spondence to be kept 'up with my charity boys, when on board of ship, as the nature of their situation will admit of, and as Mr. Sicard is the person who manages all matters concerning them, and enters into their interests with the most friendly anxiety, he certainly was apprized of the probability of the ship's arrival off Southend, before she came. And here I may as well perhaps, by the way, remark, that as this correspondence with the boys is always under cover to the captain; this circumstance may account to your Majesty for the fact, which is stated by some of the witnesses, of several letters being put into the post by Sicard, some of which he may have received from me, which were directed to Captain Manby.Soon after the arrival of the Africaine, however, Bidgood says, the Captain put off in his boat. Sicard went to meet him, and immediately brought him up to me and my Ladies;-he dined there then, and came frequently to see me. It would have been as candid if Mr. Bidgood had represented the fact as it really was, though perhaps the circumstance is not very material:-that the Captain brought the two boys on shore with him to see me, and this, as well as many other circumstances connected with these boys, the existence of whom, as accounting in any degree for the intercourse between me and Captain Manby, could never have been collected from out of Bidgood's depositions, Sicard would have stated, if the Commissioners had examined him to it. But though he is thus referred to, though his name is mentioned about the letters sent to Captain Manby, he does not appear to have been examined to any of them, and all that he appears to have been asked is, as to his remembering Captain Manby visiting at Montague House, and to my paying the expense of the linen furniture for his cabin. But Mr. Sicard was, I suppose, represented by my enemies to be a confidant, from whom no truth could be extracted, and therefore that it was idle waste of time to examine him to such points; and so unquestionably he, and every other honest servant in my family, who could be supposed to know any thing upon the subject, were sure to be represented by those, whose conspiracy and falsehood, their honesty and truth were the best means of detecting. The conspirators, however, had the first word, and unfortunately their veracity was not questioned, nor their unfavourable bias sus

point, the matter foremost in their minds, when
they call back this witness for his re-examina-
tion, appears to have been these drives towards
Long Reach. Can it have been for any purpose
but to have the benefit of the insinuation, to
leave it open to be inferred, that those drives
were for the purpose of meeting Captain Manby?
If this fact was material, why in the name of
justice was it so left? Mrs. Fitzgerald was men-
tioned by name, as accompanying me in them
all: Why was not she called? She perhaps was
my confidant; no truth could have been hoped
for from her; still there were my coachman and
helper, who likewise accompanied me; why
were they not called? they are not surely confi-
dants too. But it is, for what reason I cannot
pretend to say, thought sufficient to leave this
fact, or rather this insinuation, upon the evi-
dence of Mr. Bidgood, who only saw, or could
see the way I went when I set out upon my
drive, instead of having the fact from the per-
sons who could speak to the whole of it; to the
places I went to; to the persons whom I met
with. Your Majesty will think me justified in
dwelling upon this, the more from this circum
stance, because I know, and will shew to your
Majesty on the testimony of Jonathan Partridge,
which I annex, that these drives, or at least one
of them, have been already the object of pre-
vious, and, I believe, nearly cotemporary in-
vestigation. The truth is, that it did happen
npon two of these drives that I met with Captain
Manby; IN ONE of them that he joined me, and
went with me to Lord Eardley's at Belvidere, and
that he partook of something which we had to eat:
that some of Lord Eardley's servants were ex-
amined as to my conduct upon this occasion;
and am confidently informed that the servants
gave a most satisfactory account of all that
passed; nay, that they felt, and have expressed,
some honest indignation at the foul suspicion
which the examination implied. On the other
occasion, having the boys to go on board the
Africaine, I went with one of my ladies to see
them on board, and Captain Manby joined us
in our walk round Mr. Calcraft's grounds at In-
gress Park, opposite to Long Reach; where we
walked while my horses were baiting. We went
into no house, and on that occasion had no-
thing to eat.- -Perfectly unable to account
why these facts were not more fully inquired
into if thought proper to be inquired into
at all, I return again to Mr. Bidgood's evi-pected.
dence. As far as it respects my conduct at
Montague House, it is confined to the circum-
stances which I have already mentioned. And,
upon those circumstances, I have no further
observation which may tend to illustrate Mr.
Bidgood's credit to offer. But I trust if, from
other parts of his evidence, your Majesty sees
traces of the strongest prejudices against me,
and the most scandalous inferences, drawn from
eircumstances which can in no degree support"
them, your Majesty will then be able justly to
appreciate the credit due to every part of Mr.
Bidgood's evidence. Under the other head,"
into which I have divided this part of the case,
I mean my conduct at Southend as relative to
Captain Manby, Mr. Bidgood is more substan-
tial and particular. His statement on this head
begins by shewing that I was at Southend about
six weeks before the Africaine, Captain Manby's
ship arrived. That Mr. Sicard was looking out
for its arrival, as if she was expected. And as
it is my practice to require as constant a corre-

Mr. Bidgood then proceeds to state the situa tion of the houses, two of which, with a part of a third I had at Southend. He describes No. 9, as the house in which I slept; No. 8, as that in which we dined; and No. 7, as containing a drawing-room, to which we retired after dinner. And he says, "I have several times seen the "Princess, after having gone to No. 7, with Captain Manby and the rest of the company, retire with Captain Manby from No. 7, through "No. 8, to No. 9, which was the house where "the Princess slept. I suspect that Captain Manby slept very frequently in the house."Hints were given by the servants, and I believe "that others suspected it as well as myself."What those hints were, by what servants given, are things which do not seem to have been thought necessary matters of inquiry. At least there is no trace in Mr. Bidgood's, or any other witness's examination, of any such inquiry having been made.

In his second deposition, which applies to

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were exposed to sight, as if to declare that he was there. It is tedious and disgusting, Sire, I am well aware, to trouble your Majesty with such particulars; but it doubtless is true, that I bid him not to take the candles away from No. 9. The candles which are used in my drawing-room, are considered as his perquisites. Those on the contrary which are used in my private apartment are the perquisites of my maid. I thought that upon the whole it was a fairer arrangement, when I was at Southend, to give my maid the perquisites of the candles used at No. 9; and I made the arrangement accordingly, and ordered Mr. Bidgood to leave them. This, Sire, is the true account of the fact respecting the candles; an arrangement which very possibly Mr. Bidgood did not like. But the putting out the candles myself, was not the only thing, from which the inference is drawn, that Captain Manby slept at my house, at No. 9, and as is evidently insinuat

the same fact, after saying that we went away the day after the Africaine sailed from Southend, he says, "Captain Manby was there three times a week at the least, while his ship lay for six "weeks off Southend at the Nore; he came as "tide served in a morning, and to dine, and "drink tea. I have seen him next morning by "ten o'clock. I suspected he slept at No. 9, the "Princess's. She always put out the candles "herself in the drawing-room at No. 9, and bid me not wait to put them up. She gave me the orders as soon as she went to Southend. I used "to see water jugs, basons, and towels, set out opposite the Princess's door in the passage. "Never saw them so left in the passage at any "other time, and I suspected he was there at that "time; there was a general suspicion through "the house. Mrs. and Miss Fitzgerald there, "and Miss Hammond (now Mrs. Hood) there. My suspicion arose from seeing them in the glass," &c. as mentioned before." Her bela-ed, if not stated, in my bed-room. There were "viour like that of a woman attached to a man ; "used to be by themselves at luncheon, at South"end, when the ladies were not sent for; a num"ber of times. There was a poney which Cap"tain Manby used to ride; it stood in the stable "ready for him, and which Sicard used to ride." Then he says, the servants used to talk and laugh about Captain Manby, and that it was matter of discourse amongst them; and this, with what has been alluded to before, respeoting Sicard's putting letters for him into the post, which he had received from me, contains the whole of his deposition as far as respects Captain Manby. And, Sire, as to the fact of retiring through No. 8, from No. 7, to No. 9, alone with Captain Mauby, I have no recollection of ever having gone with Captain Marby, though but for a moment, from the one room in which the company was sitting, through the dining room to the other drawing-room. It is, however, now above two years ago, and to be confident that such a circumstance wight not have happened, is more than I will undertake to be. But in the only sense in which he uses the expression, as retiring alone, coupled with the immediate context that follows, it is most false and scandalous. I know no means of absolutely proving a negative. If the fact was true, there must have been other witnesses who could have proved it as well as Mr. Bidgood. Mrs. Fitzgerald is the only person of the party, who was examined, and her evidence proves the negative so far as the negative can be proved; for she says, "he dined "there, but never staid late. She was at South"end all the time I was there, and cannot recol"lect to have seen Captain Manby there, or "known him to be there, later than nine, or half past nine." Miss Fitzgerald and Miss Hammond, (now Mrs. Hood) are not called to this fact; although a fact so extremely important, as it must appear to your Majesty; nor indeed are they examined at all. As to the putting out of the candles, it seems he says, I have the orders as soon as I went to Southend, which was six weeks before the Africaine arrived; so this plan of excluding him from the opportunity of knowing what was going on at No. 9, was part of a longmeditated scheme, as he would represent it, plauned and thought of six weeks before it could be executed; and which when it was executed, your Majesty will recollect, according to Mr. Bidgood's evidence, there was so little contrivance to conceal, that the basons and towels, which the Captain is insinuated to have used,

water jugs, and basons, and towels left in the
passage, which Mr. Bidgood never saw at other
times. At what other times does he mean? At
other times than those at which he suspected,
from seeing them there, that Captain Manby
slept in my house? If every time he saw the ba-
sons and towels, &c. in the passage, he suspect-
ed Captain Manby slept there, it certainly would
follow that he never saw them at times when he
did not suspect that fact. But Sire, upon this
important fact, important to the extent of con-
victing me, if it were true, of High Treason, if
it were not for the indignation which such scan-
dalous licentious wickedness and malice excite,
it would hardly be possible to treat it with any
gravity. Whether there were or were not basons
and towels sometimes left in a passage at South-
end, which were not there generally, and ought
to have been never there, I really cannot inform
your Majesty. It certainly is possible, but the
utmost it can prove, I should trust, might be
some slovenliness in my servant, who did not put
them in their proper places; but surely it must
be left to Mr. Bidgood alone to trace any evi-
dence, from such a circumstance, of the crime
But I cannot thus leave this
of adultery in me.
fact, for I trust I shall here again have the same
advantage from the excess and extravagance of
this man's malice, as I have already had on the
other part of the charge, from the excess and ex-
travagance of his confederate Lady Douglas.
What is the charge that he would insinuate? That
I meditated and effected a stolen, secret, clan-
destine intercourse with an adulterer? No.-
Captain Manby, it seems according to his insinu-
ation, slept with me in my own house, under
circumstances, of such notoriety that it was im-
possible that any of my female attendants at
least should not have known it. Their duties
were varied on the occasion; they had to supply
basons and towels in places where they never
were supplied, except when prepared for him ;
and they were not only purposely so prepared, but
prepared in an open passage, exposed to view, in
a manner to excite the suspicion of those who
And what
were not admitted into the secret.
a secret was it, that was thus to be hazarded!
No less than what, if discovered, would fix
Captain Manby and myself with High Treason!
Not only therefore must I have been thus care-
less of reputation, and eager for infamy; but I
must have been careless of my life, as of my ho-
of shame, surely I
nour.-Lost to all sense
must have still retained some regard for life.

Captain Manby too with a folly and madness equal to his supposed iniquity, must then have put his life in the hands of my servants and depended for his safety upon their fidelity to me, and their perfidy to the Prince their master. If the excess of vice and crime in all this is believed, could its indiscretion, its madness, find credulity to adopt it almost upon any evidence? But what must be the state of that man's mind, as to prejudice, who could come to the conclusion of believing it, from the fact of some waterjugs and towels being found in an unusual place, in a passage near my bed-room? For as to his suspicion being raised by what he says he saw in the looking-glass, if it was as true as it is false, that could not occasion, his believing, on any particular night, that Captain Manby slept in my house; the situation of these towels and basons is what leads to that belief.But, Sire, may I ask, did the Commissioners believe this man's suspicions? If they did, what do they mean by saying that these facts of great indecency, &c. went to a much less extent than the principal charges? And that it was not for them to state their bearing and effect? The bearing of this fact unquestionably, if believed, is the same as that of the principal charge: namely, to prove me guilty of High Treason. They therefore could not believe it. But if they did not believe it, and as it seems to me, Sire, no men of common judgment could, on such a statement, how could they bring themselves to name Mr. Bidgood as one of those witnesses on whose unbiassed testimony they could so rely? or how could they, (in pointing him out with the other three as speaking to facts, particularly with respect to Captain Manby, which must be credited till decidedly contradicted, omit to specify the facts which he spoke to that they thus thought worthy of belief, but leave the whole, including this incredible part of it, recommended to belief by their general and unqualified sanction and approbation.

known it; as your Majesty finds one witness appealing to another, who is pointed out as a person who must have been able, with equal means of knowledge, to have confirmed her if she spoke true, and to have contradicted her if she spoke false. And, Sire, when added to all this, your Majesty is graciously pleased to recollect that Mr. Bidgood was one of those who, though in my service, submitted themselves voluntarily to be examined previous to the appointment of the Commissioners, in confirmation of Lady Doug las's statement, without informing me of the fact; and when I state to your Majesty, upon the evidence of Philip Krackeler and Robert Eaglestone, whose deposition I annex, that this unbiassed witness, during the pendency of these examinations before the Commissioners, was seen to be in conference and communication with Lady Douglas, my most ostensible accuser, do I raise my expectations too high, when I confidently trust that his malice and his falsehood, as well as his connexion in this conspiracy against my honour, my station in this kingdom, and my life, will appear to your Majesty too plainly for him to receive any credit, either in this or any other part of his testimony.--The other circumstances to which he speaks, are comparatively too trifling for me to trouble your Majesty with any more observations upon his evidence.

-The remaining part of the case which respects Captain Manby, relates to my conduct at East Cliff.How little Mrs. Lisle's examination affords for observations upon this part of the case, except as shewing how very seldom Captain Manby called upon me while I was there, I have already observed. Mr. Cole says nothing upon this part of the case; nor Mr. Bidgood. The only witness amongst the four whose testimonies are distinguished by the Commissioners as most material, and as those on which they particularly rely, who says any thing upon this part of the case, is Fanny Lloyd. Her deposition is as follows: --" I was at Ramsgate with the Prin

But the falsehood of this charge does not cess in 1803. One morning when we were rest on its incredibility alone. My servant Mrs." in the house at East Cliff, somebody, I don't Sander, who attended constantly on my person, "recollect who, knocked at my door, and deand whose bed-room was close to mine, was ex- "sired me to prepare breakfast for the Princess. amined by the Commissioners; she must have "This was about six o'clock; I was asleep. known this fact if it had been true; she posi- " During the whole time I was in the Princess's tively swears, "that she did not know or believe "service, I had never been called up before to that Captain Manby staid till very late hours" make the Princess's breakfast. I slept in the with me; that she never suspected there was any "housekeeper's room, on the ground-floor. I improper familiarity between us. M. Wilson," opened the shutters of the window for light. who made my bed, swears, that she had been in "I knew at that time that Captain Manby's ship the habit of making it ever since she lived with" was in the Downs. When I opened the shutme; that another maid, whose name was Ann "ters, I saw the Princess walking down the Bye, assisted with her in making it, and swears "Gravel-Walk towards the sea. No orders had from what she observed, that she never had any "been given me over-night to prepare breakfast reason to believe that two persons had slept in it." early. The gentleman the Princess was with Referring thus by name to her fellow-servant," was a tall man. I was surprised to see the who made the bed with her; but that servant," Princess walking with a gentleman at that why I know not, is not examined.As your "time in the morning. I am sure it was the Majesty then finds the inference drawn by Bid-"Princess."- -What this evidence of Fanny good to amount to a fact so openly and undisguisedly profligate, as to outrage all credibility; as your Majesty finds it negatived by the evidence of three witnesses, one of whom, in particular, if such a fact were true, must have

Lloyd applies to, I do not feel certain that I recollect. The circumstances which she mentions might, I think, have occurred twice while I was there; and which time she alludes to, I cannot (To be continued.)

Published by R. BAGSHAW, Brydges-Street, Covent-Garden.
LONDON: Printed by J. M'Creery, Black-Horse-Court, Fleet-street.

COBBETT'S WEEKLY POLITICAL REGISTER.

VOL. XXIII. No. 14.]

481]

LONDON, SATURDAY, APRIL 3, 1813.' [Price 1s.

TO JAMES PAUL,

OF BURSLEDON, IN LOWER DUBLIN TOWN-
SHIP, IN PHILADELPHIA COUNTY, IN THE
STATE OF PENNSYLVANIA; ON MATTERS
RELATING TO HER ROYAL HIGHNESS THE
PRINCESS OF WALES.

My dear Friend,

Letter VI.

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[482

bility; and, as the Princess's defence does, the other three, Mrs. Lisle alone remains as in my opinion, demolish the testimony of a witness whose testimony has some weight. It was, therefore, in the opinion of Mr. Whitbread, of great consequence to explain every circumstance relating to the mode which the Four Lords pursued in getting at and in recording this testimony. I will not, for fear of mistakes, attempt to make This Letter will conclude the remarks any abstract, or abridgment, of his speech which I mean to address to you, relative to upon this occasion; but, will insert it just the interesting affair of the Princess of as I find it reported in the Times newsWales. I have, indeed, already gone into paper of the 18th of March, that being the the whole of the subject as far as it is ne- fullest report that I have been able to find cessary for me to go into it, seeing that the of Mr. Whitbread's speech, which, as far Defence of the Princess leaves so very little as related to the subject before us, was as to be said by any one. But, there have follows: "He must," he said, "trouble arisen certain matters, forming the sequel" the House for a few minutes with some of the disclosure, which are well worthy passages in Mrs. Lisle's evidence, relaof your attention; and, of these, the most "tive to the Princess and Captain Manby. important are, the debates, or, rather, the" Mrs. L. could not say there was any atreinarks and counter-remarks, which have "tachment; and she never saw any kissing been made in the two Houses of Parlia- "hands, &c. He wished to confine himment, relative to the deposition of Mrs." self to material points. After the eviLisle, which deposition you will find in"dence was given, the depositions were the Register, at page 393. "taken; and he was not surprised, under MR. WHITBREAD, in the House of Com- "all the circumstances, at Mrs. Lisle's mons, on the 17th of March, last past, re- "signature to the deposition; but he was, ferred to this affidavit, or deposition, and he must confess, surprised to find leading he animadverted upon the conduct of the" questions put to her by his Learned Four Lords, who took it down. The Four" Friend, the Lord Chancellor Erskine; Lords, in their place, in the House of" questions on which that Noble and LearnLords, a few days afterwards, entered into "ed Lord, when an advocate, would have an explanation, vindicated their own con- "expired, sooner than have permitted to duct, and spoke in very severe terms of the " be answered by any witness of his, on a attack which had been made upon them. "trial in a Court of Law. One would be Before I enter further into this matter, I" tempted by the deposition to think, that beg you to observe, that it is of very great "Mrs. L. said all in one breath as it were. importance; because, as you will have" The question in the examination was put perceived, of the whole of that crowd of" to Mrs. L. "Did Captain Manby sit witnesses, who were examined upon this "next to the Princess at dinner?" Yet, in occasion, Mrs. Lisle is the only one, to "the deposition, it seemed as if she stated whose testimony the Princess appears to at- "it voluntarily. Then Lord Erskine asks tach any importance; and, indeed, she is Mrs. L. "whether they all sat just as the only witness whose testimony seems to "the four Noble Lords sat round their merit any serious refutation. She is, as "table with her?" Mr. W. remarked on was observed in my last Letter, one of the various other questions put to Mrs. L., four persons, upon whose testimony the" and expressed his astonishment that so charge of impropriety of conduct did, in "many leading questions should have been of the Four Lords, rest for credi- " put to her. "What did the Princess

the

eyes

"and Captain Manby sit apart? What, if "putation upon her! "silting together, do you suppose they" bring to their consideration the situation "talked about " Lords Erskine and El- "of their own wives, sisters, and daughWhen they left home to attend "lenborough put these questions; and then "ters. "the deposition is to go out to the world" to their public or private business, would "to impress the sense of guilt on the part" they not treat with contempt and scorn, " evidence such as this, if it was attempted "of the Princess. The answer of Mrs. L. "regarding the conversation was, that she" to charge criminality upon it? (Hear, ❝ did not listen to it. Then Lord Erskine "desires her to answer him, as a woman "of reason, character, and of knowledge "of the world, whether the Princess's "conduet was proper for a married woman " he puts it to her honour as a mother? "Really, there never was a question put to

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"hear. They might be disposed to pro"secute the calumniator: but Her Royal "Highness did not stand in the situation "of a person for whom such steps could "be taken. He was ashamed of some 66 parts of the examination. It was asked, "whether she went out with Mr. Hood in female witness which could make the " a whiskey? Whether he drove it? This 66 was something like the mode of cross"chords of sensibility vibrate more strong"examination. Who was there besides "ly in her heart. The answer was colWas he a man "lected, dignified, affectionate, and mo-" Mr. Hood's servant?' "therly, for the question referred to her or a boy? (A laugh.) How often "did she go out so?' Was it fair-play own family: my daughter," she says, lived well with her husband." To the "to the Princess to extract answers in that "question again, whether the Princess" manner? Then they came to Mr. Chester, who was stated to be a pretty "lived as a married woman ought? Mrs. (A laugh.) This was young man." "L.'s answer was, not like the statement in "too ludicrous to be serious, and yet too "the deposition. Lord Ellenborough, in"serious to be ludicrous. The inference "deed, said to the Chancellor," I suppose "seemed to be, that there was a prepos"you'd put it as any married woman. of the "session for him, because he was hand"What did you ever think 66 some. It was asked, 'Is he not hand"Princess's talking with Captain Manby?" 66 some?' The answer was, 'pretty! "was another question: but these were "All that was nauseous had been read; 66 never answered, though we had some"thing about them in the deposition. He" but he should notice one point: the witness was asked, 'Do you recollect the "was sorry to be obliged to animadvert "Princess getting up and going out of her the conduct of the four Noble upon room into another at night, for a light?' "Lords Commissioners; but he should be "doing injustice to the cause of justice, if "Answer, I do.' Why,' say two law66 yers, did she get up in the night" " he did not say, that, if the accused had "(laugh.) Yet this was in the deposi"been provided with an advocate, wit"tion; and the shakers of heads continued "nesses would have been protected, or "prevented from answering many inter-" to shake, because Mrs. Lisle had de66 • The posed so and so. That was not a fair "rogatories that were put to them. is free and construction of Mrs. L.'s evidence, if "Princess, says Mrs. L., "the examinations were read. 'I heard "condescending." 'That,' says the Chan"cellor, is not my question.' 'I thought,'" Her Royal Highness say,' says the witthat she had been ill, and that ness, that the Princess liked Mrs. L., 66 says "her candle was Was not the out.' gone "to talk with Captain Manby, rather than "Princess to be in a situation common to "with the Ladies.' Let the House recol"lect, that there were, and are attached “every subject of the realm? The public "mind must form her shield, and her "to the Princess, persons of high consi"deration; yet could any body doubt that "protection. Read the evidence, and say "whether she has not a right to be treated "when new society, which afforded new "topics of conversation, broke in upon the as innocent, till she be proved guilty. "sameness-the fatigue of retired and "Mrs. L.'s testimony gives an easy, ná"mock royalty,-debarred from many "tural, and probable solution, of this Mr. "mysterious transaction. (Hear.} ❝sources of amusement,-yet uncompen"Chester, it seems, walked out twice "sated by even the trappings of her state, "could any body doubt, or be surprised," with the Princess; and he was left at Then for Captain "Lord Sheffield's. that the Princess should find something "in it agreeable? Yet that was an im-"Moore. He dined there, and where, it

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