The National Register. — London, England, 1809-01-29 00:00:00

THE NATIONAL REGISTER. who had long served their country. Ile said he knew. that there Ivits a public otfice in the city, open to all corners, w here mili tary Commissions were oiljed for sale at the reduced price, which Mrs. Clarke used !o exact; . and the agent; of which de dared that they -were enabled so to oiler them by. Mrs. Carey, the present favourite Mistress of Royal Ili haws; and further that, in ad.ti lion to commission, in the army. they had the power of procuriog . ali description: of places in the Church and State---(3 toukit. ) Na,', those Agent: hal not hesitated to it under their own hand:: : that they were emploNed by two of the fir-t Officers of hiS Maje , ty's Acimini,traiino—( .1 loud laugh).—Mr. Warde!l concluded by moying•— " That a Commit reel appointed to iiivc , aigate the conduct of his Ito ilighness the Commander in Chief with re-pact to Promotions, Lxchanges, and ppoiatments, on the Stall, Levies, Se." Sir F. Burt D ETT secondea the 'notion. The. Srca TAR P at \V tn, felt great satisfaction that at lenfzth an opportunity was afforded of instituting an effechial inquiry into the grounds of tile vat ions calumaies and misrepresentations which had of late been !•:o indostrion-ly circtilat:Nl against that Illustrious Personage. halite:teed by this feeling, it wag Car from b-ing• his intention to give any oppo‘ition to the motion of the if on. 'h-nt. Ills Royal flightless wri.4 perfectly ready to meet, and extremely anxion.• to court the inye!-tigation. llaving said thus m u ch on heir' If of the illustrious object of the motion, and with a view to itnpress the House with the solicitude felt by his Roxal Highness, for a full and satisfactory inquiry, there scarcely remained at> s s think farther for hint to caN . From his acquaintance with the Commander in Chief, and his intimate knowledge of the manner in which the business of his office was conducted, that the charge?: alledged were wholly without foundation; that the facts stated b) the lion. Gentletnan could not have had existence. Ma. Yonne said that it was with great concern he had heard the motion, 119 less, as it regards the Illustrious Person against whom it was directed, than the Honourable Gentleman who had brought it forward. Never had any Member of that Houle' taken upon himself a more serious responsibility. Ile would admit, however, that, if the Hon. Gentleman could skew that he had any prohahle grounds for his charge, he was entitled to the thanks of the House for having brought it forward. At length they could reach in a tangible shape some of those libels which had for some time past been more assidnously and pertinaceonsly circulated than at any former period in this country so prolific in libels. lie hoped that the House would do Justice to itself, to the public, and to the illustrious House of Brunswick ; and that the llon. Gentleman, if he should not prove his facts, might at least shew that he had some probable grounds for his conduct. Sir FRANCIS Iltt am:TT having never, either in that lionse or elsewhere, talked of the Duke of York with disrespect, he had risen only to state the groundsof his having seconded the motion, for having brought which forward he thought the lion. Member entitled to the thanks of the House. The CHANCELLOR of the I:New:wick observed, that the llou3e was unanimous as to the propriety of a serious and solemn inquiry into charges affecting- the character of his Ito)al igh 'less; and the doubt was with respect to the manner in w filch that inciniry should he taken. He could state upon the authority of the Illustrious Person himself, given him at the only °ppm.- tuuity he had of consulting with him upon the subject, that the most ready course of prosecuting the inquiry would be the most agreeable to him, and that he deprecated nothing so much as a course that would impede the final result. That Illustrious l'er -sonage wished, like any other subject, to be put publicly upon his trial, and to stand acquitted or convicted upon the case that may be made out. Be felt the inconvenience of a Parliamentary inquiry ; but these inconveniences must he encountered on so iu►- portant an occasion. Before he could sit down, he must observe that the Hon. Gentleman had stated the existence of an office where places in Church and State were sold, and that two Mem bers of Administration were openly said to he connected with it. The lion. Gentleman, after such a statement, was bound. and he called upon him to mention the persons in Administration said to give their sanction to that office. Ile could assure the Hon. Gent. and the house, that no care should be omitted on his part Threadnt edle•street ; that the name, of the agents in it ucie . lla‘lop and Pollen, and that the person.; in Adminl,tration paid t‘i h~ connected ith thorn were the Lord Chancellor and the Duke of Portland, ( outrageous absurdity of the latter part of this statement caused the House to be convul‘cd•acith ter ). The question that a Committee be appointed, was then agreed t, nem. con. On the motion that it he a Committee of the whole Howe, Lord Fot.KsroN oppft:ed it, on the grottnd of the great in convenience that he hail himself witnes•cd from the pro•;eention of inquiries in that manner, and submitted it to the light Hon. Ceatleinan that any mode was better than that propived by hitt,. Mr. Secretary CA N N G contended that the Inq uiry , hould he by a Committee of the whole House, which would unite .ti-pals h with publicity, and that such a proceeding - alone w sJited in the importance of the subject, the rank of the party, ur the so lemnity of such an investigation. lie united in giving thanks to ,the lion. Gentleman who had brought this question for w ; but whether the charges should he proved or not, he w:is of opinion that infamy must rest somew here. L% er inau must he sensible of the cowardliness, the baseness, and the wretchodness of the caluouiies which had been vented in ibe publications of the day, during the last six months, against the Duke of York. Itauk was like sex, and those in the highest station, like women, should not be attacked with :inch slanderous mate volence. _ _ The question was then put and carried. The CHANCELLOR of the EXcHEQUER proposed that Wed nesday next shuuld be appointed for the examination of W ses by the Committee, which was agreed to. LOSS SUSTAINED BY OUR. ARMY IN SPAIN. Mr. PONSONIir wished the Noble Lord opposite, to inform him, whether it was his intention to lay befor: the House a re• turn of the loss sustained by the British ar►ny in Spain, during the late expedition to that country. Lord CASTLERF:AGu said there could he no objection to lay ing the return before the House, but as it had not vet been folly made to Government, he could not pissibly condescend upon any particular day. General STI:W A ItT rose to do away an impression of a very unpleasant nature, which had been made on the public. It had been stated, and was very generally believed, that our loss in Spain amounted to eight or nine thousand men. lie could take upon himself to state, that it did not exceed half that number. Mr. Po N SON UV asked, if lie alluded only to the loss sustained in the retreat, and at, Comma. General St W A RT.--‘" During the w hole eampai from the first moment the British army entered Spain till their final embarkati.m at Corumia."—t Loesd and repeatcd cheers.) Adjourned at half past eight rill Thurs.day. PROVICIALs. CREW OF TUB STA ND.III.D.—The following is an extract of a letter front Chatham : Several false reports being in circulation, respecting, a tate visit of the crew of the Standard to Loudon, and their appli cation to the Lords of the Admiralty. I send you the following account, the correctness of which you may depend upon : "The Stanthird and Thonderer arrived here together from the Mediterranean; the Thunder's crew were paid off, ix•ci liberty for fourteen days ; the Standard's crew concei.iii4 they had aright to the same indulgence, both ships having been on the same station, petitioned the Lords of the Admiralty to that effect, and their application was granted. Thinkin g their Com mander was tardy in complying - with the order of the Lords of the Admiralty, when called upon, on Wednesday se'imight, to wash decks and scrub the ship, they retnsed, and went aft ia a body to the quarter-deck ; they requested to know by their should leave was kept hack, told entreated it he .oiroediately granted. The First Lieutenant told them it wa , P. • c:f wail) a wish (who was absent on leu%e), that only a natc;. soon id ; N o c lil and on their return, the other watt - ihould hol.e t,l ' I 11 7 (ient. and the Ilouse, that no rare should be omitted on his part """ \" ''' '-- to inquire into the fact, nor anv diliwence wanting to bring th e I r. , i liberty at once, an d on their return, the miler wale... shoulit hul.e delinquents, if any there should be, to justice. As to the I the some i ndul g ence ' T he y "'Pli ed in 011 e "'Ace , •` No, ail or . . motion undeeconsideration, when the question for inquiry by a none." On Thursday - , the whole of th,. crew %vete granted 14 with a drum and Committee should be disposed of days' liberty, but were not paid oil. On their gettiug, on sho r e I key he should mave that the )formed into a both', and marched for laond.iti t• Committee be a Committee of the whole liout;e. i life, and union jack ti . ing—loany of the poor fellows without a • Mr. WA n DELL (amid •3t a call of natne, name I stale, state!) i 1, farthing in their pockets. On their .iirriyat at the Admiralty • 1 1 ) rose to state that the office he alluded to tvas• • held in a court o f they seat their petty ulcers forward, with a petition statilig the ~ • JAN. 09. 1, , i' t 71 is ,~~!