784 Ann. Naval Expeditions, &c. of the English, Book V*

1704.

The House

©/"Lords

(ensures

Vice-Admi-

ra/Graydon.

Changes inthe mini-

py-

give an Account, first of some Occur-rences at and near Home, and then ofSir Cioudesty Shovel's Proceedings, witha Squadron under his Command.

I have already given my Readers anAccount how Vice-Admiral Graydon' sBehaviour, in suffering Monsieur DuGaffe's Squadron to escape, was censur-ed, and how he was screened by anAdvertisement in the Gazet-, But thisdid not hinder the House of Lords fromtaking this Matter, as well as some o-ther Affairs relating to the Sea, undertheir Consideration, and coming to Re-solutions thereupon, (k)

The Parliament being prorogued,

the third of April , not many Days after, ij°4•

there happened great Changes in theCourt and Ministry, and particularlythe Earl of Nottingham resigned his Postof Secretary of State.

Commadore Butler'r Expedition on theCoaff of Normandy.

An Express from Commadore Butler , Severaldispatched the eighth of Apr it, from French.the Bay of Cherbourg, brought Advice,that the said Commadore, being thenCaptain of Her Majesty’s Ship the Wor-cester, having received Advice, that a-

bout

the Common Cause, but to the Success of the En-terprize upon Spain, as well as easily put in Exe-cution, according to what had already been repre-sented to Admiral Rooke.

When at Barcelona , if Advice sliould comefrom the Duke of Savoy, that Nice was besieged,then the Admiral might go to the Rel.ef of it, ac-cording to his Orders; But if no such Advicesliould come, that then the Enterprise upost Bar-celona might be executed, to the Good of theCommon Cause, and without the Admiral’s beingwanting in his due Obedience to the Orders hehad from Her Majesty of Great Britain-

But if his Royal Highness, the Duke of Sa-voy , sliould press to have the Fleet go up thither ;And it might thereupon be judged necessary to ap-point a Rendezvous, all that His Catholick Maje-sty desired was, that it might be at Barcelona,since even that alone would be of great Benefit tothe Enterprize upon Spain, and consequently veryadvantageous to the Allies.

The Almirante of Caftille said also, that HisCatholick Majesty desired to know, if when theFleet was on the Coast of Piedmont, and Nice notbesieged, nor that Coast invaded by Sea, by theFrench, by what Time it might return to executethe Enterprize upon Catalonia.

He also demanded whether, when the Serviceof Catalonia being ended, (which it was supposedwould soon be) the Fleet could proceed to theCoasts of Naples and Sicily, to give Life to HisCatholick Majesty’s Party, in those Kingdoms,and to the Dispositions there might be in them,for the Benefit of the Common Cause, and theUniversal Good.

In Answer to these Proposals, it was resolved,that the Fleet sliould proceed to the Relief ofNice, and Villa Franca, according to former Re-solutions; But first fail to the Northward of theIslands of Majorca and Minorca, and, if theWinds would permit, as near the Coast of Cata-lonia, as might be convenient, for gaining Intelli-gence ; But that, if they met with certain Advice,that neither of the two Places beforementionedWere attacked, the Fleet sliould stop at Barcelo-na, and give His Catholick Majesty’s Affairs allpossible Countenance and Assistance , in thoseParts.

IF certain Intelligence could not be gained, andthat when the Fleet arrived at Nice, or VillaFranca, it sliould be found they were not besieg-ed, it was resolved to return, without Loss ofTime, to Barcelona, and, as soon as the Serviceon the Coast of Catalonia sliould be over, to actfarther, as might be judged most advantageous,by a Council of War, for the Service of the Kingof Spain , and the Common Interest ; And the

Flag-Officers were likewise of Opinion, that fourof the Ships expected from England might be suf-ficient to convoy the Victualers and Transports tothe Fleet.

(k) The seventeenth of March, the Commit- Cotnplfftee of Lords appointed to inspect the Affairs of Histthe Navy, resolved : That Vice-Admiral Grayden, Europ &with a Squadron of Her Majesty’s Ships of Warunder his Convoy, meeting with four French Ships,in his Passage to the West-Indies, and letting themescape, without attacking them, according to hisDuty, from the Pretence of his Instructions, hadbeen a Prejudice to the Queen’s Service, and agreat Dislionour to the Nation.

The next Day, they resolved likewise, (1.)

That Admiral Gray don’s, disorderly Proceedings,in pressing of Men, in Jamaica, and severe Us geof Masters of Merchant-Men, and Tranfport-Vessels, under his Command there, had been agreat Discouragement to the Inhabitants of thatIsland, and prejudicial to Her Majesty’s Service :

And, (2 ) That Admiral Graydon, having behavedhimself so ill, in this Expedition to the Weft-In-dies , was not fit to be employed in Her Majesty’sService: Which Resolutions were agreed to bythe House; And, together with some Abuses inVictualing the Navy, and other Things, laid be-fore Her Majesty, in a long Address. WithRegard to the Abuses in Victualing the Navy,their Lordships laid great Blame on the Prince sCouncil, for having delayed the Execution of hisRoyal Highnesses Order, for a Survey of the Pro-visions complained of, for near three Months, andthereby giving great Discountenance to the Com-plaint, and an Opportunity of removing or chang-ing the tainted and stinking Provisions complainedof; Which Neglect, among other Proofs of it,they fay was evident from several Letters whichpass’d between Mr. Hoar (one of the Complainants)and Mr. Secretary Burchett, the former insisting,that the Persons he had desired to be presentwould not attend at the Survey, unless they wereimpowered by the Admiralty, and Mr. Burchettacquainting him, that such a Power was not judg-ed either reasonable or proper to be given. WithRespect to the Expedition into the Mediterranean,the last Summer, which had raised so great ahExpectation in the World, and concluded with solittle Advantage to the Undertaking, they toldHer Majesty ; It was their Opinion, that theTime the Fleet failed from England , being aboutthe Middle of July, under the Order Sir CloudestyShovel had to return out of the Streights withinthe Month of September, made it impossible to exe-cute the Main Services, that appeared before theCommitte were required to be performed by hisInstructions.