1808.) 
reward of merit, either by the appointment 
. ef meritorious officers to the commissions 
which so became vacant, or by selling them, 
and applying the produce of such sales to the 
redemption of half-pay commissions, or to 
the compassionate fund Herethe power of 
the commander in chief over such produce~ 
ceases. Ifthe commissions i have described 
are otherwise disposed of, the authority vese 
ted in the commander in chief is abused, and 
the objects of the halfpay fund are abandon- 
ed. Now, if I can shew that those commis- 
sions are appropriated to very different pur- 
poses, it will, of course, appear that such 
abuse and abandonment does take placem=that 
rerit isnotrewarded—that the Half-pay List 
is not reduced—that the Compassionate Fund 
is not assisted. For the purpose \of shewing 
this, it is absolutely necessary to call the at- 
tention of the house to another establishment 
of the commander in chief’s, which is quite 
of a different complexion to that I have just 
mentioned. This establishment, which con- 
sisted of a splendid house in Gloucester place, 
a variety of carriages, and a long retinue of 
servants, commenced in the year 1803, and 
at the head of it was placed a lady of the 
name of Clarke. As this lady forms a prin- 
cipal party in several of the facts which I 
have to cite, Iam under the necessity, how- 
ever reluctantly, to imention her name, as 
well as that of others, in order to make outa 
fair parliamentary basis for my motion, and 
to satisfy the house that 1’ have not brought 
it forward upon light grounds. In producing 
this satisfaccion, I have no doubt of succeed- 
ing, and I assure the house that I shall en- 
deavour to avoid trespassing upon their time 
by the statement of more cases than appear 
to me necessary tothe particular points which 
my motionembraces. ‘The first case to which 
I have to call your attention is that-of Cap- 
tain Tonyn, whom I understand to be an ofhi- 
cer of. merit, and, in alluding to him upon 
this occasion, 1 beg it to be undestood that i 
- Mean no reflection whatever upon his charac- 
ter. ‘Tbis officer, who held his Captaincy in 
the 48th regiment of foot, was promoted toa 
Majority in the 31st regiment, according to 
the Gazette, on the 2d of August, 1804. 
For such promotion, to which, no doubt, 
Captain ‘Tonyn’s professional merit. entitled 
him to aspire, he was indeoted to the influ- 
ence of Mirs. Clarke; without which he 
might have leng looked for promotion in vain. 
To Mrs. Clarke, Captain Tonyn was introdu- 
ced by Captain Huxley Sandon, ef the royal 
Waggon train; and the terms of agreement 
were, that Mrs, Clarke should be paid 5001. 
upon Captain ‘Tonyn’s majority being gazet- 
ted. In order to secure this payment it was 
arranged, that the amount should be lodged 
in the hands of a third person, as agent to 
the parties, and this agent was a Mr. J]. Dono- 
Van, a surgeon, of Charles-street, St. James’s- . 
square. As [shall have frequenc occasion to 
sntxoduce this gentleman’s name to-night, 
- Duke of York and the Army. 
189 
and may be obliged to resort to him hereafter; 
it seems right that 1 should present the 
house with some information about him. It 
appears that Mr, Donovan was appointed a 
lieutenant in the 4th royal garrison battalion 
in the year 1802, and that. he was afterwards 
promoted to the 1ith battalion. What the 
cause of this appointment and promotion was 
I have endeavoured to ascertain, but without 
success. I have, however, found, that the 
services of Mr. Donovan could not have been 
of a military nature, In fact, since the day 
of his appointment, in 1802, he has never 
Joined his regiment. But there seems to be 
some reason for granting him a perpetual 
leave of absence,.as he had been on constant 
duty in London. This Gentleman was a 
Member of the medical department of our 
army inthe American war. If he deserved 
promotion, surely our medical staff is large 
enough to provide for him. What then 
could have taken him into the army? But 
to return to his pursuits in Lendon. The 
2001. lodged with this Gentleman was paid 
to Mrs. Clarke, by captain H. Sandon, as soon 
as Major Tonyn was Gazetted. Here it be- 
comes necessary to observe to the house, that 
the regulated difference between a company 
and a majority is 11001. which should have 
deen appropriated as 1. before mentioned. 
But how does the affair stand? Mrs. C. gains 
500i. and. 11001. are lost to the Halt-pay 
Fund. ‘This sum, however, of 5001. was 
paid by Mrs. Clarke, toa Mr. Birket, a sil-. 
versmith, in part payment for a service of 
plate. for the establishment in Gloucester- 
place; the balance for which plate was aftere 
wards pail by his Roval Highness the com- 
mander in chief. The positions which I 
hold to be clearly deducible from this case 
are these—First, That Mrs. Clarke possessed 
the power of military promotion., Secondly, 
that she received pecuniary consideration for 
such promotion. And, thirdiy, that the 
commander in chief was a partaker in the be- 
nefit arising from such pecuniary considera- 
tion. Toestablish the truth of rhis case I 
have the following witnesses: Major Tonyny 
Mrs. Clarke, Mr. Donovan, captain Huxley 
Sandon, and Mr, Birket’s executors. 
The second case Ihave to adduce, relates 
to the subject of exchanges. Upon the 25th 
July, 1803, an exchange was concluded be 
tween lieutenant-colonel.Brook, of the 56th 
regiment of Infantry, and lieutenant-colonel 
Koight, of the 5th dragoon guards, through 
the influence of Mrs. Clarke. ‘The agent for 
negociating this tyansaction was a Mr. 
Thynne, a medical gentleman... The circum- 
stances of the application to the Duke of 
York were shortly these—-Mrs £larke want- 
ed some money to defray the expences of an 
excursion tc the country; she therefore ur- 
ged the commander-in-chief to expedite the 
exchange, as she was to receive 2001. for it. 
This urgent request was made upon a Thurs- 
day, and its influence was such, that the ex- 
change 
