unclean? The noble Viscount has told us the case of the fleet with which he was sent to the relief of Gibraltar. He could hardly venture to swim home in the Victory. How many of our ships were in fact undermanned? Did the House know this? Did they know that our naval stores were exhausted, that our cordage was rotten, that our magazines were in a very low condition, and that we had no prospect of our navy being much better in the next campaign than it was in the present? Does the House know all this? The noble Lord is offended at my directing myself to him.[1] I have no idea of imputing blame to the noble Lord. His abilities are unquestioned; but when the greatness of the navy is made not only a boast, but an argument, it is fair to examine the fact. Are not these things so, and are not these things to be taken into the account, before Ministers are condemned for giving peace to the country? Let the man who will answer me these questions fairly, tell me how, in such circumstances, he would make a peace, before he lets his tongue loose against those treaties, the ratification of which has caused so many anxious days and sleepless nights. It is easy for any bungler to pull down the fairest fabric, but is that a reason, my Lords, he should censure the skill of the architect who reared it? But I fear I trespass, my Lords, on your patience too long. The subject was near my heart and you will pardon me, if I have been earnest in laying before your Lordships, our embarrassments, our difficulties, our views and our reasons for what we have done. I submit them to you with confidence, and rely on the nobleness of your natures, that in judging of men who have hazarded so much for their country, you will not be guided by prejudice, nor influenced by party."[2]
The debate concluded with a legal battle between Loughborough and Thurlow, on the right of the Crown to sign a treaty ceding national territory without the
- ↑ Lord Keppel. It is to be remembered that Lord Keppel had just resigned, and been succeeded at the Admiralty by Viscount Howe.
- ↑ The Debate in the House of Lords on the Address on the Preliminary Articles of Peace is to be found in the Parliamentary History, xxiii. 373-435; that in the Commons, xxiii. 436-498.
