The British Press; or, Morning Literary Advertiser.
London, England, 1805-02-08 00:00:00

Ertl of St. Vitteosle4 itsithit Lord of the
Admiralty Board, was loo&-nis-ro as a person
high in, the confidence of Sovereign, and the
public ; he was like every idler Minister of his day ;
though there might have been a difference as to the
public sentiment, at that time, there was no differ-
ence with respect to the Noble Earl's former life ;
the glorious actions he had atchieved at the risque of
his life, in the service of his country, sufficiently
evinced his galla.nt charader ; be would then ask,
what was the tendency of this libel'' it was attach-
ing ignorance and criminality to one of the first Mi-
nisters of the State. Ne defence whatever could be
made for this paragraph ; he either invented it him-
self, or gave circulation to the invention of another,
and pledged himself for its veracity ; he stated has
a fad, which, if not well known, would not be be-
lieved ; and this, upon his own authority ; giving
it to the world as a criminal instance of public negli-
gence in the government ; there was no ground for
the least shadow of excuse ior this gentleman ; he
had offered nothing in extenuation of his guilt ; and
their Lordships being in possession of the nature of
the charge, with these observations he left it to their
decision.
Mr. ERSKINE followed on the same side. He
observed, that it so often fell to his lot (not having
the honour of being of His Majesty's Council) to
defend persons in the situation of these Defendants,
and to resist the conviction of the Court, that he
felt himself quite out of his element in the present
ewe. It was not from the respell he had to the No-
He Earl, but from the malicious tendency of this
libel, that he troubled the Court with a few.observa-
lions. Mr. kleriot, he had nn doubt, was a very
respectable Gentleman ; Mr. Taylor was also
Proprietor, but not a conductor of this Paper; the
former Gentleman was sworn to have had the con-
troul and management of the political part. God
forbid, in defending Earl St. Vincent, he should
say any thing which could tend to depreciate the li-
berty of the press ; it was the great bulwark of ci-
vil liberty, which it was the duty of every man to
watch and protect.—This newspaper was sup-
ported, at that time, by a set of persons, then out
of power, who had ended a battery against the
Board of Admiralty, the great bastion of the British
constitution, who had sent spies into that camp for
the purpose of supplying the enemy with ammuni-
tion to destroy it. lie declared, upon his honour,
it was not his attachment to the Noble Earl which
drew from him these observations ; at a time like
the present, at the commencement of a Spanish war,
when every man was leaving his family and his
home for the defence of his country, was it to he re-
presented to France, and to all Europe, that, without
rudder or compass, without persons of capability at
the-helm of Government, they were of themselves
to steer through the seas of events which might
occur? If the libel in question was not unexampled
for its malignity, if it was not unparalleled in its ca-
lumny; he should not have thought it necessary to
have said thus much ; hut the very writer himself
knew the reader would not believe it ; he imputed a
charader of promptness to Admiral Rainier, which
he admitted he very well deserved, but not mole
than the Noble Earl, for whom lie was then concern-
ed, or many other gallant officers hicould mention ;
he gave Admiral Rainier a characteristic for the
purpose of stabbing the chandler of Earl St.
Vincent in its most vital part. If Mr. Hetiot
had disclosed the persons behind the curtain, who '
were the original authors and instigatesr s of this
calumny.; if -be had denied that he hinise:t was
the person; it might have been sonic extenua-
tion of his guilt. At the same time lie eould
not help thinking, there was something more re-
spe6ablie his not denying it t however, he bad
made himself a volunteer for persons ten thousand
times more criminal than himself ; he bar' embarked
a volunteer in a dangerous service; an], perilous as
the present times may be, he has patei the way for
tithes still more perilous. With rhea= observations
hie left the case with their Lordships, convinced
their Lordships would deal out the punishment with
their usual justice and mercy.
COURT" Let all the Defendants be committed,
and again brought op on the last day of Term "