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

the gth of April, that I had sailed with the squadron
under my orders for the-Rio de la Plata, that Board
Aid not at first apparently disapprove of my condua,
an.t I think I am borne out in this conclusion by
the -tenor of Mr. Marsden's letter, acknowledging
mine of the date last mentioned. The Iptter ita ques-
tion is dated August 6,, and is, conceived in the f01..'
lowing terms :

' S have received and cOmmunicatcal to 'my Lords
Conimissioners of the Athitiralty. sour letter of the 9th
of April last, informing them
,of your intended proceed-
ings with the squadron under your orders.
I ant, &c. • • • WM. MARSDEN.

Now, Sir, on comparing the preceding letter with
a letter from Mr. Marsden, :dated the Ist of March,
160i5e.in answer to one, from me conveying a piete
of intelligence ivhich cannot 'but suppose . must
have been gratifying, the two letters •will prove to
be written exaCtly in. the same style. The letter of
the Ist of arch is as follows •
:
Sirt ,---1 haVereceived and laid before my Lords Corrimis-
ELontrS of the Admiralty .r.lur Letter of the 13th of. January
lust, with the several Papers therein referred to relative to
the Capitulation of the-Town and Cape of Gaccl7 hope. -
i am, Sir, your's, Ex. Wild.. MARSDEN.
The conclusion which I thinle every unprejisdiced
'twin wonldedraw from the perusal of.these two let
tars. is, 'that if the Admiralty Board did not. judge
• proper to express to me any approbation, not merely
•of my owri conduCt, a Cominander of •the naval
force employed in the rednetion of the Cape, brit of
that of-the Officers and Seamen ikho contributed to
this comeliest; still the Board could not be well dis-
pleased with it ; and that by their Secretary having
leA me also in the dark, Or rather to my own conjec-
tures, in his reply to my letter acqiiainting him of
my having sailed with my squadron to the Rio de la.
. Plata,. it was equally presumable that the Board did
not then disapprove' of my having proceeded on that
Exped:tien ; that i's, by the tone and charaeler of
the two letters, they looked upon the capture of the
Cape, and the arrangements for the squadron's sail-
ing to Rio de la Plata, precisely in the•sarne point of
view, or that one was as likely to meet their appro-
bation, or to prove advantageous to the country, as
the other.
In 'the course of the defence, Sir Home dwelt
strongly on the manner in which he bad been treated
-by the present Board of Admiralty. With one of
the above letters in the same packet was another, ac-
knowledging the receipt of one from Sir Home, in-
,c:osing a letter from Capt. Donelly, of. the Narcissus,
detailing his account of the destruEtion of the Bello-
na French privateer, in which Sir Home was direet-
:ed by their Lordships to express to Capt. Donelly:
their warm approbation of his conduet, and that of
.his officers and 'men, while, for the capture of the
Cape, Sir. Home had not one word. The army
.had- been thanked,' and spaken of in the handsomest
terms, ',but not one Word from the Board of Admi-
ralty in praise, or even speakirig of his condua on
the occasion in terms ,of common satisfaction. By •
:another letter he received acknowledgment 'of their
Lordships having -received his Plata of operations•l
against the Settlements of the Rio de la:Plata.—Tbe
same coldananner was here 'obserVed as in the for,
firer. case. Their Lordships had received his corn-
munieations,, and the Secretary' had the honour to
be his most obedient humble servant. Surely, said - -
Sir aome, if my' condua had been disapproved, it -
would.have beep no difficult matter to have hinted
it ; or was I not rather to think, that the news cf .
the surrender of the Cape of Good ellope'beingae-
lthewledged, in terms Eirnilar, and' that being an ac-
quisition of- undoubted' importance; I might also
conclude, by a fair inference, that my' operations
were eapprovedhy the same taciturnity ? -He com-
plained of the manner in which he had been sent
home, in a small prize brig, miseifthly manned and
vem-se armed. But he thanked God he had arrived I

sate to meet the accusations that had been heaped
up for his reception... He commented with much
force, and a considerable deo-ree. of eloquence, -on
the Manner -in which the charges were drawn up
againtt him ; the usual style of which was to stig,
mat ise him kin the words of the order) with a &grant
neglect of duty; which the &ame order, On the' face
of it, says, in their Lordships' opinion, aught not to
go unpunished.
.fitter Sir H. Popham had conCluded.his defence,
he proceeded 'to call his witnessm, a list of whom
was read otter, consisting of Lord Melville, Mr.
Huskiss,on, Mr. Sturges Bourne, Mr: <Marsden;
Mr. King, Mr. Maclean, Mr. Madden, 'Sir Home's
Secretary.
The first witness examined was Lord Melville,
who was sworn agreeably to the custom of all Naval
Courts Martial.

His Lordship addressed the Court,, stating the
awl: ward situation in which he stood, as it appeared
likciy, from the first question pOt to brm, that the
answers would lead him to commit himself, by the
disclosure of matters of that importance, which,
from their nature, it would be improper to put be-,
fore the public. He • therefore bespoke the indul-
gence of the Court not to press any questions to
vliich he might feel obliged .W refuse an answer; in
the propriety of which the: Court concurred.
The principal questions put to his Lordship by the
Prisoner, were as to the -confidential communica-
tions, from time to time, made to him by Mr. Pitt,
a'; wed as by his Lordship, on the subject of South
America ; particularly relative to, some proposals
tnacie to Goyernment by Gen. Miranda, in which
communication Sir Home bore a conspicuous part,
being at one time left in company with, General
'Miranda, for the express purpose of ascertaining
niinuttely all the General's plans ; and afterwards,
by his Lordship's direction, drawing up a memoir
and projet, which was submitted for the considera-
ti .n of- Government. His Lordship distinctly ad-
mitted, that he had frequently turned, his serious
thoughts to the subject of South America, with \a
"conosiriplative view of the advantages that might be
dirtied by obtaining a footing in it for the introduc--
tion-of our tnanufadures.. He stated that Sir Home
bad certainly been employed at different times
by the Government on -confidential services, and
had, given satisfaCtion by the way in which those
services had been executed ; but his Lordship did
not say--that Sir Hbme had. been authorised "to
make an attack upon, tile Settletoent. of Buenos
Ayres-.
Mr. Sturges Bournrwas the next witness called.
' His testimony went iirincipalty to prove, that 'Sir
Home 'Popham had had interviews with Mr. Pitt
on the subject of the Cape of Good Hope; and that
iu consequence of some commonication made by
Sir Howe to Mr. Pitt, the latter had dire6led the
witness to make further inquiry, and take some