Star.
London, England, 1809-02-17 00:00:00

FRIDAY,-FEBRUARY 17, 18th

PARLIAMENTARY PAOCEEDINGS.

HOUSE OF LORIiS,TItLJRSDAY, FEB. it
Basset's Divorce was read a third time, and passed.
The Proceedings relative to the Banbury Peerage were re-
sumed, end ordered to be continued on Thursday nest.
The House, in a Committee offriVileges, mode some amine':
meats respeetite further progress of the Roxburgh ease.
The Militia Enlistment Bill, Malt Duty Bill, Equity Debtnrs'
Bill, and Ord Eteheiluer BM Bills, were received frcnn the Com-
mons, sigid read a first time.
The Mike of GLOUCESTER presented a petition from cert al
Debtors in the King's Bench, praying for relief. it was referred
to a Committee on the Laws of Debtor and Creditor.
CAMPAIGN IN SPAIN AND PORTUGAL.
Lord DARNLEY then called their Lordships' at-
tention to the subject of the late Campaign in Spain
and Portugal. Impressed, as he was, with a deep
sense of the inisconductrof Ministers, and recollecting
that they pmfesied a disposition to put the House in'
possession of every information that might be requi-
site to enable Parliament and the country to decide
upon their measures, he, felt it his duty to move for ,
several Returns, calculated to attain that object. He
understood that the Spanish Juntas particularly soli-
cited the assistance of a respectable body of cavalry.
This was precisely that description of force which we
could have best spared, es our cavalry establishment
greatly exceeded what could at any time be requisite
for the purposes of internal defence. Btit.among the
various features of the misconduct of. Ministers, one of
the most striking was their tardiness in complying
with the request of the'Spaniards, and the very limited
extent to which it was at last gratified. The official
dispatches bore testimony to tile-injurious consequen-
ces of a deficiency of cavalry in the battle ofVimiera.
He concluded with moving for k return of the effec-
tive Cavalry in Great Britain on the let of July 1-808,
a return of the Cavalry engaged in the battle of Vi,
miera, and a return of the total of the British Cavalry
in Spain, at the moment of the junction of the several
divisions of the t under Sir John MeOre.• • -
The Earl of Irt.).NERPC/014 assuted. the Noble
Lord and the House, that Ministers felt not the least
wish to oppose the motion just made. Onthe contrary,
it had their hearty concurrence. He only wished to
amend the motion,- so as to include a return of the
various arrivals of cavalry in Portugal-subsequent to
the battle of Vimiera, andaip to the time of Sir John
Moore's march to Spain. With the view of still fur-
aher promoting the purpose of fair and impartial en-
quiry into the conduct of Velisters, he should move
for additional Papers as soon as the Noble Lord's mo-
tion was disposed of.
Lord DARNLEY had nom* ction to the amend-
ment
proposed by the Noble Secretary, provided the
date of the variotis arrivals of cavalry in Portugal
were added: This suggestion being acceded to, the
rnotion,was pat and agreed to.
The Earl of LIVERPOOL then said, that in or-
der to explain, in the most ample manner, the line of
-conduct adopted. by Ministers in reference to Spain
and Portugal, he felt it necessary to move for copies',
of the instructions sent to our Commanders in those
countries, and the communica ions from them to Mini-
sters, with the exception of such parts as it might be in-
....-
ju •
rious to the public service topublish. He wished Noble
Lords to understand,-that the passages he alluded to
were such as related to services still depending. As
to services completed, there was no intention of with-
holding any documents that, in the slightest degree,
bore upon the discussion of their merits. All that he
requested was, that nothing should be done to pre-
judge the question of What,had been the conduct of
Ministers: and that whatever proceeding was adopted
after the papers were laid on the table, should be such
as to afford them a fair opportunity of explaining
every part of their conduct; and, this course being
pursued, they felt not the least apprehension in sub-
mitting to the candid decision of the House. The
instructions to Sir Thomas Dyer, and his communi-
cations to Sir Arthur. Wellesley, would, he thought, be
found in the papers relative to the Convention of
Cintra already moved for ; if not, they might be cal-
led for on a future day. In answer to a qaestion
across the table from Lord Darnley, his• Lordship
said, that it was an admitted_fact, 'that the Junta of
Oviedo had made an application of the nature previ-
ously alluded to by. the Noble Lord,, and that Sir
Thomas ,Dyer communicated the same to Sir Arthur
Wellesley. .
The Duke of NORFOLK wished, to know whe-
ther measures had been taken to prevent the French
and Spanish fleets in Cadiz halbour from falling into
the hands of the enemy. We had now here aa Am-
bassador from Spain, who held a high official situa.
tion in that country : and one of the most important
points to be arranged with him, was, in his concep-
tion, that of securtugahose fieets,• by stipulating that
they should be sent to Buenos Ayres, Minorca, or
any other pace of safety. When he looked to the ra-
pidity of operation:that characterised the man who
was at the head of the French armies, he was not with-
out apprehensions on this subject. - His Grace further
expressed his hopes that Ministers, whatever assistance
they might continue to give the Spaniards, in money
and supplies, would not rashly put to hazard any
considerable portionrlf our military force.
No answer was given to the Noble Duke, and the
motion of Lord LIVERPOOL was put and agreed to.—

Adjourned.

•• - HOUSE OF COMMONS.
A Member was sworn in.and took his seat.
On the motion of Lord FOLKSTONE, Mr. Greenwood, Co-
lonel Taylor, and Mr. Williams, were ordered to attend before
Ye Committee of Inquiry respecting the conduct of the Duke of
York ; as were Mr. and Mrs. Corri, on the motion of Sir James
HALL.
A Message was brought ffom the Lords, with Mr. Gregson' s
Divorce Bill, passe& by diet'. Lordships, deli rbt the concurrence
of the House thereto. Read the ant time.. add arderedfor the
second reading. • . . • •
Oa the motion of SirARTHUR VirELI.ESLEY the House re-
solved Inns a Committee on the Irish Militia Acts Consolidation
Bill. It-was reported, ordered to be printed; and taken into fur-
ther avissiskrarion4hls Iday month. • .
sir A.RTHUIL WELLE,SLEY moved the sneer of the day for
seqd readiutpf the Irish Militia I:4distment Bill:. = ,
Lille e
toinagt ODELLN... eeepellirees Ids wig UM 's *clatiit should
a.... ,„ .. 4
• - .v 3 41--
-

be inserted in this bill, foi allowing the malt 'bounty to recruits
fot the Mil'tia in Ireland as in England. Vointiteers Weee, he
said, annually allowed to be transferred from the MA militia re-
&Mott to the line ; and -the Consequence was, those regiments
were Sery defective of their ordinal force, an 4 the bounty of re-
cruits considerably raised A penalty. of sol.per man was alto
imposed upon every parish defective in raising the quota bi a
gives day ; and he feared. that if the same bounty were not al-
-1 Arndt° the perishes in Ireland as to those in Eargland, to aid in
raiminiSlr ARth;*lnenlithtinWucllF.LcULESseonit.ellEYt.twriduld unotiw-
agree. Willi the lion.
therenoincteashefoota
rnhrgecatteirloititni:,:dtinhatirenweeileheemiesisa,netwlthheedretpo:::: so high a bounty as
Gentlemith,pt to thleylsetiowireownpuasto
rabboenibeaadoeuveoryn. ,
tdiingrn
tlernsn, besides, did not seem to bear in his ri.cullection, that the
bounty of ten guineas was not given in England in aid of the ge-
neral recruiting of the militia regiments, but to the balloted mien,
to enable them to procure substitutes ; and that in Ireland thane
of the casualties in the, militia, regiments were fWed up by, ballot,
neither did the expence of raising recruits to fill up the place of 1
the volunteers in !reland fall on the county, but was paid out of I
the Treasury. In another bill which he meant to bring forward
on this subject, it was his intention to insert a clause for enah-
ling the I.c.rd Lieutenant of inland to arleance from the treasury,
.at his discretion, rates otimmaty as hith as ten guineas, if neces-
sary, in aid of the balloted men, to Lail substitutes.
On tkesuggestion of Colonel C. H. HUITHINSON, the Chan-
cellor of the Exchequer areedro postpone till Monday next, the
tecondreading of the Corn Distillery Prohibition Bill.
THE DUKE. OF YORK.
Lord FOLKSTONE moved, that Mr. Chapman,
first Clerk in Lord Castlereagh's Office, do attend the
Committee ; and that the Right Honourable Charles
Long be requested to attend in his place in that
House to-day.-- Ordered.
Lord FOLKSTONE moved the order of the day
for the House to resolve into a Committee on the in-
quiry respecting the conduct of his Royal Highness
the Commander in Chief.
The House resolved accordingly,
' Lord HENRY PETTY stated, that as the name
of Tindal had been mentioned in that
.House in
Maltby's examination respecting negociations for
places, and as a most respectable Gefitlentan of that
name, a Solicitor in Lincoln's Inn-Fields, had been
apprehensiire that the public might imagine him to
be the individual alluded to, he took this opportunity
of removing any impression of thal nature, by stating
that he had received a letter from Mr. TYNDALE, of'
Lincoln's-Inn-fitlds, expressive of his alarm lest his
name should be confounded with that of a man with
whom he had nn intercdurse, for connection whattiver,
and that be was ready and desirous to verify the fact
at The bar, -
The CHANCELLOR. of the EXCHEQUER
said, he saw no danger of mistaking the respectable
character alluded to for the other person, who it was
stated lived at Chelsea.
Mr. BAN KES said, he understood the person of
the name of Tindal, who was connected with Maltby,
wasAtot now forthcoming. He'had been given to
understand, however, that he had been examined
this day as a witness on the Committee for enquiring
into East-India patronage.
Lcrd FOLKESTONE now rose, and said, that,
before he proceeded to call in the witnesses, it might
be deemed convenient to put the Committee in pos-
ses• i m of the particular subject to which he meant to
examine the first witness, Mr. Duff, the Solicitor, who
attendel in consequence of the order of the House
yesterday, with some papers he had to produce._
Those papers, he undetitood,:came into the hands of
Mr. Duff, in the year 1801, in consequence of his
being S )licitor to the Statute of Bankruptcy, against
a man named Robert Kermet, who had formerly
been an upholsterer in Bond-street, and afterwards
lived in Lincoln's-Inn-fields, in the profession of a
I curer of the tooth-ache. A proposition was set on
fuot by his Royal Highness the Duke of York to raise
fir his use a sum of £70,000 or £BO,OOO by way of
anwiity, and this Mr. Kennet undertook to forward
\
the views of his Royal Highness, in consideration of
provision being made for him by a respectable situa-
tion under Government ; and upon the success of this
undertaking, was to depend the success of the nego-
tiation for the loan. Accordingly, application was
made by his- Royal Highness to Mr. Pitt, to Earl
Camden, and others, to procure Mr. Kennet a situa-
tion at home or abroad, and particularly one which
happened just then to be vacant in the West Indies.
A Secretary to the Duke of York acknowledged the
receipt of Mr. Kennet's letter, proposing the terms of
this negociation, the receipt of which he acknowledges
in another letter, but in this he expressed no disap-
probation of Mr. Kennet's proposal ; and k would ap-
pear upon the face of the letter, that the success of
the Duke of York, in obtaining the situation, would
depend upon the loan.' liesliould'adduce the letters
before the Committee, and particularly that of Colo-
nel Taylor, to which he alluded. He then moved
that Mr. Duff be called to the Bar.
The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER'
rose. He did not mean, he said, to oppose the mo-
tion of the Noble Lord ; but at the same time it did
not appear-to him that the evidence, or the papers
now pi-Toted to be'produced, had any connection
with the subject, respecting which the Committee
were instructed to inquire, namely, the conduct of his
Royal Highness in his capacity of Commander in
Chief. They had no relevancy whatever to the ma-
nceuvres of Mrs. Clarke, or the stories with them con-
nected, nor any relation to military business. How-
ever, he had no wish that any paper should be with-
held that in any degree might throw light upon the
general cause ; and he therefore abstained from any
resistance of the Noble Lord's motion, rather from a
wish not to be thought desirous of stifling any infor-
mation respecting the whole subject in agitation, than
frort any relevancy the motion had to the question
before the Committee. -
Lord FOLKESTONE could not exactly under-
stand the Right Hon. Gentleman's meaning by his
phrase—the manoeuvres of Mrs. Clarke ; but if the
suggestion he (the Noble Lord) had offered to the
House last night, had been adopted, namely, an ad-
ditional instruction to the Committee to enlarge their
inquiry into the general conduct of the Duke of York
the p: p.n.s now moved for would be"
hiniglithyerreireesvpaeuctt.s,
..

\

~~

• [PEACE S n‹,-P C

•
Mr.. Dur, called to the bar, and examined by Lord
Otati-roxe:
Q. What is ynd dame ? A: Archibald Duff.—:-
Q. What is your sittietion ?A. Solicitor.--Q. DO
you know Robert Kennet A.. Yes, I was Solicitor
to a Commission- of Bankruptcy against him.--Q.
What time did the Commission take place ? A: Some
time in 1003.—Q: In consequence of his sknation,
did certain paper* of his come into your possession ? A.
In consequence of the 'Commission, the Bankrupt's .
papers were seized, and certain le;tters came into my
possession.r—Q. In your -opinion, do they relate to
this enqtiiry I A. Ido not knO*. produce them:
The papers were prodticed.

Q.,•Vs'hin did thOse papers come into.your posses.
slon ? A. I cannot precisely ascertain. It was sonie
time about the latter end of 1805; or the•beginning
of 1806.—Q. Have they been. ever since in your pos-
session ? A. They have.—Q. Are these' all the pa-
pers ?A: They are all which had any thing to do -
with the Duke of .York.—Q. Did you at any time
state that there was another.-paper in your possession, ,
which you could not readily lay your hand on ?. A.
I did state so last night to Lord Folkestone ; but
day I stated to the Noble Lord, that I was inclined '
to think, from a distant recollection of reading one
of the bankrupt's letters, now in the hands of this
Gentle Man (the short-hand writer), but I since find
that I had no such letter.—Q. Do you mean that
no such paper was in existence ? A. No such paper.
Q. Are you acquainted with the hand-writing of Ro.
bert Kennet ? A: Perfectly well: .
Here Lord FOLKESTONE referred the witness .
to the several letters produced by him, and num-.
bered, 2, 12, 14, 17, 18, all of which he proved to
be the hand-writ-mg of Kennett, .except enclosure
in No. 17:
tßy Mr. 144 VAMITTAttiI Do you mean to
say the letter •to which you alluded just now, was
never in existence ? •
The witness repeated his answer to Lord Folke-
stone, on a. similar question:
Q. In what business was Kennett ? A. He had
been an upholder, iii Bond-street ; but at thetime of •
his bankruptcy, to which I was Solicitor, he lived in
Lincoln's Inn-fields, and cured, or •pretended to
cure, the tooth-ache by a secret process.—Q. Did he
obtain his certificate ? A: He did.
Q. (By Lord Fames-rose.) Did be ,pass his last
examination ? A. He did, after. a vast number of
meetings and delays.—Q. 'What is become of Ken, •
nett now ? A. Ido not know. I saw him about a
month ago.—Q. Do you know any thing particular
which occurred to him at the time of his bankruptcy?
A. I do ; but I wish the question to -be put more
particularly, and not to answer generally. —Q. Was
he not put in the pillory ? A. He was, on the di-
rection of the Lord Chancellor, prosecuted by the.
Attorney-General, for a conspiracy to defraud. hit
creditors : he was convicted, and sentenced to the
pillory.—Q. Had he been a bankrupt before SA,
He was, about two years before.—Q. State the dates •
of the bankruptcies ? A. I can't, with precision.—
The second was in 1803 ; the first, I think, was in
the month of January, 1801!
Witness withdrew. . . . • .
Lord FOLKESTONE moved that Colonel Tay-
lor be called to the Bar.
The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER
said, he apprehended Colonel Taylor had scarcely
time to be in attendance since the order to summon
him was made. He himself had received a note from
the Noble Lord this morning, intimating his inten-
tion to move for Colonel Taylor's attendance, and an
express had been, in consequence, dispatched for him
to Windsor, which could not reach him time enough -
to procure his attendance sooner than seven or e.;ot -
o'clock this evening.
Lord FOLKESTONE said, his object was .only
to prove the hand-writing of Colonel Taylor in. some
of the letters now produced, which perhaps,. the
Right Hon. Gentleman himself, or some other. Ho-
nourable Member present, might do.
The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER
said, he had never seen Colonel Taylor write, butte
thought all doubts on the. point might be readily ob-
viated.by some Member present. .
An Honohrable Member, Mr. TAYLOR, said he
could answer the Noble Lord's questions on the point.
The letters marked 8,9, 10, 13, and 20, were
shewn t 6 him successively, all of which he stated to
be the hand-writing of Colonel Taylor, except 13 and
20, but a note in the Colonel's hand was inclosed in
these letters.
Mr: DUFF was then called, and No. 13 being shewn
to him, he said, he did not think it was Kennett's
hand.
No. 4,5, 9, and 19, were then shewn to Mr.
ADAM, who acknowledged theirs to be his owihand-
writing, except No. 9, which he said was written by
his direction.
Nos. 11 and 15 were ihen shewn to Mr. V. Lot;G,
who admitted the letter to be.his own hand-writing ;
but said the former purported to bea copy. ,
Lord FOLKESTONE stiggest'ea the. propriety
of the letters•which 1 ai been proved being now read;
No. 1 was a letter of Kennett's to Colonel Taylor,
offering a loan to the amount of £70,000, and stating
the terms on which it was te. be. conducted.
I.IEUTENANT-COLOMEL TAYLOR TO MR. KIINNtT.•
" Lieutenant-Colonel Taylor presbits 'compliments' to Mr.
Kennet, and is requested by his Royal Highness the Duke of
York to desire hi will call on Mr. Adam, Lincoln's-inn-Gelds, on
Wednesday next."—(Witlsout date.)
MIL ADAM TO MA. IttNNIT.
" Mr. Adam Is sorry that his business clseWbere detained tiirr',
yesterday, so as to prevcnt his meeting Mr. Kennet, according to
appointment He would be glad to see Mr. K. this asbming,
eleven o'clock. •
". Lincoln's-inn-fields, August 32."
Tat SAKI TO :rat sasta.
" • Mr. Adam presents compliments to Mr. Kennet, and iejshei
to see him -on Tuesday evening; before which time he cannot be
In town.,-Lincoln's-ina4lelds, Thursday.'
LIZOTSIKANT•COLOILL TAYLOR. TO MR.
" I atutelonsl Taylor priscnts his ecenplireaots. to, Mr.
Robert Kennat; ma bets to acquaint him that the Doke of Turk

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