The Addrefs of Sir Thomas Pye, President, on delivering the Admiral his fword. Admiral Keppel, It is no fmall pleasure to me me to receive the commands of the Court I have the honour to prefide at, that, in delivering you your fword, I am to congratulate you on its being reftored to you with fo much honour; hoping ere long you will be called forth by your Sovereign to draw it once more in the defence of your country. Copies of Letters between the Hon. Admiralty-office, 9 Dec. 1778. Sir Hugh Pallifer, vice-admiral of the blue fquadron of his Majefty's fleet, having in his letter of this day's date, tranfmitted to my Lords Commiffioners of the Admiralty a charge of mifconduct and neglect of duty against you, on the 27th and 28th of July, 1778, in divers inftances therein mentioned, and defired that a court martial may be held for trying you for the fame; and their Lordships intending that a court martial fhall be held for that purpofe, I have it in command from them to fend you herewith a copy of the faid charge, that you may be preparing for your defence. I have the honour to be, Sir, Your most obedient, PH. STEPHENS. Honble. Auguftus Keppel, Audley Square, Thursday night, SIR, The very extraordinary contents of your letter of last night made in impoffible for me on a fudden to make any other answer than a bare acknowledgment of having received it; but it has not required much time to determine me, in juftice to my own reputation, to inform you, that I am willing to meet a court martial whenever the Board of Admiralty fhall think proper to order me. At the fame time, Sir, I defire you will reprefent to the Lords Commiffioners my utter astonishment at the countenance their Lordships have fo far given to this proceeding, as to refolve, on the fame day on which fuch a charge is exhibited, to order a court martial against the commander in chief of the fleet, on an attack from an inferior officer, under all the very peculiar circumftances in which Sir Hugh Pallifer now ftands. I am, Sir, your humble servant, Ph. Stephens, Efq. Letter from PH. STEPHENS, Esq. Admiralty.office, 11th Dec. 1778. I received yesterday afternoon your letter of the 10th inftant, acknowledging the receipt of mine of the 9th, tranfmitting a copy of the charge exhibited against you by Vice-admiral Sir Hugh Paliifer; and this morning I received your letter, dated last night, intimating that you are willing to meet a court martial whenever the Board of Admiralty fhall think proper proper to order one; and having without lofs of time laid the fame before my Lords Commiffioners of the Admiralty, I am commanded by their Lordships to acquaint you, that they propofe to order a court martial to be affembled on Thurfday, the 7th of January next, if you think you fhall be ready with your evidence by that time; but if not, their Lordships will order it to be held on a later day. As to the aftonishment you exprefs at the countenance you conceive their Lordships have given to this proceeding, by refolving, on the fame day on which the charge was exhibited, to order a court martial, their Lordships command me to acquaint you, that they know of no inftance in which the Board of Admiralty, upon receiving a fpecific charge of fuch a nature, figned by an officer of rank, serving under the party accufed, and accompanied with a request for the affembling a court martial thereupon, have delayed coming to a refolution to order one, nor would they have thought themselves juftified, if they had hefitated to take the neceffary steps for bringing the matter to an early and legal decifion. I have the honour to be, Your moft obedient, PH. STEPHENS. Honble. Admiral Kepple, town. Audley-fquare, 16th Dec. 1778. SIR, My counfel having informed me, that before they can give the best advice in their power upon the charge of Sir Hugh Pallifer, it Admiralty-office, 18th Dec. 1778. I received, and loft no time in laying before my Lords Commiflioners of the Admiralty, your letter of the 16th inftant, refpecting the communication of your inftructions, and correfpondence, with me to your counsel, and perhaps to the court martial that is to be affembled for your trial. I was in hopes I fhould have been enabled by this time to have fent you their Lordships answer thereto; but as the inftructions to which you allude are of a very fecret nature, and were given in pursuance of his Majefty's commands fignified by one of his Principal Secretaries of State, it is neceffary that their Lordships fhould receive his Majefty's farther commands, before they can with propriety give you a full answer to your letter. Their Lordships are perfuaded in the mean time you will not communicate those instructions to any perfon whatsoever; and they command me to affure you, that you fhall have their farther anfwer produced at the court martial; Your moft obedient, PH. STEPHENS, Hon. Auguflus Keppel. Audley-fquare, Dec. 23, 1778. I have received your letter of the 21ft inftant, in which you inform me, that the Lords Commiffioners of the Admiralty had acquainted Lord Weymouth, one of his Majefty's Principal Secretaries of State, with the contents of my letter to you of the 16th. That his Lordship has in return informed them, "That it is his "Majefty's pleafure they should My Lords Commiffioners of the Admiralty having acquainted Lord Viscount Weymouth, his Majefty's Principal Secretary of State, with your having been informed by your counfel, that before they could give you the best advice in their power upon the charge of Sir Hugh Pallifer, it would be neceffary for them to see the whole of your inftructions, and correfpondence with this office; and that it might be neceffary to produce the whole or part of them at the court martial; and my Lords having at the fame time defired his Lordship to fignify his Majefty's commands with refpect thereto; his Lordship has in return informed them, that it is his Majefty's pleafure they fhould fignify to you, that you must be fenfible that there are parts of your inftructions which cannot be divulged without great detriment to the ftate. I am commanded by their Lordships to fignify the fame to you accord-,"confent that the whole of my ingly, and to inform you, in further anfwer to your letter of the 16th inft. that they cannot confent that the whole of your faid inftructions, and the correfpondence above-mentioned, fhould be laid before your counfel, or be fignify to me, that I must be "fenfible there are parts of my "inftructions which cannot be "divulged without great detri ment to the ftate, and that the "Lords Commiffioners of the Admiralty had ordered you to "inform me, that they cannot "inftructions and correspondence "with you should be laid before "my counfel, or be produced at "the court martial; but that if "I will point out any parts of "the faid inftructions or corre "fpondence which in my opinion has "has any relation to the opera"tion of the fleet on the 27th "and 28th of July laft, I fhall be "permitted to make use of them " in the manner I defire, if there "be no objection of the nature "above-mentioned." I am also to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of the 18th, in which you informed me, "That "it was neceffary their Lordships "fhould receive his Majefty's "farther commands, before they "could with propriety give me "a full anfwer to my letter; and "that their Lordships were per"fuaded that in the mean time "I would not communicate thofe "inftructions to any perfon what"foever." In aniwer to which, I must defire you will acquaint their Lordships, that I neither have made, nor will make, any unneceffary communications of my inftructions; nor are even my counsel yet apprized of any part of them. But in anfwer to your letter of the 21ft, I muft beg of you to inform their Lordships, that they have totally mifunderftood my letter of the 16th, if they imagined that, when put upon my trial for the defence of my life and honour, I could think of afking any permiffion to produce before the court which is to try me, any circumftance which, in my own opinion, or that of my counfel, may in any degree be useful for my defence. No, Sir; my letter of the 16th was not to alk leave to do what by every rule of justice is my right. In refpe&t to the laft paragraph of your letter of the 24th, "That if I will point out any parts of fuch inftructions or correfpondence "which in my opinion has any VOL. XXII. appear no objections of the na"ture above-mentioned," I can only fay, that I conceive that my inftructions, and every part of them, muft neceffarily have rela tion to the operation of the fleet on the 27th and 28th of July last, and on every day it was acting under my command, and that I was acting under those inftructions. As to my pointing out the particular parts which I conceive may be most useful to me, and opening my defence to that Board of whofe conduct towards me in this bufinefs I have reafon to complain, where the accufations againft me originated, and where my accufer has a feat, it cannot on reflection be expected; nor can I believe their Lordships intend, that, when they put me on my trial, they are to limit me by their dif cretion in the use of fuch means as I may think expedient for my defence, and that they propofe to diftrefs me by fuch an alternative, as that I muit neceffarily (according to their ftatement) either bring detriment on the ftate, or prejudice to my own juftification. I am, Sir, 12th inftant concerning the attendance of Captain Windfor, and the first lieutenant of his Majefty's late fhip Fox, at the court martial to be held for my trial on the 7th of next month, that their Lordfhips, on the fame day, defired Lord Weymouth, one of his Majefty's Principal Secretaries of State, to take fuch measures as fhould appear to him to be proper for procuring their appearance at the time afore-mentioned; and further to inform me it is not their Lordships intention that the court fhould fit until the effects of the afore-mentioned application is known. This information leads me to apprehend a poffibility of the enquiry being put off; and any delay, I much fear, will be productive of ferious detriment to my country, in the detaining fo many other officers from the public fervice. From this confideration I remain of opinion, that the evidence of Captain Windfor, and of his lieutenant, may be material at the trial: I muft repeat what I wrote to you in my letter of the 11th inftant, that, from the uncertainty of the return of thofe gentlemen to England, it is my with not to have the court martial put off on that account. I am, Sir, Your humble fervant, Vice-admiral Sir Hugh Pallifer having, in his letter of yesterday's date, acquainted my Lords Commiflioners of the Admiralty, that, as the witneffes will be affembled at your trial, he shall be ready, as foon as that trial is over, to vindicate his own conduct and behaviour on the 27th of July, 1778; and he having therefore defired that their Lordships will be pleafed to require you to give in your charge as foon as may be, if you have any to make against him; I am commanded by their Lordships to fend you herewith a copy of the faid letter, and to fignify their direction, that if you have any thing to charge against the conduct of Vice-admiral Sir Hugh Pallifer, you do tranfmit the |