Lord George Sackville[107] said, “The Officers were concerned to have this affair inquired into; that if the General did not disculpate himself, could Officers with honour serve under him? that he was sensible of the difficulty of not being able to punish him; and therefore would give his negative to calling in Ofarel, but proposed to have Anstruther tried by a Board of General Officers.” Henley (the profession out-weighing the faction in him) declared the House could exercise no jurisdiction in this case, where the crimes were misdemeanours; and that even if both parties should consent to go before a Judge, he would be bound ex-officio to dismiss the complaint. Lord Strange,[108] a busy young Lord, very disinterested, often quick, as often injudicious, and not the less troublesome for either, proposed at least to declare, that the Act of Grace was the reason of not proceeding; and that if the House would take no cognizance of this affair, it might be heard by the Board of Officers. Nugent, too, was tender of infringing the Act of Grace, and sorry if he had been one to call improperly on Sir Harry to make the charge. He said, “He had been told that offences against the Mutiny Bill were to be pardoned only from the year 43, but that the crimes in question were antecedent to that era; if not, that the accused must plead the Act. That for himself he should vote for Lord George’s Motion.” Anstruther said, “I plead nothing as to the Act of Grace, but desire the House to take it into their consideration.” Sir Richard Loyd, a lawyer, said, “This was a misdemeanour, and a pardoned one; that the prosecution of it now would affect numbers. An angry court would have acted so formerly; should a House of Commons act with such narrow microscopic eyes? We want no pardon; many of our constituents may. An Act of Grace does not merely take away punishment, but restores a criminal so fully, that to call a pardoned Rebel perjured, he would have an action. But it is said, we may inspect: for what end, if no consequence can follow? The Clergy took this up once, on the misbehaviour of one of their own body, from whom they would have taken orders, saying, they could not serve with him; but the King’s Bench deeming it a punishment, would not suffer it. In the reign of James II. a Mr. Bayne was sequestered by the House for his unworthiness; but was restored to his seat by an Act of Grace. If you have a mind to hear angry words for some hours, without doing anything, you certainly may, but his offence is neither against the Mutiny Bill, nor within the excepted term; nor can he, being included within the Act of Grace, wave the advantage of it.” He concluded, begging pardon of the House with a sneer, for endeavouring to stop an inquiry.