Page images
PDF
EPUB

'દ

68

myself would allow of; but I have felt that I have been deeply injured; that I have had much to complain of; and that my silence now, would not be taken for forbearance, but would be ascribed to me as a confession of guilt. The Report itself announced to me, that these things which had been spoken to by the witnesses, 'great improprieties and indecencies of conduct," necessarily occasioning most unfavorable inter"pretations, and deserving the most serious con"sideration, must be credited till decidedly con"tradicted." The most satisfactory disproof of these circumstances, (as the contradiction of the accused is always received with caution and distrust) rested in the proof of the foul malice and falsehood of my accusers and their witnesses. The Report announced to Your Majesty that those witnesses, whom I felt to be foul confederates in a base conspiracy against me, were not to be suspected of unfavorable bias, and their veracity, in the judgment of the Commissioners, not to be questioned.

"Under these circumstances, Sire, what could I do? Could I forbear, in justice to myself, to announce to Your Majesty the existence of a conspiracy against my honor, and my station in this country at least, if not against my life! Could I forbear to point out to Your Majesty, how long this intended mischief had been meditated against me? Could I forbear to point out my doubt, at least, of the legality of the Commission, under which the proceeding had been had ; or to point out the errors and inaccuracies, into

which the great and able men, who were named in this Commission, under the hurry and pressure of their great official occupations, had fallen, in the execution of this duty? Could 1 forbear to state and to urge, the great injustice and injury that had been done to my character and my honor, by opinions pronounced against me without hearing me? And if, in the execution of this great task, so essential to my honor, I have let drop any expressions which a colder, and more cautious prudence, would have checked, I appeal to Your Majesty's warm heart, and generous feelings, to suggest my excuse, and to afford my pardon.

[ocr errors]

"What I have said, I have said under the pressure of much misfortune, under the provocation of great and accumulated injustice. Oh! Sire, to be unfortunate, and scarce to feel at liberty to lament; to be cruelly used, and to feel it almost an offence, and a duty to be silent, is a hard lot; but use had, in some degree, inured me to it; but to find my misfortunes and my injuries, imputed to me as faults; to be called to account upon a charge made against me by Lady Douglas, who was thought at first worthy of credit, although she had pledged her veracity to the fact, of my having admitted that I was myself the aggressor in every thing of which I had to complain,-has subdued all power of patient bearing; and when I was called upon by the Commissioners, either to admit by my silence, the guilt which they imputed to me, or to enter into my defence, in contradiction to

[ocr errors]

it:-no longer at liberty to remain silent, I perhaps have not known how, with exact propriety, to limit my expressions.

"In happier days of my life, before my spirit had been yet at all lowered by my misfortunes, I should have been disposed to have met such a charge with the contempt which, I trust, by this time Your Majesty thinks due to it; I should have been disposed to have defied my enemies to the utmost, and to have scorned to answer to any thing but a legal charge, before a competent tribunal; but, in my present misfortunes, such force of mind is gone. I ought perhaps, so far, to be thankful to them, for their wholesome lessons of humility. I have, therefore, entered into this long detail, to endeavour to remove, at the first possible opportunity, any unfavorable impressions; to rescue myself from the dangers which the continuance of these suspicions might occasion, and to preserve to me Your Majesty's good opinion, in whose kindness, hitherto, 1 have found infinite consolation, and to whose justice, under all circumstances, I can confidently appeal.

"Under the impression of these sentiments, I throw myself at Your Majesty's feet. I know, that whatever sentiments of resentment; whatever wish for redress, by the punishment of my false accusers, I ought to feel, Your Majesty, as the father of a stranger, smarting under false accusation, as the head of your illustrious House, dishonored in me, and as the great guardian of the laws of your kingdom, thus

foully attempted to have been applied to the purposes of injustice, will not fail to feel for me. At all events, I trust Your Majesty will restore me to the blessing of your gracious presence, and confirm to me, by your own gracious words, your satisfactory conviction of my innocence.

[blocks in formation]

"With every sentiment of gratitude and loyalty, "Your Majesty's most affectionate “ and dutiful Daughter-in-law,

66

Subject and Servant.
"C. P."

Montague House, 2nd October, 1806.

Deposition of Thomas Edmeades, of Greenwich, Surgeon and Apothecary.

I am a Surgeon and Apothecary at Greenwich, and was appointed the Surgeon and Apothecary of the Princess of Wales in 1801. From that time I have attended Her Royal Highness and her household. I knew Fanny Lloyd who attended in the coffee-room at the Princess's. I frequently attended her for colds. I do not recollect that I ever said any thing to her respecting the Princess of Wales. It never once entered my thoughts while I attended the

Princess, that she was pregnant. I never said she was so to Fanny Lloyd. I have bled the Princess twice; the second bleeding was in 1802, and it was in the June quarter, as appears by the book I kept. I don't know what she was bled for-it was at her own desire-it was not by any medical advice. If I recollect, she complained of a pain in her chest, but I don't remember that she had any illness. I did not use to bleed her twice a year. I certainly saw her Royal Highness in Nov. 1802. I saw her on the 16th. of November, but I had not any idea of her being then with child. I did not attend her on the 16th of November, but I saw her then; I was visiting a child (a male child,) from Deptford. I have no recollection of having seen the Princess in October, 1802. The child must have been from three to five months old when I first saw it. I have no recollection of the Princess having been ill about the end of October, 1802. I have visited the child very often since, and I have always understood it to be the same child. The Princess used sometimes to send for leeches, and had them from me. 1 don't think that I attended the Princess, or saw her often, in the summer and autumn of 1802. I had not the sole care of the Princess's health, during the time I have spoken of. Sir Francis Millman attended her occasionally.

THOMAS EDMEADES.

« PreviousContinue »