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correctly. Mrs Clarke appeared extremely surprised, but not exasperated, at this communication. She expressed a determination to see his Royal High, ness, and seemed to entertain strong hopes that she would make him change

his resolution.

In answer to a question put to him by the Chancellor of the Exchequer, he replied, that he never did guarantee to her, in any way, the payment of the an. nuity.

Colonel Wardle was then examined with respect to the parts of Mrs Clarke's testimony alluding to him. He confirm ed her testimony in this respect, that there never was more than one regular conversation between them upon the matter, although he had touched on the subject at various times, and collected several things from her, of which he regularly made entries in a book; and he admitted that he had taken some papers from Mrs Clarke, against her wish and consent, for the purpose of preparing the accurate points of these charges. His information was, however, derived from other quarters besides Mrs Clarke, Mr Canning put the following question-Did Mrs Clarke ever state to you that she informed the Duke of York that she wished to go into the country, and that that wish might be gratified, without any expence to his Royal Highness, as she had received a loan of zool. No; she informed me, that she told the Duke of York, that she had received the zool. for the exchange, which sum would be adequate to the expence of the excursion.

(By Mr Wharton.) Had Mrs Clarke more than once required the Hon. Gentleman to return the letters he had ta. ken from her? She had, and expressed great warmth and dissatisfaction at what was stated about the business in the House of Commons.

Colonel Gordon (military and public secretary to the Commander in Chief) was then called in, and underwent a long examination. The principal feature of his evidence went to shew that the regularity of the proceedings in the office of the Duke of York precluded any possibility of negotiating the exchange of commissions, without the utmost publicity of such transactions.In the negotiation of the exchange between Lieut. Cols. Knight and Brook,

there had been no greater delay than was necessary for the purpose of making proper inquiry; similar delays occur in such transactions every week. He then stated, that the usual course in these matters was, to make his report to the Commander in Chief weekly, every Wednesday-the Commander in Chief approves on Thursday, when he does approve; and the King on Friday; then it is gazetted on the Tuesday, except a special case. In a word, every thing in this case was perfectly and purely regular, according to the forms of office in every one of its stages; which appeared to make a deep impression on the Committee in favour of his Royal Highness.

Mr Adam, in a very energetic speech, reprobated the hurry with which the Hon. Gentleman had urged these heavy charges at the commencement of a session of Parliament, without having the evidence in readiness. He pointed out the irreparable mischief such a conduct was likely to bring upon the character of his Royal Highness. The charges had been preferred, without the witnesses, which were to sustain them, being even in England. Those witnesses might never be forthcoming; they might die, perhaps, but still the charges were pending, and no chance of their being determined.

Mr Wharton then reported progress, the minutes of the evidence were or dered to be printed, and the Committee appointed to sit again on Friday.

Friday, February 3d.

Mr Wardle moved that the persons do attend the Committee from the Duke of York's office, with the books containing the commissions granted within that period in which Capt. Maling received his three commisions; also with the books containing the entries of commissions granted to subaltern officers, their services, &c.-Ordered

The House then went into a Committee on the conduct of the Duke of York.

Several questions were put to Mr Wardle by the Chancellor of the Ex. chequer, as to the length of his visits to Mrs Clarke, what time he called on her, whether he walked to her house, or went in his carriage, how long he remained with her, &c. &c.

This sort of examination continued upwards

upwards of half an hour, but nothing either new or important transpired from

it.

Mr Adam then rose, and read to the House two letters, which he regretted he was unable to produce on a former night. They were addressed to himself in Bloomsbury Square. The one was dated Sunday morning, June 19. 1808, and signed M. A. Clarke.

66

Sir, On the 11th of May 1806, it was the promise of his Royal Highness the Duke of York to allow me quol. ayear. This allowance is now in arrear, for his Royal Highness owes me sool. After the manner in which his Royal Highness has treated me, I have now nothing left to depend on, and I am therefore come to a resolution of making my intentions known. I therefore propose, Sir, that he should settle upon me the 400l. a-year for life, and pay me the arrear due; and if he refuses, I have no other means left than to publish all the transactions which have passed between his Royal Highness and me.I wish he may comply, because there are many of those transactions which it would be very unpleasant to my feelings to be obliged to disclose them. It is now in his power, if he chuses, to prevent me. I have sent a copy of what I now write to every branch of the Royal Family. One thing more I wish to add-Should his Royal High. ness abandon my boy, I hope he will place him in the Charter House School, or some other public foundation. My boy is not answerable for my guilt. You will please to communicate this to the Duke of York. His Royal Highness's conduct leaves no room for reliance upon his honour."

The other letter ran thus:-"Sir, having received no answer to my former letter, and as you have advised his Royal Highness to abandon me, I have employed myself since in putting on paper an account of all the circumstances that have passed between his Royal Highness and me; and I have besides 50 or 60 of his letters to me, all of which I have promised to deliver, on Tuesday next, to gentlemen, not publishers, but persons who are just as obstinate as the Duke himself; and if his Royal Highness refuses to comply, I must of course relieve my wants by an appeal to others, who will give me that

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which the Duke will not. Remember he has it all now in his own power, and may act as he pleases; but it will be out of my power, after Tuesday next, to re cal those papers, as they will then be out of my possession."

By the Attorney General-Did you communicate those letters to his Royal Highness the Duke of York? I did.After you shewed them to his Royal Highness, did he betray the slightest apprehension of any thing he had done in private that she could communicate? Not the slightest.

Mr Adam, alluding to the boy mentioned in the first letter from Mrs Clarke, thought it necessary to inform the House, that he was not the Duke of York's son.

Mr Beresford said, that he had already examined enough to shew that this woman was unworthy of belief. It was degrading to the House to spend their time in examining into the amours of this infamous woman; and it was certainly unnecessary to throw a greater stigma upon the nature of her testimony than it had undergone.

The Chancellor of the Exchequer expressed his confidence, that although his Hon. Friend (Mr Beresford) might feel his own mind convinced upon the subject, yet that he would consider that the minds of others might feel conviction equally strong. There was no doubt that Mrs Clarke might have received money in this clandestine way, and might, by false representations, have held out professions of her influence over his Royal Highness: But the great question for the House to consider was, whether his Royal Highness ever knew of her clandestine transactions, or ever in the smallest degree participated in her gains? It was, therefore, of the utmost consequence not to reject any testimony which could still further prove that no credit whatever was due to the testimony of the woman upon whose statements such charges were founded.

Ludowick Armorand, who had been the Duke's valet for 18 years, was next called.-Mrs Clarke having asserted that she got the 200l. note changed by one of the Duke's servants, Armorand stated, that he was the only servant of the Duke who attended his Royal Highness on his visits to Mrs Clarke; that he never got change of any note for Mrs Clarke, or anyone else in her house

and that he never saw Mrs Clarke but once, when he carried a favourite dog of the Duke's for her to see.

Mr W. Adam was then examined as follows:

By Mr Wardle.--You said, Sir, that your services to the Duke of York were gratuitous. May I not be allowed to ask whether you have not a son a Lieut. Colonel in the army? Yes, I have a son, Lieut Colonel in the 21st foot.Pray at what age was he so advanced? I shall answer that question, and I am induced to do it more fully from a letter which I have received. The intro duction and progress of my son in the army, the House will allow me to detail, when they consider the nature of the question I have been asked. General Stuart, who was the friend of my early life, asked me if any of my five sons shewed any inclination to military service. I answered that I had one who was then 14 or 15, and who had such a tendency; he immediately appointed my son to an Ensigncy. The regiment to which he was appointed was then in Canada, and I immediately sent him to Woolwich, that he might obtain the education most necessary to his profes. sion. I am proud to say my son distinguished himself. He was promoted to a Lieutenant by General Stuart, and on the expedition to the Helder he went as a volunteer, at the age of 16, under the auspices of Sir Ralph Abercrombie. My son landed in the face of a hot fire, and for his conduct got the praise of all around him. [Here Mr Adam was deeply affected.] In that expedition, and in the most hazardous points of it, he, with a Lieutenant's subdivision, and that composed of raw troops, drafted from the supplemental militia, conducted himself coolly and courageously. On his return, the Duke of York promoted him to a company in his own regiment, the Coldstream guards, on his own merits, and without my interference, so help me God. (Hear!) A Captain then, he went to Egypt, and took an active part in the ever-glorious landing in that country. He was accompanied by his friend, the son of Sir John Warren, who fell by his side. He was successively appointed to a Majority and a Lieut..Colonelcy; and, on Col. Wilson's being about to leave his regiment, I communicated the cir cumstance to his Royal Highness, who

immediately promoted my son to the first ba tation of the 21st.

Mr Adam proceeded to read the letter nearly as follows:

"Sir,-Your character was once respected; that is now over. Your shifting in the House of Commons, and your interference in the Duke of York's letchery concerns, would have dubbed any other man a pimp. This subserviency to royalty has made your son a Colonel at twenty years, and given your other boy a ship."-I wish, exclaimed the Hon. Gentleman, turning to Mr Wardle, you would ask me a question respecting this son too, that I might have an opportunity of telling by what means he got his ship." Bravo! Go on. Try if you can say you act for no profit when you get your sons thus provided for. De cide as you please, that the man who is paid for his services out of the public purse, because he is the second man in the kingdom, as you say, and a Prince, forsooth, should not shew a good example. Let the Commons decide as they will, the public will judge for themselves; and it is not a decision of the Bear Garden that will convince burdened millions that black is white. This Rubrick (it was written in red ink) is typical of my feelings. I blush for you, and wish you would change your principles to correspond with the colour of your hair, and live the latter part of your time in honour. Though the decision of the House will not go far with the public, yet all eyes are upon it; and the damnation or salvation of the Commons depends upon this decision."

Upon the question being asked, Mr Adam said the letter was without a signature.

Mr Ellison observed, that it was unworthy the character of an individual to pay attention to anonymous letters, and condemned Mr Adam for having brought this before the House.

Mr Adam replied, that he felt it incumbent on him to do so from its singular coincidence with the question that had been put to him. It was written to deter him from doing his duty, and to libel the House of Commons, both of which were beyond the powers of any such attempts.

Mr Fuller defended the reading of the letter in warm terms, and amid loud cries of Order order! He said the

House

House did not do their duty, and ought to be whipped, if they did not offer a reward of 5ool. or 1000l. for its author. -Order! order! "Why am I out of order? When am I out of order? If you are such poor creatures" (Here the Hon. Gentleman's voice was drowned amid the general clamour, and he sat down, exclaiming, "Well! well! well!") Mr Littleton commented on the dis orderly conduct of the last speaker, and thought that threatening manners were as little to be tolerated as threatening letters. A desultory conversation took place between Mr Adam, Mr Sheridan, Mr Wardle, Mr Beresford, &c. as to the mode of entering the letter on the evi, dence, which was finally arranged, by making a slight alteration in the first sentence of Mr Adam's answer to the last question.

CAPTAIN MALING.

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invariable practice that no junior officer should be put over the head of a senior, in a regiment in which the promotion is. The regulation is, that no subaltern be appointed to a company, with or without purchase, unless he has been two years a subaltern. Before his Royal Highness was appointed Commander in Chief, any officer might, by purchase, become a Lieutenant-Colonel in three weeks or a month; as fast, in fact, as the appointments could pass through the several offices and appear in the Gazette. The rule was general, and had not been deviated from in any instance within his knowledge. The red gulations are very few: That an officer must be two years a subaltern before he can become a Captain, and six before he can become a field-officer.How many hours a day did the Commander in Chief devote to the discharge of the duties of his office? He attended his Royal Highness always at about half past ten, and the whole of his Royal Highness's time was given to business until seven o'clock, and frequently till eight o'clock.-Whether the business of the office was so conducted, that reference might be made to the manner in which any promotion was effected? Certainly. When the great augmentation took place in 1804, great abuses prevailed. Many persons calling themselves army brokers affected to dispose of commissions. To check this practice, at which the Commander in Chief was very indignant, a circular letter was Colonel GORDON called in. sent to all the army agents, prohibiting What were the merits or services to the practice. Did he ever know that a which Captain Maling owed his rapid boy at school had been appointed an promotion? The first recommendation Ensign? Yes; five or six instances.for his ensigncy is from Lieut.-General These appointments were surreptitiousDoyle, Colonel of the 87th regiment, ly obtained; they were cancelled as and is dated November 20. 1805. On soon as the imposition was discovered. the formation of the garrison battalions, He recommended Captain Maling solely in 1806, he was appointed a Lieutenant in his capacity of Lieut.-Colonel Comin one of them, and joined at Guernsey, mandant of the Royal African Corps ? On the augmentation of the Royal Af. It was very difficult to get officers to rican Corps from four to six companies, go upon that service, and he took care Lieut. Maling was selected for one of that whatever officer was appointed those companies. Witness asked Lieut. should certainly go.-Was it not the Maling's brother, whether, if he were regulation that no person under 16 years appointed to one of these companies, he old should be appointed to an Ensigncy? thought he would go to Goree? His That was the general rule, but it somebrother replied, that he would answer times happened that a boy of 15 was for his doing so. In consequence, he stronger than another of 16 or 17, and submitted his name to the Duke of might therefore be appointed, York, and he was appointed. It is the

Mr Wardle proceeded to his second charge. He disclaimed imputing any unfair conduct to Capt. Maling, whom he considered as an honourable man. But he had received three progressively rising commissions in the space of two years and three quarters, the last of which was a Captaincy; and all this while many subalterns, who could boast of seniority and service, were unsuccess. ful applicants. Captain Maling was, at the commencement of this promotion, a clerk in Mr Greenwood's office. He did not mean to say that Capt. Maling was during the entire time a clerk in the office, as he had formerly stated.

Colonel Gordon then withdrew.

T'

Monday, February 6.

The first witness called was Mr Few, an auctioneer. He declared, that he had sold Mrs Clarke a Grecian lamp, value 201.; that she refused to pay it, pleading coverture; that he had sent a hand-bill to her, and a similar one to the Duke of York, threatening to expose her; and that, upon this, the money was paid him by Mr Comrie's clerk.

The second witness was Mr Stowers, who merely gave as evidence, that he knew Mrs Clarke only after her marriage, that her husband became a stone mason, and that she had at least three children while she lived with her husband.

Mr Comrie, the next witness, stated that he was a solicitor, and had been employed by Mrs Clarke; that at her request he waited on the Duke of York, in Portmansquare. On being asked what passed, he said it was private professional business, and appealed to the Committee, Whether he ought to be obliged to answer the question ? The Chancellor of the Exchequer urged the necessity of his giving an answer: upon which the question was repeated, and Mr Comrie stated, that the Duke wished to know if he could raise him 10,000). by way of mortgage. The witness being ordered to withdraw, Mr Fuller observed, that it was obvious the witness had been confidentially employed, and that therefore he thought these questions improper, and ought not to be persisted in. Mr Wardle said, that the object of his question was to show, Mr Adam that he was wrong in asserting that no money could have been raised by the Duke of York without his knowledge. It was now evident that Mrs Clarke's solicitor had been employed. Mr Adam said, that Mr Wardle had misunderstood him that he had merely said, that for many years, while in the confidence of the Duke of York, every thing relative to his private affairs had been communicated to him, excepting always the fund received by his Royal Highness for the payment of his debts. He trusted the Committee would not consider the witness as having had any private confidence reposed in him by the Duke of York, and insist on an answer to the question. Mr Comrie then stated, that he was referred by the Duke to Mr Adam, and that the loan was finally declined, and his bill called for and sent in. Mr Comrie further stated, that the Duke of York assigned as a reason for parting with Mrs Clarke, that he had been subponaed in an action brought against Mrs Clarke, in which, as a defence, she had pleaded her coverture: That he had received a very severe lett on the occasion, describing her improper conduct, and that,

after such circumstances, he must be com pelled to separate from her: That the Duke and Mr Adam mentioned that she was to have an annuity of 4001. and to pay her own debts: That Mr Comrie had stated, that it was out of her power to do so, upon which the Duke said, she had some valuable furniture, and might liquidate the debts by it.

The Chancellor of the Exchequer urged the impropriety of the present mode of inquiry. The Committee was investigating a charge against the Commander in Chief for corrupt dealing with the public, but the present course pursued was to pry into the private life of his Royal Highness. Mr Wardle said, he would not persist in it. He then asked Mr Comrie, if he had paid a bill to Mr Few from Mrs Clarke. The witness answered, he had, on Mrs Clarke's

account.

The next witness was Mr Pearce, who had been butler to Mrs Clarke in Gloucester-place. He did not recollect that Lodo. wick, the Duke of York's servant, was or dered by the Duke to go out for the change of a bank note; but stated, that the housekeeper, Mrs Taylor, came down with a bill one morning, and gave it to Lodowick, who went out and got it changed; that the Duke was in the house at the time, but he did not know whether he was up or not.

COLONEL FRENCH'S LEVY.

Mr Wardle then stated, that he would go into the case of Colonel French's levy, and would call Captain Huxley Sanden as his first witness.

Captain Sanden stated, that he was concerned with Colonel French in the levy: that the letter of service was given to them both that his attorney, Mr Cockayne, told him, that if he was solicitous about any thing in the Duke of York's office, he. could recommend him to a person that would be of service to him. Upon this he was introduced to her agent, a music-mas ter of the name of Corri. Colonel French settled the business of the levy, and he did not know who the person was that supported them till the business was all settled. He was then introduced to Mrs Clarke by Colonel French: That Colonel French had agreed to give Mrs Clarke five hundred guineas, and, when he went to Ireland, begged Capt. Sanden to give her any money she wanted up to 7001.: That the levy had been unsuccessful, and they were in debt to their agent 38001.: That he did not think Mrs Clarke had much influence, but had given the money at the request of Colonel French, who wished to try the experiment.

To be continued.

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