An Answer to "A Short Essay on the Modes of Defence best adapted to The Situation and Circumstances of this Island."
London: J. Almon, 1785. Presumed First Edition, First printing thus. disbound from volume. Format is approximately 5 inches by 8 inches. This has been removed from a bound volume, presumably a compendium of pamphlets. Pagination [2], 5-68 pages. Footnotes. Tabular data. The author of "A Short Essay" is reported to have been James Glenie. Field Marshal Charles Lennox, 3rd Duke of Richmond, 3rd Duke of Lennox, 3rd Duke of Aubigny, KG, PC, FRS (22 February 1735 – 29 December 1806), styled Earl of March until 1750, of Goodwood House in Sussex and of Richmond House in London, was a British Army officer and politician. He associated with the Rockingham Whigs and rose to hold the post of Southern Secretary. He was noteworthy for his support for the colonists during the American Revolutionary War, his support for a policy of concession in Ireland and his advanced views on the issue of parliamentary reform. He went on to be a reforming Master-General of the Ordnance first in the Rockingham ministry and then in the ministry of William Pitt. In January 1784 he joined the First Pitt the Younger Ministry as Master-General of the Ordnance; in this role he reformed the Department, introducing salaries for office holders, starting a survey of the South Coast (which led to the formation of the Ordnance Survey) and introducing new artillery (leading to the formation of the Royal Horse Artillery). James Glenie (or Glennie) FRSE FRS (1750 – 23 November 1817) was a Scottish soldier, businessman and political figure associated with New Brunswick. He represented Sunbury County in the Legislative Assembly of New Brunswick from 1789 to 1809. He attended the University of St Andrews, where he began studying divinity but later excelled in mathematics. He graduated MA in 1769. He entered the Royal Military Academy at Woolwich as a cadet in the Royal Artillery and became a second lieutenant in 1776. He served with John Burgoyne and Barrimore Matthew St Leger during the American Revolution. Later, working for Governor Frederick Haldimand, Glenie was charged with establishing a barracks on an island at the east end of Lake Ontario. After a series of disputes with the commanding officer on the island, he was put to work at Sorel instead while awaiting a court martial. He was found guilty of conduct unbecoming an officer but the verdict was overturned. In 1779, he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society. In 1785, he was supervising army work parties in the Saint John River area of New Brunswick. Glenie resigned his commission and brought his family to New Brunswick in 1787. He set up a business supplying masts for ships with a partner based in London. He encountered opposition in this enterprise from Thomas Carleton, governor for the province, who had taken part in Glenie's earlier court martial. Glenie began a series of attacks on Carleton and the ruling elite of the province. He was named deputy surveyor for the king's woods in New Brunswick in 1791 at the recommendation of John Wentworth. In January 1794, he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, upon the proposal of John Playfair, Thomas Charles Hope and Andrew Duncan. In 1804, Glenie left for England, leaving his wife, Mary Anne Locke, behind. A witness for the crown in the 1809 trial of Gwyllym Lloyd Wardle, he was severely criticized by Lord Ellenborough, the judge, and lost his reputation and positions. He died in poverty in Pimlico and was buried in the churchyard of St Martin-in-the-Fields in central London. Condition: Good.
Keywords: Great Britain, Defense, Master General of the Ordnance, Fortifications, Royal Navy, Dockyards, Military Expenditures, Defense Spending, Bombardment, Invasion, Military Policy, Defence Policy
[Book #83352]
Price: $150.00