These volumes present letters and other documents of St Vincent’s period as First Lord of the Admiralty, the most controversial and politically-heated of any during the time of the sailing navy. They are taken from his out-letter books, and do not include the replies. Unusually for Society volumes, the editor selected only a part of each letter for publication, but such severe editing does not entirely muffle the Earl’s spiky and forceful turn of phrase.
The subjects covered include the General Election of 1801, the Royal Marines, the dockyards and other parts of the civil administration of the navy. The volume ends with the strongly-worded and partisan printed pamphlet, entitled: Memoirs of the Administration of the Board of Admiralty under the presidency of Earl of St Vincent. All copies save one were destroyed, presumably because of its inflammatory nature, but one survived in the Grenville collection in the British Library. It is here reproduced in 130 pages.