STATE PAPERS. 



499 



years, born in Ireland, minister 

 from his majesty king George III. 

 to the prince of the Asturias, Fer- 

 dinand VII. 



Q. To whom did you apply in 

 London to propose, and to pro- 

 cure the acceptance of the project 

 which has brought you to France? 

 — A. To his royal highness the 

 duke of Kent, who mentioned it to 

 his father, the king. The affair 

 was afterwards conducted by the 

 marquis Wellesley. 



Q. What were the means put at 

 yourdisposal for executingthisen- 

 terprise ? — A. There were deliver- 

 ed to me — 1, A letter of credence 

 to remove all doubts as to my per- 

 son and my mission to prince Fer- 

 dinand. 2, Two letters from the 

 king of England to the prince, 

 which have been found among 

 my papers. 3, Forged passports, 

 routes, orders from the ministers of 

 marine and war, stamps, seals, sig- 

 naturesof the officersinthedepart- 

 ment of the secretary of state, all 

 of them seized at the time I was 

 arrested, and which I carried with 

 me, to convince the prince of the 

 means I had. 4, As to the funds 

 requisite for the undertaking I had 

 about200,000francs,and eventual- 

 ly an unlimited credit on the house 

 of Maensoff and Clanoy, of Lon- 

 don. Finally, the vessels that were 

 necessary, viz. theIncomparable,of 

 74- guns, the Dedaigneuse, of 50 

 guns, the Piquante galliot, and a 

 brig. This squadron, which is 

 victualled for five months, waits for 

 my return on the coast of Quiberon. 

 Thus provided, after taking leave 

 of the king and his minister on the 

 24th of January, I left London on 

 the 26ih for Plymouth, with com- 

 modore Cockburn, to whom the 

 command of the squadron wascon- 



fided. M. Albert de St. Bonnel, 

 to whom I communicated my plan, 

 remained in London to receive the 

 passports, itineraries, stamps, seals, 

 &c. that were ordered. The depar- 

 ture of M. de St. Bonnel, was de- 

 layed by the indisposition of mar- 

 quis Wellesley ; he did not join me 

 before the end of Februarj', and we 

 sailed some days after. I landed 

 at Quiberon on the 9th of March. 



Q. What precautions did you 

 adopt on your landing to conceal 

 the documents explaining the ob- 

 ject of your journey? — yJ. I put 

 the letter of credence 1 mentioned 

 in mv cane. The two letters of his 

 majesty the king of England were 

 concealed in the lining of my coat ; 

 part of the diamonds were sewed 

 up in the collar of my surtout and 

 the waistband of my small-clothes. 

 M. de St. Bonnel had the remain- 

 der, which he secreted in the same 

 way, and in his cravat. 



Q. Before your departure from 

 France for England, had you es- 

 tablished any communication with 

 Valancay? — ^. None. 



Q. Where did you go after you 

 landed ? — ^. To Paris. I travel- 

 led with the help of one of the iti- 

 neraries, which was given me in 

 England, and which 1 filled up. 



Q. Did you remain long at Pa- 

 ris ? — A. I was employed in selling 

 the diamonds which marquis Wel- 

 lesley gave me. I bought a horse 

 and cabriolet from M. de Couvert, 

 who resides at the hotel d'Angle- 

 terre, in the street Filles de St. 

 Thomas. M. de St. Bonnel pur- 

 chasedtwohorses for persons whose 

 names I do not recollect. He was 

 to buy one from Franconia, after I 

 set out for Valancay, and another 

 from the Princess of Carignan. 



Q. How did you again admit- 



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