Star.
London, England, 1809-03-16 00:00:00

Artansisitor OF TIMM.
- -

Mr. WHITBREAD rose to correct a mistatement
made as he understood in some of the public prints,
of a passage in his speech on a former night, respect-
ing the evidence before the House, in the case of the
.Duke of York, and in which he was represented to
have said that a letter was addressed to Mrs. Clarke
by the Archbishop of TIIAM, which representation,
he understood, had considerably hurt the feelings of
the Rev. Prelate's Riends ; he however, to
elieve them from any anxiety od that account, so far
as he was concerned, by declaring that, he 'cierrain)y
had never made use of any suth ettstesshin. What
he had said was only that in which he was borne:' out
by the evidence ; namely, that a- letter written by the
Archbishop of 'l'uam, respecting Dr. O'Meara,-iPas
found in the possession of Mrs. Clarke, bat it Was
addressed to Ijr. O'Meara bienself. He did notmean
to make any complaint against the printer for this
inaccuracy, which might have easily occurred without
the slightest intention : he was only sot-prized at the
accuracy with which the Reports of the proceeangs
uf the House were. generally given.
Sir G. F. HILL said something, which we under-
stood to be in acknowledgment of. the explanation
jiven by the Honourable Member.

CALL OP THE HM IS&
Lord FOIXSTONE stow moved, list the Order
of the Day • be read, for tailing Over the House :
*hick baifig toad atcordiugy; he proposed to adjourn
it to a date hour of the evening, as he understood the
liouse-ivas likely to come to state dethiort this night
upon the preliminary question; and he should 'than be
able to judge, how far it wouldlus. adithetthle to ad-
- the &Ake tOilt1401,1•16or stlitore'distatatAty.

After a few words from General GAKOIGrit,
the Order of the Day was then read, for returning
the adjourned debate, upon the evidenett
the conduct of the Commander in Chie'...' l'
Lord MILTON rosetdsd laid, that u kids nib-
rtieutou s subject he felt it his 'ditty 'to fotirsl.ofieiou
upon a m A ture.consideration of 'die evidenak teitAbiu
attending to the chunehrs Without the House; or lie
misrepresentations on the other side of it. He had
not formed his opinion frcon thecloetrines of Meroheis
of legal habits who had spoken on this subject,: still
less from the doctrine of the Learned Judge (Mr.
Barton), who spolre on the first night of the debate ;
a doctrine which bore oh its face the absurdity, that
because a witness had in some instances contradicted.
herself, therefore her whole evidence should be swept.
away. If' this principle were acted tip to, the testi-
mcny of almost every witness who had been brought
to their Bar would Le impeachable. In examining
evidence of the nature ef that before the House, it
was necessary tb attend:tO slight circumstances which
often confirmed the testimony, of a witness ovenmore
than an apparent veracity throughout. From the evi-
dence before the House, k thugt cotheto a resolution
that the present Commander in Chief cannot with j
safety retain his situation. It was difficult to say, whe- ;
therhe was guilty of personal cortuption, although those'
Who entirely believed the evidence on the table,
I'
llinst come even to thaeconclusion. The Noble Lord
jt 11:Llton) however, did not carry his admiration of
'Mrs. Clarke's testimony quite so far as the Noble
Lord (Folkstone) did ' • and he should not say, that
every part of it was to be believed ; for though there
were minute circumstances which tended to confirm
its general truth, yet there was an air of flippancy
about her manner of speaking, which might well lay
her open to suspicion. Upon this account, he should
leave out of consideration all those parts of her evi-
dence, relating to transactions with the Duke of York, '
which had not been otherwise proved ; but there were •
Vo many And such various circumstances corroborated ,
by uniMpeachable witnesses and undeniable docu-
ments, that if he did not entirely believe the evidence ,
in question, he believed a great deal more of it than !
many persons who had spoken on Allis subject. The
NOble Lord mentioned one instance.in particular, in I
which the evidence of Mrs. Clarke was not only con-
firmed by Mr. Dowler, butby a Right Hon. Member,
of that House (Mr..Lostg), He had heard of a nevi
turnal conspiracy ; would the authors of this charge
• go so far as to say that. that Right Hon. Gentleman:
' was one"of the conspirators As to the charge of cor-t
ruption in the CoMmander in Chid; the only case in!
which there was direct proof cif 'this, was that of
Kennet. This was the strongest case t here was ail
!.man of infamops clerracter,.a.bankrupt, proposing
e. p to,
• the of York, through the medium of Colonel
i tayter, a loan to any extent, in iheevent of his gain..;
hlg i place by that means. The 'Noble :tent con-:
trasted the conduct of the Duite of Toik on diis oe.•
casion 'with that of the.Dtrlie of Portland,olvititecent,
occasion. The one resents the. infamous•condustt"oC
1 the applicant
.(Beasley), spurns thewretch who could'
I think so mean y of him from his doe*, and gives op!
his name to the 'Mutts •of Londonii Diocesan.
I The othercerers To Mr. Oreematxrd and others, and
suffers a negociation, -which the Noble Lord could
call by no milder name than bribery, to .go on from i
June till November. If this was not a direct proof
of a corrupt mind in his Royal Highness, the Noble.
Lord knew not what further proof could be acqUired.
But it might be said:this-case did not come within the
order to the Committee ; and certainly upon this
!ground, it might -be contended that no corruption in
' the Commander in Chief had been .proved. But in
several cases, which are cognizable by the Committee,
in the cases of French and Sanden, the Noble Lord
I thought himself entitled to carry along with him this
evidence of a eorrupt hind. There was no reasona-
i
1 ble doubt, from the continuance of the levy of Colo-
nel French, who appeared in no better light than that
of a crimp for the army, beyond the time stipulated
in• his letter of service, and from ot:,er circumstances,,
• that the levy was obtained through the influence o(
IMrs. Clarke; but having no direct proof of corrup-
; tion in this case, the Noble Lord was obliged to make
I use of the case of Kennet, to prove that the Duke of
• York knew too well what corruption was going for-
ward. The Noble Lord then said a few words op
the second Address which had been proposed (that of
' Mr. Basoces), and which he thought in substance the
same as the first, although the second had his Lord,
ship's preference, as it appeared to him to be worded
1 in a less offensive manner than the first, and because
the first contained some expressions to which he de-
cidedly objected. 4g Without an)ssother than the oh-
! viotis consequence, that if ev,:r the opinion should pre-
! %rail in the army, that promotion was to be obtained
1 in any other way except by merit and services, such
an opinion.must tend materially to wound the feelings
and abate the zeal of the army, and to do it essential
injury." These were expressions that were particu-
, laxly dangerous, inasmuch as they tended to convert
ltheanny into a deliberative body. The. Noble Lord
regretted, that the House had not come into the pro-
pssition. that the present Inquiry shonhl have been
L. made by a Parliamentary Cosnrnissioe. Tit;. House
would 'not then -have heard.of the ~ injustice of eon-
, slemniag without trial," nor •would these public ex.
i aminations have goneabroad, to the scandal of all the
lworld • the evidence would then have been upon oath,
.land. the House would not have been in the situation of
Inot knowing. what to.believe and what not to believe.
!Ilbt -approiong very much of either of the Addresses
Iwhich had been proposed, the' Noble Lord did not
intend to buithen the House with any new motion,
hat shoal& content 'himself with expressing his own,
ivpiniba, that ,~either the Address nor Resolution
should be mask but that the whole evidence. should
simply-be laid male,
the King. At the same time
1 the Noble Lord had no difficulty in expressing 'that
which he felt upon hii mind, namely, that the Corn-
! mander in Chief must have had suspicions of the
transactions which had Come out. The objection to
! this measure of the Noble Lord's would be, that it
cast the whole responsibility upon the King. But if
the House addressed the King, it would be the same,
I for the Duke's dismissal- must go through the King.
The Noble Lord's plan, he thought, the. more deli-.
rate one; but as he could not flatter himself that he
should find many to agree with him, ho should eh-
Main from putting it in any shape to the House. In
' the 'consideration of the present question, the Noble
Lord hoped the House would not be deterred eithei
by threats from without doors, to Make them :O.
nallits. or by threats from villain, to make. the.46l