The National Register. — London, England, 1809-05-28 00:00:00

THE NATIONAL REGISTER. 5'4 4 1 vice. and that he %you'd strike his flag as soot') that service was executed. Lord Cochrane answered, " I aestire }nu I did not seek it: I went to to n." Q. Do )ilti know of any other instances of language being used by the Rear-Admiral to von, refleyting upon the character .of thc Coatutander in Chief? if so, relate theni.—A. I re member upon use occa;:inti,sinc-.! Lord Ga , nbier's appointment a; Commander in Chief, and previous to tile affair of the Basque Roads, Admiral Harvey said tliqt Lord Gambier had endea voured to make it_ pleasant to the other % there ould be no bearing hint ; a man innA have „oone good gunl,ties. And in a conversation either with !,ot d M ti!gra v.:. or the Board of Admiralty, it was mentioned to ote that tae prdi tit) a was Compoied of hon:bs and fire-s!:ips far the parim,e of tb>.troying the French &et in the Tt:le of A i 1 answered that it was a service very easy to be executed. 1 was asked if 1 would un dertake it I answered yes. Admiral Harvey said, that he m: ant nothing personal to him ( Lord ('ochrane); he h.ni a high opinion or him; he voice only to the instil!. Lord Cociia.t NE exutiiined. (. Was your Lorhstlp present with Sir Harry Neale when Rear Admiral Harvey came to the' cabin, after having •had interview with the Commander in Chief ?—A. l was wWs Sir IL Neale in the eahin. Q Be pleased to state what passed on that occasion ? A. The roily information I had with respect to his having been with Lord Gambier, was from Admiral Harvey. Q. Be pleased to state what passed relating to the naval ser- Vice I—A. That which he stated was, that he had had a conver sation with Lord Gambier, relative to the appointment of an inferior officer to act against the French fleet, Ile said that he had volunteered his services to be employed on that duty. He Also mentioned that he had been several times treated lightly, and that be did not think his services had been attended to in the way they merited. There were other things said with a con ti lerable degree of warmth, as if the Admiral's (Harvey's) cooler j udgasent had no connection with the affair. In the course of the conversation he said not that Lord Gambier was, but " I am no.bypocrite, no canting Methodist, and no psalm-singer. I .do not cheat old women out of their estate by hypocrisy and ranting." He said he had voluuttsered his services to his Lord ship, and that be should have been very happy to have seen me :on any other occasion; but be felt bimselfextremely hurt at hav ing ainnior officer placed in a situation that was his right. He also said, " I have spoken to Lord Gambier with the same de gree of prudence as I have done to you, in the presence of Sir 11. Neale. Q. What answer did your Lordship muke to the •obsereations of Admiral Haryey?—A. I said, " You have a -strange notion of prudence, Admiral." Q. (By one of the Court.) Did Admiral Harvey in the pre sence of Sir H. B. Neale, exPros any opinion of Lord Gambier's conduct, as Commander in Chief?—A. Yes; he said that he dis approved of such conduct in many instances. I think he stated one in particular, carrying sail of a ship ankendangering the fleet. He said that it had long been or was his opinion that Lord Gambier wasnot equal to the command ; and that hr, meant bring his Lordship's conduct before a Court Martial. That was the impression on my mind. " • MAY 23. at the sulgestion of the Commander in Chief. It was an injury to every Officer in the fleet, and to the service in general, which I ;Treed to, sayini.:, he believed there was but one opinion through out the fleet, tlesaid Lord Gauthier': conduct to him on his re turn front Trafalzar, as well as his forwarding a letter by the Master of the Tonnant, for a Court l‘iartial on him, were proofs of his methodistical, .jesui-tical conduct, and of his vindictive :elt per. That Lord Gatubier's condnct since he took the com mand of the fleet, did not meet his a:;prnbation; :hat he em ployed the Officers in mustering the ship's companies, instead of gainite; information as to the soundinw: that he thnol;itt hin t quite thieqttal la the commaed of the fleet, and that he koew was of the same opinioz, and that it was unfair to put the ques tion to him. Lord Cochrane and Sir 11. Neale were w klog out the quarter-deck. Ido not know thrtt they heard the convt..rs:l - but I think - they must ; for they laughed, and " hear him! hear him!" Admiral Harvey, on going nuf of the ship, asked me again if I had made the Commander this offer of set vice, for he was ready to perform any duty. I told him I loud. I believe more might have been said as to the Commander's un fitness, but I avoided the conversation. It must have been head by the ship's crew, as I afterwards saw it in the public papers. He said he had spoken his mind to the Commander in Chief; but no one was present at the time. Q. Were any officers and men within hearing ?—A. Yes, there were not less than SO persons upon the quarter-deck. Q. (By Admiral Wells). Was Admiral Harvey second in com mand on either or both of those days ?—A. Certaluly ; his dog was flying. Captains 13sazsroan and BOWEN Were examined as to some expressions used by Admiral Harvey reflecting on Admi ral Gambier. SCCONT) DAY-TUESDAY, MAY 23. The Court resutned its sitting. this morning at half past nine o'clock, when the Admietl requested the permission of the Court for the Judge Advocate to read his defence, which was, done in very nearly the following words : -••• 66 MR. PRESIDENT AND GENTLEMEN, " I thank the Court for adjourning to this day. The inter val has given you an opportunity of perusing the evidence which has been brought forward; and, I trust, of discovering that it falls short of ,proving the charges that have been exhibited against 'me. 1 should, however, not act a fair and candid part, were Ito deny that a conduct which I cannot justify has been proved against me; and for this I now offer my most humble apologies to the Court. For the offence that 1 have given to the Commander in Chief, his Lordship has proved that t have already offered an apology that was satisfactory to his feelings, The Court will recollect, that although I have spoken of the. Commander in Chief in those terms for which I am very sorri, that I did not use lhcm with that publicity which the charge avers. I spoke 014 y to persons of rank in the Fleet, on whose minds my words could have no injurious effect ; and what said is not found to he disseminated amongst the- inferior classes of the navy : no seaman or petty officer has been called, who ever heard a word of the language which is the subject of the present complaint. The Court will also recollect that all the hamper. ate expressions used by me are proved to have been used at about the same time, a time whet' 1 was in a state of great irritation, arising from the silence with whicit . my offer In attack tho French fleet is as met. Au excess of zeal, and au impatience of restraint, when an opportunity for enterprise presents itself, although faults, are such as which the most eminent Naval Com manders have not been free; and the Kezt of these are all that can he found censurahle in my conduct. Never was it my in- tenfinir to t 1 !wait any superior Officer : on the contrary, my. whole life has been, and shall continue to be, entire submission to the commands of such superior officer. I have the honotn; to be known to many Gentlemen of the Court; and to them. I appeal, what my former character can say for me. shall also beg leave lo desire, that two letters from most distin guished persons, wider whom . 1 have had the honour to serve, may be read; and the manner in which my services have been estimated by them, will, 1 trust, have its due effect, iu formieg the judgment which I now await." The letters were then read. The first wasa letter from Lord Ctillingwood, dated on board the Euryalus, October 28, 1805. congratelating Admiral Harvey upon the victory off Trafalgar, and" on the noble and distinguished part the•Temeraire took. in the battle. N othiug can be finer," continued the fetter : have not wortls in which I can sufficiently express my :tarok:L. 7 fiat) of it." The second wa, a letter front Lord St. Vim:eat, oil Capt. BIDFORD examined. Q. State to the Court the observations WOE by Admiral liar eey to you, on or about the 2d of April last, alluding to the con t of the Commander in Chief?—A. He observed, that he wa; tr.t in the confidence of the Commander in Chief, that I would hits iltAt he was ready for any service then to be perform- Q. NV here did this conversation pass?—A. Ua the starboard ;44 v. There were a number of people round, officer:, i•• i ni it hearing. of the conversation. I observed that it was not rat of my n.ity to make such communication to the Commander an Chief, and desired the Admiral would lio it directly, or through Sir 11. 11 . Neale. He repeated his request, observing that con siderable time had been lost in making an attack on the energy, and that he had a plan for doing this, and shook! he much disap pointed if be were not allowed an oppottunity for putting it into .eiecation, and unless he were allowed means of doing He cleated excessively angry, and would not allow me nor any other per,on to ask him a question. Q. Did the Rear-Admiral on the following day again come on board the Caledonia P—A. Yes. Q. Had lie tbtu an interview with tile Commander in Chief in his Lordship's cabin I—A. I believe so: weal off he quarter-deck. Q. Did he afterwards on the quarter-deck make any, and what ob,ervatinni in you concerning the conduct of the Giromander in Chief?—oA. He told me to tell any person that the Tennant was ;•t his service, for he was determined to strike: his flag; that the prrsiin Iving, trot to perform the intended service, was certainly MIN