been complied with, in what respect they had been sacrificed to convenience, and in what respect it would be necessary for parliament to interfere to prevent any such sacrifices of law in future, unless where circumstances should call for it. He did not presume to deny that there might be exceptions, in which such a sacrifice would be necessary, but as the power of making such sacrifice was liable to much abuse, parliament was the more bound to take care that it should not be unnecessarily exercised. Sir Andrew Hamond had entertained hopes that the paper on the table would have satisfied on the subject of the transaction which had been alluded to. The reason why he had not had the intercourse with the then first lord of the admiralty, which ought to subsist between the first lord of the admiralty and the comptroller of the navy, was, that Earl St.Vincent had resided mostly in the country. He had consented to superintend the stone expedition at the desire of the secretary of state, who had written to Lord St. Vincent on the subject, and received an answer conveying his lordship's approbation of the project. When the vessels were ready to sail, he wrote himself to Lord St. Vincent. In all this he did not think there was any thing that could justify any reflection on his conduct. So far from having wished to make himself independent of the admiralty, he had ever wished to take the instructions of the first lord of the admiralty. As to the charge of having paid ninety days discount instead of eighty-nine, the time had been calculated from the day of the issue to the day of payment, both days inclusive, conformably to what took place in the commonest occurrences in life. A person taken into employment on one day, and discharged at the end of a month, should be paid for his time, including both the day of being engaged and the day of his discharge. The manner of issuing the navy bills had been the same as was always pursued, and it was really incomprehensible what made the committee report on this point. When the new mode of issuing navy bills had been adopted in 1796, navy bills were at a discount of fifteen per cent. and on the expenditure of seven millions in 1797, there had been a saving of above a million to the public by the new mode. When the expenditure increased, the benefit had been greater. When the issue of navy bills had been made on the 24th of October, 18co, there was but nine hundred thousand pounds in the treasury; and he asked in what manner the money could be so well procured? He was happy to bear testimony to the VOL. III. 1805. G conduct conduct of the Goldsmids; they never delayed the sums wanted a single day or hour. If the house knew of what value such punctuality was to government, they would view this transaction in the light he did. He was happy to state, that the navy bills were in as much credit as ever; and if they should not continue so, he was sure the navy service would be reduced to the embarrassments with which it had been affected during the former practice. The question was then put, and the Chancellor of the Exchequer's amendment agreed to. The committee was ordered to consist of twenty-one members, and to be chosen by ballot the next day. The London docks bill was read a third time and passed. The house went into a committee on the post horse duty farming bill, and resolved that the bill should be continued for a time to be limited. Mr. Alexander, the chairman, on the house being resumed, obtained leave to bring in a bill for that purpose. The other orders of the day were then disposed of, Adjourned. HOUSE OF LORDS. FRIDAY, MAY 24. The Lord Chancellor delivered his opinion upon several points in the case of Redington against Redington, in favour of affirming the decree of the court of exchequer in Ireland; after which he expressed a wish that the further consideration might be postponed till Monday, which was agreed to. The land tax commissioners name bill, and the slate duty bill, were read a third time and passed, and a message sent to the commons to acquaint them therewith. The naval commissioners bill, the military commissioners bill, and the wine duty bill, were read a second time. Several members of the house of commons brought up the Irish licence regulation bill, the London wet dock's amendment bill, and some private bills, which were read a first time. The Lord Chancellor read to the house a letter from the Earl of St. Vincent, stating that his lordship had no objection to attend the committee of the house of commons, relative to Sir Home Popham, if consistent with the privileges of their lordships. Lord Auckland then moved that a message should be sent to the house of commons, desiring that they would state the grounds grounds and reasons on which they desired the attendance of the Earl of St. Vincent before the said committee, which was agreed to. MR. JUSTICE FOX. Lord Carleton rose, and observed, that this being the day appointed for the house to resolve into a committee to inquire into the charges against Mr. Justice Fox, it became necessary, from particular circumstances, to request of the house the indulgence of postponing this inquiry a few days longer. Not at all from any unwillingness or impromptitude on the part of the learned judge to meet the charges against him; for he begged to remind the house, that, from the first moment thac learned judge had heard of those charges, he professed not only his readiness but his most anxious wish to meet inquiry, and to be put upon the vindication of his character and conduct. It was his wish to have been heard by counsel at the bar of that house, and nothing was farther from his desire than the slightest delay or evasion. But on account of the non-arrival of some papers material to his defence, it became necessary to request their lordships to postpone, for a few days longer, the proceedings in this business. The noble and learned lord concluded by moving to discharge the order of the day, and to appoint the committee for Thursday next; which, after some conversation on the subject by Lord Hawkesbury, the Duke of Clarence, and some other peers, was agreed to. NAVAL INQUIRY. The Earl of Darnley rose to bring forward his promised motion, in consequence of the notice he had given on a former day; that motion he felt it necessary to preface by some observations on the subject of the inquiry it was his object to propose for their lordships' adoption; and he apprized their lordships that the tenor of his motion would be directed to the appointment of a select committee to inquire into the abuses which had obtained in the naval department. It was particularly worthy of remark, that the long list of papers for which he had moved in the month of March last, and which had been refused to him by his majesty's ministers, had been since granted, upon the motion of an hon. member in the other house of parliament. In order to enable their lordships to enter into a full inquiry upon this subject, it would not only be necessary for them to investigate those papers, but several others for which it was his intention to move, should the house think fit to adopt his motion for the committee. In the investigation to which he had no doubt. their lordships would readily be induced to accede, he desired expressly to disclaim all views of personal asperity towards any officer of his majesty's government. Public justice was his sole motive; nor had he any other object than to render justice to those who should be found to have deserved well of their country, and to discover and bring to account those whose conduct had been of the contrary tendency. The papers for which he had already, and might hereafter move upon this subject, were for the purpose of enabling the house to form a comparison between the conduct of the late and present board of admiralty, and to ascertain which had acted most meritoriously for the public service. Whether that board had acted most wisely and efficiently for the public defence, who had dismissed from the public service a number of useless ships which crowded, without strengthening our navy; which declined the giving contracts for ships to the merchant-builders, and preferred the building of our vessels of war in the king's yards;. which dismissed useless and ineffective officers and artisans, and employed only those that were active and efficient; which directed investigation into abuses and peculations in the various departments of his majesty's dock-yards, and put a stop to the most flagitious and profligate system of profusion and waste of the public money: or that board of admiralty, which reversed this system, and by giving contracts for ships to the merchant builder, increased the number, but most materially impaired the strength of our navy, by crowding it with ships at an enormous expence, but absolutely useless to the service. The papers now on their lordships' table, consisting of the reports of commissioners appointed by the other house of parliament, abounded with strong instances, and laidbefore their lordships sufficient parliamentary ground to shew the necessity of going into the inquiry.. In looking over those papers, one of the first objects that struck his mind, was the purchase of some ships of war from the merchant builders, at the enormous rate of thirty-four pounds per ton; some of which, nevertheless, so far from being serviceable to the navy, or adding to its strength, were absolutely useless. He would select two for the present, and the house would be best able to judge, from the report of the officers appointed to command. them, whether or not they were of use to the service. The one was called the Hindostan, and was attached to Admirał Russell's squadron; and he would read from the report a let ter ter from the captain commanding that vessel, his opinion of her fitness and efficiency: the other was called the Mediator, of which the house would also be enabled to judge from the letter of her captain. The noble lord read the letters from the captains of both ships; from which it appeared that both were so ill built, so utterly disproportioned in their masts, rudders, ropes, rigging, and guns, and so high above the water, as to be totally unmanageable and unfit for service. They were both under fifty guns, and yet they cost the government as much as seventy-four gun ships built in his majesty's dockyards; and, what was still worse, some ships of the line were actually stripped of a principal part of their crews to man those useless vessels; and thus the means of our defence, instead of being strengthened, was considerably weakened, and our navy reduced to a state much below what it was at the time when a noble lord sat at the head of that department who had retired from office, and who had been, by certain persons to whose proceedings he was not friendly, censured for his conduct in directing the affairs of the navy, which, in his (the noble speaker's) mind merited the universal approbation and gratitude of the country. What he would wish was to contrast the state of the navy at present with that in which it stood under the direction of his noble and gallant friend. It might indeed have a greater number of ships, but were they so wellmanned, appointed, or prepared to meet that active and enterprising enemy with whom we have to contend, and who has never relaxed one moment in his exertions to increase his strength, and facilitate the accomplishment of his views against this country? He would ask his lordship, whether, when his noble, gallant, and venerable friend was at the head of the admiralty, any such event had occurred as two formidable fleets of the enemy triumphantly proceeding to sea, and roaming no one knew whither, in despite of our boasted navy and blockading" system; while our West India islands were attacked and ravaged by another of the enemy's squadrons? (Hear! bear! hear!} Let their lordships judge, from this circumstance, to which praise or censure was most due, the late or the present board of admiralty. Another ground of condemnation was, the system of taking ships from the merchant contractors, instead of building them in the king's dock yards, by which means a number of competitors, encouraged by those contracts, were brought into the market to out-bid the government in the prices of labour, timber, and every material for building and stores. Thus the expences of building in the king's yard were |