ThatpartofthereportoftheCommitteeofSecrecywhichrelatedtotheEarlofSunderlandwasnexttakenintoconsideration。EveryeffortwasmadetoclearhisLordshipfromtheimputation。AsthecaseagainsthimrestedchieflyontheevidenceextortedfromSirJohnBlunt,greatpainsweretakentomakeitappearthatSirJohn’swordwasnottobebelieved,especiallyinamatteraffectingthehonourofapeerandprivycouncillor。AllthefriendsoftheministryralliedaroundtheEarl,itbeinggenerallyreportedthataverdictofguiltyagainsthimwouldbringaToryministryintopower。Hewaseventuallyacquitted,byamajorityof233against172;butthecountrywasconvincedofhisguilt。Thegreatestindignationwaseverywhereexpressed,andmenacingmobsagainassembledinLondon。Happilynodisturbancestookplace。
ThiswasthedayonwhichMr。Craggs,theelder,expired。Themorrowhadbeenappointedfortheconsiderationofhiscase。Itwasverygenerallybelievedthathehadpoisonedhimself。Itappeared,however,thatgriefforthelossofhisson,oneoftheSecretariesoftheTreasury,whohaddiedfiveweekspreviouslyofthesmall-pox,preyedmuchonhismind。Forthisson,dearlybeloved,hehadbeenamassingvastheapsofriches:hehadbeengettingmoney,butnothonestly;andheforwhosesakehehadbarteredhishonourandsulliedhisfame,wasnownomore。Thedreadoffurtherexposureincreasedhistroubleofmind,andultimatelybroughtonanapoplecticfit,inwhichheexpired。Heleftafortuneofamillionandahalf,whichwasafterwardsconfiscatedforthebenefitofthesufferersbytheunhappydelusionhehadbeensomainlyinstrumentalinraising。
OnebyonethecaseofeverydirectoroftheCompanywastakenintoconsideration。Asumamountingtotwomillionsandfourteenthousandpoundswasconfiscatedfromtheirestatestowardsrepairingthemischieftheyhaddone,eachmanbeingallowedacertainresidue,inproportiontohisconductandcircumstances,withwhichhemightbegintheworldanew。SirJohnBluntwasonlyallowed5,000poundsoutofhisfortuneofupwardsof183,000pounds;SirJohnFellowswasallowed10,000poundsoutof243,000pounds;SirTheodoreJanssen,50,000poundsoutof243,000pounds;Mr。EdwardGibbon,10,000
poundsoutof106,000pounds。;SirJohnLambert,5000poundsoutof72,000pounds。Others,lessdeeplyinvolved,weretreatedwithgreaterliberality。Gibbon,thehistorian,whosegrandfatherwastheMr。
EdwardGibbonsoseverelymulcted,hasgiven,intheMemoirsofhisLifeandWritings,aninterestingaccountoftheproceedingsinParliamentatthistime。Heownsthatheisnotanunprejudicedwitness;but,asallthewritersfromwhichitispossibletoextractanynoticeoftheproceedingsofthesedisastrousyears,wereprejudicedontheotherside,thestatementsofthegreathistorianbecomeofadditionalvalue。Ifonlyontheprincipleofaudialterampartem,hisopinionisentitledtoconsideration。“Intheyear1716,“
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