ground, and that was the light in which he had always confidered himself. The fingle thing he had to reproach himself with was, his letter to the admiralty immediately after the affair of the 27th of July. That letter did not contain the real fentiments of his heart. His fecretary knew what he faid to be true; his fecretary was ready to take his oath in any court in the kingdom that the letter which he first wrote, and that which he fent to the admiralty, were widely dif ferent. The firft contained his genuine fentiments, dictated by thofe feelings which arofe from an immediate conviction of the confequence of the governor of Greenwich-Hospital's conduct. The fecond gave him more trouble than any matter he had ever engaged in. His friendship, his good-nature, the regard which he then had for the governor of Greenwich Hofpital, his opinion of that officer's gallantry, all got the better of his juftice, and the truth was, after altering and altering the letter, he made a fad piece of work of it; he could only fay, he would never fall into a fimilar error. The admiral faid farther, that before he had heard the fpeech of the noble Lord in the blue ribbon, and the long detail read by the governor of Greenwich-Hofpital, it was his intention to have faid fomething relative to the immediate bufinefs of the day. What had fallen in the course of the debate had drawn his attention another way. With regard to what had been faid by his honourable relation near him, relative to the convicted falfhood and the recorded treachery of the first lord of the admiralty, he believed the first lord of the admiralty was fo far liable to the imputation, that he was capable of being guilty of juft as much treachery as any man could practise without rendering himself liable to a trial in a court of law, and incurring a legal punishment. This opinion, though juftified by perfonal experience on his part, was by no means a new idea. His honourable relation near him had, in confequence of his entertaining this idea, cenfured him for taking a command under the prefent adminiftration, when he, from a wifh to ferve his country in an hour of difficulty, which ever had, and ever would weigh with him above all private or perfonal confiderations, engaged to go out on board the Victory. His honourable relation had told him in direct terms, that the admiralty board was not to be trufted, that the prefiding lord would first deceive and then betray him. His honourable relation's aðvice he had originally paid lefs attention to, than he generally did, to every thing which came from the fame quarter; he VOL. XVIII. imputed G g The Hon. John Town jnend. imputed it at the time, partly to overzeal for his honour and his intereft, and partly to want of fufficient confidence in those under whom he was to be employed. Experience however had proved it to be true, and whatever colour the admiralty might artfully have contrived to put upon their conduct hitherto, what had paffed in the Houfe that day, would open the eyes of the public, and fhew the fact as it was. An honourable friend of his, had fpoken early in the debate, and afked, why were not certain admirals whom he had mentioned by name, employed? He was ready to join in the fame queftion. As to himself, he thanked his hoňourable friend for the refpectful manner in which he had alluded to him, but his ferving again under the prefent adminiftration was out of the queftion; it was impoffible: but he could not but ask why Sir Robert Harland, and other officers, men every way his fuperiors in profeffional fkill, were unemployed. He meant neither difrefpect nor difparagement to those on board the fleets; many of them he knew to le brave worthy men, but without naming particular persons, he would take upon him to fay, that there were abler officers now on shore than at fea, and he challenged the whole board of admiralty to controvert the affertion; he would enter upon the comparison immediately, and would undertake to pair them, if his challenge fhould be accepted. The honourable John Townshend rofe immediately after Admiral Keppel, and faid, he was at a lofs to determine in what light he was to confider the long manufcript read to the committee by the vice-admiral oppofite to him; at one time he had been induced to regard it rather as an address than a speech, but then, though clearly it was not the latter, it did not directly fall within the defcription of the former; of fuch addreffes at leaft, as generally were fent up to St. James's from that House in anfwer to a speech from the throne; all thofe addreffes were entitled humble addreffes, an epithet, which certainly had no relation either to the matter read to the Houfe by the vice-admiral, or the manner, in which that matter was recited. Again, an address of the Houfe in aufwer to a fpeech from the throne, was generally confidered as an echo to the fpeech; now the vice-admiral's addrefs was clearly written previous to his honourable friend's [Mr. Fox's] fpeech of that day, to which, by the vice-admiral's introductory words he meant it to apply. It could not therefore be confidered as an echo to that fpeech, unless it was admitted under an Irish conftruction, and was allowed' to He was per to be an echo to a fpeech before it was made. fuaded, however, that had the vice-admiral heard his honourable friend's fpeech, or known what he meant to say upon the occafion, previous to his having his addrefs committed to paper, the addrefs he had read would not have been the reply he would have thought fit to make to his honourable friend's argument. The vice-admiral's conduct had furprized him extremely, nor could he folve it by any of the common rules of reasoning; his honourable friend, in answer to the very extraordinary interpofition and interruption which the Houfe had witneffed, had declared his intention of exercifing the freedom of debate in its true fenfe, viz. that of avoiding perfonal offence, and at the fame time of fupporting and maintaining the undoubted right of every member of that Houfe, to difcufs matters of public authority, matters of public record, without referve. He for one, cordially and heartily fubfcribed to his doctrine, and he meant, in his future parliamentary conduct to adhere to it in its fullest extent. The trials of Admiral Keppel and Sir Hugh Pallifer, and the refpective fentences paffed upon thofe two officers, were matters of public record, and as fuch, he fhould, without meaning to offer the leaft perfonal offence to either, advert to with the utmost freedom as often as the fubje&t fhould come under difcuffion either within those walls or without doors. When, upon referring to thofe fentences, he faw that one adiniral was moft honourably acquitted, and the other declared a false and malicious accufer, he thought himself warranted, to adopt the words of either fentence, and to quote them on any occafion without queftion, because he had always understood that matters of judicial record, were matters of public converfation, and that every man might advert to them in what manner he thought proper. Confidering the whole of the cafe as it ftood, he could not, he repeated it, fupprefs his aftonishment at the language held by the governor of Greenwich Hofpital. Had the honourable gentleman fucceeded in his accufation, had he made it out, had he been" able to prove, by competent evidence, that the perfon he charged was an unfkilful officer, that he had been guilty of treachery, that he was a betrayer of his country, that he had departed from his allegiance, and had either for a bribe, from want of fkill, or from bafenefs, abandoned her defence and fuffered victory to efcape him, when it was in his reach, all the kingdom would have united in giving him due praises, in returning him loud thanks and applaufe for having detec Gg 2 ted ted a dangerous traitor, and for having brought him to his merited and to condign punishment. If fuch had been the cafe, Mr. Townshend afked, would the vice-admiral have thought himfelf ill-ufed, had that Houfe, or the public at large, been niggards in applause? Would not he have had a right to expect every epithet of praise, every expreffion that the language could convey of approbation? Taking the matter therefore in this light, what was not to be expected, when the reverfe of the picture was the true reprefentation of what had paffed? When fo far from the honourable admiral near him having been convicted of neglect or ill conduct, the court-martial had pronounced most honourably in his favonr, and had condemned his accufer, as a man guilty of a falfe and malicious accufation. Under fuch a sentence, ought not the vice-admiral to feel himself happy at his honourable friend's declaration, that he meant not to attack him, but that his reproaches fhould be directed folely against the firft lord of the admiralty, whom he confidered as the principal caufe of all the mischief! Ought not the vice-admiral, inftead of holding an indignant and refentful language, to feel his honourable friend's forbearance, as the greatest favour that could be done him, and to bow to it with the profoundeft humility, and the profoundest gratitude! Having urged this argument pretty ftrongly, Mr. Townfhend faid, Sir Hugh Pallifer's filence immediately after the fentence of the court-martial was known, his refignation of his lieutenant-generalfhip of marines, his retirement from parliament at that time, and his high tone now, all reminded him of a scene between two characters in a play, which he had often laughed at, and he doubted not every gentleman prefent had frequently done the fame. In the play the Old Bachelor] he alluded to, a bluftering being [Noll Bluff] was kicked and difgraced at one period of the plot, which he fuffered with the utmoft patience, and without attempting either to defend himfelf or to retaliate on his affailant, but, in a fubfequent fcene, in which a dialogue enfues between the bully and his friend Sir Jofeph, [Sir Jofeph Wittol,] the former grows angry, and fays, Death and hell, to be affronted thus! I'll die before I'll fuffer it." Sir Jofeph endeavours to perfuade him, not to revive what had difgraced him, and what was then paft remedy, and afks him, whether he was not "abused, cuffed, and kicked? To which the bully fwears, "By the immor ta! tal thunder of great guns, 'tis falfe," and draws his fword. Mr. Smith rofe next, and obferved, that the noble Lord, Mr. Smith. [Lord North] in his fpeech, had chiefly confined himself to the fentence of one of the two courts martial, and had, as it were, wholly paffed by the other. The noble Lord had taken great pains to dwell upon that part of the fentence, which declared, that Sir Hugh Pallifer "had in many inftances on the 27th of July, fhewn exemplary and highly meritorious conduct," but he had forgot, or chofen to drop all notice of that part of the fentence of the preceding courtmartial, which declared, that the accufation against Admiral Keppel was malicious and ill-founded. The one was furely as ftrong as the other, and ought to weigh at least as much with the Houfe; but if the fentence paffed by Admiral Keppel's court-martial, was not fufficiently a proof of the viceadmiral's demerits, what inference was to be drawn from his own conduct, from his refignation of his lucrative fituations of lord of the admiralty and lieutenant-general of marines, and from his withdrawing himself from public notice,' by giving up his feat in parliament. Lord Howe faid a few words. The Houfe anxious to hear Lord Howe his lordship, defired him to raise his voice. His lordship faid, that he disclaimed all praise, and made no public declarations of the motives that induced him to quit his Majefty's fervice. And he defired no perfons would take the liberty of, afcribing motives to him for not ferving, which they could only speak to from conjecture. Admiral Pigot avowed his former fentiments refpe&ting Adm. Pigot. Sir Hugh Palliter. Mr. Fox affured the governor of Greenwich Hofpital, that Mr. Fox. he was not perfonally his enemy. He was miftaken if he thought that he could excite hatred in him, or any thing. elfe. What he had faid, was directed not against him, but his patron the Earl of Sandwich, firft lord of the admiralty. The honourable gentleman had complained of the liberties 4 that |