10 



ANNUAL REGISTER, 1810. 



dura, liad been completely cleared 

 of the French : and although it was 

 true, that they had by surprise de- 

 feated two Spanish armies, yet they 

 had not been able to gather any 

 fruits of their victories ; for tliey 

 had not advanced one step. Witli 

 respect to the expedition to Wal- 

 cheren, he admitted that ministers 

 knew of the Austrian armistice be- 

 fore it sailed ; but he was ready to 

 contend that it, nevertheless, ope- 

 rated as a favourable diversion for 

 Austria, for it had diverted to the 

 banks of the Scheldt a large body 

 of conscripts, which were intended 

 to have acted against her. And, 

 for that purpose, he knew it was 

 the desire of Austria that we should 

 retain Walcheren until she should 

 come to terms of peace. And 

 hard as those terms were for her, 

 whoever compared the threats of 

 Buonaparte with the terms which 

 he afterwards granted, must admit 

 that some cause had reduced him 

 to the necessity of relaxing from 

 his threatened severity. This 

 cause, in lord Liverpool's opinion, 

 was no other than our holding, at 

 the express request of Austria, 

 the island of Walcheren; and, in 

 fact, that was the reason why we 

 held it, after ulterior objects of 

 the expedition were known to be 

 defeated. But there was one im- 

 portant object, in which the ex- 

 pedition to the Scheldt had com- 

 pletely succeeded. It was known 

 to be a favourite measure of our 

 enemy to form a naval dock and 

 arsenal at the mouth of the Scheldt; 

 and it had always been admitted 

 by professional men, that if an in- 

 vasion of this country were ever to 

 be attempted, it would never be 

 effected but from the Scheldt. 

 And in one great object we had 



at least succeeded ; for in the opi- 

 nion of professional men it would 

 require much less time and ex- 

 pence to form a new harbour and 

 arsenal tlian to restore the one we 

 had destroyed at Flushing. — Some 

 noble lords had said, that the 

 destruction of Flushing was an 

 achievement of no importance, 

 and as such considered by the 

 ruler of France. He would ask 

 those noble lords whether, if the 

 case could be reversed, and a 

 French fleet were to attack and 

 destroy Sheerness, and afterwards 

 make good their retreat, it would 

 be considered by Buonaparte as a 

 small triumph, or by us as a tri- 

 fling defeat? — The question being 

 loudly called for, the Mouse divid- 

 ed on lord Grenville's amendment. 

 For the amendment 92. 

 For the address lli. 

 On the same day, the Lords 

 Commissioners' speech was taken 

 into consideration in the House of 

 Commons. After the Speaker had 

 finished reading the speech, lord 

 Barnard, in what is called a mai- 

 den speech, expressed his convic- 

 tion that the House would think 

 the exertions that had been made 

 in the Austrian cause, not un- 

 worthy of the character of the na- 

 tion. On the subject of the expe- 

 dition to the Scheldt he observed, 

 that though the whole of its ob- 

 jects had not been accomplished, 

 the advantages the country would 

 derive from what had been effect- 

 ed, if not now generally acknow- 

 ledged, would soon be generally 

 experienced — His majesty's sen- 

 timents on the Spanish war were 

 suited to his dignit}'. While the 

 brave andmartial Spaniardsfought 

 with the spirit and perseverance of 

 free men, he offered his aid to 



