HISTORY OF EUROPE. 



25 



any such monstrous doctrine, and 

 gave it as his opinion, that tl)e re- 

 form recommended by thehonour- 

 able baronet would only increase 

 the danger it was designed to re- 

 medy. He would support his ma- 

 jesty's administration ; he meant, 

 that he would never enter into any 

 systematic opposition against it. 

 He approved of the address, be- 

 cause it did not pledge the House 

 to any thing. As to the Walche- 

 ren expedition, that part of it 

 whicii had succeeded, had been 

 very much undervalued. The 

 Scheldt, for four months of the 

 year, was not navigable, and the 

 French fleet had begun already to 

 feel the want of their basin. The 

 capture of Flushing was an impor- 

 tant service. — Here general Tar- 

 leton turned up his eyes. — Mr. 

 Yorke lamented to sec in his ho- 

 nourable friend, on the present 

 and other occasions, such a dispo- 

 sition to withhold that defence 

 from brother officers in their ab- 

 sence, which it would so well be- 

 come a brother officer to make. 

 With regard to the advance of 

 lord Wellington to Taiavera, he 

 thought there was no part of that 

 ill ustrious officer's proceedings that 

 was not worthy of his exalted re- 

 putation. Yet if there was any 

 thing that might admit of the nicest 

 investigation of military criticism, 

 he would select two points, one 

 was, the seemingly too great reli- 

 ance placed by that gallant officer 

 on the Spaniards ; the other was, 

 his not having secured the pass of 

 Banos, which sir Robert Wilson 

 had so gallantly defended against 

 a superior force for nine hours. 

 These were the only points on 

 which he thought there could be 

 any doubt. 



GeneralTarlclonstill maintained 

 that the merit of lord Wellington 

 was equivocal. He had blamed 

 that noble lord, when present in 

 the House, for the convention of 

 Cintra ; for to him it was almost 

 entirely to be attributed. He 

 might have known that it was first 

 necessary to secure the supplies. 

 From the days of Homer till now, 

 armies could not march and fight 

 without eating. General Tarleton 

 admitted that the army had gained 

 great glory at Taiavera. But the 

 conduct of the general was a 

 totally distinct consideration, and 

 that alone he blamed. 



Sir John Sebright thought the 

 present ministers incapableof serv- 

 ing the country efficiently at the 

 present awful crisis. He did not 

 blame the right honourable gentle- 

 man at the head of the govern- 

 ment, whom he highly respected, 

 for the dissentions and bickerings, 

 &c. that had lately occurred in the 

 cabinet. But if there had been an 

 efficient head, there would have 

 been no such dissentions. With 

 regard to the Walcheren expedi- 

 tion, he could not see the neces- 

 sity of waiting for the production 

 of papers before they gave their 

 opinion upon it. What could 

 those papers contain ? Could mi- 

 nisters shew him a new map of 

 Europe, essentially different from 

 all that he had ever consulted ? — 

 As to the glorious victory of Taia- 

 vera, as it had been called, there 

 was a glory of the soldier, and a 

 glory of the general. The former 

 had been displayed in all its lustre 

 at Taiavera. But although he 

 admired lord Wellington, he did 

 not think that he had, in the ad- 

 vance into Spain, acted the part 

 of a wise general. Before he ad- 



