APPENDIX 
after sifting his case to the bottom, 
the main point, that of a criminal 
participation in the gains and emo- 
Juments arising from the use of the 
public money, had been fully nega- 
tived by the witnesses brought for- 
ward for the prosecution? Yet he 
would repeat, that the character of 
the house of commons would not 
suffer, if the result was favourable to 
the defendant. Still it must be ad- 
“mitted, that his lordship was the vic- 
tim of a peculiar species of prose. 
-eution, which outraged every prin- 
ciple of justice and humanity— 
borne down by positive charges of 
guilt, calumuies uttered behind his 
back, and promulgated in an as. 
sembly where he could not be heard, 
and those calumnies registered 
‘among the records of the kingdom. 
Notwithstanding such was his lord- 
ship’ s unparalleled case, he trusted 
their Jordship’s would come to the 
estion with minds pure and un- 
biassed. The learned counsel then 
recapitulated the charges, and con- 
tended that there was no pretence 
for supposing that the noble defen- 
t had corruptly appropriated the 
iblic money. Had the charge of 
iminal participation been made 
t, he should have claimed no fa- 
‘Your or indulgence. Had it been 
_ proved in any one instance, that his 
aor ship’s mind had been influenced 
by y corrupt motives, or if the noble 
‘defendant had violated his duty for 
the purpose of private advantage or 
emolument, then would he have de- 
livered him over to condemnation. 
sut no such proof appeared in eévi- 
{ lence, and all that had been made 
out was, that lord Melville was a 
“negligent man as far as regarded pe- 
‘Cuniary matters, and placed too firm 
t reliance on. his dependants. What 
vadyanced was not merely asser- 
to the CHRONICLE. 
617 
tion. Let their lordships look to 
the faéts. proved—they would find 
that lord Melville had shown a uni- 
form disregard of money, and that 
his habits. and general conduct 
through life precluded the idea of 
his devoting his time or attention to 
pecuniary matters, when connected 
with his own privateinterests, Ine 
deed the honourable manager him- 
self had told their lordships, that he 
believed the noble defendant to be a 
man of a generous and unbounded 
spirit, and if he should now be 
proved guilty, he had only to re. 
gret that he should have departed 
from his rectitude at a time of life 
when it was natural to think that 
other than vicious inducements 
would have influenced his conduct, 
Here the learned counsel enume- 
rated the many high and distinguish- 
ed offices filled by the noble defen- 
dant.—He had been secretary of 
state, he said, both for the home and 
foreign. department, and he had been 
the sole manager of affairs with re- 
spect to.the British empire in the 
east ; and argued from thence, that 
it was impossible an individual so 
honourably employed should have 
leisure or disposition to. pursue so 
vicious and so mean a propensity, as 
that ofamassing wealth by employing 
the public money in specuiations of 
great risk and hazard. With regard 
to the first charge, he said, the no- 
ble defendant was controlled by no 
statute or constitutional law of the 
kingdom.. The only obligation upon 
him to prevent his making use of the 
public money, was the warrant by 
which his salary was augmented. 
There was.no law to the contrary ; 
and the treasurer of the navy, was 
as fairly entitled, at that period, 
to.make use of the public money, 
as the paymaster of the army, or 
the 
