my not returning an earlier reply to h. r. "h.'s commands. I cannot at present call "to my recollection having had any perso"nal acquaintance with capt. John Sped ding of the 48th regiment, and conse"quently cannot give the Commander in "Chief the information he requires; or "offer any opinion as to that officer's merit. "I have been so many years employed "abroad on the public service, and in such "various parts of the world, that it is not "impossible but capt. Spedding may have "served under my orders; and I should be "extremely sorry if my immediate want of "recollection of it should operate to his dis"advantage; if, therefore, he should be "able to refresh my memory respecting him, "by any communication he may think fit to make, I shall have great pleasure in doing "him justice, and obeying h. r. h.'s com"commands. I am, sir, &c. "ALURED CLARKE." "Lieut. Col. J. W. Gordon." Agreed to. No. 3. 48 Foot. Mem. 23 Nov. 1804. Return this to J. M. "Strand, 14 Nov. 1804. "Sir; I am directed by gen. Tonyn to trans"mit you the enclosed memorial, which the "General begs leave to recommend to the "notice of h. r. h. the Commander in Chief. "I have the honour to be, &c. "Lieut. Col. Gordon." "WM. GILPIN." "Acquaint Mr. Gilpin, for gen. Tonyn's in"formation, that h. r. h. approves of capt. Sped"ding retiring to half pay, and will recommend an officer from that Est. to succeed him. "To Field Marshal his royal highness the Duke "of York and Albany, Commander in Chief "of his majesty's forces, &c. &c. "10th November, 1801." 48 Foot. Capt. Hon. Geo. Blaquiere. "C. L." Capt. Blaquiere may be appointed to the "command." Do you know what steps were taken when capt. Spedding applied for promotion? A reference was made to sir Alured Clarke, and it appeared that sir A. Clarke had very little or no knowledge of him. Sir A. Clarke's letter is here. Was there any expectation or encouragement held out to capt. Spedding, that he would receive promotion in answer to his application? No, I think not. I find by a memorandum made upon the letter, that he was not to be noted until a favourable report should be received; in short, no notice was taken of his, application; his Memorial is dated the 28th August, 1804. Is the Committee to understand, that no notice was taken of his application, and no encouragement given to him between that application and the time he went upon half pay, so far as the documents inform you? None that I know of.. Do you know whether the Commander in Chief stopped all promotion in the 48th regiment? I have no recollection of it. Does it appear by any document in the office, that any reason was assigned to capt., Spedding of that nature, as the reason for not giving him his promotion? I think not, I cannot find any such reason. If promotion had been stopped in the 48th regiment, is it not likely you must have recollected it? Yes, I think so, some letter would have been written upon the subject, some correspondence must have passed. "The Memorial of capt. John Spedding of "the 48th regiment of foot: Humbly sheweth; That your royal highness's "memorialist, on account of a large family, "and an intricacy which has recently oc- Then you do not believe that there was any "curred in his private affairs, is desirous of order given to stop promotion in the 48th regi"retiring from the service upon half payment? I have already said I have no recollec"That he has been ten years in the army, tion of any such transaction. "three of which he has been in the West "Indies.-That in the year 1799 he ob"tained leave of absence from the 11th "West India regiment, wherein he then VOL. XII. Have you any documents in your possession that will shew in what manner major Taylor obtained his promotion to a lieut. colonelcy? Yes, I have. 3 L Did he obtain it by purchase? No, he ought not to have obtained it by purchase; he was recommended by the colonel of a new levy, lord Matthew. What was lord Matthew's levy, an Irish levy? Lord Matthew raised the 99th regiment, and by his letter of service was to recommend the officers; his letter of service I have now in my hand, and major Taylor is at the head of it. Then the Commander in Chief could not do otherwise, under the conditions of that levy, than accept the recommendation of major Taylor to be a lieutenant-colonel, if he had served the time prescribed by the regulations of the army, to be qualified to hold that rank? I cannot say that the Commander in Chief could not do otherwise, but it was a transaction perfectly regular, and in the due course of busi ness. In point of fact, was lord Matthew, as the officer who had undertaken to raise the new levy, to recommend a lieutenant-colonel? Certainly. Majesty, the officers whose names are con"tained in the inclosed list, for promotion, and "appointments in his lordship's regiment. We of" have the honour to be, with great deference "and respect, sir, your royal highness's very "faithful and devoted servants, Then is the Committee to understand that major Taylor obtained his promotion in consequence of this levy? Certainly, I know no other cause whatever. [Colonel Gordon delivered in the Papers.] Major Taylor, 25th foot. "To Field Marshal h. r. h. the Duke of York, Majesty's 25th regiment of foot; "Sheweth; That your Memorialist served "during the rebellion of 1798 in Ireland, as brigade-major and aid-de-camp to major"general Trench, in which situation he re"mained until the month of August 1799; "when major-general Hutchinson, having been "appointed to the staff of the army about to "embark for Holland, was pleased to nomi"nate Memorialist as his aid-de-camp, in "which station he served the compaign of that year. That Memorialist in 1800 accompanied "the expedition under lieut.-general sir R. Aber "crombie to the Mediterranean, and landed "with the army in Egypt; Memorialist served "the former part of that campaign as aid-de દ camp to lord Hutchinson, who was pleased "to nominate him to the situation of deputy "adjutant-general, upon col. Abercrombie's "succeeding brigadier-general Hope as adju"tant-general, the latter having been appoint"ed to the command of a brigade; that in 1801 your royal highness was graciously "pleased to obtain from his Majesty the rank "of major, for Memorialist, and lately to ap"point him to a majority in the 25th regiment "of foot.-Memorialist therefore relying on your royal highness's goodness, presumes to << hope that your royal highness will not deem "it improper, under circumstances which he "has had the honour to submit, to express an "humble hope, that, should an opportunity 46 "GREENWOOD & Cox." "Craig's Court, 13th Feb. 1805." "Field Marshal h. r. h. the D. of York, &c." [Here follows a list of the Officer's Names.] Does it appear that he applied for leave to purchase a lieutenant-colonelcy? I do not find any such application. Have you any documents respecting the promotion of capt. Ximenes to a majority in August 1804? Yes, I have. Where was capt. Ximenes when he was promoted? With his regiment, in Canada. Was he an old captain in the army? Yes, he was a captain of 1794, of ten years standing. Was he of that class of captains from his standing who was entitled, according to the view you take of the pretensions of officers of that rank and time, to majority? Yes, he 66 1 Capt. Ximenes, Wargrave Rangers. "No 40, Weymouth-street, Portland-place, 29th April 1801." "Sir; My brother, capt. David Ximenes "of the 29th regt. (now at Halifax) being a capt. since 1794, induces me, in his absence, to have the honour of requesting you'll be pleased to interest yourself with h. r. h. the "Commander in Chief, for the purpose of "obtaining him permission to enter on an ar rangement (by me) for raising men under the "late regulation, for a majority for him. I was very successful in raising a large proportion "of the late Windsor Foresters Fen. Cav, in "which I served from its commencement to "the general reduction of Fen. Cav. in 1800. "I will use every exertion till his return, which "I humbly hope, in consideration of his being 68 a capt. of near ten years standing, and hav"ing purchased every step, h. r. h. will gracious"ly permit; and I beg leave further to state, "that when he was on the recruiting service he 66 was very successful. I am, sir, &c. MORIS "XIMENES, Capt. Comt. Wargrave Rangers." "Col. Clinton, &c. &c. &c." To be noted. 1 Maidenhead, 22d Aug. 1804. The Memorial of Capt. M. Ximenes of the Wargrave Rangers, in behalf of his brother, Capt. D. Ximenes of the 29th Regt. His brother's claims will be considered. "To Field Marshal his Royal Highness the "Duke of York, Commander in Chief, &c. " &c. &c. 66 66 Major Ximenes, 62d Regt." Was the levy of this regiment of lord Matthew's completed? It is actually now a regiment of the line, and serving, I think, in the Bahamas; it is the 99th regiment. Was it completed in the year 1804? It was so far completed as to entitle him to recommend his ouicers; it was completed according to his letter of service, at least I believe so; it was regularly inspected by the commander of the forces in Ireland, and I know nothing to the contrary. You observe in the statement of colonel Brooke's services, he is appointed to the 56th regiment on the 5th of Jan. 1805? I see it is so. (By Sir George Wurrender.) it was necessary to make enquiries into the Ilaving stated, in your former evidence, that services of lieut. col. Brooke, on the 1st of July, when the exchange was proposed; were not enquiries made previous to the 5th Jan., when he was appointed as effective to the 56th regiment of foot from half-pay? I take for granted that due enquiries were made; but I think I have stated in my evidence that particular enquiries were necessary on his exchange to the cavalry. You mean that enquiries respecting colonel Brooke were made with respect to his fitness as a field officer of cavalry? I mean exactly that. "The Memorial of Captain Moris Ximenes, "Commandant of the Wargrave Rangers, "on behalf of his brother, Captain David "Ximenes, of the 29th regiment of foot, now on duty with his regiment : "Most humbly Sheweth; That your memo"rialist having seen in the Gazette several "Captains promoted to Majorities, junior to You will observe, that the only scrvices of "the abovesaid Captain David Ximenes of the col. Brooke as a cavalry officer, are for three "29th foot, most humbly prays that your royal months as a cornet in 1793; state what the re"highness will be pleased to take his said bro-sult of your enquiries into the services of col. "ther's length of service (being nearly ten years a Captain) into consideration, and re"commended him to his Majesty for promo"tion. And your memorialist will ever pray. "M. XIMENES.' "Bear Place, Maidenhead, Berks. "22d August, 1804." "Capt. D. Ximenes, 29th regt." "He is a Captain of 1794, and a young man -does your R. H. approve of his being noted for promotion-he is abroad with his Corps.” "Approved.-C. L.-I have posted Capt. X. to the 62d.-J. W. G." 1 London, 23d Dec. 1804. "New Hummums, Dec. 23, 1804. Brooke as a cavalry officer were, in addition to those stated as a cornet for three months in 1793? That very circumstance made the enquiries still more necessary, and the result of them was satisfactory, as I have before stated ; and that they were satisfactory, the services of col. Brooke have since very fully proved. State what other services col. Brooke was engaged in which could give him a knowledge ing which he was cornet in 1793. I have alof cavalry, in addition to the three months durevidence before them, that I kept no memoready stated to the Committee, and it is in randum in writing of such enquiries, but that the result of such enquiries was satisfactory: the conduct of col. Brooke, in the command of his regiment, has proved that they were eminently satisfactory. [The following entry was read from the London Gazette of the 18th of Aug. 1801 :-"14th Regiment of Foot, lieut. col. hon. Wm. Bligh, from the half-pay of the 54th foot, to be lieutenant colonel." WILLIAM ADAM, esq. a Member of the House, attending in his place, was examined. (By Sir T. Turton.) You stated in your first examination, thạt you considered Mrs. C. had prejudiced b. r. h.'s interest and his name with regard to money, and that an investigation took place; in consequence of that investigation, did any proofs appear of h. r. h.'s name having ever been used by her to procure money? It is impossible for me to state the particular facts that appeared, but I remember perfectly well it was certainly established that there had been transactions with regard to goods and likewise with regard to bills, which satisfied me that that representation was correct; I made no meinorandum at the time. Then you cannot state any particular transactions, or any particular sum for which the name of the D. of Y. was made use of to raise money for Mrs. C. Certainly not. Can you state the sources from whence you derived the information of its being so raised? I believe I have already stated in that part of my evidence, that, in order to obtain the information that was necessary to enable h. r. h. to judge what course he should take with respect to Mrs. C., I communicated with Mr. Lowten, and he employed Mr. Wilkinson; Mr. Wilkinson made an investigation, and reported the circumstances to me. It appears in your evidence, that the facts of the raising of money, or the prejudicing the interests of the D. of Y., by making use of his name, were communicated, after the investigation, to h. r. h.; were they communicated to h. r. h. by yourself, or by Mr. Lowten, or by Mr. Wilkinson? The result of the investigation was drawn up by Mr. Wilkinson or Mr. Lowten, I do not know which, and that was conveyed to h. r. h, not by my hand, but transmitted to h. r. h. when he was at Oatlands, I believe, upon the 7th or 9th of May 1806. I understood by your evidence, that h. r. h. the D. of Y. was very unwilling to believe the facts that were charged against Mrs. C.; is the Committee to understand, that, after the investigation was made, and the facts were communicated to h. r. b., he was then satisfied that she had made use of his name, and prejudiced his interest by so doing? I can only answer that by stating what h. r. h.'s conduct was: h. r. h., in consequence of being possessed of the information which I have stated to have been conveyed to him, immediately or very soon after came to a resolution to take the step of separating from Mrs. Clarke. Then I understand you to say, that the consequence of laying these facts before h. r. h. the D. of Y., was his separation from Mrs. C? I can draw no other conclusion than that; for, as I have already stated in my evidence, before that time, there was no reason to suppose that h. r. h. intended to separate from Mrs. C.; and, after that time, he did take that determination, Did you read, at any time, the statement that was drawn up by Mr. Lowten or Mr. Wilkinson, and submitted to h. r. h. the D. of Y.? I certainly did. Does your recollection furnish you with any specific sum that was raised by Mrs. C. in the D. of Y.'s name, without his authority? No, it does not. Probably you know whether the paper which was delivered to the D. of Y. is in the possession of h. r. h. at present? I never have seen that paper since. (By Lord Folkestone.) When did you first hear of the Note in the possession of capt. Sandon? On Saturday morning, the 4th of this month, between ten and eleven o'clock. From whom did you hear of it? I heard of it from col. Hamilton; col. Hamilton came to my house on Saturday morning, between 10 and 11 o'clock, before I was out of my bed. State to the committee what passed upon that occasion.-Col. Hamilton came to my house between 10 and 11 o'clock on Saturday morning, and was shewn up to me. He immediately mentioned to me that he had seen capt. Sandon at Portsmouth; that capt. S. had communicated with him upon the subject of this Inquiry; he said, that capt. S. had asked him how he should conduct himself; that he had told capt. S. that there could be no rule for his conduct, but one, which was to adhere strictly to truth, to tell every thing he knew, that it would not at all avail him to do otherwise, even if he should have an inclination, because he would be examined, I think he said, by the united ability of the country. He then told me, that capt. S. told him that he had some letters upon the subject of his transactions with Mrs. C. and that he had a note, which is the note in question, which he believed to be in the D. of Y.'s hand-writing; that that note he had shewn to capt. Tonyn before he was made major Tonyn, in order to induce him either to keep the deposit which he had made, or to replace the deposit which he had made, I cannot exactly recollect which; that deposit he had threatened to withdraw in consequence of the delay between the first interview he, capt. Sandon, had with capt Tonyn, on the subject of his promotion, which he represented, I think, as being nearly two months; that there was likewise another note, which note had been delivered, as he stated, to major Tonyn, which was a note saying he was to be gazetted to-night, or in words to that effect. Col. Hamilton told me he bad given strict injunctions to capt. Sandon to preserve the note which he represented as in the D. of Y.'s handwriting, and which I understand now to be the note about which there has been so much inquiry here, the original of which has been produced, and every paper. I said to col. Hamilton, that nothing could be more correct than his instruction; that it still remained to be seen what the terms of the note were, and to be judged of whether it was the D. of Y.'s hand-writing; I desired col. Hamilton, therefore, to go to capt. Sandon, and to desire to look at the note, and to take a copy of it, and capt. Sandon had said, that he, col. Hamilton, might depend upon his, capt. Sandon's, obeying his instructions; but that he would be extremely angry with him, or extremely enraged with him, I am not sure which was the expression, for he had already disobeyed one of his instructions, he had destroyed the note; upon which, according to col. Hamilton's representation, he said, 'Good God, have you destroyed the note? Of course I expressed myself to a similar effect to col. Hamilton when he made the communication to me respecting the destruction of the note. I went to Mr. Perceval, according to appointment made the day before, and communicated to him this fact, as stated by col. Hamilton; this became again the subject of our deliberations, and we again determined that it was our duty, as members of parliament, to bring the matter forward, leaving it to ourselves to judge in some measure, with regard to the time of bringing it forward; and in order that there might not be a possibility of supposing that we brought it forward or kept it back according to circumstances, it was determined to make the com to repeat his injunctions in the stronge t manner, to preserve all the papers, and among the rest the note. Col. Hamilton returned to my house, I think it must have been considerably before one o'clock; it was after twelve or about twelve; he told me, that he had repeated those instructions, that he had taken a copy of the note, which he brought to me, which I perused, and found to be in the very terms of the note which has been since produced; and he added, that according to his opinion and belief, it was the D. of Y.'s hand-writing. I then told him that such circumstances must be immediately communicated, and I wished him, therefore, to go to Mr. Perceval, with a note which I wrote, and that I would follow as soon as I could. Col. Hamilton went to Mr. Perceval, which I know, because I found him there, and had told Mr. Perceval the story before I arrived. Mr. Perceval and myself delibérated upon the course to be taken, and having understood from col. Hamilton's representations (for I believe neither of us ever saw capt. Sandon till he came to the bar of this house) that capt. Sandon had been applied to by Mrs. C. and I think he said Mr. Wardle,munication to certain members of this house. but I will not be sure, and Mr. Lowten, to go Accordingly the facts, as I have now stated to them, it was Mr. Perceval's suggestions, and them, were communicated to lord Castlereagh, my own, I believe mutually almost, that the to Mr. Canning, to the Attorney and Solicitor most advisable course for us to direct col. Ha-General, to lord Henry Petty, to Mr. Whitmilton to take, was to instruct capt. Sandon to bread and to general Fitz-patrick. This brings hold no further communication with any per- the fact down to the transaction in this house. son whatever till he appeared at the bar of this Mr. Lowten is employed as an agent of the house, and likewise to instruct him, to preserve D. of Y.? He is. the note and all the papers he had spoken of. Col. Hamilton received those instructions at Mr. Perceval's house, and went, as I presumed, to make the communication immediately to capt. Sandon, which was to be done before two o'clock, because Sandon had promised, as we understood from col. Hamilton, to give his answers, to the persons who had desired to see him, at that hour. After having given these directions to col. Hamilton, it was agreed by Mr. Perceval and myself, that this matter ought to be communicated to the D. of Y. and it was further agreed by us, that the matter should be brought before the house of commons by us, in case it did not make its appearance in the evidence of capt. Sandon. I went in search of h. r. h. the D. of Y. but it was the evening before I saw him; I communicated the matter to him, he expressed his surprise and astonishment, and declared the impossibility of his ever having made any such communication, and wished immediately to go to Mr. Perceval; we went to Mr. Perceval's together, where he made a similar asseveration, and again at col. Gordon's. I did not see h. r. h. again till between three and four o'clock on Sunday the 5th, and I did not see col. Hamilton until Sunday at one o'clock, when I saw him for the purpose of learning whether he had executed the delivering the instructions to capt. Sandon in the manner that Mr. Perceval and myself had required; col. Hamilton told me that he bad delivered them in the very terms; that Has Mr. Lowten been in the practice of examining the witnesses that were produced in support of the charges against the D. of Y. ? I really do not know whether he has or not. When you stated the circumstance of this Note to the D. of Y. did the Duke state that he never had written such a note with a view of influencing capt. Tonyn, as it has been represented by capt. Sandon, or that he had never written such a note at all to Mrs. C.? The D. of Y. stated, that he was perfectly sure that he had never written such a note; that he had not a recollection of it at all. Did he state to you, that he had never written to Mrs. C. upon the subject of military affairs? He always stated to me, that, to the best of his recollection, he had never written to Mrs. C. on the subject of military affairs, and that, if he . had done it, it must have been very rarely. Have you any objection to state what were the grounds of your withholding this communication from the house till the period it was brought forward? The ground that influenced my mind was, that I thought if the communication had been brought forward at an earlier period, it might have embarrassed the course of proceeding in the Inquiry, at the instance of the gentleman who had set it on foot, and that, in considering the whole circumstances of the case, justice would be better obtained, whatever the effect of that note might be, by keeping it back till the period when it was allowed to transpire. I can only say now what were |