ute
innocence of the crime of which he was pronounced guilty. He asserts it
now, most solemnly, as in the presence of Almighty God, and certain he
is, if every doubt be not dissipated in this world, that when summoned
to enter more immediately into that Awful and Infinite Presence, he
shall not fail, with his last breath, most solemnly to assert his
innocence;--That it was your memorialist's consciousness of innocence
that contributed, perhaps more than any other cause, to produce his
conviction; because it rendered him confident, and much less careful in
making the necessary preparations for his defence than he ought to have
been, or than he would have been, if guilty; while, on the other hand,
there existed the utmost zeal, industry, and skill in the conduct of the
prosecution;--That your memorialist did all that was possible to procure
a revision of his case; but, as he had laboured under the disadvantage
of being included in, and tried under, the same indictment with some who
had probably no reason to complain of the result, as well as the still
greater disadvantage of having his defence blended, with theirs, so was
he denied a new trial for the same reason; it being a rule of Court that
a new trial should not be allowed to any individual tried for conspiracy
unless all the parties should appear in Court to join in the
application; which, in the case of your memorialist, could not possibly
be, some of the parties having quitted the country on the verdict being
pronounced against them;--That your memorialist has never been able to
obtain a re-investigation of his extraordinary case, nor to obtain
redress in any way; but now that your Royal Highness is Lord High
Admiral, and has, among other illustrious acts, distinguished yourself
in that capacity by doing justice to meritorious officers, your
memorialist feels that he has everything to hope from the magnanimity of
your Royal Highness;--That it is indeed certain that nothing can be more
repugnant to the feelings of your Royal Highness than that an individual
who zealously devoted himself to the naval service of his king and
country, as your Royal Highness knows your memorialist to have done,
should be for ever cut off from the service without the most
unquestionable certainty of the rectitude of so severe an infliction. So
far, therefore, as depends on your Royal Highness, your memorialist
cannot but confidently entertain the hope that he shall not be doomed to
remain