The next measure that fell under the consideration of the house, was rendered necessary by the inhospitable perseverance of the publicans and inn-holders, who conceived themselves not obliged by law to receive or give quarters in their houses to any foreign troops, and accordingly refused admittance to the Hessian auxiliaries, who began to be dreadfully incommoded by the severity of the weather. This objection implying an attack upon the prerogative, the government did not think fit, at this juncture, to dispute any other way, than by procuring a new law in favour of those foreigners. It was intituled, “A bill to make provision for quartering the foreign troops now in this kingdom,” prepared by lord Barrington, the chancellor of the exchequer, and the solicitor-general, and immediately passed without opposition. This step being taken, another bill was brought in, for the regulation of the marine forces while on shore. This was almost a transcript of the mutiny act, with this material difference: it empowered the admiralty to grant commissions for holding general courts-martial, and to do every thing, and in the same manner, as his majesty is empowered to do by the usual mutiny bill; consequently every clause was adopted without question.
The same favourable reception was given to a bill for the more speedy and effectual recruiting his majesty’s land-forces and marines; a law which threw into the hands of many worthless magistrates an additional power of oppressing their fellow-creatures: all justices of the peace, commissioners of the land-tax, magistrates of corporations and boroughs, were empowered to meet by direction of the secretary at war, communicated in precepts issued by the high sheriffs, or their deputies, within their respective divisions, and at their usual place of meeting, to qualify themselves for the execution of the act: then they were required to appoint the times and places for their succeeding meetings; to issue precepts to the proper officers for these succeeding meetings; and to give notice of the time and place of every meeting to such military officer, as, by notice from the secretary at war, should be directed to attend that service. The annual bill for preventing mutiny and desertion met with no objections, and indeed contained nothing essentially different from that which had passed in the last session. The next law enacted, was, for further preventing embezzlement of goods and apparel, by those with whom they are intrusted, and putting a stop to the practice of gaming in public houses. By this bill a penalty was inflicted on pawnbrokers, in a summary way, for receiving goods, knowing them not to be the property of the pledger, and pawned without the authority of the owner. 395 [See note 3 F, at the end of this Vol.] With respect to gaming, the act ordained that all publicans suffering journeymen, labourers, servants, or apprentices, to game with cards, dice, shuffleboards, mississippi, or billiard tables, skittles, nine-pins, &c. should forfeit forty shillings for the first offence, and for every subsequent offence, ten pounds shall be levied by distress.
Divers inconveniences having resulted from the interposition of justices, who, in pursuance of an act of parliament passed in the present reign, assumed the right of establishing rates for the payment of wages to weavers, several petitions wore offered to the house of commons, representing the evil consequences of such an establishment; and although these arguments were answered and opposed in counter-petitions, the commons, actuated by a laudable concern for the interest of the woolen manufacture, after due deliberation, removed the grievance by a new bill, repealing so much of the former act as empowered justices of peace to make rates for the payment of wages. 396 [See note 3 G, at the end of this Vol.] The commons were not more forward to provide supplies for prosecuting the war with vigour, than ready to adopt new regulations for the advantage of trade and manufactures. The society of the free British fishery presented a petition, alleging, that they had employed the sum of one hundred and thirty thousand three hundred and five pounds, eight shillings and sixpence, together with the entire produce of their fish, and all the monies arising from the several branches allowed on the tonnage of their shipping, and on the exportation of their fish, in carrying on the said fishery; and that, from their being obliged, in the infancy of the undertaking, to incur a much larger expense than was at that time foreseen, they now found themselves so far reduced in their capital, as to be utterly incapable of further prosecuting the fisheries with any hope of success, unless indulged with the further assistance of parliament. They prayed, therefore, that, towards enabling them to carry on the said fisheries, they might have liberty to make use of such nets as they should find best adapted to the said fisheries; each buss, nevertheless, carrying to sea the same quantity and depth of netting, which, by the fishery acts, they were then bound to carry: that the bounty of thirty shillings per ton, allowed by the said acts on the vessels employed in the fishery, might be increased; and forasmuch as many of the stock proprietors were unable to advance any further sum for prosecuting this branch of commerce; and others unwilling in the present situation, and under the present restraints, to risk any further sum in the undertaking; that the stock of the society, by the said acts made unalienable, except in case of death or bankruptcy, for a term of years, might forthwith be made transferable; and that the petitioners might be at liberty, between the intervals of the fishing seasons, to employ the busses in such a manner as they should find for the advantage of the society. While the committee was employed in deliberating on the particulars of this remonstrance, another was delivered from the free British fishery chamber of Whitehaven in Cumberland, representing, that as the law then stood, they went to Shetland, and returned at a great expense and loss of time; and while the war continued, durst not stay there to fish, besides being obliged to run the most imminent risks, by going and returning without convoy: that, ever since the institution of the present fishery, experience had fully shown the fishery of Shetland not worth following, as thereby the petitioners had lost two months of a much better fishery in St. George’s channel, within one day’s sail of Whitehaven: they took notice, that the free British fishery society had applied to the house for further assistance and relief; and prayed that Campbelton, in Argyleshire, might be appointed the place of rendezvous for the busses belonging to Whitehaven, for the summer as well as the winter fishery, that they might be enabled to fish with greater advantage. The committee having considered the matter of both petitions, were of opinion that the petitioners should be at liberty to use such nets as they should find best adapted to the white herring fishery: that the bounty of thirty shillings per ton should be augmented to fifty: that the petitioners should be allowed, during the intervals of the fishing seasons, to employ their vessels in any other lawful business, provided they should have been employed in the herring fishery during the proper seasons: that they might use such barrels for packing the fish as they then used, or might hereafter find best adapted for that purpose: that they should have liberty to make use of any waste or uncultivated land, one hundred yards at the least above high water mark, for the purpose of drying their nets; and that Campbelton would be the most proper and convenient place for the rendezvous of the busses belonging to Whitehaven. This last resolution, however, was not inserted in the bill which contained the other five, and in a little time received the royal assent.
Such are the connexions, dependencies, and relations subsisting between the mechanical arts, agriculture, and manufactures of Great Britain, that it requires study, deliberation, and inquiry in the legislature to discern and distinguish the whole scope and consequences of many projects offered for the benefit of the commonwealth. The society of merchant adventurers in the city of Bristol, alleged, in a petition to the house of commons, that great quantities of bar-iron were imported into Great Britain from Sweden, Russia, and other parts, chiefly purchased with ready money, some of which iron was exported again to Africa and other places: and the rest wrought up by the manufacturers. They affirmed that bar-iron, imported from North America, would answer the same purposes; and the importation of it tend not only to the great advantage of the kingdom, by increasing its shipping and navigation, but also to the benefit of the British colonies: that by an act passed in the twenty-third year of his present majesty’s reign, the importation of bar-iron from America into the port of London, duty free, was permitted; but being carried coastwise, or farther by land than ten miles, had been prohibited; so that several very considerable manufacturing towns were deprived of the use of American iron, and the out-ports prevented from employing it in their export commerce: they requested, therefore, that bar-iron might be imported from North America into Great Britain, duty free, by all his majesty’s subjects. This request being reinforced by many other petitions from different parts of the kingdom, other classes of men, who thought their several interests would be affected by such a measure, took the alarm; and, in divers counter-petitions, specified many ill consequences which they alleged would arise from its being enacted into a law. Pamphlets were published on both sides of the question, and violent disputes were kindled upon this subject, which was justly deemed a matter of national importance. The opposers of the bill observed, that large quantities of iron were yearly produced at home, and employed multitudes of poor people, there being no less than one hundred and nine forges in England and Wales, besides those erected in Scotland, the whole producing eighteen thousand tons of iron: that as the mines in Great Britain are inexhaustible, the produce would of late years have been considerably increased, had not the people been kept under continual apprehension of seeing American iron admitted duty free: a supposition which had prevented the traders from extending their works, and discouraged many from engaging in this branch of traffic; they alleged that the iron works, already carried on in England, occasioned a consumption of one hundred and ninety-eight thousand cords of wood, produced in coppices that grow upon barren lands, which could not otherwise be turned to any good account: that as the coppices afford shade, and preserve a moisture in the ground, the pasture is more valuable with the wood, than it would be if the coppices were grubbed up; consequently all the estates, where these now grow, would sink in their yearly value; that these coppices, now cultivated and preserved for the use of the iron works, are likewise absolutely necessary for the manufacture of leather, as they furnish bark for the tanners, and that, according to the management of these coppices, they produced a great number of timber trees, so necessary for the purposes of building. They asserted, that neither the American iron, nor any that had yet been found in Great Britain, was so proper for converting into steel as that which conies from Sweden, particularly that sort called ore ground; but as there are mines in the northern parts of Britain, nearly in the same latitude with those of Sweden, furnished with sufficient quantities of wood, and rivers for mills and engines, it was hardly to be doubted but that people would find metal of the same quality, and, in a few years, be able to prevent the necessity of importing iron either from Sweden or Russia. They inferred that American iron could never interfere with that which Great Britain imported from Sweden, because it was not fit for edged-tools, anchors, chain plates, and other particulars necessary in ship building; nor diminish the importation of Russian iron, which was not only harder than the American and British, but also could be afforded cheaper than that brought from our own plantations, even though the duty of this last should be removed. The importation of American iron, therefore, duty free, could interfere with no other sort but that produced in Britain, with which, by means of this advantage, it would clash so much, as to put a stop in a little time to all the iron works now carried on in the kingdom, and reduce to beggary a great number of families whom they support. To these objections the favourers of the bill solicited replied, that when a manufacture is much more valuable than the rough materials, and these cannot be produced at home in sufficient quantities, and at such a price as is consistent with the preservation of the manufacture, it is the interest of the legislature, to admit a free importation of these materials, even from foreign countries, although it should put an end to the production of that material in this island: that as the neighbours of Great Britain are now more attentive than ever to their commercial interests, and endeavouring to manufacture their rough materials at home, this nation must take every method for lowering the price of materials, otherwise in a few years it will lose the manufacture; and, instead of supplying other countries, be furnished by them with all the fine toys and utensils made of steel and iron; that being in danger of losing not only the manufacture but the produce of iron, unless it can be procured at a cheaper rate than that for which it is sold at present, the only way of attaining this end is by diminishing the duty payable upon the importation of foreign iron, or by rendering it necessary for the undertakers of the iron mines in Great Britain to sell their produce cheaper than it has been for some years afforded; that the most effectual method for this purpose is to raise up a rival, by permitting a free importation of all sorts of iron from the American plantations; that American iron can never be sold so cheap as that of Britain can be afforded; for, in the colonies, labour of all kinds is much dearer than in England: if a man employs his own slaves, he must reckon in his charge a great deal more than the common interest of their purchase money, because, when one of them dies, or escapes from his master, he losses both interest and principal; that the common interest of money in the plantations is considerably higher than in England, consequently no man in that country will employ his money in any branch of trade by which he cannot gain considerably more per cent, than is expected in Great Britain, where the interest is low, and profit moderate; a circumstance which will always give a great advantage to the British miner, who likewise enjoys an exemption from freight and insurance, which lie heavy upon the American adventurer, especially in time of war. With respect to the apprehension of the leather tanners, they observed, that as the coppices generally grew on barren lands, not fit for tillage, and improved the pasturage, no proprietor would be at the expense of grubbing up the wood to spoil the pasture, as he could make no other use of the land on which it was produced. This wood must be always worth something, especially in counties where there is not plenty of coal, and the timber trees would produce considerable advantage; therefore, if there was not one iron mine in Great Britain, no coppice would be grubbed up, unless it grew on a rich soil, which would produce corn instead of cord-wood; consequently, the tanners have nothing to fear, especially as planting hath become a prevailing taste among the landholders of the island. The committee appointed to prepare the bill, seriously weighed and canvassed these arguments, examined disputed facts, and inspected papers and accounts relating to the produce, importation, and manufactory of iron. At length Mr. John Pitt reported to the house their opinion, implying that the liberty granted by an act passed in the twenty-third year of his majesty’s reign, of importing bar-iron from the British colonies in America into the port of London, should be extended to all the other ports of Great Britain; and that so much of that act as related to this clause should be repealed. The house having agreed to these resolutions, and the bill being-brought in accordingly, another petition was presented by several noblemen, gentlemen, freeholders, and other proprietors, owners, and possessors of coppices and woodlands, in the West Biding of Yorkshire, alleging, that a permission to import American bar-iron, duty-free, would be attended with numberless ill consequences both of a public and private nature; specifying certain hardships to which they in particular would be exposed; and praying, that, if the bill should pass, they might be relieved from the pressure of an act passed in the reign of Henry VIII. obliging the owners of coppice woods to preserve them, under severe penalties; and be permitted to fell and grub up their coppice woods, in order to a more proper cultivation of the soil, without being restrained by the fear of malicious and interested prosecutions. In consequence of this remonstrance, a clause was added to the bill, repealing so much of the act of Henry VIII. as prohibited the conversion of coppice or under-woods into pasture or tillage; then it passed through both houses, and received the royal sanction. As there was not time, after this affair came upon the carpet, to obtain any new accounts from America, and as it was thought necessary to know the quantities of iron made in that country, the house presented an address to his majesty, desiring he would be pleased to give directions that there should be laid before them, in the next session of parliament, an account of the quantity of iron made in the American colonies, from Christmas, in the year one thousand seven hundred and forty-nine, to the fifth day of January, in the year one thousand seven hundred and fifty-six, each year being distinguished.
From this important object, the parliament converted its attention to a regulation of a much more private nature. In consequence of a petition by the lord-mayor, aldermen, and commons of the city of London, a bill was brought in, and passed into a law without opposition, for the more effectual preservation and improvement of the fry and spawn of fish in the river Thames, and waters of Medway, and for the better regulating the fishery in those rivers. The two next measures taken for the benefit of the public were, first, a bill to render more effectual the several laws then in being, for the amendment and preservation of the highways and turnpike-roads of the kingdom; the other for the more effectually preventing the spreading of the contagious distemper which, at that time, raged among the horned cattle. A third arose from the distress of poor silk manufacturers, who were destitute of employment, and deprived of all means of subsisting, through the interruption of the Levant trade; occasioned by the war, and the delay of the merchant ships from Italy. In order to remedy this inconvenience, a bill was prepared, enacting, that any person might import from any place, in any ship or vessel whatsoever, till the first day of December, one thousand seven hundred and fifty-seven, organzine thrown silk of the growth or production of Italy, to be brought to the custom-house of London, wheresoever landed; but that no Italian thrown silk, coarser than Bologna, nor any tram of the growth of Italy, nor any other thrown silk of the growth or production of Turkey, Persia, East Indies, or China, should be imported by this act, under the penalty of the forfeiture thereof. Notwithstanding several petitions, presented by the merchants, owners, and commanders of ships, and others trading to Leghorn, and other ports of Italy, as well as by the importers and manufacturers of raw silks, representing the evil consequences that would probably attend the passing of such a bill, the parliament agreed to this temporary deviation from the famous act of navigation, for a present supply to the poor manufacturers.
The next civil regulation established in this session of parliament was in itself judicious, and, had it been more earnestly suggested, might have been more beneficial to the public. In order to discourage the practice of smuggling, and prevent the desperadoes concerned therein from enlisting in the service of the enemy, a law was passed, enacting, that every person who had been, before the first of May in the present year, guilty of illegally running, concealing, receiving, or carrying any wool, or prohibited goods, or any foreign commodities liable to duties, the same not having been paid or secured; or of aiding therein, or had been found with fire-arms or weapons, in order to be aiding to such offenders; or had been guilty of receiving such goods after seizure; or of any act whatsoever, whereby persons might be deemed runners of foreign goods; or of hindering, wounding, or beating any officer in the execution of his duty, or assisting therein,—should be indemnified from all such offences, concerning which no suit should then have been commenced, or composition made, on condition that he should, before being apprehended or prosecuted, and before the first day of December, enter himself with some commissioned officer of his majesty’s fleet, to serve as a common sailor; and should, for three years from such entry, unless sooner duly discharged, actually serve and do duty in that station, and register his name, &c, with the clerk of the peace of the county where he resided, as the act prescribes. An attempt was made in favour of the seamen employed in the navy, who had been very irregularly paid, and subject to grievous hardships in consequence of this irregularity. Mr. Grenville, brother to earl Temple, moved for leave to bring in a bill for the encouragement of seamen employed in his majesty’s navy, and for establishing a regular method for the punctual, speedy, and certain payment of their wages, as well as for rescuing them from the arts and frauds of imposition. The proposal was corroborated by divers petitions: the bill was prepared, read, printed, and, after it had undergone some amendment, passed into the house of lords, where it was encountered with several objections, and dropped for this session of parliament.
The house of commons being desirous of preventing, for the future, such distresses as the poor had lately undergone, appointed a committee to consider of proper provisions to restrain the price of corn and bread within due bounds for the future. For this purpose they were empowered to send for persons, papers, and records; and it was resolved, that all who attended the committee should have voices. Having inquired into the causes of the late scarcity, they agreed to several resolutions, and a bill was brought in to explain and amend the laws against regraters, forestalled, and engrossers of corn. The committee also received instructions to inquire into the abuses of millers, mealmen, and bakers, with regard to bread, and to consider of proper methods to prevent them in the sequel; but no further progress was made in this important affair, which was the more interesting, as the lives of individuals, in a great measure, depended upon a speedy reformation; for the millers and bakers were said to have adulterated their flour with common whiting, lime, bone ashes, alum, and other ingredients pernicious to the human constitution; a consummation of villany for which no adequate punishment could be inflicted. Among the measures proposed in parliament which did not succeed, one of the most remarkable was a bill prepared by Mr. Rose Fuller, Mr. Charles Townshend, and Mr. Banks, to explain, amend, and render more effectual a law passed in the reign of king William the Third, intituled,
“An act to punish governors of plantations, in this kingdom, for crimes committed by them in the plantation.” This bill was proposed in consequence of some complaints, specifying acts of cruelty, folly, and oppression, by which some British governors had been lately distinguished; but, before the bill could be brought in, the parliament was prorogued.
But no step taken by the house of commons, in the course of this session, was more interesting to the body of the people than the inquiry into the loss of Minorca, which had excited such loud and universal clamour. By addresses to the king, unanimously voted, the commons requested that his majesty would give directions for laying before them copies of all the letters and papers containing any intelligence received by the secretaries of state, the commissioners of the admiralty, or any others of his majesty’s ministers, in relation to the equipment of the French fleet at Toulon, or the designs of the French on Minorca, or any other of his majesty’s possessions in Europe, since the first day of January, in the year one thousand seven hundred and fifty-five, to the first day of August, one thousand seven hundred and fifty-six. They likewise desired to peruse a list of the ships of war that were equipped and made ready for sea, from the first of August, in the year one thousand seven hundred and fifty-five, to the thirtieth day of April in the following year; with the copies of all sailing orders sent to the commanders during that period; as also the state and condition of his majesty’s ships in the several ports of Great Britain at the time of admiral Byng’s departure, with the squadron under his command, for the relief of fort St. Philip, during the period of time above-mentioned, according to the monthly returns made by the admiralty, with the number of seamen mustered and borne aboard the respective ships. They demanded copies of all orders and instructions given to that admiral, and of letters written to and received from him, during his continuance in that command, either by the secretaries of state, or lords of the admiralty, relating to the condition of his squadron, and to the execution of his orders. In a word, they required the inspection of all papers which could, in any manner, tend to explain the loss of Minorca, and the miscarriage of Mr. Byng’s squadron. His majesty complied with every article of their request: the papers were presented to the house, ordered to lie upon the table for the perusal of the members, and finally referred to the consideration of a committee of the whole house. In the course of their deliberations they addressed his majesty for more information, till at length the truth seemed to be smothered under such an enormous burden of papers, as the efforts of a whole session could not have properly removed. Indeed, many discerning persons without doors began to despair of seeing the mystery unfolded, as soon as the inquiry was undertaken by a committee of the whole house. They observed, that an affair of such a dark, intricate, and suspicious nature, ought to have been referred to a select and secret committee, chosen by ballot, empowered to send for persons, papers, and records, and to examine witnesses in the most solemn and deliberate manner; that the names of the committee ought to have been published for the satisfaction of the people, who could have judged, with some certainty, whether the inquiry would be carried on with such impartiality as the national misfortune required. They suspected that this reference to a committee of the whole house was a mal-contrivance, to prevent a regular and minute investigation, to introduce confusion and contest, to puzzle, perplex, and obumbrate; to teaze, fatigue, and disgust the inquirers, that the examination might be hurried over in a superficial and perfunctory manner; and the ministry, from this anarchy and confusion of materials, half explored and undigested, derive a general parliamentary approbation, to which they might appeal from the accusations of the people. A select committee would have probably examined some of the clerks of the respective offices, that they might certainly know whether any letters or papers had been suppressed, whether the extracts had been faithfully made, and whether there might not be papers of intelligence, which, though proper to be submitted to a select and secret committee, could not, consistently with the honour of the nation, be communicated to a committee of the whole house. Indeed, it does not appear that the ministers had any foreign intelligence or correspondence that could be much depended upon in any matter of national importance, and no evidence was examined on the occasion; a circumstance the less to be regretted, as, in times past, evil ministers have generally found means to render such inquiries ineffectual; and the same arts would, at any rate, have operated with the same efficacy, had a secret committee been employed at this juncture. Be that as it may, several resolutions were reported from the committee, though some of them were not carried by the majority without violent dispute and severe altercation. The first and last of their resolutions require particular notice. By the former, it appeared to the committee, that his majesty, from the twenty-seventh day of August, in the year one thousand seven hundred and fifty-five, to the twentieth day of April in the succeeding year, received such repeated and concurrent intelligence, as gave just reason to believe that the French king intended to invade his dominions of Great Britain or Ireland. In the latter they declared their opinion, that no greater number of ships of war could be sent into the Mediterranean, than were actually sent thither under the command of admiral Byng; nor any greater reinforcement than the regiment which was sent, and the detachment, equal to a battalion, which was ordered to the relief of fort St. Philip, consistently with the state of the navy, and the various services essential to the safety of his majesty’s dominions, and the interest of his subjects. It must have been something more powerful than ordinary conviction that suggested these opinions. Whatever reports might have been circulated by the French ministry, in order to amuse, intimidate, and detach the attention of the English government from America and the Mediterranean, where they really intended to exert themselves, yet, the circumstances of the two nations being considered, one would think there could have been no just grounds to fear an invasion of Great Britain or Ireland, especially when other intelligence seemed to point out much more probable scenes of action. But the last resolution is still more incomprehensible to those who know not exactly the basis on which it was raised. The number of ships of war in actual commission amounted to two hundred and fifty, having on board fifty thousand seamen and marines. Intelligence and repeated information of the French design upon Minorca had been conveyed to the ministry of England, about six months before it was put in execution. Is it credible, that in all this time the nation could not equip or spare above eleven ships of the line and six frigates, to save the important island of Minorca? Is it easy to conceive, that from a standing army of fifty thousand men, one regiment of troops could not have been detached to reinforce a garrison, well known to be insufficient for the works it was destined to defend? To persons of common intellects it appeared, that intelligence of the armament at Toulon was conveyed to the admiralty as early as the month of September, in the year one thousand seven hundred and fifty-five, with express notice that it would consist of twelve ships of the line: that the design against Minorca was communicated as early as the twenty-seventh day of August, by consul Banks, of Carthagena; confirmed by letters from consul Bertes, at Genoa, dated on the seventeenth and twenty-sixth of January, and received by Mr. Fox, secretary of state, on the fourth and eleventh of February, as well as by many subsequent intimations; that, notwithstanding these repeated advices, even after hostilities had commenced in Europe, when the garrison of Minorca amounted to no more than four incomplete regiments, and one company of artillery, forty-two officers being absent, and the place otherwise unprovided for a siege, when the Mediterranean squadron, commanded by Mr. Edgecumbe, consisted of two ships of the line, and five frigates; neither stores, ammunition, or provisions, the absent officers belonging to the garrison, recruits for the regiments, though ready raised, miners, nor any additional troops, were sent to the island, nor the squadron augmented, till admiral Byng sailed from Spithead on the sixth day of April, with no more ships of the line than, by the most early and authentic intelligence, the government were informed would sail from Toulon, even when Mr. Byng should have been joined by commodore Edgecumbe; a junction upon which no dependence ought to have been laid; that this squadron contained no troops but such as belonged to the four regiments in garrison, except one battalion to serve in the fleet as marines, unless we include the order for another to be embarked at Gibraltar; which order was neither obeyed nor understood: that, considering the danger to which Minorca was exposed, and the forwardness of the enemy’s preparations at Toulon, admiral Osborne, with thirteen ships of the line and one frigate, who returned on the sixteenth of February, after having convoyed a fleet of merchant ships, might have been detached to Minorca, without hazarding the coast of Great Britain; for at that time, exclusive of this squadron, there were eight ships of the line and thirty-two frigates ready manned, and thirty-two ships of the line and five frigates almost equipped; that admiral Hawke was sent with fourteen ships of the line and one frigate to cruise in the bay of Biscay, after repeated intelligence had been received that the French fleet had sailed for the West Indies, and the eleven ships remaining at Brest and Rochefort were in want of hands and cannon, so that they could never serve to cover any embarkation or descent, consequently Mr. Hawke’s squadron might have been spared for the relief of Minorca; that, instead of attending to this important object, the admiralty, on the eighth day of March, sent two ships of the line and three frigates to intercept a coasting convoy off Cape Barfleur: on the eleventh of the same month they detached two ships of the line to the West Indies, and on the nineteenth two more to North America, where they could be of little immediate service; on the twenty-third, two of the line and three frigates a convoy-hunting off Cherbourg; and on the first of April five ships of the line, including three returned from this last service, to reinforce sir Edward Hawke, already too strong for the French fleet bound to Canada; that all these ships might have been added to Mr. Byng’s squadron, without exposing Great Britain or Ireland to any hazard of invasion: that at length Mr. Byng was detached with ten great ships only, and even denied a frigate to repeat signals, for which he petitioned; although at that very time there were in port, exclusive of his squadron, seventeen ships of the line and thirteen frigates ready for sea, besides eleven of the line and nineteen frigates almost equipped. From these and other circumstances, particularized and urged with great vivacity, many individuals inferred, that a greater number of ships might have been detached to the Mediterranean than were actually sent with admiral Byng; that the not sending an earlier and stronger force was one great cause of Minorca’s being lost, and co-operated with the delay of the ministry in sending thither reinforcements of troops, their neglect in suffering the officers of the garrison to continue absent from their duty, and their omitting to give orders for raising miners to serve in the fortress of Mahon.
GEORGE II. 1727-1760
The next inquiry in which the house of commons engaged, related to the contracts for victualling the forces in America, which were supposed by some patriots to be fraudulent and unconscionable. This suspicion arose from an ambiguous expression, on which the contractor being interrogated by the committee appointed to examine the particulars, he prudently interpreted it in such a manner, as to screen himself from the resentment of the legislature. The house, therefore, resolved that the contract entered into on the twenty-sixth day of March, in the year one thousand seven hundred and fifty-six, by the commissioners of the treasury, with William Baker, Christopher Kilby, and Richard Baker, of London, merchants, for furnishing provisions to the forces under the command of the earl of Loudon, was prudent and necessary, and properly adapted to the securing a constant and effectual supply for those forces in America.
The preceding session an address had been presented to the king by the house of commons, desiring his majesty would give orders for laying before them several papers relating to disputes which had lately happened between his excellency Charles Knowles, esq., and some of the principal inhabitants of the island of Jamaica. This governor was accused of many illegal, cruel, and arbitrary acts, during the course of his administration; but these imputations he incurred by an exertion of power, which was in itself laudable, and well intended for the commercial interest of the island. This was his changing the seat of government, and procuring an act of assembly for removing the several laws, records, books, papers, and writings belonging to several offices in that island, from Spanish Town to Kingston; and for obliging the several officers to keep their offices, and hold a supreme court of judicature, at this last place, to which he had moved the seat of government. Spanish Town, otherwise called St. Jago de la Vega, the old capital, was an inconsiderable inland place, of no security, trade, or importance; whereas Kingston was the centre of commerce, situated on the side of a fine harbour filled with ships, well secured from the insults of an enemy, large, wealthy, and flourishing. Here the merchants dwell, and ship the greatest part of the sugars that grow upon the island. They found it extremely inconvenient and expensive to take out their clearances at Spanish Town, which stands at a considerable distance; and the same inconvenience and expense being felt by the rest of the inhabitants, who had occasion to prosecute suits at law, or attend the assembly of the island, they joined in representations to the governor, requesting, that, in consideration of these inconveniences, added to that of the weakness of Spanish Town and the importance of Kingston, the seat of government might be removed. He complied with their request, and in so doing entailed upon himself the hatred and resentment of certain powerful planters, who possessed estates in and about the old town of St. Jago de la Vega, thus deserted. This seems to have been the real source of the animosity and clamour incurred by Mr. Knowles, against whom a petition, signed by nineteen members of the assembly, had been sent to England, and presented to his majesty.—In the two sessions preceding this year, the affair had been brought into the house of commons, where this governor’s character was painted in frightful colours, and divers papers relating to the dispute were examined. Mr. Knowles having by this time returned to England, the subject of his administration was revived, and referred to a committee of the whole house. In the meantime, petitions were presented by several merchants of London and Liverpool, concerned in the trade to Jamaica, alleging, that the removal of the public courts, offices, and records of the island of Jamaica to Kingston, and fixing the seat of government there, had been productive of many important advantages, by rendering the strength of the island more formidable, the property of the traders and inhabitants more secure, and the prosecution of all commercial business more expeditious and less expensive than formerly; therefore, praying that the purposes of the act passed in Jamaica for that end might be carried into effectual execution, in such manner as the house should think proper. The committee, having examined a great number of papers, agreed to some resolutions, importing, that a certain resolution of the assembly of Jamaica, dated on the twenty-ninth day of October, in the year one thousand seven hundred and fifty-three, implying a claim of right in that assembly to raise and apply public money without the consent of the governor and council, was illegal, repugnant to the terms of his majesty’s commission to his governor of the said island, and derogatory of the rights of the crown and people of Great Britain; that the six last resolutions taken in the assembly of Jamaica, on the twenty-ninth day of October, in the year one thousand seven hundred and fifty-three, proceeded on a manifest misapprehension of the king’s instruction to his governor, requiring him not to give his assent to any bill of an unusual or extraordinary nature and importance, wherein his majesty’s prerogative, or the property of his subjects, might be prejudiced, or the trade or shipping of the kingdom any-ways affected, unless there should be a clause inserted, suspending the execution of such bill until his majesty’s pleasure should be known; that such instruction was just and necessary, and no alteration of the constitution of the island, nor any way derogatory to the rights of the subjects in Jamaica. From these resolutions the reader may perceive the nature of the dispute which had arisen between the people of Jamaica and their governor, vice-admiral Knowles, whose conduct on this occasion seems to have been justified by the legislature. The parliament, however, forebore to determine the question, whether the removal of the courts of judicature from Spanish Town to Kingston was a measure calculated for the interest of the island in general.
The last object which we shall mention, as having fallen under the cognizance of the commons during this session of parliament, was the state of Milford-haven on the coast of Wales, one of the most capacious, safe, and commodious harbours in Great Britain. Here the country affords many conveniences for building ships of war, and erecting forts, docks, quays, and magazines. It might be fortified at a very small expense, so as to be quite secure from any attempts of the enemy, and rendered by far the most useful harbour in the kingdom for fleets, cruisers, trading ships, and packet boats, bound to and from the westward; for from hence they may put sea almost with any wind, and even at low water; they may weather Scilly and Cape Clear when no vessel can stir from the British channel, or out of the French ports of Brest and Rochefort, and as a post can travel from hence in three days to London, it might become the centre of very useful sea intelligence. A petition from several merchants in London was presented, and recommended to the house in a message from the king, specifying the advantages of this harbour, and the small expense at which it might be fortified, and praying that the house would take this important subject into consideration. Accordingly, a committee was appointed for this purpose, with power to send for persons, papers, and records and every circumstance relating to it was examined with accuracy and deliberation. At length the report being made to the house by Mr. Charles Townshend, they unanimously agreed to an address, representing to his majesty, that many great losses had been sustained by the trade of the kingdom, in time of war, from the want of a safe harbour on the western coast of the island, for the reception and protection of merchants’ ships, and sending out cruisers; that the harbour of Milford-haven, in the county of Pembroke, is most advantageously situated, and if properly defended and secured, in every respect adapted to the answering those important purposes; they, therefore, humbly besought his majesty, that he would give immediate directions for erecting batteries, with proper cover, on the sides of the said harbour, in the most convenient places for guarding the entrance called Hubber-stone-road, and also such other fortifications as might be necessary to secure the interior parts of the harbour, and that, until such batteries and fortifications could be completed, some temporary defence might be provided for the immediate protection of the ships and vessels lying in the said harbour; finally, they assured him the house would make good to his majesty all such expenses as should be incurred for these purposes. The address met with a gracious reception, and a promise that such directions should be given. The harbour was actually surveyed, the places were pitched upon for batteries, and the estimates prepared, but no further progress hath since been made.
We have now finished the detail of all the material transactions of this session, except what relates to the fate of admiral Byng, which now claims our attention. In the meantime, we may observe, that on the fourth day of July the session was closed with his majesty’s harangue, the most remarkable and pleasing paragraph of which turned upon his royal assurance, that the succour and preservation of his dominions in America had been his constant care, and, next to the security of his kingdoms, should continue to be his great and principal object. He told them he had taken such measures as, he trusted, by the blessing of God, might effectually disappoint the designs of the enemy in those parts; that he had no further view but to vindicate the just rights of his crown and subjects from the most injurious encroachments; to preserve tranquillity, as far as the circumstances of things might admit; to prevent the true friends of Britain, and the liberties of Europe, from being oppressed and endangered by any unprovoked and unnatural conjunction.
Of all the transactions that distinguished this year, the most extraordinary was the sentence executed on admiral Byng, the son of that great officer who had acquired such honour by his naval exploits in the preceding reign, and was ennobled for his services by the title of lord viscount Torrington. His second son, John Byng, had from his earliest youth been trained to his father’s profession; and was generally esteemed one of the best officers in the navy, when he embarked in that expedition to Minorca, which covered his character with disgrace, and even exposed him to all the horrors of an ignominious death. On the twenty-eighth day of December his trial began before a court-martial, held on board the ship St. George, in the harbour of Portsmouth, to which place Mr. Byng had been conveyed from Greenwich by a party of horse-guards, and insulted by the populace in every town and village through which he passed. The court having proceeded to examine the evidences for the crown and the prisoner, from day to day, in the course of a long sitting, agreed unanimously to thirty-seven resolutions, implying their opinion, that admiral Byng, during the engagement between the British and French fleets, on the twentieth day of May last, did not do his utmost endeavour to take, seize, and destroy the ships of the French king, which it was his duty to have engaged, and to assist such of his majesty’s ships as were engaged, which it was his duty to have assisted; and that he did not exert his utmost-power for the relief of St. Philip’s castle. They, therefore, unanimously agreed that he fell under part of the twelfth article of an act of parliament passed in the twenty-second year of the present reign, for amending, explaining, and reducing into one act of parliament, the laws relating to the government of his majesty’s ships, vessels, and forces by sea; and as that article positively prescribed death, without any alternative left to the discretion of the court under any variation of circumstances, they unanimously adjudged the said admiral John Byng to be shot to death, at such time, and on board of such ship, as the lords commissioners of the admiralty should please to direct. But as it appeared, by the evidence of the officers who were near the admiral’s person, that no backwardness was perceivable in him during the action, nor any mark of fear or confusion either in his countenance or behaviour; but that he delivered his orders coolly and distinctly, without seeming deficient in personal courage; and, from other circumstances, they believed his misconduct did not arise either from cowardice or disaffection, they unanimously and earnestly recommended him as a proper object of mercy. The admiral himself behaved through the whole trial with the most cheerful composure, seemingly the effect of conscious innocence, upon which, perhaps, he too much relied. Even after he heard the evidence examined against him, and finished his own defence, he laid his account in being honourably acquitted; and ordered his coach to be ready for conveying him directly from the tribunal to London. A gentleman, his friend, by whom he was attended, having received intimation of the sentence to be pronounced, thought it his duty to prepare him for the occasion, that he might summon all his fortitude to his assistance, and accordingly made him acquainted with the information he had received. The admiral gave tokens of surprise and resentment, but betrayed no marks of fear or disorder, either then or in the court when the sentence was pronounced. On the contrary, while divers members of the court-martial manifested grief, anxiety, and trepidation, shedding tears, and sighing with extraordinary emotion, he heard his doom denounced without undergoing the least alteration of feature, and made a low obeisance to the president and the other members of the court, as he retired.
The officers who composed this tribunal were so sensible of the law’s severity, that they unanimously subscribed a letter to the board of admiralty containing this remarkable paragraph:—“We cannot help laying the distresses of our minds before your lordships on this occasion, in finding ourselves under necessity of condemning a man to death, from the great severity of the twelfth article of war, part of which he falls under, which admits of no mitigation if the crime should be committed by an error in judgment; and, therefore, for our own consciences’ sake, as well as in justice to the prisoner, we pray your lordships, in the most earnest manner, to recommend him to his majesty’s clemency.” The lords of the admiralty, instead of complying with the request of the court-martial, transmitted their letter to the king, with copies of their proceedings, and a letter from themselves to his majesty, specifying a doubt with regard to the legality of the sentence, as the crime of negligence, for which the admiral had been condemned, was not expressed in any part of the proceedings. At the same time, copies of two petitions from George lord viscount Torrington, in behalf of his kinsman admiral Byng, were submitted to his majesty’s royal wisdom and determination. All the friends and relations of the unhappy convict employed and exerted their influence and interest for his pardon; and, as the circumstances had appeared so strong in his favour, it was supposed that the sceptre of royal mercy would be extended for his preservation; but infamous arts were used to whet the savage appetite of the populace for blood. The cry of vengeance was loud throughout the land: sullen clouds of suspicion and malevolence interposing, were said to obstruct the genial beams of the best virtue that adorns the throne; and the sovereign was given to understand, that the execution of admiral Byng was a victim absolutely necessary to appease the fury of the people. His majesty, in consequence of the representation made by the lords of the admiralty, referred the sentence to the consideration of the twelve judges, who were unanimously of opinion that the sentence was legal. This report being transmitted from the privy-council to the admiralty, their lordships issued a warrant for executing the sentence of death on the twenty-eighth day of February. One gentleman at the board, however, refused to subscribe the warrant, assigning for his refusal the reasons which we have inserted by way of note, for the satisfaction of the reader. 401 [See note 3 H, at the end of this Vol.]
Though mercy was denied to the criminal, the crown seemed determined to do nothing that should be thought inconsistent with law. A member of parliament, who had sat upon the court-martial at Portsmouth, rose up in his place, and made application to the house of commons in behalf of himself and several other members of that tribunal, praying the aid of the legislature to be released from the oath of secrecy imposed on courts-martial, that they might disclose the grounds on which sentence of death had passed on admiral Byng, and, perhaps, discover such circumstances as might show the sentence to be improper. Although this application produced no resolution in the house, the king, on the twenty-sixth day of February, sent a message to the commons by Mr. Secretary Pitt, importing, that, though he had determined to let the law take its course with relation to admiral Byng, and resisted all solicitations to the contrary, yet, as a member of the house had expressed some scruples about the sentence, his majesty had thought fit to respite the execution of it, that there might be an opportunity of knowing, by the separate examination of the members of the court-martial, upon oath, what grounds there were for such scruples, and that his majesty was resolved still to let the sentence be carried into execution, unless it should appear from the said examination, that admiral Byng was unjustly condemned. The sentence might be strictly legal, and, at the same time very severe, according to the maxim, summum jus, summa injuria. In such cases, and perhaps in such cases only, the rigour of the law ought to be softened by the lenient hand of the royal prerogative. That this was the case of admiral Byng appears from the warm and eager intercession of his jury, a species of intercession which hath generally, if not always, prevailed at the foot of the throne, when any thing favourable for the criminal had appeared in the course of the trial. How much more then might it have been expected to succeed, when earnestly urged as a case of conscience, in behalf of a man whom his judges had expressly acquitted of cowardice and treachery, the only two imputations that rendered him criminal in the eyes of the nation! Such an interposition of the crown in parliamentary transactions was irregular, unnecessary, and at another juncture might have been productive of violent heats and declamation. At present, however, it passed without censure, as the effect of inattention, rather than a design to encroach upon the privileges of the house.