The Sun.
London, England, 1804-03-16 00:00:00

UMBER 3587•]

IMPERIAL PARLIAMENT. 1

HOUSE OF PEERS.
THURSDAY, MARCH 15.
HEARD Counsel on Lady Mary Fitzgerald's claim to the
Ross Peerage ; to be further heard on Tuesday next.
A conversation ensued on the Irish Deacons' and Priests'
Bill, in which Lord ELLENiaolcoucti, the Bishops of Sr.
ASAPR. FERNS, HEREFOR.D,, and the LORD Cu...Lb/est-um,
Spoke, after which the Bill was ordered to be committed on
this day se'nnight.—Adjourned.

HOUSE OF COMMONS.
THURSDAY, MARCH 15.
THE Irish Duty Bill was read a third time and passed,.
The Irish Countervailing Duty Bill was read a thud time
and passed.
The Order of the Day was read for the second reading of
the Croydon Canal Bill, when Mr. 16t.t.tirvz moved that
it be read a second time this day six months. Atter a short
conversation between Mr. How Ak n, Lord W.Russtl.l., and
Mr. Cox, the Amendment was agreed to.
Mr. PITT rose to give notice that as Tuesday
next was an open day, he should on that clay
for leave to bring in a Bill for
ments in the making e Amend-
mode of some
raising an Army of Reserve,
and for the more effettual improvement of the
Army. He said his ohjeft was to bring in the Bill
in order that it alight be p , rinted and then lie over
till after the Recess.

CONDUCT OF THE ADMIRALTY.
Mr. PlT7' said he rose, in pursuance of the
Notice he had given, to call the attention
of he
House to some Motions which he had to sul)mit to their
consideration respeEling the Naval Defence of thed
Country. He had reason to believe that a part,ua,nas
an important part of the information whiChhe
desirous to obtain, was- not likely to meet. with any
opposition. As he was desirous of not tre•passinige
Unnecessarily upon the attention of the House, 1
Mould confine himself, in the first instance, to.
Merely opening. the general nature and objeti of his
Untilms, flattering himself that if they nict'with
arl, serinni objeaion, he should be allowed to enter
objinote at large into the discussion of the subjeft. The
eft of his first Motion would be, " That an
Humble Address be presented to His Majesty, pray.
ing that heAvotild be graciously pleased to give i_
zedions that there be laid before the
House an Ac..
count of the Number of Ships of the
Line 5.0 gun
sloopsi Armed Cutters, Sec. in
Ships, Frigates,
Commission on thel3lSt of Dec. 1..,
yj• on the 3oth
Sept. i got, and on the 31st Dec. ~`
1003, distinguish -
ill how many of them were employed as Guard-
etving Ship
Rec SI .Hoipital Ships, and Floating
ships,
ouches. The °hie of this Motion was to call for
a statement
of the Whole of the Naval rcitce of the
Country at the three periods he had alluded t°'
That description of the Naval Force which he meant
more particularly to allude to, was that which would
tie Most zpr.licAle thdillntif nifitilli in the presertt Cri-
6is, he meant that kind of route which was the best
calculated to defeat the preparations which the Enemy
had made for the Invasion of this. Country. He
had reason to believe that it would be found that the
description of force applicable to the peculiar pur-
pose of encountering with the Flotilla destined by
the Enemy for the Invasion of this Country, was
less in point both of number and of force, than it was
at a time when the danger was much less than it was
at present, and when there were not greater means
of preparation than might, with a little diligence,
have been found upnn the t
Was present occasion. He as.
tutned that it would be found to he much less than
i at any former period during the late War,
andhat he had
no doubt that he should- be able to
prove
it ought to have been
much greater. The ne
ouse xt
point to whlth he wished to call the attention
of the
was one which appeared to him to be of the
greatest importance. It Occurred to the Admiralty
Board that one part of the Naval Force of the
Countryi viz. that which from its size and con.
struftion was fit to aft in shallow water, requir-
ed some addition to be made, to it, and accordingly
by a public advertisement,. they intimated their in_
tendon of contrading for a number of un.vesseli.
'Why no such step was taken before 'night be flatter
of subsequent consideration.
.If he was not misin..
formed, this determination was adopted in January
1804, and then Contrads were entered into kr
building were Gun_ entered
five of which
Wer to be en Vessels,
in three months, and
three rmainder in six months. Now, whether this
Paper was or was not granted, it would be a mate-
rial point to inquire, why it was that this au
that: tation.was not thought of before ? When we knew
that in the course of the sunlnier great preparations
'were making hy the Enemy ; when it was said from
high authority, in the month of August, that vi-
gorous measures ought to be taken to Prevent in-
vasion; when we saw that the flotilla of the Enemy
Were colleding in their ports, under the eye of such
a naval force as we then had to watch them ; when
we saw that that flotilla had increased to between
two and three hundred in the month of November ;
and when we knew that there
of Boulogne alone above were in the harbour
00 sail, independent of
ere t
those which wolleaed 10
in the Texel, in Flush-
int", in fielvoet, Brest, and the other ports of
France and Holland; when we were told by
Government that we might expeft the Invasion
from day to day ; when that warning had been
There than once repeated ; when we saw the im-
rnense preparations of the Enemy, delayed only to
form them upon a scale greater than even apprehen-
sion had estimated ; v, hen we knew that in the'
50 Powerful Gun
harbour of Boulogne the
Enemy had collefted above
fi°till
1 t 80-ats to escort the rest of their
a o our shores ; when all these circumstances
Were considered, it was surely a subjed well de-
serving of inquiry, as
this augmentation to that
Vecies of our Naval Force was thought of at so
latebefore a period, and whir such an interval interposed
these Vessels weie contraaed for ? fic now