HISTORY OF EUROPE. 



59 



werp. He still thought, that to 

 attempt the destruction of the 

 naval preparations at Antwerp was 

 worth encountering aconsiderabie 

 risk. That this design was frus- 

 trated, was not to be attributed 

 to any fault or failure in the plan, 

 or in the execution of it ; to any 

 neglect on the part of the execu- 

 tive government, or to any mis- 

 conduct in the army or navy, but 

 to the elements. The failure in 

 the main object of the expedition 

 was to be attributed solely to the 

 difficulties arising from the unusual 

 state of the weather at that sea- 

 son. 



The earl of Rosslyn admitted, 

 that considerable difficulties arose 

 from the difference of the naval 

 and military code, in instituting a 

 general inquiry into the conduct 

 of a conjoint expedition. But the 

 existence of such difficulties ren- 

 dered the duty of ministers to 

 pave the way for practical inves- 

 tigation, by calling on the cora- 

 nianders-in-chief of the two ser- 

 vices, for reports of the occurren- 

 ces which fell within their respect- 

 ive departments,which would furn- 

 ish the details, out of which any 

 prima focie charges might arise 

 of a deviation from instructions, 

 or delay, negligence, or want of 

 energy in theirexecution. — Minis- 

 ters justified the late expedition, 

 by saying, that it was intended to 

 be a coup de main ; and that the 

 success of it essentially depended 

 otv rapidity of execution and si- 

 multaneous co-operation. But if 

 simultaneous co-operation was to 

 be the life and soul of the enter- 

 prise, bow came they to plan an 

 expedition which was to sail in 

 three or four successive divisions? 

 And if it were so to sail, on 



what data did they calculate that 

 the wind and weather were to be 

 exactly such as would favour the 

 junction of the whole, at a given 

 period, at the point of debarka- 

 tion? The fact was, to the doubts 

 and difficulties suggested by sir 

 Richard Strachan, they shut their 

 eyes, and winked hard. To the 

 admiral they said, '♦ Go, go ; we 

 have complete confidence in you. 

 Every thing will go on well." 

 From lord Chatham all these dif- 

 ficulties were studiously concealed. 

 To him they said, " You will find 

 every thing ready to your hand. 

 You will find Flushing invested, 

 and cut oft' from all reinforcements 

 and supplies. And you will have 

 nothing to do but proceed as fast 

 as possibie,up the western Scheldt, 

 to Antwerp." That the failure of 

 the expedition did not, in the ge- 

 nuine opinion of ministers, pro- 

 ceed from the want of simulta- 

 neous co-operation, was evident, 

 from lord Castlereagh's dispatch 

 of the 24th of August, in which 

 he congratulated lord Chatham 

 on the fall of Flushing, and ex- 

 pressed a confident hope, that he 

 would proceed to accomplish the 

 ulterior objects of the expedition 

 with the same zeal, vigour, and 

 perseverance that had been hither- 

 to displayed. — Lord Rosslyn hav- 

 ing stated several points on 

 which, in his opinion, his majes- 

 ty's ministers ought long ago tO 

 have called for explanation, pro- 

 ceeded to consider the tendency 

 of sir Richard Strachan's dispatch 

 of the 27th of August, the period 

 when the ulterior object of the 

 expedition was finally abandoned. 

 He severely censured ministers 

 for having publit^hed that dispatch 

 without determining on inquiry ; 



