Star.
London, England, 1807-03-12 00:00:00

GOVERNMENT STATE LOTTERY,

Begisls Drawing iith APRIL, 18'37-
I)ICHARDSON, GOOD LUC K, and Co. refpeft-
fully acquaint the Public, that the New State Lottery
TICKETS and SHARES, arc now on Sale, in variety of Num-
bers, at their Licenfed Lottery Offices. corner of Bank Buildings,
Cornhill, and facing the Gate of the King's Mews, Charing Crofs.

SCHEME CONTAINS
4 Prizes of 420.c00 I 4 Prizes of Ls 000
4 10,000 10 1,000
to Prizes of 5001. &c. &c. &C.

GOVERNMENT STATE LOTTERY, to
twgin Drawing rah APRIL.

SCHEME.
4 Prim of 420,000 are 480,000
4 10,000 an. 40400
4 P 3,000 20,000
TO lam 1,000 - 10,000
10 - 500 3,000
30 am 100 3,000
40 am 50 am. 2,000
3,000 am SO am 601000
woo Firft drawn Tickets is each 11,•• 30,000

£ spot=
CAPITALS DETERIVII NA ME.

25,-mo Tickets.

Fist-drawn Tact, tit Day, - £20,000
Ditto sd Day, . 20,000
Ditto 3.1 Day, - 20,000
Ditto 4th Day, - 20,000
Ditto .....
,nth Day, - 10,003
Ditto 6th Day, . 10,003
ricxErs and SHARES are on Sale at every Lieenfed Lot-
tery Mee. PRESENT PRICE.
Ticket - £t9 16s.
Half . 10 3O I Eighth - 42 ti 0
Quarter - 5 3 o Sixteenth - a 6 6
The above Scheme will point out the neccffity of an early pur-
dial:,' as Four Prizt. of 2-;,0001. eacb,will be lure to be drawn in
Th. fiat ;our Day,, exOulive of other Capital Prizes.

0-1 It is publicly known, and officially to fome of
the Members of this Court, that during the late war
our cruizers were conftantly either off the mouth of
the river, or abfolutely cruizing off Monte Video ;
one of the very (hips indeed (the Diomede) which
had cruized there, was now one of my fquadron ;
and independent of every other confideration, I note
only had the opinion of that refpeetable officer, Cap-
tain Rowley, who was on the Cape nation' laft war,
that the Rio de la Plata was confidered as a part of
that Ration ; but it was alfo the unanimous. *pinion
of every officer under my comthand, fome of whom,
if neceffary, will; 1 have no doubt, give their teili-
mony to this drat. I beg it, however, to be under
(food, that thefe opinions were expreffed long before
our arrival at the Cape.
46 I have entered at fome length on this fiihjeCt, be-
caufe an impretlion has been circulated with c ontide.
rabie indultry, that I had no authority whatever to
go to the Rio de la Plata, but it mu( be evident by
the letter of the ad of May, that the Admiralty con-
lidered that river as an enemy's port which ought to
be conitantly watched by fome of the cruizers under
the orders of the Senior Naval Officer at the Cape,
and confequently within the limits of his command.
Nay, if it were -,poffible that it could be contended,
that becaufe the order direeted the fending a ft igate,
[had no right to carry there my whole fquadron, I
lhould anfwer, that the object of fending a frigate
would be nugatory, unlefs it was allowed to act on
the intelligence (he might bring. For I would a(k,
whether if a cruizer had brought an account that
two of the enemy's line of battle (hips had entered
the river, totally difmatled, but that they were
moored off Monte Video, and every exertion was
making to get them refitted for fea, I (hould not have
been juttified in fending a force from the Cape to at-
tack them without a moment's lot's of time."

After chewing, from the opinion of Sir David
Baird, that the Cape was in a fufficient Rate of de-
fence, Sir Home went on to anfwer other parts of the
charge on this point.
I have already, I truß, repelled that part of the
charge which accufes me of having 4 left the Cape
not only cxpnfed to attack and infult, but even with-
out the me ins of affording proteEtion to the trade
of his Majelly's fubjeas, or of taking poffeffion of
any Blips of the enemy, which might have put into
Ff
any of the bays or harbour& of the Cape, or parts
adjacent'
6' ( have explained to the Court, that the Infos at
the comacatemeat of which I left the Cape, was ,
'ailverfe to the attack of an enemy en that fettlement,
which, as I before obferved, was a reafon affi geed by
Commodore Johnaone and General Meadows far not
venturing on fuck a meafure, and that oar that ac•
count elk) no Wile operations were to be appre.
headed in that quarter at the timellof nay-departure
for the Rio dc la Plata.
48 I have (hewn too, that I took the 010 a alive
and effeaual meafures of precaution to affurd pro-
teilion to the trade of his Majelly% fubjeBs in every
quarter, and that even bad I remained with my
fquadron in Simon's Bay (for I raid not have kept

" I have called the manner in which this fequel of
the charge is concluded, uncandid, for it conveys to
'the mind, that I left the Cape at the very moment
-when detachments of the enemy's {hips were (vetted
there, of whole arrival in the neighbourhood of the
Cape I had received previous intimation. That this
is not a fair or candid interpretation will be manifel,
when it (hall be feen by the perufal of the whole of
my letter of the 9th of April to Mr. Madden, and
by an examination into the particulars of the infor-
mation afferted or implied to have been thus given
by me to the Admiralty, refpating detachments of
the enemy's !hips, that my txpreflions in one part of
the faid letter completely explain, thofe previoufly
ufed either in another paragraph of that letter, or
any prior intelligence given by me refpefting the ene•
my's !hips in other letters, and that I had in my
communications to the Admiralty fairly difpofed of
Willaumez's fquadron, which in fad was the French
fquadron laid to have been expected at the Mauri-
tius.
" What, Sir, can be more uncandid than thus to
allude to part of a letter, and by not adverting to
fome other part of the laid letter, make it appear that
the writer (and that writer the commanding officer
of a Briar fqnadron in a diftant quarter) (lands as
it were, before his judge, fell convidled of improper
condo' by his own official communications? My
refried) to the Court, and the controul which I have
endeavoured to imprefs upon my feelings and my
language, prevent me from giving way to the fenfa•
tions which naturally arife in my break while I am
commenting on filch a proceeding. Juftly as I have
a right to complain of it, 1 (hall content myfclf with
pointing it out to the notice of the Court, and with
proving to the convidlion of all the honourable Mem-
bers of which it is computed, that there is no jolt
ground for the interpretation which is attempted to
be impreffed upon their minds, that I not only knew
of the expeEted arrival of detachments of the enemy's
(hips at the time when i left the Cape with my fqua-
dron ; but had nryfelf adlually given to the S-cretary
of the Admiralty information to that effeli. A perufal
of the leiter in queflion, with a few remarks upon it,
will be faticient wholly to do away the imputation
to which I have jolt alluded:
" Diadem, Table Bay, 9th April, 18c6.
" s the feafini is now very far advanced for lying in this
Bay, and the weather particularly unfettled for the time of the
year, I propofe quitting it with the fquadron immediately, more
efpecially as from r:..e length of time that has elapfed fume we I
heard of Admir. I Willaumcz's fleet, It is very improbable, and
inconfiftent with the fituation he was in, that he thould conic here
at 'reran "
44 nits, Sir, in the 'very first paragraph of this
letter, fo far from my laying that I had received
previous information of detachments of the enemy's !
(hips being at fro, and in the neighbourhood of the
Cape ; I begin by liating, that as the feafon is very
far advanced for lying in this (Table) Bay, and the
weather particularlyunfettled for the time of the year,
I propofe quitting it with the fquadron immediately,
Aping as an additional reafon for my departute,
that, from the length of time that has elapfed fince
we heard of Admiral Willaumez's fleet, it is very
improbable, confiftzne with the fituation he was in,
that he thould come here at prefent.
" I then proceed to remark that, To determine
his pofition at this moment would be impoffible, and
it would be almoil equally difficult to decide on the
belt mode of applying the exertions of the fquadron,
the enfuing two months, to the greateft advantage.'
" From the foregoing paragraph, it is, I think
pretty clear, that I was under no apprehenfion from
the arrival of a hoflile force at the Cape ; or, in any
of the adjacent bays or harbours.
" My next paragraph in the faid letter is, that
4 The intelligence we received by La Volontaire,
and which has already been tranfmitted to you (that
is to Mr. Marfden,) for their Lordthips' information,
appears materially to incline to the fuppnfition that
the Weft Indies is the deflination of Admiral Wil-
laitmez's fleet; but (the Court will be pleated, I
hope, to give the next paragraph their particular at-
tention, while I obferve, that this is the part on which
this unfounded interpretation of the letter revs,)
General Aoker, the late Governor of Tranquebar,
who is juft arrived here on his way to Europe, in-
formed me in the cootie of converfation, that a
French fquadron was expelled at the Mauritius, but
that it was impoffible for that ifland to tupply any
sour to it, without looking to Rio de la Plata, or
the coati of Brazils for a lupply ; on which confi
deration I think of employing the fqu.sdron in cruiz-
ing a {hot t time off that coati, inflead of remaining
idle, will be a difpolition fraught with fome advan-
Cage, and which, I hope, will appear fo evident to
their Lordfhips, as to induce them to approve of the
Meafti r e."

" Here, Sir, I have Hated my reafons for fuppofing
that the ulterior denination of Admiral Willaumez's '
fquadron was the Weil Indies ; and in the fame para-
graph of my letter, I add what was mentioned to me
by General Aniscr, the late Governor of Tranquebar,
in the courfe of general cnnverfarion, refpetting a
French fq.r.idron expeeited at the Mauritius. But it is
to be remarked, that this Wii oot given to we by

" When I have the op;rortunity of a fafe con-
veyance to write more fully to their Lordfltips—l
hope the additionall reafons, I 1110 then give, will
be fufficient to fatisfy their Lordfltipt of the expedi-
ency of the meafures which I am now about to
adopt."
4. Having thus brought the whole or this letter of
9th of April, sBo6, before the Court, fubmit to
their confideration whether, on a candid and difpaf-
fionate review of its contents ; I am not borne out
in afferting that no paffage in it can be fairly and
juftly confrued, fo as to imply, that I apprehended
or expeeted the arrival of a French fquadron at the
Cape, about the period of my departure from that
fetilement on the expedition to the Rio de la Plata,
and my intended departure to that River before any
communication had taken place with General Baird
as to troops, and before therefore I could contem-
plate the expedition to Buenos Ayres, is proof of
the interpre-ation I put upon the intelligence I had
received, namely, that no hoffile tquadron could be
then expeBed at the Cape, but it there was any
truth in the intelligence, that I was more likely to
meet any French fquadron in the Rio de la Plata than
at the Cape. •
u As to the circumftances of my leaving the Cape
only four days after I had written to Mr. Madden
this letter of the 9th of April, my reafons for fn
cluing are fully detailed in the official letter which I
addrefled to him as Secretary to the Board of Admi-
ralty, on the 13,1 April, which has been'read to the
Court, as part of the charge, and which I now re-
quell to be confidered as again read. Thde reafons
are fill more enlarged upon in a letter I addreffed to
the Admiralty from St. Helena, under the date of
the 3oth April, to which the letter of that date, read
on the part of the Profecution, is only at: addenda,
and therefore I mutt now defire to have the material
letter read in this place.
rr The Court is thus in poffelfion ofthe reafons which
I save to the Admiralty for having come to a deter-
mination to proceed as I did, to the Rio de la Plata,
on the r3th of April, 1806, and from the validity
of thofe reafons, added to the explanation into which
I have entered, by my letter of the 9th of April,
referred to in the charge, I fhould hope that I have
fully and clearly vindicated myfeif from this part of
it, and repelled the infinuation intended to be con-
veyed by the manner in which my faid letter of the
9th April is therein mentioned.
u If 1 am Aced why I was fo anxious to leave the
Cape in filch apparent hark, as not to wait for the ar.
rival of the men of war expeCted from England ?
my anfwer is, that I was apprehenfive that any delay
in my departure, added to the probable length of the
paffage to the ealt coafk of South America, might
defeat the objet of the expedition, by retarding m)
arrival in the Rio de la Plata until that feafon which,
from the information I was poffeffed of refpeCting the
navigation of this river, might render it itnpotfible to
afcend it high enough to attack either of the fettle-
ments of Monte Video or Buenos Ayres.

" I am now defkrous of calling the attention of the
Court to the manner in which the Secretary of the
Admiralty replied to my letter of the 9th of April,
wherein I apprized that Board of my intended depar-
ture for the Rio de la. Plata. This letter is in the
following terms : • I hav: received, and communi-
cated to my Lords Commit Loners of the Admiralty
your letter of the 9th of April •lak informing them
of your intended proceedings with the fquadron un-
der your orders.' Have I not then, Sir, a jolt right
to fuppofe that the Admiralty Board did not difap
pr we of my4having failed with the fquadron from the
Cape, for certainly it is rational to inter, that the
quitting the Cape would have fubjeeted roc t,o a
charge of mifconduet, whenhthe letter ackn‘whiclging
the communication of my letter, was exaElly tirtular
to that which related to the capture of the Cape
To the letter of the 13th no anfwer appears to hare

ever hen written, any more than to thole of the 3oth
rf April. Will it not appear to the Court almon it..
erec:.ble that not only no difapprobation was exprei
fed as to my intention fipnified in the letters of the
9th, i3th, and 3oth of April, hut that no (ter were
taken to remedy the mifchiefs I am accufed of hav-
ing occafioned ? No (hips ordered immediately to
proceed to the proteCtion of the deiencelefs Cape of
Good Hope—No fait failing velfel to order me uack
to t'-,e duty I had fo flagrantly broken, or even tofu
percede me for a confiderable length of tithe. I mull
leave it Lo the Court to develops thefe mytteries. I
could not attempt it without breaking through that
controul which I have impofed upon myfelf in Rating
thefe tranfaelions.

" But, Sir, though the Admiralty chofe not to
exprefs the fmallefi approbation of the conduit of the
naval force at the late reduction of the Cape, per-
mit me to remark to the Court, that in acknowledg-
ing the receipt of my difpatches relating to that
event, they on the very fame day acknowledge to me
the-receipt of an,,ther letter, inclofing a copy of one
which I had received from char aftive and able officer
Captain Donelly, then of the Nar7illip. (giving an ac-
count of his having driven on there a French priva.
leer) and in making this acknowledgment, they de-
fire me to acquaint him that their Lordfbips highly
approve of his conduct on that occasion.
" Mul it not appear to this Hot:ourable Court,
and to the world at large, not a little extraordinary,
that the fame Admiralty Board which could Liberally
bellow their applaufe on the condo@ of the Captain
of a 'frigate in the dellruelion of an insignificant
French privateer, could nithhold their approbation
from another officer who commanded a fqtradron of
(hips, and all thofe who had ;o un-
der him, and were employed in the capture of a
Settlement deemed fo important, in a military, po-
litical, and.commercial point of view, as the Cape of
Good Hope.
" The capture of the Cape, with reference to the
thanks of Parliament, fo gratifying to thole who re-
ceive them (to which it would be prefumption in me
to fuppofe I had any claim), I may venture, I be-
lieve, to (late that this is the firll inflance of a capture
of this defcription having been 'Dade by a joint arma-
•lnent, in which tome expreffion of approbation, at
ledl from the Lords of the Admiralty, has not been
bellowed on thofe of the navy who have fuccefsfully
performed their orders.
" For it mull be.recolleEtedi that as to the Cane
at leail the orders were fpecihc and precife ; and
thole concerned in the enterprize were engaged in
the drift performance of their duty. And herei Sir,
I may be allowed to remark, that the withholding
from thofe under my command this national- and in-
variable reward of zeal, valour, and perfeverance,
fuccefsfully exerted in their country's caufe, was to
them the more mortifying, as the army, in whole of
forts and 'gallantry they fully participated, were
cheered by the approbation of their fuperiors, and
lrtid the confolation of being informed, that their la-
bours and faccefs were acceptable to thofe in whofe
approbatiOn they look for encouragement and re-
ward. _ _ _

ptecedented, and fo unhandfome, I affure my Pelf no
Member of this Court, nor any other perfon now
prefent, can recollee an inflance. Humble, however,
as my adcommodation was, and expofed as I was
to capture, in a -veffel without a fingle gun to defend
her, I reached this country without accident. The
delay of Admiral Stirling's arrival in the Rio de la
Plata, owing to. the very unufual length of his paf.
fage, I (hall always confider as a providential cir.
comflance ; for 1 can affect without fear of contra•
diElion, that his orders were to evacuate the fettle-
men., and, but for this circuniflance, which afforded
titre for the arrival of the Pheafant (loop with counter
or.iers, South America would have been abandoned ;
whereas I may now fafely venture to predict, that
the arrival of the force under General Achminy has
long fince repaired the misfortune which befel my
gallant friend General Beresford, by putting the
Britiffi in pollen-ion of Monte Video, and I trult not
only relcued that dillinguifhed officer and his .brave
men from the hands cf the enemy, bat-luny puniffied
the perfidy of thole men, who, whilit on their parole
of honour, and. in the complete enjoyment of perfonal
liberty, violated the one, and availed themtelves of
the other, to. combine means for the attack, in which

they unhappily fucceeded.
'6 Having developed in the moll fair, candid, and
I troll, refpeltful manner, all the motives which
urged me to proceed to the attack of the Spaniflt
fettlements on the Rio de la Plata, I 'via, beg leave
to call the attention of this Honourable Court to the
confequences which have already enfued from this
expedition.
" In the firft place, then, I humbly prefume that
it is but fair to infer that his Majesty's Government.
notwithftanding the change which had occurred
among its members,• highly approved of the enter-
prize, from the energy by which they are following
it up, even at this very moment, when I am vindi-
cating my conduit in haviti% undertaken it without
pofitive orders. The more they reflect on tie ad-
vantages which this country might ,tetlye irons the
acquifition of thofe valuable poffeffi-ns, t 1 e mete do
they augment the means of inforing the conquc(t to
which I have direded their attention. Wet e this not
the fad, why, I would afk, have his Majetty's Mi-
nifters fince formed with that view armaments more
than adequate to the talk of conquering all the Spann
pideflions on the E tit coaft of South America ? 'Arnie
enfive armaments either already gone, or t u the
point of ;ailing to complete the great object which I
bad fu cefsfnll negun, though with means compa-
ratively fo triflit,..7', and which being merely a removal
of the fquadrou from a Rate of inactivity to enter-
prize, was attended with no additional expence to
the country.
" I am naturally led to the above conclufions by
the mode in which the Board of Admiralty has fhap
eel :ite charge. lam not accufed of having, with
inadequate means, and with infufficient preparation,
unc!c. taken the attack on Buenos Ayres. The rea.
fot.s for this will appear obvious when I come to
comment, as I now do, on the inlttudii.ns to
General Acomuty, the Officer fent out to ptofecute
the enterprile that I had fo happily begun, and which
Officer, as already appeared to the Court, was le-
commended to his Majefly's Minilieis by General
Baird, as a proper perfon to be employed on this
fervice.
46 In there infirudions to General Achmuty, a
copy of which was tranfrnitted to the fertior naval
Officer in the Rio de la Plata, and which I am pre-
pared to prove from a copy given me by the Admi-
ralty, the utmolt anxiety is expteffed by hi: Majefty's
prefent Minifters, in the event of any misfortune
having happened to General Beresford, to obtain fuch
a f toting i.n the Contincnt of South America, either
in the fame or Come adjacent part, as may enable him,
General Achmuty, to wait for the arri /al of a fur.
ther force, and that force confining of three thoufand
men, which is Hated not to have been intended origi-
nally as a reinforcement to. General Beresford, but
for a fervice of very confiderable importance, but
which be is authorized to detain until his object is
obtained ; and in a preceding part of the inftruCtions
General Achmuty is enjoined not too }rattily to
abandon the attempt of gaining a footing in South
America.

" On this occafion, I hope it will not appear va-
nity on my part to thew the different light in which
our contlruaions were received by the Governor Ge-
neral in Council in India, who were pleafed to tra:
mit to me flattering tellimonies of their approbat:on.
44 To myfelf and my affociates, Come of wh.,nr
had engaged moll aaively in the fervice rn (bore,
and all of whom had exerted themfelves in the land-
ing and affifling the troops with that ardoo and
perfeverance fo charafteriftic to Britith feamen, to
which I had, as their commander, • •zavoored t •
do juttice. not one folitary expreffion . •.dpprobati..n
was, as the Court have Peen, communicated 7', the
anfwer of the Admiralty.
46 Yet I am to be condemned for havino
even to imaginary hazard, that acqtrifitr .t which
appears not to have been worth thole thanks of oar
fuperiors—tire value of which, though fo eafy and
cheap for them to bellow, I need not expatiate upon
in a Court of Britith Officers, whole aflions and
whole lives would be to the world the bell proof of
the ellimation in which they are juftly held. The
importance of the capture was paffed over in filence,
when I and thole employed under me might have
been gratified ; but it is 1( udly enhanced, and made
the fubjell of a criminal charge, when the object is
to deprefs me. Whence this difference ? I leave it,
Gentlemen, to your refleftions—l leave it to the re
fleltions of my country.
46 By permiffion of the Court, I (hall next proceed
to thew, as I have already done in part, that what-
ever diffatisfaElion the Admiralty Board (which had
fucceeded to that Board under whole orders I failed
fromEnghnd) thought proper to manila for my hav-
ing exercifed my own difcretion, in undertaking the
fubfequcnt expedition to the Rio de la Plata, yet my
condua in the execution of that erverprite was fuch
as to draw from them the molt unqualified approba-
tion, as appears from the letter of the 25th of Sep-
tember, which I have already read in my defence.
" The natural interference to be drawn from the
perufal of that letter is, that the Admiralty Board,
at the time when it was written, confithred my recal
as a fuflicient mark of their difapprobation of my ha
wing left the Cape with my fquadron, and attacked
Buenos Ayres, without orders. But the panegyric
paired on my condal and thole under my command,
thongly mark, the high opinion entertained of the
importance of the conquell—for if Mr. Marfden's
letter of the zsth of September, acknowledging the
receipt of my account of the furrender of Buenos
Ayres and its dependencies, be compared with his
letter in anfwer to mine of the 13th of Jannare, an-
nouncing to him the capture of the Cape, it is fait
to infer, from the circumthince of the Admiralty
Board having exprt red their tioqualified approbation
of n.y corduet in tht c• nqueft of:Buenos Ayres,' and
of their h lying withheld from me every fign of fat i, •
-
laeti,A in reg;t d to my proceedings in the rednetion
of the Cape, that in their ellimation of the compa
rative importarce to the country of the two places,
they let a midi higher 'value on the acquifition of
Buenos A) re- than t n that of the Cape.
"' But, Sir, .f my ardent zeal for the fervice of my•
country has, in the opinion of any of the Members of
this Hon. Court, carried me beyond the exalt limits
of unreitriEled intirnetions, .1 ftibmit that I have al.
ready (*offered a more than adequate punifhment, not
merely by having been deprived of my late command,
but from the degrading mariner in which I was fast. ,

,‘ Is it poll►ble for me to avoid feeling or exprelling
fome fatisfa&ion, when I reflea that notwithttanding
the reverie a fortune which had occurred, I had
anticipated not only the withes of the laft, but alfo of
the prefent Adminifiration ; that I had fecured a
very firong-pofition, fuited to the views of his Majef-
ty's Government, and had thus obtained a firm
footing on the continent of South America ; that
General Achmuty would find the übjeet of his expe-
dition in a great meafure completed before his arri-
val; and that the three thoufand men deltined to
another objtet, of very confiderable importance,
would he in confequence, at liberty to purfire their
uriginal deftinatinn.
t. If then, this force, deflined for an objeO fo highly
important in the opinion of• his Majefly's Minilters,
was thus ordered to be diverted from the purfuit of
that objeft, in order to fuccoor General Beresford,
and, in the event of his having been obliged to fur-
' render, to enable General Achmuty to follow up the.
enter prife, for having undertaken which I am now
arraigned, and to ufe his utmolt endeavours to
eflablifh himfelf in fome part of the coati of South
America—cf how much greater importance mutt
not the acquifition of a fecure poll on the Rio de la
Plata (and efpecially one fo tenable as that of Mal-
donado) be confidered by thofe fame Minifters !
gg Never, Sir, would I for a moment contend that
[ince& could jultify negleti or breach of duty ; but,
confcions "as I am that I am not open to fuch a

felled, and recalled, as mull appear to this Honouris• khaste, it is imptable for me not to fat gratified in'
ble Court, when they find that my folicuatio; !tor the I refleiting on the circumftance which I have jolt Rated.)
ufe even of a tranfpert; was perempto, ily refuted, and 4, Moreover, Sir, the proclamation Hilted on the
that I was left to tale my •paffage to England in a 17th September, 18c6, fufficiently thews the encnts;
(mall prize brig, with the aggravations circumilance ragement which the Members of his Majelly's Go-
of the few men of the fquadron put on board to uavi- ; ternment were anxious to give to the fpirit of our
gate this velel home being taken from her by the ' commercial men, depreffed beyond example at the
order* or my fuccellbr, Admiral Stirling, to whom I I unprecedented meafores taken to exclude their
was fcarcely known, arid to whom; therefore, I could exports from the Continent of Europe, and the rea-
never have given perfmial offence. For the proof of dinefs with which they were pleafed to meetmy ideas
thefe fads, I refer to the evidence of Captain King. on this particular point, by inviting all Britifh fubjees
44 Whether the perforts who gave thefe orders, or to trade with Buenos Ayres and the other fettlements
the Admiral who executed them, thought they were' in the Rio de la Plata, under the favour of his
the heft means nf upholding the chargter of a Bri- faid proclamation.
tifh Officer commanding in chief, or whether they or "In regard to the value attached to the conqueß
he judged, this was the molt proper method of of BlienosAyres,in a politicalpoint of view,and which,
(hewing others their extent of power, I will not re- as I have before pbferved, was one of the principal
fume to determine, but of conduet fo unufual, fo un- motives that urged me to undertake the enterprize,
. .

I cannot indicate its importance more clearly and un.
deniably, than by quoting to the Court the language
tiled by Lord Lauderdale, his Majelly's Plenipoten-
tiary at Paris, during his Negotiation for Peace, to
Monfieur Talleyrand, the French Minifler for Fo-
reign Affairs. In a Note written by Lord Lauder-
dale to the Paid Minifter, on the 19th day of Septem-1
ber, tBo6, his Lordfhip lays—' When the under-I
• figned refleas that he came to Paris authorifed to
• conclude Peace upon terms underflood to have been
propofed by France ; that, notwithftanding the re-
fufal of his Imperial Majetty of all the Ruffias to
1 ratify the Treaty figned by M. d'Oubril, and the
1 fplendid Jitccfes obtained by bit Megely't arms in .'.ouch
1 America, he was authorfed to give affurances (as
1 he had the honour of doing to his Ercellency the
• Minifter for Foreign Affairs), that the dcmands of
1 his Court in its own favour, would not, in:confe-
• quence of there fucceffes, be materially latereafed.'
44 Is not this, I afk, language. of which I have
reafon to be proud, inafmuch as it conveys, in a man-
ner the molt dire& and unqualified, the, opinion en-
' tertained by his Majefty's Govermnent of the Inc-
cekes, in the plan and accomplifhment of which I
bore fo aelive and fo confiderable a (hare ? If Lord

Lauderdale calls the fucceffes jpiendid, in an official
Note to the French Mini(ler, fuiely it will not now be
contended, that they were net fo confidered by that
Cabinet which deputed him to ter- ciate the late pro-
j;:6ted Treaty ct Peace ; and th tigh his Lordfhir
adds,that the demands of his Court in its favour would
not, not, in confequence cif thefe fucceffes materially
increafeo, vet this tone of moderation .minilhes not
their splendour, nor does it in the Imalleft degree,
deo a't from the merit of !bore by whom they were'
achieved. In fine, whatever difference of opinion
may exit telpeeing the policy of extending our en.
conquetts, there feemed to me but :.ne fenti-
mew. entertained by his Maitk's Government, and
by the country at lane, in regard to the well-timed
acquifition of Buenos Ayres; which, in the intended
pacifiCation or Europe, was, it is evident, of ltif-
ficient weight to incline the palitical balance hill
more in favour of England.
" Sir, if t!tat nevciati,n had terminated in a
peace tyon terms honourable and advantageous to
Great Britain, it will not be denied that the charac-
ter of thole terms would have been influenced, at
lean in tome degree, to the fuccefs of his Majefly's
arms in South America.
' " I now beg to advert to the papers of the r4rh
September, a4th September, and ant November,
and the troth September, which have been lately
trodtreed into the Charge. The latter I never faw
or heard of until read in. Court ; nor was I informed
until my arrival at Portfmouth, that any of there
I Papers were to be brought again% me. The °bite
I of this attempt was, I prefume, to thew the fenti-
ment of the Government under whofe orders I failed,
on the fubjee of the future dellination of my force.
—But it was known to my Profecutors that I never
received any of there Papers, as the Peter packet in
which they were put was captured, and the Thalia
which conveyed the others never went to the Cape.
" Sir, the fubfecptent opinion of the Government,
founded elf° on fubferprent and !tally, and as. it af-
terwards appeared, inaccurate information, could
not in any cafe be evicletic.: again% me, or implicate
me in having ufed my force as I did, having, as it
has been (hewn, no orders for my deflination after
the capture of the Cape, more particularly on the
pollibility of Inch a dellitiation, as it proved to have
been the with of the Government at that time, in
certain events, could not in the moil dillant way
have been in contemplation when llailed,and the pof-
ftbiiity
of which I could not laved.
" The correenefs or impropriety of my condue
mull depend on that which I either knew, or was
bound to prcfume, or luppofe, might have been the
with of the Government under whole orders I failed,
and thofe 1 have, I trult,rufficiently developed.
" In addition to which I might observe, that there
orders could not operate.againtt me in another point
of view, before I could by any poffibility have re
ceived them. I knew that the intelligence on which
they were founded was wholly falfe, and that peace
had been made in India, in proof of which I beg
leave to read General Baird's letter to Mr.Windltam,

in anfwer to the difpatches which he received on chis.
fubjeet: _ _

Cape Town, May 27, 1806.
Sir—l have had the honour of receiving by hi, Majefty's
fhip the Adamant, the duplicate of a difgatch from 1.0 d Vif-
count Caftkreagh, bearing date the loth of September, tBos,
and conveying to me his Majefty's commands to detach from
this Colony, 1. ,:h a portion of the troops under my command,
as might be neceffary for the fccurity of the Britifts polkinons
in India.

I am molt happy to repeat, that the general trarquillity which
now reigns in that quarter will render it unncceilliry for me to
make fuck detachment.

I have the honour to bc, &c.
Right Hon. W. Windham, &c.&c. D. !SAIRD.

"The receipt of thcfe orders, therefore, having thus
come to my bands, could not have operated upon'my
conduct, but poilibly might, as before mentioned,
have corroborated my determination in giving in rea•
fon to fuppofe that for any great and important ob-
jeet, the withdrawing part of the force from the Cape
'would not be a meafure likely to excite the difplea-
lure' of Government.

66 Before 1 conclude, I mull complain of the mu-
tilattd (late in which the Admiralty Bard has pre.
rented to the public my letter of September lark, giv.
ing an account of the recapture of Buenos Ayres.—
Moll unfavourable opinions and prejudices have been
excited againit me by their mutilation ; in fa6t, feve•
(ral perfons have caller( on me for an explanation of
the lalt mentioned letter. Lam compelled to notice
the circatallance, aot only In juaice to myfelf, but

alfo to that gallant officer General Beresferd, w
truft has long fince been releafed from capiivi
through the fuccefs of his Majefty's arms. Th.o .
comparifon can only be made by readirg my oti
nal letter, and the publication of it in the Gazette.
" I have now limed all which occurs to me ~s ne
ceffery to fay before the Court on the fubjed of tLy
condu& as an Officer, with reference to the
queftions which atilt upon it ; one lubjed, however,
for obfervation [till remains, and it is one that detP:V
interefls my charatler and feelings, and nee epos
which I owe to accident and good fortune, that I
am in poffeflion of evidence, notwithflanding I left
the Rio de is Plata without the leaft lufpicion A' my
being called upon to appear before a Court M tr Gat
66 I am aware, Sir, that my jollification has al.
ready extended to a great length, yet as I conceive it
to be incumbent on me to omit no circumfiance that
can at all tend to illultrate the views which ioflitetiot
my condo& during the expedition to the Rio de 1 t
Plate, I mutt folicit the indulgence of the Cr,
while I Hate as briefly as poffible, a few fads w':.:.•
may ferve to Thew that in the whole comic of ro.
proceedings, as Commanding Officer of the fquadrort
in that river, I was never actuated by any fdlifh car::
federation, but that, from the time of the furrender of
Buenos Ayres to his Majefty's arms, until the period
of its being wreßed from our poffeilkn, I made every
facrifice which might convince the world in general,
that the good of my country was my tole objed in
having undertaken this expedition without pofitive or.
dens. I am the more anxio"s to efiriblifh this, becaufe
have had the mortification to hear it fail fince my re.
turn, that fordid, innead of honourable motives,opera;
ted to induce me to undertake this expedition. lam
mown charader in this refped,but to prove that I have not
difgraced the profellion to which I belong, by permit.
ling unworthy motives to operate on my conduit as an
officer. I Ihould not have wanted precedents to hear
me nut, even in loch a concluet : but though I have
quoted precedents for my jollification as to the exer-
cife of my difcrction, I Ihould difdain to avail myfelf
even of the lame autlicrity to p. Vote cupidity or in.
juftice. In proof of my condo& in this refped, per.
mit me, rec Ito the attention of he Court, that
:mmedi.ttely on the Poi-ender of Puns Ayres, all
the property afloat, contained in upwards of tflo vef.
.els, to the amount of upwards of a million and a
half of dollars, was given up to the Proprietors by
proclamation; an evident proof of my fincere inch.
nation to conciliate the minds of the inhabitants of
every defcription, and to convince them that the ex•
pedition was undertaken with views diametrically
oppolite to thole which attach to a predatory incur-
lion. If it (hoold be fuggefled that I could not have
manned even a very (mall proportion of th veffels,
I would reply, that I might have difpofed of them at
an inferior price to their relpedive proprietors.
"Such was my conduit at the time of the furrendet
of that town, and on a contemplation of every event
which might happen from the interior of the coun.
try, although I had than no reafon to apprehend that
an attempt would be maje to ditlodge from it the
Britilla forces, I ailed with the fame difinterefled re-
gard to public fit vice, in relation to large quantities
of quickfilver and bark, to the amount of upwards
of three millions of dollars, in (mall and very con-
venient packages, which were in the C-Ifile near the
quay, and might have been embarked in the c.otrfe
of three or four days, but I w ould not (Offer any of
the valuable merchandize whatever, which might be
cunfidered as appertaining to the captors, to be Ihip.
ped, before the fquadron Ihould he completely viato
alleell in order that 'might be enabled mare effeaually
to blockade the river in cafe of a reverie of fortune;
and the whole of which property was ultimately re-
covered by the enemy ; moreover, I propofed to the
Captains and Officers of the ;quad, on, and it was ge-
nerally agreed that we fhould prefent to Government
whatever armed veffels might be captured, and be
deemed fit for his Majetty's fervice. Among thefe was
the Neptune, a fine (hip of twenty guns, which had
been formerly a Liverpool privateer, and had hem
taken by the Spaniards, together with several large
armed fehooners and gun veffels. In fhort, on all
occafions I inculcated and enforced, both by precept
and example, the dodrine of facrificing private ad.
vantage to the i,ublic good, and of regulating our
proceedings by what might appear molt for the ho-
nour and glory of the British nation. I am
happy in thi, opportunity of refctring my chandler
in this public manner, and by evidence before the
Court, from the imputations which have been caft
upon it in thin refpetl.
i have at length concluded the flatement of faEtc,
and the obfervati, ns which were neceffary to enable
the Court to folon a competent judgment of my cafe,
and by whici' I have been unavoidably obliged to
occupy a coni;det able portion of your time. It may.
however, be faid, that in my letter to the Admiralty.
I did not fully detail all the motives which had led
to my undertaking the attack of Buenos Ayres.
" If the flatemeta r 4 thcfe reafons Gould appeir
lefs ample and leis detailed than thofe which lam
now laying before the Court, it is becaufe I conceive
that I was addreffing them to thole with whole gene•
rat views and intentloni on this fubjed I was already
acquainted, and who were well aware of the indacr-
ment to this undertaking. From thofe by whom
my letters were in fa& received, so intimation eve:
reached me, that tilde reafons were infufficient, no
bas any fuppletnenta-r7y.explanation been required. I
have already Itid; that lalid not receive arc iroima-
tion of an intentiisai to call Me to account. f regret
the filence of the Admiralty towards me in hob three
particulars; had they called for my jultificArt o .n
earlier period, it might, perhaps, have fati fl d than
that there was no ground for bringing me htiore this
'Tribunal, and at all events, the notification of thi de.
fign to accufe me, would have given a fair, and Purely
not too favourable a warning to me, to return pre-
pared with all the means of my defence. Sufficient
means I hope I have in the flatements and evidence
which I fubmit to you,'but it is a little hard to be
deprived of the tellimony of thole who, having been
witnefTes.of my condo& during the Whole of my com-
mand, might depofe molt powerfully in my vindica-
tiory and this Inf., which I cannot think accidental, I
owe to the Menne of the Adniiralty.
" Before I finally dole, I mutt again fhortly revert
to the point molt important, becaufe it does not at)•
ply to my cafe only, but to that of every Officer in the
Navy, I mean that of the difcretinnary life of atoll°•
thy without precife orders. Indeed, if an Officer com-
manding in foreign parts is never to avail lnrnfclf ,:f