X'jgl' DEFECTS IN THE LAWS OF G. BRITAIN. 99 



becoming fortitude, learned the leflbn of refigna- 

 tion, and fhall, while I live, endeavour to prac- 

 tife the duties of it. May fiir\'iving friendfhip lym- 

 pathife in my misfortunes ! May the truths I now 

 pubiifli refcue my characler from undeferved obloquy ! 

 May my country refpetfl that condufl ever didlaied 

 by the mod earneft wifh to ferve it ! and may my fufFer- 

 ings, and the caufe of them, ferve as beacons to warn 

 others from letting the warmth of their public zeal 

 overheat their judgement, or make them infenfible to 

 the cooler didatcs of private prudence ! May they thus 

 sfcape that fatal wreck, not barely of their fortunes, 

 but alfo of their hope, health, chara£ler, and happi- 

 nefs, I have unhappily incurred ! 



Felix quern faciunt aliens pericula cautum." 



Setting humanity afide, we may obferve, that if in- 

 [lances of injuftice of this fort be tolerated, it is eafy 

 ro perceive the confequences mufb be fatal. When a 

 man in the exercife of public truft finds that expences 

 nuH necefiarily be incurred, will not this e^cample 

 iare him in the face, and arreft his operations ? at the 

 fame time, it muft be owned, that a military perfon 

 :hus circumitanced v/ill feel himfelf in an unhappy fitu- 

 xtion. — If he did not make all poffible exertions, that 

 monev might have enabled him to make, after having 

 received orders for it, he may be tried for improper 

 conduct, under the pretext that his draughts would 



vive been honoured at home In every point of view, 



•he condu£l of government, in this inltance, muft be 

 :ondcmned as a like, impolitic, mean, inhuman, and 

 mjuft. If there is' no metliod of eafily bringing thofe 

 :o jullice who are guilty of fuch enormities, our laws 

 irc certainly defe£l:ive, and ought to be amended. 



The fecond inltance I am to adduce of fevereop- 



prelTion unredrelTed, is of a very recent date, and mufb 



■>c frefli in the recolleilion of every one that reads this 



■nenioir. It is the cafe of Mr. Jama Sutherlandy who, 



N 2 



