The Sun.
London, England, 1805-06-26 00:00:00

lersuade. :and those with whom he had the
retour tr, eta, to do that ler* the sake of'justice,
the''d,n:_i;er of which, as a precederit, was c( glar
ing, that. the consisteney of the blouse of Com-,
. mons, Inthriately -coeneC,4l with the safety of the
Constitution, on which alone the liberty aid hap-,
pimp of the People was Ibunded, imperiously de-
marided them to refuse to do. The Right "Hon.
Gentleman wished, to involve' them in his own
inconsistency, at the same time that lie did them the
lemeur .to acknowledge that they had been perfeCily
in the right in their proposition for an Impeachment.
,hut, after one. Of the longest debates, and fullest at-
rendances that had ever taken place within the walls
of tivt House, the Rlesoltition for ordering, the At-
toent.ty Gen;!.ral to file a, Criminal Information had
b een agreed to., and he would now strenuously oppose
tin reseinding 11 Resolution so formed. With regard
• to what had been said of ea:cal:Mg the sense of Par-
• liatnent, he kneW of no mode of doing so but by as-
certaining the uninber of Votes.. •What had been the
predicaMent into Whitt). the Le.:nted Meyer had him-
self fallen on that oecesion ? He spoke forcibly
agtinst Criminal Prosecution., by the Attoniey Ue-
wend, and then by his vote put it out of his power
to adopt an Impeaehment, Surely, common sense
alone. Shonld have diaated to him a better course of
proceeding, As to the Motion under discussion; the
House had certainly been taken by surprise. No
special notice of it had been given till yesterday.
The night Hon. Gentleman challenges any one, to
unit his band on his heart and say that he does not
' believe, in the debate of the r ath, a great majority
were In favour of the Impeachment. He (Mr. Whit-
bread) belies ed that he wished to carry thingS at that
time with a high hand, and if Possible get Lord
O. In this he was defeated and in con-
sequence he and, the House- were placed in the awk-
ward predicament in which they now stood.
" says the night Honourable Gentleman,
o'r it will make no difference ; LIN Melville will.
still be triimi." He would, in his turn, ask the
Hight. Honourable Gentleman to put his hand on his
heart, and say, whether or not he did not think
that a great number of those who would vote for
t4e Impeachment to-night would be happy to 're-
lease, Lord Melville from any Prosecution whatever
of a" nature ; a disposition which Might yet
be evinced 'at a future period of the Session. With
regpeet to the. Attorney- General, however highly he
;night .think of his charaCter, he could not avoid say-
ing, that...if he felt himself disinclined to puwae the
crimes of Lord Melville tlarough then; various
windings, where many others of great abilities were
perfeCtly ready to' enter, into such a Prosecution in a
011§Chetweerea great Nation and a great Delinquteit,
he would surely not wish to retain his situation at
the eipence of the public good 'and the public opi-
'nion,--elf the Criminal' Prosecution was contrary to
the privihiges of the Peers the Learned Gentleman
ought to have told the HMO so, but his silence inti-
mated the reverse. The Hoiase ought rather to ask the
Attorney 'General hew they should proceed, than
.that the Attorney General should ask the House.'
' If he felt unable to do justice to the Country, let
him throw up his brief, and we must prevail on
'souse other Lawyer to take it up.. It would not
redound to the . credit of the House to . say 'that
'forty- or fifty Members posFsessed the influence which
was ascribed to thern,and that when near five Juin,
tired had been arguing, strongly, and the baLnce
vas nearly even;. that ,that ma-niter should Cause it,
to preponderate. It was lamentable for the Country
to observe, that some of -those who supported the
Measure were the partizans of one Cabinet Mieister,
4,014 l some of those who opposed it partipns of another.
.t
,the saino,time the 43 possessed, cot. sisteney, and
should leive his vote on the prietent pecasiOn. Should
the Impeachment, be carried, he wished toeknoW
who were to be appointed as Managers for thellouse
of Commons, ,Was it to he a mixture of those who
the Prosecution to be snppressed, and those
who were anxious to Pursue it. ? If the I:louse should
think proper to name him to -the task, however ar-
deotee and in Whatever society he might find hint-
' !;elf, Is would new allow hi mselfto bethscouraged un-
til the ends'ofjustiCe had been completely answered.
Mr. Whitbread earnestly requested 'Ministers to con-
shier what they were doing, and advised them, if
they persisted, an 'bringing for Ward the Motion for
Impeachment, to summon the House, that every
advantage might be obtained than could be looked
for front crincentrated talents.
Oeperal LiBIVIVOX was strongly in favonr of an
Intpeachinent, in preferenee to a Prosecution by the
Attorney-General, tbr Lord Melville had a right to
be tried by his Peers, and his ease was such as sheuld
be decided only by the highest Court.
The 47TORNE Y-GENE:RAL felt somewhat at
a lasi; 'bow to treat either the compliments on the
Consttre which had been insinuated respecting" his
con:l4. He was Sure that those, who seemed will 7
ing. to place cenfidenee in him did so not merely
from personal _regard!, but from. a consideration of
whit was his duty, and the circumstance by which.
lie should he guided on so grave and important
nuestion; and those whO on the contrary hinted any
thing like distrust, meant, he was' sure, no personal
..encura, laqt only that constitutional jealousy which
.41',onto, always ne entertained with respetct to the set'.
4,ants of the Crowel. -svould not deny having
uttered the exereSsions imputed to hint. He had
said, that Ira Crirnioal Proseention was entered upon
keiinst leord be would be sent to convic-
tion, that is, of legal, guilt, in connivingat the private
profit made by. Mr. Trotter of the Vublic Money
tint fact he thonght might be completely established,
As to the instruetions he aakcd for, they did not: re-
gard the form arid, shape in which the indietment
should be drawn up but ,:the points. which the
Ilonse thoug,ht it incumbent non hint to prosecute;
' and, what species of evidence. they would allow him
• to adduce re..;pc:aing the various source,4 of evidence;
many difficulties might certainly arise; and 'against
these d:tfienlrics t ought it his duty to be peepared.
As to the 10,0001. it mightatot appear where it wits
misapplied, whether at the Bank or at the Paymas,
ter',4 Office, It would, therefore, he uncertain where
ay.! venue of the indithnent should be laid, and an
error in that roped i glit 1 nake the
,Prosecution
TI , minute difficulties; but in
miSCarq. Melee.
heir correeuenCeS they might be very serious; Upon
#
the case of Lord Halifax much stresshad been Lad,
St was the only one; that applied; yet the eircum,
stances that•attendkj it afforded iao great - enconrage
=a to those who were: arixiou,s to adopt it asaprece7
dent.: ft Inch been .asked„. should the Question of
hipeaehtnent now be carried, who would be the
,onagers ?. He would not hesitate to say, the lion,