1803, when by mutual agreement dated the 18th and 23rd of February of that year, it was destroyed with all the vouchers and other me. morandums relative thereto, for the purpose of fraudulently concealing these transactions;

7th. That, in particular, lord Melville received from Trotter the sum of 22.000. out of the public money, and that the accounts relative thereto have been burned and destroyed for the above mentioned purpose;

8th. That among other advances of money as aforesaid, lord Melville received from Trotter the Sum of 22,000l. for which he paid interest;

as

9th. That Trotter acted agent to lord Melville without any pecuniary compensation, and in that capacity was generally in advance for him to the amount of from 10.000 to 20,000l. out of the public money in his hands; that lord Melville was aware, that Trotter had no means of making him such advances, except from the public money of which he had ille. gally so possessed himself; and that Trotter was induced, to act gratuitously as lord Melville's agent, and to make these advances, in consideration of lord Melville's connivance of his free use and uncontrolled application of the public money to his own private profit and emolument;

10th. That lord Melville between August 19th, 1782, and January 1st, 1806, did take and receive from the monies issued to him out of his majesty's exchequer, as treasurer of the navy, divers large sums of money, amounting to 27,000l. or thereabouts,and fraudulently and

illegally convert the same to his own use or to some other corrupt and illegal purposes.

The articles of impeachment were far from being well drawn up. The same charge was frequently repeated in different articles, and the same article often contained more charges than one. It was sometimes ditfcult to discover under what article a particular fact was charged, nor was it always easy to distinguish between a substantive charge, and what was meant as a mere aggrava tion of other charges. These defects in the articles of impeachment were in their operation favourable to the defendant, by les. sening the apparent number of persons, who on the last day of the trial, pronounced him guilty. For, there were some of his judges, who, though they agreed in the facts of which they thought him guilty, yet differed so widely in their construction of the articles of impeachment, that meaning to find him guilty of the same fact, they voted him guilty on different articles. Accordingly, though 59 out of 136 lords, who voted on lord Melville's impeachment, found him guilty of high crimes and misdemeanors, there were not more than 53, who agreed in finding him guilty of any one article as charged by the com. mons.

But the charges against lord Melville, though multiplied by the managers of the impeachment, were in substance only three in number. The first was, that before the 10th of January 1786, he had, contrary to the obligation imposed on him by the warrant appointing him to the office of treasurer of the navy, applied to his private use and pro

ft, 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 Trotter, his paymas. ter, illegally to take from the bank of England, for other than imme. diate application to navy purposes, large sums of money, from the monies 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 money, so abstracted illegally from the bank of England, to purposes of private use and emolument, and had himself fraudulently and corruptly derived profit therefrom. We shall brifly state the evidence substantated 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 Fum or 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 1000/. 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 December 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 believe 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 fraudulently 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 10.000l. 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 Heury Dundas as treasurer of the navy; at which sum of 9,000l. the difference in the "new account" continued till the death of Mr. Douglas in December 1785.

All these facts were confirmed by the proof adduced by the commons, that after the death of Mr. DougJas, lord Melville confessed in the month of January 1786, to Mr. Trotter (who succeeded Douglas as paymaster of the navy), that he was indebted to the public in the sum of 10,6007; which sum of 10,600 exactly corresponds with the deficiency of 1,600/ on the "old accountt" and 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 reduced 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 his majesty's Dary;"

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