GEORGE III. 1782-1784
Recent events on the Theatre of War..... Fox’s Motion for Inquiring into the Navy..... Motions of Inquiry in the House of Lords..... Debates on Lord George Germaine’s Elevation to the Peerage..... Renewed Attacks on Lord Sandwich: Resignation of Lord North..... The New Ministry..... Affairs of Ireland..... Bill for excluding Contractors, &c...... Resolutions respecting Wilkes expunged from the Journals..... Disfranchisement of Cricklade, &c...... Debates on Parliamentary Reform..... East India Affairs..... Change in the Ministry..... Prorogation of Parliament..... Victory of Rodney..... Affairs of the War in America..... State of the War in the West Indies, &c...... Maritime Events..... Siege and Relief of Gibraltar..... Prospect of general Pacification..... Meeting of Parliament..... Preliminaries of Peace..... Re-assembling of Parliament..... The Coalition Ministry..... Re-establishment of Commercial Intercourse with America, &c...... Pitt’s Plan for Reforming the Treasury, &c...... East India Affairs..... Petition of the Quakers against the Slave Trade..... Settlement on the Prince of Wales..... Parliament Prorogued..... Execution of Treaties, &c...... Meeting of Parliament..... Fox’s India Bill..... Dissolution of the Coalition Ministry: Pitt made Prime Minister..... Efforts of the Opposition against the New Ministry.
A.D. 1782
RECENT EVENTS ON THE THEATRE OF WAR.
It having been ascertained that the French government had sent out a naval armament with large supplies for the East and West Indies, Admiral Kempenfelt was despatched for the purpose of intercepting them. The squadron with which Kempenfelt was intrusted was not sufficiently powerful for the object of his expedition; but having met the enemy’s ships dispersed by a gale of wind off Ushant, he succeeded in capturing twenty transports laden with ordnance, stores, and troops, with which he returned to port. This success, however, was quickly followed by news of sad reverses, and increased dangers and difficulties. St. Eustatius was taken by the French; Gibraltar was hard pressed by the Spaniards; the British possessions in the West Indies were in imminent peril from the French arms; and finally Minorca was lost. This latter event took place on the 5th of February, when General Murray, from want of sufficient force to withstand the besiegers, and from the sickness which prevailed among the few troops he had under his command, was obliged to capitulate. His real position may be gathered from a letter which he wrote a few days after. “Perhaps,” said he, “a more noble, or a more tragical scene was never exhibited, than that of the march of the garrison of St. Philip’s through the Spanish and French armies. It consisted of no more than six hundred old decrepit soldiers, two hundred seamen, one hundred and twenty-five of the royal artillery, twenty Corsicans, and twenty-five Greeks, Turks, Moors, Jews, &c. The two armies were drawn up in two lines, the battalions fronting each other, forming a way for us to march through: they consisted of 14,000 men, and reached from the glacis to George Town, where our battalions laid down their arms, declaring they had surrendered them to God alone, having the consolation to know the victors could not plume themselves in taking an hospital. Such were the distressing features of our men, that many of the Spanish and French troops shed tears as they passed them.” Crillon himself was touched with pity and admiration; and he atoned for his previous fault in endeavouring to bribe General Murray, by treating the vanquished with great humanity; causing them to be attended by his surgeons, and providing for their comfort. These reverses had a great effect upon the nation. Petitions were voted in the city of London, and in several counties, to his majesty, reprobating the whole conduct of the war, and praying the dismissal of all his advisers, both public and private. Still, though the warlike tone of the people was lowered, the principle of the war was not generally unpopular, nor the public indignation against our many enemies abated. It was the improbability of success alone that called forth the petitions.
FOX’S MOTIONS FOR INQUIRY INTO THE NAVY.
Encouraged by the recent reverses, during the recess the opponents of administration had been employed in forming and maturing a general plan of attack. The chief conduct of this was intrusted to Mr. Fox, who, on the re-assembling of parliament, moved for an inquiry into the causes of the constant ill-success of the naval forces, and more especially during the preceding year. This inquiry, it was stated, would resolve itself into two distinct parts: whether Lord Sandwich, the first lord of the admiralty, had the means of procuring a navy equal to the exigencies of the state; and whether he employed the force which he possessed with wisdom and ability? Lord Sandwich was defended by Captain Luttrel and Lord Mulgrave; but Lord North declared that both himself and the object of the attack were anxious that the subject should undergo a complete investigation; and the motion passed without a division. An animated debate took place respecting the papers to be produced; and finally a suggestion of Mr. Pitt was adopted: namely, that the substance of letters and documents relating to the subject, and not the letters and documents themselves, should be laid before the house. The debate was then postponed till the 7th of February, when, after the reading of the papers which ministers consented to produce, Fox brought forward several distinct charges against the board of admiralty. These were:—That de Grasse was suffered to depart for the West Indies without any effort to intercept his fleet; that the loss of the convoy sent home with the booty captured at St. Eustatius might have been prevented, had a squadron been sent out for its protection; that a letter sent by the admiralty to the merchants of Bristol, had misled them with reference to the presence of the French fleet in the Channel, whereby the trade of their port was endangered; and that the fleets sent out with Admiral Kempenfelt and against the Dutch, were insufficient for the object of their expedition. Fox concluded by moving, that there had been gross mismanagement of naval affairs during the year 1781. This motion was supported by Lord Howe and Mr. Pitt; but Lord Sandwich was again defended by Lord Mulgrave; and on a division, it was lost by a majority of twenty-two: a majority, however, which showed that there was a change of opinion in the house.