the injury which might refult from difelofure, in cafe a fimilar attempt fhould be made again, an event, from the determination to continue the war, not impoffible, he must request that the noble lord would not prefs his motion. If the noble lord, however, fhould perfift, it was lord Moira's intention to move the previous question. The earl Spencer was at a lofs to know on what grounds the motion before the houfe could have been made. He confelled that it was one of thofe difficult things that could be thrown in the way of minifters. Their filence was made a fubject of fufpicion : their difclofure of all they knew muft lead to ferious confequences. The noble lord, who had made the motion, had, in the course of his fpeech, made many omiffions, and dwelt only on fuch parts of the expedition as tended to fet it in the most unfavourable point of view. It was acknowledged by the noble lord that the expedition had objects fufficiently important to induce this country to undertake it. It was admitted that to refcue Holland, and to caufe a diversion of the forces of the enemy, were legiti mate objects. It was admitted that the capture of the Dutch fleet was an advantage gained for the country. On thele two points the expedition had not failed. Of three objects, all of them confiderably important, two out of the three had fucceeded moft completely.The houfe, in confirmation of what he ftated, would call to mind the month when the expedition took place, and to what good effect it operated in favour of the allies. The fignal defeats, which the enemy experienced, was one of the good effects of this expedition: for it was fair to infer, that the forces called into action in Holland, as withdrawn from the French in Italy and Switzerland, tended to weaken their efforts, and increase the force of the combined armies. Lord Mulgrave faid, that the plan of the expedition was good.' There was, at the time of its plan, in Auguft, in Holland, an enthufiaflic attachment to this country; and, had fir Ralph Abercromby, when joined by general Don, and poffeffed of a force of fifteen thou fand fand men, penetrated into Amfter- administration, being poffeffed of unlimited means, both in a financial and a military view, was of courfe more refponfible for the ufe and application of those dam, he would then have been in a fituation in which the duke of Brunfwick faid he would bid defiance, to all Europe. Lord Mulgrave would negative the motion as it was a queftion of climate, wind, and weather. Lord King, in his firft fpeech in parliament, faid, that as minifters had declared their determination to continue the war, it became the duty of that houfe to inveftigate their conduct in the laft expedition, in order to ascertain whether they ought to be farther intrufted with the profecution of hoftilities. If he referred to the teft of experience, and the evidence of facts, the favourite phrafe of adminiftration, there were ftill greater grounds for the neceffity of an inquiry: for the incapacity of minifters had already been manifefted, by the expeditions to Corfica, Toulon, Quiberon, and Oftend. With respect to the ftate of the weather and unfavourable winds, his lordship infifted that that confideration could not be urged in defence of its failure, as minifters had fufficient time to make every preparation. The object was clear and precife, and lay at the distance of only forty-eight hours fail. And was it not the duty of adminiftration to run as few rifks as poffible? If there appeared to be but a faint chance of failure from any inclemency of the weather, why was not the expedition undertaken in the months of June and July, when that chance would have been confiderably leffened? The houfe could not forget the two inquiries which had been inflituted during the American war; and at prefent the grounds for a fimilar proceeding were much firengthened, fince means. Lord Holland, in reply to lord Mulgrave, asked if fir Ralph Abercromby might have fecured the fuccefs of the expedition with fifteen thousand men, why more were fent? The inquiry would inform us what probability there was of fuccefs at that time, and how far the lending reinforcements to fir Ralph Abercromby, and the delay occafioned by thefe reinforcements, tended to increase that probability. The only argument that appeared to lord Holland of any force against the inquiry, was, the danger of difclofure; but this danger might be avoided, in that houfe, as it had been more frequently in another, on former occafions, by leaving the names blank: and even if difclofure was infifted on, by preventing any questions being put, or docu ments produced, which might tend to create this danger. Lord Holland concluded this reply, or fecond fpeech, with drawing a contraft between the manner in which we had been received by the Dutch, in our first invafion of their country, and that in which the French had been received in their fecond attack on Holland. When they overran the whole country, and with deducing from that contraft, the inference, that we had little ground to applaud the information, or the judgement of ministers, in undertaking an expedition which des pended for its fuccefs on the cooperation of the people, when it appeared that they were wholly indifpofed to our attempt. Lord |