GENERAL HISTORY. 



£39 



there, when a timely reinforce- 

 ment might have achieved the 

 most important objects, loudly 

 called for inquiry. He was well 

 informed that with five ships of the 

 line, 17 frigates, and an adequate 

 number of smaller vessels, on that 

 station, the whole coast of the 

 United States might have been 

 blockaded. It had been said that 

 a sufficient force could not be 

 spared for that purpose ; but by 

 sending to sea vessels which were 

 lying useless, and taking one ship 

 from each of the blockading squa- 

 drons, this might have been effect- 

 ed. It might be asserted that the 

 force already on the Halifax sta- 

 tion was equal to that of the Ame- 

 rican navy ; but it had long been 

 a matter of notoriety, that the 

 American frigates were greatly su- 

 perior to ours in size and weight 

 of metal. If the war was inevi- 

 table, it was very extraordinary 

 that government did not give or- 

 ders for the construction of vessels 

 able to cope with our antagonists. 

 It would only be necessary to refer 

 to dates to prove the criminal neg- 

 ligence of ministers. War was de- 

 clared on the 18th of June, and it 

 was not till October lath that let- 

 ters of marque and reprisal were 

 issued; and more than two months 

 longer elapsed before the Chesa- 

 peake and Delaware were declared 

 to be blockaded. Certain other 

 ports were declared to be block- 

 aded on the 13th of March last, 

 but Rhode Island and Newport 

 remained open, and in the last the 

 American frigate was refitted that 

 took the Macedonian. In all the 

 unfortunate cases, the cause was 

 the same ; the superior height of 

 (he enemy.and their greater weight 

 of metal, by which our ships were 

 crippled and diemasted early in the 



action, were circumstances surely 

 deserving of inquiry. His lordship 

 then called the attention of the 

 house to the manner in which 

 our trade had been left exposed to 

 the depredations of the enemy ; 

 and he strongly reprobated the li- 

 cences given by government for the 

 importation of American cotton, 

 thereby favouring their commerce 

 to the detriment of our colonies. 

 He then touched upon the mis- 

 management in our dock-yards ; 

 and upon the whole he contended 

 that a case had been made out 

 loudly demanding investigation. 

 He concluded by moving, "That a 

 select committee be appointed to 

 inquire into the circumstances of 

 the war with the United States, 

 and more particularly into the 

 state, conduct, and management 

 of our naval affairs, as connected 

 with it. 



The motion was seconded by 

 earl Stanhope. 



hordMelville then rose and said, 

 that though the conduct, and not 

 the grounds of the war was the 

 matter now to be considered, yet 

 there was one circumstance con- 

 nected with the declaration of it 

 on which it was necessary to say a 

 few words. Although the govern- 

 ment of the United States had for 

 some time before been in such a 

 frame of mind as ultimately led to 

 hostilities, yet a general opinion 

 prevailed that the revocation of the 

 orders in council would have paci- 

 fied it. He protested a;?ainst the 

 noble earl's proposition, that it was 

 the duty of ministers always to 

 have kept there a fleet sufficient to 

 blockade all the ports in America. 

 —There were other important 

 branches of the service to which 

 their attention was called, and our 

 force on other stations was no more 



