afferted, that the protection of that house was what officers always look up to, and what contributed effentially to keep up a fpirit of emulation amongit them. He remarked, that public opinion was the principal aim and object of every officer; that their exertions would always be proportionate to the intereft which the nation took in their characters and welfare; and that, if the people should ever fhew an indifference towards thefe, the ardour of the fervice would fink accordingly.

The motion was opposed by Mr. Beaufoy, and the chancellor of the exchequer, on the fame ground as was taken in the other house. Amongst the naval officers, members of the house, who took a part in the debate, fir George Collyer and captain Macbride declared, that nothing fhort of ruin to the fervice muft follow, if fuch a fyftem of promotion, as the laft, was to continue; and, on the other hand, lord Mulgrave and lord Hood were of opinion, that the interference of the houfe might in the end prove more detrimental to the service than advantageous. On all fides it feemed to be admitted, that feveral of the officers who were paffed over, did not appear, to common judgments at least, in any refpect difqualified for the rank to which, in the ordinary course of the fervice, they were entitled. Mr. Baftard finding, however, that the mode in which he had brought the fubject forward, was not generally agreeable to the house, withdrew his motion, with a promise of bring ing it before them in fome other shape. April 18th.

Accordingly, on the 18th of April, he moved, "That the house do refolve it"felf into a committee of the whole

"houfe, to enquire into the conduct "of the board of admiralty, touching "the late promotion to the flag.' As this motion went to a direct charge of ministerial mifconduct against the first lord of the admiralty, and was free from the objection of interfering improperly in the func tions of the executive government, it was neceffary to meet it upon the diftinct merits of the cafe.

In fupport of the prefumption of mifconduct, Mr. Baftard ftated the cafes of captains Balfour, Thompfon, Uvedale, Shirley, Bray, and Laforey; and feveral others were mentioned in the courfe of the debate. The first of these officers had diftinguished himself, in company with captain Laforey, in the war before the last, by an enterprize which required equal skill and bravery, the cutting out two French fhips of the line in the harbour of Louifbourg. He had fince continued to ferve his country with credit in the late war, and was declared by feveral officers, members of the houfe, to be well qualified, so far as they could judge, for promotion to the flag. The fame general teftimony was borne to the character of the other officers. It was farther ftated, that he had written to the board of admiralty to be informed of the reasons for which he was paffed over in the promotion, but had been refused an answer. Admiral fir Edmund Affleck declared, that he had been acquainted with captain Thompfon nearly forty years; that he knew him to be as honeft a man, and as brave and skilful an officer, as any in the fervice; that he could not account for his having been paffed by, and was as much furprised at it as he fhould have been to have been paffed by

himself

himself. Captain Uvedale had also ferved with confiderable reputation. In the late war he had been appointed by lord Rodney to the command of a part of the fleet, for the purpose of drawing out the fquadron of Monf. de Graffe, and by that means affording an opportunity of bringing on a general action. This important fervice, which required the exertion of all the skill as well as bravery of a commander, he fuccessfully performed. Captain Shirley had also commanded feveral fail of the line, and had received the approbation of the admiralty. He had also applied to the board, on the late occafion, to have his claims exhibited to the council; but the first lord refused to lay his cafe before them. The cafe of captain Bray was fingular: he had been employed during the late war in the imprefs fervice, and, upon his application to the board for a flag, he had been advised by lord Howe, on account of his advanced age, to give up his claim to rank, and to apply for fuperannuation: this advice he had accordingly followed, but it was afterwards difcovered that he was precluded from being put upon the yellow lift by the order of council of the year 1747, which exprefsly excepts captains who had not been fent to fea during the war. Upon this cafe it was strongly argued by captain Macbride, that if the officers who are employed in this difficult and disagreeable, though effentially important fervice, were to be confidered as thereby forfeiting their claim to rank, none but those of the lowest characters would undertake it in future. Captain La forey had been fet afide merely on account of his having, fome time before, accepted the appointment of

naval commiffioner at Antigua; although at the fame time fir Charles Middleton, late one of the commiffioners refident in London, had been promoted to the flag.

In order to obviate the unfavour able conclufion which thefe cafes feemed ftrongly to fupport, it was argued by the chancellor of the exchequer, in defence of the admiralty, that none of the circumstances alledged amounted to more than a negative proof, that the officers in question were not disqualified for the rank for which they contended: but that, where a felection was to be made (and that a felection was expedient would appear, not only from the uniform practice of the navy, but from the great expence and fundry inconveniences which would unavoidably refult from an overloaded lift of flag officers) it was neceffary that a difcretionary power of making that felection fhould be lodged in the commiffioners of the board of admiralty. He admitted that they were refponfible to parliament for the ufe of that difcretion, and that whenever a cafe was made out ftrong enough to warrant a fuspicion of fuch abufes as deferved cenfure or punishment, it was the indifpenfable duty of the house to proceed to inquire. But he denied that fuch a cafe had been made out. It had not been alledged that there was any officer of incompetent merit amongst those who were promoted, on which a charge of partiality or corruption could be founded. It had not been afferted that the first lord was actuated by any malice or other finifter motive towards those who had been paffed over, upon which he could be charged with injustice or oppreffion. The point to be decided by the houfe was, whether they

Gould

could infer, from the ftatement of cafes they had heard, that the judgment of the noble vifcount, upon profeffional merits, was not to be trufted, but ought to be corrected by theirs? Such a cafe might undoubtedly occur; but he warned the houfe of the mifchiefs that would inevitably arife from opening their doors, without the most palpable and urgent neceflity, to the difcuffion of profeffional qualifications, and the arrangement of military promotions. He then proceeded to make a variety of ingenious obfervations upon the feveral cafes that had been stated, with a view to take off the impreffion which they seemed to have made upon the house.

The only naval officer who, upon this occafion, fupported adminiftration, was the honourable captain Berkeley; who lamented that fuch a queftion fhould have been brought before the houfe; but faid, that as it was, he muft declare his opinion to be, that the houfe ought not to interfere, but to leave the difcretion unclogged where the refponfibility was placed.

In reply to the arguments of Mr. Pitt, it was urged, by Mr. Fox, that the rank of admiral might be confidered in two views; that the principal view undoubtedly was profpective, and to future fervices; and in this view a more ftrict felection was proper and juftifiable: but it might be confidered alfo retrofpectively, as an honour and reward for paft fervices. In the latter view, the late promotion could not be defended a moment, it was most scandalously partial and unjuft. And, as a proof that the admiralty had confidered it in this point of view, he mentioned the promotion of fir John Lindfay, who, though unquestiona

bly an officer of the firft reputation in the navy, was well known to be in fo deplorable a state of health, as to leave no room for the expecta. tion of future fervices. As a farther proof, he flated, that as there were twenty-four admirals on the old lift fit for fervice, and no fervice very likely to be wanted foon, the late promotion could not be justified on the principle of ftate neceffity, and must therefore come under the notion of honorary reward and emoluments; and under that construction, no one, he again repeated, could hefitate to pronounce it partial, capricious, and oppreffive. But he alfo contended, that where, in addition to negative merit, fignal and approved paft fervices could be pleaded, there was a fair claim, even on the former ground, to the highest ranks in the fervice. At least, he faid, a contrary determination would do infinite mifchief, by checking the ardour and damping the fpirit of enterprise amongst our officers.

In this argument he was joined by fir George Osborne and feveral other military officers. The house ought not, faid that gentleman, to imagine, that men led by their genius, and qualified to follow the military profeffion in either fervice, looked to the number of paltry shillings they were to receive per day, as a compenfation for their laborious life and perilous fervices. There was not a man, he would venture to fay, that ever got a commiffion in the navy, who did not affure himfelf, that, by a continued series of honourable and meritorious conduct, he fhould obtain a flag. It could not, therefore, but prove a deep and cutting mortification for any man, confcious that he did not deferve it, to find that he was put afide in the

day of promotion. Military men, from the nature and danger of their profeffion, must be allowed to feel more poignantly, and with more nicety and quickness of animation, than those accustomed to the frigid rules of civil office. To fuch feelings he had ever been accustomed, and he trusted they were feelings neither mifbecoming a gentleman nor an officer. The power of fettling promotions and appointing to command had ever been lodged in the board of admiralty; but if either were wantonly and capricioufly exercised, that houfe would act wifely and with becoming dignity to employ its conftitutional functions of enquiry and controul.

Admiral fir Peter Parker re. marked, that he faw no reason for felection at present in a promotion to the flag. Formerly, when we had only nine admirals, a felection was indifpenfably neceffary; but now, when the lift of admirals was fiftyfeven, furely a fufficient number fit for any fervice might be found at all times. He fpoke of the peril and fatigue of a marine life, and faid, if neither honours nor emoluments were given to officers, who had behaved meritorioufly, and gallantly diftinguished themselves, he feared the thanks of the house would be confidered only as an empty compliment.

Several of the country gentlemen fupported Mr. Bastard's motion, and declared, that they did not think the paltry confideration of a few thoufands a year, which they underfood was all the faving that would be made, could at all justify the cruelty and hardship with which they thought many deserving officers had been treated. An attempt was alfo made to fix a charge

of partiality upon the first lord of the admiralty, by remarking that there was a marked neglect, in the late promotion, of the officers who had ferved their country fo gallantly under the aufpices of lord Rodney. This was warmly denied by Mr. Strachey, who appealed to the lift of the late promotions. The queftion being put, the house divided, ayes 134, noes 150.

The fmallness of the majority by which the minifter defeated this enquiry, encouraged Mr. Baftard to make a third attempt. On Tuesday the 29th of April, after a fhort speech, in which April 29th. he faid, that the arbitrary powers claimed by the board of admiralty, having in fome measure received the fanction of the house, he hoped that, in order to prevent the mifchievous confequences that might enfue, they would at least adopt fome permanent principle as a rule of fervice, to which officers might truft. He moved the following refolution, "That it is highly in" jurious to the service, and unjust, "to fet afide from promotion to

cr

flags, meritorious officers of ap

proved fervice, who are not pre"cluded by the orders of his ma"jefty in council."-The motion was feconded by fir William Molefworth; and, after a debate of feveral hours, (which was fupported on the one fide by fir J. Miller, captain Bertie, general Norton, Mr. Martin, Mr. Loveden, Mr. Drake, &c. and on the other by Mr. Grenville, lord Apfley, and admiral Hood) the houfe divided upon the previous question, noes 220, ayes 169.

During the time that the conduct of the board of admiralty underwent these difcuffions in the house of commons, another fubject was intro

duced

duced by the chancellor of the exchequer, which gave rife in both houfes to feveral of the warmeft and most interesting debates of the prefent feffions of parliament. The cafe was briefly this. During the apprehenfions, which had exifted in the courfe of last year, of a rupture with the court of France, government had taken a refolution of fending out four additional regiments to India, on board the company's fhips, for the protection of our poffeffions in that quarter; and the propofition had been received with general approbation by the court of directors. But in the mean time the storm having blown over, and government ftill adhering to their refolution of fending out the four regiments, with a view to form a permanent eftablishment of his majefty's troops in India, a queftion had arifen respect ing the expence of fending them out, and of their future payment. By an act, which paffed in the year 1781, it was ftipulated that the company fhould be bound to pay for fuch troops only as were fent to India upon their requifition, and upon this act the directors had refused to charge the company with the expence of the troops in queftion. But it was contended by the board of control, established in the act of 1784, that the commiffioners of that board were invefted with a power of directing, in cafe of a refufal of the company, fuch expence to be defrayed out of the revenues arifing from their territorial poffeffions. Upon this cafe the court of directors had taken the advice of feveral eminent lawyers, who were of opinion that the board of control was not invested, by the act of 1784, with the power contended for; and the directors had accordingly re

fufed to take the troops on board the fhips that were about this time to fail for India.

Upon this ground Mr. Pitt moved the house, on the 25th of February, for leave to bring in a bill for removing the doubts in queftion, by declaring the intention of the legiflature, in the act of 1784, to have been agreeable to the conftruction put upon it by the board of control.

He ftated to the houfe, that though the names of feveral refpectable gentlemen of the profeffion were fubfcribed to the opinion which had been given to the court of directors, yet he was at a lofs to imagine on what principle thofe doubts were entertained, fince in his mind nothing could be more clear than that there was no one step that could have been taken, previous to the paffing of the act of 1784, by the court of directors, touching the military and political concerns of India, and alfo the collection, management, and application of the revenues of the territorial poffeffions, that the commiffioners of the board of control, as it was commonly called, had not now a right to take by virtue of the powers and authorities vefted in them by that act. In this opinion Mr. Dundas, chairman of the board, declared his concurrence; and added, that if it fhould appear to them neceffary, for the fecurity of our poffeffions in India, they had a power to apply the whole of the revenues of India to that purpose, without leaving the company a fingle rupee for their investments. As doubts, however, had been entertained, he thought the best way of meeting thofe doubts was by the authority of a fpecial act of parliament.

The motion was strongly oppofed in the outfet, as being extremely unparliamentary,