HISTORY OF EUROPE. 



99 



lltary details, sir C. Stuart, M. G. 

 Oakes, and colonel Beckwith of 

 the guards : for the civil reconomy, 

 lieutenant general Drinkwater : for 

 the legal part, Mr. Cox and Mr. 

 Cumming : and for mercantile judg- 

 ment, Mr. Peters and Mr. C. 

 Bosanquet. Ke then moved, "that 

 '' they shall enquire ,into all the 

 *' abuses that do exist in the said 

 "department.'' To which Mr. 

 Giles moved an amendment, " that 

 " (he words ' haie existed,' be in- 

 " serted." 



Mr, Rose objected to the amend- 

 ment, as going too far back, as, for 

 instance, the sum of half a million of 

 money was left unaccounted for by 

 the late lord Holland, at his death, 

 and had not been recovered for the 

 public, for fourteen years after- 

 wards. Had this sum been laid out, at 

 conij)ound interest, for that length 

 of time, it would have produced half 

 a million, which was lost to the pub- 

 lic, and yet his executors did not 

 seem to think themselves account- 

 able for the profits. 



Mr. Fox assured the house, that 

 lie had never received one shilling 

 of these profits, which he was ready 

 to prove, and he believed the pre- 

 sent governor of Gibraltar (iiis 

 brother, general Fox) could safely 

 do the same. For his oM'n part,when 

 he found there was so great an 

 arrear, he declined acting as an exe- 

 cutor. After some further conver- 

 sation, the original motion was 

 carried. 



On the 23d, Mr. Serjeant Best 

 called the attention of the house 

 of commons to the 11th report of 

 the naval commissioners, on which it 

 appeared, that enormous sums of 

 the public money had been raised 

 by loans, by order of the ministers, 

 for illedjed scrvic»s, without the 



consent of that house, and contrary 

 to the established constitution of the 

 country. He then referred to se- 

 veral resolutions of the house, made 

 for the purpose of guarding again.st 

 any encroachment of the preroga. 

 tivc of the crown, and the public 

 j)urse, even by the issue of exche- 

 quer bills. This report shewed, 

 that 4,300,000/. had lately been 

 raised by the issue of navy bills, 

 without any communication being 

 made to the house upon the subject; 

 though, for the greatest part of ths 

 time, parliament had been sitting. 

 According to the sound principles 

 of the constitution, no navy billg 

 could be issued, but for stores op 

 actual services ; and for thepurpo«» 

 of preventing any further viola- 

 tion of the law and constitution, 

 he moved, " for a select commit(ee, 

 " to consider of the llth naval re- 

 " port." 



The Chancellor of the Exchequei* 

 concurred in the general objects of 

 the motion, but as the navy bills, 

 issued for secret services, could only 

 be enquired into by a secret com- 

 mittee, he moved, as an amendment, 

 to insert the words, " except as far 

 " as relates to 100,000/. issued for 

 " secret naval services," which, 

 after some conversation, was agreed 

 to. 



On the 24th, Earl Daruley moved, 

 " for a select committee of the 

 '* house of lords, to take iilto con- 

 " sideration the several papers on 

 " the table, respecting the state of 

 " the navy." The object he pro- 

 fessed to have in view, was, a com- 

 parison between the late and pre- 

 sent board of admiralty. The prac- 

 tice of the former, he said, was to 

 dismiss useless ships, which crowded 

 without strengthening the navy ; ta 

 confine the building to the king'3 



Ji 2 yards j 



