72 



ANNUAL REGISTER, 1805. 



kcrs. Such a circumstancej in itself, 

 afforded a strong ground of suspi- 

 cion, and the loss and misciiief such 

 a practice might have brought upon 

 tlie naval department, -tvould have 

 been incalculable. The house was 

 no«- appealed to, as the constitutional 

 guardian of the rights of the people, 

 and he should ill discharge his duty 

 to the public, if he did not give his 

 most cordial and sincere support to 

 the present motion. 



After a few observations from 

 lord Andover, Mr. Wallace, sir 

 Charles Price, and lord Archibald 

 Hamilton, the house divided : for 

 Mr. A\'liitb read's motion, 216, 

 against it, '21G, — and the numbers 

 being thus equal, the speaker gave 

 his casting vote in favour of Mr. 

 Whitbread. Some conversation af- 

 terwards occurred, upon amend- 

 ments proposed by Mr. Pitt, in the 

 wording the resolutions, which, how- 

 ever, suffered bo material alteration, 

 M r. Whitbread then mo ved an address 

 <to his majesty, to remove lord Mel- 

 ville from his councils and presence 

 for ever ; but, on the suggestion of 

 Mr. Pitt, it was agreed to postpone 

 the consideration of this motion till 

 the Wednesday following, and, at 

 five o'clock in the morning, the house 

 adjourned. 



On Wednesday the chancellor of 

 tne exchequer, as soon as he entered 

 the house, informed it, that lord 

 Alelville had resigned the office of 

 first lord of the admiralty. Mr. 

 Whitbread then moved, that the 

 eleventh resolatiOi'i, charging lord 

 Melville with being privy to, and 

 conniving at, the withdrawing, for 

 purposes of private interest or emo- 

 l ument, snms issued to him as treasu- 

 rer cf the navy, be read, w hich being 

 done accordingly, he again rose, 

 Rpd stated, that though the notice 



now given could not have been 

 unexpected to any one, yet it could 

 not satisfy either him, that house, or 

 the public. Lord Melville had not 

 been dismissed ; he gave in his re- 

 signation, which was no more than 

 any honourable man might do, from 

 feelings of his own. The result of the 

 proceedings on the last night had dif- 

 fused such universally joy through 

 the country, that the representatives 

 of the people may 



" Read their history in a nations eyes," 



Ijut lord Melville might be restored 

 fo-morrow, and they would have no 

 such cause of exultation, if they 

 did not render it impossible for his 

 majesty ever to call him to his coun- 

 cils, ilc thought it right to tell his 

 majesty, in the most solemn manner, 

 that it was necessary to remove lord 

 Melville from all the offices he holds 

 under the crown. He would go fur- 

 ther, and though he understood, 

 from the ri^ht honourable gentleman 

 (Mr. Canning,) that Mr. Trotter 

 had been dismissed, it was his inten- 

 tion, immediately after the holidays, 

 to move, that his majesty's attorney 

 general be directed to proceed 

 against lord Melville and Mr. Trot- 

 ter, for the recovery of the proliti 

 so unjustly taken from the public 

 purse. And it was also his inten- 

 tion to move, after the holidays, for 

 a select committee, to enquire into 

 the transfers from one service to 

 another, and all the other transac- 

 tioHS referred to in the report. He 

 further observed, that the right 

 honourable gentleman opposite him 

 (Mr. Pitt,) was himself implicated, 

 and it was in vain for him to exculpate 

 himself. What he alluded to was, 

 the quietus of 24,000/. to Mr. 

 JeiJico. No satisfaction, he said, 

 would be aflorded to public justice, 



that 



