ngle fact mentioned
in any of them. But there is an abundance of panegyric; and if we were
doing nothing but making satires, as the newspapers charge us with
doing, against Mr. Hastings, panegyric would be a good answer.

But Mr. Hastings sets up pleas of merit upon this occasion. Now,
undoubtedly, no plea of merit can be admitted to extinguish, as your
Lordships know very well, a direct charge of crime. Merit cannot
extinguish crime. For instance, if Lord Howe, to whom this country owes
so much as it owes this day for the great and glorious victory which
makes our hearts glad, and I hope will insure the security of this
country,--yet if Lord Howe, I say, was charged with embezzling the
King's stores, or applying them in any manner unbecoming his situation,
to any shameful or scandalous purpose,--if he was accused of taking
advantage of his station, to oppress any of the captains of his
ships,--if he was stated to have gone into a port of the allies of this
country, and to have plundered the inhabitants, to have robbed their
women, and broken into the recesses of their apartments,--if he had
committed atrocities like these, his glorious victory could not change
the nature and quality of such acts. My Lord Malmesbury has been lately
sent to the King of Prussia; we hope and trust that his embassy will be
successful, and that this country will derive great benefit from his
negotiations; but if Lord Malmesbury, from any subsidy that was to be
paid to the King of Prussia, was to put 50,000_l._ in his own pocket, I
believe that his making a good and advantageous treaty with the King of
Prussia would never be thought a good defence for him. We admit, that,
if a man has done great and eminent services, though they cannot be a
defence against a charge of crimes, and cannot obliterate them, yet,
when sentence comes to be passed upon such a man, you will consider,
first, whether his transgressions were common lapses of human frailty,
and whether the nature and weight of the grievances resulting from them
were light in comparison with the services performed. I say that you
cannot acquit him; but your Lordships might think some pity due to him,
that might mitigate the severity of your sentence. In the second place,
you would consider whether the evidence of the services alleged to be
performed was as clear and undoubted as that of the crimes charged. I
confess, that, if a man has done great services, it may be some
alleviation of li