Et, divers sums of public money entrusted to him in that capacity. The second was, that after the passing of the act of parliament in 1785, for the better regulating the office of treasurer of the navy, he had in breach and violation of that act, permitted Trott r, his paymaster, illegally to take from the bank of England, for other than imme. diate application to navy purposes, large sums of money, from the mois issued to the bank on account of the treasurer of the navy, and place the same in the hands of his private banker, in his own name, and subject to his sole control and disposition. The third was, that he had fraudulently and corruptly permitted frotter to apply the mo. ney, so abstracted illegally from the bank of England, to purposes of private use and emolument, and had himself fraudulently and corruptly derived prout therefrom. We shall brfly state the evidence substantiated on each of these charges by the commons.

On the first of these charges com. prehending the first and tenth articles of impeachment, it was proved in evidence by the com. mons;

That on the 19th of June 1782, the house of commons resolved, that it is the opinion of this house, that from henceforward the paymaster of his majesty's forces, and the treasurer of the navy, for the time being, shall not apply any For sums of money entrusted to them, for any purpose of advantage or interest to themselves, cither directly or indirectly ;”

That the warrant appointing lord Melville to the office of treasurer of the navy in August 1782, granted to him an additional salary of

2,3241. 6s. 6d. in full satisfaction of all wages, fees, and other profits and emoluments, heretofore en joyed by former treasurers of the navy; and that lord Melville himself declared before the naval com. missioners, that he considered the said additional salary to be in full satisfaction of all other profit and emolument;

That soon after lord Melville's acceptance of the office of treasurer of the navy, viz. in August 1782, there was a considerable difference between the balance of public money charged to the treasurer, and the actual balance to the credit of the treasurer at the bank; and though it did not appear in evidence, that the whole of this difference was occasioned by the application of public money to the private use and profit of lord Melville, yet it was satisfactorily shewn that certain payments were made to his private use out of the public money entrusted to him as treasurer of the navy, soon after his acceptance of that office. Thus it was shewn, that a particular bank note of 1000l. issued from the exchequer on the 6th of November 1782 for navy services, was paid by Mr. Douglas, paymaster of the navy under lord Melville, to the house of Messrs. Moffat and Kensington, on the 22d November 1782, in discharge of a bill to that amount, drawn by a person of the name of Newbigging, on the right honourable Henry Dundas, under the designation of lord advocate for Scotland. Another bank note of 1000/, issued from the exchequer, on the 22d of November 1782, for public navy services, was traced to the house of Messrs. Drummond, one of the private bankers of lord I 2

Melville,

Melville, to whom it was paid by lord Melville himself, as appeared from an entry made and proved in the books of Messrs. Drum. mond.*

It was also proved. that although, according to the obligations under which lord Melville held the office of treasurer of the navy, there ought to have been no difference between the balance charged to the treasurer and the balance to his credit at the bank, yet in May 1783, there was a difference amounting to the sum of 23,000l.; which difference, before the end of July 1783, was reduced to 7,600. in consequence of various payments made into the bank on account of the treasurer of the navy, by Messrs. Muir and Atkinson, and other private persons, from which it is apparent, that the money so repaid had been used for some private purpose and applied to private profit and advantage.

It was also shewn in evidence, that before the end of March 1785, during the second treasurership of lord Melville, certain drafts were drawn under the authority of the treasurer of the navy, the produce of which was not applied to any public purpose, but to the discharge of part of the debt due on the trea

surer's" old account," by creating a debt to a corresponding amount on his "new account," by which the former difference of 7,600l. in "the old account" was reduced to 1,600l.; at which it continued till the death of Mr. Douglas in Decem. ber 1785.

It was further proved, that these fraudulent drafts having occasioned a difference of 6,000l. between the balance charged to the treasurer, and the bank balance in the "new account," this difference was in. creased to 10,000l. by two sums of 2,000l. each, drawn from the bank by Mr. Douglas, to the name of Mr. George Swaffield (chief cashier to the victualling branch of the navy pay. office), the one in August 1784, and the other in May 1785, both of which there is reason to be. lieve were applied to the use of lord Melville, because no part of these sums was ever received by Mr. Swaffeld, or in any way entered in the official books of the navy pay. office; and because Mr. Douglas paid 2,000l. to the account of lord Melville with Messrs. Drummond, on the day on which the last-mentioned sum of 2,000l. was thus frau. dulently drawn from the bank.

It was also proved that the treasurer's debt on the "new account"

was, in October 1785, reduced from the above-mentioned sum of 10000l. to 9,000l., by the payment of 1,000l. to the bank, through the hands of Mr. Davis of the navy pay-office, being the amount of one quarter's salary due to the right honourable Henry Dundas as treasurer of the navy; u which sum of 9,000l. the difference in the new account" contrued till the death of Mr. Douglas is December 1785.

All these facts were confirmed by the proof adduced by the commons, that after the death of Mr. Douglas, lord Melville confessed in the month of January 1786, to Mr. Trotter (who succeeded Douglas as Paymaster of the navy), that he was adebted to the public in the sum of 10.6001; which sum of 10,600 exactly corresponds with the deficiacy of 1,600/ on the "old accountt" aad of 9,000l. on the "new account." proved to be the residuary balances of divers payments made by the au thority of lord Melville, for purposes extra-official and unexplained, to a much greater amount, and redaced to the above-mentioned sums by different repayments, all of which were traced back by the Commons to private sources.

On the second of these charges, contained in the second article of impeachment, it was in the first place shewn by the commons.

That subsequent to the appointment of lord Melville for the second time to the office of treasurer of the navy, an act of parliament was passed, intituled, "an act for better regulating the office of treasurer of of his majesty's Davy;"

Whereby it is, among other things, enacted, that from and

after the 1st of July 1785 no mo ney for the service of the navy shall be issued from his majesty's exchequer to the treasurer of the navy, or shall be placed, or directed to be placed in his hands or possession, but the same shall be issued and directed to be paid to the governor and company of the bank of England and to be placed to certain accounts according to the services for which it is craved and issued ;"

"And the monies to be issued unto the governor and company of the bank of England, on account of the treasurer of his majesty's navy, shall not be paid out of the bank, unless for navy services, and in pursuance of drafts to be drawn on the governor and company of the bank of England, and signed by the treasurer of the navy for the time being, or the person or persons authorized by him;

"And that upon the death, resignation, or removal of the present, and every other treasurer of his majesty's navy hereafter to be appointed, the balance of cash, for which he shall at that time have credit on his account or accounts, as treasurer of his majesty's navy with the go. vernor and company of the bank of England, shall, at the end of the current month after a successor shall be appointed to the said office, actually vest in such successsor, in trust for the service of the navy, and be forthwith transferred, carried over and placed to the account of such successor.

And, in the next place, proved, that, in direct breach and violation of the said statute, lord Melville gave permission to Trotter, his paymaster, to draw from the bank of England, for other purposes than I 3

for

for immediate application to navy services, sums of money issued to the governor and company of the bank of England on account of the treasurer of the navy, and to place the same in the hands of his private banker that Trotter, in consequence of this permission, did draw from the bank of England large sums of public money, and place the same in the hands of his private bankers, in his own name and at his own disposal, and beyond the control of the treasurer of the navy. By which the said statute was grossly violated, and the enactment relative to the transfer of the balance of public money, on the death, resignation or removal of the existing treasurer of the navy, to his successor, would have been in a great measure frustrated and ren. dered nugatory, if Trotter had died, while these balances of public money were in the hands of his private banker.

It was also shewn, that the reasons assigned by lord Melville for granting permission to Trotter, to place the public money in the hands of his private bankers, were frivolous and unfounded, and were, therefore, probably not his real motives for permitting such a breach and violation of the law

On the third of these charges, comprehending the third, fourth, sixth, seventh, eight, and ninth articles of impeachment, it was proved by the commons that Trot ter, by permission and connivance of lord Melville, applied to his private use and emolument the public money so taken illegally from the bank of England and placed in the hands of his private banker, and de. rived great profit therefrom, and that lord Melville knew and understood that he derived such emo

lument, and did not prohibit him so to do.

It further appeared in evidence that Trotter, by desire of lord Melville, opened an account, called the chest account, in which he debited lord Melville with 10.6001. being the sum of money, for which lord Melville, by his own confession, was indebted to the public, when Trotter first became paymaster under him; that various advances were made, at subsequent periods, on the same account, in conse quence of requisition from lord Melville to Trotter, of the nature of commands; with which requisitions Trotter invariably complied without any remonstrance: that no interest was ever charged to lordMelville, or paid by him on these advances that Trotter always con. sidered lord Melville to be immediately indebted to the public in this chest account: and lord Melville understood and knew himself to be so indebted that Trotter having advanced to lord Melville in 1797, the sum of 10,000l. in order to pay the instalments on his subscription to the loyalty loan; aud having in the first instance debited lord Melville for that sum in another account kept between them, intituled their aecount current, did afterwards, for his own greater security, transfer the same to the chest account, and did present a copy of the said accont bearing on the face of it a statement of the above transaction, to lord Melville, by whom it was regularly, duly, and formally settled and signed, and to whom the origininal book or a duplicate thereof, so settled and signed, was delivered; and that at subse quent periods, Trotter presented other statements and duplicates of the said accounts, containing the

sam

same charge, which lord Melville did in like manner settle and sign. It was further proved, that notwithstanding lord Melville must hare known from this transaction, that the money advanced to him by Trotter, by means of which he was enabled to hold the loyalty loan, was public money, he permitted the dividen is accruing on that stock to be carried to his credit in his account current with Trotter till May 1800, when by a paper signed with his own hand, he authorized Mark Sprott to dispose of the same, which was accordingly done, and the produce carried to the credit of lord Melville in his account with Messrs. Thomas Coutts and Co. his bankers. It was also shewn in evidence, that there was an account between lord Melville a d Trotter, called their account current, which was opened within less than three months after the appointment of Trotter to the office of paymaster in January 1786, and was not finally closed till May 1800, when lord Melville left the navy pay office that during that interval it had been frequently balanced and signed by both parties, and dupli. cates exchanged that no interest was ever charged or either side in this account, though the balance upon it against lord Melville was generally from 10,000l. to 20,000l.; and that large sums of money were advanced by Trotter and placed to this account, derived from the public money illegally drawn by him from the bank, on the pretence of navy services, and placed by permi-sion of lord Melville in the hands of his private banker,

It was further proved, that when Trotter was made paymaster of the Davy in 1786, he was unable to

make advances of money to lord Melville from his private fortune, which did not exceed at that time the sum of 1.0001, or 2,000l.; and that nevertheless within three months after his nomination to the office of paymaster, he advanced 4,000l. to lord Melville, without interest, his pecuniary circumstances being perfectly known to lord Melville, when he accepted of that loan.

It was also shewn, that while lord Melville was thus receiving ad. vances of money, without interest, from Trotter, his attention must have been forcibly drawn to the transactions of that personage in regard to public money, by a very singular conversation, which took place between himself and Trotter in 1789, wherein Trotter had the audacity to propose to him, lord Melville, treasurer of his majesty's navy, holding his place by authori. ty of a warrant, which strictly prohibited him from deriving any emolument from the public money in his possession, to lay out the public money for his lord Melville's private interest and advantage; but though this proposal was re jected by the noble lord, it appeared not, that then, or at any subse quent period, he made any inquiry into th amount of the public mo. ney in the hands of Trotter, nor into the uses to which it was applied, or risks to which it was expos ed; instead of which, he continued to accept advances of money from Trotter, without paying interest for them, or even inquiring from what source the money was derived.

With respect to the account current between lord Melville and Trotter, it further appeared, that the first item of that account, conI 4

sisting