Mr. Secretary Yorke,wished the right hon. gent. (Mr. Pitt) would have the goodness to state to the House what were the papers which he intended to move for, in order that the object of the motion might be clearly understood.
Mr. Pittdeclared that he had no objection to gratify the desire of the right hon. Secretary in that respect. He said he had indeed already communicated the substance of his motion to one of the Lords of the Admiralty, from whom he thought ministers might probably have heard it. It was his intention to move for an account of the number of that description of force which is best calculated to repel the attacks of the enemy at the present moment, that we have now in commission, he meant frigates, sloops, cutters, and all the smaller description of armed vessels which were capable of sailing in shallow water, and defending our coast. He meant also to move for an account of a similar nature, with respect to that species of force in the year 1S01, with a view of comparing them together. Pie should also move for an account of the naval force of the country of another description, namely, ships of the line, which we had in commission in the year 1793, and in the year 1801, and also the amount of those which had been launched since that 849 period, or which may have been laid down, or building in his Majesty's dock-yards. The number of seamen which were employed in his Majesty's navy at those different periods should also be an object of his motion. Upon the whole, as it was his wish to have every information which could lead to a fair comparison of the state of our naval defence at different times and under different circumstances, he could not positively say that it might not possibly branch out to oilier heads than those which he had already stated.