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man, who has waited behind the chair of one of the Irish members of the present Parliament; and thus, therefore, his promotion justifies the appointment of Carter. We admit the fact, which ha been long known to us, but we deny the inference; and we appre→ hend few persons will be found to contend that the existence of one abuse is sufficient to justify another. We must here just observe, that Colonel Gordon's evidence, which we have heard extolled as most candid, satisfactory, and even decisive, appears to us by no means to deserve the unqualified commendation which it has received, or, to say the truth, any commendation at all; for of all regular men surely he is the most irregular. In trifles his memory is wonderfully tenacions and retentive; in essentials most woefully defective. Colonel Wardle's ignorance of the Christian name of the Captain Maling, respecting whom he wished to make some inquiry, supplied the sagacious and provident colonel with a fine opportunity for the display of his professional regularity and skill. He chose to infer, that the Captain Maling about whom he was questioned, was that Captain Maling to whose situation the questions could not possibly apply; and although he was perfectly aware that there was another Captain Maling to whom they would apply, he did not conceive it to be consistent with the rules of professional regularity to set Colonel Wardle right. It afterwards came out, however, that there was a Captain Maling in the Duke of York's own office, in respect of whom the regulations laid down by the Duke himself, and, according to his secretary, most rigidly adhered to, had been grossly violated, and that at the very recommendation of this regular secretary himself! For this Captain Maling had received his company without having seen any service, without having even joined his regiment!!! So much for the regularity of the Duke's office, and of the Duke's official secretary! But it is most remarkable, that after a very long examination, in which his answers all referred to the other Captain Maling, when Colonel Gordon was asked, "What were the services of Captain Maling's brother, who is, I believe, a captain in the army, who is in the War Office?" answered, "There is a Captain Maling, an assistant of mine, in the office of the commander-in-chief; I take for granted that is the person referred to." Is it credible, that Colonel Gordon should not have been aware, from the very first question that was put to him about Captain Maling, that this was the persón referred to? And if so, though his answers might be strictly

regular, they certainly had the effect of prevarication, for they tended to lead the examiner astray. He then acknowledges what is stated above, that though this Captain Maling had seen no service, he recommended him to be placed on the half pay as a captain; and for what reason? why, because he had "an extraordinary good character, and more than common abilities," as a clerk in office! And this extraordinary admission followed a declaration of the colonel's to this effect-"I conceive it my particular duty to take care, that any officer whose name is submitted to his royal highness is a fit and proper person, duly qualified in all respects, as to points of service, and as to his majesty's regulations, for the service into which he is so recommended." And yet, in breach of this particular duty, he recommends for promotion a man whom he knows to be wholly unqualified, both as to points of service, and as to his majesty's regulations; and this is not prevarication, but regularity! But we have done with this regular witness, with his eternal explanations, and his constant reference to his box.

We shall dismiss Doctor O'Mara and his case in a few words.— The first question that naturally suggests itself to the mind is, how came a doctor of divinity, and a candidate for the mitre, to be acquainted with a woman of easy virtue? Expressing our abhorrence of the conduct of a clergyman, who could so far degrade his character and station, as to make a prostitute the channel of an application for any ecclesiastical object; we consign this wretched man to his diocesan, who, if he knows his duty, will provide for him a much severer punishment than any that the pen can inflict. But we must maintain, that the facility with which the Duke complied with the request of his mistress to obtain permission for Dr. O'Mara to preach before the King, affords a strong presumptive and corroborative proof of his disposition to grant any request which she might choose to prefer. For certain it is, that he could not act with greater impropriety, or disgrace himself more, by listening to her petitions on military affairs, than by gratifying her wishes in this respect.

Kennett's case, though a strange one, has been little dwelled upon. He was a man not merely of doubtful character, but of a character so bad as to be rendered incapable by law (having stood on the pillory) of being a competent evidence in a court of justice. Yet did the Duke of York, without the smallest scruple, not only communicate with this man, but, in the hope of obtaining a

pecuniary loan through his means, actually recommended him as a fit person to hold a situation under government. It would be an insult to our readers to point the moral of this case. Imbecility itself may discern its profligacy.

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We should have been induced to enter into a regular analysis of the evidence on such particular case, had not this task been most ably, and effectually, performed in several of the periodical prints. We have already stated the effect which the whole investigation has produced on our minds; and we can assure his majesty's ministers, that in every society which we have frequented, every conversation which we have had with individuals, we have not found one man in a hundred who is not as strongly convinced as ourselves of the past misconduct of the commander-inchief. When, too, they find that such men as the conductors of the Courier, of the Antijacobin, and of some other publications of similar principles, are deeply impressed with a belief of the same fact; they must be persuaded that their opinions do not proceed from prejudice, much less from disaffection, but are the delibe rate result of unbiassed judgment, issuing from honest, upright, and impartial minds. Let it not, then, be inferred, that every man who thinks the Duke of York unfit for his office, is concerned in a conspiracy against the House of Brunswick. If such a conspiracy shall ever be found to exist, it will not, we venture to assert, find more resolute and ardent opponents than the writers in question; who will not only employ their pens, but who will shed. the last drop of their blood, should occasion require it, in defence of the illustrious family on the throne. And here we cannot forbear to notice a most preposterous and dangerous notion, that had the house resolved the Duke of York to be guilty of the practices, or connivance, laid to his charge, they must, of necessity, have passed a bill to exclude him from the throne. Indeed, this strange idea of interrupting the succession, so solemnly fixed by the act of settlement, was canvassed with as much apparent indifference as could have been displayed in the discussion of the provisions of a common turnpike bill! Such loose asseverations, however, ought not to be tolerated; they display a want of reflexion and of wisdom, not less reprehensible in itself, than mischievous in its effect. To provide, against possible evils, was an act of folly which our sober ancestors disdained to commit. It will be sufficient, for the security of our excellent constitution, to supply a remedy for an existing grievance,

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however it arises. And it is wonderful that men, who betrayed an excessive reluctance to wound the feelings of the King, by beseeching him to dismiss his son from office, should so easily familiarise their minds with the idea of calling upon him to give his consent to an act for excluding that son from his legitimate succession.

So long as this great cause was under the consideration of Parliament, a respect for the impartial administration of justice led us most cautiously to abstain from delivering our opinion on its merits. Having now discharged our duty to the public, by a conscientious declaration of our honest sentiments on the subject, we bid adieu to a theme at once disgusting and painful; nor shall we be tempted to renew the discussion, unless some new circumstances should arise, to call for our animadversions. The commander-in-chief is no

more.

"We war not with the dead;

A lion preys not upon carcases.'

And we hope that all the defective parts of our military system will die with him-we shall then have no more Burrards and Dalrymples!--no more Conventions of Cintra !-The discussions on this last subject in Parliament, have proved nothing but the existence of a strong spirit of party, wholly unconnected with the welfare of the country. The opposition condemned the issue of the campaign in Portugal only as it supplied a means for casting disgrace on the ministers, and of giving themselves credit with the public. All parties were unanimous in absolving the military commanders from any share in the imputed disgrace. And although

the event, which was pronounced from the throne to have defeated the just hopes and expectations of the country, was produced by the refusal of the general to pursue the French after the battle of Vimiera, when the advantages of such a pursuit have been declared, by a competent judge, Sir Arthur Wellesley himself, to have been such as a child must have perceived, yet has this refusal not been considered as affording any ground of reproach to Sir Harry Burrard, much less a sufficient cause for bringing him to trial; so that a great public disgrace has been sustained, and no one is made responsible for it!

The affairs of Europe seem about to undergo some material change, but nothing has yet occurred, of a nature sufficiently marked, to enable us to pronounce any rational opinion respecting

them. We are not sanguine in our expectations of an alteration in the policy of the Russian cabinet. And though we are far from thinking meanly of the resources of Austria, yet, unless she obtain a powerful assistance from this country and from Spain, and that most promptly, we confess our fears will be stronger than our hopes.-In America, the determined opposition of the people has compelled the government to forego their ruinous system of internal and external policy, by repealing the obnoxious embargo act. We are by no means clear, however, that this proceeding will be productive of any benefit to England; and most certain we are, that it should not be suffered to deter our government from the adoption of any measure, which can tend to establish our independence, as well of America as of Russia. The very disinterested advice of Mr. Baring, not to encourage the growth of flax-seed in Ireland, because we may chance soon to receive an adequate supply from America, was much better calculated for the meridian of Washington, than for that of the British capital. Whatever conduct America may now pursue, we may be certain, that her government, under the influence of Mr. Jefferson, will never be well disposed towards Great Britain. And it will be the bounden duty of ministers to afford every possible encouragement to our own colonies, in order to obtain from them those supplies which we have been too long accustomed to draw from America. Their conduct, hitherto, has been founded on a wise, discreet, and prudent system of policy: let them firmly adhere to it, and they will deserve and receive the gratitude of their country. MARCH 27th.

MISCELLANIES.

THE CONSPIRACY; A NEW DRAMA.

To the Editor of the Antijacobin Review.

Sir; WHEN the mind is occupied with matters of importance, it pays little attention to those of form. I shall, therefore, introduce myself to you, without farther ceremony, by saying, that I am a dramatic writer by profession, and that I wish for your advice and assistance in an undertaking, the idea of which, as I believe, has suggested itself to myself alone, and in the execution of which I have already made considerable progress.

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