Star. — London, England, 1809-03-14 00:00:00

not until he had observed her bear :- . t 1 1 the acrimony arid harshness „ a s bp warns. a treated, cheerfully an d %with which she had been ed by truth, the •- - consistently, because support- We tonvici' . treat prejudice gave way to irresisti corr.-- ..on. He had listened, and he had been inced, nor could he be persuaded now against that conviction, by the production cif those - who ip trifling points bad cOntriditted ker. She had been consistent hers*, and the advpcates of the Duke ought to helieire her as flrMly apiilst utherwittruces: arthey did tose witoessei even agaior i tthermelvce--i nritnessis who plainly at last didaleray what C 4111 said at first. Why, for instance, *odd MisisTOley be disbelieved becauk she did not kne* what her, , they rid tiefi called *ore' she :i'vas laaro $ ' Yet suc. had *been the argurneitt Of the Attoine.ySyette . . r fl inetedd from the great talents and eicterkfave legal &Witter - Of the Attorney-General, be had expected that the'Duke would have had a much hetter.defea der. V.ut it *reminded Min cif in .advice Which the celebrated Mr. Dunning had once yen to a person who" consulted . him : wAlWays, sap he, in a bad -cause, ernploy a bad Counsel ; for if you employ a soba 'One, he will certainly stnlttble, and iionoder, end be interrupted—but if you ens.piny a bad &mini, *thy he'll get through it some way or other, and cer tainly Make a betterhand of it than the gocid coun _ . trim Just so the Right Honourable Gentleman with all his learning, could make no good of his bad •cause (A &vh). By way of bringing the poor Duke off *di ffyiog colours, they have left hint in the mud so fast, that all the Jacobins in the land will never be able to pull hini out of it. The Right Honourable Gentleman was aware of this, and when at last' he was weighed down by the irresistible evideuce they had heard, he appealed to the feelings of the House, begging them in pity's sake to have some compassion onto client. The Honourable Member for Cam bridgeshire (Mr. Yorke) even could not go the whole length of his defence ; so he gave up one part of it to save the rest; his favourite topic was the forgery of the note, and this, too, against all shadow of 'proof; but ob,' this did net signify ; Mrs. Clarke was a prodigy ; she could do any thing she chose— A most miraculous woman ! and yer, what had she made of all this cleverness ? Had she raised any mooey in the Doke's name ? (Hear, hear,) Far from It. This vile woman, this harpy, as she was called, sought no money but for honest purposes—she made no purse, and when she acquired money, only used it in the payment of her tradesmen's bills—(Hean hear.) Why should she then be thus calumniated ? No generous mind would surely be so prejudiced oil account of what she was, against what she is. Little could he expect it, however, from those who were toll of the milk of human kindness to others who did Duke's deserve it more. But the probability of th e Duke's coming to the Throne was used as an argu ment now against his condemnation. This he could la no means admit—he could not consider rank as an argument against the punishment of injustice. It was ClKittle surprising th at those who di s beli eve d M rs . arke, did not also remark on the part which - all those who had come forward to discredit her bad f)ayed—not one who had tried to invalidate h er tem e ikrilY, but had done so to his own confusion, (Hear, ar,) not one of them that had not rather discredited themselves than her, to 'whom they had avowedly 4ohie to attach suspicion. Her Method of answering gO her cross-emmination at Once evinced her Limo• cenee—she gave answers which she must have. known 'mulct bAye led to a further iuterro.getion, and of' course to a more full elucidation of thetruth. Thus she *de a statement which she told us Donovan seAs prepared to deny—the fact proved so ; be did rent' it, and his denial, like that of all the rest, ulti- Mately tended to his. own humiliation. He had re. math* thus much upon the evidence o f M rs . Cl ar k e , and had done so, because he thought j ust ice s h ou ld b e rendered equally to all. But setting her evidence veil aside completely, he would ask the House, had gley not circumstantial evidence so fully before them that very little .positive evidence was required ? (hear, Afar!) 'When he considered this, and considered also of what weight suoh evidence was considered in the . , Conrts of-Layi, he could not help wondering why be w.a.11 the legal Gentlemen in the House, (hear , Afar!). ranged on the side of the accuse d, w hi c h t hi s e went directly to criminate. The Legal Geo tjemen indeed seemed to lose all their ability on the cieCasion • but it was not to be wondered at it seems : gra. Clarke was. a witch—an enchantress—such was ritfir reason, hiy it was not the true one—the fact they.were defeated by the proofs which stared ,tin the fain—they were disarmed o f th e i r st i ngs . th tp a lawyer was like a red rag to a Viperit eatractect his venom. Such evidence waling could withstand,—no, not even " the ho nour of a Prince," It. - was painful for him to 1 14 e the declaration, but truth could not be sub- Tared, even by rank—even his own evidence went had stated that the .. D uke: *So s :P hi :ld him Mr. h A e d never ha d spoken on military . subjects M. Mrs. Clarke ; and then he states, that. when Mrs, Clarke spoke to the Duke on some mill tiiry point, he desired her not to speak to him on-it: What ! was no person but. Mrs. Clarke to be tram melled. and. criticised ; and disabled in her evidence ?; Look even to Colonel Gordon's : he had been called: an able evidence .; for his part he was unable to corn-: orehend what was meant by an able evidence ; he' could, not see what was reqUired from an evidence except, truthi, and. he. could not see either how telling truth constituted. ability. Even in this able evidence, however, a flaw might- be discovered, if scrutinized by the ingenuity which had inspected Mrs. Clarke's ! 'lll,us Colonel. Gordon had stated what he had called an intatiable custom, and i n a li tt l e a f ter i t a p peared thisAav4riahle custom had many exceptions. Was rat [Bi t s a glaring inconsi s t enc y ? and yet this was the 4 1- 4 .0 stalPußzherse which was put forward on every °Z. s The 'more the evidence of MI -s .Clarke ' s t lrted, and.contrasted with that of the other wit . r i csoaa • the more perhaps those who were inclined to ci l p_demn , her would- mitigate their severity. The GaperLagpi however , who-had so severely criticised his : hdrely left Doctor O'Meara out of 'the queS ante ficea l s f ai, he supposed, it was' not a military pr i n t. Ao r t, what a pictu re did . t h i s man exhibit r ivth;tA a piquiv of profligacy ! He who had preached. bo cs o the Itcyol.l . amily against " adultery, firffit4H l i on ,. 2 ,4 41,, other deadly sin s !" (Hear J )' The. 1.1, 7 a,. ophk,Boronet here made some brief eomments: nil. p,)01 ilip evidence, anal civielt panic - dimly on the. CI:A G i Coptajn Timer. 0 HOW.," said he, 4 , did the r), I ftrs- Plana 41 0• 4- re ent to us, gre34.14.01 waklnslo 4ll l* thie "A u r °ll / 3f a Prince !" Aras, what a Melancholy comptrisen She demandin ltcr ana4ty (414 to 'Ay the debts she had contracted under his ,proteetion, and h re fusing even thai PaltriVioo 4o 4: l4o Catile a" Ca l i nat produce his bond for it 1 There (said Sir Fran cis), there is 48 the honour of a Prince" Pot you ! (Loud trigs of Hear ! Hear !)—The Honourahle Ba ronet, after making some farther comments on the evidence, procreeded to notice the conduct of his Royal Highness towards-Mrs. Clarke. He had, as the letters on the table showed, evinced excessive fondness fer the Lady, for he would scarcely have so disgraced himself by the production of such letters, unless he had been extremely fond of her. How had he finish ed his tenderness ? Why, by turning her over to beg gary and want—to load her with infamy—to re fuse the payment of her annuity !--45. Message had been sent to her by a Learned Gentleman (Mr. Adam), which must be taken as a fact, as she had so stated, and it had not been contradicted—(Hear, hear).—How could he have the heart , to send such a message to the woman he loved I Flow he could leave her loaded with debt was to him (Sir Francis) a melancholy recollection. By the houour of a Prince, it was sad ! What was her conduct ? She of fered to give up her annuity of £4OO a-year to pay he debts ; but even so she could not get her annuity paid. To be sure she had the guarantee of honour of the Legal Gentleman for the - payment of it ; but when she applies to this Legal Achriser for payment, he says, " No, ma'am—no ! no !—you have no bond, ma'am !" (Loud cries of hear! hear!)—This was the answer of the Learned Gentleman (said the Hon. Baronet) : there's honour for you !—(Loud cries of hear, hear.) H Unless truth and justice are excluded from this ouse, you cannot have a more worthless pledge than the honour of a Prince. It it like a feather's weight, compared with the balance of the evidence at the Bar.—(Hear, hear.)—He could not tell how the honour of a Prince differed from that of a private Gentleman, but he confessed, according to the specimen of the one which had here been held out, he never could compare theni. But the Chancellor of the Exchequer had said, these were incorrupt times ; according to his account of it, we had got into a kind of Paradise Regained ! and, indeed, such a notion would not be wondered at in him, ,by any one who had seen how he had treated the evidence. He, in deed, did not think times were now so bad as those of our ancestors, when a man dining with a Minister would find £5OO under his plate, and wonder how it got there, while he pocketed it !—(a largh)—but there were other methods of corruption besides pecu niary ones. There were such things as places—cor ruption was a moral motive, an undue influence; which made the mind swerve from duty and from justice. It was a circumstance much to be adverted to, that the Duke of York sought a loan from Com- tie, Mrs. Clarke's solicitor, because it shears how they drew together in money concerns. But remarking orf this loan, he was forcibly struck the continual pecuniary grasping which the Duke a York had evinced in every transaction which had come to light—he to whom the country had already given so liberal an income. This, coupled with other circumstances, was enough to convince him ; he would be convinced, even separating the documental from the oral testimony; but combining them—view ing the testimonies rushing from all quarters, he must be sceptical, indeed, did he even hesitate. There never was a more important question than this, since the question excluding the Duke of York from the succession in the reign of Charles the Second. It was a question of justice—a question which came home to the breast of every man in England. The honour of a Prince could not lead him from it—he must consi der the honour of the King, the fountain of justice, whose streams should flow pure and unpolluted. What! will.any man now say the Duke of York is a fit man to stand at the head of the British army ? Surely none. (Hear, hear.) Could he, like the Roman Scipio, turn to his soldiers, telling them to follow him to the Temple of the Gods ? Oh, no. He appears. tsithe nation like the Ghost of Banquo, " With twenty mortal murders on his crown, " The least a death ;" He would vote, then, in the cause of. justice, and as his unprejudiced mind had dictated. He was not warped by the desire of popularity, and he could not help thinking the caution unnecessary which warned the House not to be too much led by popular opinion; its decisions were very seldom unduly influenced by such a cause. The people of England were lovers of justice, and he would support the cause, uninfluenced by lay undue consideration whatever. The MASTER of the ROLLS observed, that he had: hitherto refrained from offering himself to.the House, because he was anxious to have the evidence considered by other Hon. Members before humen tioned the impression it made on his mind. Whatever Gentlemen might state respecting an impartial deci sion on this question, it was impossible that any man sitting there as a judge shouldnot have an opinion on. the case. Many persons who took up the subject with . extreme zeal on one side would conceive themselves. perfectly right, and maintain that they acted from. conviction. This kind of conviction put him in mind: of an expression of Dr. Johnson's, speaking.of some. Gentleman who had very hastily and erroneously, as he thought, come to a conclusion on a popular ques tion, , 4 Aye," says he, he is convinced, but then this conviction is not honestly come by." This obser vation appeared to him to be very applicable to some of the arguments that he had heard from the other. side of the House. Their conclUsions or conviction were not founded •on the evidence that was before the House. It was certainly desirable that this question should be decided on fair - and equitable grounds. He . trusted, therefore, that the House wouki come with manly and erect mind to the decision ; unbiassed by popular ferment, and unawed by power. There seem. ed to him to be two principles involved in the ques tion before the House ; first, whetter they should come to any decision on the subject? next, what that 'mug stesulfl .net; Lily bean the proposal was sent in. If these prase s .„ !ors, eistpectneg the I were coupled with the object of relieving M. the D u k e 'of evidence and various , of York from the frequent drains which Mrs. Cl. r E slsl 1 found,guilty of ; was under the necessity of making on hi m, ti ,;: t am,:then the House was I entirely d failed.ands,for it was in e They did novidetreniteievethlaitint he hindfrere*. should send him to trial; I I I " em kit proposed 'should . 1 paid 13901. for her at once. His Royal Hi g h. ,Aallandtricot, let it be recollected.l tress is represented "as being extremely diser esst . 4 *. t al Highness of all personal , during the time . he lived with her; as not h e i n participation ' ) and the House able, according to her account, of giving her 1091 __ &at it was not proper that he , But if it were true that he had given Mrs. Clarke au. should continue longer at the head cf the army.— ' therity to open a wholesale warehouse for the disp osa l He 0114 d CtaKeiTo a case of inquiry where the •of commissions , why did she not turn that privil ege to Floose night oat be . alled upon to give an opinion ; '.account ? What became of all tote majoritie s a er ;but be could not conceive any one where the companies she had to dispose of? Why did she no House stalght be called upon to pronounce an derive from these the means of suppo r ti ng her retch. amitivous opinion. The Amin:kneel proposed ap- . ' lishment, when the sale of a single ensig nc y would la peirQ. to him likely to involve them in a dilemma of suffiCient to render it unnecessary to apply to his Rep') this nature.. Hearced with the Honourable Bans- Highness ? There was also another question. if net in his ideas of corruption, which • did not imply the Duke of York gave her this authority, if he t o ld the mere personal receipt of money, exclusive of her what recommendations were proper, and what, other censideratiosis. It was not necessary, in order were not, she should never have met with the sligh test to substantiate these charges, to prove that the Duke difficulty in carrying these promotions into eff ect. It had received money with his own hands. If is could would be a gross a bsurdity to suppose, that he ga it be made appear that he had connived at the receipt her in private this authority, and that he afterward s , Grit by Mrs. Clarke or any one glee, the accusation in his official character, set himself to oppose the era. was brought home to him. This was a question to ercise of it. With respect to the went and efficacy be entirely decided by the credibility of evidence—. of Mrs. Clarke's influence, it appeared that her re. and he doubted whether the resih of any inquiry commendations experienced delays in the most fa. fore that House ever turoed upon such a point. It insurable cases, and failures in many. French's levy was impossible that the House, in its judicial caps- was full five months in agitation, and so long w as , city, could decide upon the character and interests, Mrs. Claiko kept out of her 5001. It was the nun s he would not say of the Duke of York, but of the in Tonyn's case—for it was many 'reeks after th e meanest man in the land, upon such evidence as they , 5001. he had agreed to give for his majo r i t y, was had heard at their Bar, The evidence was deficient drawn out of the hands in which It was deposited._ in that common sanction, which all ages, all coun- All this happened at a time that she represents t:le tries, and all religions required. It was not given with Duke being so embarrassed, as not to be able to ad;. the and under the penalty of an oath.— vance her so small a sum as 1001. It appeared i r . This formality was so necessary, that it was known deed, that she was in a miserable state of ,ignorance froM history that a Roman tribunal had refused to, respecting pror. stions. This was particularly mail:. receive the evidence of Cato until he had taken the fest in Tonyn's case, who; as stated by his Right accustomed oaths. It would be for the House to de- Honourable Friend, (the Secretary at War) was a tide, whether they would adopt a measure affecting Major many days before she knew any thing about it, the honour and interest of any subject without such even at the very time that she threatened ,that his a sanction? He would in the meats time admit that promotion should be stopped. The charge respecting ' an examination not upon oath would be sufficient to Shaw was, in the manner as it was represented bv justify the House to put a man upon his trial. They this woman, one particularly atrocious. She wished had even gone the length of punishing persons upon it to be understood that his Royal Highness had lent such evidence, but it would not be pleasant to him himself to her revenge, and that he put Major Shaw to erercise his judicial functions upon the authority on half-pay merely to satisfy her. Now how did the of such a precedent. He would now proceed to era- matter stand ? Why, that the two appointments were mine the evidence in the same way as If it had been incothpatible, unless, which was not the case, that given upon oath. The Honourable Member here the regiment to which he was attached, was quartered went into a long examination of the evidence, which at the place where he was nominated Barrack Master. he analized with his accustomed acuteness and abi- It .ferther appeared that her interference was of ao lity. Mrs. Clarke's evidence was directed wholly use whatever Spedding's case. All her influence against the Duke of York, and that in the most pose was ieeirectoal to (*Min him the accommodation rot tive manster: She asserted that his Royal Highness which he sent a memorial in. So that upon the sanctioned every act she had dont, and that Ise had whele it was evident that her applications failed ef. not only sanctioned, but s and pointed out tener than they succeeded, and that it wa s by no ' the we; in which it should cone t that these in means clear that even one of these successes was to (act formed the ways and means by which the estate, attributed to her. He lamented else immorality of lishment she possessed was suppested. New, with re. the connection, in which his Royal Highness had so spect to this evidence, there were various opinions...-. indiscreetly engaged, and he agreed with his learned A Noble Lord at the other side expressed his opinion Friend (Mr. Burton), that it merited the censure cf that entire credit should he given to every thing she the House. But be was not -aware deny established had said. He did not feel the same prepossession in law in this country (it was different however in favour of her evidence,. He would admit that many ethers), which authorised the making this the ground parts of it might be true, but such evidence was al- of a criminal proceeding. It was not an offence co t . ways to be received with suspicion. In a Court of nizable by the laws of the land. If, indeed, it tended law any Judge would say, that such evidence was to to offend public decorum, or was inconsistent wins he received with eats-erne caution. If it were the situation filled by his Royal Highnees or any otherwise, the character of any person. might be at other servant of the state, there the liw had a right the Mercy of any thrive; and worthless wretch who to lay hold of him. He would admit that the Doke might choose to come forward and accuse him of a of York was culpable to a cert a in d egr e e i n not haw. ; crime. Mrs. Clarke had a su ffi cient motive to bring steadfastly prohibited Mrs. Clarke e ve r to ope n L e; the accusations that were the subject of their present mouth, or communicate in any way to him on the sl;ta deliberations against the Duke.' Her object was to ject of army or any other promotions. Butit was ccl! force. him to a compromise. She was, on that ac- m two instances that the House had before it undoub.- count, not a perfectly credible witness. The only ed testimony that it had been done—namely, t:;cs confirmative evidence was that of Miss Taylor, and capes of O'Meara and Clavering. The farmer lid that only went to the corrupt dealing with , regard to net regard military promotion ; and the latter did nt French's levy. With respect to this„ he would not succeed. These were not of that flagrant nature for call upon the House to discredit Mrs. Clarke's tes- which his Royal Highness was to be stigmatised be timony ; the question was, whether Miss Taylor's a vote of that House, and deprived of the comuun'd memory was clear as to the fact? It was the evi. of the army. He had laid before the House the evi dence of a conversation respecting what might be sup. deuce as it existed, and -made those comments upon posed to-have passed in a previous conversation or it which he thought it justified. He was ontident communication of some kind' to which. she was. not that the House would weigh allahe circumsethces c: present, or to which she was not privy. A confirma.. the case maturely and conscientiously, and he was per. tive evidence of this sort ought to be above. all suspi- seeded they would come to that decision which would cion. In his opinion, the evidence of this lady did satisfy the country. not come fairly to the fact.' But suppose it did, Sir SAMUEL . ROMILLY, in rising to address what was its tendency ? Was it not that. his Royal the. House, declared it was not his intention to folloa Highness had avowed his inclination to put an end to his Right Hon. Friend into many of the observations French's levy, from which Mrs. Clarke had already which he had introduced into the speech he had just derived so many advantages, and from which she finished. The subject under consideration he SAW in might expect to obtain many more. Did it not go to a different point of view, from every person of the cut up her hopes by the nixes ? Mrs. Clarke had no profession to which he belonged, who had expressed reason to complain of French, at the time she is said his sentiments upon it. It was, therefore, incumbent to have told the Duke that he behaved " m iddli ng " upon hi m not to give a silent vote upon t he piestion, to her. He had far exceeded the limits of his original but. to state to the House the reasons which in his stipulation with her. Exclusive of the first £5OO. mind justified the vote he meant to give. He trusted she had at this very time r e c ei ve d 41350 more ; andi the House would allow him, not to go into all the this at a period when French was a loser by the tree.- cases or to comment upon the whole of the evidence, saction, and when it was uncertain whether it would; ,or even to endeavour to add much to the forcible ob. go forward. Mrs. Clarke's evidence was not, in his nervations which had already been submitted to the mind, sufficiently confirmed by other testimony to , House, an endeavour to which he felt himself line• justify the House in proceeding on it. There were. qual ; but to point out those parts cf the evidence only two cases to which the evidence of Mr s . Cla r k e . w hi c h h a d most we i g h t w i t h hi m i n d ec idi ng hi s o pi. could at all apply; and iOnny credit was to be given., nion. It was impossible for him, upon comparing to the testimony. of: Culsisel• Gordon, anditbe dom. these parts of the evidence—upon calling to mind the snents produced by him, her influence had no s h ar e l'character, conduct, and demeano ur of the witnesse ,, , 'whatever in.effecting these p romot i ons . None whol , mho had been .examined at the bar in the progress ai believed these, could conscientiously say, that his : this business—upon weighing all the circumstances ,Royal Highness was cognizant:of Mrs. Clarke's cor- both of their testimonies, and their bearings upon the 'ruption. Thenouse ought to be careful to distill- •question under investigation, upon such a general guislx between suspicion and certainty ; for such was view of the subject, it was impossible for him to as. the frame of the. human mind, that mere, suspicion sent to the proposition of his Right Hon. Friend often.suppbed the place, and formed the ground of (the. Chancellor of the Exchequer). That proposi belief. If the charges were fully made out, let them, don went to call•upon the House to vote, what in not acquit Iris Royal. Highness; if they were not,,let, his conscience he could not assen t to, namely, that him be acquitted ; but let there be a decision one way . : there was no ground of c h arge aga inst his Royal or the. other; If a man were uncertain whether he Highness th e D u k e o f Y or k, on t h e score of corrup should believe or not, it wo u ld not b e r i g h t f or hi m to l i on , or conn i vance at corruption. But before h e proceed as if he did believe. He would not t a ke up m a d e an y o b servations upon t h at propos i t i on , or the time of the House in detailing the various incon-' +stated the reasons why he could not concur in it, he sistencies in Mrs. Clarke's evidence.; but there was begged to say a few words upon the subject of the one so glaring, that he must allude to it : she. stated original Address, which had been moved by the Hon that she did not begin to traffic in the sale of corn- Member (Mr. Wardie) who had instituted the pro• missions until some mobths after she came to reside ceeding in that House. That Address contamecla in 'Gloucester-place, when she first felt herself embar- prayer to his Majesty that he would be graciously tossed. Now it appeared_ by documents from the pleased to remove the Duke of York from the cot;;- Way-Office, that the application for Trench's leVy mand of the army. To that an amendment had seen was made on the Ist of Feb. 180 t ; and , she herself moved 'by hi s R ight Honourable Friend (the (. 1 : 31 . - acknowledged that she had promised to support it teller of the Exchequer) substituting two Kesolutx:.• • r ac . . Duke behave to Mrs..,Clarjr..-lhe' .. . sof .4tet• . • .. b • aili '.The left • - • so much food, yet Ike whom ; - , . mto a hijn .as he would Ilk Awl "Why, k {a ifewe• - . and , ~ • , ty of Inpd net cold bas.to.dsitatCet itt to think ogibill • , i: . jlPets; lithe' ' ' e s to sender , infamous the sirogau sebum ter bis r - Amprges brought ,t ' pr‘seclAsieh love !te this* d dot nummir _ Ikt *ermine whethetiheY s h°u had the hardihood se scud her t- 7 4 message too whidb ' aA whether the amendment taut bAv.e kcal Army, becausa the Dula's partisans ; ba Opted (for thot.atnetutraei hid it in their power to call sl* ineiseiter (Tiylw, lioni kilibsoPiit •bis ; Royal Hig the shoe.makeil, to the bar, to dear it ; and yet corruption or corrupt payticipa the74idiuit- Ath.y• -what* piston Si. this woman. eonse to a rrohttion that it wa