This was a main point to carry. It is absurd to suppose, that Lord Melville and Mr. Pitt did not perceive the storm that was brewing; and, when we reflect on the obvious impolicy of their conduct, viewed in any other light, it is perfectly reasonable to attribute it to the motive here suggested. When reminded, upon the occasion here al luded to, of the eulogium he had pronounced on Lord St. Vincent, when he recommended him to the parliament and the nation; when reminded, that he had then described his lordship as a rock of safety to the country, as a person whose very name at the Admiralty would operate as a discouragement to the enemy; when reminded of this, Mr. Pitt made an attempt to distinguish between the military and the civil capacity of his lordship, though such a distinction could avail him nothing, seeing that it was in the capacity in which he had eulogized and recommended him. His conduct, in this respect, is no longer mysterious: we now clearly perceive the cause of his change of opinion, with regard to that nobleman, of whose official power it appeared to be his principal object to get rid.

SECOND the conduct of Mr. Pitt from his return to office, in May, 1804, to the month of March last, presents a tissue of inconsistencies, of miserable expedients and stratagems, surpassed only by what he has since exhibited, and never before equalled. From the time of his direct attack on Lord St. Vincent, in March, 1804, he kept no measures with the administration, of which that nobleman formed a part. He co-operated with the Opposition in their efforts to produce a change of the persons in his Ma--| jesty's councils, which object was accomplished early in the month of May.-There was no arrangement between Mr. Fox, or between any part of the Opposition, and Mr. Pitt; but, certain persons well known to be close in Mr. Pitt's confidence, and, of course, understood to speak his sentiments, which they communicated as distinctly as is usual upon such occasions, did declare to the members of the Opposition, that it was the sincere intention of Mr. Pitt, and, indeed, his firm resolution, to enter into no scheme of administration, which should not be so broad and comprehensive as to embrace all the eminent talents in the country, and effectually to subdue party animosities. I beieve few of the persons alluded to thought this profession sincere; and that I never did, for one moment, I need appeal only to my readers, whom I endeavoured to keep constantly on their guard against what appeared to me evidently intended to deceive. The

result is known. Instead of a ministry, embracing all the distinguished talents and sup ported by a vast majority of the men of high rank and great landed property; we, in a few days, saw Mr. Pitt on the Treasury Bench, surrounded with nothing but his own creatures and with several of those same identi-. cal persons, towards whom, only ten or twelve days before, he had used every term and epithet that his mind could suggest, descriptive of their unworthiness as ministers, and of his contempt. An effort was, indeed, made by him to draw LORD SPENCER and some others into his scheme; but, this extended no farther than would have been usefil in breaking the power of the Opposition, without endangering the complete preponderance, in the cabinet, of the influence of himself and his associate Lord Melville... The public, who were utterly disappointed by the. new arrangement that had taken place, thought, at first, that Mr. Pitt would never attempt to conduct the affairs of the nation with such miserably feeble assistance. But, the public little thought of the motives, which we now perceive must have existed: they little thought, that there was an inquiry at that moment going on, which would so soon put Lord Melville and Mr. Pitt upon their trial: had they been apprised of this, they would not have wondered to see those gentlemen apparently resolved to keep, as long as possible, and by whatever means, possession of those places and of that influence and power, of the inestimable utility of which, to persons in the situation they had reason to anticipate, the reader must, from what he has recently seen, be fully sensible.Mr. Pitt, who had gone out of office in 1801, upon the ground, by himself openly and clearly stated to the parliament, that he could not, in conscience and in "honour form part of a government," which did not deem it proper to bring forward the Catholic Question, must have come into of fice in 1804, under a combination of nation-al circumstances more favourable than those of 1801, with a resolution not to bring forward, and not to permit others to bring forward, the Catholic Question, which question he has now positively refused to submit. to parliament. It will be recollected, that he had declared the measure to be " essen

tially necessary to the strength, prosperity, "and security of the United Kingdom;' and yet, as I expressly stated at the time, (Reg. 12 May, 1804, p. 778), it was, upon his re-entering the cabinet, a preliminary stipulation, that he should "not revive the "Catholic Question," a stipulation, to which, he is now adhering in direct contradiction to

his public and solemn declarations. "Why," | say those who are still endeavouring to apologize for his conduct, "if the King will "not let him bring forward the Catholic "Question, what can he do?" To which I answer by asking, what did he do before? He resigned. Neither "conscience nor ho

"nour" would let him remain in. Has he then got rid of that conscience and honour? Or, bas he silenced these monitors? It is impossible, that when he re-entered the cabinet, he should not have foreseen this and many other embarrassments; quite impossible, and, therefore, his re-entering, under a stipulation not to bring forward the measure, is a presumptive proof of his being actuated by some motive stronger than a mere love of place and of domination, though, in his breast, that love is, I acknowledge, remarkably strong-Having obtained possession of the cabinet, we see, that, though the Board of Naval Commissioners could not be dissolved, every step was taken likely to check the progress of their proceedings. Lord Melville himself was placed at the head of the Admiralty, a situation which made him an object of attachment" with every one in any of the offices, into which the Commissioners could possibly go. Mr. Canning, the political creature of Mr. Pitt and Lord Melville, was placed at the head of the Treasury of the Navy, the office in which the dreaded inquiry was to take place; and Mr. Trotter, the Paymaster, who had been, very properly, displaced by Mr. Tierney, was immediately re-instated, though it appears from Mr. Canning's own declaration, that he had never even seen Trotter before in his life. What, let the reader ask himself; what, but the influence of Mr. Pitt or Lord Melville, could have induced Mr. Canning to make this re-instatement, especially as he must have known that a salary of sool. a year was of no consequence to Trotter, while he himself could not have been in want of friends, if not of relations, on whom to bestow such a salary? That the Commissioners experienced great inconvenience from the hindrance thrown in their way by Mr. Canning, they have pointedly stated in their Tenth Report, where they say, (See Reg. p. 479), that, to precepts, which they issued to him on the 10th and 17th of July, they re.ceived no answer till the 2d of October, when, upon writing to him again, they were informed by him, that he had consulted counsel to know whether he was, by law, compelled to comply with the Commissioners' request. They further state, that they had met with no such difficulties in any of the other departments; and they conclude by

stating, that, if such difficulties were general, all inquiry would be rendered nugatory. Now, if the change of ministry had not taken place; if Lord St. Vincent had remained at the Admiralty, and Mr. Tierney at Somerset House; or, if any other persons than Mr. Pitt and Lord Melville had been in power; in either' of these cases, I leave the reader to judge, whether the inquiry would not, in all probability, have led to a result even more complete and important than that which was produced. The Commissioners were, however, men not to be turned aside from their duty, not to be intimidated nor easily to be wearied or disgusted. They proceeded steadily on; an after the examination of Lord Melville, which took place on the 5th of November last, the affair began to assume a serious aspect. It must have been clearly foreseen, 'that the report upon these proceedings would become a subject of parlia mentary investigation. Mr. Pitt has expressed his contempt of a cabinet where there is any counting of noses; but, he has never let drop a similar sentiment with regard to other assemblies, whether consisting of six hundred or of twenty-one. His majority, at the end of the preceding session, was not very considerable, and though strengthened, perhaps, by some few recruits during the summer, was not regarded as sufficient to meet the approaching storm. The parliament, which was to meet in November, was, it will be well remembered, prorogued, from time to time, till the 15th of January, to the great surprise of every one not in the secret. Now, however, the delay is fully accounted for. It was employed in endeavoring to form a junction, first with Lord Moira and others, and, having met with a refusal in that quarter, next with Mr. Addington and his friends, where there was no refusal. It is not unnecessary to repeat, that Lord Melville saw the determined countenances of the Naval Commissioners, for the first time, on the 5th of November; on the 14th of that month the ministerial papers announced an approaching coalition between the ministry and Lord Moira and others; and on the 17th of December took place the reconciliation between Mr. Addington and Mr. Pitt, which was first proposed in a letter from Mr. Pitt through the hands of Lord Hawkesbury. These facts cannot be denied, and, when the reader considers how sensible Mr. Pitt must have been of the humiliation of thus crawling and whining for support to 4 man whom he had made and unmade at his pleasure, and whom, only a few months before, he had turned out under the loudly preferred charges of "incapa

"city and imbecillity;" when he recollects in what general contempt this conduct was held, and how that contempt was heightened, day after day, by the succession of degrading events, which occurred for the first month or two after the reconciliation was effected; when he reflects on these circumstances, remembering, at the same time, the naturally and habitually haughty and over-bearing character of the man, who submitted to all these unspeakable mortifications, rather than resign that place which he had formerly flung up at the first attempt at resistance on the part of his Sovereign; when the reader has taken a full and clear view of this combination of facts and circumstances, he will, I think, have little hesitation in agreeing with me, that the motive of Mr. Pitt, in making all these degrading submissions, must have been singu larly powerful; that the object he had in contemplation could, in fact, have been nothing short of keeping possession of the means of making assurance double sure, and, to use his own favorite phrase, obtaining, in the approaching proceedings, indemnity

for the past and security for the future."

-On the 18th of February, after the Tenth Report of the Naval Commissioners was laid before the House of Commons, but before it was printed, the Budget, containing a statement of the money wanted for the year, was submitted by the minister. The introduction of this subject at so early a season, contrary to the usual custom, which had reserved it for the month of April or May, excited, we all remember, much speculation. Some thought, and indeed said, that it was a strong symptom of Mr. Pitt's intention to resign, it being regarded as a point of ministerial etiquette to make the necessary pecuniary provisions previous to quitting the Treasury. Others imagined, that the step was intended to convince the powers on the Continent, that the minister had the means of fulfilling his engagements with them; though it appeared utterly incredible, that any one who had ever seen or read of or heard of England, in these latter days, should doubt of the readiness of His Majesty's faithful Commons to vote whatever sums might be asked of them by any minister. There is now little room for conjecture upon the subject. The mystery is fost satisfactorily explained; for, whoever views the present scene, and duly considers the state of mens' minds, will, I think, be convinced, that to have served up new taxes in the intervals of the discussions that are How succeeding each other, would have discovered but little taste, and less prudence, in the entertainer. He was well aware of

the great inconvenience that this would have created; the computations of what taxes might have been spared if no malversation had been practised or permitted; of the number of bushels of salt that might, in such case, have escaped additional duty; of the number of horses that might still have been allowed to tug on unloaded with another four-shilling impost. Sir Henry Mildmay's complaint of the tax upon his children's legacies might have come forth with the painful omission of a compliment to the wisdom and integrity of the man who was persisting in imposing it; and Mr. Pitt's expert and voluble calculation of the proposed tax upon draught-horses, might have been met with another of the pickings of Mr. Trotter and his principal, not forgetting the crumbs of Mark Sprott. The choice, therefore, of the time for urging forward the Ways and Means, does great credit to the sagacity and foresight of Mr. Pitt; but it serves to show, that he had maturely weighed and fully anticipated the probable consequences of the Tenth Report, and, viewed in connection with the circumstances before-stated, it strongly corroborates the suspicion, that all his party arrangements, for a considerable time back, had been bottomed upon that anticipation.

THIRD-Having now arrived at the point where we are to enter on a survey of the conduct of Mr. Pitt, subsequent to the printing of the Tenth Report of the Commissioners of Naval Inquiry, it will be necessary, previous to any observation upon that conduct, to state what may be called the charges contained in the Report, leaving out, for the sake of simplifying the discussion, the transaction relative to Jellicoe, and, for the same reason, including the charge of supposed connivance, on the part of Mr. Pitt, which is now to be examined into and reported upon by the Select Committee of the House of Commons. Briefly, then, against Lord Melville, the charge, is; that he, being Treasurer of the Navy with a clear salary of 4,000l. a year, acknowledged by himself to be in full payment of all his services in that office, did, during the space of sixteen years, permit and authorize his deputy to withdraw from the Bank of England, to deposit with a private banker, and to use for private advantage, large sums of the public money, in gross violation of a law framed by himself; and that, being asked, upon his oath, whether he participated in those advantages, he refused to answer, alleging, as the ground of his refusal, that he was in danger of thereby criminating himself and of exposing himself to pains or penalties. This is the charge against Lord Melville,

fairly stated, and unimpaired by any document that has since been submitted to his judges, who have, accordingly declared him guilty of " a gross violation of the law, and of a high breach of duty." The charge against Mr. Pitt, as relating to this matter, is; that he, being First Lord of the Treasury and Chancellor of the Exchequer, knew that certain sums of money, appropriated by act of parliament to Naval purposes, were applied to other public purposes, and, of course, that these sums were drawn from the Bank of England in a manner contrary to law; and that, he, being in the capacity aforesaid, and being informed of the unlawful practices of Lord Melville and his Deputy, did not adopt any measure to put a stop to those practices. In stating this as a charge against Mr. Pitt, I beg to be distinctly understood, as not meaning to say that he is guilty of it. He is not named in the Report of the Commissioners, though his Secretary is; and, for the honour of the country, we all must hope, that, as to the latter part of the charge in particular, which, if established, would make him an accomplice with Lord Melville, he will appear to be perfectly innocent. What I have, therefore, with respect to him, stated in the form of a charge, is to be considered merely as a brief decription of what is to be the subject of inquiry in the Select Committee; such a description being necessary to the clear comprehension. and proper application of the observations I am about to offer on his conduct relative to the recent proceedings, and, in the offering. of which observations I shall, as being the most natural as well as the most convenient, follow the order pointed out by the dates of the different discussions, touching on the case of Lord Melville only in such parts and so far as it may be necessary to touch upon in order to elucidate the conduct of Mr. Pitt..

The charge against Lord Melville was so simple, the delinquency was so flagrant, the proof against him so satisfactory, that is was, by many persons, firmly believed, that Mr. Pitt would not attempt to screen him; and, it will be recollected, that those who have generally been regarded as that gentleman's warmest and most faithful friends, scrupled not to assert, that he would make no such attempt. And, indeed, if we take time to look into the history of Mr. Pitt's public life; if we review the professions, the Joudly proclaimed principles, the solemn promises and pledges, by the means of which he ingratiated himself with the people of England, we must, in fairness, allow, that there was some ground whereon to excuse the confidence of his friends upon the present occasion. No small part of these per

sons must have heard, or read, and, of course, imbibed an early and deep impres sion from, the parliamentary speeches, with which he began his career; they must have remembered with what seemingly virtuous indignation he, the second time he addressed the House of Commons, burst forth upon the subject of abuses in the expenditure of the public money. What," said he, in the debate of 31st March, 1781;"what is "it that gives the House of Commons its "importance? What but the power of the

purse? Every branch of the legislature "has something to distinguish it, and that "which at once gives the character and "elevation of the Commons House of Parliament, is, that they hold the strings of the national purse, and are "entrusted with the great and important power, first of granting the money, and "then of correcting the expenditure. "How humiliating, how miserable a picture "of parliamentary power is it now wished to be exhibited! So, then, all the power "of parliament, with respect to the allevia"tion of national burdens, the redress of

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The

grievances, the reform of expense, the economy, the system, the elucidation of "office, is sunk into a disgraceful negative! "One positive power, indeed, remains; the "odious power of taxing the people, whenever the minister thinks proper. "odious power of making them pay for his "wild schemes and lavish corruption... "The minister has disregarded the report "of the Commissioners, a report delivered "in upon dath, and having all the facts sta"ted in it ascertained upon the oaths of a "variety of witnesses, and has preferred the "loose conversation of a public board, suf

fering them to become the unsworn wit

nesses in their own cause!. . . . . . And, "here I must remark, and Iverily believe "it, on my credit, my honour, and my con

science, that the minister means and designs, that the Commissioners shall spend "their time in inquiring into trifles, without going into an examination of any great, extensive, and important object, the "better to continue the deception, and to carry on the hypocrisy and deceit that have already led the House into so many votes disgraceful to themselves and ruinous to "the public. ...... I earnestly conjure the "House to use their own eyes, and to con"sult their own understandings; to return

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to a sense of their duty to the people; to "act like honest independent members of "parliament, and no longer implicitly pis "their faith upon the sleeve of a minister, "whose sole object is to deceive and mislead,

just as best answers his purpose." Early

impressions are well known to be the most powerful; and, therefore, we are not to wonder, that those whose attachment to Mr. Pitt was founded on his conduct at the outset of his political career, should, especially if they had not been very attentive observers of his progress, have continued that attachment, (proceeding from their high opinion of his purity) to the very eve of Lord Melville's disgrace. How was it possible for those who remembered to have heard him imploring the House of Commons to reform itself, and to banish from its constitution the means of corruption; who remembered to have heard him, on the 7th of May, 1782, congratulate the House upon his Majesty's now having a ministry (consisting of Lord Rockingham, Mr. Fox, and others) "under "whom the corrupt influence of the crown "would not be exerted; but, at the same "time, beseeching the House to provide for "the future, and to take care that in no "time this secret and dark system should be "revived, to contaminate the fair and ho"nourable fabric of our government; this "influence being of the most pernicious "kind, and, having at all times been point"ed to as the fertile source of all our mise"ries, had, of late, been substituted in the room of wisdom, of activity, of exertion, "and of success. It was," he said but "too naturally connected with the exten"sive limits of our empire, and with the "broad and great scale upon which its ope"rations were conducted. It had been truly "said of this corrupt influence," that it

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had grown with our growth and strengthened with our strength;" but, that, unhappily for this country it had not decayed with our decay, nor diminished "with our decrease." Those who remembered to have heard this, and who still retained the impression made by the eloquent expression of his abhorrence of the vile traffic carried on, as he, in the same speech, alleged, between the Treasury and the members of parliament; his abhorrence of the wretches, who claimed to themselves the " right of bringing their votes to market, "who held out their borough to the best purchaser, and who, in fact, belonged more to the Nabob of Arcot than they "did to the people of Great Britain." Those who remembered this, and who, on the 4th of March, 1782, had heard him assert the power, the right, and the duty of parliament to punish delinquent ministers, let their "rank be what it might." Those who had seen him, on the 8th of March, 1785, when he was become minister himself, instantly appointing a Commission of Inquiry into the abuses of office during the administration of

reason for passing over even the most tri"fling abuses, except laziness and pride; "and these are obstacles which, I hope, will

never stand between me and my duty. "Nor can I conceive how, in the present "situation of this country, any person or

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persons, to whom the care of its interests

are entrusted, can justify to themselves to "omit any exertion, that may tend, even in "the most minute particular, to promote "that economy, on which the recovery of "the state from its present depressed situa"tion so much depends." Those who had heard this; those who had received and long entertained the impression which sentiments like those above quoted were calculated to give to the mind; those persons, especially, if, as was before observed, they had not been very attentive observers of political occurrences, might be naturally expected to repel, with indignation, the idea of Mr. Pitt's becoming the advocate or the apologist of Lord Melville; what, then, must have been the disappointment, what the astonishment and confusion, of these persons at witnessing the recent conduct of Mr. Pitt? At seeing him endeavour to edge into the resolution of censure a phrase, evidently designed to lead the world to believe, that Lord Melville had not understood the intention of the law that he had violated? At hearing him assert, that the public had sustained no, actual loss in consequence of the naval money having been diverted to, and employed for, purposes of private emolument? At perceiving him labour to persuade the public, that, because no personal corruption was positively proved, the conduct of Lord Melville was not corrupt? At observing his strenuous efforts to maintain, that, by the vote of censure, Lord Melville was sufficiently punished, and that every thing beyond it was persecution, and must proceed from party and vengeful motives? At listening to the grounds upon which he resisted any further parliamentary inquiry into matters that were to become the subject of legal investigation? And, finally, at witnessing his contrivance, and hearing his defence of, the mode which has been adopted for selecting the committee, appointed to