Star.
London, England, 1809-03-09 00:00:00

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THURSOAY; MARCH 9, 1809

...-- -..4.-
. . .. . ..
desiredliiiito toneeal the transaction from theDske t
of,York: if she had *lade this ini•inction, it wnultl •
be to tell hit* that she had, swindled him oat of 41001 • :
If she had need her influence, the.Duke•of York must
have imcnitit;it ; .and :Us she had used her. influence : •
with his At ila 1 Wittiness was Oroved by thoevidencst. ,
of Mr. Cotaliid Captain &Andes/. It was tdso dbyi. .
ouS, front-littvierter of the, Duke of York -to Mrs..
Clarke,. restieetiig.General Clavotiug, that the Duke .
wished to. be kept in tlae.baek ground. lo.that letter
the Duke says,: " Clattering it. mistaken ; diet* are no •
new battalions to be raised, .anid.YOn it/Abetter tell
him so; and that yutt:arcsure it,*teulsi ba of no use i
to apply." Was it not, et`: this thatihe,
Duke wished his stamp bake,* *Karel *std *fut.:
such* lettera
,assuld any :Getttleman :suppose Mrs:.
• Clarke hrher senses if. the "iiii. net wish tor, keep .the
..
transotimistcset? .litsbelieved it would.mot-be sm. •
cessary for him to advert. further to the evidence,
He should next proceed to examine the written docul
meats on the table, which he was -convinced would as

It was not to be endured that- any idea should get to, namely, that whatever might be due to theitipe•
forth, as if that House, in the regulation of its 'con-. trier rank of his •Royal Highness,. they -should; as Re; •
duct, or the choice of its Mode of proceeding, was to presentatives of the People, always' bear in mind that •
be governed by any threats from without, as to -what it was their duty to Maintain their rights: as servants.
might be the' coasecterice of ants .course it should itif. theptiblic. This he was, persuaded the result Of,
think proper to adopts:. (Hear, hear.) It irg's the ,this inquiry Would evince and justify. .On the strength,'
'
sole judge of its own proceedings, and not to' be- thei-efore,.and the weight, mad force air& justice of
swayed nor intimidated •from the free exercise of its .-the ease, be would rely fur that result,- as he had hi-
eamstitutional functions by the judicial assertionit of therto retied throughout the whole. of the business ;
any persons .whatever., (Rear, hear.) He Would, altd without detaining ..the House any longer :with
s,
not say more upon that subject on-this occasion, ,he-i•preliminary observation, he 'should -proceed to offer
cause if he did, he must, perhaps, be led to the. adop- What he had to sky upon the Paris of the'evidence to
tion of some more practical notice of that to which he Which he proposed to call the attention of the House.
was alluding. (Hear, hear.) But if the Housetris The first case' he had to refer to was that of Lieute-
placed in the situation of Representatives of the Peo- -*ant-Colonel Knight, the evidence :respecting which
pie,. he must add, that-it would' but ill discharge-the . the. should shortly-run over; •
obligation -due to its constituents, ifst• disinootater. 7," Dr. Mitt* statisdi, that be Was eahhodnekby bg,... astmli
forrn,its.flntx• upotkevery occasion, v/. lob .ld trse7nitohetierialle:irC4*llence limo expedite isheetfitt"'elcut"Srenge foetviltiC"eeti I.l..iestlise•
1 tkoberr
Knightne
declared, night atnhdatLhie-e
',kat might be the judgMent passed in such atMati* telint-C Brooke. 11tr.
nor upon its conduct. Thus much he had thottght itauthorisedathenacri°l°nei. Dr.
necessary to say upon this subject • 'but to come to
I °Epetriteto.tbaMir4. taahanrkgee. ')ooiv;rs. i.f she would her
innntace Thynne
to ta-
the particular object of his rising, he hoped that his Clarke has stated, that. Dr. 'f lvynne
tmaden theoiappli,:ation to her to effect the exchange between Lieu-
Honourable Friend would alter his determination,
of
iand Lieutenant-Colonel Brooke; that he
and that it should not be thought, that the generaT eivlae her the names both on a slip of
. paper,, neither of whom
ground of attending the Assizes, except where special :e knew ; that she gave the two slips of paper- to 'lb Royal
Highness; that when the
cases should be made out, was applicable as.a claim exchange was effected, she sent the Ga-
zette, with a note, to Dr. Thynne, informing him that she was
to be exempted from attendance in that House. At 'ngtoount ofi town in a day or two, and thine the 2001. vio.ld be
• the same time he was ready to admit, that to keep a 17
: and that she received the 2001: after she had
call of the House over the Heads of the Members i lett7 the Gazette to Dr. Thynne. Mr. Robert Knight had also
; I stated, that he had been three times to the Gazette office after
without any Object, would be highly inconvenient
1 the applicition• before he received the Gazette which had been
but, as the object of the Noble Lord's: motion was, i sentthi tbhyeDters.tilmloatonnei when
Cis; received it
b from Mrs. Clarke. hi
to secure a full and adequate attendance this day and rs. . r 1- corrom orates the testimony of
to-morrow, and during whatever time this important iar. Thytuie andyMo r. Knight; ut Mrs- 'Clarke further stated
that when she 'hewed the slip to the Duke, he had said, that one
subject should be under discussion, he trusted that !
he par•fts watt a baect."
the House would be sei:sible of die propriety of atop-
i of' t
Fro
sing it. m the foregodingsubj testimony of Dr. Thynne, Mr.
! Robert Knight, and Mrs. Clarke, it must be admit-
Mr. CURIA:EN expressed his most hearty concur-
; ted, that a sum of 2001. had been offered to Mrs.
tense in what had fallen from the Right :Hon Gen-
' Clarke to use her influence to expedite the exchange.;
tleman ; but he must add, that if the House was not
and ;am that the sum of 2JOI. had been paidao her,
to be influenced in the discharge of its duty by any
tinder the impres,ion that sheliad used her influence
threats which originated, (Int of doors, neither was it
fur that purpose.. The next point to he ascertained
to be intimidated by any menaces denounced within
was, whether she bad exerted that influence?, and
di walls. (A general cry of Hear, hear.) It was not
whether the Duke of York was a party to the busi-
to be_swayed in the exercise of its .1-unctions, by any
ness ? Mrs. Clarke stated, that she had 'applied us
threat from an individual i ;ah in the confidence of
his Royal Highness, and had given him the slip of
the Crown. Never had a subject of higher impor-
paper she •received from Dr. Thynne, with the
tance occupied the attention of Parliament ; and,
names of the parties, adding, at the same time,
consequently, it had never been more-necessary, that
that they would make her a compliment. • Surely
a full attendance should be procured at fhe discussion.
there could . not be a stronger corroboration than this
General GASCOIGNE declared, that he would
of what had been given in evidence by Dr. Thynne
not then take the sense of the House upOn the motion
and Mr. Knight. Now he must say, that in this evi-
of the Noble Lord ; but unless a more satisfactory
dente it was not necessary for the parties to have been
reason skotild he assigned for its adoption than he
so minute, unless they had a strong impression upon
had hitherto heard, he should to-morrhw take the
their minds as to the transactions upon which they,
sense of the House uprin it. were giving testimony ; because in proportion to the
Mr. BERESPORD then observed, that it would
minuteness 'in which they detailed the circumstances
make no difference to him whether he took the sense
of thel:louse upon the question this day or to-mOi-s Was** chulger (If colittadietko- 'A
geilaWatsEterfff
was much less liable to contradiction, and consequent-
row ; but if a further call should to-morrow be moved,
, ly the minuteness of the evidence was a proof of its
he should certainly take the sense of' the Hotk e upon
correctness. Mrs. Clarke farther stated, that when
the motion. .
to.l she recommended the application of the parties for
The House was then ordered to be called over
the exchange to the Commandar in Chief, he had
morrow. stated that he knew the parties well. It also appear-
ed from the documents upon the table, that the par=
ties had been some time endeavouring to effect the
exchange before the application had been made to
Mrs. Clarke. It had also been stated by Mrs. Clarke,
that when she mentioned the matter to the Duke, he
observed that one of the parties..was a bad subject."
Now, it appeared that Colonel Broke had sheen only
four months in the cavalry, and had been seven years
upon. half-pay, and it Was natii-al [bat the Commati-•
der in Chief should not think it right that a person
should be placed in a situation to command a cavalry
regiment, bnless he was acquainted with the cavalry
service. Mrs. Clarke had also further stated, that she
sheaved the .€2OO to the Duke all at she received it ;
that she was then going out of town ; and that the
Duke was the next day going to Weymouth, being
the :.Ist cf July. This statement was strongly cur-
'rohorated by dre testimony of Mr. Kraght, who sta-
ted that he had sent the £2OO upon receiving the
Gazette containing the exchange of his brother ; and
that that must have been on the 31st Italy. Mrs.
Clarke had also stated that she got one of the notes
changed by one of the Duke's servants. Parson,
who had been butler at Gloucester-place,. confirmed
that statement upon his second examination, wherein
he said that lie had on that day taken the note to get
changed ; and his testimony m this was supported by
that Of Mrs. Bridgman, who proved the offer of the
note at her house for change, .though it was at Ste-
phens's hotel in Bond-street that the note had actually
bean changed. He had no hesitation to admit that
Pierson appeared-to give his evidence from a confused
*collection, belt he had no doubt that he had answer-
ed to the best of his judgment. But when the state-
ment of Mrs. Clarke as to the giving the note, and
that of Mrs. Bridgman as to the offer of it for clrange,
were considered, there was good reason to pay atten-
tion to the fact. The next point to be considered
was the statement of Mrs. Clarke, that only three
days intervened between the application and the ex-
change . appearing in the Gazette. But, upon this
point, she was certain only as to the time of the year;
she thought it was no. mere than three days, but
could not he certain. 1)r. Thynne, however, and
Mr. Knight, had positively stated, that the interval
was a fortnight or three weeks. Mr. Knight had
been three times to the Gazette-Office in that interval
Nothing could be stronger than this. Neither Mrs.
Chq ke, Dr. Thynne, nor Mr. Knight could have any
motive for making an untrue statement. Thei c could
be no doubt, therefore, that Mis. Clarke bad made
the application to the Commander in Chief ; that the
exchange which had before met with delays had been
expedited in consequence ; that she received the 4'200
for.this dispatch, the. R2OO being her object, and the
dispatch that of the parties ; and that therefore her
influence must have procured thedispatch, as, unless
it had, they would not have paid her the money. * .
The next point to be considered, was the variance
between Mrs.-Clarke and Mr. Knight as to the in-
junctions to secre4. Mr. Knight stated that she had
. _

It

strongly bear out the case as the minutes of the evi-
dence on which he had commented,

COLONEL BROOK & '
The first of the written documents to which he
should refer was the statement sent in from the office
of Me isrs. Cox and Greenwood, relative to Colonel,
Broole's services. Upon that statement there- ap—
peared in pencil marks C. L. cannot be acceded to ;.
his Royal Highness does not approve of the exchange fire-.
posed." This statement Was dated on the Ist of July,
but in a short time after, that is, on the 41,3 d July,

another .penciled mark was made on the statement%
" July 23, 1805 ; his RoyabHighttess does now approve
of this exchange." Colonel Gordon, in-his evidence,
stated, that the words' not acceded.to' meant. nothing
more than not acceded to till the neceesaryinquiries
should be made ; and that if 'paper was to be consi.:
dered, he should probably have said. so ; and, if fur-
ther inquiries should be necessary, might note; ie is be
considered, or probably cannot be acceded to." Such a
construction of language might be intelligilale at the
Horse Guards, but the House would understand the
words as they were understood all over thelcingdom..
The first penciled note had first not acceded an and then
his-Royal Highness does not approve ; but would his
Royal Highness approve or di.ipprove of any appli:
cation till the necessary inquiries had been made I In
common life the answer, not acceded Le, would be
considered a direct refusal. The next point-was, that
the exchange was said to have been acceded to in cone
quence of %he inquiry;, -and, on the ground that
Lieutenant-Colonel Brooke's. services could not, but
be favourably received. 13ut these services had been
precisely the same when the -exchange was not gc.
ceded to, and when it was said that the services could
not'beta.vourality considered& >. Theserserasices were,
that Colonel Bfcioke bad been twelve years in the
army ; four Months of which he hod been a Cornet of
Dragoons; and seven years upon half pay. Colonel
Gordon had stated, that the exchange lr.d been
stopped, in consequence of Colonel Brooke being on •
the half pay, in order to make inquiry into his set-.
vices. Yet Colonel Gordon could not ree.oh, • v
particular information that was The consequence of
that inquiry, nor any individual from whom such in.
formation had been derived. When it was recollected
what admirable. testimony Colonel Gordon had given
on other points, and the con ectness with he
had detailed the minutia: of the business of his office,
it would appear rather extraordinary that when an
exchenge had been effected, as be had stated, upon
'inquiries made by him in his official capacity, he
could not recollect one word of the result of these
inquiries, nor the person from whom the information
had been received. The command of a regimCnt re-
qftired considerable military experience; and, to be
tit to command a regiment, an officer should have
more than usual qualifications, and a competent ae-
qnaintance with the cavalry service. By a regulatioa
of his Royal Highness, for whicl;l he deserved great
credit, no off= can become a Field Odicer upon
less than six years service, in order that no officer
should be placed in if situation in which he might have
to command a regiment, unless he was perfectly ac-
quainted with his duty. The regulation was essential
eo the discipline of the army. But it was material tv
observe, that if the seven years, during which this
officer had been on the half pay, were deducted frorti
the twelve, the whole of his services, there would re,
main but five ; and to. select an officer of five years
actual service, only four months of which he had
served in the cavalry, for the command of a regiment
of cavalry, was an infringement of the excellent regu-
lation of the Commander in Chief. Colonel Gordon
had further asserted, that the result of the inquiry
had been to shew that Colonel Brooke was v7orthy of
the situation. That he did not deny. It was nothing
to the question. The papers on the- table shewed,
that upon no principle ought Colonel Gordon to have
recommended an officer with only such qualifications
to the Duke of York, for the situation. He only ad.
verted to this circumstance to shew its bearing.upon
• the case, as it went to shew that the exchange must
' have been effected through the influence of Mrs.
Clarke. It appeared to him fully, clearly, and
strongly to corroborate that fact ; and, when the
whole of the case should be considered, be thought it
- impossible that any Gentleman in the .House could
be of any other opinion. That was his impression,
and he did not think it necessary to trespass further
upon the time of the House respecting that case, but
should.proceed directly to his ether statements.
CAPTAIN MALING.

THE DUKE OF YORK.
The Order of the Day, for the further consideration
of the Report of the Committee of the whole House
upon the conduct of his Royal Highness the Duke of
York, having been read,
Mr. WARDLE rose, and declared that he was
fully aware of the difficulty of the situation in which
he was placed, and should therefore not trouble the
House with many words, before he proceeded to the
examination of the evidence that had been taken at
its Bar, and to the comments whic% it would, be ne-
cessary far him to make upon those parts of that evi-
dence to which he would have to refer. He had stu;
diously, on all occasions throughout the progress of
this in.. tstigation, avoided any tiring that could lead
to personality. or irritation. Such' at least had been
his Intention ; and if he had done otherwise, it was
from inadvertence, and he would, he trusted, meet the
indnlgence of the House. However he might have
been hurt that motives not very warrantable had been
attributed to him for his conduct in this business, be
had unt suffered such feeling to intitiencehint in the
progress of it. Though he did think that in the
earl {tart of the business he had been.treated more
harshly than he ought, he had suffered that to pass
away without producing any change in his original
determination. But having said this, he must return
his thanks td the House/for the favour with which he
had been attended to during the whole of this in-
vestigation. To his Majesty's Ministers his acknow-
ledgments were peculiarly due, for the attention
which they had paid to his feelings, when he first com-
menced this business, altd for the manner in which
they had conducted hemselves towards throuh-
out. He. was thank to them, that, during the
whole progress'of the investigation, they had taken
no advantage of his little experience in the know-
ledge of. the business of that House. At a very
early stage of the business, he had the good for-
tune to have the assistance of an Honourable and
worthy Baronet (Sir Francis Burdett), to whom be
lilt what he owed of gratitude. To his Noble el lend
also (Lord Folkestone), he was indebted for every
assistance during the whole course of this arduous
business, and he was persuaded the country would
feel equally indebted to him, for his upright and pa-
triotic conduct on this important occasion. At the.
Moment of danger, when publicodium was held nut
as likely to fall upon the accuser, his Noble Friend
stood forward, and not only ably assisted' in Abe in-
quiry into abuses, but placed himself jointly with
him (Mr. Wardle), in a situation to answer far the
consequentes; 'There was nothing for which he re-
joiced so much, as at themanner in which his Royal
Highncis the Duke of York had been defended.—
That he should have been defended by his Majesty's
Ministers, and the Law, Officers of the Crown, was
a source of satisfaction to him ;. bemuse it would
convince the public, that nothing hrid -beep left.no.
done in the defence, which could have heft done*
render it effectual. There- was one., consideration
which he trusted that House would.not_ be insensible

The next case he. had to notice was that of Captain
Maling, and Gen tleriaen would recollect, that as it was
found -his charge would not attach in this instance, he
had been willing to give it up, and it was only at the
desire of the Commiitee that it went on. Yet though
there were no proofs of corruption in this case, _there
was ample room for censure. 'Colonel Gordon al.
lowed that many of Captain, kialins's seniors were
ready to purchase, at the time he. was allowed to do
so over their heads, and all the claims stated for hits)
for this distinction in his fa'tour was, hie caexceptioop

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