The Sun. — London, England, 1807-03-11 00:00:00

Helena, it, was'deemed advisable to bear tip tOr that. I , land, not only on account of the Ocean, but be cause it had, been suggested as pOssibl that: Go vernor might be able _to spare a few hundred troops to strengthen the 'Expedition, especially as it had been proposed during the late war to attempt a simi lar enterprize with toe troops of the Island only. That no time might be lost alter tais decision was taken, I ViSpatched . the. Encounter: to Caps. Honey min, who was cruizing oft the mouth of the River, to •warh him of 'the probable arrival, of the Ocean, and the Narcissus was sent to St. Helena, with letter ti to the Governor, and although I have not yet., recei'Vedati otiicial . answ`e'r,. yet he has ordered One hundred and fitly infantry, and'one hundred artillery nien, with 'fivo hoWitzers, to join the Expedition, abd'a's"l'`truSt they - will be embarked either this nior►aing, 'or early to-morrow mornitig, I hope we shall be able to sail inimediately in the execution 'of.. this Service.- I am, &c. HOME POPHAM. Since writing the above, I have received the Go vernor's answer, No. 2, td which , l have ,annexed nay ancwer, No. 3, for their Lordships' information. The inclosed contained'the letterg referred to in this piwisript, No. 17, dated Rio de la Plata, July fg, is the dis:- patch from Sir Home to the Admiralty, summoning the capture of Buenos Ayres. This letter contains. the copies. of two letters, •the one. addressed to •any ()Ulcer senior in command to Sir Home P o ph am at the' Cape of Good Hope, and the other to any Ofli - cer junior.. Bosh press strongly for reinforcements, in - order to be„enabled. to , proceed to farther offen sive operations, particularly, against Monte Video: In the letter to the Junior Officer, .Sir Home states, .I think it-right to dire 6 that you lose no time in dispatching .; all: the naval force, at, the Ca'pe to this place, except such part as Sir David. Baird and your self may think it absolutely necessary to detain there." No. 13, is . a letter from Sir George Shee'to Mr. iNfarsden, inclosingth e c o pies o f t w o letters addressed by Sir David Baird to Lord Castlereagh, and dated atthe Cape of Good Hope, on the 14th of April and sth of May. The first of these letters-communi cates an account of 'the detaChment which Sir D. Baird had sent out with Sir Home Popham to the Rio de la Phtta, 'and states the reasons which induced that Officer to concur in the enterprize, 'rea sons are 'quite• tantamount to those which appear in. Sir Home Popharn's letter to the Admiralty, detailed in No - : 15.—General Baird expresses' his hope that the importance-of the objea, and the apparent faci lity of attaining it,. will serve to reconcile his Ma- jesty's GoVerninent to his condi - lain undertaking it without any , zpecial command.—The second letter from Genet-al Baird ( Ontains an account of the Can nonier,Fretich frigate having on the 3oth of April anchored in Simon's Bay; and having sent a Lieute mot on shore, supposing the Cape to be still in the possession of the'DntCh thnt that the Lieutenant was; with his boat's et:ew,Ataken - prisoners, and the Cannonier escaped by• cutting and putting to sea again v.ith the greatest precipitation, leaving two' .p , ••• 1,- -'•••• behind her. This letter further '• rr.o p..• e • •,-• mentioned the capture Ti; • , the [lag vor tona, under Melanburgh, bound to the Cape, and to . _ mentionS. that ssnons sonari .tJatavia. J. ; _ _ . . dispatches which were found , on board this brig i f vas' an order to the Governor' at the Cape (sup- . posing that place of course to be in possess' ~-,_ of the Dutch), to receive any French Droops - which might arrive in a distinguished ' , 2..,anner, and to yield the command of the Fre::.Z.ti - and Batavian forces to , ,the senior OffiCer of the former,. although of inferior rank, "An inference," observes General 'Baird, " - may, I think, be fairly drawn from this circum stance, that the French meditated to send out abody of troops for the purpose of either' taking possession of the Cape, or of forming a conjunct expeditio,a against St. Helena, or some of our I:l:jai,i c poises_ Upon reZog the first inclosure in the last num ber, Sir Home.Popham pointed out an omission, probably in the copying the letter, as it only men tioned " the WeSt," whereas it should have been `'the West Indies," to whiCh the French fleet had prOseCuted their voyage, according to the informa tithihe had received, and Sir D. Baird had his intel ligence from him--L-therefore there must have been a mistake in the omission of the word " Indies," -Which he wished to have corrected, lcast o any impro per impression shOuld be produced by the statement as it now appeared. Mr. Jarvis was not prepared to speak to the omis sion pointed ont by the Hon., Captain, in thiS Copy, as - he had not the original dispateb by him. He'waS, ho‘Vever, not disinclined to admit that there might be such a mistake as* that alluded to by the Hon. Captain. However, ache had not brought down the original; he could not state positively. ThiS original, indeed, he did not think material, as he did not mean tot oiler the letters referred to as evidence against the Captain; 'althongh read in the statement of the' charge. . ',Sir Horne PophaM was aware that such letters were not admissible evidence against him ; but yet he wished that any document laid before the Court shOuld be correct, and in that case he had no ob jeeion 'whatever' that any letter and paper at all re lating to the subje& of the charge before the Court should be brought forward. Indeed, he could not butbe - aniions that every thing connected with this business should transpire--concealment was not his interest. - . • 'Mr, Jarvis, after observing that perhaps this con— versation was irregular, agAin remarked, that as this Oper was not adduced asevidence, any mistake in it could not be material. However, he should have rio obYe6ien to accede to the Hon. Captain's wish.' . _ Sir Home Popham begged not to be understood 23 asking for any thing which he could not prove ; but it would save time if the Learned Counsel would• accede to the admission required. After some further conversation, Mr. Jarvis ad mitted that Sir Home Popham represented his belief to Sir David Baird that the .French. Fleet had gone to the 'West Indies; which admission was entered accordingly. • The Judge Advocate stated, that the papers Which 'he had read composed all that was referred to in the charge before the. Court. • Mr. Jarvis asked, whether the Hon. Captain ad mitted the receipt• of the original instru6tions of the 2gth July, 1805 ? Sir Home Popham.—" Certainly; and I admit every dccument reftrred to in ale Charge, which purports to have been written by me ; also such a 3 I received... ; ,. • ; =1 • • - . The insfruetions were read over again as evidence ; but some of Pie doeumeiits , ''whibh immediately fol to fired bei.~g but ccqiied,4ith'sonle blanks, the Court adjourntfd for some timo-„ until the originals were sent for ashore. Sir Home Po2ham stated, that_ he.never received the numbers 3,4, and 5 - ,:until the other day on his return to England.; he therefore contl know nothing of the orders they. contained. There was goad rea son, , indeed, that thw'se Dispatches never reached hitn, for the 'Belle Poui4acket, Which contained some; was,, as he understood, captured by the ene my.; and the Lyar, by Which the Other, was sent, never touched at the Cape.. Mr. Jarvis admitted that these DispatcheS did not form evidence 'to affect the Hon. Captain, as know . - ingtheir contents : • he adduced them Merely •as evi . dence, that such were issued, by the Admiralty. Sir Home Pop - harn asked then, if not against him, why bring them forward at all upon-.his trial ? Mr. Jarvis.--`` TO spew that the Board of Admi ralty believed the Hon. Captain to be at the Cape to rece►ve orders." The President.—" As there is no eiidence of the rec,.ipt of these orders,, of course no charge ofdis- Obedience can arise out of them." Sir Home Popham.—" Theo for what purpose are they laid before the Courrif they are not.meant to affea me ? I really cannot. conceive the objeft which the Learned Counsel 'h in view.. Idu not mean to 'argue . a . ,point of law with the . Learned Counsel." President. —" He is not here as Counsel—he ap pears here as Prosecutor, to which the Admiralty have appointed him." sij• FL Popham.—" Then he officiates a double capacity-4-as Counsel and as prosecutor."' • President.—' 'We know him here only as Prose cutor." • The Judge Advocate asked, whether these letters should be admitted ? President.—‘‘ - Let them be received, the Court will consider afferWards how far they bear upon the case before it." After the letters, Brc admitted by the Prisoner, had been read in evidence.:— • Mr. Jarvis' stated.; . that the case for the prosecution was. closed. Tlie Learned Gentleman obser'ved; that the Hon. Captain, in a letter, officially received from him yesterday, placed a gOod deal of emphasis upon what he called the introduaion of new.niatter into the charge, which. had been recently conveyed to him, But having seen the charge; a copy of which was transmitted to the Hon. Captain immediately after his arrival, in England, he declared, that •he saw no material difference between that and the' former. He was sorry that in the former•the documents to be 'adduced in evidence Were• not specifically de scribed, as the Hon. Captain professed to feel - some inconvenience on account of that Omission. Sir Home Popham observed, that the differedce would be obvious to any matt wlio reviewed, the documents then - 1,44e5. Indeed there were seine papers read to-day which he' had never seen heard of. The President telling Sir Hotve P0p1,9- he was now at liberty to enter npon _7` n, th at . t defence Sir nonce requested liberty to retirP with his unsel for a few miee,; x s, w hich .vas granted. Upon his. :cimn to Court, Sir Home sai~' he Mast confess that he could not feel hins'l comfortable if called upon _to 'enter into his 1 1',"efenee beforP Monday. He should be happy io come forward to-morrow if it were in his power, but he hoped the'Court would feel it very • natural that he should be prepared; when they refle6ledthat there were some letters advanced in evidence against him which he never heard of until this day, and that some proceedings had, been taken by his Prosecutors of which he was not apprized until he came to Ports- * mouth. President:--" There are Officers here who have been called away- from various stations, where they are engaged in the service of their country, there fore every convenient expedition is desirable. Per haps by .to-morrow you may be able to prepare your Defence 5 in that hope we shall adjourn the Court until then ; if not ready, - you will state when you can be so. I trust you will endeavour to come for ward as soon as possible." Sir Home Pophain." Really, Sir, I am anxious to come forward as soon as possible 5 but from the variety of new matter that has* appeared—from the publicity which is likely to be given to this busineSs, through the number of Reporters now present, I hope this Hon. Court will feel that is it due to my. chaster to leave no endeavour unremitted to meet every part of the accusation. T shall use myutind3t exertion to comply with the wishes, and to abridge the trouble and attendance of the Court ; but I hope they will feel the propriety of my prOposition for 'far ther time to consider my case." One of the Members of the Court (we understOod, it to be Admiral H011oway) expressed . a wish: that the Defence should be entered upon to-morrow, or at least that a sati'sfae - lory reason should, be assigned for the propriety of farther delay. Sir Home Popham thought the new letters. brought forward this day quite a sufficient reason for the de. 7 lay he required. Besides, there were some letters for which lie had applied to the Admiralty, and which he had not yet received. Mr. Jarvis• was sorry that the Hon. Captain should *feel any reason to complain upon this occasion. Any letters he had it in his power to furnish should be at the service of the Hon. Captain. He held in his hanci copies of all the documents referred to in the charge, and would immediately present them to the Hon. Captain or his agent. These letters were accordingly received by Mr. Lavie. After same further conversation, the Court ad journed till eleven . o'cloCk . to-morrow=the President expressing a hope that the defence would be then ready; and the Hon. Captain statingliis fears that' it could pot, . although he would willingly st:.y up all night for. the purpose, if that would enable him to comply with the wishb of the Coqn. SECOND DAY.--SATUADAY, MARCH 7. Sir Home' Popham, upon his appearance in Court, was asked by the President whether he was ready to enter upon his defence ? The Hon. Captain replied, that' however anxious he must be to gratify the wish of the Court, and to bring this business to a conclusion, he was most sincerely uu ill7ng to occasion the Court any delay thkitcould consistently be avoided. But from the al teraftOn which appeared between the charge origibal -ly-served upon him in London, and that which he had rec..-ived from the Judge Admcate since his wival at Portsmouth ; the tOrMer rokirring 'to but three let ters, ;the latter to no less than eighteen, some of which he had heard for the first time yesterday, has tily read , in Court ;. from _the very—severe anitwAVer: situ;:; upo, his conducl, which, had been , made in the Senate; and the party animadverSion s still more severe which had appeared in some of the-periodical-fall- - - - cations; he felt it essentially necessary to his chaa4er to enter at large into all the faCts-whieh he had i itig his power to advance in his. defence. . He therefore found it-impossible to come prepared at that morneht„ the more especially as it wr.s,. among other circurn stances, his misfortune recently to meet with a very, serious domestic affliCtion . arising out of tri),animad-' versions he had already alluded to. For:these rea sons, which he hoped . . the .COurt would feel, suf ficient. to enervate and .disarrange any man's mind, he regretted to say, that he . was quite unable to Com- . ply with the wishes Of the Court, &entering into his defence at present. .But there were some let ters which, in order to save time, he wished now to hear read., These letters Were, that which ;was ad dressed to him by the Judge Advocate, and dated the 4th instant ; and also his own letter to Mr. Se-- cretary MarSden, renniring a copy or the trial of Captain Thompson, with whom he (Sir Home) had sailed as a Midshipman for three years; also his let ter of the 30th of April,. from St. -Helena, the mere addenda to-which was read by the Prosecutor ; also The Gazette of the 27th -of Tilly last, in order to compare it with his- letter of the same date ; also the inclosures in his letter to the Admiralty of 'the gth of October; 180.5. The 'President .asked Sir Home, ,whether the letters.he , required to have read . were 'necessary' to his defence ? Sir Home replied, ,that in his defence he meant to refer to them. Mr. Jarvis Observed, that the charge before the Court was word for word the same ti ith that- whieh he had seen before the Hon. Captain came thEngland,- and which was presented to him, he under*tood, immediately upon his arrival. The Learned Gentle man then entered into some legal objections to the right of the Hon. Captain to demand papers or evi-. deuce from .his prosecutors. He did not'. wish-to press this objeaion, but yet he wished it to be under- . stood, that he felt it to be perfealy tenable. The Learned Gentleman was .proceedink, w hen he W.:W interrupted by the Court, who told him that be', could not be allowed to b 6 into any observations that nature. - . The, jUdge Advocate ,-' - from hiln <,oserve the letter meant to apprise the of the ‘ only intended trial, in s order the:, fully prepared. .; S'lr 11 ° 9 4e Pophain.-- . ." But' I only received that of,not- Preparation on',Wednesday last. this ,H - Onourable, Court with great de .. lerence, and I - offer,,my sentiments with extreme dittd<mce ; -but L insist deprecate . the Learned Gentleman's perseverance in his legal discussions. I am rather surprised that the Learned Prosecu tor_should take advantage of the _absence of my le gal friend and adviser (we understood the Hon. Captain to mean Mr. Harrisan, who was absent), to engage in discussions of this nature.. Although am aware that .I am under the protedtion of a more paramount Counsel, the President of. this Hon, Court, cannot help remarking that it would ht, ve been. More liberal in the prosecutor to .have. sus pended, under the circumstances I. have.tr;entioned, his animadversions upon the law of ' evidence. I am upon good authority justified. ;: n believing, that : , instances have occurred, in which such requisites as I have made for plipki.s,' and as the Learned' Gentleman deprecates, :,ate, been immediately com plied with. - But even supposing 'no precedent had existed, would it.'oe derogatory to the dignity of the Admiralty to 'introduce a liberal precedent in my fa vour; as has thought proper to establish a pre-' cedent ?,ti new as that of sending down the Learned. Geeieman , as the prosecutor against me; as it has thought proper to appoint one, who,' independently of the advantages derived from his conSultations with that Honourable -Board in London, is also en abled to avail himself of'the information he had the opportunity of obtainingfrom the ingenuity and pro found knowledge, of ,t 4 Counsel to the Admiralty, with whom no one is more intimate than the Learned Prosecutor ? But my idcapacity,to contend with : tbeH Learned Gentleman, particularly .upon questions of legal difficulty, will be still more evident to this Hon. Court, when Istate, that even here he has it in his . power occasionally — to resort to the advice . of the Counsel for the Admiralty ; to the advice of one who has never before been heard of in -a Court-Martial, although, on this occasion, hiS profound judgment and elevated talentstan, be referred to by the Prose cutor, while this Learned Counsel is, by the use of sort of invisible ring, concealed,froM the light - , and from the avowed knowledge of thiS Court. The President' desired •the Lion. Officer would read the list of' papers he deemed it expedient to have read to the Court." Sir Hom© gave in, the list reqnired, and after the „Court had consulted for a few moments with Mr. Jarvis, all strangers were ordered to, be excluded. The Court was cleared for about an hour, and upon our re-ad Mission the Judge Advocate read the fol 7 lowing decision, addressing himself to Sir H. Pop ham : • ~ " The. Court havingitaken into consideration your application, to be allowed Until nine o'clock on Mon day morning to prepare your defence, have consented to your request; ,but as the principal reason you have given for asking for niore time is the introdu&ion of a great variety of new matter auto the charge, the Court think it necessary to observe; that between. the copies of the intended charge as sent by the Se cretary of the. Admiralty, and that delivered to you by the Judge Advocate, there is no material differ ence that no new matter has been introduced, the only difference is in the insertion of a list of papers intended for the support .of the. charge, and the Court* consider it to be more regular to hear your defence before any other Cli/cLUllent:: shall be pro vided."--Adjourned. THIRD DA\ . 7 MoNDAN, MARCH 9. The court net about nipe o'clock, awl Sir Home Popham was immediately called upon, for his De fence. Tlie Hun. 'Captain proceeded in as follows : " Mr. President--After having devoted the greater part of my life to the service of my King and Country, I am brought before you and the other Members of this Honourable Court, to vindicate my condua, from a charge of a nature as extraordinary, and as unprecedented, perhaps, asewas ever submit tedeto-t he-it/vestige-Rion of . a - CourteMartial. in ap plying the epithets of eXtraordinary'!eand.` unpre cedented,' -. to the accusations ethibited a ga i ns t me , I speak of it generally, and not with a particular feren c 4 -Gird Ttaievcal I \their ven ture to add, the illegal.inanuer in which it is word- ed. On. this. point - I shall animackVert hereafter : I cannot,' . Sire enter 'into the' substance of my de fehce, without observing'to you bow extraordinary it is:that-I should - be-brought to trial by that snper - ior authority, 'to -which every Officer in his Majesty's Naval Service looks up for reward and proteatidn, for having- employed-the means placed at my dia posal in Making a successful attack 'ori a possession • belonging to the, enemy, instead. of suffering them, to 'remain inadtive and- dormant. Nor do I eon ceive that it is less' unprecedented to criminate alt Officer, entrusted with a command of some import ance, for having exercised that discretioneey power, 1, without whiehno serviceecnn becarriedon with ener gy or efFe6l, - when the result of such an ea, so far from having hen attended -with sny ill consequence, haa, oe the contrary, been 'gloricus to his Majesty's arms, and honourable to the.Coentry. Yes, - Sieathe success which true ned the united exei tioes Gene- • ral Beresford . and myself, seconded by the bravery and perseverance of the land and sea - forces un der our orders, was proclaimed by' his Majesty's Ministers , to the inhabitants of the British Me ,tropolis by. the usual aignals of triumph; and the news of the conquest of "Buenos -Ayres was re ecltoed, with- exultation and gratitude, - thtough , w out - every quarter of the 'United Kingdom.- This being premised, will it not, Sir, strike e\e,er tin Pr ejudiced Englishman Whe'shall refleat on the prefent trial, that it must have arisen from some of her cause than that ostensibly set forth - in the accusation? lam of that opinion; 'nor have I the smalle - st - ,beeitatioo to assert, that if the Administration by which I was se- . leeted for the command which I lately had the honour to hold, had still remained in poWer, I should have re ceived thanks and 'approbation for Illy Cotitibp; in stead of having been supereded, Tee:flied,' then very uneapeCtedly put` under arrest and brought'to: • trial. I am; Imwilling to oeeepy the time of the Court.' ore than is' abselt?.:•elnecessary foi my-own. - it- I ". e :iticatibio ar it ,:...7111(1 not have 'been difficult for me to haVe este:Polished , these 'fai-tsin the mosf:posi - -; tive manner: . .But, under alh't,heeireumstanCes the case, it it, ptirhapaerather fortunate,for me th - t, after the prejudices which; hi alithsSt . e4'ery diree'ai o ro have been so i-edustrioes.ly Propagated te a, than I am- atforded.the opportunity ofa teat:lie trial ; of peeling, aall trust I shall' 'most E atke a aaa r e v, that these prejtdices are complef t: iy u r if ou n d However, akhetOm I alb 'CoPsA);°.:(2: in sonie Measure by, this reiWtlol, I cant;: *:lielp coropfainiog, that the Jim?. of proct.,!edihg br thy prosectiOrs had not •lats.en' Wit& 'Of a idiftererit'cliar.Aer. lam .not willing to asei?Oe• to - tneia in power a diSpositiOn to perseeutearty nian e or to deprive aUy one whom they may.fee', t their duty to accuse, of the means eif obtainil:? - _,-everydriptionofevicjence That litrixffeei. necess ar y to tiffs justification. • But I ramt observe teat,: it e ee rea rather singular n&notie Whatever of an in tendon to hring'me to trial was in ti rnatett to me whoa rirstordered lieme from the filo de la Plata. Had the design of my ProsecutorS been then k amen to might have pro . curi2d - a Variety of evidence' highly important to•My case, particularly with regard - to 'my condua in South America. But in cons.VenCe v of that omission on the part of the Boar-_i of Admi ralty, I am left depriVed of such evidence; 'except such as accident furnishes me with, On that part of my case, which is so nearly con neated with my no mom-, 1 mean my proceediegs . at Buenos Ayres,. which have been so grOssly Misrepresented - . the circumstance of no notice having been commu nicated to' me at the Rio de la Plata, of the purpose of the Admiralty . to bring me to trial, must either lead One to think that they had 110 intention of bringing me to'trial at that time, or to 'adopt a concluaiore rather disadvantageous- to their c haraCter: For 'they could not be quite- unaware' that •an accusation, ac companied, or rather preceded„- by • ptiblie animad version, which most seriously 'lmpeached my mo tieivsetisrLfaayeloiothi,hwazi ci w n i l l y c ; . t ‘ o ve b r e e n ,A l T e it t ne , ct s , se,i of :my coo_ ' dud. These witnesses the Admiralty must have tett that I could hot procure, unless apprised, before I . left - the .Rio de la • Plata, of - their intentioo to prosepate rtie But 'I have said that they do not appear - to have .enterfained any such inten tion'at,that time, - and - I 'cannot but think that some change took'place iii their' wind upon this point: For it is scarcely consistent ( - Wait - pose that they would by their Secretary Clive' written to' ine in-such terms as appear in 4Onte-of the letters,t ) which I refer, j . utter they had been infornled Of the capture of isnthi , s Ayres, if they ieallye disapproved of my.conduet, at least if their disapprobation were sb -sericius as to imply a resolution-to atre4 and bting e- to trial.-- (Here the Honourable Officer read the letter from the Admiralty in answer to his dis'patch, announcing the capture of Buenos Ayres) ' this. letter it ap peared, that Although the Admiralty 'thought itne6 cessary W mark their disapprobation of my- coin- duel in having uhdertaken this . eipedition without orders, still they were pleased to enpresS'the highest approbation of the able and - jUdiCionS mun eer tti which the expedition a - Vas conducted, and of the , gallant behaviour of the se.araien an d so lc!lers• en gaged. From- the terms of this -letter I had i no reason to think that any ether punih m ent was n reserve I w as willing to submit, unt il than that which its censure conveyed', and to that cen sure, I portunity of submittin g th os e sho should e i r i e m a e s i t t h as e ei o s p , reasons, which I flattered Myself would Wive served to satisfy the minds of those from Whorn thesensure pro ceeded, that, considering all time circumsearces, it was 'completely undeserved..a.--I will not now stop to in quire into the causes which possibly may have ope-. rated to produce the change I hisve'ailudeet to in-the disposition of the Admiralty. I will not now &Neil upon the motives, either political or personal, which led to a prosecution not long since behere aeo thar tribunal-;---however high the gratificatio.) which the-msult of that inquiry was calculated t afford - to my feelMgs a. or however ouch it may at feCt my future life; but the prejudices which Jed ti , t sel. tV, ii, tvi r 4tirif . 4 0 .3i ~F ~~ 4 ,1 's ~ a 411 . F 1 1 1 ..... , . - •• • . _ :‘,...., .... ~....-„,•:-.. #1,,,. (7,,,,rt any delay . fence. The Hon. 'Captain proceeded in sub-,t.: ,t _ • . - ;, 4