conduct unquestionable; free from all the indecorums, and improprieties, which are imputed 10 her at present by the Lords Commissioners, upon the evidence of persons, who speak as falsely as Sir John and Lady Douglas themselves. Your Majesty can be sure that I shall be anxious to give the most solemn denial in my power to all the scandalous stories of Bidgood and Cole; to make my conduct be cleared in the most satisfactory way, for the tranquillity of your Majesty, for the honour of your illustrious family, and the gratification of your afflicted Daughter-in law. In the mean time I can safely trust your Majesty's gracious justice to recollect, that the whole of the evidence on which the Commissioners have given credit to the infamous stories charged against me, was taken behind my back, without my having any opportunity to contradict or explain any thing, or even to point out those persons who might have been called to prove the little credit which was due to some of the witnesses, from their connection with Sir Jehu and Lady Deuglas; and the absolute falsehood of parts of the evidence, which could have been completely contradicted. Oh! gracious King, I now lock for that happy moment, when I may be allowed to appear again before your Majesty's eyes, and receive once more the assurance from your Majesty's own mouth that I have your gracious protection; and that you will not discard me from your friendship, of which your Majesty has been so condescending to give me so many marks of kindness; and which must be my only support, and my only consolation, in this country. I remain with sentiments of the highest esteem, veneration, and unfeigned attachment, Sire, your Majesty's most dutiful, submissive, and humble Daughter-in-law and Subject, CAROLINE. To the King. (Signed) Montague-House, Aug. 17th 1866. The Princess of Wales desires the Lord Chancellor to present her humble duty to the King, and to lay before his Majesty the accom; anying letter aud papers. The Princess makes this communication by his Lordship's hands, because it relates to the papers with which she has been furnished through his Lordship, by his Majesty's commands. To the Lord Chancellor. Aug. 17th, 1806. Upon receiving the copy of the Report, made to your Majesty, by the Commissioners appointed to inquire into certain charges against my conduct, I lost no time, in returning to your Majesty my heartfelt thanks for your Majesty's goodness in commanding that copy to be communicated to me. I wanted no adviser, but my own heart, to express my gratitude for the kinduess and protection which I have uniformly received from your Majesty. I needed no caution or reserve, in expressing my confident reliance, that that kindness and protection would not be with drawn from me, on this trying occasion; and that your Majesty's justice would not suffer your mind to be affected, to my disadvantge, by any part of a Report, founded upon partial evidence, taken in my absence, upon charges not yet communicated to me, until your Majesty had heard what might be alleged in my behalf, in answer to it. But your Majesty will not be surprised nor displeased, that I, a woman, a stranger to the laws and usages of your Majesty's kingdom, under charges, aimed, originally at my life and honour, should hesitate to determine in what manner I ought to act, even under the present circumstances, with respect to such accusations, without the assistance of advice in which I could confide. And I have had submitted to me the following observations, respecting the copies of the papers with which I have been furnished. And I humbly solicit from your Majesty's gracious condescen sion and justice, a compliance with the requests, which arise out of them, In the first place, it has been observed to me, that these copies of the Report, and of the accompanying papers, have come unauthenticated by the signature of any person, high or low, whose veracity, or even accuracy, is pledged for their correctness, or to whom resort might be had, if it should be necessary, hereafter, to establish, that these papers are correct copies of the originals. I am far from insinuating that the want of such attestations was intentional. No doubt it was omitted through inadvertence; but its importance is particu. 1 Jarly confirmed by the state in which the copy of Mrs. Lisle's examination has been transmitted to me. For in the third page of that examination there have been two erasures; on one of which, some words have been subsequently introduced, apparently in a different handwriting from the body of the examination; and the passage as it stands, is probably incorrect, because the phrase is unintelligible. And this occurs in an important part of her examination. The humble, but earnest request, which I have to make to your Majesty, which is suggested by this observation, is, that your Majesty would be graciously pleased to direct, that the Report, and the papers which accompany it, and which, for that purpose, I venture to trans. mit to your Majesty with this letter, may be examined, and then returned to me, authenti cated as correct, under the signature of some person, who, having attested their accuracy, be able to prove it. may In the second place, it has been observed to me, that the Report proceeds by reference, to certain written declarations, which the Commissioners describe as the necessary foundation of all their proceedings, and which contain, as I presume, the charge or information against my conduct. Yet copies of these written declarations have not been given to me. They are described indeed, in the Report, as consisting in certain statements, respecting my conduct, imputing not only gross impropriety of behaviour, but expressly asserting facts of the most confirmed and abandoned criminality, for which, if true, my life might be forfeited. These are sta'ed to have been followed by declarations from other persons, who, though not speaking to the same facts, had related other particulars, in themselves extremely suspicious, and still more so, as connected with the assertions already mentioned. On this, it is observed to me, that it is most important that I should know the extent, and the particulars of the charges or informations against me, and by what accusers they have been made; whether I am answering the assertions of one set of accusers, or more. Whether the authors of the original declarations, who may be collected from the Report to be Sir John and Lady Douglas, are my only accusers; and the declarations which are said to have followed, are the declarations of persons adduced as witnesses by Sir John and Lady Douglas to confirm their accusation; or whether such declarations are the charges of persons, who have made themselves also the authors of distinct accusations against me. The requests, which I humbly hope your Majesty will think reasonable and just to grant, and which are suggested by these further observations are, First, That your Majesty would be graciously pleased to direct that I should be furnished with copies of these declarations; and, if they are rightly described in the Report, as the necessary foundation of all the proceedings of the Commsisioners, your Majesty could not, I am persuaded, but have graciously intended, in directing that I should be furnished with a copy of the Report, that I should also see this essential part of the proceeding, the foundation on which it rests. Secondly, That I may be informed whether I have one or more, and how many accusers; and who they are; as the weight and credit of the accusation cannot but be much affected by the quarter from whence it originates. Thirdly, That I may be informed of the time when the declarations were made. For the weight and credit of the accusation must also be much affected by the length of time which my accusers may have been contented to have been the silent depositories of those heavy matters of guilt and charge, and, Lastly, That your Majesty's goodness will secure to me a speedy return of these papers, accompanied, I trust, with the further information which I have solicited; but at all events a speedy return of them. And your Majesty will see, that it is not without reason, that I make this last request, when your Majesty is informed that, though the Report appears to have been made upon the 14th of July, yet it was not sent to me till the 11th of the present month, A similar delay, I should of all things deplore. For it is with reluctance that I yield to these suggestions, which have induced me to lay these my humble requests before your Majesty, since they must, at all events, in some degree delay the arrival of that moment, to which Į look forward with so earnest and eager an impatience; when I confidently feel I shall completely satisfy your Majesty that the whole of these charges are alike unfounded, and are all parts of the same conspiracy against me. Your Majesty, so satisfied, will, I can have no doubt, be as anxious as myself to secure to me that redress which the laws of your kingdom (administering, under your Majesty's just dispensation, equal protection and justice, to every description of your Majesty's subjects), are prepared to afford to those who are so deeply injured as I have been. That I have in this case the strongest claim to your Majesty's justice, I am confident I shall prove; but I cannot, as I am advised, so satisfactorily establish that claim till your Majesty's goodness shall have directed me to be furnished with an authentic statement of the actual charges against me, and that additional information, which it is the object of this letter most bumbly, yet earnestly, to deplore. I am, Sire, your Majesty's most dutiful, submissive, and humble Daughter-in-law, (Signed) C. P. To the King. Aug. 20th, 1806. The Lord Chancellor has the honour to return to her Royal Highness the Princess of Wales, the box, as he received it this morning from his Majesty. It contains the papers he formerly sent to her Royal Highness, and which he sends as they are, thinking that it may be in the mean time most agreeable to her Royal Highness. The reason of their not having been authenticated by the Lord Chancellor, was, that he received them as copies, from Earl Spencer, who was in possession of the originals; and he could not therefore, with propriety do so, not having himself compared them; but her Royal Highness may depend upon having other copies sent to her, which have been duly examined and certified to be so. The box will be delivered to one of her Royal Higbuess's Pages in waiting, by the principal officer, attendant upon the Lord Chancellor, and he trusts he shall find full credit with her Royal Highness, that in sending a servant formerly with the papers, the moment he received them (no messenger being in waiting, and the officers who attend him being detained by their duties in court), he could not be supposed to have intended any possible disrespect, which he is incapable of shewing to any lady, but more especially to any member of his Majesty's Royal Family. To her Royal Highness the Princess of Wales. Lincoln's Inn Fields, August 24, 1806. His Majesty has been pleased to transmit to me the letter which he has received from your Royal Highness, dated the 17th instant; and to direct, that I should communicate the same to the Lords Commissioners, who had been commanded by his Majesty to report to his Majesty on the matters therein referred to; and I have now received his Majesty's further commands, in consequence of that letter, to acquaint your Royal Highness, that when I transmitted to your Royal Highness, by the King's commands, and under my signature, the copies of official papers, which had been laid before his Majesty, those papers were judged thereby duly authenticated, according to the usual course and forms of office; and sufficiently so for the purposes for which his Majesty had been graciously pleased to direct them to be communicated to your Royal Highness. That, nevertheless, there does not appear to be any reason for his Majesty's declining a compliance with the request which your Royal Highness has been advised to make, that those copies should, after being examined with the originals, be attested by some person to be named for that purpose: and that, if your Royal Highness will do me the honour to transmit them to me, they shall be examined and attested accordingly, after correcting any errors that may have occurred in the copying. His Majesty has further authorized me to acquaint your Royal Highness, that he is gra ciously pleased, on your Royal Highness's request, to consent, that copies of the written declarations, referred to in the Report of the Lords Commissioners, should be transmitted to your Royal Highness, and that the same will be transmitted accordingly, so soon as they can be transcribed. ERSKINE C, (Signed) The Lord Chancellor has the honour to add to the above official communication, that his Purse-bearer respectfully waits her Royal Highness's commands, in case it should be her Royal Highness's pleasure to return the papers by him. Her Royal Highness the Princess of Wales. Lincoln's Inn Fields, August 29th, 1906. The Lord Chancellor has the honour to transmit to her Royal Highness the Princess of Wales, the papers* desired by her Royal Highness, just as he received them a few minutes ago from Earl Spencer, with the note accompanying them. August 31st, 1906. Her Royal Highness the Princess of Wales acquaints the Lord Chancellor, that the gentlemaa, with whom her Royal Highness advises, and who had possession of the copies of the official papers communicated to her Royal Highness, by the Lord Chancellor, returned from the country late yesterday evening. Upon the subject of transmitting these papers to the Lord Chancellor, for the purpose of their being examined and authenticated, and then returned to her Royal Highness, he states, that in consequence of the Lord Chancellor's assurance, contained in his note of the 20th inst. that her Royal Highness might depend upon having other copies sent to her, which had beea duly examined and certified to be so; he has relied upou being able to refer to those already sent, and therefore it would be inconvenient to part with them at present: and her Royal Highness therefore hopes, that the Lord Chancellor will procure for her the other authenticated copies, which his Lordship promised in his note of the 20th inst. With respect to the copies already sent, being as the Lord Chancellor expresses it in his letter of the 24th inst. “judged to be duly authenticated according to the usual course and forms of office, and sufficiently so for the purpose for which his Majesty had been graciously pleased to direct them to be communicated to her Royal Highness, because they were transmitted to her by the King's commands, and under his Lordship's signature,”—Her Royal Highness could never have wished for a more authentic attestation, if she had conceived that they were authenticated under such signature. But she could not think that the mere signature of his Lordship on the outside of the envelope which contained them, could afford any authenticity to the thirty papers which that envelope contained; or could, in any manner, identify any of those papers as having been contained in that envelope. And she had felt herself confirmed in that opinion by his Lordship's saying in his note of the 20th inst. “that the reason of their not having been authenticated by the Lord Chancellor was, that be received them as copies from Earl Spencer, who was in possession of the originals, and he could not therefore with propriety do so, not having himself compared them. Her Royal Highness takes this opportunity of acknowledging the receipt of the declarations referred to in the Commissioner's Report. To the Lord Chancellor. Lincoln's Inn Fields, Sept. 2d, 1806. The Lord Chancellor has taken the earliest opportunity in his power, of complying with the wishes of her Royal Highness the Princess of Wales. He made the promise of other copies, without any communication with the other Commissioners, wholly from a desire to stew every kind of respect and accommodation to her Royal Highness, in any thing consistent with his duty, and, not at all, from any idea that the papers, as originally sent, (though there, might be errors in the copying) were not sufficiently authenticated. An opinion which he is obliged to say he is not removed from; nevertheless, the Lord Chancellor has a pleasure in conforming to her Royal Highness's wishes, and has the honour to enclose the attested copies of the Depositions, as he has received them from Earl Spencer. To her Royal Highness the Princess of Wales. *N. B. These papers being the original declarations on which the Inquiry proceeded, will be found in Appendix (A.) TO THE KING. SIRE,-Impressed with the deepest sentiments of gratitude, for the countenance and protection which I have hitherto uniformly received from your Majesty, I approach you, with a heart undismayed, upon this occasion, so awful and momentous to my character, my honour, and my happiness. I should indeed, (under charges such as have now been brought against me,) prove myself undeserving of the continuance of that countenance and protection, and altogether unworthy of the high station, which I hold in your Majesty's illustrious family, if I sought for any partiality, for any indulgence, for any thing more than what is due to me in justice. My entire confidence in your Majesty's virtues assures me, that I cannot meet with less. The situation, which I have been so happy as to hold in your Majesty's good opinion and esteem; my station in your Majesty's august family; my life, my honour, and, through mine, the honour of your Majesty's family have been attacked. Sir John and Lady Douglas have attempted to support a direct and precise charge, by which they have dared to impute to me, the enormous guilt of High Treason, committed in the foul crime of Adultery. In this charge, the extravagance of their malice has defeated itself. The Report of the Lords Commissioners, acting under your Majesty's warrant, has most fully cleared me of that charge. But there remain imputations, strangely sanctioned, and countenanced by that Report, on which I cannot remain silent, without incurring the most fatal consequences to my honour and character. For it states to your Majesty, that "The circumstances detailed against me must be credited, till they are decisively contradicted." To contradict, with as much decision, as the contradiction of an accused can convey; to expose the injustice and malice of my enemies; to shew the utter impossibility of giving credit to their testimony; and to vindicate my own innocence, will be the objects, Sire, of this letter. In the course of my pursuing these objects, I shall havè much to complain of, in the substance of the Proceeding itself, and much in the manner of conducting it. That any of these charges should, ever, have been entertained, upon testimony so little worthy of belief, which betrayed, in every sentence, the malice in which it originated; that, even if they were entertained at all, your Majesty should have been advised to pass by the ordinary legal modes of Inquiry into sach high crimes, and to refer them to a Commission, open to all the objections which I shall have to state to such a mode of Inquiry; that the Commissioners, after having negatived the principal charge of substantive crime, should have entertained considerations of matters, that amounted to no legal offence, and which were adduced, not as substantive charges in themselves, but as matters in support of the principal accusation; that through the pressure and weight of their official occupations, they did not, perhaps, could not, bestow that attention on the case, which, if given to it, must have enabled them to detect the villainy and falsehood of my accusers, and their foul conspiracy against me; aud must have preserved my character from the weighty imputation which the authority of the Commissioners, has, for a time, cast upon it; but, above all, that they should, upon this ex parte examination, without hearing one word that I could urge, have reported to your Majesty, an opinion on these matters, so prejudicial to my honour, and from which I can have no appeal to the laws of the country (because the charges, constituting no legal offence, cannot be made the ground of a judicial inquiry;)-These and many other circumstances, connected with the length of the Proceeding, which have cruelly aggravated, to my feelings, the pain necessarily attendant upon this Inquiry, I shall not be able to refrain from stating, and urging, as matters of serious lamentation at least, if not of well-grounded complaint. In commenting upon any part of the circumstances, which have occurred in the |