262 ANNUAL REGISTER, 1810. 



to the porter's room, and Neale 

 wenttoawaken Seilis (a Piedmon- 

 tese) another of the duke's valets. 

 The doorof Sellis's room was lock- 

 ed, and Neale called out to him, 

 saying, " The duke is murdered." 

 No answer being given, the door 

 was broke open, and Seilis was 

 found dead in his bed, with his 

 throat cut from ear to ear. It is 

 supposed that Seilis, conscious of 

 his own guilt (for there appears no 

 doubt that he was the assassin) 

 imagined, when the alarm was 

 given at his door, that they were 

 about to take him into custody, 

 and immediately cut his throat. 

 His blue coat was found folded up 

 on a chair in one corner of the room, 

 the inside of which was stained with 

 blood ; and as he had cut his throat, 

 in another part of the room, the 

 blood must have been that of 

 his master. A pair of his slippers 

 were also found in the closet ad- 

 joining the duke's chamber, where 

 he had concealed himself until his 

 royal highness was asleep. The as- 

 sassin seems to have stood rather 

 back towards^the head of the bed, 

 which was placed in a small recess, 

 in order to avoid discover)', and 

 was therefore obliged to strike 

 down at the duke's head in a slant- 

 ing direction ; in consequence of 

 which, the curtains which hung 

 from the top, impeded the action 

 of the sword ; and to this alone 

 can his royal highness's preserv- 

 ation be imputed — several of the 

 tassels of the curtain were cut 

 off. The sword was alarge military 

 sabre of the duke's, and had been 

 lately sharpened. The whole edge 

 appeared hacked and blunted with 

 the force of the blows. His royal 

 highness's shirt wascut through in 

 several places, and a great splinter 



was shivered from the doorthrough 

 which he made hisescape. Adjoin- 

 ing the room itself, and communi- 

 cating with it, is the little closet 

 where the murderer secreted him- 

 self. There is in this closet a small 

 press, in which the bolsters were 

 usually put, and in which he hid 

 himself, as the scabbard of the sa- 

 bre was found in it. Seilis had five 

 different rooms to pass through 

 from the duke's bed-room to his 

 own, and his traces were distinctly 

 marked by the blood left by his 

 left arm upon the sides of the nar- 

 row door; and when his coat was 

 examined, theleft sleeve wasfound 

 to be covered with blood. His 

 royal highness, we understand, re- 

 ceived six distinct wounds : one 

 upon the forehead, towards the 

 top of the head, another down 

 the cheek, one upon the arm, ano- 

 ther by which his little finger was 

 nearly severed from the hand, one 

 on the front of the body, and ano- 

 ther on the thigh, besides several 

 punctures in different parts with 

 the point of the sabre. Mr. Home, 

 the surgeon, was immediately sent 

 for, who pronounced that none of 

 them were mortal. Sir H. Hal- 

 ford was also called in. The 

 prince of Wales went to the pa- 

 lace early in the morning to visit 

 his royal brother ; and about eight 

 eight o'clock set off for Windsor, 

 to communicate to the royal fa- 

 mily the intelligence of the attack 

 made upon the duke. A coroner's 

 inquest vyas held on the body of 

 Seilis, who, after sitting four 

 hours, to hear evidence, &c. deli- 

 berated about an hour, and then 

 returned a verdict of Felo de se. 



In pursuance of a petition to 

 the House of Commons, from the 

 trustees of the British Museum, 



