ld not be safe to neglect the popular demand for it. In 1745 the duke
of Bedford, the new first lord, invited Anson to join the admiralty with
the rank of rear-admiral of the white. As subordinate under the duke, or
Lord Sandwich, and as first lord himself, Anson was at the admiralty
with one short break from 1745 till his death in 1762. His chiefs in the
earlier years left him to take the initiative in all measures of reform,
and supported him in their own interest. After 1751 he was himself first
lord, except for a short time in 1756 and 1757. At his suggestion, or
with his advice, the naval administration was thoroughly overhauled. The
dockyards were brought into far better order, and though corruption was
not banished, it was much reduced. The navy board was compelled to
render accounts, a duty it had long neglected. A system of regulating
promotion to flag rank, which has been in the main followed ever since,
was introduced. The Navy Discipline Act was revised in 1749, and
remained unaltered till 1865. Courts martial were put on a sound
footing. Inspections of the fleet and the dockyards were established,
and the corps of Marines was created in 1755. The progressive
improvement which raised the navy to the high state of efficiency it
attained in later years dates from Anson's presence at the admiralty. In
1747 he, without ceasing to be a member of the board, commanded the
Channel fleet which on the 3rd of May scattered a large French convoy
bound to the East, and West Indies, in an action off Cape Finisterre.
Several men-of-war and armed French Indiamen were taken, but the
overwhelming superiority of Anson's fleet (fourteen men-of-war, to six
men-of-war and four Indiamen) in the number and weight of ships deprives
the action of any strong claim to be considered remarkable. In society
Anson seems to have been cold and taciturn. The sneers of Horace
Walpole, and the savage attack of Smollett in _The Adventures of an
Atom_, are animated by personal or political spite. Yet they would not
have accused him of defects from which he was notoriously free. In
political life he may sometimes have given too ready assent to the
wishes of powerful politicians. He married the daughter of Lord
Chancellor Hardwicke on the 27th of April 1748. There were no children
of the marriage. His title of Baron Anson of Soberton was given him in
1747, but became extinct on his death. The title of Viscount Anson was,
however, created in 1806 in f