HISTORY OF EUROPE. 



133 



to admire the military talents and 

 valour he displayed under the in- 

 trepid commander of a regiment, 

 that distinguished itself not a little 

 during the unhappy rebellion in 

 Ireland. I had also listened, per- 

 haps too much, to the current re- 

 ports concerning the object of this 

 inquiry. I certainly, therefore, 

 sat down to the consideration of 

 it without any bias upon my mind 

 in favour of the accused. But, 

 divesting myself of every preju- 

 dice, I determined to pursue the 

 strict line of duty, by considering 

 the case of the Duke of York as 

 calmly and temperately as I would 

 that of one of the meanest sub- 

 jects in the court where I have 

 the honour to hold a seat." After 

 this interesting exordium, Mr. 

 Burton entered on a consideration 

 of the cause, having first stripped 

 it of all matters extraneous or fo- 

 reign to the point or points in 

 <]uestion. He displayed through- 

 out the whole of his comprehen- 

 sive speech, all the perspicuity, 

 precision, and minute attention to 

 every circumstance which men of 

 good natural parts derive from 

 long experience in the profession 

 of tlie law : a profession which is 

 more calculated to rouse and to 

 whet the intellectual faculties, per- 

 haps, than any other. On the 

 subject of French's levy, and Miss 

 Taylor's evidence, Mr. Burton 

 said, surely, the evidence of Mrs. 

 Clarke's constant companion ought 

 to be received with great cau- 

 tion. The Duke of York, speaking 

 to Mrs. Clarke of colonel French, 

 complained that French was con- 

 tinually worrying him about the 

 levy. This troublesome importu- 

 nity had made a strong impres- 

 sion on the duke's mind: for he 



mentions this teazing or ivorrt/ing 

 twice—*' I am continually wor- 

 ried by colonel French : he wor- 

 ries me continually about the levy 

 business." Then turning to Mrs. 

 Clarke — Miss Taylor thinks, only 

 thinks, he said, " How does he be- 

 have to you, darling?" To my un- 

 derstanding, said Mr. Burton, the 

 question obviously means, does he 

 worry you as he does me ? On 

 the case of major Tonyn, Mr. 

 Burton observed, that, though 

 200^. was paid to Mrs. Clarke, 

 that transaction was unconnected 

 with the commander-in-chief. As 

 to the note from his royal high- 

 ness, conceding it to be genuine, 

 why was it necessary or probable, 

 that this should refer to any cor- 

 rupt agreement ? Mrs. Clarke, 

 with all her desire to impute guilt 

 to his royal highness, had no re- 

 membrance of this note: which 

 circumstance alone might be con- 

 sidered as powerful evidence, that 

 it had no reference to any such 

 agreement. As an irrefragable 

 proof that, in fact, it had no refer- 

 ence Mr. Burton observed, that 

 according to captain Sandon's ac- 

 count, the note was produced in 

 an envelope, bearing the Dover 

 post-mark : and that he received 

 it from the hands of Mrs. Clarke 

 herself, for the purpose of satis- 

 fying captain Tonyn, that it was 

 of the duke's hand-writing. From 

 the date of this envelope (for the 

 note itself was without date) com- 

 pared with the date of the Ga- 

 zette, it appeared that the note 

 could not have been delivered till 

 five days after his actual appoint- 

 ment to the majority, and, con- 

 sequently, far too late to answer 

 its intended purpose, namely, to 

 excite captain Tonyn's apprehen- 

 sions 



