The Sun.
London, England, 1823-03-05 00:00:00

occupation of the British ships of war on the Jamaica Motion, and
diverts their attentll filfm- the protection:orPritlsh commerce
and the suppression of piracy, might be properly regulated and
restricted. At the time these letters were written, the. Admiralty
laboured iinderkreat unpopularity, Taunts were thrown in many
of the public papers upon their naval administration, which WAS
fitated.to have redueed the Ereittest naval power in the world to
receive that protection to her commerce from the cruisers of the
Mnited,States, which her own navy did not give ; galling com-
pariions.were made hetWeen the activity of the American ships
of and the apathy Of our own ; the repeated accounts were
given of depredations committed upon British Commerce,"and
atrocious barbarities practised upon British. subjects. At such
a moment nothing could beluore opportunetor redeeming the
'character of theAdMiralty in the estimation'of the public than
the appearance;of these letters in all the daily papers. It ope-
rated cola a charm in allaying the irritation. and disquietude of
the public mind,' and led to a general belief that our trade was
fully proteeted, and that the piracies would soon be suppressed.
When, however, the Admiralty found that these statements
did not pass current with the plain men of busineas to whom
they were addressed, 'they seem to have felt sore, and they
treated the Committee of Lloyd's, who for months past had re-
peatedly rung their dismal tales in their ears, much in the man.
ner that King Richard the Third is described by Shakspeare
as treating his messengers of evil tidings.
• ". Out on ye owls, nothing but songs of death ?
" 'There, take thou that, 'till thou bring better news :"
and the King, suiting the action to the word, gives the poor fel-
low a good knock-down blow. In cases were men propagate
contradictory reports, the usual course is, to produce their re-
spective authorities, and thus ascertain the truth. The Com-
'mace for managing the affairs of Lloyd's did this; but the
Admiralty, instead of following their example, broke oil'' all
intercourse with them in a tone of offended dignity. 'We have
the highest possible authority for the right rule of conduct on
such occasions. When one of the Apostles 'was incredulous,
his Divine Lord and Master immediately gave-him the sods;
faction he required ; but had an individual been, placed in the
same situation, who had not the means of removing his doubts,
what would he have done ? Just what the Admiralty did : he
would have talked of the marked disrespect with which he was
treated, of the little confidence that was placed in his communica-
tions, and have broken off all further intercourse with the unbe-
lieving disciple. My firm belief is, that the papers I move for
will not justify the assertion contained in the letters of the
Secretary of the Admiralty. If they do, they. will only transfer
the blame to those on whose communications the assertions
in question were founded. l• have shown them to be con-
trary to fact; and it is just and necessary that the real authors
of the misrepresentations which haie been made to the public
should be known, in order that They may be 'exposed and
punished as they deserve.. I shall therefore now move,—
"'That an humble addres.s be presented to his Majesty, pray-
ing that he will be graciously pleased to direct that there be
laid before this House copies of the letters from John Wilson
Croker, Esq., Secretary of the Admiralty, to Mt. John Ben-
-nett, jun. dated the oth of October last; and to Mr.
Alderman Daniel. of Bristol, dated the 10th of October last,
together with copies of the minutes or resosoltions of the Board
of .Admirlty, in conformity to which the said letters . were
written. Copy of a letter from Captain Walcott, of his Ma-
eesty's ship Carnation, to the Secretary of the Admiralty, dat-
d the 12th of August last. • Copies of the log-books of his
Maje.sty's ship Carnation, from the 10th of August to the 15th
of September; and of his Majesty's ship Dotterel, from the
11th to the 22d of August last. Copy of the Address from
the merchants at Havantutit to Captain Warren, of his Majes-
c's ship Seringapatani, dated the 14th of December last."--
lear, hear, hear !)

Sir GEORGE COCKBURN said, he should trouble the
House with a plain statement of facts, and a few observations.
Ile was sure he should be able to convince the House that the
motion of the Hon. 111 ember for Sandwich was founded in error,
snd that it would not have been made in case the lion. Mem-
her and the Society of Lloyd's had condescended to receive in.
formation from the Admiralty.—( Hear, hear!)—lt would be
necessary to meet the question upon two points, because the
Hon. Member had mixed up transactions in the West Indies
with the conduct of the Admiralty. At the time the letter was
received from Lloyd's, stating the capture of the Vittoria, the
Admiralty lied made every arrangement for the protection of
the West India trade. They had received a letter from Capt.
Walcot, stating that the Carnation was arriving off' Cape A.n-
tonio. That Officer had sailed from the Havannali, end was
proceeding to take his station off Cape AntOnio for the protee.
tion of the trade, according to the 'orders of AdmirallitowleY ;
but in consequence of news of the capture of the Vittoria; she
sailed again for the Havannah, and fell in with 17 sail of mer-
chantmen, all safe. As the Dotterel was to sail on the 14th from
thallavannali, it was expected that vessel would see the trade
safe through the Gulph Stream, and secure their safety. If she
did not see them round Cape Antonio, he should himself insure
their safety. The Gallant Officer read an extract from the letter,
and added that the conduct of Admiral Rowley for the protec-
tion of trade was approved by the Admiralty. It was quite
clear from the letter, that the Carnation sailed from the Ha-
muth to go to Jamaica. The Commander was, however,
anxious to stay off Cape St. Antonio for the protection of the
trade, and he did not leave them until they were in safety,
AVith respect to the Doterel, she was reported in the letter to
be going through the Gulf, and consequently she was ready to
protect the trade in that. passage. It was clear from this letter
that the Admiralty was In possession of information respecting
the trade, but it was too much to tell the Society at Lloyd's,
that the oterel would give protection,' because she might
not trill in with the trade, but the Admiralty said the Car-
nation was going to Cape Antonio; and that the Doterel
was in the neighbourhood. The 'Admiralty had no idea the
above information would give offente, but to their great sur-
prise, the next day came a letter from Lloyd's, saying the
information was not,correct, and that they had better informa.
tion. ' With respect to the Doterel, they found she was at
Newyork ; but the Admiralty knew all that could be known
at Lloyd's, and they thought it better to invite, the Gentle.
men of that body to conic and receive verbal information.
The Admiralty thought it fair to place before them what
gicy could not put in print, namely, the disposition of the
Vest India force. At that time nine or ten sail 'were em.
ployetl for the protection of the merchants. After the in-
vitation was sent, the Gentlemen being disposed to amuse
themselves on. Saturday, said they would come an Monday.
They did not, however, come to the Admiralty. They said
they had been invited by the Secretary Instead of the Board.
',Vhe.Adrriiialty replied, that they hail directed the Gentlemen
should be invited in the usual form, and if a mistake had oc-
curred, it was not from intention.—{Hear, hear, hear I)—The
Gallant Officer submitted to the House, that the Board, stand-
ing in the situation of Lord High Admiral, did quite enough
when they said, Gentlemen, we did not mean to offend you,
but we were under a inistake.”—(Hear !)—They wrote a letter
.in those terms, and the answer, to their surprise, was, that the
Admiralty acted wrong. It was then impossible to continue
the correspondence. The Committee of Lloyd's said they knew
no reason why a verbal communication should be given instead
of a written document, and that it was necessary to have a com-
munication in writing. It was impossible to go about dis-
cussing Whether the Admiralty were right or not.. It was ne.
eeuary the information should be correct ; but' if a dispute
were suffered to arise, as to whether the Admiralty informa-
tion or Lloyd's was most correct, I there would never be an
end to it. Although the Admiralty were ready to give infor-
mation, they would not enter into such a dispute, therefore de-
clined further correspondence. If any public inconvenience
could possibly have occurred by the course the Admiralty
pursued, they might have paused, but it did not appeer neces-
sary to keep tip the correspondence with Lloyd's. He knew all the merchants at Lloyd's. It was true that they insured the
ships of all nations, and information might be of great im-
portance to them but it was considered more regular to give
information to ship owners, than persons at Lloyd's. Under
any circumstances the Admiralty were proper judges whether
information they were disposed to give ought to be verbal, or
in writing.—(Hear, hear I)—He therefore did think the Com-
mittee of Lloyd's had been wrong in saying the
,y would have
information in their own way. The Honourable Gentleman
had thought proper to say_ there was not sufficient force for the
Protection of the trade. The fact was, the Carnation was sent
out to the Gulf of Mexico Y ; she was to communicate with era and Santiago, and take in specie. She went to the
Havannah, and was sent by the Admiral to take her station off
Cape Antonio for the protection of the trade. The Timor, had
similar orders. The Hon. Gentleman had argued as if the Ha-
vennah, Cape Antonio, and Saddle Hill were the same place.
Cape Antonio was 100 in ilex froneSaddle Hill. The Admiral took
eare.to station vessels off Cape Antonio; the Scout, as early
ap the 19th of May, was stationed there. She was obliged to
give up the station, and the Admiralty sent the Tyne to take her
Place. The Hon. Gentleman said the merchants waited *for
conv(l until the 27th of May, and yet the Scout was on the
station on the 19th of May. The Athi Scout, the Tyne and the genia all ready to afford protection. The Admiralty had it
in their power to have made out a strong case against the as.
sertions at Lloyd's, but they had mind enough not to regard
all that was said. With respect to the destruction of the
'Pirates, it was well known that the coast of Cuba was not
coast to be quickly cleared of the pirates which infested
it. They used, vessels called passage boats, in which the
a,..arauders, with long knives, boarded vessels and made their
Convoys could not protect vessels, because the
boats ran ashore, and the crews escaped. The. Adrni-
t4ltY thought it their duty to put dawn the system of plunder
at once.
which readily
A.pplication was made to the Spanish Government,
consented to give assistance. A force was then
2444 !{) atibdue them Spain furnished troops to take them,