it had been transmitted to his Lordship with directions that it should be copied for the Commissiouers, and that when such copy had been taken, the original should be returned to Your Majesty. "Your Majesty's own gracious and royal mind, will easily conceive what must have been my state of anxiety and suspense, whilst I have been fondly indulging in the hope that every day, as it passed, would bring me the happy tidings, that Your Majesty was satisfied of my innocence; and convinced of the unfounded malice of my enemies, in every part of their charge. Nine long weeks of daily expectation and suspense have now elapsed; and they have brought me nothing but disappointment. I have remained in total ignorance of what has been done, what is doing, or what is intended upon this subject. Your Majesty's goodness will therefore pardon me, if, in the step which I now take, 1 act upon a mistaken conjecture with respect to the fact. But from the Lord Chancellor's communication to my Solicitor, and from the time which has elapsed, I am led to conclude, that Your Majesty had directed the copy of my letter to be laid before the Commissioners, requiring their advice upon the subject; and possibly, their official occupations, and their other duties to the state, may not have, as yet, allowed them the opportunity of attending to it. But Your Majesty will permit me to observe, that however excusable this delay may be on their parts, yet it operates most injuriously upon me; my feelings are severely tortured by the suspense, while my character is sinking in the opinion of the public. "It is known that a Report, though acquitting me of crime, yet imputing matters highly disreputable to my honor, has been made to Your Majesty that that Report has been communicated to me;-that I have endeavoured to answer it; and that I still remain, at the end of nine weeks from the delivery of my answer, unacquainted with the judgment which is formed upon it. May I be permitted to observe on the extreme prejudice which this delay, however to be accounted for by the numerous important occupations of the Commissioners, produces to my honor? The world, in total ignorance of the real state of the facts, begins to infer my guilt from it. I feel myself already sinking in the estimation of Your Majesty's subjects, as well as of what remains to me of my own family, into (a state intolerable, to a mind conscious of its purity and innocence) a state in which my honor appears at least equivocal, and my virtue is suspected. From this state, I humbly entreat Your Majesty to perceive, that I can have no hope of being restored, until either Your Majesty's favorable opinion shall be graciously notified to the world, by receiving me again into the royal presence, or until the full disclosure of the facts, shall expose the malice of my accusers, and do away every possible ground for unfavorable inference and conjecture. "The various calamities with which it has pleased God of late to afflict me, I have endea voured to bear, and I trust I have borne with humble resignation to the Divine will. But the effect of this infamous charge, and the delay which has suspended its final termination, by depriving me of the consolation which I should have received from Your Majesty's presence and kindness, have given a heavy addition to them all; and surely my bitterest enemies could hardly wish that they should be increased. But on this topic, as possibly not much affecting the justice, though it does the hardship of my case, 1 forbear to dwell. "Your Majesty will be graciously pleased to recollect, that an occasion of assembling the Royal Family and your subjects, in dutiful and happy commemoration of Her Majesty's birthday, is now near at hand. If the increased occupations which the approach of Parliament prevent may occasion, or any other cause, should the Commissioners from enabling Your Majesty to communicate your pleasure to me before that time; the world will infallibly conclude, (in their present state of ignorance,) that my answer must have proved unsatisfactory, and that the infamous charges have been thought to be but too true. These considerations, Sire, will, 1 trust, in Your Majesty's gracious opinion, rescue this address from all imputation of impatience. For, Your Majesty's sense of honorable feeling will naturally suggest, how utterly impossible it is that I, conscious of my own innocence, and believing that the malice of my enemies has been completely detected, can, without abandoning all regard to my interests, my happiness, and my honor, possibly be contented to perceive the approach of such utter ruin to my character, and yet wait with patience, and in silence, till it overwhelms me. I therefore take this liberty of throwing myself again at Your Majesty's feet, and entreating and imploring of Your Majesty's goodness and justice, in pity for my miseries, which this delay so severely aggravates, and in justice to my innocence and character, to urge the Commissioners to an early communication of their advice. "To save Your Majesty and the Commissioners all unnecessary trouble, as well as to obviate all probability of further delay, I have directed a duplicate of this letter to be prepared, and have sent one copy of it through the Lord Chancellor, and another through Colonel Taylor, to Your Majesty. "I am, "Sire, "With every sentiment of gratitude and loyalty, "Your Majesty's most affectionate " and dutiful Daughter-in-law, "Subject and Servant "C. P." Montague House, 8th December, 1806. MINUTE OF THE CABINET. Your Majesty's confidential servants, have given the most diligent and attentive consideration to the matters on which Your Majesty has been pleased to require their opinion and advice. They trust Your Majesty will not think that any apology is necessary on their part for the delay which has attended their deliberations, on subject of such extreme importance, and which they have found to be of the greatest difficulty and embarrassment. They are fully convinced that it never can have been Your Majesty's intention to require from them, that they should lay before Your Majesty, a detailed and circumstantial examination and discussion of the various arguments and allegations contained in the |