144 



ANNUAL REGISTER, 1809. 



able character in every respect, 

 of a respectable family, and inde- 

 pendent fortune." This letter 

 was produced to the House of 

 Commons. Mrs. Clarke gave Dr. 

 O'Meara a letter of introduction 

 to the Duke of York. On the 

 13th February, she brought to 

 the bar a letter of his royal high- 

 ness, written to her from Wey- 

 mouth, telling her that Dr. 

 O'Meara had applied to him in 

 order to be allowed to preach be- 

 fore royalty, and that he would 

 put him in the way of it, if he 

 could. Dr. O'Meara did preach 

 before royalty, and an article ap- 

 peared in the Morning Post, under 

 the date of Weymouth, October 3, 

 1809, stating that " the reverend 

 Dr. O'Meara preached on Sunday 

 an excellent sermon, from Rom. 

 chap. xii. ver. 5. on universal be- 

 nevolence. He expatiated with 

 great eloquence on the relation 

 which the public and private 

 affections bear to each other, and 

 their use in the moral system. He 

 inveighed with peculiar energy 

 against the savage philosophy of 

 the French deists. We wish our 

 young ecclesiastics would arouse 

 themselves, and shake off that 

 raental languor which oppresses 

 them in the pulpit, and show them- 

 selves in earnest. Sacred elo- 

 quence is, in this country, certainly 

 feeble and unimpressive. No 

 other excellence can supply the 

 want of animation. That sweet 

 charm, that celestial unction which 

 christian oratory demands, this 

 gentleman certainly possesses in 

 an eminent degree. 'His lips are 



touched viith the live coal from the 

 altar. The king was very atten- 

 tive, and stood for the most part 

 for nearly the whole of the sermon, 

 which we never before observed, 

 and expressed his high approba- 

 tion to the Earl of Uxbridge and 

 others, whilst the queen and prin- 

 cesses and the whole audience 

 were melted into tears." The 

 public was at no loss to conjec- 

 ture who was the author of this 

 newspaper puff. But after all this 

 alleged attention and approba- 

 tion of his majesty, Mrs. Clarke 

 declared in her evidence, that 

 after communicating the doctor's 

 offer, with all his documents to 

 the Duke of York, the issue of the 

 business as reported to her by his 

 royal highness, was, that the king 

 did not like the great O in his 

 name. The reverend Dr. O'Meara 

 became as general a subject of 

 ridicule as the reverend Mr. 

 Bowles. 



An application was also made 

 to Mrs. Clarke in favour of the 

 reverend Mr. G. H. Glasse, rector 

 of Hanwcli, by his intimate friend 

 Mr. Donovan, who makes a great 

 figure as a patronage broker in 

 the investigation of tlie conduct of 

 the Duke of York.* Mr. Dono- 

 van said, on his examination, Fe- 

 bruary 9, that Mr. Glasse knew 

 nothing of this application ; that 

 he was to pay the 1,000/. for Mr. 

 Glasse out of his own pocket from 

 the profits of his agency in pro- 

 curing places for different parties. 

 Mr. Glasse was dismissed from the 

 office of secretary to the com- 

 mittee of the sons of the clergy. 



Mr. 



• Heoflfered to give Mrs. Clarke 1,000?. if she could procure for Mr. Glasse the 

 deanery of Hereford. 



