The National Register. — London, England, 1809-12-24 00:00:00

DEC. 24. THE NATIONAL REGISTER. usual way of living, and to try to get him reinstated in the ;yin y ; he remains as he did. I was to have my annuity of 4001. a year, as promised by the Duke of York (but not performed), con tinued to we or my ; to have all my debts paid : thuze con tracted whilst I lived with the Duke of York, and what I might owe since Mr. Camrie raid the twelve hundred pounds, for which he kept my furniture and diamonds, and my pre, , ent hon-e of furniture, pa;cl. To these promises, mast faithfully given, ta be most sacredly kept, and by me believed in the firmest man ner ; or why should 1 have refused, and exposed the proposi tions of affluence held out to we during the time of the inxestitt tioa by Parson Williams? This is quiic enott4h to answer the whole; it is uscle,s to say ant thing of the situation I have placed myself and family in the pithlic view by the late proceed ings ; hut had you eves' thought, I ask, to pay me out of your own pocket, you would still he the gainer. From what I have here stated to you, I cannot, in duty to myself and children, re cede from. And I expect you will lose no time in making my mind (w hich, God knows, has been harrassed enouch these six mouths) easy, and comply with my wishes, that I may get into the country, to avoid, if nothing else, the public gaze. 1 keep a copy of this letter, and shall feel at liberty to do «ith it what I please, if not attended to by you; hut of this 1 do nut, cannot doubt, when I consider all things.—l am, dear Sir, your most obedient servant, Westbournc-place, Sloane-Cguare. MARY ANNE CLARKE. MEETING of The FRIENDS of COLONEL fr,IRDLE. Monday, in consequence of apublie advertisement, there was a pretty numerous attendance of the Frietuk of Cohluel IVardle, at the Crown and Anchor. Air. NIA LIET (the Chairman) declared that he was utterly a stranger to Colonel Wardle, and hardly knew his person by sight; and, therefore, it must he allowed, that the recommend ation which he felt it his duty to, make, could only he dictated by public fund ves, and front what he conceived was due in jus tice to that individual, who had done so much, and suffered so much in the public cause. W hes Colonel Wardle came forward in the House of Commons, alone and unsur, ported, to bring the most serious charges against a person so high in rank as the Duke of York, he had to encounter all manner of prejudices, both from those who were in power, and those who were out. The whole host and phalanx of corruption were in anus against him, and all the talents of the House of Commons, and the gold e n eloquence of the Chancelkr of the Exeheuer were against The charges which he had so manfully brought forward, he maintained with such ability and perseverance, that the illustri ous object of his acrusation has been punished for his offences. With respect to the Duke of York, his case was by no means singular; and his Royal Highness might be well surprised at finding himself attacked for an offence which was so very cora mou. Corruption had taken possession so generally of every department of the State, and was considered so much as a - .natter of course, that the times we live in appeared very much to re semble those corrupt times, in the decline of the Roman empire, when as the Historian says, " Corrunipere atque corrumpi, seculum est.". Although the guilt of corraptien is so common, that the Duke of York might well say that he was not more . guilty than others around him, yet Col. Wardle had great merit in selecting an illustrious deeinquent, whose punishment would afford the greatest example to others. Men of the highest situa tions in the State should he punished with peculiar severity, when they violate the trust reposed in them by their country. awl place improper persons in the most important situations,. if a poor miserable w retch, ignorant of a written law; should violate it, his ignorance would not excuse him ; and the law would often re,quire his life as an atonement. If the law visited with severity the crimes of the poor and ignorant, with how much greater severity ought the crimes of those to he visited, who, from high rank and liberal education, were supposed to understand and tel the unwritten law of honour. and had violated its dictates In every point of view, in which the accusation of the Duke of York by Colonel Wardle was viewed, that Gentleman was entitled to the highest praise. As to the action about the Up holsterer's hill, or those other proceedings which had grown out of it, he saw nothing to tarnish Colonel Wardle's reputa tion. He would allow, that he had been sometimes very indis creet, hut he could sec no fault beyond indiscretian. A verdict had been obtained against him for a large sum of money ; but even if it were true that he had voluntarily made himself liable to the pa,,lucut p that circuaptaace would be no inveachmeat on 821 his character, nor would in the least diminish his claim to pub lic gratitude. He would maintain, that however the credit of a witness might be affected by receiving a donation of this kind,, yet that it would be no crime in making her a present ; and it would only be analogous to a common course of proceeding in other cases, as witnesses brought forward by the Crown and by public bodies do frequently receive considerable rewitals, not for giving false testimony, but for rendering great service to the public by furriduing useful information and b Di% Mg evidence o f CI" truth. ser% ices which Colonel Wardle had rendered to the public, did not consist merely in bringing the Duke of York to justice ; but he was the man who had developed the whole system of corruption which had pervaded every department of the State, and was feeding on the very vitals of the country. Under these circumstances he thought there could be nu doubt but that the public ought to pay that which was expended in their eau,e; and he trusted they would feel, what he declared. to be the firm persuasion of .his mind, that nothing which had rinse eccurred in any degree weakened the claims which Coloue Wardle had to the gratitude of his country. WAMr. IT HMAN then rose, arrlitiSt universal bursts of ap plause. He said that Mr..Wardle had boldly and fearlessly cou tended against the whole phalanx of corruption and undue influ ence; and, in spite of their resistance, be had gained a noble. triumph for his country. As to the calumny and abuse that were now thrown out ati.;:iiust Mr. Wardle, he did tint value it, as he found that they were the very same men who abused him now, who had abused him from the moment that he stood up iu the public cause. The activity of these calumniators was wonderful. What might not be expected tbat they would do against Colonel Wardle, when he could assure them, tha even against such a humble individual as himself they had ' taken uncommon palm to collect calumnies ? His enemies had even taken the trouble of sending over to America, and oM:ring a man. who had fled from his country, 5U guineas, to publish a. story reflecting on some part of his private character. When they would take so much pains to iajure him, what would they not do to itjure Colonel Wardle? As to the trial which had lately taken place, he should make no observations. He took it for granted, that the Jury did their duty, and he was hound to suppose that the Judge did his also. if in his charge he had forgotten to state the improbabilities of one side of the case, he supposed it to proceed merely from depending on his memory, and not looking at his notes. He, however, would say, that he hoped we might never again have a political Judge in t his coun try. If any Judge in future were to be appointed a Cabinet Minister, it would be an honour that other Judges would be looking to; and they would naturally contrast those political prejudices which would be very injurious to the subject, in any case where Government was a party. if the public were now to suffer Mr. Wardle to be pressed down by debts, to which he only became liable in consequence of his zeal for their service, !.low was it to be expected that any other man would rise up in their cause again, and expose himself to such risks and to so w eked and cruel a perteetaion? Feeling, therefore, that Mr. Wardle had now more than ever a claim on the sympathy and support of the public, he beg (red leave to submit to them the Resolutions which were agreed to by the Committee.—The purport of the Resolutions was that Col. Wardle should he indemaitied against all losses, charges, aod expellees he may have incurred or be liable to far having persevering in performing his part towards the public in con sequence of the late investigation, &c. THEATRICALS. LYCEUM THEATRE. " It is an ill wind that blows nobody good," says the old adage ; and of this the Managers of this Company seem to have availed themselves during the hoitilities at Co vent Garden. Knowing the fondness of the public for theatric amusements, it would appear that they considered themselves secure and certain of full houses, so as to preclude all necessity of cultivating public favour, or of gratifying the •pnblic taste for variety, and even for propriety ; as their performances have been in general not only of the mediocre kind, but every thing connected with the busi ness of t'le Stage, has betrayed a poverty of conception, and a disregard to theatric tolally inconsistent with the witchery of the Drama, and unworthy of the patron age they have received. We here allude both to their