éiiemy had put to sea; or that ad- 
_imiral.Colpoys was not desirous to 
see it? Was it likely we should be 
tiwilling, when she had a_ fleet, 
under his command, so superior to 
that of the enemy? It) was the 
wisest resolution he could take, not 
to follow them to) Portugal, or Ire- 
land, till he knew their. certain 
destination ; and he kept his station 
for the chance of intercepting all, 
or part, of the; fleet, im case of 
dispersion by a storm ; he recoi- 
lected also; that the circumstance 
ef their, having sailed would be 
known to the admiralty, and, by 
remaining where he was, he should 
receive such authentic. intelligence 
as he, could not otherwise expecc 
to obtain. With regard to the 
charge of the want of. provisions, 
Mr. Dundas could not! but admit 
the squadron had remained longer 
on its station than was at first sup- 
posed necessary, and not relieved 
as soon;as, the admiralty had |in- 
tended;, the reason was, sir Roger 
Curtis should have been in. port 
the beginning of November, and 
did not come till the eighteenth. 
He had been appointed to cruize 
of Rochfort, where he .remained 
a fortnight longer than’ was ex- 
pected, to intercept the return of 
Richery’s. squadron from New- 
foundland. 
Sir Roger’s squadron consisted of 
seven sail of the line, aud was to 
have been sent to the relief of the 
fleet off Brest ; but the wind was 
so adverse as. to render it impossi- 
ble for them to come to Spithead 
before the eighteenth of Novem- 
ber. As to the interval which 
took place between the arrival of 
admiral Colpoys and the sailing of 
lord Bridport, the instructions of 
sir Edward Pellew reached the ad- 
HISTORY. OFSEUROPE.* [227 - 
miralty on. the twentieth of | De- 
cember ; and’ on the twenty-first 
he received information of the sail~ 
ing of the French fleet from Brest, 
and immediately returned for an- 
swer, that all the fleet would be 
ready four days after, namely, the 
twenty-fifth. {Here Mr. Dundas 
read the orders of the admiralty, 
issued on the twenty-first, and an- 
other order issued after, covnter- 
acting some part of them, and de- 
siring him to’ proceed off Cape 
Clear immediately.] He wished 
it to be observed, that, although 
the. French fleet arrived off the 
coast of Ireland on the twenty-first 
of December, intelligence of them 
was not-reeeived, in this country, 
till the thirty-first. The admiralty 
had taken the chance of finding 
admiral ,Colpoys on the ) station 
where they expected him to have 
been, off -the Lizard, in case of 
any adverse winds removing him 
from the French coast. Lord Brid- 
port had, always been not only a. 
gallant but a successful admiral ; 
yet it so- happened, that, although 
admiralColpoys had been hover- 
ing, with his squadron, off Brest, 
to intercept the enemy upon their 
leaving that harbour, although lord. 
Bridport afterwards proceeded off 
Cape Clear and the Irish coast with 
the same design ; and although the 
Duke and the Majestic, with two 
other ships of war, were sent. in 
search of them, they were so co- 
vered by the fog, and protected by 
fortune, as to escape them all. The 
honourable gentleman, Mr. Whit- 
bread, had said, that Ireland was 
saved by the elements; but he 
should have remembered, that the 
same wind which dispersed the 
enemy, prevented our fleets from: 
meeting them, 
L.Q2] Mr. Dundas’ 
