HISTORY OF EUROPE. 



55 



ence or not ; a paper, if in exist- 

 ence, of whose contents and qua- 

 litj' those who called for it knew 

 nothing; and which, whatever 

 were its contents, could never be 

 considered as an official document, 

 it being merely a communication 

 upon certain facts. — Sir H. Pop- 

 ham felt it difficult to account for 

 the resistance made to the present 

 motion, upon any principle of 

 fairness, candour, or impartiality. 

 The narrative of the noble earl 

 had been voluntarily produced on 

 a former night, fourteen days after 

 tile inquiry had commenced. Why 

 now withhold a paper relating to 

 the same subject, and necessary 

 to the effectual prosecution of the 

 present inquiry ? It had been 

 said, that the narrative of the 

 earl of Chatham contained no in- 

 sinuation against the gallant ad- 

 miral, or the naval part of the ex- 

 pedition. He knew, however, 

 that sir Richard Strachan did 

 feel, that serious insinuations 

 against his conduct were contained 

 in that paper. But what was still 

 more grievous, if the gallant ad- 

 miral should refuteand repel every 

 charge implied in the narrative of 

 lord Chatham before the House, 

 he could have no security that a 

 second statement would not then 

 be produced, and then a third, 

 and so on, statement upon state- 

 ment, and edition upon edition. — 

 General Loft defended the con- 

 duct of lord Chatham, on the old 

 ground of the letter of sir Richard 

 Strachan, of the 27th of August. 

 — Mr. R. Dundas too contended, 

 that what was done by lord Chat- 

 ham, in presenting his narrative,' 

 was purely in his own vindication. 

 — Mr. R. Ward, in opposition to 

 the argument, that unless the pa- 



per moved for should be granted, 

 sir Richard Strachan would not 

 have an opportunity of vindicating 

 Ins character against tlie insinua- 

 tions said to have been made 

 against it, assured the House, that 

 the noble person at the head of 

 the admiralt}', the moment he had 

 been acquainted with the circum- 

 stance, of the narrative having 

 been presented to the king, which 

 was not till the night of the 21st 

 inst. communicated the transac- 

 tion to the gallant admiral ; at the 

 same time informing him, that if 

 he should deem it expedient, in 

 like manner, to make a statement 

 of the naval proceedings of the 

 expedition, it would be his duty 

 to become the channel for trans- 

 mitting it to his majesty. — Sir S. 

 Romilly observed, that it a witness 

 Avere asked, in a court of justice, 

 whether he wrote a certain paper, 

 and declined to answer, the judge 

 would direct the jury to consider 

 that paper as in existence. But 

 if there should be no such paper 

 in existence, that vsras a still 

 stronger reason foragreeing to the 

 motion ; for tiien all doubts would 

 be satisfactorily cleared up, and 

 the characters of ihedistinguished 

 officers, supposed to be aspersed, 

 stand as high as ever. — Sir J. An- 

 struther contended, that any paper 

 relative to an expedition, which 

 led to the waste of millions, and 

 the death of thousands, could not 

 be considered in any other light 

 than as an official paper. ^Mr. 

 Bathurst likewise said, that it was 

 not the place Where a paper was 

 found, but the nature of the pa- 

 per, that made it official. It had 

 been said, on the other side, that 

 those who supported the motion, 

 were all along begging the ques- 



