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THE DUKE OF BEDFORD'S SPEECH 49
discussion of the mutiny at such a critical moment, when
the discontent in the fleet was not wholly allayed, and
the terms of agreement had not yet been ratified by
Parliament, and on the motion of Grenville the House
adjourned. The ministry were anxious that the mutiny
should be forgotten as soon as possible. They knew
that the measures of financial reform were about to come
before the House of Commons, and they hoped that the
whole difficulty would very soon be at an end, and that
it would never be revived.
But Bedford's speech had done its work, and had
undone the work of the Admiralty. A plain report of
his question and of the discussion which followed it
might well unsettle the minds of the seamen. Plain
reports, however, were not all that came to arouse doubt
and discontent in the fleet. Some newspaper writers
seem to have misconstrued the debate as a suggestion
that the government intended to cheat the seamen by
refusing to ratify the promises of the Admiralty. And
there are rumours that handbills were printed, announcing
that the concessions would be, or had been, rejected
by Parliament. All these papers have apparently been
destroyed and we can only guess at their character.
None of the Whig journals have any comments on the
discussion in the House of Lords, and clearly none of
their writers had any suspicion of the fresh discontent
in the fleet, or made any effort to stir up discontent. And
it
is doubtful whether any files of the more revolutionary
organs have been preserved.
Although there is no direct proof of the existence of
the mischievous newspapers and handbills there is
enough indirect evidence to show beyond doubt that such
writings were issued, and were distributed in the fleet
with the deliberate object of exciting a fresh mutiny.
The authorities in Portsmouth were universally of
opinion that people on shore had been tampering with
the loyalty of the seamen. The London Evening Post