admiralty office, after fuch an establishment had been made by the commander in chief at fea in America, and while Rhode-Island was in our poffeffion. He knew no otherwise, but he would enquire, and give the honourable gentleman every fatisfaction in his power.

mo

Mr. W. H. Hartley. I do not rife to oppofe the grant of mo- Mr. W. H. ney to the naval service so effential to the nation at this Hartley. ment, but I cannot let the report pass without lamenting that while we are voting fuch large fums for the navy out of the pockets of our conftituents, we find it ftill inadequate to the fituation of the country. This is more extraordinary after the boast we have heard fome years ago, that the British fleet would be fully able to cope with the united force of the House of Bourbon. Had not the fift lord of the admiralty made this declaration, I fhould hold him equally blameable, when our force is found inferior, as from him the nation has a right to expect a navy fufficiently powerful, to fupport the honour and interefts of the kingdom. This Houfe has never refufed any money that has been required for the fervice of the navy, the noble lord therefore cannot affign any reason for not having it equal to the prefent occafion, but what must imply either an inattention to the fervice, or that he was unacquainted with the fituation and defigns of the House of Bourbon. But, Sir, when we confider that those who now have the management of public affairs are the fame perfons who. have for fo many years directed the councils of this nation, that under thefe minifters, we have been plunged into our prefent fituation, involved in a war with the Houfe of Bourbon, brought on by the unfortunate difpute with our American colonies, contrary to every warning that has been given. them and the confequences which were foretold would follow from fuch meafures; when we confider that with regard to our American brethren they refused to attend to petitions or to grant any thing, when matters might have been fettled by fuch proceedings, and offered more than was before defired when it could no longer have any effect, one can only wonder that the country fubmits to fuch treatment, When in the beginning of this feffion I ventured to read an addrefs to give my fentiments upon the question of fupply, I wished to do it to fhew my readiness to fupport my country, though I at the fame time expreffed my difapprobation of the meafures propo fed. Could I have feen any difpofition towards peace, I fhould have taken the liberty before the recefs to have offered that motion to the confideration of the Houfe, and my reafone were, that if miniftry by agreeing to fuch an idea had fhewVOL. XVIII. Hh

ed

The Rt. hon. T.

་

ed a readiness to concur in preventing profufion, and even corrupt influence, which the money neceffarily expended in the fervice of the ftate affords an opportunity of exerting by contract; had they also in general expreffed a fincere defire of peace and reconciliation with America, we should have then' fomething to inform our conftituents of, in the country, by which they might hope to fee the honour and profperity of our nation and its true intereft fupported. But, Sir, all they appear to have in view is obtaining votes for money and for force, which has not been refufed them; they are therefore now anfwerable for the proper ufe of both, and having taken the whole upon themselves the nation expects from them to be fafely extricated from its prefent difficulties. The country at large, the eyes of the whole world; are upon this prefent Parliament. If we ha!l be attentive to the interefts of the country, if we hold the due balance between the prerogative of the crown, and the rights of the people, if we support the honour of the one, and protect the liberties of the other, we fhall difcharge our duty and be refpected; but if we follow that example of the laft Parliament which I fear was too much the cafe; if inftead of being jealous of any improper increase of the power of the crown, inftead of reftraining profufion we are only anxious to fupport that corrupt and difgraceful influence which minifters, regardless of the true interefts of their royal mafter, for their own advantages, are fo defirous to promote, it will be time for the country to take care of itfelf, and fome methods must be taken to ieftore the conftitu tion; for if corruption goes on in this Houfe and the means to entering it are corrupted, we may have indeed the form of a free conftitution, but the reality exifts no longer. I will hope, Sir, however, that we fhall not be reduced to this fituation, and that minifters for their own fakes, will take fuch steps as fhall lead to honour and fafety.

The Right Hon. T. Town/bend faid, the noble lord in the blue ribbon had, the preceding evening, by a ftroke Townend of pleasantry, got the laugh against him, upon one of his queftions; he was himself to pleafed with wit and humour, that he could not forbear joining in that laugh, and perhaps that was among the reafons which prevailed on him to forbear replying at the moment. It was, he owned, aftonishing to him how the noble lord could have preserved his wit and humour unimpaired for fo long a feries of years together. Let what would happen, the noble lord was ready with his joke. Amidft the various difafters of the war; amidst all the ruin whch had haftened upon the country,

and

and amidst every poffible call for seriousness, the noble lord was prepared to treat each fubject, let it be ever fo important, ever fo ferious in itself, as a matter of fport, of merriment, of repartee! He, who though equally fond of wit and humour, was not fo happily gifted with either, must be allowed to take up matters in the dull dry manner in which they ftruck him, and for want, perhaps, of that luxuriant fancy, and that sportive imagination, which carried the noble lord with perfect ease of mind through every difficulty, muft beg leave to confider things as they were. The noble lord had faid, that adminiftration would be mad, and fit for Bedlam, if they employed Lord Howe, who, greatly as it might be oppofite to that noble lord's fentiments for him to mention, he muft ever speak of as an officer of the firft ability, of the first skill; as an officer who was looked up to by his whole profeffion. The noble lord had faid alfo, that administration would be mad, and fit for Bedlam, if they employed Admiral Keppel, who fat under him, Admiral Campbell, Admiral Barrington, Sir Robert Harland, and feveral others whom he could mention. With regard to Admiral Keppel, he would not fay what he thought of his merit, becaufe as he was fo near him, he was fure he would quarrel with him for fo doing: but why was not Admiral Campbell employed? Admiral Campbell was a gentleman unknown to him, but by public character, which spoke him one of the firft officers, this country ever had in her fervice. Admiral Campbell, he understood, had never declined ferving, but had always profeffed himself ready and willing to go to fea. Oh! but fays the noble lord, administration would be mad, adminiftra*tion would be fit for Bedlam if they employed fuch officers. In answer to this he could only fay, that my Lord Anson, a remarkably dull firft lord of the admiralty, peculiarly unfor tunate in his choice of flag officers, a man who was undoubtedly mad and fit for Bedlam, had thought otherwise of his honourable friend near him. Lord Anfon, perhaps from his madness, and from his being fit for Bedlam, had wished to promote his honourable friend to a flag after the affair of Belleifle. The mad, the fit for Bedlam Lord Anfon, had thought it entitled him to a flag, but the fpirit of true œconomy which then reigned, not that farce of economy now acting, not that eagerness to fave a penny when thousands and millions were wafted, prevented the measure from immediately taking place. And when he talked of true œconomy, he need only mention the name of Mr. Grenville, the projector

Hh 2

projector of that economy, to convince all who heard him that the economy was real, that it was unaffected, that it was fuch as anfwered every purpose proposed by it. The honour his honourable friend obtained at Belleifle, was in creafed by the affair at the Havannah; and then, with a long lift of captains, his honourable friend was made an admiral. The plan laft war, was to make no unneceffary promotions. To employ old officers. What was the plan now? We had fixty-one flag officers, and of them only twenty or thereabouts employed. Why was this? One of the questions he had asked the preceding day had been relative to the newly created captains, mafters and commanders. The noble lord, in reply to him, had produced a lift and read the names of fome officers of very diftinguished merit to prove, that the admiralty promotions were not made without reafon. He was free to confefs it; he never had imagined they all were, but he was far from allowing that the reft of the noble lord's anfwer, viz. that the greater part of the promotions were promotions at fea was true; at leaft that it was fo far true,, that those promotions were the voluntary acts of the commanders who made them. He had been told again and again by officers, that they went out to fea loaded with perfons recommended by minifters for promotion, and that it was a rule to confider thofe recommendations as the orders first to be attended to. He therefore begged it might be understood, › that he did not accept the noble lord's explanation of this matter as a fair anfwer. Mr. Townshend took notice of the queftion put relative to the furgeon, agent, &c. of RhodeIfland, and faid, that as the noble lord was not prepared with fufficient information to reply, he would readily agree, that it was poffible the establishment was made previous to our lofs of the place. Nay, he would do more, if the noble lord would accept of a volunteer's affiftance he would furnish him with a precedent for the charge, and that was, a year or two ago, when all our fettlements in Africa, had been loft long before, an honourable gentleman in office, gravely came down to the House with an estimate, among others, of the expence of the governor, garrifon, &c. of Senegambia.

Mr. Narth..

Mr. North faid, he was perfectly confcious of his inability to take upon him the office of answering questions, to which it was expected the noble lord, to whom he was related, fhould reply; but as that noble lord was not prefent, he could not avoid rifing to exprefs his aftonishment, that his honourable friend, of all gentlemen, fhould have so far mifunderflood

understood his noble relation, as to have imagined, that in what had fallen from him the preceding day, he meant to convey any fuch idea as that of faying, that administration would be mad, if they employed Lord Howe, Admiral Keppel, Admiral Campbell, and the other admirals alluded to. The noble lord, he was perfectly convinced, had not the moft diftant intention of conveying any fuch infinuation to the committee; but as the honourable gentleman had in his fpeech declared, that certain admirals would be mad if they entered into the fervice of adminiftration, the noble lord, in the courfe of his reply, had faid, that if the admirals would be mad to ferve under the prefent adminiftration, it was certainly fair to argue, that the prefent adminiftration would be mad to employ fuch admirals.

The queftion was after this put, and the report read and agreed to.

Sarith.

Lord North coming into the Houfe, while the report was reading, Sir Robert Smith rote, and obferved, that it had Sir Robert been frequently intimated in the courfe of the preceding day's debate, that it was intended to go into an enquiry upon the fubject of Sir Hugh Fallifer's having been promoted to the government of Greenwich Hofpital, notwithstanding the ftigma under which he laboured, in confequence of the words of the fentence of that court-martial which had tried and acquitted Admiral Keppel. The governor of Greenwich Hofpital had, Sir Robert faid, been defended ftrenuously by the noble lord in the blue ribbon, who had maintained that the governor had not barely been acquitted by the courtmartial, by which he was tried, but that his conduct had been declared to have been in fome inftances exemplary and highly meritorious. As it was neceffary, previous to going into the fubject at all, that this fentence should be before the House, he therefore meant then to move, (which he should not have done, if the noble lord in the blue ribband had not been prefent) that the fentence of the court-martial, which tried Vice Admiral Sir Hugh Pallifer, be prefented to that House.

The Earl of Surrey feconded the motion, and faic, Ld. Surrey. at the moment that he did fo, he lamented exceedingly that there fhould be occafion to go back into a review of matters, which had already, he was afraid, done much mifchief, by promoting diffraction and party in that fervice, where unanimity of fentiment ought to prevail, and which he feared would be the cause of more mifchief to the general interests of the country, by promoting future diffenfions and divifions