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

.of loviagyeilifun2.2l l a se-.
detachment el his troops, Tnis sUreiy
n:she3 incontrovertible eviden,:x that Si,. I).,Blircl
•
co:: :,16.1:6c1 the Ca-Pe in n,J.dangerfrorn the weakness
gLari ion, Or means fEtfenee ; Ibe
availing In-yself Of aid which hiy
;or ja:lgment, felt could. be afiimi-2.:.1 v i.h prfect
salety, •

my, eptcyprje beingcrp-Facd'iwthr.snoclels_,*oni 4. •
petOing
truth, sir,, it. is manifAt!,,firotv every,:yiew; of °c,n,.
conduct.of the Actrnir?.lt,,Ebard, that,
they. had no. intention whatever -to arraign me 1.. t
ibis successful exercise of tbe diccretionary:
Avithi.hich, I maintain every commanding :Officer,
on a distant station, is vested, and which he. has

I :am alto chatted with having' left the Cape with-
pit the mc,ans of taking et any ships of the
enemy which havepu.. into any cf its bays or
harb.,)u:-s, or any of the pores adjac'ent. :ow, Sir,
I submit to t censii:lerayqp ofthisHon,Co:irt,
whe-
.thor, after the retreat of Willeomne;:s squadron from
what may be called the Indian Se-4411eredution of
the French NaVal Force by. ~afMelson's glorious
vitory off 'Fratitivr, and the ,brilli,na success of
another .gallant Admiral, whoyendered that vidtory
still more complete, by.the.capture of every ship
► .that had 'e,,eaped from .the former scene pf
there was the most distant probahility
,of the Arrival
of any French ships of war at the Cape, or any of
the bays or harbours in its Vicinity ? with„
the exception of one single fripte, mentioned•in a
letter to the Admiralty,: by capt. Styles, Of the Ada-.
moat, no French ship whatever attempted to enter

toexeq for the,gooduf his:country. • The stz."
pjrcession, I conceive, .was .meant as t! :e extreme
measure of pun'shment Indeed,.Sir, were:not .uur
Naval and Military CoMManders, employed On 4-o*-
reignierVice-, in distant quarters, allowed a
for;the exercise.-of their discretion; what.ill eonsc -
quences would often arise to his Majesty's` ;ervie: ?
,To the Members conOsing this Honourable Court',
the majority of whom have alreadvsfilled, and all o
whom are likely to 'fill, high. commands-onditant
' stations, it,iS scarcelynecessaryjo point-out the'com-
bination and the variety ofunexpected circutmtance3
. which. may. occur, and imperiously dictate the ne-
cessity of advantage. being taken of the moment in
promptly acting against an enemy, which circum-
stances. may be such, that, delay might lead only tc)
discomfiture or disgrace;. and that no, time could be
_spared for cot-Ist-46n the Superior Authorities at

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Valse Bay, or any other bays or Itarbonnt near the
Cape. • _ .

. .
home, or waiting f6rtheir orders. Had such ex-
treme caution, such rigid regulations as Se:MIS. to

The Cannoniere affords a solitary instance of an
enemy's Ship attempting to shelter' Herself, or to re-
connoitre, in tbose parts ; and her arrival was a mere

prompt the present accusation been biaherta) ch-
forced, that daring spirit of enterprise, that prom;,t
and decisive energy of action which have -1 tam

fortuitous event, of which it would not have been in

Brjtish name and character to so proud and enviat)lo

my power to take advantage; even had I remained
in Simon's Bay, with all the squidron ; for the 'na-
tural Probability is', that, as soon as she should dis-
coverfrom her mast-head our ships lying there, she
would immediately make a precipitate retreat into
the otling, without my• being able to prevent her
escape. Besides, at the time when I left the, Cape,
the winter season was about to commence, during
which no ships can lie in Tabld-Bay with safety.—
'Commodore Johnstone justly observed, when he was
sent into those seas on a Secret Expedition, in 1781,
it \i'as deetned unadvisable by himself and General

. .
a summit of distinction, would not only bare bt-en
checked, but in a great measure
.annihilated ; and
the annals of our liitOty would not have been distin-
guished, by- so many gallant achievements, .which,
though undertaken without orders, have, in ventral,
been eminently conducive to the interest and glory
of the Country. Numerous precedents exi..t which
'fully illustrate the truth Of this position, some of
which may probably occqr to the recollectionof the
Members of. the
,Court. Amongst others which
.present themselves. to my memory it .this mornent,
I shall beg leave. to mention the.c6w) de'maie which

_ . .
Meadows to attack the Cape in that season. No at-
tack, indeed, on this Settlenient was to be appre-
hended from an .enemy's. farce during the period, in.
which I am charged with leaving the Cape exposed
to attack and insult.

put 'the 'British .Qrown in possessdn of ,Gibraltar.
Sir Georae-Pook9 had no orders for undertaking
that bold enterprise ;. nor was be arraigned by his
Superiors at home for having e)celioied his discre-:
tion on that occasion : on the contrary, her Majesty

-Independently of these circumstances I would ask, }did every honour to his enterprising spirit. In the
how often has the. Cape been without a single Ship of . Ainerican war, Sir Peter Parker, I believe, and Gen.
War to assist is its defence dnring.'the time it was 4DAling, the ,then Naval and Military Commaeders
in possession:of the British Forces in the late War, at Jamaica, concerted an Expedition against the
and the
.Flag of the Naval Commanding Officer on ,Spanish Settlement •of Omoah, which, was to a.
the Station left. flying on bOard• of a small Vessel, i certain degree seccessfule No blame, I under-
scarcely capable of making any resistaitee?' Indeed, stand,,' way attached to either of those Officers
inlthe hennediate expeaatien of the 'arrieal at the for having .dirteted this attack without orders.—
Cape of some men of war from England, I, left an At the .heginping of the. late. war, in rep, Lord
order, dated the 13th of April, teed, addressed to H:.md entered r.i.leulon, acrd afterwards attacked
;any Naval Officer who might `arrive there, and be Corsica, without orders, and, / believe, against the
j
unior to myself, by which order he or they were at opinion of the General, who would not co-operate
perfe& liberty either to remain at the Cape; or to . with him. Yet that Admiral was not brought
follow, me to the Rio de Ia Plata, as should appear ' before a Coure-Martial for having so aaed , nor
most for the benefit of his Majesty's service, after a was it ever known that his condudf Was censured.
consultation with Sir David Baird on the subject. ---, . .1n 1796, Lord St.. Vincent (then Sir John Jervis)
.If I am asked, why r. was so anxious to leave the : sent the heroic Lord. Nelson to attack Teneritie,•
Cape in such apparent haste, as not to wait for the 1 in consequence of information which he received,
arrival of the .men of war eXpeaed from England, my that two ships had loaded their treasure. there.—
answer is simply this ; I was fearful then the delay , Every person is acquainted With the issue of that ee.
inetw' departure from the Cape, added, to the pro- pedition, which lost to this Country su manY brave
bable -length of the- passage froth, that prenteet.eay j L. Notwithstanding the disastrous result of this
to the East coast of South America,might defeat the , intended coup-de• main; Which was undertaken with-
.out enders fromany superior authority, it is certain
object of the-expedition, by retarding my arrival in
the Rio.de la Plata until that season, which, from I that no public inquiry was ever instituted against
the information I was possessed of respecting the Lord .St. Vincent, although if an opinion were to
navigation
.of this river, might render it impossible be formed from the event only, without considering
the motives orate enterprize, there would perhaps
to sail up high eaough to attack either of the Settle,-
ments of,Monte Video or. Buenos AvreS. appear sufficient ground on which an accusation
Another point-to, which lam desirous to call the might have been
.expeaed and supported against
attention •of this HonourabieCourt is this—that from that Commander. But let the Court .patticularly
lo.ok at the Letter recently published from that il-
the manner in which the Secretary ofthe Admiralty
replies ti ins' letter of the 9th April, wherein I al'" Instrious Officer .Lord Nelson, to Sir Simon Tayler,
of Jamaica, relative to his dire6tibn in going front
prised that Board ofeny intebded departure for the
.
Rio de la Plata, for the purpose of attacking the spa the Mediterranean to the West Indies. These
.
Dish possessions, I had a just right. to suppose that precedents, Sir, will 'clearly prove the existence
the Admiralty Board, did not disapprove of my having
and toleration of that cliaeretionary power on which
sailed with the squadron on that service; for certainly I 'ewe aaed, , But I- have yet to, cite a case still
it is rational to infer, that some expression of thee.. more m point, since the Officer whom lam going
displeasure. would have been inserted in ,Mr. Mars- 'to mention- commanded ,on the very station which
den's letter, acknowledging the receipt of mine of I arn accused of having left unproteaed,,aod who
the date aboye-mentioped. Am I pot therefore' jus- actually prepared to embark the troops on board
tified, Sir, in construing the silence observed on this his squadron, with which he was :ready to sail frotri
head, as at least a tacit acknowledgment on the ' the; Cape to the Rio. de la Plata, in order to attack •
part of that Board which has now brought me to trial those identical Settlements Which were the objeas-
for having undertaken the expedition against Buenos of my enterprize. The late Str Hugh Christian
Ayres without orders, that it did not then excite their had carried his intention so 'far as I have stated,"
dissatisfaetion ? , But-in truth the importance which ,whet an account reached him froth India, stating
the Admiralty now profess to attach to the Cape; i time urgent necessity of sending the military rein-
seerins extremely singular, when contrasted With the i forcemente to our army in the -barnatia. This in-
W • opinion, hiCh; from Mr. 'Marsden's letter tome,telligence compelled him to dispetch the troops to
acknowledging the receipt of my ace) ant of its cap- India, and thus was the expedition to the East Coast
Pere, they appeared to entertain of it a indeed, the i of. South America at that time prevented. This last.
tame, the cold terms of that letter, would naturally case, whieh I shall prove by the testimony of Mr.
induce att idea, either that the Admiralty thought the I.l),l'Leeti, then• Admiral Christian's Secretary, ehews
Cape.of little value in itself, or that it was of PO that. that Officer considered himself justified in
cot-ISt:queere comparatively with the. ultimate objeet asing.hiS,diseretion in the manner I have described ;
of the expechtion.—Really estimating the Cape as it and although OK expedttion did not take place, it
deserves, it wouldhave been reasonable to infer from i was not becauae that Admiral had received no orders
this letter,
.that the Admiralty there aware of„ and fore undertaking it. , The ,real cause of its having,
highly prized that ultimate eejea ;. but it is difficult i been relinquished was that which, I have already -
to account for their coed 5f When the acquisitibn stated. If, then, Admiral Christian, without any
was made, not one solitary expression of thanks *as orders from home, or previous communication. on
prenoenced upon:those to whom it was owing, and theeubjea, thought proper to adopt the necessary
yet lamto be condemned for having exposed that measures for undertaking an expedition to the Rio
acquisition even:to imaginary hazard. The impor- de. la' 'Plata, during the period of his 'commanding
tatice'olethe capture was passed over in silence when the squadron at the Cape, how. moth more urgent,
I night. ha\'e been gratified; but it 'is loudly en- and how much more justifiable Must havebcen the
hanced When the.ohjea is to.depreEsame. Whence , motives which induced me to -engage in. that en-
this difference, I leave it to your reflexionS, Gentler 1 terprise, who'
.had been appointed to time
men ; I leaVe it to the rellexioni of my Country. ship I .conunanded for the express purpose,`of pro-
My letter of the 9th cif April was received by the ceeding in her to. South -America, and ,Who had been
Admiralty Board in June last, and it was .not till confidentially apprised of the secret views and plans
the end of AugUst that Admiral F,Tirling sailed to of the King'S ,Ministers respe&ing it long before I
superSede me, with an order of-recoil. If my con- lett Engand ? -But, thoogh the intention of Minim al
deal, in having engaged :in this enterprize, had Christian to proceed to tire at tack.of the Spanish Set-
been really disapproved by his Majesty's ,me tlements was well known to his Majesty's Govern-
nisters, why, on their perusal of my dispatches, i ieept in England, yet I find on inquiry 'that the
was not the Admiralty Board dire6ted to send out Admiralty - Board of that-day expressed no disap-
a fist-sailing vessel to signify to me their disappro- probation of the measures, he had pursued without
hation of my conduct in having sailed to attack the their orders ; whereas I, who. succeeded in the same
...
enemy without specific orders to - that effeet ; by enterprise, executed from exaaly the same point of
which means also the visionary expence of t'he Cape - departure, and what is still not a little singular, une
would have been of near three months less duration, ' der the auspices of the same Military' COmmander,
No reason whatever can be assigned Ihr their hay- - I mean'. Sir David Baird, am now arraigned foe
hie, kept me so long in such a state of anxious sus- my success, even at the moment: when Ministers
pence, except, indeed, the uncertainty whieh the I- are :following up the blow I struck with all. the,
British Cabinet seems to have been in at the time energy in their power, by employing all the forces.
respeaing the conduct to beemrsuel n the event of
l ' i the well can muster for that service; I have .saide
. ; Sir,y that when the Achmiraltr learat-by,ray ienrrof