Volume 2 — CHAP. XXXIII. OPENING OF PARLIAMENT, 1812.

SIR FRANCIS BURDETT’S ADDRESS SECONDED BY ME.—EMPLOYMENT OF THE NAVY.—NAVAL DEFENCES.—THE ADDRESS REJECTED.—CURIOUS LETTER FROM CAPT. HALL.—PERVERSION OF NAVAL FORCE IN SICILY.—A NAUTICO-MILITARY DIALECT.—USELESSNESS OF OUR EFFORTS UNDER A FALSE SYSTEM, WHICH EXCLUDES UNITY OF PURPOSE.

The opening of the session of 1812 was in many ways remarkable. The speech of the Prince Regent, read by the Lords Commissioners, made everything couleur de rose, both as regarded our foreign wars and domestic policy. Notwithstanding that we were on the brink of war with America, both Houses were assured that the affair of the Chesapeake had been “finally adjusted, though other, discussions were not yet brought to a close.” The finances were represented as being in a flourishing condition, and His Royal Highness had no doubt of the liberal disposition of Parliament “to sustain the country in the great contest in which it was engaged.”

The hollowness of these representations was met by Lord Grenville, who contrasted it with the “critical circumstances of the times, and the present alarming state of the country. The framers of the speech, said 216his Lordship, were the very men who by their obstinate blindness had brought the country to the brink of ruin, but who, in the midst of the distresses they had themselves occasioned, still held forth the same flattering and fallacious language. He would protest against a continuance of those measures which had brought such calamities upon the country. People might choose to close their eyes, but the force of truth must dispel the wilful blindness.”

Lord Grey similarly denounced the policy which was “the source of present and impending calamities. Yet these very complications were brought forward in assertion that the system of the government had contributed to the security, prosperity and honour of the country!” &c. &c.

In the House of Commons an unusual circumstance occurred. After the speech had been read by the Speaker, Lord Jocelyn was rising to move the usual complimentary address, but Sir Francis Burdett, having risen at the same time, first caught the eye of the Speaker, who decided that Sir Francis was in possession of the House.

One of the honourable baronet’s cutting speeches followed, in which he denounced the Ministers as an “oligarchy of rotten-boroughmongers”—who alike imposed upon the people and the Prince Regent. “A system of taxation had been created which ruined many and oppressed all. This fiscal tyranny being carried to its height, the lower orders had been reduced to a state of pauperism—whilst the desperate resistance which such pauperism was calculated to produce 217was kept down by the terrors of a military force. Depôts, barracks, and fortifications had been established in all quarters, and foreign mercenaries, who had been unable to defend their own country, had been brought over to protect the native land of courage and patriotism, or rather to protect its rulers against an indignant and oppressed people, and to support the scandalous invasions of the liberty of the press, and the severe punishments with which those who ventured to express popular opinions were visited by the courts of justice.”

This interruption by Sir Francis took the House by surprise, but still greater was its astonishment when the honourable baronet proposed, in place of the ordinary address to the Prince Regent, a memorial of remonstrance, laying before his Royal Highness all the instances of misgovernment and oppression—of infringement of the public liberty, and accumulation of abuses, which had been characteristic of the system pursued by Government for many years past.

As a matter of course, the address proposed by Sir Francis was read by the Speaker, amidst the ill-concealed dismay of those most affected by it. I then rose to second the address, denouncing the impolicy of the war, and more still the way in which it was conducted, so far as the policy of ministers was concerned. The subjoined is from the usual reports of the period.

“Lord Cochrane rose for the purpose of seconding the address of the honourable baronet. He agreed with the speech delivered in the name of the Prince Regent, that a high tribute was due to the bravery of our army in Portugal, 218and to the conduct of the Commander-in-Chief, but he would deny that the war in the Peninsula would come to speedy or successful conclusion. The forces of Great Britain there were insufficient to cope with those Buonaparte could bring against us as soon as he had completed the subjugation of Spain and obtained command of its resources. Of this, we were quiet spectators. To what was our army indebted for its success and for maintaining itself in Portugal, but to the unproductiveness of that country. Every credit was due to Lord Wellington for his conduct of affairs, but even his lordship expected little from the Portuguese, who were dragged to the army more like slaves than soldiers, to support, they did not know what. At Peniche he had seen ten thousand of them collected, almost naked, and in want of every necessary.

“The Portuguese were themselves despots. The dungeons of the Inquisition were full of victims, and the British minister, who formed part of the Regency, was lately under the necessity of retiring from Lisbon that he might not appear to countenance arrests and imprisonments which he could not approve. He would not scruple to assert that the Portuguese government was obnoxious to every class of society in that country. Nay, farther, that both in Sicily and in Portugal the British name was detested, because of the support which this country gave to the respective governments of each with all their oppressive abuses.

“With regard to Sicily, he thought that the real purpose of ministers was not so much to keep the French out of that island as to keep the people subject to one of the most despotic governments in existence. With regard to Portugal, which was considered of such importance, he would ask, How long would our army defend that country? Only till the French had made themselves masters of Spain, and then it would be compelled to retire within its fortified lines, the whole extent of which could not afford grass enough to feed bullocks for six weeks’ subsistence of the troops alone. He would assert, as a fact, extraordinary as it might appear, that even at present the bullocks and flour for the supply of Lord 219Wellington’s troops passed through the French army with licenses from the interior of Spain. This was a notorious fact, and he would leave the House to make reflections upon it.

“The noble lord then adverted to that part of the honourable baronet’s proposed address, which referred to the internal state of the country, and professed his concurrence with the greater portion of the sentiments therein contained. All must own that the freedom of the people had been greatly encroached upon, particularly by the oppressive mode of levying taxes, the produce of which, he regretted to say, was grossly misapplied. No part of a man’s house was free from the visits of the tax-gatherer, and a man could not remove articles that had paid duty on importation, without a permit, even so much as a dozen of wine. The noble lord trusted that a committee would be appointed to take both the conduct of the war, and the state of the nation into consideration.

“Lord Cochrane then adverted to that part of the speech which referred to the naval defences of the country, and maintained that our naval force was not rendered efficient in annoying the enemy. Commanding the seas, as this country did, our navy ought to be employed in threatening the coast of France in all directions, by which means Buonaparte would be compelled to keep his armies at home, instead of sending them to be fed, clothed, and paid by our allies! for the purpose of their own subjugation. Were the gigantic naval force of England used as it ought to be, the whole force of France, vast as it was, would prove inadequate to the defence of its widely extended shores. Perhaps demonstrations of attack might prove sufficient. If the enemy despised these, it would then be, as at this moment it was, easy to destroy everything on the French coasts, for England could, in spite of all the efforts of the enemy, being a force to any given point far superior to anything the enemy could assemble for our annoyance, and thus we might effect most powerful diversions.”

220The address proposed by Sir Francis and seconded by myself was, of course, unsuccessful. The mover of the address originally intended was Lord Jocelyn, who, when I had concluded, made not a word of allusion to any part of the speeches of Sir Francis or myself, beyond stating that “he wholly disapproved of all we had said.” Such was legislation in those days, that the arguments of those who did not belong to the ruling faction were not listenedlistened to, much less answered. Lord Jocelyn’s address, which was only an echo of the Lords Commissioners’ speech, had, however, to be proposed as an amendment to that of Sir Francis, and was carried without a division.

The feeling towards myself for having—as was said—“thought fit to countenance Sir Francis”—needs not be animadverted on. Yet I had given some good advice as to the way in which our naval power was frittered away to no purpose. English historians, by their silence on this point, appear to have little conception as to the extent of the evil.

As in seconding the address of Sir Francis Burdett, I had mentioned Sicily, I will give a remarkable example of the way in which war was carried on in that quarter against the French! The reader may deduce from that why I was not permitted to put my plans of harassing the French coast into execution.

The following letter is from Captain Robert Hall, commanding what was singularly enough called the “army flotilla” at Messina. The document is a curious one, and may do something towards enlightening future English historians:—

221

“Messina, Jan. 14, 1812.

“My dear Lord,—It is so long since I heard of you, and being disappointed at not seeing you in this country, as the papers gave us reason to believe, that I must take the liberty of asking you how you are. We were led to expect you in the Mediterranean with a flying squadron, but I am sorry to see there is now no probability of it.

“I am serving here in an amphibious kind of way—having the rank of brigadier to command an ‘army flotilla!’‘army flotilla!’ but why it should be an ‘army’ one I cannot find out, though I have well considered the matter for the last eighteen months.

“There is an immense naval establishment here of a hundred and forty vessels of different descriptions quite independent of the Admiral!^[79] These are maintained by the British Government, at an expense of at least 140,000l. per annum. I have, in fact, lessened its expense by 60,000l. a year, merely by reducing the pay of the seamen to the standard of our own, though they have been paid at double the rate of English sailors, whilst the padrones of gunboats, taken from the streets, are paid more than our lieutenants.

“It is a singular thing that this establishment cannot be thrown into its proper channel—the navy. The island of Zante has another flotilla of 60,000 dollars a month to protect it, and the commandant of the barren rock of Lissa—not content with his gunboats—sent in, the other day, a serious memorial, stating the necessity of defending his island, by placing gunboats all round it, wherever there were no guns on shore! If this flotilla mania should reach our West India Islands, what will be the consequence? At least, I should think as army matters are conducted, an expense equal to one half that of the whole navy! It is the duty of officers to serve where they are ordered, but this 222mixture of services is, I believe, altogether new, and may, if followed up, be fatal to the independent spirit of the navy. If that spirit perishes all ardour is gone, and we shall be like some foreign countries where the services are mixed—neither the one thing nor the other.

“My Lord, I believe you know me. You may therefore guess my feelings, after eighteen years’ service, to be ordered to serve under a person who is a perfect stranger to the service to which I belong. What do you think of an order to make a passage to Zante in the dead of winter by sailing close to the land in the Gulf of Tarento? It is too ridiculous—and really deserves the consideration of the Admiralty.

“If we can combine our naval and military tactics, it will be a greater effort of human ingenuity than has hitherto been devised. We may then dispense with the rapidity of our manœuvres and ‘march in ordinary time.’ Figure to yourself eighteen subalterns of different regiments commanding divisions of the flotilla! When I took it out to sea, they were all sea-sick, and——about the decks! Each of these subalterns received seventeen and sixpence a day for this extraordinary and fatiguing service;—nearly three times as much as a lieutenant in the navy!

“Endeavour, my Lord, to reconcile the meaning of such an establishment, glancing your eye at the same moment on the manner of conducting the flotilla establishment at Cadiz. We have at this moment more troops on the Faroe line, than the French have in both Calabrias—independent of those which, under our nautico-military chief, sacrificed our friends in Catalonia.

Yet there is a sad outcry here. We tell the Sicilians that they mean to murder us all, and there is no doubt their will is good enough.^[80] Numerous are the remonstrances against sending a single soldier out of the island. The firm and 223manly mind of Lord William Bentinck was proof to this outcry, and it is to be regretted that circumstances did not admit of this zealous and active officer accompanying the expedition himself. Nothing can equal my respect for Lord William Bentinck as a soldier and a gentleman, but I must say with old Neptune, when jealous of the interference of some “long shore” Deity,

‘Non illi imperium pelagi sævumque tridentem

Sed mihi—sorte datum est.’

What end, what purpose, can it answer, to put a naval establishment under the command of a person who acknowledges that he does not know how to use it? As it was formed under the auspices of my Lord Mulgrave, this arrangement may probably have been made with a view of simplifying naval matters. For example, my Lord, the long sentence of “back the main topsail,” might be more readily expressed by the short word “halt!” “Filling and making sail,” according to the strength of wind, might be called “marching in quick or ordinary time!” Instead of boatswain’s mates to “march off” the different “detachments” of the watch, it would, according to our present system, be more regular to “march them off with corporals!” though in squally weather this might be inconvenient. In short, there might be many improvements. The army officer appointed to command one of our vessels mislaid what he called the “route given him by the Quarter-Master-General!” “lost his way,” as he expressed it, and got ashore in the Gulf of Squillace. On his exchange he reported to me that “the night was so dark, he could not see the rock on which the vessel ran!” and that when fast, “a board broke in her bottom, so that the water ran in so fast, he could not scoop it out again! Thus it is, that Mr. Bull is humbugged. For my part, I have remonstrated repeatedly on the folly of this establishment, and it only remains with me to serve where I am ordered.

224“Of the politics of this country the public journals will have informed your Lordship. We are certainly doing nothing in the way of amelioration, and all parties seem discontented. The newfangled constitution strikes too much home to be popular amongst those who profited by the old system. Our views are certainly for the prosperity of Sicily, yet no Sicilian thinks so. They dislike us, and I believe they know not why. Some of the knowing ones appear apprehensive of our assuming the government altogether; and urge their fears of our treating them as we do the Irish Catholics! The French partisans, of course, make the most of this state of things.

“It is to be hoped that Buonaparte’s failure in Russia will blast his other prospects, or Sicily will be his in a short time, if we do not oblige the Government to adopt some energetic measures. If they would only put the troops we have here on shore in Calabria, there would be no necessity for gunboats. They would excite an immediate insurrection, and would throw plenty of grain, of which we are in want, into Sicily. But if the Sicilian troops should intend running away on the approach of a French regiment—as they did formerly—we had better remain and colonise at Messina.

“Your Lordship’s faithful servant,

“Robert Hall.

“The Lord Cochrane.”

The above will show the useless manner in which our best naval force and officers were employed—no less than their testimony to their own uselessness. Yet with upwards of a thousand ships in commission, we had no naval enemy to oppose, and persisted in employing our seamen anywhere but on the enemy’s coast! For simply urging the common sense employment of our numerous navy, and a proper investigation into the minor details which crippled its action, I was 225regarded as a common disturber of the ministerial peace.

Yet it had not been my intention to throw blame on the Admiralty, but simply on the system under which they continued to act, but which, for all practical purposes, had become obsolete. The Admiralty, whatever might be its wish, was unable to do its work for want of some one of high professional skill and resolute character, whose business it should be authoritatively to investigate the efficiency of naval establishments, and personally to superintend investigation alike into inefficiency and suggested improvements. Had this been done, many evils, hidden from the knowledge of successive Admiralties, would be perceived and remedied.

The Admiralty, even as at present constituted, is not sufficiently numerous to execute so many and such varied duties, even though the ability of the members comprised all professional knowledge, and that their industry was indefatigable. The overwhelming pressure of detail renders inquiry into, and deliberation on, important matters impracticable, whilst on minor matters it is prohibitory, and thus abuses remain unremedied, because unperceived.

The Board, at all times within my recollection, has been one of reference to persons in inferior departments. These persons pronounce an unquestioned verdict on all matters referred to them; their reports remaining concealed under a rule adopted to avoid trouble or correspondence, the framers of the rule not anticipating that such concealment may be fraught with the most injurious consequences to the navy, whilst 226it may shield from exposure the most self-interested and flagrant impositions.

This, however, is not the place to enter on a subject, the ramifications of which have penetrated into every department, till beyond the control of the most patriotic and unflinching; who, with all their pains, can only arrive at the one fact, that the whole system requires renovation, which, as it is nobody’s business, is never undertaken.

So long, however, as such a system exists, so long shall we be in danger of being taken unawares by powers fully alive to the importance of unity of purpose and action. To such a system we have nothing to oppose in case of emergency but our own embarrassment.

227