Mr. Cole says, that he saw the Princess at Blackheath about four times in the year 1802, after he left her in April, and five or six times in London; that he had heard a story of the Princess's being with child, but cannot say that he formed an opinion that she was so; that she grew lusty, and appeared large behind; and that at the latter end of the year he made the observation, that the Princess was grown thinner. That he cannot form an opinion about the child; that he has seen an old man and woman (about 50 years of age) at Montague House on a Sunday, and has inquired who they were, when he was answered by the servants in the hall, "That is little Billy's mother," (meaning the child the Princess had taken, and which was found by Stikeman.) 14th January, 18c6. WM. COLE. WILLIAM COLE Says, that on the 17th of January instant, he walked from Blackheath to London with Mr. Stikeman, and in the conversation on the road, Cole mentioned the circumstance of the little child, saying, that he was grown a fine interesting boy; to which Stikeman replied, "what, do you mean Billy Austin?" Cole said, "Yes. Pray do the old man and woman come to see the child as usual?" Stikeman said, "Old man and woman! they are not old; we have not seen them much lately; they live at Deptford;" but he appeared to avoid any conversation on the subject. Cole says, that the account of the correspondence between the Princess and Captain Manby was communicated to him by Fanny Lloyd, but she never mentioned any such correspondence having taken place through Sicard, since Captain Manby went abroad. Cole says, that he has not been in the company or presence of the Prince alone, or had any conversation with him on this, or any other subject, since the Princess went to live at Charlton, which is near nine years ago. Temple, 30th Jan. 1806. WILLIAM COLE WM. COLE. Says, that the gentleman and lady were sitting close together on the sofa; but there was nothing particular in their dress, position of legs or arms, that was extraordinary; he thought it im proper that a single gentleman should be sitting quite close to a married lady on the sofa; and from that situation, and former observations, he thought the thing improper. The person who was alone with the lady at late hours of the night (twelve and one o'clock), and whom he left sitting up after he went to bed, was Mr. Lawrence, the painter, which happened two different nights at least. As to the observation made about Sir Sidney having a key of every door about the gardens, it was a gardener, who was complaining of the door of the green-house being left open, and the plants damaged, and who made the same to Mr. Lampert, the servant of Sir John Douglas, and which he mentioned at Cheltenham to Sir John and Mr. Lowten. Lampert said he should know the gardener again. 23d February, 1806. ROBERT BIDGOOD. 18th of September next, and have been with the Have lived with the Prince 23 years on the Princess since 21st March, 1798. In 1802 we were at Blackheath, and did not go to any other place; in 1801 Sir Sidney Smith left his card at Montague House, and he was afterwards invited to dinner; and in the spring of 1802 Lady Doaglas came to reside at the Tower, where she stayed about three weeks. During this time Sir Sidney was frequently at the house, both morning and evening, and remained till three or four o'clock in the morning. He has seen Sir Sidney in the blue parlour early (by ten o'clock) in the morning; and on inquiring from the footmen how he came there without his knowledge, they said, they had not let him in, and knew nothing of his being there. He does not know of Sir Sidney being alone till three or four o'clock in the morning, as there were other ladies in the house. During the year 1802 the Princess used to ride out in her phaeton, attended by Mrs. Fitzgerald, and took out cold meat, and went towards Dartford, where she spent the day, and returned about six or seven in the evening.Williams, the coachman, always attended the Princess. Lady Douglas, during the year 1802, was constantly at Montague House, and was admitted at all times. The Princess was used frequently to go to Lady Douglas's house, where Sir Sidney resided; at the end of that year there was a misunderstanding between Lady Douglas and the Princess; and one day he saw Lady Douglas leave the house in tears, and afterwards she has not visited the Princess. Mr. Bidgood's wife has lately told him, that Fanny Lloyd told her, that Mary Wilson had told Lloyd, that one day, when she went into the Princess's room, she found the Princess and Sir Sidney in the fact; that she (Wilson) immediately left the room, and fainted at the door. In the winter of 1802, and the spring of 1803, Captain Manby became a visitor at Montague House; his frigate was fitting out at Deptford, and Bidgood has reason to believe that the Princess fitted up his cabin, for he has seen the cotton furniture brought to the Princess to chuse the pattern, which was sent to Blake, her upholsterer, in London-street, Greenwich. When Captain Manby was about to sail, he was walking in the anti-room, to let Captain Manby out; and, as he stayed some time, Bidgood looked into the room, and, from a mirror on the opposite side of the room to where Captain Manby and the Princess stood, he saw Captain Manby kissing the Princess's lips; and soon afterwards he went. away. He saw the Princess, with her handkerchief to her face, and go into the drawing-room, apparently in tears. SARAH BIDGOOD. About six months ago, in a conversation with Fanny Lloyd, respecting the general conduct of In 1803, was not with the Princess at Margate. the Princess, she said, that whilst Sir Sidney viIn 1804, was with the Princess at Southend. sited the Princess, that Mary Wilson had gone We went there the 2d of May; Sicard was coninto the bed-room to make up the fire, and found stantly on the look-out for the Africaine, Captain the Princess and Sir Sidney in such an indecent Manby's ship; and, about a month afterwards, sitnation, that she immediately left the room, and Sicard descried the ship, before she came to the was so shocked that she fainted away at the door. Nore. The instant the ship cast anchor, the Cap- (This witness was not examined before the Comtain came on shore in his boat to the Priucess.missioners; at least, no copy of such examination, The Princess had two houses, Nos. 8 and 9. She if there was any, was transmitted with the other lived at No. 9; and, on Sicard seeing Captain papers. The first paragraph in her examination is, Manby come on shore, he ran down the shrubbery however, stated above, as it is observed upon in the to meet, and shewed him into the house, No. 9; Princess's answer; but the remainder, not being Captain Manby was constantly at No. 9; and adverted to, either by the Commissioners' report, or used to go in the evening on board his ship, for by the answer, and being all hearsay, is omitted.) some weeks; but afterwards he did not return on board the ship in the evening, and Bidgood has seen him in the morning, by ten o'clock, in the house, No. 9; and, from the circumstance of towels, water, and glasses, being placed in the passage, he had reason to believe that Manby had slept there all night. In 1805, Bidgood was not with the Princess in Hampshire. After the Princess returned from Hampshire, Captain Hood used to visit the Princess at Blackheath alone, without his wife. Captain Hood used to come about twelve o'clock, and was shewn into the blue room, where luncheon was ordered; and the Princess and the Captain were alone together, without a lady or other attendant. He used to stay dinner, and sometimes in boots; about an hour afterwards coffee was ordered; after which the Princess retired, and Cap. tain Hood had also left the room, and had not been let out of the house by any of the servants. Bidgood has not seen Captain Hood since about Christmas last. FRANCES LLOYD. FROM RIPLEY, IN SURREY. Temple, 12th May, 1806. To the best of my knowledge, Mary Wilson said, that she had seen the Princess and Sir Sidney in the blue room; but she is so close a woman, that she never opens her mouth on any occasion; never heard Mary Wilson say she was so alarmed as to be in a fit. Heard the gardener at Ramsgate say one day, at dinner, that he had seen Mr. Sicard and Captain Manby go across the lawn towards a subterraneous passage leading to the sea. When her Royal Highness was going to the launch, Sir Andrew Hammond and his son came the day before, and dined with her, and on the next morning, about four o'clock, after the doors of the house were open, she saw Captain Manby sitting in the drawing-room of the adjoining house to her Royal Highness, which room belong Bidgood has strong suspicions that Mrs. Sandered to her. used to deliver letters to Sicard, which he conceived to be from the Princess to Captain Manby, as Sicard used to put the letters into his pocket, and not in the common bag for letters. Mrs. Sander must be fully informed of all the circumstances above alluded to. Mary Wilson and Miss Mielfield must also know all the circumstances. Bidgood has seen the mother (as she is called) of the little boy frequently at Montague House; the child was about three weeks old when he first saw it. The mother was at Montague House on Monday last. The husband worked in Deptford yard; but was discharged, and Stikeman has since employed him at his house in town. The mother appears to be better dressed than usual. Temple, 4th April 1806. R. BIDGOOD. One morning, about six o'clock, she was called to get breakfast for her Royal Highness, when she saw Captain Manby and her walking in the garden, at Ramsgate. Heard from Mrs. Lisle's maid, that the Princess, when at Lady Sheffield's, went out of her bedroom, and could not find her way back; but nothing more. About four years ago, as I think, Mr. Mills at tended me for a cold, and, in conversation, he asked me if the Prince visited at our house? I said, not to my knowledge. He said the Princess certainly was with child. FRANCES LLOYD A true copy-J. Becket. END OF THE DOCUMENTS. A NARRATIVE OF EVENTS THAT LED TO THE PUBLICATION OF THE ORIGINAL DOCUMENTS. FOR Some months, so many hints, advertisements, and notices appeared in the daily Papers, and in various other ways, that the public mind was in some measure prepared to ex. pect a full disclosure of the proceedings relative to her Royal Highness the Princess of Wales. The following occurrence was the first that strengthened the conviction of every observer on this subject. On the 14th of January 1913, a sealed letter was transmitted to Lord Liverpool and Lord Eldon, by Lady Charlotte Campbell, as lady in waiting for the month, expressing her Royal Highness's pleasure that it should be presented to the Prince Regent; and there was an open copy for their perusal. On the 15th, the Earl of Liverpool presented his compliments to Lady Charlotte Campbell, and returned the letter unopened. On the 16th, it was returned by Lady Charlotte, intimating, that as it contained matter of importance to the state, she relied on their laying it before his Royal Highness. It was again returned unopened, with the Earl of Liverpcol's compliments to Lady Charlotte, saying, that the Prince saw no reason to depart from his determination. On the 17th, it was returned in the same way by command of her Royal Highness, expressing her confidence that the two noble Lords would not take upon themselves the responsibility of not communicating the letter to his Royal Highness, and that she should not be the only subject in the empire whose petition was not to be permitted to reach the throne. To this an answer was given, that the contents of it had been made known to the Prince. On the 19th, her Royal Highness directed a letter to be addressed to the two noble Lords, desiring to know whether it had been made known to his Royal Highness by being read to him, and to know his pleasure thereon. No answer was given to this letter, and therefore, on the 26th, she directed a letter to be written, expressing her surprise that no answer had been given to her application for a whole week. To this an answer was received, addressed to the Princess, stating, that in consequence of her Royal Highness's demand, her letter had been read to the Prince Regent on the 231, but that he had not been pleased to express his pleasure thereon. The following is a copy of this important document: "SIR, It is with great reluctance that I presume to obtrude myself upon your Royal Highness, and to solicit your attention to matters which may, at first, appear rather of a personal than a public nature. If I could think them so-if they related merely to myself—I should abstain from a proceeding which might give uneasiness, or interrupt the more weighty occupations of your Royal Highness's time. I should continue in silence, and retirement, to lead the life which has been prescribed to me, and console myself for the loss of that society and those domestic comforts to which I have so long been a stranger, by the reflection that it has been deemed proper that I should be afflicted without any fault of my own-and that your Royal Highness knows it. . But, Sir, there are considerations of a higher nature than any regard to my own happiness, which render this address a duty both to myself and my daughter. May I venture to say a duty also to my husband, and the people committed to his care? There is a point beyond which a guiltless woman cannot with safety carry her forbearance. If her honour is invaded, the defence of her reputation is no longer a matter of choice; and it signifies not whether the attack be made openly, manfully, and directly-or by secret insinuation, and by holding such conduct towards her as countenances all the suspicions that malice can ɛuggest. If these ought to be the feelings of every woman in England who is conscious that she deserves no reproach, your Royal Highness has too sound a judgment, and too nice a sense of honour, not to perceive, how much more justly they belong to the mother of your daughter-the mother of her who is destined, I trust at a very distant period, to reign over the British empire. "It may be known to your Royal Highness, that during the continuance of the restrictions upon your royal authority, I purposely refrained from making any representations which might then augment the painful difficulties of your exalted station.-At the expiration of the restrictions, I still was inclined to delay taking this step, in the hope that I might owe the redress I sought to your gracious and unsolicited condescension. I have waited, in the fond indulgence of this expectation, until, to my inexpressible mortification, I find that my unwillingness to complain, has only produced fresh grounds of complaint; and I am at length compelled, either to abandon all regard for the two dearest objects which I possess on earth, mine own honour, and my beloved child, or to throw myself at the feet of your Royal Highness, the natural protector of both. “I presume, Sir, to represent to your Royal Highness, that the separation, which every succeeding month is making wider, of the mother and the daughter, is equally injurious to my character and to her education. I say nothing of the deep wounds which so cruel an arrangement inflicts upon my feelings, although I would fain hope that few persons will he found of a disposition to think lightly of these. To see myself cut off from one of the few domestic enjoyments left me-certainly the only one upon which I set any value, the society of my child-involves me in such misery, as I well know your Royal Highness could never inflict upon me if you were aware of its bitterness -Our intercourse has been gradually diminished. A single interview, weekly, seemed sufficiently hard allowance for a mother's affections. That, however, was reduced to our meeting once a fortnight; and I now learn that even this most rigorous interdiction is to be still more rigidly enforced. "But while I do not venture to intrude my feelings as a mother upon your Royal Highness's notice, I must be allowed to say, that in the eyes of an observing and jealous world, this separation of a daughter from her mother, will only admit of one construction-a construction fatal to the mother's reputation. Your Royal Highness will also pardon me for adding, that there is no less inconsistency than injustice in this treatment. He who dares advise your Royal Highness to overlook the evidence of my innocence, and disregard the sentence of com. plete acquittal which it produced; or is wicked and false enough still to whisper suspicions in your ear, betrays his duty to you, Sir, to your daughter, and to your people, if he counsels you to permit a day to pass without a further investigation of my conduct. I know that no such calumniator will venture to recommend a measure which must speedily end in his utter confusion. Then let me implore you to reflect on the situation in which I am placed: without the shadow of a charge against me-without even an accuser-after an inquiry that led to my ample vindication, yet treated as if I were still more culpable than the perjuries of my suborned traducers represented me, and held up to the world as a mother who may not enjoy the society of her only child. "The feelings, Sir, which are natural to my unexampled situation, might justify me in the gracious judgment of your Royal Highness had I no other motives for addressing you but such as relate to myself. But I will not disguise from your Royal Highness what I cannot for a mo、 ment conceal from myself, that the serious, and it soon may be, the irreparable injury which my daughter sustains from the plan at present pursued, has done more in overcoming my reluctance to intrude upon your Royal Highness, than any sufferings of my own could accomplish; and if for her sake I presume to call away your Royal Highness's attention from the other cares of your exalted station, I feel confident I am not claiming it for a matter of inferior importance either to yourself or your people. "The powers with which the Constitution of these realms vests your Royal Highness in the regulation of the Royal Family, I know, because I am so advised, are ample and unquestionable My appeal, Sir, is made to your excellent sense and liberality of mind in the exercise of those powers; and I willingly hope that your own parental feelings will lead you to excuse the anxiety of mine for impelling me to represent the unhappy consequences which the present system must entail upon our beloved child. "It is impossible, Sir, that any one can have attempted to persuade your Royal Highness, that her character will not be injured by the perpetual violence offered to her strongest affections, the studied care taken to estrange her from my society, and even to interrupt all communication between us. That her love for me, with whom, by his Majesty's wise and gracious arraugements, she passed the years of her infancy and childhood, never can be cxtinguished, I well know, and the knowledge of it forms the greatest blessing of my existence. "But let me implore your Royal Highness to reflect how inevitably all attempts to abate this attachment, by forcibly separating us, if they succeed, must injure my child's priuciplesif they fail, must destroy her happiness. "The plan of excluding my daughter from all intercourse with ́the world, appears to my humble judgment peculiarly unfortunate. She who is destined to be the sovereign of this great country, enjoys none of those advantages of society which are deemed necessary for imparting a knowledge of mankind to persons who have infinitely less occasion to learn that important lesson; and it may so happen, by a chance which I trust is very remote, that she should be called upon to exercise the powers of the Crown, with an experience of the world more confined than that of the most private individual. To the extraordinary talents with which she is blessed, and which accompany a disposition as singularly amiable, frank, and decided, I willingly trust much; but beyond a certain point the greatest natural endowments cannot struggle against the disadvantages of circumstances and situation. It is my earnest prayer, for her own sake as well as her country's, that your Royal Highness may be induced to pause before this point be reached. "Those who have advised you, Sir, to delay so long the period of my daughter's commencing her intercourse with the world, and for that purpose to make Windsor her residence, appear, not to have regarded the interruptions to her education which this arrangement occasions; both by the impossibility of obtaining the attendance of proper teachers, and the time unavoidably consumed in the frequent journies to town, which she must make, unless she is to be secluded from all intercourse, even with your Royal Highness and the rest of the Royal Family. To the same unfortunate counsels I ascribe a circumstance in every way so distressing both to my parental and religious feelings, that my daughter has never yet enjoyed the benefit of confirmation, although above a year older than the age at which all the other branches of the Royal Family bave partaken of that solemnity. May I earnestly conjure you, Sir, to hear my intreaties upon this serious matter, even if you should listen to other advisers on things of less near concernment to the welfare of our child! "The pain with which I have at length formed the resolution of addressing myself to your Royal Highness is such as I should in vain attempt to express, If I could adequately describe it you might be enabled, Sir, to estimate the strength of the motives which have made me submit to it. They are the most powerful feelings of affection, and the deepest impressions of duty towards your Royal Highness, my beloved child, and the country, which I devoutly hope she may be preserved to govern, and to shew, by a new example, the liberal affection of a free and generous people to a virtuous and constitutional Monarch. "I am, Sir, with profound respect, and an attachment which nothing can alter, Your Royal Highness's "Montague House, Jan. 14, 1813." (Signed) Most devoted and most affectionate Various Cabinet Meetings and Proceedings succeeded this letter almost immediately. We must now advert to another circumstance connected with the Investigation. The Princess Charlotte having been indisposed, previously to the Fete given by the Prince Regent, at Carlton House, on the 5th of February, and this illness afterwards increasing, her Royal Highness was necessarily obliged to defer her return to Windsor. In consequence of this, the Princess of Wales, on the 8th of February, addressed herself to Lord Liverpool, desiring that he would communicate to the Prince Regent ber Royal Highness's intention to visit the Princess Charlotte at Warwick-house. Lord Liverpool replied, that he was happy to announce the Princess Charlotte so much better, that her Royal Highness would be able to visit the Princess of Wales, at Kensington Palace, on the following Thursday, February the 11th. On that morning, the Princess of Wales received information that the Princess Charlotte was refused coming. < |