Did Mr. Reding, during any part of this negociation, offer a bond to your Lordship?-No.

Did he at any time offer money for this appointment?When the negotiation had closed as to the Writership, he asked me whether three thousand guineas, laid on Lady Clancarty's toilette, would induce me to give him the Writership, which I very indignantly refused; after which I never saw him in my house once, nor any where except meeting him accidentally at Lord Sligo's.

Did any thing pass between your Lordship and Mr. Reding, at Lord Sligo's?--Yes; lady Ciancarty, two or three days after I bad thus dismissed Mr. Reding, received a letter, signed, I believe, Charlotte Johnson, offering her £3,000, or guineas, for her influence with me to procure a

Writership, and appointing a shop in the Strand to meet the party and receive the money; this letter was of course put into the fire, without any notice being taken of it; but the sum tallying so exactly with that Mr. Reding had offered, and coming so immediately after Mr. Reding's proposal of the same nature, when I met him at lord Sligo's, I desired him to take care not to allow his friends to write any more impertinent letters to lady Clancarty; and when he was gone out of the Toom I apologized to lord Sigo for having made use of such language to a person in his house, and informed him of the reasons for my so doing. Mr. Reding, however, denied having any thing to say to the letter.

Did he ever give you to understand at whose disposal this Seat in Parliament was, which he offered you.-No, never; it was upon that, that the negotiation went off.

Did you ever dispose of any Writership?-Never in my life.

Do you recollect whether the name of Mrs. Grove was mentioned in any part of this transaction by Reding?-No, never.

Did you ever hear from Reding the name of the marquis of Sligo, mentioned as connected with this transaction?Never.

Or the marquis of Bath?-Never; I believe no name of any sort was mentioned to me.

Do you know to whom this Writership, offered to yourself, was afterwards given by lord Castlereagh ?-I have not the least knowledge.

LORD CASTLEREAGH'S EVIDENCE.

"How did your lordship become ac quainted with Mr. Reding?-I think it was in the latter end of the year 1805, that I received a letter from Mr. Reding, which some days afterwards I sent to lord Clancarty; I saw Mr. Reding between the receipt of that letter and the communication of it to lord Clancarty, with this exception, I never had any knowledge whatever of, or intercourse with, Mr. Reding.

What was the subject of Mr. Reding's letter to your Lordship?-I had vacated my Seat on the acceptance of the Seals for the Colonial Department; the object of Mr. Reding's letter was to say, that he thought he had the means of assisting me in coming into Parliament, if I was not already provided with a Seal.

Did any thing pass in your conversation with Mr. Reding, relating to a Writership-Nothing whatever; I told Mr. Reding I did not want a Seat in Parliament for myself, but that a friend of mine did; I asked him to name the gentleman who proposed to vacate; this he declined till the terms were settled, with which having nothing to do, I inclosed his letter to lord Clancarty, and never saw Mr. Reding afterwards, or had any communication with him.

nation?—I think, some time after I inclosed Mr. Reding's letter to lord Clancarty, lord Clancarty told me he had a negotiation with Mr. Reding, with a view to procure a Seat in Parliament, which he said had failed; in as much as the proposition he had made to Mr. Reding, which was of a pecuniary nature, had been declined by the person who was supposed to have the influence to procure the Seat in Parliament.

What passed between your Lordship and lord Clancarty in consequence of this -I should state, as preliminary to answering that question, that nothing in point of fact ever arose out of the communication I had with lord Clancarty, by which the disposal of any Writership was affected, nor did the nomination to any Writership take place in consequence of that communication. With reference to the question itself having been put to me by the Committee, I feel it my duty to give an explicit answer to it; that I was induced to place a Writership at lord Clancarty's disposal, and that certainly the impression under which I did it, was, that lord Clancarty's coming into Parliament might be thereby facilitated. I stated, however, to lord Clancarty that I did not feel that I could recommend any person for a Writership in the East India Company's seryice, who was not individually and in point of connexions a proper object to receive a political favour of such a nature from a member of the government, and such a person in point of character as the Court of Directors were entitled to expect to be placed in their service, in conse...quence of any nomination they had placed at my disposal, on which point my decision must be reserved till I knew who the party was that solicited the appointment. Subject to those qualifications, was it our lordship's intention to have placed mis nomination at lord Clancarty's disposal, to be given in consideration for his being returned to Parliament ?-I conceived lord Cluncarty, subject to those qualifications, entitled to call upon me for the Writership if it could be of use to him, either for THAT PURPOSE or any other that he was interested about, and which had no relation to a pecuniary transaction. I must observe, however, that my conversation with lord Clancarty arose out of a particular case stated, and, I believe, was never acted upon by him, otherwise than to ascertain whether that case had any existence in point of fact. I certainly did not conceive, in so placing a Writership at lord Clancarty's disposal,

that it could possibly become the subject either of sale for money, or general barter for a Seat in Parliament.

Do you recollect to whom this Writership was given ?—I think, some time afterwards, lord Clancarty told me that he had no wish to dispose of the Writership, and that in consequence of that intimation from him, it was disposed of to the young man who was in my contemplation for this appointment, if no communication of the nature described had taken place between lord Clancarty and myself; and that, in point of fact, the name of the individual appointed to that Writership will be found in the list of the disposal of my Patronage; but I cannot specify the name, as there were two or three appointments of mine at that moment not filled up, and as it never proceeded to the length of my doing any act in furtherance of such a purpose, or to my giving any directions to Mr. Meheux, the assistant secretary of the India Board, to carry such an appointment into effect, I cannot state the particular Writership that would have been so used if it had led to any result; but I can state that any Writership I could have so used was, in point of fact, filled up by a friend of my own perfectly unconnected with the transaction, and that his name stands, in the list before the Committee, probably in the appointments of the subsequent year.

Was the name of Mrs. Grove ever men. tioned to your lordship in this transaction? -Never; I never heard the name of Mrs. Grove in my life, till it was mentioned to me in the house of commons a few days since, connected with a story which I know to be false, and which induced me to communicate to the chairman of the Committee the story itself, and to put him in possession of all the means which occurred to me, as best calculated to detect the falshood and to further the inquiries of the Committee upon that subject.

Was the name of Mr. Davies mentioned to your lordship in this transaction?—I think it was on the same night that I had heard the above story in the house of commons that I found a letter on my table, when I returned home, from a man of the name of Davies, stating that he had been summoned to give evidence before this Committee, with respect to a Board of Control Writership, which was supposed to have been offered or actually sold through Mrs. Grove's agency, and stating his general reluctance to be called upon to give any evidence in which my name was con

cerned. I immediately wrote an answer to Mr. Davies, to say, that he could not do any service more grateful to me than attending the Committee, and giving them every assistance in his power in executing the purposes of their inquiry, and in detecting the falshood to which his letter referred; and I think on the following day I communicated Mr. Davies's letter to the chairman of the Committee; I had no other knowledge of Mr. Davies, nor ever saw him, and never heard of his name except in that letter.

By the means of any other Writership, bas your lordship ever endeavoured to faciliate any other person's coming into Parliament-Never in my life; I never had any communication of such a nature; nor have I ever had any interference, direct or indirect, in the disposal of any Writership, other than those, a list which is now before the Committee, the appointments to which I apprehend will speak for themselves."

ment;

Now, then, how stands this Case ?Reding tells us, that he made to lord Clancarty, who was then one of the members of the Board of Control; that is to say, one of the persons whom we pay to see that the East India Company act propery: He tells us, that, to this lord he made the proposal of a swap of a Seat in Parliament for an East India Writership.Lord Clancarty tells us, that he became acquainted with Reding in consequence of a proposition, respecting a Seat in Parlia-that Reding toid him of a friend of his (Reding's) who wished to vacate his Seat, but wished to make his retirement subservient to the object of obtaining a situation for a young man.[Stop, here, reader, and observe the verbosity of this lord. Why not say, in one word, that he wished to make a swap-Well, come, my lord, let us hear it.That he wished to make his retirement subservient to the object of obtaining a situation for a young man, a son or nephew, and added, that if a Writership could be obtained for the party, the said friend would willingly retire.Very well, my noble lord. Very well. Now, upon this villainous proposition being made to you, who was a member of the Board of Controul, and who knew that law upon law existed to prevent Seats in Parliament from being obtained through any other means than the free voice of the people; upon this villainous, this corrupt, this infamous proposition being made to your noble lordship, what did your lord

you

ship do? Did the high blood begin to gallop in your veins, and did you kick the dirty jobber down stairs; or did consign his devoted carcass to the foot of a porter? Neither! your lordship did neither. But, you tell us, drily, that, having, at that time, no Writership to dispose of, the negociation, at that time, closed -Well!. but, reflection told you, that this was not the way for an honest man to become a representative of the people? Not at all, it seems; and, you are not ashamed to tell us, that you renewed the negociation with Reding; that, having mentioned the circumstance to your friend, Lord Castlereagh, he told you, that he had a Writership undisposed of, to which he would be happy to give you the recommendation, but enjoined you to see that the person recommended was a

proper one. Oh! yes, yes. It was just so in the case of Mrs. Clarke's and Mr. Donovan's recommendations. They were all mightily proper persons, who were promoted through them. All was quite regular too. MR. BURTON, the Welch Judge, found something most delightful in the promotion of Sammy Carter, her footman, though he found a great deal of fault with the poor lady herself. All her appointments were excellent; and so, I dare say, Mr. Reding's would have been.But, my lord, my lord! Pray explain to us, in the country, who are unused to these refined matters, how it came to pass, that your lordship, who, when you and Mr. Reding had first the mutual honour to meet and to negociate, had, "no wish to save any "expence," did, before you had the pleasure of seeing him again, think of mentioning to Lord Castlereagh, that Mr. Reding wanted a Writership?- -Well; but to come to the point; leaving your lordship to answer this question; to account for your not half-killing Reding, when he offered to put 3,000l. upon your lady's toilette; and for the mild manner in which you reproved him when you accidentally met him afterwards, at the Marquis of Sligo's: leaving all this without any particular comment, let us now come to the point with your lordship. The question put to you is this: "Did Lord Castlereagh offer

you this appointment of a Writership for "the purpose of facilitating your being re"turned to parliament, if that could be ob"tained by this means?"- -Your answer, is," CERTAINLY.”.

-You are then

asked whether you told this to Mr. Reding; and you say, that you gave him to understand it. Very well.And, now, my Lord of Castlereagh, you, who talk of

Jacobin Conspiracies, and who see such great" difficulties in producing legal con"viction in cases of libel;" now, my lord, what is it that you have to say; Why, first, that you received; you, even you, a Privy Counsellor and a Minister of State, received a letter from Mr. Reding; from the man who offered to lay a 3,000l. bribe upon Lady Clancarty's toilette, and that you sent this letter to Lord Clancarty; though the object of "the letter was to "say that Mr. Reding had the means of assisting you in coming into parliament !" You even saw this Mr. Reding, and you did, what? Did not even you kick the jobber out? O, no! You told him, that you did not want a seat," but that a friend "of yours did." You were supplied with the article, and therefore, you sent the parliament-seat pedlar on to the next door. Well, what next? Did they deal? Did your friend make a purchase, or a swap? Neither. But, whose fault was it? Why Reding's; for you tell us, that the negociation failed, " in as much as "the proposition, which was of a pecuniary nature, had been declined by the per"son, who was supposed to have the influence "to procure the Seat in Parliament," and not by your friend Lord Clancarty.Then what did you do? Did your duty as a Privy Counsellor, as a Minister of State, as a Servant of the king, or as a Representative of the people, induce you to put a stop to this villainous, this illegal, this corrupt, this dirty negociation? No: but, instead of that, "you were induced to place a Writership at Lord Clancarty's "disposal, and that certainly the impres"sion, under which you did it, was, that "Lord Clancarty's coming into parlia"ment might THEREBY be facilitated."

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-We want no more. He that wants more than this ought to be a slave all the days of his breath. He ought to be loaded till his back cracks; the lash ought to visit him every hour of the day; the thumb-screw, the picket, the torture, the rack; all, all this and much more he deserves, if this evidence be not sufficient to convince him and to fill him with indignation. And, are we Conspirators and Jacobins; are we enemies of the illustrious House of Brunswick;" do we deserve to be sent to Gloucester or Dorchester jail; ought we to be exposed to the hell of solitary imprisonment, because we express our abhorrence of these things? The constitution says, that "the "election of members to serve in parlia"ment shall be free;" but, if Scats can be

bought and sold, or swapped for Writerships, where is this constitution; where is that, to preserve which we are called upon to spend our last shilling and to shed the last drop of our blood ?- -Well and truly did sir Francis Burdett say, that it was not so much in hard money as in a traffic of offices, that the work of corruption was, now-a-days, carried on. Here we have the system, thanks to Mr. Wardle, laid open before us. It is laid bare. We see it as plain as we do our hands and our nails. Some of us knew, before, of its existence, and we all felt its deadly effects. But, until now we had not the occular demonstration; there was room for the minions of corruption to cavil and deny. Now there is no room for this at all. The man that shall now dare attempt it, must be regarded as a knave or a fool.————But “in "point of fact," say their lordships, no swap did take place with Mr. Reding. So it was with the Tinman of Plymouth. He only tendered a bribe. He did not give it. He, too, was capable of the office, and said his intention was to perform all its duties with diligence and probity; but he, though he infringed no statute; though he was guilty of no attempt to purchase or sell or barter Seats in Parliament; and, though he was himself an ignorant man, and in no post of public trust; he, poor Hamlin the Tinman, was sentenced to pay a fine of a hundred pounds, to the king and to be imprisoned for three months; and this, he was told, was demanded by " public justice,' and in vindication of the purity of the times in which we live.-Reader, bear this sentence in your mind. Compare the conduct of the Tinman with that of Reding and these lords; and then compare the consequences of their conduct to the parties respectively.-Come forth, you "bold divines;" why do you not come forth, and tell us how these things accord with the principles of the religion you teach us. Not a word will you say. This is religious, then, is it, as well as constitutional? The persons, who do these things, have all taken that sacrament, and those oaths, you will observe, which the Roman Catholics refuse to take; and for which refusal they are kept out of office. Don't blame me for thus accusing you. "Those that are not with us are against us;" and, again, I tell you, that when democrats were to be attacked, the book-shops teemed with your political sermons. I tell you once more, and I tell you this once for all, that you shall be our friends, or you shall be consi