HISTORY OF EUROPE. 
imore serious impottance. On the 
return of the channe} fleet into port, 
a secret correspondence was imme- 
diately settled between all the ships 
that composed it, which ended in 
an unanimous agreement, that no 
ship should Jift an anchor till a re- 
dress of grievances was obtained. In 
this state the fleet remained till the 
fifteenth of April, when lord Brid- 
port ordered the signal to prepare 
for sea; but, instead of proceeding 
to weigh anchor, three cheers were 
given, from the Queen Charlotte, 
as the signal for mutiny, and every 
other ship followed the example. 
The officers of every ship ex-rted 
themselves with all the spirit and 
a-tivity adequate to so extraordinary 
an emergency, to bring back their 
people to obedience; but ail the 
motives they urged, and all the en- 
deavours they used were vain. 
The fleet being now in the complete 
possession of the seamen, every 
ship’s company appointed two de- 
legates, and lord Howe’s cabin was 
fixed upon as the place where to 
hold their consultations. On the 
seventeenth. an oath was admi- 
nistered to every man in the fleet, 
to support the cause in which they 
had engaged ; topes were then 
reaved to the yard-arm, in every 
‘ship, as a signal of the punishment 
that would be inflicted on those that 
betrayed it; and several . ofticers 
were seut on shore, who were parii- 
- cularly obnoxious to their respective 
crews. 
In the mean time, though the 
admiral was re-tricted from putting 
to sea, be retained the command of 
the fitet in every other respect ; the 
strictest discipline was maintained, 
and the séverest orders and regula- 
tions enacted, vy the delegates, tor 
' that purpose, enjoining the most re- 
Vor. XXXIX. 
[209 
spectful attention to their officers, 
and threatening the faulty with ri- 
gorous chastisement. 
Cn the eighteenth, two petitions, 
one to the admiralty, and the other 
to the house of commons, were 
drawa up, and signed by the de- 
legates. They were both worded 
with the highest propriety of ex- 
pression and respect. The petition 
to parliament stated; that, the price 
of all aiticles, necessary for sub- 
sistence, being advanced at. least 
thirty per cent. since the reign of 
Charles II, when the seamen’s pay 
was settled as at present, they re- 
quested that a proportionate relief 
might be granted to them. It re- 
presented, at the same time, that, 
while their loyalty to theit king and 
country, was equal to that of the 
army, nevertheless, the pensions of 
Chelsea had been augmented to 
thirteen pounds a year, but those of 
Greenwich still remained at seven. 
Tlie petition to the admiralty con- 
tained a recital of the services done 
by the petitioners, and a warm de- 
claration of their readiness to be 
true to their claracter as English- 
men and defenders of their country. 
It stated the low rate of their pay, 
and the insufficiency of their allow- 
ance of provisions, demanding an 
increase of both, together with the 
liberty of going ashore while in 
harbour, and the continuance of 
pay to wounded seamen till cured 
and discharged. 
Such, in the mean while, was the 
alarm of the public, and particularly 
of goverument, tbat it was judged 
necessary to transicr the board of 
admiralty to Portsmouth, in order 
to b> near at had, to inspect the 
transactions on board the fleet, and 
tO consnit on the readiest and most 
likely means of queliing so danger- 
[P] ous 
