not: to be questioned, and whose evidence must be credited till decidely contradicted.

These observations might probably be deemed sufficient, upon Mr. Cole's deposition, as far as it respects Mr. Lawrence; but I cannot be satisfied without explaining to your Majesty, all the truth, and the particulars, respecting Mr. Lawrence, which I recollect noviga

What I recollect then is as follows. He began a large picture of me, and of my daughter towards the latter end of the year 1800, or the beginning of 1801. Miss Garth and Miss Hayman were in the house with me at the time. The picture was painted at Montague House. Mr. Lawrence mentioned to Miss Hayman his wish to be permitted to remain some few nights in the house, that by rising early he might begin painting on the picture, before Princess Charlotte (whose residence being at that time at Shooter's Hill was enabled to come. early.) or myself, came to sit. It was a similar request to that which had been made by Sir William Beechy, when he painted my picture. And I was. sensible of no impropriety when I granted the request to either of them. Mr. Lawrence occupied, the same room which had been occupied by Sir William Beechy ;-it was at the other end of the house from my apartment.

At that time Mr. Lawrence did not dine with me; his dinner was served in his own room.-After dinner he came down to the room where I and my Ladies generally sat in an evening-sometimes

there was music, in which he joined, and some. times he read poetry. Parts of Shakespeare's plays I particularly remember, from his reading them very well; and sometimes he played chess with me. It frequently may have happened that it was one or two o'clock before I dismissed Mr. Lawrence and my Ladies. They, together with Mr. Lawrence, went out of the same door, up the same stair-case, and at the same time. Ac. cording to my own recollection I should have said that in no one instance, they had left Mr. Lawrence behind them, alone with me.-But I suppose it did happen once for a short time, since Mr. Lawrence so recollects it, as your Majesty will perceive from his deposition, which I annex. He staid in my house two or three nights together: but how many nights in the whole, I do not recollect. The picture left my house by April, 1801, and Mr. Lawrence never slept in my house afterwards. That picture now belongs to Lady Townsend. He has since completed another picture of me; and about a year and a half ago, he began another, which remains at present unfinished. I believe it is near a twelve month since I last sat to him.

Mr. Lawrence lives upon a footing of the greatest intimacy with the neighbouring families of Mr. Lock and Mr. Angerstein; and I have asked him sometimes to dine with me to meet them. While I was sitting to him at my own house, I have no doubt I must often have sat to him alone; as the

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necessity for the precaution of having an attendant as a witness to protect my honour from suspicion, certainly never occurred to And upon the

same principle, I do not doubt that I may have sometimes continued in conversation with him after he had finished painting. But when sitting in his own house, I have always been attended with one of my ladies.-And indeed nothing in the examinations state the contrary. One part of Mrs.. Lisle's examination seems as if she had a question put to her, upon the supposition that I had been left alone with Mr. Lawrence at his own house; to which she answers, that she indeed had left me there, but that she thinks she left Mrs. Fitzgerald with me.

If an inference of an unfavourable nature could have been drawn from my having been left there alone-was it, Sire, taking all that care which might be wished, to guard against such an inference on the part of the Commissioners, when they omitted to send for Mrs. Fitzgerald to ascertain what Mrs. Lisle may have left in doubt. The Com. missioners, I give them the fullest credit were satisfied, that Mrs. Lisle thought correctly upon this fact, and that Mrs. Fitzgerald, if she had been sent for again, would so have proved it, and therefore that it would have been troubling her to no purpose. But this it is, of which I conceive myself to have most reason to complain; that the examinations in several instances have not been followed up so as to remove unfavourable impressions.

I cannot but feel satisfied that the commissioners would have been glad to have been warranted in negativing all criminality, and all suspicion on his part of the charge, as completely and honourably as they have done on the principal charges of preg nancy and delivery. They traced that part of the charge with ability, sagacity, diligence, and perseverance; and the result was complete satisfaction of my innocence; complete detection of the falsehood of my accusers. Encouraged by their success in that part of their inquiry, I lament that they did not, (as they thought proper to enter into the other part of it at all,) with similar industry pursue it. If they had, I am confident they would have pursued it with the same success; but though they had convicted Sir John and Lady Douglas of falsehood, they seem to have thought it impossible to suspect of the same falsehood, any other of the witnesses, though produced by Sir John and Lady Douglas! The most obvious means therefore of trying their credit, by comparing their evidence with what they had said before, seems to me to have been omitted. Many facts are left upon surmise only and insinua. tion; obvious means of getting further information on doubtful and suspicious circumstances are not resorted to; and, as if the important matter of the inquiry (on which a satisfactory conclusion had been formed) was all that required any very attentive or accurate consideration; the remainder of it was pursued in a manner which, as it seems to me, can only be accounted for by the pressure of what

may have been deemed more important duties and of this I should have made but little complaint, if this inquiry, where it is imperfect had not been followed by a Report, which the most accurate only could have justified, and which such an accurate inquiry, I am confident, never could have produced.

If any credit was given to Mr. Cole's story of the locked door, and the whispering; and to Mr. Lawrence having been left with me so frequently of a night when my Ladies had left us, why were not all my ladies examined? why were not all my şervants examined as to their knowledge of that fact? And if they had been so examined, and had contradicted the fact so sworn to by Mr. Cole, as they must have done, had they been examined to it; that alone would have been sufficient to have re moved his name from the list of unsuspected and unquestionable witnesses, and relieved me from much of the suspicion, which his evidence, till it was examined, was calculated to have raised in your Majesty's mind-And to close this statement, and these observations and in addition to them,-I most solemnly assert to your Majesty, that Mr. Lawrence. neither at his own house, nor at mine, nor any where else, ever was for one moment by night or by day, in the same room with me when the door of it was locked; that he never was in my company of an evening alone, except the momentary conversation which Mr. Lawrence speaks to, may be thought an exception; and that nothing ever