The precise words in which Mr. Reed states that he
could have saved the Megasra had be chosen are contained in a letter from him to the Times, published on Tuesday, the 8th inst., and are as follows :—" Mr. Goschen goes on to say that Mr. Reed, when the- Megiera sailed, had a knowledge of a certain fact, and the Admi- ralty and myself had not that knowledge. It was not brought to- our notice till after the departure of the ship."1.'his, Sir, is most true, and it forms the very ground of my gravest complaint. The Admiralty ought to have known all that I knew, and they would. have known it if they had not precluded me from communicating with my successors. From the moment of leaving office I took every means, even those which were personally humiliating, rather than deprive the Admiralty at one stroke of the accumu- lated knowledge and experience that I had acquired in office. But I was repelled, affronted, and silenced." And consequently Mr. Reed, perhaps the man in all England best acquainted with the condition of her Majesty's ships, allowed this one to go to sea when he believed her unsafe, and could have stopped her by ten.. lines in the Times.
