Lord Howick will have a conversation with your Lordship on the mode of finally setteling with me, As the papers which I have from time to time written to Successive Ministers and to his Lordship may not be at hand at the time of such conversation, And as a right understanding of submarine Navigation with all its probable consequences Is I conceive of much importance to this government I beg your Lordships attention to the following observations which shall be as concise as possible, And I hope it will be admitted by your Lordship that whatever may be the effect of any Scientific discovery on the interest or politics of this country, It is better his Majesty’s Ministers should be acquainted with it than remain uninformed, And I conceive Investigation the more necessary when it is considered that discoveries in the Sciences have from age to age changed the whole art of war and the politics of nations. That being slow in the operation their consequences cannot be traced by ordinary men, who being creatures of habit and Guided by existing things consider new discoveries as Visionary or trivial Such were the Ideas of the Inventions of printing, gunpowder and the Mariners Compass had their authors Shown their consequences they would not have been believed by their Contemporaries. So my Lord when I say that I have discovered a mode of attacking Ships of war which if prosicuted to its Ultimate powers and rendered fameliar to all nations must from necessity destroy the existing system of military marines and alter the whole politics of Europe I do not expect to be believed by any but men of penitrating Judgement and Sound Sense nor do I expect them to believe me untill they have see the whole of the engines and had ample proof of the simple mode of using them and their certain destructive effects Now my Lord if this be a truth it is certainly important to know it, if it be false the conviction that it is so will be equally important for then there will be nothing to guard against, hence to place this Subject in its true light I have proposed to Lord Howick to form a committee compossed of Your Lordship Lord Moria Lord Sydmouth Lord Erskin Mr. Fox Mr. Windham Sir george Shee and Alexander Davison Esqr. the members of this committee are all friends to government to them I will exhibit all the machinery and modes of using it and Reasoning from Experiments already made endavour to Shew what may be done leaving to the committee to Judge whether my preceding assertion is true. And for Such communications I make no demand, but Should the committee find my assertion supported by facts It will be acknowledged that I have a high Interest in this produce of my own mind and that I have a right to prosecute it to the acquirement of fortune or fame, I have mentioned to Lord Howick my Views on fortune, the committee will Judge