HISTORY OF EUROPE. 



53 



ministers, how it had happened 

 that so heavy and lamentable a 

 loss as that of Sir John Moore, and 

 60 great a proportion of his army, 

 had been sustained, without any 

 one object having been obtained 

 except the embarkation of the 

 army ? British blood and treasure, 

 and the invaluable lives of British 

 officers and soldiers had been 

 sacrificed to no purpose. To 

 what but the ignorance and in- 

 capacity of ministers were all these 

 calamities to be attributed ? Lord 

 Erskine too, who felt as much for 

 the fame of the immortal officer 

 deceased as any of their lordships 

 could possibly feel (from peculiar 

 or personal circumstances which 

 he detailed) could not refrain from 

 expressing his indignation at such 

 men, and that such resources as 

 oursshould havebeen utterly thrown 

 away and lost by the total inca- 

 pacity of those who had mis-di- 

 rected their efibrts. — Lord Gren- 

 ville observed, that they were call- 

 ed upon to vote thanks for a suc- 

 cess; followed by a retreat. The 



success belonged to the army and 

 its commander; the retreat to 

 those who sent them, and placed 

 them in such a situation that a 

 safe retreat was the only thing 

 that could be looked for. Ministers 

 for the folly of such conduct must 

 answer to their country.^-The 

 Earl of Westmoreland i-ecollecting 

 the expeditions to Alexandria, to 

 Constantinople, and to South 

 America, was surprised that noble 

 lords opposite did not at those 

 periods state that all the blame of 

 unfavourable military events was 

 to be attributed to ministers. 



The motion was agreed to nem. 

 diss, so also was a motion acknow- 

 ledging and approving the services 

 of the non-commissioned officers 

 and soldiers ; a motion of thanks 

 to Rear Admiral de Courcy, and 

 Sir Samuel Hood, and the other 

 officers, for their assistance ; and 

 another, acknowledging and ap- 

 proving the services of the seamen 

 and marines upon that occasion. 

 Thanks to the same parties M'ere also 

 voted in the House of Commons, 



CHAP. 



