6^ 



ANNUAL REGISTER, 1805. 



cxpence of building each respec- 

 tively, the time at which they were 

 in want of repair, the matcriaisof 

 which they were respectively com- 

 posed, the number of men employed 

 uponcacii, the length of time they 

 took in l)nilding, &c. &c. &c. Jf 

 they were granted, it was his in- 

 tention to have the whole relerred 

 to a committee, and if refused, it 

 should not prevent him from 

 bringing the whole of the sub- 

 ject int6 discussion at a convenient 

 time. 



Lord Melville said, if (he noble 

 lord could prove the main proposi- 

 tion, that the king's yards were, in 

 times of difficulty, equal to keep in 

 repair the whole naval establish- 

 ment of the country, and to add to 

 it ten ships ot' the line annually, he 

 who made the discovery would de- 

 serve to be considered as the great- 

 est beneCartor to the country that 

 ever existed, and he would be 

 among the foremost to express his 

 gratitude to such a man. With 

 respect to all that was at fssuc be- 

 tween the late and present board of 

 admiralty, it was not ol his seeking, 

 and (he house must recollect, tiiat 

 he only acted in it pmrely on the 

 defensive. Upon the principle 

 charge against him, that of building 

 in the merchants' yards, he hail only 

 to say, that if it was a fault, it was 

 one which he fell into, in common 

 ■with every other board of admiralty, 

 except the last, which existed in 

 this country, since the foundation of 

 its navy. Oiie of the reforms he 

 ■was accused of negleciing, was that 

 of shoaling er classing the workmen; 

 but that was a mode unknown and 

 unpractised in the best of times, and 

 only invented about fiftfon months 

 ago, by the master builder of I'ly- 

 fnonth, but not sanctioned by the 



opinion of the master builders of 

 the other yards. The subject, how-"I 

 ever, was nosv under consideration, 

 and a decision would speedily be 

 made, upon practical enquiry, either | 

 for it or against it. It was his wish, ; 

 he s^aid to give all the information, 

 that could be desired, and to come 

 toasspeedy a discussion as possible, 

 on the i)oints at issue, but the I 

 voluminous papers moved for by thoi 

 noble lord, would take a great 

 length of time in preparing, for 

 some of them, he understood, could 

 not be produced in less than three] 

 months : he hoped the noble lord 

 would not persist in his motions. 



The Duke of Clarence expressed 

 his astonishment that so much time 

 should be required for the produc- 

 tion of papers necessary for the 1 

 discussion of so important a subject. 

 He declared it as his dpinion, that 

 any deviation from the system of 

 Earl St. Vincent would prove fal- 

 lacious and erroneous. As to the 

 practice of shoaling (he shipwrights; 

 as it had proved so advantageous in 

 the merciiants' yards, there was rea- 

 son to conclude that it would prove 

 equally so in those of his majesty. 

 The whole of earl Darnley's mo- 

 tions were (lieu put, ahd negadved 

 wi(hou( adi\ision. 



On the 1st of April, Mr. Martin 

 (ofGahvay) moved, in the housoJ 

 of commons, for a copy of the evi-i 

 dencc and proceeding? before S^^l 

 committee of tlio parliament of Ire- 

 land, on passing the act of the38thj 

 of his present majesty, attainting 

 Corricliiis Grogan, esq. of Johns- 

 town, in the county of Wexford, 

 so far as the same regarded the saidi 

 Cornelius (.'rogan. ills object wai| 

 to have the proceedings re-examined, ] 

 as he contended that the life of Mr. 

 Grogan w;ts taken away by a mi- 

 litary 



