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PARLIAMENT. [vol. 43. p. 701.]

Is the House of Commons, Jan. 24. Mr Fox made his intended motion for an inquiry into the conduct of the Firft Lord of the Admiralty.-He faid, it was afy to fee, that in ftanding forward to charge the Earl of Sandwich with maladminiftration, he was about to under, take a moft arduous task indeed; for of all the cabinet minifters, he was the moft formidable from influence: his fituation give him the influence of a whole profellion; as a cabinet minifter, he of courfe would find himself fupported by the influence of his colleagues; but Lord Sandwich had, independent of thefe two fources of influence, another, which, though not equal to that of the crown, was a powerful addition to it, and with it, sufficient to crush any member who should bring charges against him; this influence he derived from the India Company. However, notwithftanding all the difficulties that ftared him in the face, he was determined to go through with an inquiry, which it would have much better become adminiftration to have brought forward themfelves; yet, though he was perfuaded that in their hands it would be effectual, if they were to enter into it seriously, he had rather undertake it himself, under all the difadvantages of fituation, than fee it carried on by the present minifters, who, he was fure, would manage it, as they do every thing elfe, with fraud or imbecility. The first step he ought to take in the prefent inquiry, fhould be, to move for an addrefs to the crown, to remove the Earl of Sandwich from his employments; for while he should enjoy his offices, and the influence annexed to them, what great hope could exift in the rind of any man to bring fuch a minifter to punishment? Such was the fituation of Lord Sandwich at prefent; poffeffed of the confidence, enjoying the fmiles and efteem of his Sovereign, and fielded by the all-powerful influence of the crown, it would be in vain to move in that Houfe, to have him removed from the prefence and councils of his Prince. To this curfed influence, therefore, he was obliged to bow; and renouncing his own judgement, he gave up what he knew was right, to purfue only the expedient. There was a prejudice alfo, which gentlemen in general fubmitted to, because it was apparently VOL.XLIV.

founded in juftice: they would fay probably," What! remove a minifter before you have proved any one charge brought against him! Punish him before you have tried him! Take from him his emoluments and his offices, when, perhaps, he may be completely innocent of every charge to be brought against him!" By way of answer to this, he would afk, Was office the fran chife of a minifter? Had he a right to it for life, as to a freehold? or, Was he only a fervant of the public? If he was their fervant, why thould the public have lefs power over their fervants than private individuals had over thofe do. meftics whom they paid for their fer vices? If the public thought proper not to employ their fervants any longer, had they not a right to difmifs them, without incurring the charge of injuftice? Undoubtedly they poffeffed this right; and he would contend, that the moment a minifter ceases to enjoy the confidence of the public, that moment he ought to be removed, though he should be a meritorious fervant, and an able minifter.

In ftating the neglect and mifufe of the navy, and the fatal confequences that had refulted from it, he should be equally indifferent as to the minifters it should affect. It mattered not to him whether it thould be the Firft Lord of the Admi ralty, the First Lord of the Treasury, or any one elfe. But he chufed to bring the miscarriages of the naval force home to the Earl of Sandwich; because that minister had advised his Sovereign to the naval measures that had been purfued, and was, confequently, refponsible for them. It was no excufe in him to fay, that he had received his orders from the cabinet through the fecretary of state, and had been obliged to execute them. The Firft Lord of the Admiralty had been prefent in the cabinet when those orders were debated and given, and might, confequently, have faid, that he would not obey them, had they been of a nature he did not like. At first, he faid, he thought of making up his charge from thefe two confiderations, namely, firft, What the naval force of this country had been; and, fecondly. How it had been employed. Upon reflection, however, he had determined to confine himfelf to the latter point. He then recapi. tulated the points to which he meant to direct the inquiry; but prefaced them

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by ftating the declaration fo often charged to Lord Sandwich: "That the First Lord of the Admiralty who did not keep a fleet equal to that of the Houfe of Bourbon in readiness for fea, deferved to lose his head." This he contrafted with what Lord Mulgrave had said on the first day of the prefent feffion, "That the fleet of England not only was not now equal to that of the Houfe of Bourbon, but that it had never been fo, nor never could be fo, when the Houfe of Bourbon threw the chief part of her ftrength into her marine."

It was evident in the year 1776, that adminiftration expected a war with France, from their application to his Hon. Friend (Adm. Keppel) to take the command of the grand fleet; yet in 1778, after being affured that he would find twenty-fix fail ready at Portsmouth, on going down there he found only fix fail fit for fea. Afterwards, when he failed with twenty fhips, he was in. formed his force was fuperior to the enemy; but what was his difappointment, what must have been his indignation, at finding the enemy at fea with twenty-feven fail of the line? The Firft Lord of the Admiralty had acted uniformly as if he had been the ally and fervant of the Houfe of Bourbon. Another great naval error the first year of the war was, fending almoft every frigate we had to America; so that the two deckers and large fhips were employed in cruising against the American merchant-fhips, a fervice that might have been as well executed by frigates, or even by privateers. Hence, when it was neceffary to fend out the fleet under Adm. Keppel, great delay was occafioned, by the two deckers that had been cruising all winter being obliged to be fent into dock to be refitted. He then enumerated the naval events of each year of the war; and from thence drew a conclufion, that the Firft Lord of the Admiralty had, in every inftance, been liable to the charges of neglect, impolicy, or ignorance. He afferted, we had always been too late, that our fyftem had generally been to fend after the French, inftead of attacking them at home, intercepting them, and preventing their proceeding on their expeditions. He dwelt on not preventing the junction of the French and Spanish fleets, at the beginning of the feveral campaigns, and on the not attacking them at the

conclufion of their cruises, after they had feparated. He complained of Adm. Rodney's being fent to relieve Gibraltar in his way to the Weft Indies, inftead of being fent there directly; by which the French were more powerful in those seas. He gave Providence and Sir G. Rodney the credit of defeating Don Juan de Langara; but minifters not the least of the merit. In the fame ftyle he went through Adm. Byron's campaign in the Weft Indies, and Lord Howe's in America; every deficiency was imputed to the Firft Lord of the Admiralty. He mentioned Adm. Barrington with great praife: his declining a command in chief, he averred, was owing to a want of confidence in the First Lord of the Admiralty. He faid, it had been observed in that Houfe that Adm. Barrington's declining to ferve was owing to his weak nerves; yet he defired the House to recollect, that weak as the Admiral's nerves might be, they had conquered at St Lucia, gloriously beating off M. D'Eftaing, who commanded a force greatly superior. As to the Weftern fquadron, called the grand fleet, it had always been fent out too late in the year; and was idly parading the fea on unferviceable cruifes, at the time the French were getting ready for effectual fervice. He charged the First Lord of the Admiralty with having betrayed Capt. Moutray, and the large Eaft and West India fleets under his convoy, into the hands of the enemy, by sending them into the mouth of the combined fleet, in ordering them to touch at Madeira, a track which could not fail to conduct them to the fleet of the enemy. He then went into the Dutch war. In this difquifition Lord North came in for his fhare of acrimonious invective, for having faid, that it was better to have an open enemy than a treacherous friend. Mr Fox stated, that, before the rupture, to intercept a Dutch convoy protected by a single ship of the line, a whole fleet had been fent out under Com. Fielding; but when war had been declared, five fhips only had been fent to the north feas to face the whole strength of Holland. He declared, that the year 1781 was an epitome of the whole war; char ged the admiralty with neglecting to reinforce Adm. Parker; that the Berwick by mere chance had joined the fleet. But why the Sampfon was not fent by their Lordships, no one could tell.

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was true, indeed, that they fent to the coat of Norway, to let him know that The lay at the Gunfleet; and that if he wanted her, he might fend for her. Thus time was loft; fhe might have been the meffenger herself; and then our Admiral, no doubt, would have gained a decifive victory over the Dutch. Only to Providence and that Admiral's bravery, and that of his officers and men, was it owing the engagement had ended at all honourably to this country. He enlarged on Adm. Darby's coming into port laft year when he heard the combined fleets were at sea, and his fend. ing up for fresh inftructions; and upon the admiralty's returning in answer, that the combined fleet was not at sea, and that he had been deceived; and that befides putting this infult on their own of. ficer, when the Mayor of Briflol wrote to them to know if Adm. Darby had met or heard of the combined fleet, the admiralty wrote in reply, not only that the report was not true, but alfo, that there had not been the fmalleft foundation for it; fo that, if no other intelligence than this letter had arrived at Briftol, their merchantmen would have been fent into the very jaws of the enemy; bat fortunately a letter from Lord Shuldham came at the fame instant, inform. ing the Mayor, that Adm. Darby's in telligence had been confirmed beyond all power of doubt or contradiction. At the fame time Lord Stormont's letter to Mr Eden, fecretary in Ireland, informing him, that the combined fleets were proceeding to cruife off that coaft, was a fact ascertained, the letter being printed in a public paper. This proved the want of cordiality of office, and the want of authentic information at the admiralty. Mr Fox took occafion to pay many high compliments to Mr Eden. He then proceeded to remark on Sir G. Rodney's frequent promifes to give good accounts of the enemy's feet in the Weft Indies; but the refult was only fome drawn battles, followed by the lofs of fome of our inlands; and, therefore, in effect, they were as bad as defeats. He went at large into the particular bufinefs that bad ftimulated him to the prefent inquiry, the fending out Adm. Kempen felt with a force fo inferior to the enemy. The difgraceful lofs of that fine opportunity had excited general indignation. Either the admiralty were deficient in intelligence, or were negligent in profiting of their information: in ei

ther cafe they were equally criminal. He could not but afk, why Adm. Rodney did not accompany Adm. Kempenfelt? Adm. Rodney, on this occafion, would have ferved his country as effectually as he would be able to do on his arrival in the West Indies. — He concluded with obferving, that he thought every year of the war furnished him with ample matter for inquiry and cenfure; yet he would fingle out the last year, and confine the inquiry to that. He then moved, "That it be referred to a committee to inquire into the causes of the want of fuccefs in our naval force during the prefent war, but more particularly during the year 1781."

Capt. John Luttrell declared, from the knowledge he had profeffionally of our naval power, and our resources, that he had not any of thofe defponding fears for our fafety, which came almoft from every quarter of the House.-He faid, that we now were, and ever had been, upon an average, vaftly fuperior at fea to the united powers of the Houfe of Bourbon; and that he doubted not, if we made peace with Holland and America, but we would ftill preferve the fame preeminence. As, he faid, he had a thorough conviction of the integrity, activity, and capacity of the Noble Lord at the head of the admiralty, he should vote against the motion.

Lord Mulgrave faid, that the Hon. Gentleman who made the motion had, previous to the inquiry, calumniated the First Lord of the Admiralty, loaded him with the groffeft invective, and ac cufed him of great criminality, without bringing forward any thing like proof. Was it candid or honourable before the inquiry to ftyle the Noble Lord the ally of France, and to charge him with fome. thing like treachery of the bafeft kind. He trufted the good fense of the House would revolt at fuch attacks. Great part of the Hon. Gentleman's fpeech was merely matters of opinion. He wished, however, for the fake of fully fatisfying the public, and fully justifying the First Lord of the Admiralty, that the Hon. Gentleman had not so narrowed the scale of inquiry; the broader the inquiry, was the more likely way to come at the truth. His Lordship fpoke to many o ther points; declared the inquiry fell fhort of what was neceffary; but fuch as it was he fhould not oppose it.

After fome other members had fpoken,
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Mr Fox moved for a variety of papers neceffary to the inquiry; and they were ordered to be laid before the House. Next day feveral more papers were moved for and ordered.

The day following, Lord Mulgrave rofe to acquaint the Houfe, that from the multiplicity of papers moved for, it would be utterly impoffible to get them ready by Thursday, Jan. 31. the day appointed for going into the inquiry; he therefore wifhed the day might be poftponed to Thurfday fe'ennight, Feb. 7.

Mr T. Townshend made a variety of acrimonious infinuations against the admiralty board; and faid, that every little hift and manœuvre was attempted to procraftinate the business.

Mr Bamber Gascoyne appealed to the House, whether in candour and in truth there was the smallest ground for the infinuations thrown out, that the board of admiralty either wished to procraftinate, much lefs to avoid the inquiry altogether: but fome time was neceflary to make out the papers moved for. Not one member of the board of admiralty had made the fmalleft objection to the inquiry; on the contrary, they had defired it might be taken upon as extenfive a fcale as poffible, confcious that the more ample the inquiry, the more completely would the public be undeceived, and would fee more plainly the grofs impofitions that had been practifed upon them by the repeated calum nies, bitter invectives, loofe unfounded affertions, and the load of unmerited abufe, poured forth against those who were in any degree answerable for the conduct of the admiralty. For his part, he did not mention this by way of complaint; calumny and invective made but little im. preffion on his mind; he knew that they were mere words, and that words without proof were but wind. That Houfe was perhaps more filled with the fort of wind he had just alluded to, than any other place in the kingdom; and he might fairly adopt the failor's expreffion, and pronounce it nine times out of ten, a very foul wind indeed! Such as it was, how ever, it might continue to blow, he should weather it as he could. The prefent inquiry would clear up the innocence of the admiralty; it would therefore be contrary to their intereft, and the groffeft of abfurdities in them, either to oppofe it, or to impede its progrefs.

Mr Burke adverted to what fell from the last speaker in respect to the foul wind

of the Houfe. He agreed with the Hon Gentleman, that there was at times i great deal of foul wind there, but from the prefent complexion of both wind and weather, he could plainly see that the Sandwich could ride in great safety there it was a fair mill-pond, where he would be fecure from all fudden and disagree. able fqualls: he likewife would exempt the Hon. Gentleman himself from any imputation of wind, as from the rotun dity of his figure, he appeared to have fomething more folid about him.

Lord Mulgrave's motion for postponing the inquiry to Feb. 7. was agreed to. Feb. 7. The House being refolved intoa committee, and the papers that were mo ved for read, Mr Fox rofe to move a refolution upon those papers. He faid, that if they had been laid upon the table time enough to have been fufficiently perused by gentlemen, it would have been totally unneceffary for him to make any remarks úpon their contents; for the mifmanagement of our marine appeared fo glaringly from the evidence of thofe papers, that they required no elucidation. But care had been taken that they should not come before the Houfe in fuch time, that the members could have completely digested them before it was neceflary to ground any refolution on them; and they were produced in fuch order, or rather diforder and confufion, that it was impoffible, after a curfory reading by the clerks, to combine the different parts that related to each other. It was on this account only that he thought himself excufeable in making a few obfervations, which he intended to confine to four different heads.

But before he would touch upon thefe heads, he judged it not improper to throw out a few ideas to the committee, on fubjects which, though they were at present out of the bounds of the inquiry, he intended to prefs, because the occurrences to which he fhould allude, had happened out of the year 1781, to which year he meant to confine the inquiry for the prefent, were by no means inapplicable to the great object of the inquiry. The inftructions given to Sir Charles Hardy, to prevent a junction of the French and Spanish fleets, had not been laid before the Houfe; and he had fubmitted to it, though he was not convinced by the reafons given for with-holding them; but he muft needs fay, that if Sir Charles was not inftructed to prevent fuch a junction, though, at the time alluded to, we were

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not at war with Spain, it was an unpardonable, nay, a criminal neglect in the admiralty. From the papers just read, it appeared indeed, that Adm. Geary had received inftructions for that purpose; but it was at a time when there was every degree of probability that the fleets which he was to have kept afunder had actually joined before he received his orders. Such had been the diligence of the First Lord of the Admiralty, fuch his attention to the intereft of his country! Another thing, very remarkable, that from Jan. 1. 1779, to the beginning of March 1781, not one fingle frigate had been sta tioned off Breft, to watch the motions of the enemy. This was a circumftance which, he was convinced, even the greateft enemies to Lord Sandwich would fcarcely have believed, if it did not ftand confirmed by the papers that had been read; and what was ftill more fingular than the omiffion, or rather thameful neglect, of which he complained, that when frigates were fent in the month of March to cruize off Breft, it was at a time when their cruize could not be attended with any useful discovery, for it was at a time when there was no armament carrying on in that port, all the fquadrons which were intended for fea having long before failed for their different deftinations. He had moved for a lift of the fhips employed for the defence of Jersey at the time of the attack upon that illand; but the return made to his motion was far from being fatisfactory, in fact it was no return at all; for having called for the thips employed for the defence of the island at the time it was attacked, the return made was a lift of flips fent to Jerfey, after the expedition against it had mifcarried. Haing faid thus much by way of preface, Mr Fox came immediately to the year 1781, to the naval transactions of which year he confined the inquiry. In this year, he found four principal heads of accufation against Lord Sandwich.

1. That he fuffered Count de Graffe to fail for the Welt Indies, without making afingle effort to intercept him. From the papers on the table, it was manifeft that he had had the best and most minute intelligence of the equipment, ftrength, and deftination of the force under that officer; it was equally clear that he knew the time, or very nearly, when the Count was to fail; and yet not the least attempt was made to block up Breft; or give the enemy battle after they had fet out.

There were two circumftances which in this cafe rendered the First Lord of the Admiralty highly criminal: one was, that the object of Count de Graffe's expe dition was of the most dangerous nature to this country: it was to deftroy its empire in the weft, and in fome meafure, to blot the British name out of the chronicles of the world; but great as thefe objects were, he was permitted to purfue them without the leaft moleftation on the part of Lord Sandwich. The other circumftance which rendered that naval minifter highly criminal was, that at the very time he had a force at fea equal to the complete destruction of Count de Graffe and bis fleet. Adm. Darby was then at fea with thirty fhips of the line, well equipped, well manned, and in the beft condition. But the evil genius of England would have it, that Lord Sandwich fhould fend fuch orders to Adm. Darby, as muft neceffarily leave a free paffage for M. de Graffe! Our fleet, confifting of thirty line-of-battle fhips, put to fea March 13. 1781; the French Admiral, with twenty-five fhips of the line, failed the 22d; fo that if Adm. Darby had not been sent out of the way, there would have scarcely been a poflibility of the latter avoiding an engagement with us, either before we got to Gibraltar, or on our return from it. But Lord Sandwich, as if fearing that the French should be destroyed, fent orders to Adm. Darby to cruife off the coaft of Ireland, to wait for the ftore hips and victuallers that were to join him from Corke. Here was he ftationed till the 27th of March, before he was joined by the tranfports. In the mean time, the French continued their voyage without the fmalleft interruption; and what was the confequence? He really wanted words to defcribe it: the confequence was as dreadful as if London had been burnt: we had loft our islands; Sir S. Hood had been defeated, or nearly fo; and our loffes and difgraces were completed by the furrender of Lord Cornwallis's army at York Town. He defired gentlemen to confi der that the naval minifter had it in his power to prevent all these disasters, and to have crushed them in the very embryo, by fending Adm. Darby to meet Count de Graffe; but that instead of doing it, he fent the British fleet to cruise in a quarter where it must be entirely out of the track of the French. He defired they would confider that it was not for want

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