42 ANNUAL REGISTER, 1810. 



the tribunal before he should open 

 his case. The only end he had in 

 view, was, to pledge the House to 

 the institution of an inquiry. It 

 was not his wish, at that time, to 

 discuss the merits of the investi- 

 gation. He did not desire to put 

 ministers on their trial, before they 

 had had full opportunity of pre- 

 paring their evidence and their de- 

 fence. Yet, could the country re- 

 main in doubt whether such minis- 

 ters should be tried at all? If we 

 examined any or all of the cam- 

 paigns which had recently taken 

 place, we should find, in fact, the 

 same character of weakness and 

 fatuity ; the same features of tar- 

 diness of preparation, ignorance 

 in conduct, imbecility in combina- 

 tion, and, of consequence, failure 

 in result. In the expedition to 

 which this motion referred, the 

 calamities which attended it, were, 

 in fact, to be equalled only by the 

 magnitude of its extensive and ex- 

 pensive preparation,* The truth 

 of this position, his lordjhip pro- 

 ceeded to illustrate. Thestrongest 

 as well as most obvious objections 

 to the designs and plan, as well as 

 the management of this expedi- 

 tion, were stated, as we have seen, 

 in the debates on the kinj^'s 

 speech, in both Houses of parlia- 

 ment. These, lord Porchester 

 urged in a clear and forcible man- 

 ner, with the addition of farther 

 observations, of which the follow- 

 ing acute remark is a specimen : 

 «• We had been told, by the mi- 

 nister, that before the troops could 

 be sent to Holland, it was neces- 

 sary to wait for the arrival of 

 transports from Lisbon. But why 

 were those transports at Lisbon ? 



For the use of sir Arthur Welles- 

 ley's army, in case it should be 

 defeated, and obliged finally to 

 retreat. So that our ministers 

 combined their plan with such pe- 

 culiar judgment and felicity of ar- 

 rangement, that a defeat in Por- 

 tugal would have prevented the 

 expedition to Holland." But, 

 lord Porchester asked, why the 

 minister had not a sufficiency of 

 transports ready for any operation 

 that might be deemed necessary ? 

 If ministers did not attend to their 

 duty, it was not admissible in 

 them to plead their neglect of duty 

 as a reason for not sending out an 

 expedition, which, if proper to 

 have been sent out at all, ought 

 to have been sent out in due time. 

 He was speaking of the means they 

 had provided for acting on their 

 own plan : not that he approved 

 this ; but in order to shew the in- 

 efficacy of these means to their 

 own ends. For if it was really 

 meant to assist Austria, by making 

 a diversion in her favour, why 

 choose a place for an expedition, 

 where there was no possible point 

 of communication with the power 

 to be supported r In that situa- 

 tion we had it not in our power to 

 advance a step without meeting 

 with a fortress, which, when cap- 

 tured, we must reduce our force 

 to garrison, before we advanced 

 farther. But lord Chatham found 

 it impossible to advance at all. 

 What was the main object of this 

 expedition ? The French fleet at 

 Antwerp. Did they go at once to 

 Antwerp? No. The expedition 

 sailed for Walcberen on the 28th 

 of July. It was accompanied by 

 heavy cavalry, which in fact never 



* For an accoi.inf of this Expedition, sec Vol. LI. [1809] Hist. .Eur, p. 223.. j 



