Do you not know that your mother has been in execution for debt? My mother has nothing to do with the present subject. [The chairman informed the witness she must answer the question.] Do you not know that your mother has been in execution for debt? I must appeal to the indulgence of the Chairman; I cannot answer it. [The chairman informed the witness that, in his opinion, she must answer the question.] Do you know that your mother has been in custody for debt? Yes. How long? Nearly two years. [The witness was directed to withdraw. The Chancellor of the Exchequer explained why he asked the question. He thought at her first examination, that there was something in her answers respecting her father and mother, which made him suppose that she was not the respectable person she was represented. It now appeared that her father and mother were not married. Mr. W. Smith put it to the House how far the credit of the witness was to be affected by this circumstance. She felt on the occasion as any one might feel. It was natural that she should feel a reluctance to disparage herself, by acknowledging that she was illegitimate. Mr. Whitbread concurred with the right honourable Gentleman, that the questions were as painful to him to put, as they were to the witness to receive; but it appeared to him, that he had rather overstated what she had said on a former examination. She did state that Taylor was her. father's name, but not that it was her mother's. It was by ber credibility, and not by her respectability, that they were to determine how far they should believe her. Mr. Barham regretted that these last questions were. put; they had cast a doubt upon the character of the witness, which was enough to extinguish her means of subsistence. Mr. DEDERICK SMITH was called in, and examined by the Committee, as follows: What are you? A brazier and tinman, Do you know Miss Mary Ann Taylor, of China-row, Chelsea? Yes. How long have you known her? I cannot exactly say, but I think about fifteen years; I am not certain exactly to the time. Do you know her mother? Yes, I do. How long may you have known her mother? About the same time. Do you know her father? Yes, I do. Do you know what his name is? His name is Thomas Chance. Do you know his profession? His profession was formerly a stock broker; but he failed, I believe. Did he ever do any business for you in that profession? Yes; he has. Did you ever make a purchase of land of him? Yes, I did. Did he ever tell you that he had a wife? His wife was Mrs. Taylor;. she passed as his wife, Did he ever tell you that he had another wife? No, he never told me so. Did you ever apply for him at the Stock Exchange under the name of Taylor? Yes, I have. Could you find him by that name? No. Under what name did you find him? Chance. The name of Thomas How long has he ceased to be a broker? To the best of my knowledge two years; but I will not be certain. Did he do business publicly at the Stock Exchange every day as Thomas Chance? Yes he did. Was he known by any other name than that of Chance? He was not. Did you ever see him with his daughter, Mary Ann Taylor? Yes, I have. J Did he go by the name of Chance at that time? No, he went by the name of Taylor. What was your reason for inquiring for him by the name of Taylor, at the Stock Exchange? Because at that time I did not know but what his name was Taylor. How came you to apprehend that the name of a man was Taylor, whom you knew by the name of Chance? I found out then that his name was Chance; before, I always thought his name was Taylor; I found it out when I began to deal with him, and not before. At what time did you find out that the name of this person was Chance? I cannot exactly say the time; but it was that time when I wanted him to do business for me at the Stock Exchange. By what name did the person, of whom you are speaking, go, when you were first acquainted with him? He went by the name of Thomas Taylor. How long ago was that? O, that is a good many years ago, ever since I knew hun. How long did he continue to go by that name, to the best of your knowledge and belief? He has gone by that name till I found out that his name was Chance, when he began to do business for me at the Stock Exchange. About how long ago might that be, that you apprehended that the true name of this party was Chance? My memory will not furnish me with that, but it is several years ago, that is all I can say; I could find it out by papers, but my memory is very bad, and therefore I cannot go any further. In what neighbourhood did the party, of whom you speak, live, when you knew him by the name of Taylor? He lived in Norman street, and he lived at Bayswater, and all that time I knew him, but by no other name than that of Thomas Taylor; nor my family, never any of them knew him by any other name. To the best of your knowledge and belief, was the party universally known, in all that neighbourhood, by the name of Taylor, and no other name? Yes, he was. Do you recollect Mrs. Taylor, and Miss Mary Ann Taylor, calling at your house one day with a bill, or an instrument of that kind, to get cash for it? They called at my house, and Mrs. Taylor wanted to borrow some money of me; she said she had a paper to give me as a security, which she would not trust with any body else. Did you state to them that Mr. Chance was coming to your house on that day? I did. Did they know him to be the person that you knew as Mr. Taylor ? Yes. Did Mary Ann Taylor make any observation, upon your stating that Mr. Chance was coming? She laughed, and said to the mother, we will say we only paid Mr. Smith a morning visit. What did Mrs. and Miss Taylor, or either of them, say, or do, in consequence of your telling them Mr. Chance would be there that morning? Miss Taylor said to the mother, we will tell my father, I think, I will not be positive, if he comes, that we only paid Mr. Smith a morning visit; they stopped a bit, and then they went away. Are you quite sure that when you told Mrs. Taylor and her daughter this person was coming, you made use of the name of Chance; are you quite sure you did not say, Mr. Taylor is come? I am not quite sure; I think I said Mr. Taylor, by way of a compliment. Have you any means of knowing, that Miss Mary Ann Taylor knew her father by the name of Chance; and if you have, what are those means? I have no means of knowing that she did. [The witness was directed to withdraw. The evidence was now closed, with respect to the parti cular charges. Mr. Yorke then rose to ask the general officers present, whether the army had not been much improved in disci pline and condition, during the time that the Duke of York was at the head of it, and whether the system of promotions in the service was not much better than it had been before. General The Honourable CHAPPLE NORTON, attending in his place, was examined by the Committee, as follows: Do you recollect the state in which the army was, when his Royal Highness took the command of it, in regard particularly, to the mode in which the promotions and commissions of the army were carried on › I believe, in former days, those officers who had great weight of interest, might have got promoted very rapidly, much sooner perhaps than was right or proper; his Royal Highness made, in my opinion, very saJutary regulations to prevent that. I could, it it was not trespassing too much upon the time of the Committee, speak very fully to what I believe, and what has come to my knowledge, to have been the conduct of the Commander-in-chief since he has been at the head of the army. State any particular circumstances that are within your own knowledge, with reference to this particular part of the subject. Perhaps of all others, this is a subject l'am least able to speak to; but the conduct of his Royal Highness, with respect to the army in general, I can speak to at large. That he has done more service to the army than all his predecessors the Commanders in Chief; and I will state in what manner: in the first place, and what is very material, I recollect very well that his Royal Highness, I believe, was the instrument and the means through the medium of this House, of giving bread to the soldier when he had little or nothing to eat; and I will exemplify that, by a conversation I had with a lieutenant-colonel of one of the best regiments in his Majesty's service, the late Lord Cornwallis's, Colonel York. I am very sensible of the very scanty pittance the soldier had to subsist on in this country, and I endeavoured to do what I could to assist in the measure; and Colonel York supplied me with a very strong instance, which was when the 33d regiment was about to return home from a foreign station. According to the articles of war, the commanding officer of each regiment so returning is to make known to his men, that any soldier who wishes to remain behind upon that station is at liberty so to do; the men of the 33d regiment informed Colonel York, that it was their intention all to remain behind, and to continue abroad, because where they were, they had sufficient to eat, and if they came to this country, they should not have a dinner. His Royal Highness first got an allowance of bread to the soldiers, and afterwards of beer, and then their pay increased, and upon which the soldiers are very comfortable. If it was not wearying the time of the Committee, I could mention another very singular instance. After the American war, I recollect a soldier in my own company (1 was in the Coldstream regiment of guards) that came home, and had been very severely wounded; he was discharged from the regiment, the regiment had nothing further then to do with him; he was recommended to Chelsea, but Chelsea had no means of taking care of him; and the mau would have been left to perish, if it had not been for the quarter-master of the Cold-stream, who went to the officers at Chelsea, and the officers at Chelsea did get the man taken care of. Since that (I take for granted his Royal Highness was very much the means of doing it) the York hospital was instituted, so that the men have not been left in that distressed situation since the American war. In your opinion, have the condition and discipline of the army, upon the whole, declined or improved, since his Royal Highness took the command? I am one of those, unfortunately, who think there was a very good system in the army, with regard to discipline, before his Royal Highness came to the head of it. Referring to the time when his Royal Highness took the command of the army, and the latter part of Lord Amherst's time, has the state of the army improved since his Royal Highness took the command ? There was a very good system then, or else our regiments would not have gained those advantages which they did; and I really do not know that it is better now than it was then, if I am to speak my opinion. The Right Honourable General FITZPATRICK, attending in his place, was examined by the Committee, as follows: Do you recollect the state in which the army was, when his Royal Highness took the command of it, in regard, particularly, to the mode in which the promotions and commissions in the army were carried on? I am persuaded that there is no officer of long standing in the service, can recollect the state of the army previous to his Royal Highness's taking the command, who will not be ready to testify the very great improvement which the army has derived, in every respect from his Royal Highness's management of it: I do not presume to give this opi nion on my own experience merely, having no pretensions myself but that of long standing in the army; I consider myself as a competent judge of the question, I really believe the notoriety of this fact to every officer who has any knowledge or experience upon the subject, is such, as in my humble opinion, to have made any such reference to general officers wholly unnecessary; and all I have to say upon this subject is, that there is no officer in the army who will contradict the fact. The Right Honourable the SECRETARY AT WAR, attending in his place, was examined as follows: Do you recollect the state in which the army was, when his Royal Highness took the command of it, in regard, particularly, to the mode in which the promotions and commissions in the army were carried on? I can only say, that I concur entirely in every syllable, which was delivered by my right honourable friend over against me (General Fitzpatrick with regard to the manner in which promotions were carried on, before the present Commander-in-chief assumed the command of the army; particularly in the period immediately preceding his appointment, there was certainly great abuse, and such as, if continued, must have proved highly detrimental to the service. It is notorious, that rank in commissions and rank in the army, were got entirely by money, or, what was the same thing, by raising a certain number of men, indeed more generally by paying for it; there were many instances of officers who attained their rank of major, I believe of lieutenant-colonel, in the space of one or two years. His Royal Highness, soon after he assumed the command, established a regulation, in consequence of which no officer could attain the rank of captain, before he had served two years, nor that of field officer, before he had served six, and I believe that those regulations have been rigidly adhered to, and have been of infinite service to the army. State whether, in your opinion, upon the whole, the condition and discipline of the army have declined or improved during the time his Royal Highness has been commander-in-chief? In expressing my concurrence with what had fallen from my right honourable friend, I have answered that question. I certainly conceive that the condition of the army is very considerably improved, and I am certain that its discipline particularly (meaning the discipline in the field) has improved to a very great degree. I recollect when it was a matter of difficulty to place five or six regiments upon the ground, so, I mean, as to be enabled to act against an enemy; that operation is now performed with as much |