Star.
London, England, 1809-03-15 00:00:00

pect to the attachment of artillery
-mine regiments, he would not "ay
but the consequence of
ist be to increase the marine forte
ipect to the promotion, he believed
• to the survivors ; and if promo-
Field Officers was not equally
marine service as in the artillery
ise seniorities. from survivorship
ose in the latter than in the former.
Admiral, however, would give the
Admiralty credit far not only ad-
of Field Officers on the Marine
•reasing the pay of the officers ge-
l)ad not been deemed necessary to
have so great a number of field officers in the marine
service as in the aitillerv, it was because the Marines
were generally drafted in small divisions an board dif-
ferent ships, and. hardly ever commanded by Field-
Officers.

cAr.r. tip TIIE HOUSE.
Lord FOLKSTONE moved, that the Order of
the Day be now read for calling over the House.
The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER
expressed a wish, that the Noble Lord would not now
press the Order of the Day upon this head, until the
House should come to some understanding, whether
it would be most advisable to come to some decision
first upoti tte Address, proposed by the Hon. Gen-
tleman, who opened the last evening's debate, or to
e-ntinue the discussion upon the resolution. If the
former, it would .in his mind be desirable that the
House should dispose of it this night, with a view to
give Members some rest, by adjourning, as he had
proposed yesterday, the farther discussion till Thurs-
day, and an opportunity of recruiting in some degree
their strength, exbousted as it must be, and as he for
one felt, by continued debates, for five nights in every
week, and until four-or five o'clock in the morning,
wit'llout a day's intermission. For his own part, with
his attention for so many whole nights to the course
of debate; and his mind ardently bent upon the im-
portant topic before the House, and his indispensable
attentions in the course of the mornings to other offi-
cial business, be could not boast of personal strength.
adequate to the continuance of such exertion, without
some intermission ' and he believed the Right Hon.
Gentleman in the Chlitir,.ittaY'or whom he felt more
than on his own account, mutt be pretty much in the
same predicament. He therefore hoped the Noble
Lord would not press anything on the subject of the
Call of the House, until a more advanced hour of
the evening, when the sense of the House should be
known.

• Lord FOLKSTO,NE professed his consideration
for the inconvenience stared by the Right Hon. Gen-
tleman, as well for himself as the
the Right Hon.
Gentleman in the Chair; and added, that those were
subjects paramount to all other considerations in re-
gulating his own conduct this night. He, however,
should deem it necessary to press the last moment of
the present discussion.'

Lord TEMPLE was against any adjournment of
the discussion upon any account. He reminded the
House that the eye of public expectation was di:
rected anxiously to the result of their proceedings;
the character of the illustrious personage, whose eon:
duct was under discussion, was hourly suffering in the
public estimation until the issue should be determined;!
and he should not, therefore, consent to any adjourn-
ment, except from day to day, until the business was
disposed of, except upon more important grounds
than he had heard stated.
The SPEAKER expressed his thanks for the con-
sideration the Noble Lord and the Right Hon. Gen-,
tleman was pleased to express on his account. Fatigue
and indisposition he certainly felt, in common, he be-
lieved, with many Honourable Members ; but cer-
tainly in no degree that could prevent him from pay-
ing every attention to the proceedings of the House. '
Mr. H. SMITH wished, before the House pro-,
ceeded to resume the debate, to call its attention ro a
matter concerning its own privileges. It was a mis—
represen-ation in a Morning Paper of this day, of 'I
what he had said last night, by stating that he spoke
in favour of the motion of the Chancellor of the Ex-
chequer,
whereas what he had said was the very re-I
verse. He had said that from the weight of evidence •
it appeared to him the Duke of York ought to be put
upon his trial, in order to enable him to reclec:n his
honour which he had pledged to the House upon his
innocence ; and that it he was found guilty, he ought
to be punished. He was sure that while he was
speaking, the House evinced considerable impatience,
and might have thus rendered what he did say not
distinctly audible : on this account, be was ready to
make allowance for the erroneous report. He did
act, therttOre, wish to urge the matter farther on his
cwn account, than merely to set the Matter right by
this explanation.
THE DUKE OF YORK.

The Order of the Day being moved for tile resump-
ti:).l of the adjourned debate, on the conduct of the
Duke of York,

Mr. WILLIAMS WYNNE began by comment-
in:‘; on the state of the question, and said, that to
call it the bounden duty of the House to take one
course more than 'another, was to narrow the privi-
;-?yes of the House. The Honourable Member ad-
verted to the case of the Duke of Lauderdale% in
which the House thought it sufficient to address his
Majesty that the fluke might be removed from
Majesty's Councils ; and to the old course of Parr -
inent, in which the simple misconduct of Ministers
was a cognizable matter. In the present instance, if
corruption was not distinctly proved, yet there was
evidently a degree of inattention which called for re-
dress. In the present practice of Parliament, every
distinct charge had been considered as liable to a ver-
dict of Guilty or not Guilty : and the Honourable
Member could conceive, that many" Gentlemen might
believe that Samuel Carter's case was a single in-
stance, and that no verdict could be entered upon
that case, but a verd:ct.of acquittal. But supposing
there were fifty such cases, according to the present!
proceeiings, there was no possibility of impeach- •
ment ; lin- each was a separate charge. The cage
which pressed the heaviest on the Duke Of York was

Due which could not 1)2 made the object of a charge,
that of Kennet. If that case were admitted to its
fullest extent, it would undoubtedly prove the charge
. of corruption in the Duke of York ; for nobody could
- believe that the Duke would have interested himself
merely because a letter was produced from one indi-
♦idua, stating that he should be happy w serve arta

ther. Mts,Greerrood hits elf did not
in this light; an if this evidence was
noticed on the Minutes, it would
one who wanted preferment had nothin)
come in the shape of a loan to the DT
Without trusting to the evidence of
though the Honourable Member had
ing opinion 'of-it-Which some Gentlemen .
ed, there remained to prove the charge of corruption
in the Duke of York,. she evidence of Miss Taylor,
whose character had 'been adinitted to be perfectly
credible, in one of` the ablest sPeeches that had been
delivered on that side of the House (the speech of Sir
S. Romilly ;) for it did not'affect her credibility that
her father was confined for debt; or that he was in
distressed circumstances. but independently of the
evidence of Mrs. Clarke and Miss Taylor, and put-
ting out of questionp the case of Cialonel Shaw, and
the exchange.ef Colonels lCniglat and Brooke, because
they only rested upon Mrs. Clarke's testimony, it was
proved that-the -Commander! in Chief had in six in-
stances allowed Mrs. Clarke to interfere in the dispen-
sation of his Office—had allowed a woman to make
application to him upon subjects of such high mo-•
ment. The Duke had not said. to Mrs. Clarke, is you
had better tell your applicant that you are an impro-
per channel;" but, ,4 there is no opportunity of ap-
plying for what you ask." Upon the evidence of '
the Duke's hand-writing, the Honourable Member
referred to the practice of the Right Hon. Gentleman
(the Chancellor of the Exchequer) when Attorney.;
General, in the trial of Judge Johnston, where the,
evidence depended solely upon comparison of hand,.;
writing, and where • so many persons did not believe
the imputed hand-writing genuine. So many per-
sons having been unable to say that this was not,
the hand-writing of the Duke of York, the Honour-
able Member thought that, putting Mrs. Clarke's
evidence out of the question, in this instance she was
allowed to interfere. The Honourable Member next
adverted to the case of Samuel Carter. Of such
promotion as his he had heard in romance, but then
it was generally through some merit in the hero, and
not solely through the influence of another. The
Honourable Member first looked at the degraded
situation of the boy behind the carriage of such i
woman as Mrs. Clarke, and :then saw him sitting
down to table as an equal with the Duke of York,
simply because he was connected with that woman.
His letter, the Hon. Member said, did honour to both
his gratitude and Mrs. Clarke's generosity,. who, it ap-
peared, had paid his outfits ; hut his commission con-
stituted one of the heaiiest charges against the Duke
of York, because it proved that there was no check
to the influence of Mrs. Claike. The natural feel-
ing of the buke's- mind one would suppoSe to have
been, .a / can use iiiY influence for'the boy in any
-tither war,' but consider your situation and his ; what
will the anny'say if they know this ?" Nothing but
.the greatest influence upon the Duke's mind could
hive 'gOt over this. The Honourable Member next
'adverted to the evidence of Mr. Dowler, the credibi-
rhty or. Which he defended, and thought his' desire to
toomeal what passed at Reid's Hotel pardonable. He
thought too that Mr. Alderman Combe might, on
horseback as he was, have been mistaken as to his
conversation with him. What would be the effect,
the Honourable Gentleman asked, if the Duke re-
mained in his situation ? If ever another woman
should be in Mrs. Clarke's situation, she would think
herself entitled to the same influence ' • and if ever this
should be the case, the Honourable Member conten-
ded, that she had better sell that influence than give
it; for a deserving Officer might be tempted to give
her a sum of money, and have done with her ; but he
could not be very worthy of the situation, who was
intimate enough with such a woman to obtain his
promotion gratuitously. Upon the whole, the Hon.
Member was of opinion, that there were sufficient
grounds to address his Majesty for the removal of the
Duke of York : the cases of influence which had been
proved were sufficient, and the general notoriety that
by means rn infamous promotion might be obtained,
was a sufficient ground. There was but one way of
proceeding,
,and that was the retirement of the Duke
of York. • The Address originally proposed, the
Honourable Member thought, stated more deci-
dedly than was proved, the Duke's knowledge of the
pecuniary advantage which bad been derived through
Mrs. Clarke's influence; but there were so many
grounds, upon which the notoriety of that influence
was apparent, that he should not hesitate to vote
for the Hon. Member's (Mr.Bankes)AMendment.
Mr. CROA KE R rose, and at some length combated
the arguments of Sir F. Burdett, particularly as to
the points of the incompetency of Lawyers, whom he
could nut help considering as equal to decisioh even
as any Candidate who had figured on the hustings
either of Brentford or Covent Garden. The testi-1
mony of Mrs. Clarke, however, he thought highly
impeachable indeed. And here the Hon. Gentleman'
proceeded to make comments on it in support of his
opinion. He went through a variety of cases, in
which he particularly marked not only the places in
which she had been contradicted by others, but
where she had contradicted herself. For instance,
she had said, that from one thousand a year, she "
could barely pay the wages of six men servants, and
keep them in liveries. Now he would even ask the
Noble Lord himself (Lord Folkstone), economist as
hc;badeonfessed himself to be, whether this was possi-
was Ve really ashamed, and ought to apolo-
ze to the House when he attempted so to under-
value the testimony of Colonel Gordon, s to con-
trast- it with that of Mrs. Clarke. ke could not,
however, help remarking the bias, the prejudice, the
absolute taint which some of the Members opposite
seem to have imbibed. He was absolutely shocked
to hear her panegyriced as an irreproachable witness. '
She, who in her attempts to prove the Duke of York
the most contaminated of mankind, had only shewed
herself to be the most flagitious of women !—she, a
fiendlike creature, an harpy, the vilest of her sex,
who deserved to have every vengeance poured on
her as much as he was prepared to let it fall. Here
the Honourable Member analysed the different
evidences, chiefly with a view to invalidate that
of Mrs. Clarke. He considered her testimony as car-
rying with it every thing combining malignity and
falsehood, tending even to prove her traffic of places
up to this day, when her influence over the Duke, ac-
cording to her own account, must have ceased—and
tending to shew, that even when she represented that
influence at the very highest, she was, afraid to apply
to him for a trifling leave of abience for her own bro-
ther, and acknowledged she had sought it through

Captain Sanden..- Yee, even for Cap-
she would not ask the Duke of York
leave of absence, but begged of
he could possibly obtain it through
aeral's Office (Hear, hear.) From
her evidence, he would acquit the
~icipation or corrupt connivance ; but
__ indeed to say, he could not give hisn,ini
unqualified acquittal ; he could not give him such a
triumphant vote as he would have wished, when he
considered that he deignedven to answer so vile
and profligate a woman, with respect to the advance-
ment of General Clavering ; he could not help con-
sidering such conduct as in some degree culpable,
though, at the sum' e time, he could never think
this circumstance ought to weigh with him to pro-
nounce an unqualified condemnation. When he said
this he spoke with as fair an intention as any man in
the House, he would preserve a proper conscious-
ness of the importance of character, and scorn-
ed to dishonour his life, as he would do if influ-
enced in the vote which he would give by any undue
consideratioe. He hoped then, though he was a
lawyer, the purity of his intentions would pass unques-
tioned, as he was certainly very far from doubting the
sincerity of those on the opposite side of the House,
who differs a from him in opinion. When he said this,
he with pain observed that the Resolution of his Right
Hon. Friend did not go to attach sufficient blame to
the accused ; but with respect to the resolution of the
Hon. Gentleman opposite (Mr. Bankes) he should
have little hesitation in his choice—he should certain-
ly prefer the Address of his 'Right Hon. Friend (the •
Chancellor of the Exchequer), because he wished to
go boldly up to the Throne, and pronounce his opi-
nion, and shew that he . dared 7. to do so, and not
basely compromise his feelings. Xf the Duke of York
ought to be removed, surely the House would not be
• afraid to say so—(Hear, Hear ! ) The middle way,
howeier, which the Hon. Gentleman proposed, in his
mind, was not fit for the House to adopt. He did
not expectit from the pompous opening of the Hen.
Gentleman—it was, indeed, Parturient monks, et nasci-
tur ridiculers mus—" the mountains labour, and a mouse
is born !" What, after their long examination, and
their daily and nightly discussions (for indeed they
had blended day and night,) were they at last to end
by hesitation, or supposition, or doubt ? Yet such
was the mode which the Hon. Gentleman's Amend-
ment went to adopt. (Hear, Hear.) What did this
Address do ? Why it merely went to shew what no-
r body wanted to know—that the King had the power
of dismikaing his Commander in Chief. If, indeed,
the question was, which would be preferred, the Ad-
dress of the Hon. Mover, or the Amendment of the
Hon. Gentleman opposite (Mr. Bankes) he would,
vote for the Address, because he thought it went
strait forward, without any ambiguous alternative.—
The two Gentlemen, however, professed a kind of
agreement, and yet even in that they differed. What
end was the House to expect to it ? " Who can de-
cide when Doctors disagree ?" He would vote for
the Resolutions, because they stood as a foundation
whereon to build an Address ; and this should be the
case where as Address of congratulation and condole-
ment was to be presented !—(u loud laugh.)—Gentle-
men might laugh, and he knew well with what sus-
picion every thing.that came from one of his country
was received, but here he would contend he was right
—rthe Addiess was one of congratulation that the
Duke was not guilty of corruption ; and of condole-
-mem, that any cause whatever should have given spe-
ciousness to such a charge—( Hear, hear.)—Hewould
vote for the Resolution's also, because the House
might give its opinion on them seriatim—they might
know what road they were taking, and select a proper
carriage ; surely, it would be very preposterous for a
party who had agreed to go to Greenwich by water,
to take a coach fur their conveyance—(a laugh)—and
yet such was the absurdity to which the Amendment
reduced Members. It went to attach guilt, and yet
could not tell why. The number of questions now
before the House were sinipli tied by the Resolutions,
and so perplexed and multifarious were the questions,
that he would not be surprised if they confounded I
even the characteristic acuteness of the Learned Mimi- I
ber who filled the Chair. The only question now
was, whether they would vote for the Resolutions or
the Address ? and he would adopt the Resolutions, if
it was only to avoid confusion—if they welt to die,
he, like Ajax, would exclaim " let us die in the light."
The adoption of the Address, instead of the Resolu-
tions, would go to demolish all the land-marks by
which their opinion was to be guided. Let the
country look to their decision :—he would not be
ashamed or afraid that they should view his ; they
should see in him no ambiguity—no compromise—
and, when he returned to his constituents, he should
not shrink from their criticism on his l'ai liamentary
conduct. He would then vote on each of the Reso.
lutions, one by one—first, was the Duke of York: cor-
rupt, or not ? Next, did he connive, or not ? Next,
should he be dismissed or not ? (Hear, hear, hear.)—
Tlgits the country would have a clear list made out I
for them—the red and the black—the Patriot and the
Courtier—liable to tut- obscurity, no misrepresenta-
tion. This was the plain and proper method, to stand
in open sunshine beforethe country, and not cast a mist
before the eyes of their conitituents to delude them.
Sir F. BURDETT thought it necessary to advert
to part of the Honourable Member's speech in
which he stated, on the authority of Donovan's evi-
dence, that Mrs. Clarke had made mention of his
name as that of one of the persons disposed to pur-
chase the papers she was in possession of relating to .
the Duke of York.. He assured the House that no
such proposal was ever made by him.
Mr. CROAKER said, that the assertion of the
Hon. Baronet was perfectly satisfactory. He was per.
suaded that no such proposal had ever come from him. I
Mr. H. MARTIN was surprised to hear from the
Honourable Gentleman that the evidence before the
House was not of that nature to sanction the Ad-
dress. Parliainent, he maintained, was not to be
bound. by the rules received in Courts of Law. On
this, as well as on every such occasion, he wished
that they should adhere to the rules of their ances-
tors. How c6uld the Address or the Amendment cf
the• Honourable Gentleman beloW him be described
as a sentence of condemnation. It was the high pri-
vilege of that House to take cognizance at all times
of the conduct of great public officers ; and if any
one doubted the fact, he would refer him to periods \
when the.principles of the Constitution were at least
4044 understood as they wore at this (ley. This
Neff the case upon the. celebrated, eicamittatiot relat.

forces. With respec
companies to the mai
it was not right in pi
such a measure must
altogether: with resr
that that fell usually
tions to the rank of
numerous in the rn
corps, it was becau!
more frequently aros
The Honourable Ad
present Board of A
ding to the number I
service, but for increl
nerally ; and if it ha

,-.110100

not ussiptitandit Olt astifes of Cal
as to *win ea, toOtT4aidippapn, si
imply, ti wt arky.f *Arne fdrtnight's
ling to•tightsg4o 'other to tee it he
Duke of Yoika— r Adjutant-Gene
Mrs. Clarke, ati- 4 atiew even of lit
d not that sweep- Duke of all partie
men had express- I he was sorry incite
.. -