There is, I fear,
too much reason to believe, that some of them have, with premeditated
design, deserted the traders in places where they have known them most
exposed to the incursions of the enemy; and it is to the last degree
evident, that others have manifested such contempt of the merchants, and
such a disregard of their interest, as may most justly expose them to
the suspicion of very criminal negligence, of negligence which no
community can be too watchful against, or too severely punish.
It has been affirmed by the noble lord, that it is not equitable to
subject the commanders of convoys to penalties for the loss of the
trading vessels, which may, perhaps, either rashly or negligently quit
their protection. That it is not reasonable to subject them to
penalties, is undoubtedly true; but, my lords, it is far from being
equally certain, that it is not just to expose them to a trial, in a
case in which it must be almost impossible to determine falsely; in a
case where the crews of, perhaps, twenty ships may be called as
witnesses of their conduct, and where none, but those whose ship is
lost, can be under the least temptation to offer a false testimony
against them.
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