to agree with many of the propositions of the hon. bart., he could not assume with him that there was evidence of a murder being committed; and he therefore did not see what mode of trial the Committee which was proposed could recommend to be had against capt. Lake. He was very ready to admit, that he conceived it was no sort of excuse for capt. Lake to alledge, that he did not know that this island of Sombrero was uninhabited. It appeared to him that there was but little shade of difference between the guilt of sending a man on an island, that he knew to be uninhabited, and sending him to one, that he had no reason to suppose was inhabited, a circumstance which it was his duty to have ascertained. If there was any proof that the man was dead, he did not conceive that the sentence of the court-martial could prevent his being now tried for murder. As the case however now stood, there was no evidence at all against capt. Lake, except the evidence bearing upon the point for which he was tried by a courtmartial, and punished. The charge for which he had been already tried by the court martial was similar to a most aggravated misdemeanor at common law, namely, an assault with intent to murder. On this point capt. Lake had been already tried, and had received the sentence of the court martial; and it therefore appeared to him that consistently with any principles of justice, he could not be tried a second time for the same offence. It was not in the power of the court martial to pronounce a severer sentence than it did; but whether a court of law would or would not have inflicted a severer punishment was doubtful. It was, however, no slight punishment to a man, who had arrived to so high a rank in the navy, to be broke by a court martial. If it could not be in the power of the Committee to direct any further proceedings, he saw no practical good that could result from the appointment of the Committee. The hon. bart. seemed to think that the man had lost his life, but it appeared to him that there was no manner of evidence before the House conclusive as to this fact. The idea that the man was safe was grounded on other evidence, besides the paragraph in the American paper. If the House was to order an indictment for murder, capt. Lake could not be convicted, unless there was proof that the man was dead; and in a case where there was no probability of a conviction, there was no use in indicting.

Instead of doing any good, it would defeat the very object of the motion, to order a trial without sufficient evidence. This would be the way to secure an acquittal, in which case, supposing the carcase of this man to be afterwards found, or his death to be proved in any other way, capt. Lake could never be tried again. He therefore thought, that it would not only do no good, but that it might be productive of injury, to order a trial for murder on the evidence now before the House. He was of opinion that the House should, therefore, not allow itself on the present occasion to be hurried away by feelings, which were very naturally excited on the bare statement of the case. He thought it would be better to wait for some time, to see whether, by additional enquiries, any further information could be obtained; and then, if any such evidence should be obtained as would prove the man to have died in consequence of his being left on the island, a trial might be ordered. He really believed that, when the hon. bart. was first struck with the statement of the case, he had supposed, that there had been no trial or inquiry into it at all. He also was disposed to believe, that, although the hon. bart. had then thought the evidence sufficient to amount to a proof of murder, he did not think so at present. If the man was, however, still living, a further punishment might be inflicted on capt. Lake, for the sailor would have a civil action for damages, in which case a jury would have to declare what damages ought to be given in a case of such extreme cruelty and atrocity. As to a passage in Mr. Thomas's letter respecting frauds in the West Indies, he could assure the hon. bart. that this subject was now under investigation by order of the admiralty. On the whole therefore, as he did not see what good could be done by the appointment of a Committee, or what form of trial they could order if appointed, he must, if he were obliged to come to a vote, give his vote against the Committee. He however wished, that the hon. bart. would consent to withdraw his motion for the present; and he also wished, most particularly, that it should not be supposed that the House thought lightly of the case that had been stated to them, or that they dissented from the motion, for any other reason, except that there was not evidence before them sufficient to induce them to order a prosecution for murder.

Mr. Whitbread said, that the right hon.

gent. appeared to have forgotten, that the motion of the hon. baronet went further than the mere case of captain Lake, and that a part of it was, that those papers should be laid before the Committee to report upon them. He should wish very much to know whether the admiralty had taken any step with respect to sir Alexander Cochrane, whose case appeared to him to be fully as important as that of captain Lake. The hon. baronet had stated the case as respecting captain Lake with the greatest temperance and moderation, and had not sought in any manner to aggravate it. This simple statement of the case had made a considerable impression on the House; and, if they thought the cruelty of captain Lake to be so great in sending a man on shore on an island, which he did not know whether it was inhabited or not, what would the House think of the conduct of sir A. Cochrane, who, knowing that the island was uninhabited, still conceived, that a simple admonition to captain Lake was punishment enough for such extreme cruelty? The responsibility he must contend extended throughout the whole line of the service; and consequently the admiral, who conceived that such a crime ought to pass unpunished, was himself deeply accountable. The admiral appeared to him to have entirely deserted his duty, when, knowing this transaction, he allowed captain Lake to be promoted to a ship of a higher rank than he had commanded before. He, therefore, thought that the admiralty would not do its duty unless they were to order some proceedings against sir A. Cochrane. The right hon. gent. (the Chancellor of the Exchequer) had spoken with every proper feeling upon the present question, but he still doubted much whether a man tried once before a court-martial, could be tried again at law for the same offence.

The sentence was certainly very lenient; and he must say, that there were often acquittals and sentences, the very slightness of which was shocking to humanity. The question was now, however, whether captain Lake could be still tried upon the evidence before the House for the crime of murder. If he were upon a grand jury, and were to determine upon his oath on the evidence now before the House to support an indictment of murder, he must upon his oath say, 66 no true bill." If he were on a petty jury, and such evidence was laid before him, he must say "not guilty."

He did not think it had been proved that capt. Lake knew the island to be uninhabited for if he had, there would be no use in marking the word "thief" on the back of the man. It appeared, however, to him, that the search made subsequently upon the island was not satisfactory. It was extraordinary that on the first search nothing was found; and it was on the second, when they brought guns with them to shoot birds, that they did find something. They found the handle of a tomahawk, or hatchet, and part of a pair of trowsers, such as were given out for the navy. Others of the witnesses had said, that it was not a part of a hatchet that ever belonged to the ship that was found nor even of trowsers used in the British navy. If so, it would appear that the island had some other inhabitant. There was no direct evidence, however, of its having been at any time inhabited and the proof of its being inhabited was merely a report, which stated that the French sometimes came there when they were employed in the turtle fishery. On this evidence he thought no prosecution could be ordered; but still he thought, that other witnesses ought to be examined, and particularly lieut. Maule and Mr. Winsor,

The right hon. gent. appeared to consider that the conduct of sir A. Cochrane was extenuated by his believing that the man had got to America. He ought not however to have been satisfied with this account, which was only a hearsay of a hearsay. It appeared to him, that even now it was the duty of the Admiralty to order a more strict and diligent search of the island to be made for the body of this sailor. It had been stated by the hon. baronet, and deserved to be stated over and over again, that this search was in the first instance ordered to be made by captain Lake himself, and those officers who had assisted in carrying into execution his most inhuman orders. The right hon. gent. (the Chancellor of the Exchequer) had stated it as a dreadful case, supposing a trial was ordered, and an acquittal obtained on the imperfect evidence which was at present possessed, and afterwards proofs should appear of the murder having been completed, and the man being dead. He should put another case, and ask, how much more shocking would it be, if, upon such evidence, captain Lake should be convicted, and that it should afterwards turn out that the man, supposed to be murdered, was still alive!

He thought it better according to the humane maxim of British law, that ten guilty should escape, than one innocent man suffer. The House should, however, steer clear of the probability of either of those cases occurring. If, upon more accurate search, the remains of this man should be found on the island of Sombrero, then as a grand juror he would find a true bill. He saw no reason, why the House should not address the King to direct the officers on those stations to make the most accurate search for his remains, and also to use all means to ascertain whether he be alive or not. This inquiry would be most interesting to the family of captain Lake, to the country, and to the cause of humanity. If he should be found to be alive, the House would be relieved from that horror, which they must now feel whenever the subject was mentioned. He would beg leave to suggest to the hon. baronet whether an address to his Majesty would not, for the reasons he had stated, be preferable to a Committee of the House, who could not at present recommend any other trial. He believed it would be agreed, on all sides of the House, that a case of more horrible cruelty could hardly be conceived. He had heard, that sailors often found the approach of night dreadful, when their ship was sailing alone through unknown seas, but what must have been the feelings of this unfortunate man, when, on the approach of night, he found himself without provisions or without cloaths, alone and on a desolate island? What must have been his emotions, when he saw the boat, which had put him upon the shore, push back again, without him, to the ship, and when he saw the ship sailing away, and leaving him a prey to whatever terrors imagination could conceive most horrible? It required no colouring to make such a case as this most impressive. Whoever could conceive what must have been the feelings of the sailor, who was so deserted and exposed, must justly appreciate the extent of that cruelty, in which those savage orders originated.

Mr. Stephen declared, that until he had that night taken his place in the House, he was wholly ignorant of the particular merits of this transaction. The papers had been upon his table, but from the multiplicity of professional avocations he was unable to peruse them, It was therefore to be understood that he did not give any decided opinion upon the evidence produced upon the court

martial of the officers whose conduct was then under their consideration. He had only to state to the House a fact which it could not be supposed to be so well acquainted with, as he was from peculiar circumstances; he meant the geographical situation of the island of Sombrero. He had sailed close to it, and from the glance he had of it, he could take upon himself to assure the House that it was uninhabited, and that it was impossible that any individual, cast upon it, could there find the means of subsisttence.-With the knowledge that he had of its desolate situation, he declared, that he could have no hesitation, were he a grand juror, in finding a true bill against the person who would wantonly devote a fellow being to such a fate, as must almost eventually follow, from being thrown upon such desolation; and he would go further, that, if some strong evidence was not adduced in the defence, he would not hesitate, were he a petty juror upon the trial of such an offender, to bring in a verdict of murder than if a man were to be let down into an unfrequented coal pit and left there to perish. He could assimilate such an offence to nothing more calculated to afford a just view of the case than to throw unobserved an individual into one of the deepest coalpits in Yorkshire. Sombrero was a bleak, sandy island, not perhaps more than twice or thrice a year trodden upon by human feet. He had heard that it had no fresh water, and he thought it was impossible that it could have any. He was therefore sufficiently convinced in his own mind that the man must have perished; but if any proposition was made which could lead to a further inves tigation of this case, it should have his decided support.

Lord Folkestone agreed with the suggestion of Mr. Whitbread, for an address to his Majesty, to order a more accurate search. He was glad to find, that the Admiralty had done its duty in ordering the court-martial; but with respect to sir A. Cochrane, he thought that his conduct at least demanded an enquiry. There was another circumstance which should also be attended to. There must be an arrear of wages due to this man, if he was living, (as he did not desert the ship), and in that case care should be taken that he should have it: if not, it should be given to his relatives.

Mr. Lyttleton considered, that, although

Captain Beresford disclaimed all idea of excusing the conduct of capt. Lake, whom he did not even know; but he thought it his duty to state to the House that he had been stationed off the island of Sombrero three years, and had been near it for seven years, and he thought it hardly possible for a man to remain there 24 hours. If he waved his hat every morning, he must be observed. He did not know whether the island was actually inhabited, but it was daily resorted to by fishermen.

Sir J. Sebright had heard a report, to which he did not give credit, but thought it fair to state to the House, in order to afford an opportunity for its being distinctly contradicted. He had heard that, after the report of admiral Cochrane in this case had been received at the admiralty, captain Lake had been appointed to a ship.

Sir R. Bickerton gave this a positive denial. In answer to what had been said respecting the man's property, it was impossible, from the rules of the navy, that any man could be cheated of what belonged to him. He also defended admiral Cochrane's conduct, which proceeded on the supposition that Jeffery had got safe to America, as he was informed.

Mr. R. Ward spoke highly in praise of admiral Cochrane, who was one of the best officers in the British service. The admiralty at home were satisfied with his conduct, after the explanation they had received; and, he thought, there was no occasion for further inquiry into it.

The Attorney-General, when this question was originally agitated, thought further inquiry necessary. He could not agree with the learned gent. (Mr. Stephen,) that there would be sufficient grounds of a verdict of murder against captain Lake. On the contrary, from the statement of the gallant officer, (captain Beresford,) the aggravation of his offence was much diminished. He could not think captain Lake even liable to be tried for murder, as there was neither proof of the design on his part, nor of the murder itself actually being the consequence, both of which were necessary in such cases. He then entered into a defence of admiral Cochrane's conduct, and could see no ground for inquiry into it.

Mr. Curwen could not agree with the hon. and learned gent. who had just sat down: He professed the greatest respect for the opinions of the two hon. officers who had so lately spoken, as to the nature

and situation of the island; but if he was a juryman, he should on the evidence he had read, as given at the court-martial, be apt to find captain Lake guilty of murder. It was no excuse that he thought the island inhabited; he ought to have known it.

Lord Cochrane argued, that sir A. Cochrane, in not bringing captain Lake to a court-martial in the West Indies, had been guided by a too great leniency of temper, which was his known character: but that he had sent him home to be tried, where he was sure justice would be done. He had no doubt but when the matter came to be inquired into by a committee, the character of sir A. Cochrane would appear in the fairest light, and the whole world would be convinced by the report that he had conducted himself as became an admiral of the British navy.

Mr. Canning said he always had understood that when a man was tried for an offence by a court competent to try him, and had received the sentence of that court, the business was done with; and there was no right to inquire further; but in this instance the whole matter had not been before the court, and they were unacquainted with the unascertained fact of the life or death of the individual. He preferred an Address to a Committee, as he could not see what the latter could do but come to that conclusion at last, which the House might as well do at first of their own accord. After what they had heard, no man could leave the House with his mind perfectly made up, either as to the risk run by Jeffery, or the knowledge captain Lake possessed relative to the situation of the island. Among the variety of conjectures on these points, the proper course appeared to him to be to ascertain, as early as possible, the true state of the fact to which these probabilities were directed. If Jeffery was saved, then be conceived no further proceeding was necessary; and it was no small matter, that their discussions evinced the opinion of the House of Commons, on the moral profligacy of the act. If, on the other hand, Jeffery was dead, then it would be to be lamented, if no further steps were taken for the sake of justice. On these grounds he recommended the Address, and hoped there would be no division occasioned by pressing the original motion.

Sir F. Burdett was ready to adopt any mode that would best promote the object they all had in view; but, before sitting