62 ANNUAL REGISTER, ISIO. 



came to be examined before the 



coramilJec, let it be put into his 

 hand : and if he identified, the 

 committee could act upon it. 

 ■ The Speaker rose and said, that 

 he trusted the House would not be 

 surprised at his delay in giving his 

 opinion. On his first 0|)ening the 

 narrative before tiieni, and finding 

 the name of Chatham, he was 

 doubtful whether it ought to be 

 received and acknowledged by 

 that House, on account of its not 

 l^earing the signature of any of his 

 majesty's secretaries of state. 

 But, considering by whom it 

 was presented, he waved his 

 doubts until he sent for some 

 papers. On perusing these, he 

 found that lord North had pre- 

 sented several similar papers, and 

 that he was considered to he prima 

 Jhcie accountable ;a circumstance 

 which, in his opinion, left the House 

 at full liberty to discuss the merits 

 of tiie narrative. — The chancellor 

 of the Exchequer then moved, 

 that it should be referred to the 

 committee of the whole House on 

 the expedition to the Scheldt, 

 which was agreed to. The order 

 of the day being then read, for 

 the House going into a committee 

 on the expedition to the Scheldt, 

 they proceeded in the course of 

 inquiry, on which they had en- 

 tered 2nd of February, and which 

 was continued, through various ad- 

 journments, to the l.'Sth of March. 

 The sittings of the committee em- 

 ployed in the examination of wit- 

 nesses, were in number eighteen. 

 The principal subjects to which 

 the inquiry was directed were, the 

 pohcy or design and views of the 

 expedition ; the manner in which 

 it was conducted, and the evacua- 

 tion of Wttlcheren. 



The witnesses examined were, 

 sir David Dundas, K. B. comman- 

 der-in-chief of the army ; the earl 

 of Chatham ; lieutenant-general 

 Brownrifig, quarter-master-gene- 

 ral of the forces ; major-general 

 Calvert, adjutant-general of the 

 army ; sir Thomas Trigge, lieute- 

 nant-general of the ordnance ; 

 major-general Macleod, command- 

 ing officer of the artillery, on the 

 expedition under the earl of Chat- 

 ham; colonel Fycrs, chief engi- 

 neer to the army in the expedi- 

 tion ; captain Paisley, in the royal 

 engineers; colonel Gordon, secre- 

 tary to the commander-in-chief; 

 lieutenant-general sir Eyre Coote; 

 the marquis of Huntley ; lieute- 

 nant-general the earl of Rosslyn;: 

 lieutenant-general sir John Hone; 

 major-general sir William Ers- 

 kine ; briijadier-seneral Men- 

 tresor; lieutenant-general Don; 

 brigadier-general Sontag; lieu- 

 tenant-colonel Offney ; and lieu- 

 tenant-colonel Pilkington ; rear- 

 admiral sir Richard Strachan ; 

 rear-admiral lord Gardener; 

 captain sir Home Popham ; cap- 

 tain Owen, of his majesty's ship 

 the Clyde ; captain Jones, of his 

 majesty's ship the Namur ; Peter 

 Praget, esq., James Aberdour, 

 esq., and Daniel WoodrifF, esq., 

 captains in his majesty's navy ; 

 sir Lucas Pepys, physician-gene- 

 ral of the forces : Mr. Keates, sur- 

 geon-general of the army, with Mr. 

 Robert Keates, his assistant and in- 

 spector of hospitals ; Mr. Francis 

 Knigh;, inspector-general of army 

 hospitals; Mr. John Webb, inspec- 

 tor of hospitals ; and Mr. William 

 Lidderdale, who had been m 

 charge of the sick in the hospitals 

 of Flushing ; lord viscount Castle- 

 reagh, William Huski.sson, es^., 



