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

that inquiry, I should wish to hope were now extinct, • it vvas naturelly to. be apprehended,
,from the,..cone
Unfortunately; however, appeerafices serve. too mach stunt' communication between-St. Salvador end "the
to warrant a contrary apprehensien._ ,But, yet I feel Rio de la Plata, that every information ' reseeel-
confident that no description of prejudice can operate ing . the. naval and military, force of the am-teem-set
against me on this occasion, at least SO 'far aS this would be transmitted to the. Governors of.-Moete
'Hon.• Count-is Concerned. - 'Lookin roun7d. -rne here i Video and ReenossAyres. Therefoie, - under -every
at so-many distinguished and konourabie men, at 50 e sieweoE thessubjeas it was most advisable not to she-
Many of the first ornaments of the professioti to e fee thee:attack- of the Spanish. possessions.:: Urgent,
which it is my pride to belonae.l cannot tinier my- • hoverer,` ea, these' considerations may appear, they
self to imagine for a moment that prejudice, or any : were not: sufficiently powerful—to, fix inpettentiou
kind of midde infinence; can have weight liere—'-can '. aifogether,on the immediate 'execution of the pro-
operate in the slightest degree to affea the result of : jet referred'to. Various circumstances remained Co
,this trial. But now tolsrticeed to the "share before ; be -weighed and examined; but none more partictiler-
yotr. I trust that I shall be able to shew, that thedirec- ' ly than, the.original cause of delay,stated, by Mr. Pitt,
.tion Ireceived was not only Such as, under the circum- , namely,: the anxiety of the Emperor-Of Russia to et-
ltancess was fairly admissible, but such as the Minis- • each Spain to the Coalition forming on 'the Continent
terse under whose orders I-sailed to the Cape of Good' of Europe at the time I sailed from England.
•Hope, fully warranted by their concurrent opinions, Carly in February, 1806, I received accounts .of
at least by the concurrent opinions of those:who were the terminationsof the war in India. In the course
-understood by all to hold the leading influence in that i of the saute month I also received the news Of Lord
Administration. I shall, however, not only afeew thee Nelson's glorious vi&ory off Trafalgar, and the ac-
an-expedition to South America was a favour'eteobjea count of a general Coalition against France, froM
with;Mr. Pitt, that he had it in contemplation,- and an alliance with which Power it was .evident the
.actually took some steps to carry it into,eliecution in ' Emperor' Alexander had not been able to detach
.they course of his former Administration; but that he Spain. Towards the end of February, a Danish Yea-
never lostsight of it, being only restrained from at. i sel,which arrived at the Cape, brought English news-
tempting the execution of it by political reasons, which i papers, giving an account of the fate of the Austrians,
no longer existed when I felt it my duty, foe the inte- By the capture -of the Volontaire French frigate, on
rest ofeney Country, to proceed from the Cape of Good the 4th of March, I learnt the defeat of the Russian
Hope upon :-.l)is. long prejeaecl,Expedition... In the • army at Austerlitz ; that Bonaparte was in posses-
conrse of the year 1804 a change occurred in the . sion of Vienna; and that when Willeamnez sailed
Government of the Country; soon after which I was from Breit, he left in that port no more than 'six',
appbinted- to the
pose of blockading
Antelope in the Dow hs, fin- the par- . ships of war, of which three only were fit for services
the harbour of
"Boulogne, in the From a German Officer, who was taken prisoner in
abienee of Admiral Louis.
that While I commanded ;the Volontaire, I also collee.ted such presumptive
ship, Lord Melville, then First Lord of the evidence respe&ing the. ulterior destination of Willau-
Admiralty corresponded with me on the subjea mez's squadron, as induced me to adopt the idea that,
of Miranda's plan and on my coining to town in -after cruizing a certain time on the Bank of La-
, the month of October in that year' (at which period gullies, he would put into the Brazils for water and
the probability of a :Spanish war had increased), -refreshments, and thence proceed to the West In-
Ns Lordship direar'd line to consult eosin) with Gen, dies, more especially after he should have been in-
Miranda, and to sligest my ideas on the subject of an formed that the Cape was aaually taken by the Bri-
expedition egaeest the Spanish Settlements in South tisk forces. Indeed; so strongly did 'this presump-
America, in t'he form of a Memoir. To the best of tion -operate on my mind,. that -I dispatched a small
my recollefstion, I delivered this document' to Lord copper-bottomed transport brig to Admiral Cochrane
l'lelville, on the Veit of Oaober, 1804. Shortly at Barbadoes, to apprize him of What I conceived
after. I was direaed to attend Mr. Pitt, at Wimble- , -was the most likely course to be pursued by Wil-
doel, in order that lie might converse with me on -laumez, as will appear by my Letter to Mr. Marsden.
'the 'various, points comprehended in my Memoir.—, -I also dispatched the Proteaor gun-brigeo.Sir- Ed-
In the month of- December,•lBo4, I was sent for by ward Pellew in India, and•the Rolla -brig to endea-
his Majesty's ministers to Deal, and at the same time your to fall in with whatever British squadron might
the biadem, to which ship I was appointed, was put be employed in the blockade-of the:Mauritius,
an (.:0111inissien for the express purpose of my pro- • These measures of precaution evince to this Ho-
ceeding in her on theintended.Expedition to South nourable Court my extreme anxiety to comMunicate
•America. Various circumstances, however, occurred ' to the Commanders in Chief of his Majesty's Naval
to retard the execution of this project; but, with the Forces in every quarter of the globe, and on every
exception of the short interval of peace, it. had never station liable to attack from the enemy's flying sqlia-
. -been relinquished from the mOment when the idea drons such intelligence as might best enable them to
'was first suggested. _These fasts, as far as Lord Mel- intercept those squadrons; or to act on the defensive;
ville was coneerned his Lordship will substantiate. and to altord every proteCtion in their power to the
It,, July, 1805; I. received an account of the weak I commerce of his Majesty's ' subjeCte.
state of the garrison of tl;i:. Cape of Good Hope, and While I was employed in transmitting this desire-
also learnt that a strong squadron was espeaed there ble informatioet to the East and West Indies, and
frem Prance. Conceiving that the capture of this other-parts, little did I imagine. that J should have
eettlement, while it would materially contribute to . been accused of not affording protection to the trade
promoteihe interests of my Country, miseet like- lof His Mitjesty's millet-As, merely because I did not,
wise Gifford facilities to the projeaed conquest of the with my Squadron, becorrie stationery. at the Cape,
Spanish Dependencies ou the East coast of South where I was not enjoined by my instructions, or call-
Anierica, which was a main object ein the mind of ed upon by any apparent necessity to remain.
Mr. Pitt, 1 hentediately proeosed to him that an During the late war our cruizers were constantly
. armament should sail without delay for the.attacic of either off the mouth of the River, or absolutely
the Cape. This proposal. was acceded to, and, in cruizing off Monte Video ; one of the ships indeed
the course of a few days,„l.received my instriattions which had cruized there, was under my•conernand 5
to proceed in the Diadem, as -Commanding Officer and, independent of every other consTderation, I
of all his Majesty's ship's and vessels des need fee not Only had the opinton ofthat respeaable Officer,
that service. Mr. Sturges. Bourne, then one of the Captain Rowley, who was on the Cape station
secretaries of the Treasury, was present at the con- •last war, that the Rio dela Plata was conceived as a
versation to which -I here allude, and will corroborate 1 part of that station, but the unanimous opinion of
my account of what passed on the occasion. On every Officer under my command, some of whore
the 29th of July 1805,1 took final leave of Mr. Pitt, will, I have no doubt, give their teStimony to this
With whom 1 had a long conversation on the original effect.--I beg' it, however, to be understood, that
project of, an exPedition td Soinh America. Mr. these opinions were expressed long before our arrival
I'itt informed me that from
,the negotiation then at the Cape.
pending. with Russia, it appeared that the Emperor • Does not this prove that the Admiralty considered
Aleisander was extremely anxious to' attach Spain the Rio de la Plata as an enemy's port, which ought
to the coalition, and that until that matter should Lie to be constantly watched by some of the cruizers
determined, he,(Mr. Pitt) felt a delicacy in tee, d under the orders of the Senior Naval Officer et the
to the commencement of hostile operations i
n Sonatrh Cape, and consequently within the limits of his corn-
America; but that,. as soon, as possible after such
an overture should have been rejeded by the Spa- mand ? But, notwithstanding the opinion thus pos-
sessed and enforced by a former Admiralty Board;
teish Court, it was his fixed intention to enter on lam brought to trial by the present 'Board for
peearrlead-
igioal projea, and attack Spain in that dis-. ing my squadron to attack the Spanish Possessions
t but most vulnerable quarter. I lament ex- on the Rio tie la Plata, when I had every reason to
t emely that 'any proceeding should have made it ne- believe that no French ships of war were in the
cessary for me to state these _particulars relative to vicinity of the Cape,- or likely to arrive thither from
the calculations upon a Spanish alliance, but the Europe. .
fault is not mine. Any thing that serves to shew lam charged too, with having left the Cape ex-
the value attached by those from whom I derived my posed to attack and insult. On the contrary, I main-
appointthent to that obie&, for the execution of
fain, that through the well known zeal, ability, and
which I am now brought before you as a deli • judgment of 'Lieutenant-General Sir David Baird,
Manifestly pronquent,
per and requisite for my jostifis
is
the' Cape of Good Hope was placed in a state of the
most perfea security. The raitary dispositions .of
Cation. From what I have stated, it will, I am
confident,' appear evident to every Member,of this that distinguished-Officer were so judicious and skit-
Honourable,Court, that if the attack on the Cape II fuls as to inspire the.firmest confidence in a successful
of Good Hope preceded that on the Spanish settle- iesult, even, under the supposition that an attempt
meats, the priority was the result of mvown immes . ' should be 'made to wrest this conquest from the Bri-
dime suggestion to the late Prime Minister. , It- will tisk forces, while his political arrangements gave
likewise, lam persuaded, appear not less obvious to i the most general satisfaaion to the inhabitants of
that on my interview With
very unprejudiced mind, every destription. The garrison had been strength-
that illustrious Statesman, he fully and unequivocally ened- by 'a levy- of native militia, and its means
t eengtleaed the. conviaion which I entertained Of of defence were deemed so ample and adequate
his
an intent. eis to follow up the capture of the Cape, •by Sir David Baird, whose opinion in such , a
final intaerview, on the Spanish settlements e for at ti n§ case I considered mySelf justified in adopting, as
Huskissorny'sit
evvvh Mr. Pitt desired me to furnish Mr. he was the most competent judge
.in military
Gentlemen a memorandum of the names of the
ntlernen from I ''affairs, - that this intelligent Officer did nut he-
w lone he was likely to obtain any. sitate to furnish a detachment of his gallant
further information he might _
want on the subjeet. troops, in consequence of my submitting to
Mr. Pitt was then leaving him all the intbratatiOn I had received resi7ealies
the Secretary's Room at
the Treasury to go intothe ' 0 the
Board Room ; and Mr: • defenceless state of Alonte Video and 'Buevos Ayres,
liUskisson coming •
in at the other door just at the and my urgent representation to him of the great ad-
moment,l instantl com • ale "of ,tanee .of 7 communicated to him the sub- ~ vantages which our Country was likely to derive,
allessati_ it ."what had passed. The veracity of this ! particularlT at so critical a period, from such a Ya-
iheetecirn will be confirmed to this Hon. Court by . hiable acquisition ae the conquest of One or both of ,1
of feats shciairitYl," Mr. Huskisson. When this chain t those places. Certain I am, that it is not necessary';
the ee have been completely established by ! for me to impress on this honourable Court, that
--neurr
Sturges B
o,lent "depositions of Lord Melrille, Mr. 1 the preference felt by the Dutch Colonists and
necessary for the
and Mr., Huskisson, it will not be natives to the mild and fostering proteetion of the
that on rny
itne to urge to this honourable Court, British Government, would dispose them to have lent
strongest conve•av!ng England, I sailed under the •
! their 'most cordial assistance in repelling a French
taking the
Ca iction, that after having succeeded in i force, if it were possible to expea such a force, as in
tually to accoPme,
if:tothing. could contribute so effec- : the event of its succeeding in the attack, the Colony
by .whom I hatiPlsh
the views of those Ministers ' would have become subject to the oppressive exaction
to strike a blow'
been entrusted 'with command, as . and tyranny of the French Government. But if any
Spaniards should -be South America before the ! additional proof were wanting of the peelea state
.
faa, as there was prepared against it. In lof security in which Lieutenant-General Sir David
necessity for the Squadron Baird considered the Cape after he had furnished me 1
under my command -to- touch at St. Salvador "for !;with a detachmeet of ai •
, ~ I s garrison for the expedition !
water, on its passage f
0 row Enef4, to the Cape, land to Rio Bela la Math, itis to'be. found in thecircumstance
.