HISTORY OF EUROPE. [109 



sand men, penetrated into Amster- 

 dam, he would then have been in 

 a situation in which the duke of 

 Brunswick said he would bid defi- 

 ance to all Europe. I^ord Mul- 

 grave would negative the motion, as 

 it was a question of climate, wind, 

 and weather. 



Lord King, in his first speech in 

 parliament,said, that as ministers had 

 declared their determination to con- 

 tinue the war, it became the duty 

 of that house to investigate their 

 conduct in the last expedition, in 

 order to ascertain whether they 

 ought to be farther intrusted with 

 the prosecution of hostilities. If he 

 referred to the test of experience, 

 and the evidence of facts, the fa- 

 vourite phrase of administration, 

 there were still greater grounds for 

 the necessity of an inquiry : for the 

 incapacity of ministers had already 

 been manifested, by the expeditions 

 to Corsica, Toulon, Quiberon, and 

 Ostend. With respect to the state 

 of the weather and unfavourable 

 winds, his lordship insisted that that 

 consideration could not be urged in 

 defence of its failure, as ministers 

 had suflScient time to make every 

 preparation. The object was clear 

 and precise, and lay at the distance 

 of only forty-eight hours sail. And 

 was it not the duty of administra- 

 tion to run as few risks as possible ? 

 If there appeared to be but a faint 

 chance of failure from any incle- 

 mency of the weather, why was 

 not the expedition undertaken in 

 the months of June and July, when 

 that chance would have been con- 

 siderably lessened ? The house could 

 not forget the two inquiries which 

 had been instituted during the 

 American war ; and at present the 

 grounds for a similar proceeding 

 were much strengthened, since 



administration, being possessed of 

 unlimited means, both in a fi- 

 nancial and a military view, was 

 of course more responsible for the 

 use and application of those 

 means. 



Lord Holland, in reply to lord 

 Mulgrave, asked if sir Ralph Aber- 

 cromby might have secured the suc- 

 cess of the expedition with fifteen 

 thousand men, why more were 

 sent ? The inquiry would inform u s 

 what probability there was of suc- 

 cess at that time, and how far the 

 sending reinforcements to sir Ralph 

 Abercromby, and the delay occa- 

 sioned by these reinforcements, 

 tended to increase that probability. 

 The only argument that appeared 

 to lord Holland of any force against 

 the inquiry was, the danger of 

 disclosure ; but this danger might 

 be avoided in that house, as it had 

 been more frequently in another, 

 on former occasions, by leaving the 

 names blank : and even if disclo- 

 sure was insisted on, by preventing 

 any questions being put, or docu- 

 ments produced, which might ttnd 

 to create this danger. Lord Holland 

 concluded this reply, or second 

 speech, with drawing a contrast 

 between the manner in which we 

 had been received by the Dutch, in 

 our first invasion of their country, 

 and that in which the French had 

 been received in their second at- 

 tack on Holland. When they over- 

 ran the whole country, and with 

 deducing from that contrast the in- 

 ference that we had little ground 

 to applaud the information, or the 

 judgement of ministers, in under- 

 taking an expedition which de- 

 pended for its success on the co- 

 operation of the people, when it 

 appeared that they were wholly in- 

 disposed to our attempt. 



