The National Register. — London, England, 1809-03-12 00:00:00

TIM NATIONAL REGISTER- criir oleo golog forward. Ile says, if the :yid kat ion was to considered, he should say (that is, he should write on "To be considered." Then if further curl:titles were to he male upon it, he should probably " to he re-con s;:lorefl." And that in cases where the answer was, that it .tot he ac:..('e , l to, it was very probably meant that it 'alio ,t,t be complied with !—This may be understood at the ,IC,rse Gnarls, I a ill readily admit, but that any other person can svaleriatial it, 1 must most decidedly deny !—Let the House recollect that these services were the same at the time the refusal wa , , given, as they were when they were favour alit" considered. It appears that Colonel Brooke has been taalve ) ( I sla to the army, four months of which period he was :s Carnet of I tat •oons, and seven year: on half-pay. Colonel C r ia eon, in t. first instance, gives it as a reason for the ex cal e being gawped, that Col. iirooke was so long on linlf pay; and was request is complied with on the grounds of his ser ' Is it nit an extraordinary circumstauce in an exchange of a‘• :At tiati alone) • ;orlon could not recollect a word said in Co••• iel Broake's favour! 1 would ask, what it was which cer,:•..a - a good cavalry officer ? It is well known that a cav . er inn-t serve some years before he can be a rood officer; that according to the regulation of his Royal High7iess, Torn cu does him the highest honour, an officer must serve • years s..fore he call he a field officer; and the reason k, that no • man slioultl I-ase that rank conferred upon him until he is per (-Isiah :led to fill it. But it is rather a peculiar cir cianstvice, that this officer, who, when you deduct She seven years on half-pay, had only served five years, is con sidered a proper man to put at tta head of a cavalry regiment, in which service he had la - yen but four months ! Tha., case certainly militates strongly against those very regu tat i ous made by his Royal Highness himself. The next case I come to is that of Capt. Mating. It may be in the recollection of the 'louse the way thiscase was taken up, and that it was not ma na.asd at all in the way in which I wished. 'While this gentleman had never been out of England; and I with to bring it to this point, whether it Is not highly improper, not to say corrupt, in any Commander in Chief, to put men who had never been out of England, over the heads of officers who had served so many years in foreign climates ? During the progress of this case, it appeared that another Capt. Maling was employed in the Com ma!' ler in Chief's office, who Never rendered any service, nor never llad joined his regiment; that Colonel Gordon had recom mended him to the Commander in Chief to he put upon half pay, and to enjoy the rank of Captain. Now, if it Wag extraordi nary that Mr. Mating, who bad never been out of England, should be put over those who had seen service; it was almost as extraordinary to give this gentleman half-pay, who had never joined his regiment; and if I am not very wrong; there is an Act of Parliament, that an officer cannot be put on half-pay sinl•-ss he has joined his regiment and served. I think, therefore, that a necessary inference arises here, that there' has been very great abuse of this power, which, in my mind, ong,ht not to be entrusted without limit to any Commander in Chief whatever. The next case I come to is that of Col. French's Levy. The evidence of Captain Huxley Sandon, of Mr. Dowler, of Mr. Grant, Mrs. Clarke, and Miss Taylor, fully corroborate each • other upon that case. The terms of this levy was 500 guineas to Mrs. Clarke; this money vs as paid when the letter of service - was granted. Mr. Corgi acted as the agent, and received 2001. for the introduction. Mr. Howler's evidence corroborates this, and states, that he remonstrated with Mrs. Clarke upon the im propriety of the transaction. Mr. John Grant, agent to the levy, stated, that the letter of service was obtained through the influence of Mrs. ("Italie. Miss Taylor's evidence was corrobo rative t,f all these facts; and Birkett, the jeweller, from whom the service of plate was purchased, further proved the purchase of the plate, the bills drawn on His Royal Highness by Mrs. Clarke, and these being paid afterwards by drafts of His Royal flightless upon Coutts. Upon her evidence, Mrs. Clarke says, that Captain Bandon applied to her fifty times about the levy ; that she was teased to death by him, and that she gave his letters to his Royal Highness ; that the communications upon it continued Sy 17:01105 ; that the parties continued from titne t. time to send her rn:mey ; she seems as much aware of official reaularity as Col. Gordon himself, or any other officer in the Ci•annander in Chief's oiiiee, and tells bins that official rei.,ularic mita be attended to, that he should receive certain papers tlarouali the Office in the usual way. In another letter (No. 11), she tells C'tpta in Salaam that she itaa commu nicated his •praposal Ole Duke of lark ; dint she sec him at V;sus and com,nunicate further. Now this surely is a direct communication from the Duke of lurk to Captain MA RCH 12. Sandon, through Mrs. Clarke. There is no extension of ti.:e letter of service to Germany, and yet Colonel French takes upon himself to send parties to Germany. If there we.:e no offi cial documents to authorise Col. French to enlist Germans, the inference is, that it was done upon 11Irs. Clarke's au thority alone. I shall have no difficulty in proving that some of the'oflicers of Colonel French's did go to Germany, and that some men were enlisted. The next letter I allude to is from Mrs. Clarke to Capt. Sandon, telling him the Duke was very angry about the levy, that the last time he saw him he promised him SOO Germans, and he had not raised one, &c. ithout further commentary, I OWE this is sufficient prOof that in the German levy, Capt. Sandon had failed, and did not get the numbers promised to Ills Royal llighness, which he could not have known hut through Mrs. Clarke. In addition to the evidence of Dowler, I think there can he no doubt On the mind of any one that Mrs. Clarke did possess influence with the Catninander in Chief, and that in this levy she used it. The next question is, whether it was known to the Corn:. mander in Chief that. she received pecuniary compensa tion ? Mrs, Clarke says she did communicate this circum stance to His Royal Highness. The differs:it sums of money she received were not sent at any particulaY :ime, bat were sent at any time and in any place. Noy t.::e expenditure of Glou cester-place and Weybridge cireied on w ithout His Royal Highness's kno‘sie.d, - .;.5.—..:at = s%all now call the attention at the House to ;he evitie... - ,ee (pt . Miss Taylor. She was present, and heard r. e:nversation hetween Ilia Royal Highness and Mrs. Clar:tc, Lo j ail Highness said he had been constantly sritn Creach's levy. How does h<: behave to you, doi-Pt,; not very well.'—Master French hod better mind Ss br cut him up and his trey too r Airs. (lac!: • qa:es t:iat sho received five hun dred pounds on this account, w:.:ch afterwards went in part payment in a service plate : is corroborated by Dockw ray anti others. It app , ..ars Colonel French's letter of service was on tne Sth A p,ll anal „hat the plate was purchased on the Sth- Now no atftnipt h..d been mad" to prove that at that time Mrs. Clarke did receive any sum of 500/. from the Duke of York; and it is certainly clear that . His Royal Highness must have heea aware of her having paid the 5001. to Ilirkett for plate, from the circumstance of his giving his hills for thes balance.—The next 'point arises out of Official ' Documents relating to French's levy. By his letter of service in 1501, he was expected to raise 5000 men; hut to discontinue the levy if 4000 Were not raised and passed in nine months. In seven months they had not raised beyond two hundred men ; and contrary to the usual practice, and in violation of the regulations, indulgence is r,rauled, and the bounty incceased from fifteen to seventeen gui neas. A remonstrance *was sent to the War Office, by General Taylor, Inspector of Recruits in Ireland ; and from Lieut-Col.Ro binson; of the London District, after making several direct charges, stated, that Colonel reneh's levy was without a man. This Report is sent to the Commander i 3 Chief's Otliee, but in stead of stopping the leVy, nothing but Mrs. Clarke's influence could have induced his Royal Highness, having such a Report laid before him, to continue the levy. But being coovineed of the truth that the country was pay ing at the rate of 'JO/. per man, how could hiS Royal Highness, with this long detail anti positive assertions upon the suldect,. have let this system go on in direct contradiction of the letter of Service, and against the interests of the country ? The next letter upon this subject hi front General Whitelocke to Colonel 'Taylor, submitting the propriety of discontinuing the levy, and calling his Royal High ness's attention to it ; when it appeared, that out of 4000 men, only 219 men had been raised in seven months; and It strikes me, that unless General IS' hitelneke had interfered, 'the levy would never have been stopped at all. 'Pants was a s. ry mild proceeding of his Royal- 11 ighness to wards this man w ho was protected . by his 'mistress! And is there a Gentleman who hears me who will not be convinced, that if he had not this extraordinary prot•mtion he would, not have so long dis graced tiw service, and he would have long since been dis missed with the dis4raee be merited ?. From the evidence en' at the bar, and from the documents upon the table, it appears e%ident, that for every guinea Mrs. Clarke received the people paid eighty pounds! The best case is that of Major 'font u, which is proved by Mr. Donavan, and corroborated by Captain Stnalon and others, that 5001. was to he paid in the first instiotee to IV.rs. Clarke, and that Mr. Donovan was to receive twenty-five pounds for his agency.—Mr. Wardle. Oen ::rt-;tietl, front the whole of the proceeding, in this case, it tas evident that, notwithstanding he was powerfully recom mended by two mei itorious officers, (A orals Burrard and Clime 166 f L 1