Star.
London, England, 1814-11-15 00:00:00

by the Noble Viscount at the head of the naval de.
partment. He desired that Noble Viscount to at d
to the situation in which he stood. A noble
in
of his had stated that a strong impression res 0n,..,
the public mind of misconduct in the Ask ' in
the prosecution of this unhappy war in whIR were
eDgne_si! ,p..1,4.c Aq.ll ap.. imarnflo,r Aid 4. it.Vas It
frcr-t6o evident rarbe dispistO3:-Woble Viscount
himself must betimareofiregite =Willi the Noble
Viscount was,.a statement of a verietysf.distineL
faiii.iifilaile tileJge-Fint selk.to nee to tho..lslptiee-)
' 'Hot surely the Isfokile tscheitt iencitee'pert that,
ir
their .Lerdshi 'Would )0-'l4r id-with the .nYrtit
• Ititement bit his' pert; wig* tße Vitt iir,..iskt ~t,
. • lOtiiny which he 'bad prodUced; lima Otp.iihnediately
• Vii'el.tcid in It (1 phcbet. ' the le Iroknow* hod.
r
~, ?fed these irektoiri "as factat'w lei he was Erepasytl
• liipreve. In Episeq. neece of - iS,liii,snNe.-relatiob
• had stated a swag prima fade case ageout the eon-
duct of thenaval 'ilepattnient, testing not op vague
tinuouri or assertions, which perhaps rn4ht be un-
fciunded,•but on the oaths of lionottrahle and intelli-
gent men, who were sworn to investigate the truth
and declare accordingly. Their 'diclwation upon
theft oaths was, that the loss of the flotilla On Lake
Erie was owing to the inadequate eqUipment of the
squadron. Stich was the caw, which, in the opi-
nion of the court:martial, had led to that unhappy.
result. He was Willing to betteve, that Ministers
would be enabled to shear tbat nab/ erne rested With
them ; but, here was a strong joriiiia fide case against
them, on the authority of a Coort-martial, aqd to that
an answer ought to be given. 'Then hie Noble Friend
(Bathurst) said, that -his objection did not proceed
from any appreliention • th it Ministers would not be
able to shaw, that they had anticipated the supplies
to the full extent in which they might be wanted.
His objection, he said, tested on other grounds; and
he had stated, that the evidence had not been altoge-
ther published in the newspapers and Magazines. But
it ought to be recollected, that in this country justice
Was administered with doors wide open. All the tri-
bunals, and especially in cases of criminal trials, were
open to the public; and therefore, whether the pro-
ceedings of this Court-martial had been fully published
in newspapers and magazines or not, the whole of
the evidence must be cOnaidered as already completely
public: Not a particle of evidence eoglo to be pro-
duced to affect the Character of an oi4eer except in
the face of the werld 1. and Gov lnlrid that aqy evi-
dence should ever he produced befOre a Chuitonartial
against any officer WWI* the intention thai:sucli evi.;
decree shooed be keo 'secret. The whole, therefore;
must. be • Considered as published.... 'Ffiels 14014 e
'.- Frtind bad said , that • some hew facts night appeeil
with respect to the case of General bark. lf •ifile
• litid been Le ought forward-now for the 4tipt time, Owe.
might be something in the objection t bus ifillativei
impression the evidence before the* Court-martial was;
calculated to produce had been produced already.'l
That Court was held at Plymouth in the hearing 'of.l
the navy and the army, and all the oacers about')
• whose epinions arid judgment the parties must bare
been meet anxious. There could, therefore, be tin
ground in this view of the cue for withholding the
papers which were now called 'for tsy hi; Noble rela-
tion. His Noble Friend then spoke of 'an ordet by
Sir George Prevost: If that had been a secret dis-
patch, there Might possibly be time foundation for.
the objection: but the paper was produced before the
Court-martial. It was already public, and it was
little less than an insult to the House cf Lords, to say
that, from fear of publicity, a paper should not be
produced to them, which had been produced before a
Court-martial. The paper was disclosed to the whole
world, and yet they were to be told that it would be '
a grievous hardship to disclose to their Lordships
• what hat! been published to the army and navy, and
to the world at large. With respect to the.letters of
Sir James Yeo, this document was by no means con-
fined to his not an: a•cring the call made upon him,
but related generally to the equipment of the squa-
dron ; and their Lordshipt were bound- to enibire
whether the blame did not rest with tie Government.
The effects of the necessity of eiposing.the 116tilla to
such an unequal,contest Were 'most diiastrous, not
only on account of thelbss bf so :Reny brava estficers
and men, but on account of the general tape. nee
which the unfortunate result had' upon. the .War in
which we were unhappily' engaged with America.
Ne good reason had them been stated for refusing the
production of this document. It ought not to he pro-
duced, they said, because there existed.a possibility
that the blame might be shifted s but that wacho Teo.
sou why their Lordships ihould not DOW have before
them a &content so material as this was. lie did
not keow what Might be the feelings a the Noble'
Viscount with respect to the •opposition made to this
motion by his Noble Friend; but he knew what his
own feelings would be if he stood in the Noble Vis-
count's situation. The Noble Viscount had stated a
• variety of facts in his defence, and said that he was
ready to pause. these facts, Mn. issue was tendered
upon some of these facts, and the answer was; ssve do
not choose to join issue on one. of tbspi:
Lord MELVILLE.—Ht • had rrOon to believe,
that the Noble Baron must have eompleteli
.i.sutt.
derstood what had been stated.bytis 'NO* Frietld
;near •him. His Noble Friend did not say that there'
*as any desire to keep back this document for the
purpose of screening the Government. The fact was,
that two officers wereirr.plitated, and the only objec-
tion was, that it might be improper to produce this
document now, till it could be seen what these officers
hat? to ,offer intheir defence. The proceediegs of the
Court Martial on General Proctor would soon be te-
eeived, and then the objection might be dune away.
But it was really 'ltalie that one who had ptciniskeo
to bring to the inquiry etnind'perfectlyimparfjafraa a
judge ought certairtly to do, should be so anxious to
decide befOre the *bole' case could be bought for-
ward. As fat as he himself Was cOneerned, be rather
wished that his Noble Friend sliould'ivithdeatv hie op-
position to the motion ; but it certainly did appeer
snore proper,' that the 'Myestigation should be delayed
till they could have the whole matter before then.—
This *as his answer tO ,wliat. the' f%To. hie &tree bask
stated with respect tolishackirardness tot/Onion*
proof of the facts whick be End, on a former oeiaaies*
*attired. But then 'she Noble Baron had 'aelitersg
an Ills pocket test:WY:my. On this 'Out lif has] pre,
dtteed nothing out 'of his pocket; not put key; Ow&
into. it. • He ha Stated Sew& AIR the; Crqe!ra=.l
went was not to blame on the' pit of the supplnte, eil
wall that vAitgrlfOi At *it losar.t4 it. Acapcki