mouth was as defenceless as the noble duke had stated, and that its being in that condition was owing to criminal neglect in some person or other, what pressing necessity was there to go into an immediate inquiry, and to risk the danger that might arise from publishing to our enemies where Plymouth was least strong, merely to ascertain to whom that weakness which existed last summer, but which now no longer existed, was imputable? Why not defer it till a proper time; till the possibility of any danger arising from it should be past doubt; till the war was at an end, and we had peace? He thought that would be by far the wisest way of acting upon the occasion, and therefore he should give his direct negative to the motion. by two noble lords of such great professional experience; but as he considered it rather as a political one, he would state his reasons for objecting to it. The motion went to the proposing an enquiry into the state of Plymouth last year, when the combined fleets of the enemy had appeared before it. With great deference to the noble duke, the motion and the inquiry it led to, were, in his opinion, full as objectionable now, as they would have been in the other case. If the inquiry was gone into, a full and minute description of Plymouth, its vicinity, and all its parts would come out. In such an inquiry, as Plymouth, like every other place, had its vulnerable parts, those parts must necessarily be stated; he appealed, therefore, to the noble duke, whether it would be wise to put the enemy in possession of that sort of intelligence, and whether, in fact, it would not be aiding their cause, and weakening our own? While we were at war with France, the government of that country being absolute, she thence derived advantages which our free government did not give us, and it would of course be a degree of political folly, bordering upon madness, to assist the enemy with intelligence of so important a nature; indeed, there already subsisted a greater degree of intercourse and communication between this country and France than he wished. The proposed inquiry was not like an inquiry into the loss of Minorca, after the fortune of war had put it into the hands of the enemy, or into the loss of a battle; in either of those cases no injury could arise from any discovery. The present inquiry was into the state of Plymouth, which narrowly escaped an attack last summer. With regard to the truth of the facts alluded to by the noble duke, possibly it might be true that there was not a sufficient number of troops to do the duty at Plymouth; but then in considering that, noble lords ought to recollect, that if the fact were so, it might arise from causes far different from those of neglect, or criminal inattention. Perhaps the fact was, that as many troops were in Plymouth as the necessary distribution of the force in the kingdom for the various services would allow. While the army was not sufficiently large to answer every end, and to cover every weak part of the kingdom at one and the same time, all that was in the power of human wisdom, was to cover those parts first which were most vulnerable. Taking it for granted, however, that Ply The Duke of Grafton pressed their lordships to consider the motion with all possible attention. It was a matter of the very first importance, and if adopted, would operate both in point of prevention and example. He had conversed with several officers of rank, who all agreed, that Plymouth was in a most defenceless state, in respect of troops, men to work or point the artillery, and military stores of every denomination. His grace said, he could scarcely refrain laughing, when he heard the noble viscount in the green ribbon, solemnly expressing his fears for the dreadful consequences which might ensue, in case the defenceless state of that fortress, as it stood in August last, should now come to the knowledge of our foreign enemies. The noble viscount could not forget, that he himself must have derived some knowledge how very different the real state of the case was, in respect of powers jealous of each other, even in a time of peace, much more in a time of war, when so much depended upon good and certain information. The noble viscount well knew how much it was the duty of the person who had the honour to stand in the situation he did, to press those entrusted with the conduct of affairs at foreign courts, to gain the most authentic information respecting every thing which concerned the state, condition, and situation of the country where he resided; consequently, the noble viscount could not be ignorant, by a parity of reasoning, from what he had learned himself as a public minister abroad, how well informed the court of Versailles was of the state of Plymouth, as well now, probably, as in the month of August; he hoped, therefore, that the noble viscount would agree with him, that the ate of Plymouth, its weak and strong parts; | various topics would be differently diswhere it was vulnerable, where it was cussed; different opinions would be given, not; the several strong posts in its neigh- and those different opinions going out to bourhood, the nature of ground, ports, the world might do a great deal of harm. &c. were as well known to the court of In the third place, he did not believe that Versailles, as to any one noble lord in Plymouth was in the condition that it was that House, without exception; or to any stated to have been at the time. As he one military officer in the kingdom.-He scorned little excuses, he would fairly and could not sit down without making one directly state the truths he was in possesshort observation on another curious argu- sion of to the House. He then produced ment made use of by the noble viscount. a letter from major Anderson, of the arThat was, where his lordship confessed his tillery, dated Plymouth, Dec. 6, 1779, total ignorance of military matters; but which he read. The letter contained a rose to oppose the motion, merely as a description of the state of Plymouth last question of state. This argument plainly summer, and contradicted the various reimported, that Plymouth was not in a pro- ports that had been circulated relative to per state of defence at the time alluded to; its supposed weakness. It minutely deand the noble viscount's opposition was scribed the situation of the batteries, and evidently founded upon the idea, not that the number and size of the guns mounted it would be the means of conveying to our on each, shewing that a ship of war, which enemies but to the people of England, the could get into Hamoaze, must first face criminally neglected state of Plymouth in the fire of 76 cannon of very heavy weight August last. His grace concluded with of metal. It also stated the number of affirming, that he believed most sincerely, men to each battery, and in what manner that nothing but the direct interposition of seamen who were used to fight guns, were Providence had saved Plymouth from fall- sent by the admiral to do the duty, and ing into the hands of our enemies; for he after the enemy's fleet were gone away, was clearly of opinion, that that important were returned to their ships, it being first fortress must have fallen, had it been settled that they should be again sent on attacked. shore immediately upon a signal being hoisted from Maker Tower on the sight of a fleet's approach. After reading this letter, and commenting upon it, he proceeded to inform the House that the writer of it was chief in the artillery command at Plymouth last August; his lordship declared that he had himself gone down and inspected every thing that fell within the line of his office, and had found every thing as it should be. He concluded with declaring, that he had said so much to convince their lordships that he was not one of those who voted either from influence, or because others led the way, but that his giving his vote against the motion, was founded upon reasons which, to his own mind, appeared sufficiently strong to render it impossible for him to vote any other way. Lord Townshend declared he differed entirely from the noble duke, and that he was far from thinking Plymouth was last summer in the defenceless state described; that in fact he had good reason to believe the contrary; and that so far from imputing its not being taken to the interposition of Providence, he imputed it to a very different cause, to the enemy's knowing it was too strong for them to attempt an attack upon it with any prospect of success. He declared he wished they had attacked it; he was aware that would be deemed a bold assertion, but he made the assertion, because he had every reason to believe, that the enemy would have had the worst of it. He had a letter in his pocket, from the principal officer in the artillery at the time, giving him an account of the real state of the place. He objected to the motion for more than one reason. In the first place, if the enquiry were instituted, the witnesses must necessarily be the officers employed in the various situations at Plymouth, who must be all sent for, and detained in town from their duty, when, perhaps, their services were essentially necessary down at Plymouth. In the second place, if military officers were examined to military points at the bar, The Duke of Richmond expressed his astonishment that the noble viscount should give an opinion as to the strength of Plymouth, &c. directly contrary to the opinion of every officer who had lately visited those parts. His grace then went into an examination of the argument of lord Stormont, ridiculing it as weak, ill-founded, and inapplicable in every part of it. The noble viscount in the green ribbon had declared that had he considered the question as a military one merely, he should have held himself incapable of speaking to it; taking it either way, either as military or political, the noble viscount's speech proved him incapable of treating it with any degree of argument. As the noble viscount was so totally destitute of professional knowledge, he would help him to a little by telling him, that where a place of consequence was weak in point of garrison, it was possible to strengthen it by breastworks, and other works thrown up before it, till reinforcements could be had from a distance. That Plymouth had neither a strong garrison nor strong works, 1. and the criminality lay in the noble lord at the head of the army, sending neither men to reinforce the one, nor materials to strengthen the other, when the weakness in both had been made known to him. In order to prove that he had been warranted in stating that Plymouth was criminally defenceless in August last, he would go into a detail of those facts, which he had promised to open, if he was not allowed to produce them in a more regular mode by the examination of evidence. His grace then opened a thin quarto manuscript volume, from which he read sir David Lindsay's state of every occurrence which had taken place relative to Plymouth, from the hour of his being appointed to the command, to the hour of his resignation, including an account of his epistolary correspondence with lord Amherst, from first to last, the whole drawn up in a most clear, correct, and convincing stile of history, and amounting to a series of charges against lord Amherst of the most serious nature. The detail stated, that though sir David was in town a month between the time of his being appointed in April 1779, and his receiving orders to go to his command, he never once obtained an interview with lord Amherst; that he had no opportunity therefore of talking over his instructions, or knowing what sort of discretion he was entrusted with on an emergency. That when he arrived at Plymouth, and had examined the state and condition of the place, he found it most astonishingly defenceless, the lines miserable beyond description, the force not nearly equal to the duty, which was considerably increased by his having 1,000 French prisoners to guard; that 500 recruits were sent him, but that so far from their turning out a reinforcement, half of them were pressed men, and the whole so mutinous, that they required troops to guard them instead of their assisting in the duty of the place; that though the guns on the batteries required 1050 men to work and fight them, there were only 35 matross invalids for the purpose; that there was a want of wadding, ramrods, &c. and in short, he was under the necessity of writing up word that the place was not tenable against an attack. The detail then proceeded journal-wise, and stated from day to day what was done on the appearance of the fleets of the enemy: that though word had been written down to him, that assistance would be given him from the navy, as soon as asked for, he with great difficulty, and after much delay, obtained a number of seamen to fight the guns, but not near the number necessary, and that no great dependence was to be placed in them, upon many accounts. The narrative stated a number of other strong facts, containing an account of repeated applications to lord Amherst upon the various heads of complaint; his lordship wrote him word, that he thought he was eager to discover and multiply difficulties, and if he was displeased with his command, he did not doubt but his resignation would be accepted, and he might have the government of Whitehaven. That sir David took the hint, and sent up a request, tendering his resignation, as he felt himself inadequate to the command under the difficulties he met with, but offered to serve under another officer, expecting that the governor, lord Waldegrave, would be the person sent down. That this offer was refused, and general Haviland was sent down, whereupon sir David would not accept of the command of Whitehaven, as he should consider it an imputation on his honour to go from a place of actual service, to a place where no actual service was likely to occur. Having read this detail to the end, his grace made several severe remarks on the conduct of the noble lord at the head of the army, and said, that unless sir David's narrative could be flatly contradicted, great blame was imputable somewhere, and that the whole must have arisen either from neglect or ignorance, each of which were equally criminal. His grace also attacked administration in general for their conduct respecting Plymouth, and particularly censured the Admiralty for ordering the work of the boom to be stopped, contrary to the joint advice and orders of the admiral, the commander on shore and the commissioner, who being upon the spot, were certainly the most able to judge what was proper for the defence of the place. a great deal relative to the putting a stop to the going on with the boom, to be laid across the channel, in order to prevent the enemy entering the port, seaward; and presumed, that he had sent captain Le Crass, on purpose to prevent the measure. His grace likewise complained much that the commands were divided, and that there was no power on the spot to order or direct the joint operations of defence. To the first, he could say, that he did not send down captain Le Crass, upon any particular errand, more than to be present aiding and assisting with his advice; and as to the boom, for the reasons before assigned, the total impracticability of entering the channel, unless the town and dock-yards were commanded by a superior land force; he thought it a very improper measure, as it would cause a waste of time and hands which might be better employed, and create an unnecessary expence: and as to the divisibility of command, he presumed it arose from the nature of the place, it being at once a port, a garrison, and naval arsenal; but be that as it might, he présumed, that was not imputable to the neglect or inattention of the board at which he had the honour to preside. His lordship concluded with asking whether their lordships would think it prudent, by agreeing with the motion, to give our enemies a kind of invitation to attack us, by acquainting them with an exact profes sional description of all the hills, headlands, rivers, passes, defiles, &c. in the vicinity of Plymouth? For his part, though he trusted that the enemy would repent of it, if they came in consequence of such an invitation, he was not so fond of the romantic and marvellous, merely to court danger for the honour of braving it, and coming off victorious. The Earl of Sandwich went much into detail; described the maritime situation of the town, the channel or port which leads up to the dock-yards, the several batteries that commanded the entrance and the channel; and particularly, the great strength of the hill and island batteries. He was free to acknowledge, that two opinions prevailed respecting the strength of Plymouth; for while some described it as almost invulnerable, others represented it to be in a very defenceless state. For his part, he ventured to think for himself. He had been frequently at Plymouth, both by land and sea carriage, and as far as a person not regularly experienced in naval and military warfare could form a judgment, he was tolerably well entitled to venture to give an opinion. He made every enquiry in his power, not only of sea, but land officers, of the state of the place, and in particular of the admiral of the port (lord Shuldham) that very morning, who confirmed to him every thing which had been asserted in the course of the debate, by a noble viscount (Townshend). When he had approached the port himself by sea, he could plainly see the narrowness of the the by channel, and its serpentine course; and as far as he was able to judge, sincerely protested, that it struck him as an attempt absolutely impossible for a single ship (for no more than one ship could venture in at a time) to make its way under the fire of 70 or 80 pieces of cannon, from five different directions, by which she would be subject to be raked every cable's length she should proceed; and at the same time be open to the fire of the ships of war in the harbour. He had enquired about the want of matrosses, or men to fight the guns; he was assured by the same noble Jord, that the crews of the ships landed for the purpose fully supplied that want; and that had the enemy dared to come, they would have been covered with shame and disgrace. As to the particular wants which had been mentioned with an air of so much exultation; he believed the charge, if examined, would be found equally ill-founded. Powder, he was convinced, was both in the magazine and several repositories in very great abundance, and balls too.The noble duke had said The Earl of Shelburne said, before he went into a discussion of the motion, he must beg an explanation from the noble viscount in the green ribbon, of certain words which he had taken down at the time the noble viscount delivered them, and these were "that a greater degree of intercourse and communication subsisted between this country and France, than the noble viscount wished." The reason why he desired to have a full explanation of these words was, because as calumny was now so freely circulated, and not only aimed at Whigs who were dead, but at Whigs who were living, striking at the highest characters, at men of the first rank, of the most respectable talents, and of the hint, and insinuate, when they dare not speak out for fear of public detection. of a personal allusion to any of their lordships; that in the present case he had no intention of making a personal application; that he meant merely to allude to a sort of intercourse carried on between this country and France, since the commencement of hostilities, which he feared was attended with very mischievous consequences: an intercourse, he said, which was carried on with as much indifference as if the two countries were in a state of perfect and profound peace. Through this channel, he did not doubt, but much intelligence was communicated. This and this only was his meaning; he knew his own situation better, and what was due to the honour and dignity of their lordships, than to confound treasonable correspondence,' with the words communication and intercourse,' or to throw out loose and random allusions to the former in public debate. most noble principles, it was highly necessary for that House to know whether noble lords in the first departments of the Lord Stormont said the words he had state, not only privately encouraged those used were round, plain, and direct, and calumnies, but in public debate gave them therefore he should not scruple to give their support by insinuations, which seem-them a round, plain, and direct interpreed to corroborate and confirm them. tation, as he really meant them. He deTheir lordships would immediately con-clared, he never in his life had made use ceive from his description of the characters at whom these calumnies were levelled that he did not mean to include himself in the number, not having the honour to be eurolled in the party thus pointed at, although he had been as much and as grossly scandalized that way, as others. But the person he alluded to, was his noble friend, (the duke of Richmond) who had been lately vilified in the most abominable manner. He said the channels through which these gross calumnies were circulated, were so low and filthy, that he should have thought them unworthy either of his own notice, or that of any one of their lordships, had he not lately to his utter astonishment seen, that the falshoods they teemed with, had more credit paid to them than he had imagined, and that sir Thomas Broughton, in his speech at the Cheshire meeting, had adopted the idea, and alluded to it in a remarkable manner; and more than one allusion had been made to those fabricated falshoods, in another place. His lordship adverted to the pretended informations that were given to the secretaries of state some years ago, against the first personages in the kingdom, charging them with crimes of the most horrid nature; he begged therefore to know if any thing of the same sort was going on now, and for that reason he called upon the noble viscount in the green ribbon to declare, whether in his former situation as ambassador to the court of France, or in his present situation as secretary of state, any information had been given him, amounting to a charge against any one member of either House of Parliament, for carrying on a treasonable correspondence with France, or any of the enemies of the country. He expected to receive a direct and explicit answer; and hoped that the old game played by Mr.'Dignam, whose fate and deserts were well known, was not meant to be repeated. If any second plot was now hatching, let administration come forward like men, make their charges and quote their authority, and not like the lurking assassin, stab with promised impunity, under the protection of darkness; or basely whisper, The Earl of Shelburne contended, that the answer now given was by no means satisfactory. The communication stated by the noble viscount, was a communication that had for some months ceased to exist; but whether or not; the noble viscount either alluded to some inconvenience or bad consequence, which arose from the present intercourse with our foreign enemies, or he did not. If the former, he presumed the noble viscount could be no stranger to the delinquents; if no evil existed, then what had fallen from his lordship, might pass for no more than a figure in debate. The alternative was held out fairly to the noble lord to make his choice; that no evils existed, or if they did, they arose not from any correspondence, carried on between any of the members of either House and our foreign enemies. Lord Stormont appealed to the House, whether he was bound, upon the requisition of any one lord, to answer to matters of state, the knowledge of which could' only have been gained through the channel of office? He knew if the House insisted on it (though he believed he might stand. excused even then in some instances) he must and would answer; but this he had |