The article of the supply relating to the army of observation, took rise
from a message signed by his majesty, and presented by Mr. Pitt, now
promoted to the office of principal secretary of state; a gentleman who
had, upon sundry occasions, combated the gigantic plan of continental
connexions with all the strength of reason, and all the powers of
eloquence. He now imparted to the house an intimation, importing, it was
always with reluctance that his majesty asked extraordinary supplies of
his people; but as the united councils, and formidable preparations
of France and her allies threatened Europe in general with the most
alarming consequence; and as these unjust and vindictive designs were
particularly and immediately bent against his majesty’s electoral
dominions, and those of his good ally the king of Prussia, his majesty
confided in the experienced zeal and affection of his faithful commons,
that they would cheerfully assist him in forming and maintaining an army
of observation, for the just and necessary defence and preservation of
those territories, and enable him to fulfil his engagements with his
Prussian majesty, for the security of the empire against the irruption
of foreign armies, and for the support of the common cause. Posterity
will hardly believe, that the emperor and all the princes of Germany
were in a conspiracy against their country, except the king of Prussia,
the elector of Hanover, and the landgrave of Hesse-Cassel; and they
will, no doubt, be surprised, that Great Britain, after all the treaties
she had made, and the numberless subsidies she had granted, should not
have an ally left, except one prince, so embarrassed in his own affairs,
that he could grant lier no succour, whatever assistance he might
demand. The king’s message met with as favourable a reception as he
could have desired. It was read in the house of commons, together
with, a copy of the treaty between his majesty and the king of Prussia,
including the secret and separate article, and the declaration signed
on each side by the plenipotentiaries at Westminster: the request was
granted, and the convention approved. With equal readiness did they
gratify his majesty’s inclination, signified in another message,
delivered on the seventeenth day of May, by lord Bateman, intimating,
that in this critical juncture, emergencies might arise of the utmost
importance, and be attended with the most pernicious consequences, if
proper means should not be immediately applied to prevent or defeat
them; his majesty was, therefore, desirous that the house would enable
him to defray any extraordinary expenses of the war, incurred or to
be incurred for the service of the current year; and to take all such
measures as might be necessary to disappoint or defeat any enterprises
or designs of his enemies, as the exigency of affairs might require.
The committee of supply forthwith granted a very large sum for these
purposes, including the charge of German mercenaries. A like message
being at the same time communicated to the upper house, their lordships
voted a very loyal address upon the occasion; and when the article
of supply, which it produced among the commons, fell under their
inspection, they unanimously agreed to it, by way of a clause of
appropriation.
MEASURES TAKEN TO REMOVE THE SCARCITY OF CORN.
We have already observed, that the first bill which the commons passed
in this session, was for the relief of the poor, by prohibiting the
exportation of corn; but this remedy not being judged adequate to the
evil, another bill was framed, removing, for a limited time, the duty
then payable upon foreign corn and flour imported; as also permitting,
for a certain time, all such foreign corn, grain, meal, bread, biscuit,
and flour, as had been or should be taken from the enemy, to be landed
and expended in the kingdom duty free. In order still more to reduce the
high price of corn, and to prevent any supply of provisions from
being sent to our enemies in America, a third bill was brought in,
prohibiting, for a time therein limited, the exportation of corn, grain,
meal, malt, flour, bread, biscuit, starch, beef, pork, bacon, or other
victual, from any of the British plantations, unless to Great Britain
or Ireland, or from one colony to another. To this act two clauses were
added, for allowing those necessaries, mentioned above, to be imported
in foreign built ships, and from any state in amity with his majesty,
either into Great Britain or Ireland; and for exporting from Southampton
or Exeter to the Isle of Man, for the use of the inhabitants, a quantity
of wheat, barley, oats, meal, or flour, not exceeding two thousand five
hundred quarters. The commons would have still improved their humanity,
had they contrived and established some effectual method to punish those
unfeeling villains, who, by engrossing and hoarding up great quantities
of grain, had created this artificial scarcity, and deprived their
fellow-creatures of bread, with a view to their own private advantage.
Upon a subsequent report of the committee, the house resolved, that,
to prevent the high price of wheat and bread, no spirits should be
distilled from wheat for a limited time. While the bill, formed on this
resolution, was in embryo, a petition was presented to the house by
the brewers of London, Westminster, Southwark, and parts adjacent,
representing, that, when the resolution passed, the price of malt,
which was before too high, immediately rose to such a degree, that the
petitioners found themselves utterly incapable of carrying on business
at the price malt then bore, occasioned, as they conceived, from an
apprehension of the necessity the distillers would be under to make use
of the best pale malt, and substitute the best barley in lieu of
wheat: that, in such a case, the markets would not be able to supply
a sufficient quantity of barley for the demands of both professions,
besides other necesssary uses: they therefore prayed, that, in regard
to the public revenue, to which the trade of the petitioners so largely
contributed, proper measures might be taken for preventing the public
loss, and relieving their particular distress. The house would not lend
a deaf ear to a remonstrance in which the revenue was concerned. The
members appointed to prepare the bill, immediately received instructions
to make provision in it to restrain, for a limited time, the distilling
of barley, malt, and all grain whatsoever. The bill was framed
accordingly, but did not pass without strenuous opposition. To this
prohibition it was objected, that there are always large quantities of
wheat and barley in the kingdom so much damaged, as to be unfit for any
use but the distillery, consequently a restriction of this nature
would ruin many farmers, and others employed in the trade of malting.
Particular interests, however, must often be sacrificed to the welfare
of the community; and the present distress prevailed over the prospect
of this disadvantage. If they had allowed any sort of grain to be
distilled, it would have been impossible to prevent the distilling
of every kind. The prohibition was limited to two months; but at
the expiration of that term, the scarcity still continuing, it was
protracted by a new bill to the eleventh day of December, with a
proviso, empowering his majesty to put an end to it at any time after
the eleventh day of May, if such a step should be judged for the
advantage of the kingdom.
{GEORGE II. 1727-1760}
MILITIA BILL.
The next bill that engaged the attention of the commons, was a measure
of the utmost national importance, though secretly disliked by many
individuals of the legislature, who, nevertheless, did not venture to
avow their disapprobation. The establishment of a militia was a very
popular and desirable object, but attended with numberless difficulties,
and a competition of interests which it was impossible to reconcile.
It had formerly been an inexhaustible source of contention between the
crown and the commons; but now both apparently concurred in rendering it
serviceable to the commonwealth, though some acquiesced in the scheme,
who were not at all hearty in its favour. On the fourth day of December,
a motion was made for the bill, by colonel George Townshend, eldest son
of lord viscount Townshend, a gentleman of courage, sense, and probity;
endued with penetration to discern, and honesty to pursue, the real
interest of his country, in defiance of power, in contempt of private
advantages. Leave being given to bring in a bill for the better ordering
of the militia forces in the several counties of England, the task of
preparing it was allotted to Mr. Townshend, and a considerable number of
the most able members in the house, comprehending his own brother, Mr.
Charles Townshend, whose genius shone with distinguished lustre: he
was keen, discerning, eloquent, and accurate; possessed a remarkable
vivacity of parts, with a surprising solidity of understanding; was
a wit without arrogance, a patriot without prejudice, and a courtier
without dependance.
While the militia bill remained under consideration in the house, a
petition for a constitutional and well-regulated militia was presented
by the mayor, jurats, and commonalty of the king’s town and parish
of Maidstone, in Kent, in common-council assembled. At the same time
remonstrances were offered by the protestant dissenting ministers of the
three denominations in and about the cities of London and Westminster;
by the protestant dissenters of Shrewsbury; the dissenting ministers of
Devonshire; the protestant dissenters, being freeholders and burgesses
of the town and county of the town of Nottingham, joined with other
inhabitants of the church of England, expressing their apprehension,
that, in the bill then depending, it might be proposed to enact, that
the said militia should be exercised on the Lord’s day, commonly called
Sunday, and praying that no clause for such purpose might pass into a
law. Though nothing could be more ridiculously fanatic and impertinent
than a declaration of such a scruple against a practice so laudable and
necesssary, in a country where that day of the week is generally spent
in merry-making, riot, and debauchery, the house paid so much regard to
the squeamish consciences of those puritanical petitioners, that Monday
was pitched upon for the day of exercise to the militia, though on
such working days they might be much more profitably employed, both for
themselves and their country; and that no religious pretence should be
left for opposing the progress and execution of the bill, proper clauses
were inserted for the relief of the quakers. Another petition and
counter-petition were delivered by the magistrates, freeholders, and
burgesses of the town of Nottingham, in relation to their particular
franchises, which were accordingly considered in framing the bill.
After mature deliberation, and divers alterations, it passed the
lower house, and was sent to the lords for their concurrence: here it
underwent several amendments, one of which was the reduction of the
number of militia-men to one half of what the commons had proposed;
namely, to thirty-two thousand three hundred and forty men for the whole
kingdom of England and Wales. The amendments being canvassed in the
lower house, met with some opposition, and divers conferences with their
lordships ensued; at length, however, the two houses agreed to every
article, and the bill soon received the royal sanction. No provision,
however, was made for clothes, arms, accoutrements, and pay: had
regulations been made for these purposes, the act would have become a
money-bill, in which the lords could have made no amendment: in order,
therefore, to prevent any difference between the two houses, on a
dispute of privileges not yet determined, and that the house of peers
might make what amendments they should think expedient, the commons left
the expense of the militia to be regulated in a subsequent bill, during
the following session, when they could, with more certainty, compute
what sum would be necessary for these purposes. After all, the bill
seemed to be crude, imperfect, and ineffectual, and the promoters of it
were well aware of its defects; but they were apprehensive that it would
have been dropped altogether, had they insisted upon the scheme being
executed in its full extent. They were eager to seize this opportunity
of trying an experiment, which might afterwards be improved to a greater
national advantage; and, therefore, they acquiesced in many restrictions
and alterations, which otherwise would not have been adopted.
BILL FOR QUARTERING FOREIGN TROOPS, &c.
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.
BILL FOR THE MORE SPEEDY RECRUITING THE LAND-FORCES AND MARINES, &c.
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.
ACT FOR IMPORTING AMERICAN IRON DUTY FREE.
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.
REGULATIONS WITH RESPECT TO THE IMPORTATION OF SILK.
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.
INQUIRY INTO THE SCARCITY OF CORN.
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.
INVESTIGATION OF THE LOSS OF MINORCA.
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}
EXAMINATION of the AMERICAN CONTRACT.
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.
INQUIRY INTO THE CONDUCT OF ADMIRAL KNOWLES, &c.
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.
RESOLUTIONS concerning MILFORD-HAVEN.
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.
SESSION CLOSED.
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.
[Illustration: 400.jpg PORTSMOUTH HARBOUR]
TRIAL OF ADMIRAL BYNG.
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.
BILL TO RELEASE THE MEMBERS OF THE COURT-MARTIAL, &c
The message being communicated, a bill was immediately brought in, to
release the members of the court-martial from the obligation of secrecy,
and passed through the lower house without opposition; but in the house
of lords it appeared to be destitute of a proper foundation. They sent
a message to the commons, desiring them to give leave that such of the
members of the court-martial as were members of that house might attend
their lordships, in order to be examined on the second reading of the
bill; accordingly they, and the rest of the court-martial, attended, and
answered all questions without hesitation. As they did not insist upon
any excuse, nor produce any satisfactory reason for showing that the man
they had condemned was a proper object of mercy, their lordships were
of opinion that there was no occasion for passing any such bill, which,
therefore, they almost unanimously rejected. It is not easy to conceive
what stronger reasons could be given for proving Mr. Byng an object of
mercy, than those mentioned in the letter sent to the board of admiralty
by the members of the court-martial, who were empowered to try the
imputed offence, consequently must have been deemed well qualified to
judge of his conduct.
EXECUTION OF ADMIRAL BYNG.
The unfortunate admiral being thus abandoned to the stroke of justice,
prepared himself for death with resignation and tranquillity. He
maintained a surprising cheerfulness to the last; nor did he, from his
condemnation to his execution, exhibit the least sign of impatience
or apprehension. During that interval he had remained on board of
the Monarque, a third-rate ship of war, anchored in the harbour of
Portsmouth, under a strong guard, in custody of the marshal of the
admiralty. On the fourteenth of March, the day fixed for his execution,
the boats belonging to the squadron at Spithead being manned and armed,
containing their captains and officers, with a detachment of marines,
attended this solemnity in the harbour, which was also crowded with an
infinite number of other boats and vessels filled with spectators. About
noon, the admiral having taken leave of a clergyman, and two friends
who accompanied him, walked out of the great cabin to the quarter-deck,
where two files of marines were ready to execute the sentence.
He advanced with a firm deliberate step, a composed and resolute
countenance, and resolved to suffer with his face uncovered, until
his friends, representing that his looks would possibly intimidate the
soldiers, and prevent their taking aim properly, he submitted to their
request, threw his hat on the deck, kneeled on a cushion, tied one white
handkerchief over his eyes, and dropped the other as a signal for his
executioners, who fired a volley so decisive, that five balls passed
through his body, and he dropped down dead in an instant. The time in
which this tragedy was acted, from his walking out of the cabin to his
being deposited in the coffin, did not exceed three minutes.
Thus fell, to the astonishment of all Europe, admiral John Byng; who,
whatever his errors and indiscretions might have been, seems to have
been rashly condemned, meanly given up, and cruelly sacrificed to vile
considerations. The sentiments of his own fate he avowed on the verge
of eternity, when there was no longer any cause of dissimulation, in the
following declaration, which, immediately before his death, he delivered
to the marshal of the admiralty: “A few moments will now deliver me
from the virulent persecution, and frustrate the further malice of
my enemies: nor need I envy them a life subject to the sensations my
injuries, and the injustice done me, must create. Persuaded I am, that
justice will be done to my reputation hereafter: the manner and cause
of raising and keeping up the popular clamour and prejudice against me,
will be seen through. I shall be considered (as I now perceive myself)
a victim destined to divert the indignation and resentment of an injured
and deluded people from the proper objects. My enemies themselves must
now think me innocent. Happy for me, at this my last moment, that I
know my own innocence, and am conscious that no part of my country’s
misfortunes can be owing to me. I heartily wish the shedding my blood
may contribute to the happiness and service of my country; but cannot
resign my just claim to a faithful discharge of my duty according to
the best of my judgment, and the utmost exertion of my ability for
his majesty’s honour, and my country’s service. I am sorry that my
endeavours were not attended with more success, and that the armament
under my command proved too weak to succeed in an expedition of such
moment. Truth has prevailed over calumny and falsehood, and justice has
wiped off the ignominious stain of my supposed want of personal courage,
and the charge of disaffection. My heart acquits me of these crimes; but
who can be presumptuously sure of his own judgment? If my crime is an
error in judgment, or differing in opinion from my judges, and if yet
the error in judgment should be on their side, God forgive them, as
I do; and may the distress of their minds, and uneasiness of their
consciences, which in justice to me they have represented, be relieved,
and subside as my resentment has done. The supreme judge sees all hearts
and motives, and to him I must submit the justice of my cause.”
{GEORGE II. 1727-1760}
REMARKS ON ADMIRAL BYNG’S FATE.
Notwithstanding all that has been said in his favour, notwithstanding
the infamous arts that were practised to keep up the cry against him,
notwithstanding this solemn appeal to heaven in his last moments, and
even self-conviction of innocence, the character of admiral Byng,
in point of personal courage, will still, with many people, remain
problematical. They will still be of opinion, that if the spirit of a
British admiral had been properly exerted, the French fleet would have
been defeated, and Minorca relieved. A man’s opinion of danger varies at
different times, in consequence of an irregular tide of animal spirits,
and he is actuated by considerations which he dares not avow. After an
officer, thus influenced, has hesitated or kept aloof in the hour
of trial, the mind, eager for its own justification, assembles, with
surprising industry, every favourable circumstance of excuse, and broods
over them with parental partiality, until it becomes not only satisfied,
but even enamoured of their beauty and complexion, like a doating
mother, blind to the deformity of her own offspring. Whatever Mr. Byng’s
internal feelings might have been, whatever consequences might have
attended his behaviour on that occasion; as the tribunal before which
he was tried acquitted him expressly of cowardice and treachery, he was,
without all doubt, a proper object for royal clemency; and so impartial
posterity will judge him, after all those dishonourable motives of
faction and of fear, by which his fate was influenced, shall be lost
in oblivion, or remembered with disdain. The people of Great Britain,
naturally fierce, impatient, and clamorous, have been too much
indulged, upon every petty miscarriage, with trials, courts-martial, and
dismissions, which tend only to render their military commanders rash
and precipitate, the populace more licentious and intractable, and to
disgrace the national character in the opinion of mankind.
[Illustration: 403.jpg PORTRAIT OF WILLIAM PITT]