The British Press; or, Morning Literary Advertiser.
London, England, 1806-06-13 00:00:00

•
' I ..es: • • ,
that .Itatraett.osaty, 'sot to sap acre:dans outrage,
to ait justice and .humanity, by. intamons,libels,
circul,sted through all parts Ef the kingdom.. with
an awinisbing degree of incharry and adivity.—
These libels were not only scattered and dissemi-
nated abroad, to inflanie.the minds-of the people.
bat wcre,even carried to the foot of the throne, i
and registered amongst the records of his Lord-
ship's accusers. Nay. they had gone so fat, as to
pass an Ad of rarliament, to facilitate tlit. means
of bringing evidence against him. In this man-
ner was the natural purify and integrity of the
minds of Englishmen distutbed and prejudiced by
libellous speeches, publications, andivocerd ags
of every kind Un&r All these disadvantages, he.
must once more observe, that he stood in. need of
their Lordships' utmost candour and indulgencq.
In what he had to address to them, he should rot
attempt to tread through the immense labyrinth
' of evidence and accounts referred to on the part
of the Managers. He would not fatigue the at-
tention of their Lnrdships by any such unnecessary
repetitions, but he trusted that his omission of

any of the topics referred to in the opining or
summing urr of the Managers of the Prosecution,
may not operate against the Noble Defendant.
The subject to which he had principally to call
the attention of their Lordships, might heidivided
into two general heads : first, what regarded
the transaainns before the passing of the Asa of
Parliament for regulating the office of Thasurer
of the Navy; and, second, the transaelious which
happened posterior to the passing of that Ae,
In tAet, the sole charge against the Noble Viscount
miy fairly he said to be ule cot rupt application
of the public money to his own ofe, and the de-
claration ire made in the Howe of Commons, that
he had diverted the tam of 10.0001 , which cams
into his hands as Treasurer of Me llaey. to other.
than naval ourpo,es, hut nest to his own use or
benefit, and that he never would disclose in what
in inner :•e had so applied it. The Bth article
charged his having transferred money from the
Bank to any ot:ier place of custody, as a er;me ;
and the corollary made upon it was, that this
transfer was for his own benefit and emolument.
The other article to k IsO Lordship's having de-
stroyed certain accon ,ts, a, an inference of his,
criminality. These rte considtred as forming as
outline of :he Whole of the charges. In all these.
precerdi gs, be swerved, that whatever irregu-
larity or inattention to order might be apparent,
it would oi• for the judgment of their Lordships..
whether they proceeded front corrupt minim, ora
the intention of converting these predicts to his
own emolument. But if what came out in evi-
dence should amount to no more than that
something still remained unexplained in a series
of rw-nty-fitin years transaaions, he hoped thetz
, dshipa would rause before they pronounced
we Noble Defendant guilty of corruption. whose
hAhl‘f sat life were well known always to iliart
exhiirited every NOM •rtt confluences with regard
to 'utility matters. The flew Manger himself,
(Ir. W oitbread), who • opened _those charges,

with a nand, candour and libeetility, which did
Ann the bigheit ho.tour. declar d. that he "be-
haved Viscount Melville tu p otc &enemas% sOi.
r.t in retied so twittey, incapable ralbeies iefloiin-
ced by ~be sordid pit:Kyle of avarice." Such
a tl..clatation on the part of an *teasel, when
coupled with the known hatsitifit bit life, mutt
render it incretitiiie that he shoolakin this single
instance, depart from his usasl &grater, for an
ovj-4.110 sewer veals.attache444. •4 Pieced-. M-be
• • _r .1111111.......

W 45. IR A situation perh 4 pr. of all rubies, the bloat
likely to elevate the mind. filling up he did, same
of the most =poi taw oti,:es of thealtate, being at
the same tiale one of His .slafroy's Prmeapal Se-
cretari.a of State, President Of the Boa, d of Con-
troul ov r East India Affairs. Treasurer of the
Navy, 0“., it was not to be supposed that be
could sink rad let himself down into so degraded
a tieing as these chat ge. would represent him to .
be. and that for a.i objei that it Was impossible
he should ever he in want oft nor would their
' L irds!lips, he was convinced. su6re it to operate
to use Defendant's d sadventage, if he could not.
Mirr the lapse of two and twenty years, produce
witnesses to disprove every article of ciiarge ;
and atter the Witntlif WAS dead.
whore testimony would otherwise serve to acquit
him. As to the hrst sum, the irregular apnoea-
lion nf Nhtch was charged against the Noble
Viscount. it would be eutfictent for him to say
that it arose at a period when there was no com•
m.l nor written law against it. He might, M
full confidence, rest there ; but he would not have
the !louse to savant. that he erasskine from the
charge, or sheltering himself ender the absence
of the A of Patlisosent which safterwards took
place. So far from its being a crime, for a public
accountant ter make even the greatest temporary
use of tie 'sunk money to Isis advantage, he
would shew their Lordships, that there was no
law, no condition, no. ant even any express or
implied nisiigation Against it. it Was true, that
his Hm. and Learned Friend, the Manager,
who ann3 nO.l op the evidence, did not much
insiit upon this point; but the Mon. Manager
whir opens.: the proem:horn toor—eldly thrown
down the gauntlet.and •inimed, at such ap-
plication seas always a crime by law, which law
was declared and stnetioned by tbe House of
Commons Hz, however, denied the existence of '
the law, and it th.re were any such, it was incum-
bent upon them to shew it. as their .Lordships
k-sew very well, that no resolution of either
liocce of Parliament, even supposing it to remain
in full force, could have the effect of a law. This
opinion of his was far from being new, as it Was
one, which, by snmeof the first palitmentary
authorities, was declared over and over again, in
that very sanctnary of liberty (the Honse of Cons-
minis) which his Loarned Friend (Sir Samuel
imilly) seem..d to think violated by the decla-
ration as tdc in it by Viscount Melville. All the ar-
guments on the other side would have equzily
applied to every former public accountant ; but
he was prepared to shew, that it was not then the
law. was not now the law, -and never was the
law, that such applications of the public money
was a hi tat crime and misdemeanour. He would
even go farther, and thew. that the contrary was
the law, and had been so declared by the an-
cestors and relatives, not only of many of their
Lordships, but of one of the preseat Managers,
and that too, in the sanctuary of liberty. He
then went into a detail 'MTh* numerous instances,
in which public accountantslaad acknowledged
that they applied the public money to their own
advantage, and maintained that they had a tight-
to do so, preiided the public stsweined no len by
_, .

' • • •
eped Holland. who, when called tee ateottenrot
401 tree of noises than 4;0,0011 wde so tar finer+
neekenirledgieg thee he had-no fiyt;trs ettpler
the halanees ?Wee to. his nee a lireetait-e
thitt he lowietisinsiet hise:ight te cin so, an! has he
was reaSy to proldsece thenewheeever called ;30611,
for the service for Which they were intended, ary
intermediate use. he Wilts mike et there beings
!octet of indifference to the puhlic. Wheteleas
sell mo e to his purpeeel that deatiee WAS ASe.l
Sell'e.4 to by the Vlinitter of the day (fee late
„Earl cl Chatham) and these tees great men. who
wetter agreed in an) ether point, were of the seine
opinion upon this. The resolution of tree house of
Cammons against such• applications, passed on
the I ith of Juee, 1782, had never since beet
acted upon, hut at all events could not have
the firm of a law upon the snhjea. Arelengst
the instarves he stated in support of his prove+
sition. was one in which a motion was mad-, io
the House of Cornineos, to oblige the Receiver-
General of the Land Tat to pay in his balances
to the Bank, when one of their Lordships, now
present, bus then a Member of the other House, :
was not ashamed to ctani up in his piece, in that .
sanetuaty of liberty, and oppose the motion, on
the ground that it would be a hardship on the
Receiver-General. Even a Right Hon. Gentle.
man, whose name and virtues, he was sn e, would .
always be considered with the highest respect
in that House, (he meant the late Mr.
Grenville), when called upon for the balances of
t peblic money in hands. required two months
to pay them in, which was tantamount to a con-
fession, that he had bean applying them other-
wise than to the public use, for which they were
intended If, therefore, it ware true that the.
Noble Defendant, in this CAW, had• been applying
say sums of the public money- to his own use, it
'mild be a sitficient defi;nce for him to say, that
they were always promptly, fairly, situ honour-
ably paid, whenever called upon tor the public
service ; and it, he had *beast,' :hewn, it was of
little consequence, whether he intermediately ap-
. plied theta for purposes of profit to himself, or
1 heft them depesited is the Bank, where they could
be advantageous er proirahle to no one. With re-
spect to the io.oria referred to by Viscount Mel.
in the House of Commas. it was a sum
which never was called foe, never was wanted.
and which he steed not have said any thiug ahost,
it he thought proper. He made tto disposition of
that money, until his accounts were passed, and
that he was edibility to transfer it to any other
branch of the public service be thoaght proper, or
. where it rnight be most wanted. Upon this subject.
which hid been so emphatically dwelt upon, he
must maintain that I.te Lordship was under ao
obligation, either legal, or moral, of telling is
what :winner he disphsed of it : it was quite.
sufficient for him that the Stoney had been paid.
When called upon to make the clic:Joe-are, it roust
lee remembered, that it was thee/ill of an enemy,l
the call of an accuser, to convict himself of hied
etrimes and misdemeanours. The Learned Gentle- +
man then went into a legal dasquisettep of the
obligations imposed by conditions and cowpaets j
And contended. that even if any such obligatNn ifij
ease at any time, it must cease as soon as 'the
Noble Lord was out of office. Was it to be ea.
peaed that he would spoke a candid disclosure at
she moment that he was called upon to auswer
for crimes ! If he WAS. let men talk no moo. of
the liberality of British justice. Wise it ever held
to be a printiple of law, that whoa a man was
pot urns-his defetice,'lltersee should. tie- iwaspret- ...Macon no
td as a crime? As far as he understood the law of than on hie •ir
England; -a person accused had the liberty of where tie
making whatever answer he thought proper. or if made it as age['
•liie so chose to do, it we.: net incumbent on him to Lord, that he s
make any answer at ail. The charge of the Ma- Bill for regoietine
nagers against the Noble Viscount wits,that he had Navy into the Hot.
not told enough against himself, bet lie believed, circumstance was to
that. before this time, silence was never held to be It was no high crime ay n..
a crime in that or any other Court whatever. If draw the money from th Bank, and &reit ac •
then it was shewn that silence was never before his private banker's, in his iron a se,
deemed a crime, why was it held so nowt The I which ever he might deem ere wound.. '
et
reason was, that the kohle Defendant. in the dig- l puplic purposes, rer for great . seciuity. He
nity and manliness of his nature, spurned at an he was much deceived if there AS a clearer eat
accusation unworthy of his charaifter. The only I firer argued, than :ea Viscou. Melved es • one ,
proofs produced in support of his criminality, dui. in chi!' recpea, was not aga•lsst the law; ael
were the suggestions of the Managers, and hit Wit was, the ill should not be sunned in moon•
owe silence. He candidly cordessed, that he felt in force one moment, as it would twee je„,
himself bound by honour. and a sense of public greatest cruelty And oppr-siren toweedeee, e awe ..
duty, nut to tell in what manner he disposed of seamen, that ever was enaaed. The wee lige
the money ; and was he to suffer for being Mau- count, he said, not, wit-lout the g in-
treed by such principles ? and was it to be deems, justice and hardship, do etheiwise.
ed a crime, if, COISSCIWIS of being in the right, he Rees contended, that the Bank was the only piece
chose to carry his secret with him to the grave, of deposit, authorised by the AB; that he tesueli.
and make himself re ponsiele for any consequen- Upon cacti a stoastittelion, she law couli sir er
ces that may attend it ? But, though- tee Nohle- t be cartied into effea. If there we, only trire.
Defendant considered himself been& by various Ito be paid to the eor four different moms, re -
ties to observe this silence, sure the enlighseeed current ezpences, nothing could be moat me •
mines of their Lordships must easily suggest cir- bate assing, than to Fend each of them wesfl a. •
cumstaoces, in which i high officer, seeing the I draft- upon the Bank. Would 'it be peed/estate • "
country surrounded by enemies; foreign and to pay such sums as 9s. or less, to a sedan,
domestic, might bind a necessity for applying a when he came to demised it, by a check epee
sum of money, for a psis-pore idierevent from that the Bank. The sailer may say he didelen Inver
for which it was apprepriated by law. WAS it his way-to the Bank ; and if k did, he muse, -
diffacuk to devise cases in which such an aopiices. from hie iguerance of- muds tratitieeeions. be ea.
gin would he mericorionn instetad of criinittal ? posed mennuraerable impositions. A sailor's wife!
The Managers alleged, that he nude the applica- or mother also, when applying for a pittance et e
term corruptly ; but of that they had not been few shillings, must, by the eeine interpretation, be
kale to produce a single tittle of evidence. One sent to receive theiritrifies 'et die husk erg.
ref the hlanAgers (Mr. Whitbread) occupi-d some land. He begged their Lordships to ceneieere
time in representing to their Lordships the im- how such minute accountc, occurrent every 1210•
presions which this trAnsietion made upon •his meat, coals' posablybe kept key the Bank of Peg~.
own mind. The Hen. Gentleman, however, then land. But there was one observation. 'bids
went out of his way, and assumed the charaaer must be decisive rf the queition. By an AO of
of a witness. He had stated. not the imprec- Parliament, patted sortie time ago. all drafts
shoed which it made upon an unhi used mind, but 'for money. under the *Mount of twee.y shelesns,
u, en the mind of an accuser ; and, theretore, they were declared to be illegal, aid the: efore the Pe,- "
were not retitled to all the weight which they • melte: of the Navy was petcluded borne,- ;semi-
might'otherwise have. For the Hon. Manager biliey of paying sums of A fete shillings by drafts,
' must excuse him for saying, that, in the Sueretne and therefore must always be supplied with read, •
Court of Judicature,Whitbread, the Manages, and moire to answer than demands ernesedierely. Tee
eithithread,thewitness, stood in eery different the- Noble Viscount, he maintAieed, carried the Ace , •
ramie. In opposition to these impressions na the isiti electric n in every point of policy, }usu.',
mind of the Flonourablirlsianneer, be had to state, and ceneenience. The necessity for the Act awe, '
that this charge had already been clearly and posi- from large balances of money being left for ' ''ll
ti-rely disproved, bytwo witnesses; end if, after pityinent in the hands of inferior clerics. 6,-
41 the ingenuity and talents which the Managers in; only small salaries ; and it was not always
could empiny ; end these qualities in them, he be- easy to get these balances out ot their hands. •
'Tieved never to have seen exceeded by ane set of On these. and a variety of other groun,:s. wheel '
Managers ; if. after all the most minuet researches he lensed et considerable length, ne eisbna t est so • •
ice° :the of documents of the Noble Defend- their Lordships, that the. Node Detradas.t was
ante arid even the memorials presented to him ; not guilty of any breach in viuteries f the •
if, ifter ran: asking all his letters anal corre- law.
spoodenee ; if, After the most laborious ihvestiga- 'rut Loao•Cneneettoe then informed M •
[ton into his private accounts, and most twit-nee' rester, that the Lords, being desirous ti his. •
anceconfidenttal relations in life, they wets nth I witil attention, al! ha had allege in e'en& ee
able to trace out one shilling of the rabiee mete) the feadent. and perceiv•eg that he wan deb
applied to his own private use, it erculd be most Inca y e hansted oy ern- stseueons es-items be
• .4.. ow. :u•S.g. morgia

, kofscciii a these einirget. if* thee mute tit enis
4,14 the additional 7,Vaihititi by the
pfrer she Nock tre;:nunt hat it in hi,
ntst trisvdcr n and Said, that he did not yr on front
their that candour, of wnich they made so mach
woreseinis. in giving hint time in pin inn stapp..e.
ppm !ry apirret% Itt hii article, the Hon. \lane- •
get,. hada:nada " confusion snore conhannoe.i."
.Tne* !lid crated. siricrally, dire,c sums, at divers • rs.
, times,dn livers days, to charge upon him the
run af 26,00di. but they ran :eyed it Inspossi-le i
.A
fist hill to refer back in those divers unsoee tied . . •
days, and bad incledrd, in the •ime of tit it
charge. sine Months of a petbd ware tipt N
Laid was (Alt of Once. After all, however,
he would ask, what di.l the prookiseought on the
part of the Managers amount to? It. in faet,
came to nothiag more :hail this—ghat Vieelartt
Melville, after the lapse ;A th year', of
titre and official life. tons not able to.occonat fir
every little item of the puhiic money -mat cis**
iota hands. The Managers, after yese,li,,,g
over all the accounts, from the Rank tothe C
surer of the Navy, end back again. 44
he contended, proved a single itt,a of th =r•
•
charges. All they cnuid discover from their hp- • .4
quit ie. was. that the money had been appled (rum .
unier the bead of one puhiic service, to esio....er
so that all tile time enaplisyed in thesetietaiir. vo, • •
uselessly consumed. They showed that at.
in,„ , t
i had been transferrel, but they hal not r •
. that. hit made any•proSt by the.transfer; t

that caul/ not evert he ; orermi„ rnmikie trig
money Irons tree placer() another. All the r
they charged-4)4d Seemsulficinstly a nel manly
accounted for, with the exception of ;we
sums, which . appeared to be plae..d la the
Viscriont's 4pri vine ACCOttnt. at bb,.'.
miff"; 'lid sappesiejts witicla.lusa'eeetds
'did for the sake .1 the argutnerg. tflatibre i
be unanle to g:re any account of theseatme
from the failure of ace:timing for-such attr
the immense trairsaaions of tome aid . I
yea,* and it na4. haying been proven! th
Noble Viscount wade any private profit
balances. within,: could be more unfair or it
than to drew trout such a fa:lumen Wen
his guilt. Could it be eapes9ed that . *ni
St.tte, constan' iy occupied in tire meat bnr
public c.incerus. should dire much ofs,tii
in prying into ail the mittiria of aecousts I
it surprising that a men, eegsged ie lio ars
Partments connected with the instna e,
cure, should have a running ace-opt of i
15s. Id. at his Nicker's, In lure* inn
tion of his innocence, it appeared,
at a time when he was i,/,,ereled of his
over-druwa his banker, he did ant helpl
out of the public purse, but replaced th
by remittances from his own fortune, in Sur
though at the tints, and for ten arooke e
had in his possession public belaaera =eel
to the am runt of 56.0001. As so the soi
ceived by a draft from the bank. which hi
, traced to a banker's id the city. *Mere it i
in payment of a bill. it by no evens %for,
thing like the inference that we; tirawn /5
They wet:, no: to inquire into Inch a- i
stance, in the manner that' on II
• occasions MIS resorted to. far tbb dotard
forgery. It surely signified notising.mbe
sent this note. or any other that , fin sow
tAthi.out of his pocket. as the sohntost•o
not found deficient Sathe4ossiseJSE Weal

reeseors. not to keep the n
Here. Memelr
ration on the pert of the
• the pergra who btou
;1,12e Office of 'Pressures

Commons, as if
e onsi Jere d • as a
_ _• _ _

1