! 
HISTORY OF EUROPE: 
fore the house, and whith has en- 
gaged their most serious and deli- 
berate, as well as anxious consider- 
ation, since Monday last, shews, be- 
yond a possibility of doubt, the ine- 
vitable necessity of inquiry, upon 
the broadest and most efficacious 
basis.” Mr. Whitbread proceeded 
to notice the melancholy change 
that had taken place in the aspect 
of public affairs in the space of one 
week: public credit shaken to its 
foundation. The mismanagement, 
he said, of his majesty’s ministers, 
had become notorious to every be- 
holder, and the cry of inquiry into 
their conduct was not now con- 
fined to the members of opposition 
in that house alone, but was echoed 
back upon them from every corner 
of the kingdom. Having touched 
on the expences of the war, and 
the numerous captures of our 
merchant, ships, though we had a 
flect of.more than five hundred 
ships of war, of various denomina- 
tions, he came to speak of that par- 
ticular neglect and misconduct, 
which more immediately gave rise 
to the present motion. ‘he first 
intimation, on authority, he said, 
which that house received relative 
to the intention of the enemy to in- 
vade this country, was conveyed by 
his majesty’s speech on the opening 
of the present session of parliament. 
Information had been received, 
through various channels, that Ire- 
Jand was one object of the medi- 
tated attack. Yetit appeared from 
a leiter from general Dalrymple, 
that, instead of any effectual means 
having been previously taken for 
an etticient, defence, every’ thing 
remained to be done, even after 
the appearance of the enemy in 
Bantry-bay: in which part of the 
country there was not any thing 
Vou. XXXIX. 
(225 
like an adequate force for her de- 
fence: not more, if so many, as 
three thousand regular troops, to 
oppose to the whole force of the 
French, The city of Cork was, 
therefore, in danger of falling into 
their hands, with all its stores and 
provisions: to the amount of near- 
ly, if not quite, a million and 
a half. Mr. Whitbread, after 
these and other observations, went 
through a regular’statement of the 
numbers of the French fleet, and 
those of our own, from the time of 
the enemy quitting the harbour of 
Brest, and a short time before. On 
the twenty-first, the enemy cast 
anchor in Bantry-Bay; so that they 
were at sea, and ou the coast of 
Ireland, from the eighteenth of 
December, to the sixth of January. 
On the twentieth of December, 
news arriyed in England, that the 
French fleet had quitted Brest. 
From the twenty-third to the twen- 
ty-fifth, the wind was favourable 
for the squadron, under the, com- 
mand of lord Bridport, to have sail- 
ed. It continued fair on the twen- 
ty-sixth and twenty-seventh, after 
which it came a-head, and the fleet 
could not sail for some days. On 
the thirty-first, intelligence came 
to this country, that the French 
fleet was off the coast of Ireland ; 
and, on the same day, exactly, ad- 
miral Colpoys, withthe fleet under 
his commend, arrived atPortsmouth, 
The reasons given for his return, 
with this squadron, are various and 
contradictory. One was, that his 
force was not sufficient to encounter 
those of theenemy. If that was a 
true reason, it farnishesan additional 
cause of inquiry into the conduct of 
ministers, and of the first lord of the 
admiralty in particular. What, 
when they had received information 
EQ) of 
