Star.
London, England, 1805-04-09 00:00:00

period in his poffeflion. In this cafe the Houle will
fee clearly that Mr. Barre was not placed in circum-
fiances at all parallel to :hole under which Lord Mel-
ville had acted. There hitherto culled no pofitive
law to force Mr. Barre to furrender up his balances,
but be very wifely bowed to the decifion of a Cnrn-
mittee of the Houfe, and (heaved his readinefs even
to anticipate the future refoluticm of the Legiflature.
Mr. Barre thus gave the prompt-ft proof of his obe-
dience to the voice of Parliament, and it was proved
before the Commiffioners by the only perfon now
fttrviving to attell the fad, that Mr. Barre never
afterwards, diredly or indirectly, received the leaft
emolument from the public money bcycnd the eta-
blifhed falai y ; and the fame obfervation applies to
every one of tlile.in- his employment (a loud cry of
bear, bear!) Lord Melville fucceeded Mr. Barre
for a few months,, as Treaforer of the Navy ; anti
whether, during this Thort period, he received any
advantage from the public money, whether it was
placed iu the Bank of England, locked up in his
iron chell, or lodged in the ,hands of a private
banker, I ha 7, ton ar this day the opportunity of
deckling. THs is at leaß certain, that Lord Bayn-
ing, who fikcceded Lord Melville, had no fort of
difficulty in aufwering the Commtilioners. His an-
Ewer was manly and honourable. On being ail.-A,
whether he enjoyed any feparate emolument or ad
vantage from the public money, he unequivo•
cally anfwers in the negative. After the diffolution
of the Minißry of that day, we again have Lord
Melville Mariner of the Navy. On his returning
his old Ration he difcovercd that the falary did not
exadly synclinal to the fum which Parliament pro-
p/lied. An Al of Council accordingly paired on his
reprelentation, Aiid the net falary of four thoufand
pounds a year was eltabliflted. This fum fo ella•
blifhed, was expref.ly declared to be in 'lieu of all
emoluments, tees or advantages. In 1785, in con.
fequence of a recommendation froth hie Majeßy in
his fpeech from the Throne, an At was palled, con-
taining thofe regulations on which the futeretondult
of the Civil Department of the Navy was to be or-
ganized. At that time the Right Honourable Gen-
tleman oppofite, held out to the Houle the moil bril-
liant pilture of the beneficial effeds of thefe plans of
improveinent. While he fpoke of the means by which
economy was to be promoted, he did not forget the
Noble Lord againft whom my charge is now to be
preferred, as the perfon the moll fit to carry them
.into the fulleft activity. He malt now have teen his
millake, or, at leaff, the public were long fince con.
vinced both of the fallacy of the hopes by which they
were flattered, and the peculiar unfituefs of the Noble
Lord to undertake any thing like national reform in
any one of its departments. From the condud which
the Noble Lord has fence purfued, one would think
that he had been employed in the work of refino•
only to bring it into contempt; that he was put forth as
an indrument of correcting abufes only to render !teem
more inveterate. The Bill of 178-5 did pats, and the
Noble Lord was the perfon felected to carry it for the
approbation of the other branch of the Leginature.
Never was the fpirit as well as the letter of any Act
lets favourable to wilful mifreprefentation ; never
could any thing afford a more wretched handle for
any thing like Tobterfuge and equivocation. I cannot
fuller myfell to believe that the friends of the Noble
Lord will attempt to !erten his conduct, under a pre-
tence that the letter of the %I'M has not been violated.
Such an apology would only terve to heighten his
criminality ; and, for the Noble.t.ord's own fake, I
troll it will not be retorted to. Bitt, Sir, let me only
call your attention to the preamble of the Bill, and
the Houle will fee that neither its letter nor fpirit can
be mifunderflood for a 'tingle moment. The pream-
, ble of the Bill recites all the abides fpecified in the
leveret reports, alludes to the refolutions for the cor-
rection of thefe abufes, and fpecifies that a fpecific
Glary is to be given in lieu of all fees, emoluments,
or advantages. A competent falary was ellablifiled,
that all temptation to make an improper ufe of the
public money might be avoided. Thus then, both
according to the fpirit and letter of the Aft, it was
impoffible for the Noble Lord, or any other human
lbeinr, to miflake what was the direct otted of the
Legifiature. Now, what was the tint ad of the firll
part, in the fecund Trearnrerfhip of Lord Melville,
with this Act exprefsly in his view? The Act lays, that
all money !hall be immediately taken from the hands
of the Treafurer, and lodaed in the Bank of England.
The AR patted in July, 1785, anJ it was not till the
fubfequent January, that the balances were paid into
the Bank, agreeably to the terms of the Act. What
poflible excufe can be fet up fur fuch an extraordinary
I violation of an Ad of Parliament, in the framing of
which the Noble Lord hirnfelf, in all probability,
took a material intereft. He is the firft to violate
that law to which fo much importance was at-
tached. In what manner too dues this violation tat:t.
place? It appears, Sir, that on the alit of January,
1804., the balance in the hands of the Treafurer of
Ithe Navy, was upwards of feventy thoufand pounds;
and in July, 1785, it had increafed to upwards of a
hundred and thirteen (lowland pounds, being an
augmentation of more than forty-two thoufand
pounds betwixt the two periods to which I have al-
luded. I with to know WM; why this delay in the
transfer of the balance took ;:lace ? It is impoffible
to account for this on any conlifteta principle. The
only way of accounting fur the matter fatisfactorily,
is to fuppofe that it was withheld with the foie view
of private emolument. 1 know, Sir, it has been con-
tended, that Are delay took place in confequence of
tome regulations in the Treafurer's Office being in-
complete ; out will fuch a pretext as this impote even
on the weakeß underlianding ? What difficulty was
there in the transfer which the ACt requited ? What
new regulations were wanting to complete the laic
lodgment of the balances of the Treafurer of the
INavy in the Bank of England ? But it is to Inch
wretched pretexts as thefe that the Noble Lord is re
duced when unable to give any other rea.fon for the
violation of an Ad of Parliament, titan that which
I have kilt referred to. Such is the lituationin which

we find the Noble Lord at the expiration of the &ft
part of his f:cond Treefurerlhip. I (hall now go on
to the conlideration of the fequel of this fecond free-
furerfltip, which forms the grand fubjed of the Tenth
Report. In doing this I (hall arrange myvarious obfer.
vations under three dillinet charges. In the first place,
then, I charge Lord Melville with having applied the
money cf the public to other ufes than thofe of the
naval department, with which he was conneded, in
exprefs contempt of an Ad of Parliament, and in
grofs violation of his duty. I charge the Noble Lord,
in the fecund place, with conniving at a fyliem of pe-
culation in an individual, for whole condua in the
ufe of the public money, he was deeply ref-prate,
and for this connivance I denounce him as guilty of a
high crime and mifdemeanour. To there two charges
I (hall, on the prifent occation, chiefly confine my-
felf ; but there is Rill a alit J, on which I (ball not in-
fill very largely now, but which, if the inquiry is in-
llituted, I (hall feel myfelf molt powerfully called on
to fuppott in this Houfe. I mean, Sir, here to al-
lude to the (iron fufpicion that the Noble Lord
himfelf was a participator in that fyflem of peculation.
to which I have referred, and is conreqnently liable
to very fevere pains and penalties : rui.cfs what has
been laid could he unfaid, unlefs what has appeared
before the Commiflioners could be obliterated, it ap-
pears to me alrnoft impollible to get rid of this hie-
prelllon. I have Paid, Sir, that I will purfue this in.
quiry with moderation on my own part, but I repeat
; that I will follow it np with fteed:nefs and firmnefs
for the country. It is certainly to the honour of our
public men, that even in times when party fpirit was
At its height, when the political w rid was the mat
violently agitated and cnnvulfed, charges fuch as
that which I now bring funs erd againit the N .bie
Lord have feldom been preferred. It is a fingidar
circumnance, however, that the only instance of a
limiter charge, for a great number of year s, was
brought againft a great public criminal by the fame
Noble Lord whole acculer I now appear—l allude,
Sir, to the cafe of Sir T. Rumbold for malverfations
in India, but it is not my with to carry matters to
fuch an extremity againfl the Noble Lord, though
my duty impels Me to bring him before the proper
tribunal. In making out my charge ageinit the Noble"
Lora I mull call your attention to what is Rated in
the Report, for it is material to fee what is the nature
of the evi fence produced. Firn of all, then, the Com-
mittee found that there had been for a number of
years deficiencies in the Treafurer's Department, to
the amount of upwards of 674,0c01. a year. lam
not now wiihing to ren much on the corrednefs of
the particular fum. Whether it be ten pence, ten
pounds, or even a million, the principle is the ferric,
whatever be the magnitude of the deficiency. That a
deficiency did exill is not denied, for even Lord Mel-
ville himfelf owns its existence. In this fttuation the
Commifiloners evinced a very laudable &lire to efcer-
tain how the deficiencies originated, and for this pur-
pole it was neceffary that Lord Melville and Mr.
Trotter (hould be fummoned before them. As in this
Rate of the bafinefs I than have frequent occafion to
allude to Trotter, it may be proper to lay a few
words in explanation. When I fpeak of Trotter, I
Ipeek at the fame time of Lord Melville, for in the
whole of this balinefs they are completely identified.
The a&ion of the one I view as the adion of the other.
This indeed is the wet view taken by the Commit.
tees which reported on the fituation of the Treafurer
and Paymafler of the Navy. They considered the
office of Treafurer as a mere.finecure, the whole of
his butinefs being done by a Deputy, and in this rela-
tion precifely does Mr. Trotter nand to Lord Mel-
ville. The one tranlads the bufinef., and the other
incurs all the refponfibility. The Trealurer of the
Navy, as in Lord Melville's cafe, was often t Privy
and even a Cabinet Councillor, and it is very fit that
he (hould be relieved from the cares of office. But if
he is to enjoy emolument without labour, it rarely is
not alking too much to have a little refponfibility at-
tached to the diaributien of the public money. So
much then as to the identity of Mr. Trotter and L: rd
Melville in this bufincfs. So zealous did Lord Mel-
ville appear for the prcper adminittration of the Civil
Department of the Navy, that not letistied with the
Bill of 1785, he adually propofed and obtained au
Aft of Council for authorizing, in the management
cf the pecuniary concerns of the Navy, a variety of
freth regulations. (Here the Hon. Member read a
few peliages from the Aft.)—Thu_; continued he,
were all the regulations that the Noble Lord propof-
ed for the economical guvernineut of the Navy con.
ceded to him, and lie had nothing left to impede his
favourite plans of improvement, yet he is the man to
authorize his own Peymalter to hold in contempt the
peremptory orders of the Legiflaturee He heaps up
• regulations, and he takes not the leaft care th.tt they
!hail be in one lhepe or other oblerved. Oa the
contrary, there deficiencies ate evidence how grofsly.
the intentions of the Legiflature had been evaded.
BcfOre I confider what Mr. Trotter's anfwer was,
let me remark, that the general complexion of the
I evidence before the Commitlioners was cf a very ex-
traordinary defcription. I had almost laid, all the
witneffes gave a reluctant and difgraceful testimony.
I was rather unguarded in my expretllon, for I own
that feveral refpedable Gentlemen gave their tefli-
mony with a candour that did honour to their elle-
rAlc.lCl and feelings. The others gave a testimony
extorted from them, or flickered their guilt under
raytterious liknce. Much as I approve of end ad-
mire the proceedings of the Commillioners, I do with
that they had forced fume of thole gentlemen to fa-
vour us with a 1 tie more of their reludant informa.
lion. I think they might have dine this in perfeet
continency with the powers with which they were
levelled. What is (Wed in this reludant testimony
has, however, this advantage, that it petTeffes the
firongea charaderof credibility. It has been Itraneely
afierted by lonic perfons that the Report of the am-
miffioners is Altogether ex puree, and ought not to be
the foundation of any decision. I really, Sir, am at
a lots to conceive how anymr,i had netatcanm
Orange afTertion. I ails, si