ILLINOIS
UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS AT URBANA-CHAMPAIGN
Production Note
Project Unica
Rare Book & Manuscript Library University of Illinois Library at Urbana-Champaign 2015
DEDICATION.
YOUR LORDSHIP having acquired a pre-eminent reputation of wifdom and integrity by your adminiftration in a department the moft important and inte-reiling to both the civil and moral welfare and rectitude of the inhabitants of this country at large, and thereby incited a fui-table admiration and efteem, 1 take leave to teilify my participation in both, by Dedicating to your Lordihip on the fpur of (at leaf: a feeming j uil,) occaiion, fome effuiions of loyalty, zeal and affedlion towards our benignant and beloved Sovereign, for the many benefits conferred upon us, and in particular that
ofDE DICATION.
of appointing your Lordfhip, when you were fo much needed and where you have been and are fo efficaciouily beneficial. I have the honor of fubfcribing myfelf, with the greateft refpeft, Your Lordfhip’s
Very Humble and
Obedient Servant.
With Good latent, moil Men agree, An a£lion cannot evil be;
Yet to affume too great licenfe, With even that, may give offence; I-therefore humbly pardon crave Por taking, without alking leave, Your Name, altho’ with the intent Of paying worth a compliment.
Fidelis Patiens et Simplex, 19th Dec. 1803.remarks, &c.
Having read the Correipondence of certain perfonages of the Royal Family, and coniidered the conciie comment tnereon made, which however proper, appears inadequate to what the fubjea feems to require, fo I, with all refpea to thofe pre-eminent perfons take leave to obferve, that though intermeddling with fuch family intercource is very indecorous, yet as it has been promulg-ed with the ofteniible and avowed intent and reaion of making an appeal to the public, fo I conceive every loyal and Br	lovingloving fubjeft may and is called on to offer his fentiments with humility, deference and ingenuity, and efpecially as it has been introduced into the houfe of commons with at leaft an implied re-prehenfion and indecent mfmuation of iealoufy and fear on our Sovereign, and in order to obviate the apprehenfions and forebodings fome feem to entertain from feme expreffions thereon, of a confequent coolnefs between thofe Royal ferfonages, and which might not be improbable to refult from other perfons of ordinary undemanding and weak affeftion; with this intent and in the premifed defection I fhall deliver the fentiments of my mind not the vagaries cf imagination.
I
Evert man may afeertain tne rig-it
Who will and can examine his own
mind, for the maker of all men has
there infetibed indelibly, fpecimens
adiuited7
adjufted to every poffible occafion or occurrence, yet few regard or have jecourfe to it, becauie the imagination is more fuitable to our vain and various deiires and fchemes.
Many affe6l to be zealous advocates of right when power is on its fide and has an upper hand, and every man will contend for what he calls his own, but very few eipoufe it otherwife or for fake of the inftitution or legislature; I am aware of the difficulties of fuch an undertaking and particularly to my very limited capability, and policy forbodes the perils and keeps filent for fafety, fo has with a treacherous, temporifing conformity, feduced, fu-perceded and fupplanted in a great meafure the principle of re61itude. And who, fome fay, will prefume, or venture to judge, of matters between potentates when he may be certain of b %	# incurring8
incurring the weighty difpleafure of either that can crufh him to death, beiides it has been obferved, that a fort of reconciliation is often effe&ed between great adverfanes, by their mutual facrifice of thofe who took part with either and are confidered as intermeddlers or inftigators.
This I do not apprehend likely to be my cafe, yet were I certain it would, that fhould not deter from my endeavours to reconcile a flight and feeming difference witl* thofe, whofe unanimity is fo eifential to the public welfare in fundry refpe6ts.
No man fhould determine to a£t from mere inclination whatever may be the objea, becaufe that is always ignorant and confequently fallacious and dangerous, and ends in difappoint-ment, difgrace and defeat, and moreib according to its vehemency, therefore it requires found unprejudiced judgment^ to difcover and prefcribe the right and juitifiable ways and means of gratifying or controuling it, as on this, both dignity, and fafety, well as fuccefs depends, this however is too often ne-gledled or reprobated when the defire is violent and the attachment ftrong, or ' if it oppofes the impetuoiity of that inclination; which is yet more irritated and confirmded by temporiling and pliant pretences and advice. This may be applicable in fome refpeft or degree, to his Royal Highnefs the Prince of Wales. He feels that courage fo exemplary in his tmceflors and the Royal Family, and when an occafion of fuch immenie importance and univerfal intereil, offers naturally fpurns the thought of being inaftive, and glows with ardoui tr finalize himfelf, and fhouxd his Royal Highnefs exprefs this feeling, as he certainly
hasIO
lias done to his intimates at leaA, fome might catch his flame, others would affeft it in conformity to him, and many urge to both, but who would attempt to check or abate his iervour, or venture to ufe repugnant arguments, and yet thefe are what the Prince wanted and flill requires, and however fubmiflive (to the abAra6t authority or judgment of a King and father, lie expe6ted a region to corroborate them by convincing his underAanding,
This it appears from the Aatement .of the Duke of York, the King had intimated in a fummary way, which however the Prince feems not to have recollefted, becaufe it made but a fu-perficial impreflion on his imagination only, and was by a Arong attachment to another objedt overlooked, or obliterated by fubfequent oppoflte arguments; yet to be more circumAantial it may be obferved, that his MajeAy being
inveAedinverted by the conrtitution with able-lute authority to diipofe of all ranks in the army, or to grant or refume them at pleafure, and tho’ it is to be fuppofed he has found reafons for doing either, yet he is not obliged to afiign them, nor has any one a right to require him fo to do:	yet this might
not be the King’s only reafon, he felt it as a degradation to his fon to derive promotion by mere routine, as his, other fubjefts in the army have done. He would not, could not conrtder his fon and the licit apparent in that level, nor was it confiftent with his Majesty’s authority and dignity to do fo. The firrt ftep was not by routine, why then rtiould it be adopted when the King could place him in any ranK at once, and tho’ his Majerty was willing that the Prince iliould acquire military ikill in the army, in the rank of colonel,
he1%
he furely could not intend it ihould be as
a profeffion to him, however proper for his other brothers ; though no one will diipute or doubt the competent theory of his Royal Highnefs in military tactics, and that, when perfedl will exprefs itfelf rightly, (on occafions,) fo far as clofe application, extenfive information from books, and men, accurate ob-fervation, and much local pra&ical difcipline, and menouvres, with a found judgment. Yet there is fomewhat ne-ceffary for hoftile encounter, which all this cannot afford, and is only acquired by being a6tually at fuch engagements, and for want of that, confidence, may be weakened, render all thofe, though highly expedient inefficient, and prevent fuccefs, many have prevailed
by this experience alone, who \vere (in a great meafure) deflitute, or very inferior in thefe qualifications, and in aI
T ^
conteit (if it iliould take place) of fuck accumulated and general importance and intereil, every poffible impediment ihould be avoided.
No doubt every fubjedt of the realm is charmed with the principle that incites our Prince to the undertaking, and does at the. ürft bluih, admire and extol the generous pro-pofal on fo momentous an occaiion ; yet many might not be pleafed to fee him in high command, from the opinion mentioned, or in a Ration of greater refponübility. Whenever the Prince is in this realm, if his Majefty be not there, he mull be firit by hereditary defcent and fore-moll as heir to the crown, neither of thefe could apply to the army in that, if not the chief14
He could not be firft, and if he was, many generals would be diiTatisfied who had been in aótual fervice, at being iuperceded, and be ready to apply the blame of any mifhap to the Prince, or his Majefly ; fome wifh. and ftrive to put the authority and reverence of King and Father out of the queftion, and to deny and reprobate every prerogative and dignity they have not nor can acquire.
This is always the cafe with dis-• appointed ambition and often with interior abilities, fpite and envy would de-ilroy that they cannot obtain, and detraft from that they cannot equal, and fome would be well pleafed to have his royal Highnefs degrade him--Telf to- gratify their vanity, fo would
not
not his father. He knows in what high dignity confifts, and feels for a degradation in his beloved fon as to himfelf, and though he, may not chooie or condefcend to difclofe his reafons, fo far as my fpirit can difcern, I have offered them, to the Public.
The foregoing I humbly hope, may help to reconcile the feeming differences of illuftrious perfonages, remove thofe apprehenfions which difturb and dill refs loyal aiid affedlionate fubje&s, and prevent the furmifes and iniinuati-ons of malevolent and finifler perfons, from producing the calamities they may
with,


FINIS.