Star.
London, England, 1809-12-19 00:00:00

MUM° thf PR/BM& e aka 11411DLA

.-. ~,

Yesterday. in consequence of a public advertise-
ment, there was a pretty numerous attendance of
the Friends of Colonel WARDLE, at the Crown and
Anchor.

Mr. MALLET (the Chairman) stated, that the cause
for which they were assembled, was a sufficient apo-
logy for his addressing them. He had wished much
that the chair should have been filled by some man of
more considerable talents, and better known to the
public than himself; but as he was selected to fill it,
it became his duty to explain to them the objects for
which they were assembled. He would declare that
for his part, he was utterly a stranger to Col.Wardle,
and hardly knew his person by sight ; and, therefore,
it must be allowed, that the recommendation which
he felt it his duty to make, could only be dictated by
public motives, and from what, he conceived, was
due in justice to that individual, who had done so
much, and suffered so much in the public cause.—'
When Colonel Wardle came forward in the House
of Commons, alone and unsupported, 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 pha-
lanx of corruption were in arms against him, and all
the talents of the House of Commons, and the golden
eloquence of the Chancellor of the Exchequer, were
also against him. The threat of infamy was thrown
out against him the moment he undertook this great
public cause, and every possible pains had been taken
since that time to arraign his motives, and to blacken
his character ; but, he trusted, that when the subject
was fully and coolly considered, it would appear that
nothing had since occurred to justify the withdrawing
from Colonel Wardle the thanks which his public spi-
rit had deserved. (Loud applaase, No, No !) The
part which Colonel Wardle had taken was one which
required great boldness and firmness of mind; for he
had undertaken, at a time when he was unknown to
the public, singly to contend against all the united
force of corruption and prejudice. In the House of
Commons he did not expect any cheering or any sup-
port ; and to be heard patiently was all he could hope.
He, nevertheless, had the boldness to set himself for-
ward in the public cause, and to despise all the threats
which had been thrown out against him ; and this
manliness of conduct did justly obtain for him the al-
most unanimous approbation and esteem of his coun-
try. Those charges which he had so manfully brought
forward, he maintained with such ability and perse-
verance, that the illustrious object of his accusation
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
i very common. Corruption had taken possession so
generally of every department of the State, and was
considered so much as a matter of course, that the
times we live in appeared very much to resemble
. those corrupt times, in the decline of the Roman em-
pire, when, as the Historian says, " Corrurapere argue
. corratipi, secultitti est." Although the guilt of corrup-
tion is so common, that the Duke of York might well
say that he .was not more guilty than others around
him, yet Cclonel Wardle had great merit in selecting
an illustrions delinquent, whomk punichnicat would
j afford the greatest example to others. Men of the
highest situations in the State should be punished with
peculiar severity, when they violate the trust reposed
in them by their country, and place improper persons
in the most important situations. If a poor miserable
wretch, ignorant of a written law. should violate it,
his ignorance would not excuse him ; and the law
would often require his life as an atonement. If the
law visited wtth severity the crimes of the poor and
ignorant, with how much greater severity ought the
crimes of those to be visited, who, from high rank and
liberal education, were supposed to understand and
feel the unwritten law of honour, and had violated
its dictates ! When such great power was invested in
any individual, they were supposed to have honourable
and delicate minds, so as nut to abuse that power.
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 Upholsterer's bill, or those other
proceedings which had grown out of it, he saw no-
thing at all to tarnish Colonel Wardle's reputation.
He would allow, that he had been sometimes very
indiscreet, but he could see no fault beyond indiscre-
tion. 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 pay-
ment, that circumstance would be no impeachment
on his character, nor would it in the least diminish
his claim to public 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 analagous to a common course of proceeding
in other cases, as witnesses brought forward by the
Crown and by public bodies do frequently receive
considerable rewards, not for giving false testimony,
but for rendering great service to the public, by fur-
nishing useful information and giving evidence of the
truth. The services which Colonel Wardle had ren-
dered 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. (rip/douse)
No sooner was this system of corruption detected in
its full extent, than the people of this country ex-
pressed the most lively gratitude to the man who had
done so important a service. They felt that the same
corruption which had destroyed so many surrounding
States, was also bringing this country to the brink of
destruction, and that there was no remedy but re-
form. This great truth appeared now to be generally
understood, and the voice of the country was now
decidedly pronounced in favour of reform, which I
alone could preserve this country in safety or honour. 1
When it was considered that very important public
benefits had been derived from the firmness and de-
votion of Colonel Wardle, to the cause of the public,!
he trusted the public would not now desert him (loud':
cries of No, No.) When such a man had encountered 1
so many formidable obstacles for their cause—when
he had drawn upon himself such a host of enemies,
and calumniators, merely by boldly resisting corrup-
tion, and dragging it to light; was it to be suffered
that his private fortune should suffer materially, or
that the public, for whom he had done and suffered

Is° much, should not feel syMpathy tot such a man ?
(loud ajtltlawe•) He did not mean to represent Mr.
Ward as a distressed man, or unable to pay the
sum whiCh had been awarded against him—but the
ground that he took was, that whether he was rich
or poor, no pecuniary loss should fall on any indivi,
dual, by reason of his honest and patriotic exertions
in the public cause. If Colonel Wardle had con,
salted only what was discreet and for his own interest
or eases it is likely that he would not have stirred in
the business, aad that the Duke of York would have
been now Commander-in-Chief, and corruption would
have stilibeen undetected; but, byoverstepping a little
the bounds of discretion, he had so far committed
himself, as to be liable in law to payments 'thich
would materially affect his private property. Under
these circumstances he thought there could be no
doubt but that the public ought to pay that which
was expended in their cause; and he trusted they
would feel, what he declared to be the firm persua-
sion of his mind, that nothing which had since occur-
red in any degree weakened the claims which Colonel
Wardle had to the gratitude of his country. A num-
ber of Resolutions had been drawn up, which would
be read to them on the part of the Committee. (Loud
alsplaure.)

Mr. WAITHMAN then rose amidst univeral bursts
of applause. He said, that after the very able speech
of the Chairman, very little remained for him to say.
He entirely concurred in the observations which hai
been already made, and thought that the worthy
Chairman had put the question upon the right footiaz
—that no individual ought to be allowed to suffer in
his private fortune, on account of his exertions in the
cause of the public. Mr. Wardle had boldly and
fearlessly contended against the whole phalanx of cor-
ruption and undue influence ; and, in spite of their re-
sistance, he had gained a noble triumph for his coun-
try. As to the calumny and abuse that were now
thrown against Mr. Wardle, he did not value it, as
he found that they were the very same men who
abused him now, who had abused him from the tno-
ment that he stood up in the public cause. The ac-
tivity of these calumniators was wonderful. What
might not be expected that they would do against
Colonel Wardle, when he could assure them, that
even against such a humble individual as himself they
had taken uncommon pains to collect calumnies ?---‘
His enemies had even taken the trouble of sending
over to America, and offering a man, who had fled
from his country, 50 guineas, to publish a story reflec-
ting on some part of his private character. When they
would take such pains to injure him, what would they
not do to injure Col. Wardle ? As to the trial which
had lately taken place, he should make no observa-
tions. He took it for granted, that the Jury did their
duty, and he was bound 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, how.
ever, would say, that he hoped we might never again
have a political Judge in this country. If any Judge
in future were to be appointed a Cabinet Minister, it
would be an honour that other Judges would be look-
ing to, and they would naturally contract those poli-
tical 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 lia-
ble m consequence of his zeal for their service, how
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 wicked and cruel a persecution ? Feel-
ing, therefore, that Mr. Wardle had now more than
ever, a claim on the sympathy and support of the
public, he begged leave to submit to them the Reso-
lutions which were agreed to by the Committee.
The ResOlations were put and carried unanimously.
The thanks of the Meeting were then voted to the
Chairman, &c. "Committee was appointed to receive
subscriptions ; and upwards of £5OO were s ►bscribed
at the different tables in the room, which were ar-
ranged for that purpose.