HISTORY OF EUROPE. 



upon him. But, after making every 

 due inquiry, he was convinced, 

 that to destroy the arsenals at 

 Antwerp, and the shipping in the 

 Scheldt, was not an attainable ob- 

 ject. The force of the country 

 had been frittered into divisions : 

 whereas, to effect any great pur- 

 pose, it ought to have been made 

 to act in a body, one and indivi- 

 sible. To the project of opera- 

 tions in the north of Germany, it 

 had been objected, that it would 

 have been attended with great ex- 

 pence, and serious difficulties in 

 the transportation of the troops. 

 Was it to be endured, that after 

 the prodigality of which the ser- 

 vants of the crown had been guilty, 

 they should boggle at the expence 

 of such enterprises? Then, as to 

 the transport of troops to Pied- 

 mont, and from the Thames to the 

 Weser : could the ruler of France 

 send a powerful army to Egypt, 

 and would great Britain, the mis- 

 tress of the ocean, with 100 ships 

 of the line, and 1,000 ships of war 

 of various proportions, and an in- 

 calculable commercial marine, be 

 disappointed in such a purpose ? 

 It had been asked how 100,000 

 men could have been provided for 

 such enterprises ? Were not 40,000 

 employed in Walcheren, 15,000 

 in Sicily, and 45,000 in Spain 

 and Portugal ? How much, then, 

 was the deficiency of 100,000, men ? 

 Whether engaged in one, two, or 

 three divisions, the difficulty of 

 raising and paying such a force 

 was nearly the same — lord Grey 

 also observed, that so far back as 

 September 1808, ministers had re- 

 ceived proposals from the north of 

 Germany for a rising in that coun- 

 try ; and he farther believed, from 

 what followed, that encourage- 



ment had been given to such a 

 scheme. This enterprise might 

 have been undertaken in May or 

 June. With all this appearance 

 of advantage, it might indeed have 

 been unsuccessful : but the mea- 

 sures pursued by ministers had 

 not a chance in their favour. 



Lord Grey next took a review 

 of the campaign in Spain. He 

 disapproved of the residence of 

 Mr. Frere, as minister of the junta, 

 so long after it had been an- 

 nounced that he was to be recall- 

 ed. A great deal was to be done 

 by the marquis of Wellesley. That 

 noble marquis, however, whether 

 from a negociation with his ma- 

 jesty's ministers, or some other 

 cause, had, after his appointment, 

 instead of proceeding to his post 

 at Seville, remained for months in 

 London. He saw much to blame 

 in the conduct of lord Welling- 

 ton, in a military point of view. 

 With regard to the battle of Tala- 

 vera, he condemned that uncandid 

 calculation, which represented it 

 as a victory gained over an enemy 

 double our force. When the Spa- 

 nish army was taken into the ac- 

 count, the superiority was greatly 

 on our side. He appealed to the 

 honour, wisdom, and humanity of 

 the House, while he urged it, by 

 many considerations, to relieve 

 the country, if possible, by sup- 

 porting the amendment. 



The Earl of Liverpool, after re- 

 probating condemnation without 

 inquiry.insisted that our operations 

 in Spain had been most wise and 

 beneficial to the country ; which 

 he pledged himself to prove when- 

 ever the details came to be in- 

 quired into. He instanced as a 

 proof of this, that the provinces 

 of Gallicia, Asturias,and Estraraa- 



