HISTORY OF EUROPE, 
The earl of Carlisle did not think 
that the selected documents on the ta- 
ble could communicate the satis- 
faction which wasrequired. He la- 
mented that ministers had not come 
forward with them sooner, and offer 
their explanations when it might 
have been possible to collect intor- 
mation fromothersources, and espe- 
cially when they had an opportunity 
of hearing what the noble lord who 
commanded the fleet knew on the 
subject. He wished to have it satis- 
factorily explained, why ministers, 
when they had information of ithe 
preparations made by the enemy and 
the sailing of the Brest fleet, had not’ 
provided a force, under lord Brid- 
port, sufficiently strong to have been 
superior to the consequences of two 
ships (the Prince and the Sanspareil) 
running foul of one another, and 
which would have guarded against 
the delay which such accidents had 
occasioned. He wished likewise to 
know why it was four days before 
the fleet was ready to sail, after the 
news of the French fleet being at 
seabad arrived? Why, too,ministers 
had not given admiral Colpoys spe- 
cific orders to make Ireland the chief 
object of hisregard? It was the duty 
of ministers to watch over the safety 
of ireland with the same care which 
was demanded for the safety of 
Great Britain. When they knew 
the designs of the enemy to be 
pointed against that country, why 
was notadmiral Colpoys sent direct~ 
ly. for its defence ? Had they given 
such a positive order to admiral Col- 
poys, there would have been no oc- 
casion for any delay in lord Brid- 
port's sailing ; because, in proceed- 
ing directly to Ireland with the force 
he could muster, he must have fallen 
in with some of admiral Colpoys’s 
squadron, which would have en- 
abled him to face the French with 
complete success. Even after admira- 
Colpoys’s return, why were not such 
shipsas were fit for service again sent 
out to re-inforce lord Bridport? The 
marquis of Abercorn, after severely 
arraigning the total negligence of 
mimsters to take any, measures for 
the defence of Ireland, said, that, in 
order to establish the justification of 
ministers, the papers on their Jord- 
ships’ table ought to have proved 
four points: that this country had a 
_sufficient fleet, ready for sea ; that 
admiral Colpoys’s fleet was suf- 
ficiently strong to keep the sea; that 
admiral Colpoys was sufficiently 
provided with stores and provisions; 
and that he had received particular 
orders to turn his attention to-Lre- 
land, and to proceed to that island, 
as soon as he should have fe- 
ceived intelligence that the French 
fleet had sailed. None of these 
points, however, appeared from the 
papers. On the contrary, it was 
proved, that admiral Colpoys’s fleet 
had been too long at sea; that it 
was not sufficiently provided with 
stores and provisions ; and, above 
all, that no particular attention had 
been paid to Ireland, nor any posi- 
tive orders given to admiral Colpoys 
to make its safety his principal ob- 
ject. Under such circumstances, 
the marquis could have no hesitation 
to vote for the inquiry. 
The earl Spencer, with respect to 
admiral Colpoys, would only say, 
that if his fleet, together with that of 
lord Bridport, had gone to Ireland, 
the channel would have been left 
open to the Dutch fleet. One of the 
causes of lord Bridport’s fleet not 
having been ready in time was, the 
damage which several ships sustain- 
ed in a hard gale of wind in the 
channel, ' : 
The 
