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Article PARLIAMENTARY PROCEEDINGS. ← Page 9 of 10 →
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Parliamentary Proceedings.
lie i-nucli better ; He bad the honour to sail in the fleet under the command of Earl Howe , and he never saw a fleet sail better , and he believed ? that it the detachment which had gone to convoy the India fleet had been with them , the French fleet would nothave ventured to engage at all . Mr . Fox said , he had complained last year of the number of captures that had been made ; he would say then , that the captures during this war were in a far greater proportion than in any former war , and iii a greater degree than the increase of commercealthough we had but one enemy to contend with .
our ; Our Navy-should have been increased in proportion as our commerce became greater . In the Mediterranean , it had been thought we had given the deathblow to the'Navy oi" France ; but it was now said that there were fifteen sail of ihe line at Toulon . It was the business of the executive government to attend to the defence of the country , which consisted in the proper management of our navy . A time of war , he -would say , was the best time fov entering into that
improvement . Were we not every day building new ships ? He hoped no time then ivould be lost in repairing that error , and that the new Admiralty would see proper , measures were taken to improve that part of navy architecture . — Mr . Fox concluded with a recommendation to withdraw men from the armies , fur the purpose of increasing our naval force . Mr . Dundas thought that great praise was due to the exertions of the Admiralty , which increased the number of men from 16 , 000 seamen , at which they found them in the beginning of this war , 1090 , 000 , at which they stood at present . While
this exertion was made , our commerce was entire , and none of the means were used as practised in former wars , of entering every ship , and seizing all the seamen they could lay hold of . The efforts of the enemy he confessed to exceed imagination , and to be such as to excite the alarms , but by no means the fears , of the public ; for the number of our ships would greatly outstrip expectation , and when manned , were read ; for sea on any emergency . Mr . Sheridanas a friend to Englandlamented the discovery of one fact
, , , corroborated by the gallant Admiral Gardner , that the French ships were swifter sailers than those of Great Britain . He did not think that the number of seamen proposed ( 100 , 000 ) was sufficient , and wished there might be a greater number . Should the present alarming crisis not arouse Administration from its lethargy , let them seriously reflect , that the French may soon command the . aid of the fleet of Holland , which will co-operate with them for the annoyance of our coasts , and the destruction of our trade . Let Mr . Dundas aud his friends , therefore
, seriously reflect , that they ought to provide against this disastrous event . He remembered the observation of Admiral Keppel , that the marine department was not sufficiently attended to ; and he hoped that the present Admiralty would profit by that gentleman ' s experience and wisdom , and bring forward some plan fo encourage men to enter into the Marine service upon terms equally agreeable to those adopted for the increase of our seamen . Mr . Pitt acknowledged the late exertions of the enemy ; but maintained that they could continue but for a very short time .
Alderman Curtis did not hesitate to throw a considerable degree of culpability on the Admiralty , by whose inattention lie and other merchants of London had suffered . Admiral Gardner vindicated the Admiralty from the charge of suffering French eruizers to capture our ships . Colonel Tarleton censured the Lords of the Admiralty , and charged them with ignorance and supineness . He said , the exertions of the French were unbounded ; and fearedfrom the manner in which they treated
, generous our prisoners , that many of them would be induced to enter into their service . Mr . Alderman Anderson said , he considered that the Lords of the Admiralty iiad made the very best provisions for the protection of our trade ; and though Lloyd ' s list may be filled with various losses of individual merchants , yet it is in consequence of that greedy and impolitic spirit of adventure , which will run for a market without waiting or applying for a convoy . V 01 . IV . ]
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Parliamentary Proceedings.
lie i-nucli better ; He bad the honour to sail in the fleet under the command of Earl Howe , and he never saw a fleet sail better , and he believed ? that it the detachment which had gone to convoy the India fleet had been with them , the French fleet would nothave ventured to engage at all . Mr . Fox said , he had complained last year of the number of captures that had been made ; he would say then , that the captures during this war were in a far greater proportion than in any former war , and iii a greater degree than the increase of commercealthough we had but one enemy to contend with .
our ; Our Navy-should have been increased in proportion as our commerce became greater . In the Mediterranean , it had been thought we had given the deathblow to the'Navy oi" France ; but it was now said that there were fifteen sail of ihe line at Toulon . It was the business of the executive government to attend to the defence of the country , which consisted in the proper management of our navy . A time of war , he -would say , was the best time fov entering into that
improvement . Were we not every day building new ships ? He hoped no time then ivould be lost in repairing that error , and that the new Admiralty would see proper , measures were taken to improve that part of navy architecture . — Mr . Fox concluded with a recommendation to withdraw men from the armies , fur the purpose of increasing our naval force . Mr . Dundas thought that great praise was due to the exertions of the Admiralty , which increased the number of men from 16 , 000 seamen , at which they found them in the beginning of this war , 1090 , 000 , at which they stood at present . While
this exertion was made , our commerce was entire , and none of the means were used as practised in former wars , of entering every ship , and seizing all the seamen they could lay hold of . The efforts of the enemy he confessed to exceed imagination , and to be such as to excite the alarms , but by no means the fears , of the public ; for the number of our ships would greatly outstrip expectation , and when manned , were read ; for sea on any emergency . Mr . Sheridanas a friend to Englandlamented the discovery of one fact
, , , corroborated by the gallant Admiral Gardner , that the French ships were swifter sailers than those of Great Britain . He did not think that the number of seamen proposed ( 100 , 000 ) was sufficient , and wished there might be a greater number . Should the present alarming crisis not arouse Administration from its lethargy , let them seriously reflect , that the French may soon command the . aid of the fleet of Holland , which will co-operate with them for the annoyance of our coasts , and the destruction of our trade . Let Mr . Dundas aud his friends , therefore
, seriously reflect , that they ought to provide against this disastrous event . He remembered the observation of Admiral Keppel , that the marine department was not sufficiently attended to ; and he hoped that the present Admiralty would profit by that gentleman ' s experience and wisdom , and bring forward some plan fo encourage men to enter into the Marine service upon terms equally agreeable to those adopted for the increase of our seamen . Mr . Pitt acknowledged the late exertions of the enemy ; but maintained that they could continue but for a very short time .
Alderman Curtis did not hesitate to throw a considerable degree of culpability on the Admiralty , by whose inattention lie and other merchants of London had suffered . Admiral Gardner vindicated the Admiralty from the charge of suffering French eruizers to capture our ships . Colonel Tarleton censured the Lords of the Admiralty , and charged them with ignorance and supineness . He said , the exertions of the French were unbounded ; and fearedfrom the manner in which they treated
, generous our prisoners , that many of them would be induced to enter into their service . Mr . Alderman Anderson said , he considered that the Lords of the Admiralty iiad made the very best provisions for the protection of our trade ; and though Lloyd ' s list may be filled with various losses of individual merchants , yet it is in consequence of that greedy and impolitic spirit of adventure , which will run for a market without waiting or applying for a convoy . V 01 . IV . ]