134 ANNUAL REGISTER, 1809. 



sions that his appointment would be 

 eitherfrustrated or retarded. "Thus 

 then," said Mr. Burton, "out of the 

 mouth of one of these associates 

 against the commander-in-chief, 

 have you a plain refutation of one 

 of their own charges, nor is there 

 any other evidence to support it." 

 On the subject of the appoint- 

 ment of Samuel Carter to an en- 

 signcy, and the charge for this 

 generous act against the com- 

 mander-in-chief, Mr. Burton ex- 

 patiated more, in exculpation of 

 the duke, than was at all neces- 

 sary. This, in fact, did honour 

 both to the duke and Mrs. Clarke. 

 This young man. Carter, was a 

 son, though illegitimate, of a very 

 worthy captain of the army. It 

 did not appear, that his mounting 

 behind the carriage of Mrs. Clarke 

 was known to the duke ; and, cer- 

 tainly, though he waited at table, 

 he never wore Mrs. Clarke's livery. 

 A good deal of pains had been 

 taken on his education, which was 

 far from being lost on the young 

 man ; as appeared from several 

 letters of his, produced in the 

 course of evidence. We shall 

 only extract the first and the last 

 sentences of Mr. Burton's speech 

 on the charge of Samuel Carter's 

 appointment : «' I confess it to 

 have been my hope, that the ho- 

 nourable member (colonel War- 

 die) would have yielded, on this 

 point, to the entreaties of even 

 Mrs. Clarke."—" God forbid ! that 

 this house should so far forget its 

 duty, as to censure the appointment 

 of such a person to a commission 

 in the army, or that it should 

 carry an address to the throne 

 against the Duke of York, for an 

 act proceeding from the purest mo- 

 tives—the dictates of humanity." 



Mr. Burton having gone through 

 the separate charges, made a few 

 observations on the probabilities 

 or improbabilities of the case or 

 charge in general. It had been 

 presumed, that the Duke of York 

 knew and connived at the corrupt 

 proceedings of Mrs. Clarke, be- 

 cause, by such alone, Mrs. Clarke 

 could have been enabled to carry 

 on her extensive establishment. 

 But persons in high birth, and not 

 in the habits of comparing income 

 with expenditure, found it most 

 difficult to render the one con- 

 formable to the other, or indeed 

 to form any judgment upon these 

 matters. He remembered to have 

 been told, near forty years ago, 

 by one of the preceptors of the 

 Duke of York and his royal bro- 

 ther, that though they were quick 

 at learning, he could never teach 

 them the value of money : so im- 

 possible it was to inculcate this 

 knowledge without the daily and 

 ordinary means of practical expe- 

 rience. — This argument was af- 

 terwards placed in a stronger 

 light, in the debate that took place 

 on the conduct of the Duke of 

 York, May the 14th, by Mr. Wind- 

 ham. It had been urged, that 

 the Duke of York, knowing that 

 his mistress could not live as she 

 did on what he allowed her, must 

 have been satisfied, that she had 

 indirect means of profit, and that 

 these could be no other than bribes 

 received for the exertion of her 

 influence. It might be true that 

 the Duke of York ought to have 

 made this calculation, but nothing 

 appeared to Mr. W. more natural 

 and likely than that he did not. 

 Persons bred to small fortunes 

 and economical habits might find 

 a difficulty in believing how any 



one 



