grounding some proceeding upon such facts. The proceeding I propose will, I have no doubt, be acceded to. I am sure I have stated quite enough to induce the House to give me what I ask,—I could state more if necessary. There is, indeed, one thing to which I cannot omit alluding. The House must be astonished indeed at the corruption of the times, when told that there is at this moment a public office in the City for the Sale of Commissions, at the same reduced scale as that of Mrs. Clarke, and that the persons who manage this office stated in my presence that they were the agents of the present favourite mistress, Mrs. Carey. Indeed, these agents declared further, that they were also enabled to dispose of places both in Church and State, and that they did not hesitate to say, that they were employed by two of the first officers in the administration. But these are points to which I may, on a future day, feel myself more enabled to speak at large. The hon. member concluded with moving for the appointment of a Committee to inquire into the conduct of the Commander-in-Chief, with regard to Promotions and Exchanges in the Army, &c. &c.
Sir Francis Burdett seconded the motion.
The Secretary at War said, that he did not rise to give any opposition to the motion. (Hear, hear, from the Treasury Bench.) If he did so, he would ill consult the wishes and worse consult the interests of the Commander-in-Chief. Ref. 003 The facts which the hon. gent. had brought forward were of the most serious nature, and well deserved the attention of the House. He hoped the House would go into the inquiry, but listen to no charge unless it was clearly and distinctly stated. Charges on these or any grounds distinctly stated his royal highness was ready to meet, and even desirous of going into the investigation. This, he believed, was all that was necessary for him to say in this stage of the business; but he requested the indulgence of the House while he made a few observations not foreign to the question. With regard to the private transactions stated by the hon. gent. he had never heard of them before, and therefore could not be prepared to give an answer. But he could contradict those that were stated to have occurred at the Horse Guards. The papers respecting the half-pay fund were before the House, and he had stated in his place, without being contradicted at the time, that his royal highness had given up a great part of his patronage for the benefit of that fund. It was needless to go into the facts, more particularly as a full inquiry would necessarily take place. He would only remark, that the thanks which the House had been conferring on the army reflected no small credit on the Commander-in-Chief. His gallant friend near him (Sir Arthur Wellesley) might perhaps state of what description the army was which the Commander-in-Chief had put into his hands. Could the army have achieved the great exploits, for which it had been distinguished, if it had been ill-managed for a series of years. It had been universally allowed, that to make courage available in the day of battle discipline was necessary; and it was well known how much the Commander-in-Chief had attended to that object, which had rendered the army so formidable to the enemy. Another fact, to which it was important to allude, was the extreme order and regularity which had been introduced into the office of the Commander-in-Chief, which the inquiry would prove.
Sir Arthur Wellesley rejoiced that the hon. gent. had at length brought forward facts, to which a specific inquiry might be directed,—and he rejoiced also, that the character of the Commander-in-Chief would not be the subject of that general sort of discussion, which sometimes took place in that House; but that every fact would be fully and fairly sifted. It had fallen to his lot to know how promotions were conducted in the office of the Commander-in-Chief, and he knew that it was regularly recorded in that office who recommended the promotion, and the documents would be found there, so that all these transactions might be completely traced. With regard to the produce of the half-pay fund, the mode in which the money came into the office, and the mode in which it was issued, were recorded. Under these circumstances, he rejoiced that a committee was to be appointed, and he hoped they would make a special report—so much with regard to the alleged facts; but he must observe, with respect to the removal of the Barrack-Master of the Cape of Good Hope, that such removals were circumstances of common occurrence. The instance in question related to the establishment at Ceylon; and in foreign establishments, though the facts stated by the hon. gent. should be true, it constituted no ground of charge, for it was in the ordinary course of the service. With respect to the exchange between an officer going to the West Indies and one remaining here, the Commander-in-Chief would be in a most extraordinary situation if it was to be made a ground of accusation, that he had not consented to an arrangement tending to the convenience, perhaps to the benefit of individuals. As to one of these gentlemen dying here, and the other in the West Indies, if these general charges were to be listened to, it would be impossible for a person in his royal highness’s illustrious station to conduct the business. The circumstances stated by the hon. gent. went to show, that his royal highness, with a view to put a little money in his own pocket, had encroached upon the half-pay fund. But the House would recollect, that this fund was established by his royal highness, and the money furnished from the produce of commissions, which he might have given away without any sale at all. But the Commander-in-Chief gave up his own patronage, and saved to the public an immense sum—and yet he was charged with an embezzlement of this sort! But he was glad that a full inquiry was to take place. There was still one topic on which he would be to blame, if he did not say a few words—he alluded to the state of the army under his command last summer. He must say, that never was there an army in a better state as far as depended on the Commander-in-Chief, and he must further say, that if the army had not performed the service for which it was destined, the blame would not have rested with the Commander-in-Chief, but with him. Ref. 004 (Hear, hear.)
Mr. Yorke observed, that he never listened to a charge more serious, and he had heard it with the greatest possible concern, both on account of the Commander-in-Chief, and the hon. gent. who had brought it forward (hear, hear), who took so heavy a responsibility upon himself. But he was glad that the House had come at last to some charges against H.R.H. the Commander-in-Chief in a tangible form. Ref. 005 Publications which he would treat as libels (hear, hear), had lately appeared against the Commander-in-Chief, and these had been circulated with a pertinacity hitherto unexampled. He was glad, therefore, that something was now brought forward in a tangible form, and he hoped the House would do its duty to itself, to the country, and to the Royal House of Brunswick (Loud cries of hear, hear); that blame might rest where it ought to be fixed, and that if there was no ground for these accusations, justice might be done to the Commander-in-Chief. And he sincerely hoped, that if the latter should turn out to be the fact—the hon. gent. would be enabled to acquit himself, by showing at least, that there existed some probable reasons in support of the heavy charge which he had taken upon himself. For my own part, Mr. Yorke continued, I believe that there exists a CONSPIRACY of the most atrocious and diabolical kind against his royal highness (loud cries of hear, hear)—founded on the JACOBINICAL spirit which appeared at the commencement of the French revolution; for though this spirit did not show itself exactly in the same form as at first, when once raised it was not easily quelled, and it never could promote its views with better hopes of success than by TALKING down illustrious persons. (Hear, hear.) It was the object to write down his royal highness—it was no less so to write down all the establishments of the country. By means of the press, the liberty of which was so valuable, and the licentiousness of which was so pernicious, it appeared to be the design of the CONSPIRATORS to write down the military system through the Commander-in-Chief—the army through its generals, and other establishments through the persons most conspicuous in each—
[The remainder of the Debate will be found at p. 36.]
Now, as I said before, we need not wait for this discussion, in order to be able to form a judgment upon certain very important points, introduced into this debate; because those points are quite distinct from the main subject of the debate.
Upon the statement of Mr. Wardle no observation need be made. It consists of facts; not of declamation or loose assertion; but of specific facts, the truth or falsehood of which may be, and are to be, ascertained. I should, however, do great violence to my feelings, were I to suppress an expression of my admiration of the manly as well as the able manner, in which that statement was made. The speech was, at once, concise, plain, and impressive; the allegations were unequivocal, the motives undisguised, and the principles
