and all others in their several places whom it may in anywise concern, that they and every of them be from time to time attendant to you, the said William Henry Duke of Clarence, and do carefully and diligently observe, execute, and perform all such orders, warrants, and commands as you shall make, give, and direct touching the premises in such manner and sort as if any Commissioners for executing the said office of our High Admiral had made, given, or directed the same: And to the intent you, the said William Henry Duke of Clarence, may be the better instructed how to perform this great and weighty service to our best advantage, and we and our Privy Council may be the better informed what orders and directions from time to time to give therein, our will and pleasure is, and we do hereby of our most especial grace, certain knowledge, and mere motion, give and grant unto you, the said William Henry Duke of Clarence, power and authority, not only by yourself, but also by any other fit person or persons whom you shall make choice of and appoint with all convenient speed, to make a true and perfect survey and account of all such ships and vessels of or belonging to our navy, and of all the munition, tackle, and furniture belonging to them, or any of them, and of all the stores, ammunition, and furnitures prepared for them and every of them, of all sorts, and also of all courses now held in managing, ordering, and governing of our navy, and to deliver the same so made and taken unto us in writing, and to propound such ways and means for the establishing such orders and instructions for regulating the same as shall be found agreeable to our service, and as may increase our power and forces by sea, and remove such corruptions and abuses as may prejudice the same, and especially may maintain the marines and seamen and sea service in due order and obedience; that thereupon we may take such speedy and effectual course for the supplying of all defects and reforming of all abuses as shall be necessary to make and continue our navy serviceable and powerful for our honour, and for the honour and safety of our realm and dominions. And whereas all droits of the sea, goods, and ships taken from pirates, and divers droits, rights, duties, and privileges have been by express warrants, or otherwise, heretofore granted to our said High Admiral, and to former Admirals for their own benefit, as duties appertaining to the office or place of our High Admiral aforesaid: Now our further will and pleasure is, and we do hereby charge and command that all casual duties, droits, and profits be taken, collected, and received in all places where they shall happen by the Vice-Admirals and other officers of or belonging to the Admiralty, in such sort as they formerly were, or ought to have been taken, collected, and received by them and every of them respectively when there was a High Admiral of Great Britain, and the said Vice-Admirals and others so taking, collecting, or receiving the same shall account for the same, and every part thereof, unto or before you the said William Henry Duke of Clarence, or unto such other person or persons in such manner and form as you shall for that purpose appoint, but to our only use and behoof, and not otherwise. And whereas we conceive it just and reasonable that those who have or shall truly and faithfully account for what they receive, should have sufficient discharges for the same accordingly: Our will and pleasure is, and we do therefore by these presents give and grant to you the said William Henry Duke of Clarence full power and authority to issue forth discharges, releases, and quietuses upon such accounts for all duties, droits, and profits whatsoever received or to be received by the aforesaid Vice-Admirals, or other collectors, receivers, or any commissioners authorised by you, or by the High Court of Admiralty to receive any droits or profits of Admiralty, or any Registrar or Registrars, or his or their deputy or deputies executing the office of Registrar in the High Court of Admiralty itself, or in any other inferior Court of Admiralty as you, the said William Henry Duke of Clarence, shall approve of the said releases, discharges, or quietuses, to be under your hand and the seal commonly used by you for things appertaining to the said office of our High Admiral, which we will shall be and remain of record in the High Court of Admiralty, under the custody of the Registrar there, to the end that the parties concerned in such accounts and discharges may according to their occasions (if they desire it) receive the same exemplified under the great seal of our Admiralty: And our further will and pleasure is, and we do hereby declare, that the releases, discharges, and quietuses so signed by you, the said William Henry Duke of Clarence, and sealed with your seal aforesaid, or the duplicates thereof recorded in the High Court of Admiralty, shall be held, deemed, taken, and be a full, sufficient, and lawful discharge, release, and quietus to every such accountant, his executors, or administrators: And whereas all offices, places, and employments belonging to the navy or Admiralty are properly in the trust and disposal of our High Admiral for the time being, and such High Admirals have constituted Vice-Admirals under them, our will and pleasure is, and we do by these presents of our further especial grace, certain knowledge, and mere motion give and grant unto you, the said William Henry Duke of Clarence, full power and authority to give, grant, and dispose of all offices, places, and employments belonging to the navy or Admiralty, and to constitute and appoint Vice-Admirals for such places where Vice-Admirals have been usually appointed by Commissioners for executing the said office of High Admiral for the time being: Lastly, our will and pleasure is, and we do by these presents grant to you, the said William Henry Duke of Clarence, that those our Letters Patent, or the exemplification or enrolment thereof, shall be and remain in and by all things good, firm, valid, and effectual in the law, notwithstanding the ill writing, or not truly, or not fully writing the said former Letters Patent of the date thereof: And notwithstanding the not writing any other Letters Patent or Commission concerning the said office and premises, or any of them heretofore made or granted by us, or any of our ancestors or predecessors, or any other omission, imperfection, defect, matter, cause, or thing whatsoever to the contrary thereof in any wise notwithstanding. In witness whereof we have caused these our Letters to be made Patent; witness ourself, at Westminster, the Second day of May, in the Eighth year of our Reign. By the King himself. BATHURST. [ 979.] To the King. London, 10th August, 1828. I attended the Lord High Admiral yesterday by his Royal Highness's desire; and his Royal Highness explained himself very much to the same purport as in the enclosed letter, which, in the course of conversation, his Royal Highness gave me to read. I told his Royal Highness that I could not do otherwise than submit my representation to him upon every occasion on which he should depart from the rules laid down for his conduct by your Majesty in the patent of his appointment or in the Act of Parliament; that I regretted much the necessity of having such discussions with his Royal Highness, but that I could make no compromise upon such a subject; and I entreated his Royal Highness to consult the Lord Chancellor, if he thought I had formed an erroneous judgment on the extent of the powers conferred upon him. His Royal Highness afterwards sent me the enclosed letter; and I wrote his Royal Highness the answer of which I enclose your Majesty the copy. All of which is submitted to your Majesty by your Majesty's most dutiful and devoted subject and servant, WELLINGTON. To Earl Bathurst. [ 980. ] MY DEAR LORD BATHURST, London, 10th August, 1828. I have been so much occupied, that I have not been able to answer your letter. I have made no progress as yet; but I hope I shall soon ; and I will let you know as soon as I shall have done anything. I think any dealing with the Pope is out of the question, and will get us into all sorts of difficulties. The Church of England would have great and well founded objections to such a course of proceeding; and my own opinion is that we can do without having recourse to it. Believe me ever yours most sincerely, They have advised me to go to Cheltenham for a short time, in which case I will certainly pay you a visit. The King to Field Marshal the Duke of Wellington. Royal Lodge, 10th August, 1828. MY DEAR FRIEND, Ever your sincere friend, G. R. P.S.-I will restore your papers to you when I shall see you here. VOL. IV. 2 Q The Duke of Clarence to Field Marshal the Duke of Wellington. DEAR DUKE, Bushy House, 10th Angust, 1828. In answer to your Grace's letter of yesterday in answer to mine, which was and was not sent, because your Grace must recollect the circumstances under which I put it into your own hands, I shall make two observations. The first is, I hope and expect to see the Lord Chancellor in the course of the 14th instant, to talk over entirely my patent and the Act of Parliament, as I am commanded by his Majesty to be at the Royal Lodge on the 12th instant. I shall then be a better judge of how I feel as to the positive power I possess or not, and therefore my mind will then be able to direct my line of conduct in convincing me whether I can be of real use to the King and the country or not in the situation I now hold in the Admiralty. The other, and the most important is—I must feel hurt your Grace conceives it was your duty, from whatever quarter the intelligence was received, to mention to me the opinion your Grace entertained, after what I had thought I had so fully and so satisfactorily stated had arisen from a mere accident. I will not at present say any more, because it is possible that my conversation with the Lord Chancellor may be satisfactory, and that the mere accident of my having been alone without Sir Henry Blackwood can never happen again. I remain, dear Duke, yours sincerely, WILLIAM. [ 981.] SIR, To the Duke of Clarence. London, 11th August, 1828. I had the honour of receiving your Royal Highness's letter last night; and as your Royal Highness informed me therein that you were to speak to the Lord Chancellor on the subject which we had discussed, I did not intend to trouble you again upon it. I have, however, just received the enclosed from his Majesty, in answer to that I wrote to his Majesty yesterday, in which I sent his Majesty the letter which your Royal Highness wrote me on the 9th, and my answer. I enclose your Royal Highness the copy of the letter from me to the King, of which the enclosed is the answer; and likewise of the letter which I wrote to his Majesty on the 8th instant, in which I transmitted to his Majesty the copy of the letter which I addressed to your Royal Highness on that day. I have the honour to be, WELLINGTON. The King to Field Marshal the Duke of Wellington. MY DEAR FRIEND, Royal Lodge, 11th August, 1828. I have read with the most careful attention your further correspondence with the Lord High Admiral. I will repeat to your Grace the words that I used to my brother when I had occasion to write to him on this painful subject, namely, "that he was in error from the beginning to the end." I now desire distinctly to state, once for all, that I most entirely approve of all that you, in the exercise of your bounden duty towards me, as my First Minister, have communicated to the Lord High Admiral on the subject now before me. When I appointed my brother to the station of Lord High Admiral, I had reasonably hoped that I should have derived comfort, peace, and tranquillity from such an appointment; but from what has hitherto taken place, it would seem as if the very reverse were to happen. Can the Lord High Admiral suppose that the laws are to be infringed, the rules of true discipline (which he knows so well how to uphold) are to be broken in upon? and that these things are to pass without notice or remonstrance by the responsible advisers of the Crown? Can the Lord High Admiral suppose that his best friend and his Sovereign is to have no feeling under such circumstances? I am quite aware that I am drawing fast to the close of my life; it may be the will of the Almighty that a month, a week, nay a day, may call the Lord High Admiral to be my successor. I love my brother William, I always have done so to my heart's core ; and I will leave him the example of what the inherent duty of a king of this country really is. The Lord High Admiral shall strictly obey the laws enacted by Parliament, as attached to his present station, or I desire immediately to receive his resignation. Such are my commands to your Grace. Ever your sincere friend, G. R. The Duke of Clarence to Field Marshal the Duke of Wellington. MY LORD DUKE, Bushy House, 11th August, 1828, 9 p.m. Your Grace's letter of this day enclosing a letter from his Majesty, also of this day, accepting in its contents my resignation of the office of Lord High Admiral, together with copies of your Grace's letters to the King of 8th and 10th instant, have just reached me. I have very little under the present circumstances to observe to your Grace, except that I trust in God, from the bottom of my heart, that our justly beloved and gracious Sovereign may be spared to govern us all for many and many a day. However others might feel at the resignation of so high an office, I can with equal truth and satisfaction declare that I retire from this situation with the most perfect satisfaction to my mind; |