Star.
London, England, 1809-02-10 00:00:00

MRS. CLARKE CALLED.

On the motion of Mr. WARDLE, Mrs. CLAuxe
teas ordered to the Bar.
Some time elapsed before the witness appeared ; and
when she did present herself, she appeared greatly. agitated
and much distressed. A cry of Chair! a Chair! resounded
front different parti of the Howe, when the CHAIRMAN
ordered a chair to be brought for the accommodation of the
witness, and signified to her, that she had the permission of
the Committee to be seated ; an accommodation of which the
witness at the moment availed herself, though.the afterward.,
gave her testimony standing.
Examined by Mr. WARDLE.
Q. Do you know Colonel French ?
Here again some delay took place, when it was obvious
that Me agitation of the witness prevented her from giving
an answer; but that her distress had arisen from somefoccur-
• rester previous to her appearance at the bar, The CHAIR-
MAN, in consequence, made the following observation to her :
CHAIRMAN.—If the witness has any complaint to mobil
of ill war, the Committee will hear it.
Man CLARKS.—I was insulted as I came to the House.
had nobody with me to pritect me ; and therefore tentefor
the Serjeant at Armt.
This matter rested there, and the examination pro.
ceeded.
Q. (By Colonel Wardle.) Did you know Colonel
French ? A. I did.
Q. Do yourecollect Colonel French applying to you
in the year 1804, for your influence with the Com-
Mander-in-Chief, that he might have a levy for the

Q. What other printitwere there ? A. 4.701pe
relation of mine • 4.listed with us, and 414).k. wung I
Were that ..liating gentleman and the la.
dies the only persons 'Olio were with Mv.torlt of
your house on that occasion ? A. One or two Athens
' came in the course of the evening.
Q. Who were these sue Air. two others ? A. I
don't recollect exactly their names. If Toll ask me
by naming them, and making the question pointed,
I shall answer you. They were my friends, no doubt.
—And now, I recollect, only one, I believe, came in.
Q. Wlyat is his name ? A. He did not tell me his
name.
Q. (CHAmmAN.) The witness must answer di-
rectly. A. Colonel Wardle.--Q. Was be the only
other person that came in thatevening ? A. and my
relation.—Q. Do you recollect that yott received al
second visit after this at your house from Mr. Corri ?
A. He brought two boys to sing to me.—Q. Name
all those persons who met Mr. Cozzi at your house
on that occasion ? A. Am I obliged to tell?
Q. (CHAIRMAN.) It is the duty of the witness to
answer such questions as shall be put to her directly.
If any improper question be asked, the Committee
will take care that it shall not be pressed. A. Yes ;
but that will be after I shall have given the answer.
—(4 loud Augh.)
Q. (CHAIRMAN.) The witness is again informed,
that it is her duty to give a direct answer to the ques-
tions that shall be put to her ? A. What? without
appealing to-you, Sir ?
Q. (CHAIRMAN.) The Committee will take care
that no improper question shall be pressed upon the
_ _

army A. He did apply to me, but Ido not recol-
lect the year.
Q. Do you recollect his having applied to you* to
use your influence with the Commander in Chief that
112 fright have a levy for the army ?A. Yes, I do.
Q. Do von recollect that Colonel French offerbd
-5-i)u any pecuniary advantage for using your influence
that he • might have that levy ? A. Yes I do, or I
should not have mentioned his name.
Q. Do you recollect what offers he made to you ?
A. No, I do not recollect.
Q. Do you recollect any part of the offers Colonel
French made to you ? A, I have seen all the news-
papers, but if I were to judge by them I should not be
nearer the mark than by trusting to my own memory;
I do not recollect the conditions.
Q. Do you recollect any of the conditions ? A. I do.
Q. Did they imply that you were to have any pe-
cuniary reward for using your influence with the Com-
mander in Chief ? A. Certainly.
Q. Did you in consequence make application to
the Commander in Chief, and request that Colonel.
French might be allowed to have the levy ? A.
Certainly.
Q. Did you state to the Commander in Chief that
you were to have any pecuniary advantage if Colonel
French Should get the levy ? A. Yes, certainly.
Q. Did the -Commander in Chief promise, after
such application, that Colonel French should have
the levy ? A. Yes, he did. •
Q. Did you, in consequence of Colonel French hav-
ing got the levy, receive any sum of money from him,
or from any other person on his account ? A. Yes.
Q. Can you state-any particular sum, which was
paid to you on that account, and by whom? A. I
recollect one sum of 300 guineas paid to me, which
f paid over to Messrs. Birkett, in part payment of
his demand for a service of plate, the remainder of
which demand was satisfied by his Royal Highness
by his own bill.
Q. Do you recollect any other sum or sums ? A.
Yes, hut Ido not recollect the amount. Mr. Dow-
rer,• I believe was by, when I received some of them.
Q. Do you recollect Colonel French or Captain
Sadden applying to you to procure any alteration in
the original levy ? A. Yes, and I also told his Royal
Highness of it, and shewed him the note. I Was not
aware of what they wanted,•but his Royal Highness
understood it perfectly.
Q. Do you recollect in the progress of the levy,
any loan that was to have been made to the Com-
mander in Chief by Colonel French ? A. Colonel
YrenLh told me that he and his agent had some ac-
counts to pass, of some time standing ; that the ac-
counts were perfectly correct, and that they had
every reason to think they would have received them
before ; and that, if his Royal Highness would have
the goodness to get these accounts passed, he would
lend his l:oyal Highness 85000, upon getting proper
security, and the regular interest.
Q. Did you speak to the Commander in Chief on
this subject ? A. Yes, I did.
Q. State what further you know on that point ? A.
I believe his Royal Highness applied to get the ac-
counts passed, but that the money was not to be
easily procured, and so the business dropped ; his
Royal Highness not wishing personally to interfere
M a business which might be made public after.
Q. (By Mr. Caoaeen.) How often have you seen
Mr. Dowler, since his return to England ? A. Once,
and the other night, when he was called here.
Q. Then you have only seen him twice since his
return to England ? A. Certainly not.
Q. Did you inform the Hon. Member (Mr. War-
dle) of the details of this transaction relative to Co-
lonel French's levy ? A. Yes, I did of part, and
the best part, but not the whole of what Mr. Dowler
mentioned, as I see by the newspapers. I had no
communication by note or otherwise with him since
he left the house the other night. I only have seen
two men since. General Clavering came twice to-
to-day, but I would not see him. Another Gentle-
man also came, whose name I shall hereafter men-
tion, as well as what he came upon.
Q. How long have you been acquainted with Mr.
Dowler ? A. As I have seen the newspapers, it is
a4nost useless for me to answer that question, as I
might ?gree with him.
• Q. I repeat the question ? A. Eight, nine, or ten
years, I cannot say which.
Q. Have you not at various times
.received sums
of money from Mr. Dowler ? A. Some few times.
Q. Do you recollect the particulars of any, or the
amount of the whole of the sums which you may
have received from Mr. Dowler ? A. I cAn say par-
ticularly as to the sum of 10001. which he paid for
his situation.
Q. Was that sum of 10001. the last sum you re-
ceived from Mr. Dowler ? A. No.
Q. Was it the first ? A. I can't say particularly
as to that.
Q. Do you owe Mr. Dowler any money ? A. I
never recollect my debts to Gentlenien !
Q. I repeat the question ? A. I do not recollect,
nor should I recognize any debt to him.
Q. Have you not frequently recognize 4 debts to
him, and promised to have them paid ? A. I only
recollect once, when my carriages had been taken in
execution, and I had nothing in which to go to Wey-
bridge, I sent a note to him to beg of him to buy me
a carriage, which he did in a few hours, and I told
him that his Royal Highness would repay him here-
after. His Royal Highness told me he would do so.
• Q. Did you inform Mr. Dowler of the answer of
his Royal Highness ? A. 1 did.
Q. Are you positive as to that ? A. Quite so.
Q. Tr ! and recollect, and answer positively, whe-
ther you have not been in the habit of receiving
mpuy front Mr. Dowler, prior to your receiving the
npney which was given for his appointment ? A. I
perfectly collected at present, and do not recollect
slily such thing to have happened. lam very equal
to answering any thing upon which this Honourable
# souse may now question me.
Q. Do you recollect receiving Mr. Corn at your
}louse iii January last? A. I do not recollect the
precise time of the month. It was a short time since.
Q. What other persons were at your house when
you saw 14t-. Corti there on the first occasion ? A. I
had been out, and when I returned, found Mr. Corri
at niy house. He came there in consequence of a
letter which I had sent to him to get me a box at the
Veera. It %Iris near dinner. and I thought I could
,v4t 40 less than ask him to dinner. Ha dined at my.
bow, and 4fwvwards Went up tp %IX fir4WjArr99ll3.

witness.
The witness was then ordered, on the motion of
Mr. Witirenean, to withdraw.
Mr. WHITBREAD then stated, that it was the
duty of the Chairman to inform the witness, that she
had a right to appeal to the Chair, if any question
should be put to her which she might think improper
to be answered. He therefore moved that the Chair-
man be instructed to make that communication to
the witness on her being called in again.
Mr. CROAKER observed, that the question had
already been thrice put to the witness, and twice ap-
proved of, and the answer to it pressed by the 'Chair.
Mr. WHITBREAD, notwithstanding the wit-
ness's manner of giving her evidence, and setting her
character and conduct out of the question, was still
of opinion, that be she who she may, she was entitled,
to the protection of the Committee ; and he must
say, that, from the course of questions which the
Honourable Member was putting to her, he thought
it very likely that some of them would be such as
one would be unwilling to answer, and might be im-
proper to be pressed. He therefore thought that the
Chairman should be instructed to inform the witness,
on her being called in, that she had a right to appeal
to the Chair, if any question should be put to her
which she might be unwilling to answer.
Mr. CROAKER had carefully confined his exa-
mination to two distinct points already before the
House, and upon which the House seemed extremely
anxious to obtain information ; and there could be
no stronger ground for pressing the question, in
order to ascertain who had been at the witness's
house on the occasion, than the petition that day
presented from a person who was anxious to shew that
he had not been there.
Sir T. TURTON informed the Honourable Mem-
ber that he had mistaken the object of the Honourable
Gentleman (Mr. Whitbread), if he supposed that he
had any intention to justify the witness. His sole
object was to procure for her that protection, which,
in any Court of Justice, would be afforded to a wit-
ness, and without which a witness at the Bar of that
House would be in a miserable situation.
The CHAIRMAN said, he would always be oblig-
ed to the Committee for instructing him in his duty.
But, as the question when put had not been objected
to, he was bound to suppose that it was a proper one
to be pressed. He wished to be instructed by the
Committee, whether he was to tell the witness, when
called in, that she might appeal to the Chair.
Mr. WARDLE wished the Hon. Gentleman, in '
order to save the witness the pain that must arise
from the course of examination he was pursuing, to
name the persons, whose presence at the house of the
witness he wished to ascertain from her own testi-
mony. The Hon. Gentleman must be aware, how
easy it was to put the feelings of a witness, in.such a
situation, to the most painful trial.
Mr. CROAKER, after what passed the other
night, with respect to naming Mr. Finnerty, should
1 not again venture to name any person upon report.
[A cry of Go en, go on .1]
Mr. FULLER [amidst a lcud cry of Go on, go on n
declared, that he agreed most perfectly in the feelings
of the Hon. Gentleman, and that protection ought to
be extended to the witness. It was impossible to fore-
see what mischief might arise from pressing, such
questions, if it should appear that a,number of mar-
ried men should be found to have been present.
The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER
was of opinion, that the witness, on her coming in,
should be informed of two circumstances ; but from
the manner ia which she had conducted herself, he
thought that she ought not to be introduced with an
intimation of an instruction, to the effect proposed,
to the Chairman. It was his opinion, that, on being
brought back to the Bar, she should be informed that
she must give a direct answer to the questions that
should be put to her, but that she might appeal to the
I Chair.
Mr. WYNDHAM concurred in the course pro-
posed by the Right Hon. Gentleman. Undoubtedly
no man but the Hon. Gentleman could know what
purpose he:had in view, but he recommended to him,
to consider whether this course of examination was
necessary. The Committee would see the great incon-
venience that might result from it, according to the
observation a the Hon. Gentleman (Mr. k'uller),
which was not heard with as much attention as the
justice of it merited. This course of examination ap-
peared to him not as questions applying to the wit-
ness, but to those who had been present ist her house
on the occasion. Again he would mem:nerd to the'
Hon. Gentleman to consider whether his course of
, examination wts such as ought to be pureed.
I After a few obsereations &ern Mr liibbert, Mr.
Fuller, and Mr. ViThitbread, the witness was mat
called in, when
•
The CHAIRMAN stated that )0 was
to ulfiZ hay that it eny qucegign 41unfs VI pig to
47 1 ...b 41* ;km& ifnlnt9PV't. Ole c NPISI tP

.the Clair • and also;that she niustgive a direct an-. 1 Royal Highness generally got a little more, za
'enoir...tst lie questions that should be put-to het; to I brought kto me.
:A elkagb appeal should be made I Q. Do you remember the total sum that you el.
i.
! nt, question was then . repeated. Q. Name all . caved from his Royal Highness during the v.illk
I. thetioliersons who met Mr. Corri at your house on that time you lived in Gloucester-Place ?A. Certainly r,,,..
► raccasion. A. What, thelast time ? i Q. Were the sums you received adequate to ti:2
, Q. You have said that' but one came in the first I establishment you kept ? A. I convinced his 1t(:v..1
time. j Highness that* ',Hook do no more than pay the el:.
The,quesition repeated: A. Captain Thompson,' vants wages, and (Er the liveries.
Colonel Wardle, and a newspaper man, whose name 1 Q. Did you state this to his Royal Highness ?A.
Ido not recollect. -I saw him 'but twice before, but , Many times.
he answered to the description given of him by Mr. t Q. What observation did his Royal Highness trip-,.
Corti. I shall know his name to-morrow, it begins upon that ? A. None then ; but, after we were i;:.
with Mac. mate, he told me, that if 1 war lever, I wculd •
.. Q. Was it M,Allum ? A. Yes. ask Aim for money.
Q. Did you present any of the party to Mr. Corti I Q. Do you remember at what time he said tl!'s)
under a false name ?A.No : I told him one of them .A.No • but it was when he placed confidence in rre.
was a Member, and that was true. Q. Was it before you went to live in Glouceea:
Q. Did you tell him that one of those was Mr. Me- ' Place ?, A. Not till some time after.
lish the Member ? A. No ; that was his own mistake. I Q. Can you at all state
ynuoearr l
establishment
A
what. yo
was the
tn
i? Ath.eN o
amountie4s. otf.
Q. Which of the three persons did you introduce 1 the annual
can you pretty expenrceeoyf
as the Member? A. Colonel Wardle.
II Q. Do you recollect in what sums you received the I can't even guess.
£lOOO, which Mr. Dowler gave for his place ?A. Q. Had you a house at Weybridge ?A. Yes.
Perfectly well. Q. 'Was the house yours, or the property of tl;e
Q. State ;Item ? A. I got £2OO first, and £BOO Duke of York ? A. It was the Duke's.
afterwards, when his father came tQ town to sell out Q. Had you a separate establishment there f n:•.-,. .
of the Funds. your establishment at Gloucester-place, ~:- 21d v, ~:
Q. Was not the sum of £2OO paid before the ap- move your establishment from G10uce.,......)1..ze
pointment was obtained ? A. A few days. Weybridge when you went to the latter pl.-.:: ? i•_,
Examined by the CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER. We had a groom, a gardener, and two fear:.: le u:r.
Q. Do you recollect how long you were acquaint- I yarns at Weybridge ; I never went there 1. '.it fia,
ed with Mr. Dowler ; whether eight, nine, or ten Saturday to Monday ; and always took four Inez k,::
years ? A. I cannot. vants with me, sometimes five.
Q. Can you undertake to say that you have not Q. Did the sums you received yearly from t-••
known him longer than ten years ? A. No, Ido not Duke of York, together u ith the occasional payn..!..,
think I have. - he made to you, ever cover the • expences of your e-..:.
Q. Were you acquainted with Mr. Dowler before blishment ? A. If it had, I should never have k--,,
you went to Gloucester Place ?A. Yes, some years. harrassed for money as I was during the v. h( 1.• of :1..
Q. Were you acquainted with him before you went time I was under the protection of the Duke of Yt.re.
to live at Tavistock Place ? A. Yes, I was.. Q. Do you know Mr. Withers ? A.l do.
Q. Did you never receive any money from Mr. Q. What is he ? A. A Sheriff's Officer.
Dowler whilst you lived at Tavistock Place ? A. No. Q. How did you become acquainted with .11'7
Q. Did you ever receive money from him before A. He had some business with me in his awn v:. ,
you received the £2OO, part of the £1000? A. No, Q. Was it in consequence of pccuniafy ,i'.:2c,
Ido not recollect that I did. that you became acquainted with him ? A. I‘Z)cr
Q. Do you recollect of ever having received any could become acquainted With such a man excels.::
sum of money from him except the £lOOO and that that manner.. .
for the carriage ? A. Once or twice, on recollection. Q. Did you make an agreement with him t': e-
Q. Did you receive the money to pay for the car- him particular sums out of what you shoel 1•.,
riage, or did he pay for it himself ? A. He sent me the ceive ? A. No, nor ever gave him any such stars.
carriage in two hours after I applied to him for it.. Q. Do. you recollect the first time you apple.i :
Q. He did not give you the money, but paid for the Duke of York for any-thing connected with mr
the carriage hitnself ? Yes. . promotions? A. No, it was after I went to lips
Q. Do you recollect any other sum he gave yon Gloucester-place.
after the money paid for the carriage? A. He gave Q. Were the applications made to you for rt3-'.:
me only the /200 and the £BOO before or after the fluence with the Duke of York numerous ? A. '2l:,
purchase of the carriage. • were. •
Q. Are these three sums of 4200, £BOO, and the Q.. Were these applications immediately atten,ic.i
sum paid for the carriages the only sums Mr. Dowler by you? A. Not always by me.. If I thought the p
paid you ? A. I cannot speak to the exact sums. son applying not proper, I mentioned it to his ter
Once or twice he gave my housekeeper money to pay Highness. He told me' who was proper, and w
for things wanted for the House, when his Royal was not, and then I gave the answer as from my.
Highness was away, which sums his Royal High- the next day. If they were im
mproperer,
to In I cous
llt,
d
ness was to repay. do it without mentioning the titer,
Q. Was not Mr. Dowler in the habit of seeing Highness.
you very frequently ? A. Not very frequently, tho' Q. Did you immediately inform his Royal Hi,
about the time of Colonel French's levy he was. . - ness of any applications you received ? A. Yes, ,
Q. Did you see Mr. Dowler after he retired from one hundred were rejected by his means ; for I
the bar on the last night? A. Not the last time he not know those who were proper or improper.
was examined, but before. Q. When applications were made to you, did .
Q. On his retiring from the bar, before his exami- trust to your memory, or reduce the application
nation was finally closed, did any thing pass between writing ? A. If a single applicathsn was made to.
you and Mr. Dowler ? A. He only told, me that I trusted to memory, and his Royal Highness
some Members had put questions to him concerning formed me who were good and who improper ; bi
his private affairs, which were distressing to his feel- if many applied," gave him the paper.
ings. These questions relative to his private concerns Q. What paper ?- A. Any paper that might I:;
had, he said, been put to him by Mr. Bootle, and he been banded to me. .
had added, that he would rather lose every guinea Q. Do you mean the list of applications ?P.
he had (that was his expression) than appear again recollect once having given his Royal HighL.:ss a
in such a place. —it was a long one, and the only one I gave hi
Q. Did he state to you what he had been exami- Q. Do you recollect how many name tv,..a: 1.,
ned to ? A. He stated that he had been examined the list ? A. No.
closely as to his private concerns ; but not to me, but/ . Q. Do you recollect when that list was exi,ti.lg
to a stranger who was present, a Member. • No, I do not. But I recollect it was some tore be,
Q. Did you ask him what he had been examined , Colonel Tucker, lately dead, was made a M.kjat
to ? A. No. • . There were two brothers.
•Examined by Lord FOLKESTONE. Q. What reason have you to know it was at
Q. How long have you been acquainted with the time ?—A. His Royal Highness had prorni,2d
Duke of York ? A. Since the year 1805, I believe, Major Tucker's name should appear in the Sat nr,;
when I was 6rst taken under his protection. Gazette ;__ but on coming to dinner one day, h:.!
Q. Were you acquainted with the Duke of York. me that Tucker had behaved very ill, and that G
before that yeriod ? A. Yes, I was. • wood had. km. He desired. me to inquire into I.
Q. Had you an establishment from that time ? told me that Tucker came only to sport with in:,
A. No, I can't say that I had, but from 1804 to 1806 meant nothing serious. He had been recorrra•.,
when I had the establishment in Gloucester. Place. Be- by Sir David Baird. His Royal Highness tia.:•.
fore that,we lived in Park Place,in furnished lodgings. ed me if I knew any military men, and the pt.!
Q. Had you any establishment of horses and car- who recommended them : he would attend 0) ...
riages in Park-lane ?A. Only what belonged to but I must know that he could not do all at vac.:
myself. • proceed by degrees.
Q. What number of carriages had you when you Q. Is the list in existence now ?—A. No.
lived in Gloucester-Place ?A. I always had two. Royal Highness took it away that morning.
Q. What number of horses had you there ?—A. that time I conceived. I had his Royll 11.1.
About six—sometimes eight. . sanction togo co, ancl. afterwards I saw C.,c .L.,:
Q. What number of men-servants had you there? •private pocket-book.
A. I do, not know without counting. Q: Was this the only list which had been ma:
Q. State the servants you have had ? A. Mostly you ?- A. I do not recollect. Some one g:,'.'
from seven to nine• I long list to me, an.l that is ahe only list I re,:e,i.:
Q. To whom did the House in which you lived
g.IV e
r e'
s memoryyou i n the
on th
Q. Who paid the expences of the establishment ? • tions ?—A. No, never. . Their
,friends always
A. I did. • care of that: haebisut obfj
ercetfroesrh it
Q. What alloerance did you receive for that put- 1 Q. Do you mean that you used to receive the
r.
pose ? A. His Royal Highness promised me £lOOO :of those who made applications in writing ?—A•
a-year, to be paid monthly—but he sometimes forgot I applications in abundance. zl'ige sett
:si
belong ? A. To the Duke of York. I Highness
to make the payments good. 1 Q. Do you recollect any other name that 'a a'
Q. Was it out of the £lOOO a-year that you kept , the list given by you to his Royal Highness, b.
up the establishment ; and had you no other means : of Tucker ?—A. I believe so; but I will not V.
of defraying the expences ? A. His Royal Highness ' the name of any man who behaved well to me c
did not tell me what he would give me till I was in it. account. His Royal Highness did ri,,t prom:.
Q. When was it that he promised you £lOOO a- - whole of those whose names were on tn.-_, list. ,
year ? A. He began it by paying it. -* 1 Q. (By Mr. YORKE) Do you recollect from
Q. How long did be pay it regularly ? A. During you received the list? A. I believe from Carr
almost the whole of the time we were in the establish- den, or Mr. Donovan ; but the latter Gzntic.
meat, except for the last three months before we left , prepared to deny it.
it ; as in that time, he scarcely gave me a guinea, ' .Q. Can you state positively that it was fik..:-
thee& I used to see him every day,. 1 min Sanden or Mr. Donovan that you teen. •
Q, How did he pay you I it Waswith his ow '
n list ?A. No • I cannot. They were cc.ninc.: ••
Was i A. Hie, Royal Highness wished me to re- i Q. (By Mr. FULLY-u) Have you had lc '-
cove it from Mr, 9 wood? but I would not ac- quettions read' to you by any individual u-li 1-
CMS *to . the questions which would be put to yo.i
Q. Hiiiv ilifi Irce auk* it t A. From his Royal Clouse ? A. Na.- .
_
' • . Q. (By Sir G. Wattaxtrunt) For what cc
iiirsa., iXtli Mr. get more than 41000 a-year from tion did Vr. powler pay you the OM, and
40015bness
bi r Mild '.
t. A. When asy. thing, unples.. received from him ?
iißk , 'Orkitit we away* happetungl his Mg.. , 4. atr igr. Dowlar's

PW•"''