Star.
London, England, 1805-06-13 00:00:00

'toteifirip porfeed this argument, relative-to OA a-
lances of'Lo.d Melville, at great length, to fhew
that in t' :i.e itetate thev.evere innocent, or criminal
(oily as a mere lo eaeh of Abeeletter of the law. He
ellen adeeeted trs the mired fund, "Weft, he con-
tended, mutt be put out of the quellion, till it
fhould be proved to he the public money, and that
could be done only by the civil fuit. He infitied that
the conclufion of his reafoning plainly was, that the
affair was left no wink than by the Tenth Report.—
From the evidence of Mr. Trotter, .he raid, it ap-
peared to him, that the moll important miflaket-
were made refpening the whole feature and charaner
of Lord Itlelvil'e's balances. It did not appear that
his Lordfhip, as the conclufinn is made, had for ma-
ny years horn to to 20,c001. in his hands, but that
the( were the whole ales, and that they could not
have been averaged at 3e.001. But if he had held the
whole fum as it eted, what would the intereft have
amounted to ? *lite tomenle fum of 7501 per annum.
ilc did not know how to treat fuch an ebfor day with
any common degree of ferionfnefs. For loch A mar.
as "Lord Melville, with fueh talent, fortune and rank,
to hazard all for filch participation, he thought mull
be deemed impetfible by every man who has ho-
nourable feelings„and a love for char aner
Mr. Raikes' evidence would he the fubjen of confider-
ation on another day. But hre would fay a word of 11
it, as it bore on this point at prefent. Mr. Raikes
derived his information refpeting the public money i
being kept at the Houle of Coutts, from Mr. New,
land ; and Mr. Newland derived his knowledge from
the Clerks at the Bank; and they from all the per
fens who had drafts paid on Naval Accounts. If
Lord Melville had any illicit motive for permitting
any money to be draWn from the Bank, would he
have expofed the tranfeCtion to inquiry in this man-
ner ? Every man who palled alon the Strand knew
that navy money was at the Houle of Coutts 1 Keep.
ing money there, if guilty in loch a manner, was-a
folly not to be credited of Lord Melville. But this
is not all ; there is ftill a greater folly behind. The
4tll device of this fcene nt infanity is, to execute a
releafe between the accomplices after the return of
the precept, obliging each caktoto burn all inuch•
ers, papers, and account bon!:s; and this fecret is
intrufted to a man of bufinefs in the firft inflance,
and fecondly to a public regifiry. After the moft
anxious attention paid to every circumllance, he'
could find no ground to accufe the Noble Lord ;
• althonfh he world agree that he was unfortunate in
falling it to loch a courfe with Trotter, and in falling
'inner fuch heavy public difgrace. He would put it
to the fioufe, if they had not been imprudent in pre-
cipitanimeafures ; and if it did not now the more
fielreve them to be cautions. The terms of the cm-
palled on his Lordfhip were not warranted by
evidence ; and if they %vele a monument of Lord
Melville's imprudence, they wete alto of the precipi-
tancy of the I Joule. li it was not the defign to flit-
ter away the queltion into as many deb ties; as many
parliamentary field days as could be, the courfe the
Houle ought now to purfue was moft evident. The
Honourable Gentleman ( Mr. Whitbread) was not tit
to guide the Houle. He had involved them in a fi•
motion of peculiar embarrafTmcnt. He would now
perfuade them to aggravate the whole of their error
by impeachment, which, tinder fuch circumflances,
wasno other thin a fyliem of torture. If Lord M.
could go to the Houle of Lords to trial, and his ac-
quittal would be a difcharge of hiistio
cihoatradneaelry. Butandho-
nour,lie would will Lim to go without
fuch was his fituation, god loch by the p'oceedings of
the Houle, that A verdin would be either a mark of
guilt, or an ineffeetial acquittal. He would recqm-
mend to the Houle to return to the civil (ult. In that,
Lord Melville's evidence may be taken ; the jullice
of the cafe, and Lord Melville's honour, better vindi-
cated. Many in the Houle, and many in the coun-
try, wiflt tofu his Lordfhip's talents and energies em-
ployed again in the public fervice, in this time of ex-
treme peril. For an orTence that can he' called fo
only in a legal fink, he has fuffered the.beaviert
nifhment a man of tremor, a gentleman, can feel,—
Example enough has seer. made to deter c eery man'
in public Rations from any neglen of law. When he
lamented that a facrifice Humid be unneceffarily
made, he lamented alio, it thould be of a man who
had vigoroufly ferved the cruntry, manfully fought
for her conititution, againfl its wcrll foes ; and who
had condoned our wall Empire in India, on princi-
ples of honour and an enlightened policy. His Lord
flip concluded with declaring his intention to oppofe
both the motion and :he amendment.
Mr. GREY felt it impoffible to (offer the Houk
to come to a deciflon on the motion before it, with-
out riling to make tome ohfervations upon the fpeech
of the Noble Lord who had jolt fat down ; which
fpeech, however, was fn much a detail of the fame
arguments which the Bottle had heard in the courfe
of lath night's debate, th it he thould not feel it ne-
celTary very minutely to follow the Noble Lerd.—
The Noble Lord fumed to have divided the fubje&
under two heads : the firft, a defence of Lord Mel-
ville ; the fecond, an attack upon his Memorable
Friend (Mr. Whitbread). Indeed, he thought it
was taro an attack upon the H-efe itfllf, for the
mode of proceeding it had thought proper to adept
with regard to Lord Melville. In defending the Ne-
ble.Vircount, the Noble Lord had followed the gene-
ral detail of arguments already urged 011 the tante l
fide, horn which he deduced. that the Noble Lord
had already futlained pu .0. Mein more than ade-
quate to the charees.agaitot Mar, and that to put fuc
him to an impeachment, with a view to farthtr pu
nithment, would be ablolute perfecution. The No-
ble Lord, however, has :admitted, th it if any new
evidence had come out of any new criminal fen be-
fore the Seled Committee, it would have been jolt
grounds for farther proceeding ; but that no Inch
evidence having come out, the Houle is recluded
from any further proceeding in a criminal way, hay-
ing already punifhed the Noble Lord for the charges
of which he was found guilty. But did the Noble
Lord mean to fay, that the proofs of participation
in the delinquency of Mr. Trotter, which came out
beforethe Selca Committee, was nn new or criminal
fan ? Would he pretend to argue that the to,oool.
acknowledged by Lerd Melville hitufelf tohave been
by him appropriated to purpores he refilled to ex-
plain, no new criminal fa& ? In ids mind they were
fans, both new and criminal, and in thctnrelves
throng grounds of impeachment. The Noble Lord
argued, that much proceeding had been already had
in this bufinefs ; that Lerd Melville had been feffi•
ciently punithed A and that his Honourable Ftiend,

utofe abilities the Fdlole Lord had In re:.ity pr s'd,
and well he might sal this occafiun, fr i irillae4r4
and milled that H, tie to decide againi if., iwn ~;:!-:
'of urtice. How long his Honourable Fi iu,d ,N..
fefl'ed this ;*'tense urger the Houfe. he knew n ..,,
but on this oecation it teemed to him a novelty, li,
nourable to the Houle itf.:ll, becaule founded on e..
juilice of the ineafore, and highly to the ',rail .;
his Hon mrable Friend, what:: public fpirit and indt.
fatigable induflry had inllituted and. pin eued this
enquiry, which lid to the d.r.c.ai in of deleiquerci,e
fo flagrant. not the only refrilutions in which lit
1-I,emiurable Fri.otd had fucceeded agaiiilt the Nu.
ble Lord were thole upon the fir II night of ili, s
of centtire. His Honourable Friend indeed frft
propufed the Refolutions for a .; le.et Committee f ;
further enquiry, to which the Hou'e agreed ; 0:1
he afterwards gave notice of his intention to no,.
fur unlimited lath tie-Innis for that Committee, I i r
Ys motion was rej..,9cd, Ana limited itntrastion. p, -
poled by the Right Honourable Gentlem in ; '- t
they were found to much limited as ti, be wlu,;:v , .
eflettual, and were afterwards enlarged ; the ro-i,;•
of which was, the dilcovery of thole new init,inc„
of criminality, which framed the ground of his H,
nourable Fr it iiiPs motion. But the nicrinn for p..
seeding by civil fait was meted by an flonour.ii Ist
Member, a former friend of Lord Melville. ,It . is
true, that in confequence of the reftiltitioilsorigi. ly
pr:poled by his Honourable Friend, founded : a he
Tenth Report of the Commiffioners, Lmd Nle:v ;1$
resigned his fituation at the Admiralty, and seas
!truck from the lilt of. his Majcity's Lott..cil, h,, the
advice of the Right Honourable the .Chancellur of
the Exchequer, who part:cipated in the cenfure of
the Noble Lord this night, for tinArrantahle teve-
rill,. But.thofe circumtlances he could only view
as.the neceftary conferpences of a resolution of the
Houk, voting a man unfit to hold any place of pub-
lic true, as having v:ulated the confidence of hit
Sovereign and the duties t.t hisuffice, and not as mi.
nithments of retributive juftice inti.ficti by order of
the Houle. There were marl precedents to Ulm
that parliamentary ufage warranted a variety of pen.
ceedings in cafes of impeachment ; fornetimes they
commenced with I efulations as firming the ground
of impeachment ; fornetimes the impeachment was
proceeded on without loch previous refolutions ; but
in no cafe were the refolutions, as to the guilt of
any public delingnert, or his corifequent dilmiffal
front employment, considered in the light of punifh-
ment. Nor could he admit the exitience of any fuck
difliculty, as that flatel by the Noble Lord, which
could preclude the Houfe from rrlcinding a pre.
vi,n:s refolinion 1 r civil presets, and adopting a
new one fur criminal proceeding, %%hen new cii-
cuinftances of ctimio.ality cinre ~11( in evidence.—
Such circumflatice:: had come out on the evidence
of Mr. Trotter, and Lord Melville hinifelf had
- 'PP- no
andm if i.
admitted flirt, arid not quite denied a participa-
tion in other:, which ni ide no part whatever of
the ground of the original refolutions. The
Noble Lord recurred to the trodden ground of
the AEI of Parlianienr, and lie attempted to thew,
that tatting money rut of the Bank was not contrarT
to the letter, al.hotig!) lie admitted it might be to
the fpirit of the law. If the calk fo extrafted had
ttehriisa l
were
e for
re the
p o.
been applies to tl.e Idler payments of office ex-
cclialirigveelarg' aitinwll°liliite:'
Noblefi .."Ilitcidl
poled to the letter of the liatut,7,•-r...1 necefftry for
the acennmodation of the claimants, the. fit way
Would have been to have introduced a Bill Into lel
Houle to remedy this deal in the ilaterte. If dug
be not the charge, what is it ? It is dittinCtly this.:
that under pretence of the exigencies of the naval
fervice, immenfe firms were drawn out of the Bank
for the purpnfes of'pe irate emolument. The mi-^:iitila.
of this mlfapplication of the public money was Mr.
Trotter, and the principal quettion was, if the tram&
affirms of a private nature, condufted by the elfin-
ante of this. money, were or went not within the
knowledge of Lora '<lel% hte. On the fad of this
knowledge there was a peat deal of prefumptive
proof, and whet VAS before uncertain, was, in a
great degree, rendered corchsfive by the unfuccefs-
ful defence in v.lich the Nr,ble Lord had been en-
gaged. If he be inked if he knew of the affair, he
Grid, Nn; but if the interrogatory were propofed to
him in a more qtrai,iied way, and it be enquired if
he nnicrito 'd and believed fir, he replied in the affir;•
mative, and he affigned the realm for it, viz. to ill,
create the sal try if Mr. Trotter. The Order of
Council, roujiing this fut,i,--a, was in 1780: the re-
gulations made by l'arli,antent were in correquence. of
what had 'teen recommended by the Naval Commir-
(loners. Whit did they fecummend ? That no cificer
fhouid have the ufe here given of the floating capital.
How then could L-rd Melville be ignorant that this
diverfion cf,the effecls of the State sea, not irregular
and illegal ? Then, as to the matters of account, of
which •the Noble Lord who fpute halt had com-
mented at fo much length, the ftstute tinder
confederation was paired in the month of J•tly.
17 85, but its. Operafion Was furpernted by the foie
authority ti Pied Melville, twill the lit ,I jarra-.
ary, t:96, .2.0 by. Gis espciiient a balance
.rt
no Ws than toa,ccol. silts retained in his hands to,
lit months. Ile thr:riht there wa, adi eft proof of
the pat tic;pati..n r f L r-d Melville in the emohiments.
Items to the event of S,CCUL Appeared on ;he face
of the accounts, to have berm psi .1 to the Noble Lord
wi!hout any explanation whatever as to the motive
of this appropriation. User-,re talk accounts were
'hewn, where artful concealment was practifed, it
was imparble not to entertain the Itrorgelt firfpicion
of guilt. It was perfeCtly clear that Lord Isltivi:;e
had made unfounded pretences in the facilities of e.-
flee, and the means of promoting thrift winch IV:Te
'wholly abandoned by his fucceffors. An at ratycn:;e:
utterly different had been adopted, wh;ch anfweted
all the purperfe, of public and private inconvenience.
Then Mr. Raikes informed Mr. Piit,• the regular in-
teicourfe was not maintained between the Lank and
the Naval Department. A communication enfued
between the Tteaforer of the Navy and the Chancel-
lor of the Ezchequs r—and the latter was told that no
money was drawn from the Bank but what Mr.
Dundas believed to he neceftary hothe Naval fervice.
It was abfalutoly impotrible that in the year 1797,
when this paired, the Noble Lard &told not have
known C:at large fours were ei.,...., by Mr. Ti otter
from the Batik for his own purports. It was per-
tettly clear that Lord Melville Itimfelf received large
amounts, for which he paid HO interea, and it was
obvious lac was Ai:vaulted with the fota:cx from AL M&