OF THE PECULIAR CASE OF THE LATE

EARL 0F WARWICK,

FROM ms LORDSHIP’S OWN

MANUSCRIPT.

“OQQQ}®!©QQQ-—u

LONDON :;

PRINTED FOR E. WILLIAMS, BOOKSELLER To THE DUKE

AND DUCHESS OF YORK, NO. 11, STRAND.

WM

1816;

W

Glendirming, Printer, 25, Hutton Garden, London.

W»:

THE following narrative was

intended to have been published

in the lifetime of the noble Earl,

which his lordship has left as a
memorial of his peculiar case,
810. who died a Martyr to Trea—

chery, Delusion and Prejudice.

. INTRODUCTION.

*0 , mo

 

The following is a Narrative of my
case. It states facts to prove the series
Which

have united to produce an unprecedented

 

of that oppression and

effect, that of driving the head of a family
from the seat of his paternal inheritance,
and to reduce him to the greatest dis-
tress, and' this for no assignable reason;
the plan was formed doubtless by the
advisers of. my .______, but my

 

cannot clear themselves of the

 

_—-—-

blame of having sanctioned such nefari-
ous conduct, qui jacit [2er alienum,
facitﬁer se.

It is desired to be remembered that I
pledge myself to [irove the truth of
every charge and of every allegation I
make.

INTRODUCTION.

My case needs no support, but truth

and a candid hearing.

It is difﬁcult to com-press into a nap:
row compass the various parts of this
sad story, and unless the reader of this
statement is not prepared to give it a
fair and an attentive hearing, he cannot

be enabled to arrive at a just conclusion.

I shall endeavour to, relate What I pro-
pose to state as brieﬂy as possible, but I
fear the narration Will tire those who are
not interested in obtaining information
relative to one of the most extraordinary
transactions ever exhibited; and which,
it is my misfortune, to be obliged to

relate.
WARWICK.

A

NARRATIVE,
8‘0.

m

The origin of the , and the beginning of that
-—--.—- power, so long and so ---- held by my ~_-r .

 

ON the death of my father, I succeed-
ed to the inheritance of the honor and
the patrimony.

I was thenunacquainted with business,
and knew nothing of that important
part of my duty, the management of

my Estate and Possessions.

I applied in vain to my stewards and

agents for information ; they were ei-
B

2

ther incapable of giving it, or they did
not think it prudent to afford it.

I found it quite impossible to gain
any useful information from those Whose
interest it was to conceal. I really be-
gan to doubt whether there was not
some unsurmountable obstacle to the
possibility of being ever master of the
subject. For it is true I never gained any
clear distinct answer to any question I
ever proposed to these stewards and
agents. They had no talents but the
common one of taking especial care of
- their own interests, and of neglecting

those of their employers.

Thus some years past in hearing com-
plaints of tenants, and excuses of
stewards, and 1 saw with pain, are-

currence of evils I could not remedy.

3

EXpences increased, and funds be-
came less productive. Thus I saw the
danger approaching without having any

_____ means to prevent it. I had to pay my

mother an annuity of 20001. per ann.

The banker’s books will prove that I
ever most correctly paid this sum by
quarterly payments. But a particular
year of necessary expences, or of failure
of payment of rent rendered it quite
impossible to prevent the annuity from

being one or two quarters in arrear.

This naturally alarmed my mother,
Who knew that I had never neglected
this payment. She mentioned to me
generally, her apprehension that my
affairs were growing into a state of con-
fusion, and she earnestly advised. me
to consult Lord

 

as a person at-

9

132

4

tached to me by relationship and friend-
ship, and who was particularly qualiﬁed
by his experience in these matters to
afford a very salutary advice.

I had long known Lord , and
did not quite coincide in opinion that
he was the ﬁt person to be $0 employ~

ed. But not to refuse a request which

 

I knew would give my mother satis-
faction, I consented to consider Lord

as a conﬁdential friend and

 

,

adviser. But I always most ﬁrmly
and distinctly declared that I would
not suffer his Lordship to be my direc-
tor, ;or to interfere with the manage—

ment of my concerns.

This was clearly understood, and I
desire the reader of this narrative, never
to lose sight of this fact, that I never

5

did, by writing or by word of mouth,
express any wish to the contrary, but
I appeal to a number of letters which
I wrote at the time, and very uniform-
ly since to prove that I never con-
sidered Lord —~-‘, other than as a

conﬁdential adviser.

After Lord

neral conversation in regard to my

 

and I had a ge- '

affairs, he told me that nothing could be
done without engaging a lawyer to
attend and advise, &c. I replied that,
I must take the liberty to differ on this
subject; that I was aware of the ne-
cessity of employing a professional man
to make sure what had been previous-
ly agreed upon, but that I could not at

once place conﬁdence in a stranger.

To this Lord -~

 

answered, that the

6
person he had to name Was one so
unlike all others of his trade, that
I should be delighted to know him,
for that I should ﬁnd him a wise»

lawyer and a zealous friend.

I was unfortunately led by such

9
S

 

representations to concede to Lord

was introduced

 

request, and
to me, hinc illce lachrymw! for from
that fatal hour I may date the com-'-
mencement of the years of misery I
have since endured, and under which
I still labour.

I am perfectly convinced this treach-
erous man formed his plan the hour
he ﬁrst saw me, and he began by
endeavouring to gain my conﬁdence
that he might abuse it. No one who
will take the trouble of reading what

7

follows, will, I\ believe, doubt the
fact.

—-———-- began in his sly artful man-
ner most cooly and warin to watch
every word I spoke, and to measure and
weigh every one he uttered, taking care
occasionally to give ﬂattering expres—
sions of high Opinion of my judg-
ment, &c. and saying that he had never
found in the course of his experience,
a person of my rank in life, in whom

there were no prejudices to remove, &c.

 

The fact was, that giving Lord

credit for wishing to assist me, and

being led by the unremitting praise ,

 

of ‘ so lavishly bestowed, I was
off my guard, and thought they were
both zealously anxious to afford me

8

an honorable and disinterested assist-

ance.

 

How far Lord was the dupe
to the artiﬁce of his friend I

cannot say, it were charity. to his me-

 

mory to suppose that he was not ac-
quainted with the iniquity of his
friend’s character ; and I leave this part
of the subject Without further com-
ment.

FIRST MEETING.

5

 

A meeting was held at Lord s
house, and my affairs were to be ex-
amined, and some plan proposed; but,
as might be supposed, nothing could

be done. where no data, no accounts,

9

&c. Were produced. My stewards had
never been in the habit of being called
on a sudden for their statements:
these were not only to be transcribed,
but to be made up ﬁt for inspection.
My father’s ill health prevented him
from making accurate investigation of
the accounts, and Samuel Dixon, esq.
Who had been the auditor of them
for above 30 years, contented himself
with casting the books of accounts up
once a year, to see the sums tallied,
and then the signatures Were placed
on them, and an aﬁfzroval sanction-.-
ed, I am certain Without a check, or
one observation made during the thirty

years auditorship.

The steward, old Crofts, was, I be.-
live, a very honest man, but one of
no energy of mind, and never waslso

c

10

' happy‘as (to be quiet, and at rest was
his, great object; he never raised his
voice or interfered, so that things went
on tolerably well, he was contented, but
he no more felt the gradual ruin which
was creeping over buildings. farms, &c.
than :he did the gradual advance of an
old age, not accompanied with any

accute disease or pain.

But the evil was of a great magni-
tude. Ignorant of all the concerns of - an
estate, every one employed was safe in
the eitercise of his deceit. Buildings
were left to decay, when judicious re-
pairs might have preserved them; in
short, the large sums expended on the re--
pairs did no essential service. The whole
was one scene of decay just upheld
from absolute ruin,and yet no very

ﬂagrant act appeared which might

give just cause of alarm. (Thus I
found the evil spreading continu-
ally and fatally; but the fair cha-
racter .of Old Velum, as my father
. called him, prevented the most distant
thought of removing a man universally
liked, as one Who never stood. in the a
way of the continual stream of [would-
tion and of iniquity, which reigned

triumphant.

It was not to be expected that
an ignorant young man like myself
should be able to set things On' their
right footing. Hunting and planting
became my, chief objects; and I am
happy to say that in the latter pursuit I
have greatly succeeded; No perSOn
can Shew ﬁner plantations of his ovvn
' ”raising, and they are now of mOrethan

CZ

12

100,0001. value, increasing at least
50002. per annum by their growth.

My stewards of the distant estates
were much of the same description, and V
the estates being chieﬂy on life-holds,
no great improvements could be ex-
pected to take place in them for many

years. ‘

It happened that I saw an old,c1ever
steward‘of Lord Bagot’s, S. ‘Weston:
he had {many disputes with my stewards,
as Lord Bagot’s estate in WarwickShire
and mine adjoined. I was struck with
the superior knowledge and good sense
of Old Weston, who always got the
better of mine in argument, and gained
many an advantage for Lord Bagot, in
his Tachbrooke Estate; but as I purn

1.3

chased it afterWards, there was no hram
done me.: vThis Old Man was always
represented tome as a rogue.“ But on
one of my stewards (Taylor) dying, 'I
went directly to Weston, and offered
"him the command of my estates to
manage. I soon found-the great dif-'
ference 'betWeen him and my former
stewards. Weston told me‘he could '
cheat me if he were so inclined, that he
should live, but two years, (then 70
years of age), and that it was not
worth his while to .let me say as. I
passed his grave, “ There lies that. old '
rogue, W'éston." He, gave clear answers
to my questions,~ andI soon‘found my.-
Want" of comprehension before, as to;
,.my concerns, was not owing to my

town deﬁciency.

I soon got a ‘very competent know- .

14

ledge of business, of farming, 8:0. and
was glad to ﬁnd Weston’s answers to
my queries were exactly the same as
those I had previOusly set down as,
mine. He told me he would let me
know the true value of my estate, and
leave a book" (which he did) to direct
_ its future management. Unfortunately
this exCellent steward died in two
years, leaving me to regret his loss,
but to be grateful for the information

he furnished me with.

' Not knowing how to supply this;

man’s place, I made his ' , a,

 

'veryi young man, his successor; ”but
though he had been for years employed
under Weston, as a clerk, he was by
no means competent for. the ofﬁce, and
he did not' in any respect answer my

expectation. But he went on long in a

15

way not at all to my mind, but I knew i
not where to get a ﬁt person. His
subsequent conduct has led' me to
believe he is not worthy of my con-
ﬁdence, but he does not cease to be
employed by gentlemen of the county.
Second Meeting of LOrd , who

became trustee to secure to Lord

 

12,0001. per annum I had volun-
tarily entailed on him; for I had the

 

the power of leaving my estate as I
pleased. But Lord _.____._. beComing,
by my aﬁjzointment, a trustee, to
scoure Lord _;___ ’5 interest, gave, of
course, a ﬁne ﬁeld for to act in,
and he did not neglect it. Deeds and

parchments were produced without

 

number; and I was induced, without
strictly attending to the ecejzressions~

artfully introduced in them, to sign

16

what I never would have done had I
known all I had the mortiﬁcation

afterwards to‘ discover.

. At the ﬁrst meeting I found__._.__ and
......_‘__ assembled, paper, pens and ink,
lighted candles, sealing-wax, in due
order arranged; but when the sub-
ject was attempted to be entered into,
there being no accounts delivered
from the stewards, and no documents
by which any knowledge of the ca:-
[zenditur'e or the receijzts could be
estimated or ascertained, no conclusion
could be formed, and thus the meeting
would have broken up re infecta, if“
Lord had not taken up a scrap
of paper that happened to be on the
table, and says, “ Now let us make a
beginning :” I remonstrated on the fol-

1y of attempting it, as no data, were

 

17

before. us, and recommended an ad-
objected, and

 

journment. But
fearing that I should discover his aim,

says, “ This will serve for a beginning,
at least.” I still objected, but not to
appear quite obstinate, I said, “ Well
then, write, but I do insist on its being
inserted in the paper, that it is incor-
rect, subject to revision, to alteration,
&c. &c.”; and thinking it a folly, but
not dreading the poison it contained, I
made no further obstacle to something
being written on this scrajz of [zajzen
But contemptible as it was, it was-on
it that has had the address to
build a superstructure of tremendous
power, and by which I have been
reduced to the horrid state of depend-
ence on him and my trust. I do not
scruple deliberately to assert that their

conduct has been in the highest
' D

 

 

18:

degree, and that _ the true Aword by
which it" ought to be described is by its:

being called a _______._ trust.

. If [do not [zrove that this is the true,
designation of it, I am willing to be

considered as a ’slanderer.

At the second meeting, held some
time afterwards, every thing prepared;
in the same Order as before, and all,
parties assembled, I was {having had,
no ﬁrevious notice whatever j ordered.

to attend the meeting held at Lord

 

 

-~. ’5 house, in ‘ street, directly;

_ I obeyed the summons, and saw
various deeds lying on the table open,
candle light, sealing wax, and seals
prepared, Lord . a cries out, ”There,
sign‘th‘osefdeéds.” His Lordship 'was

 

19
always in" a hurry, but the very
peremptory manner “in which he spoke,
struck me particularly, and Caused me
to say, “ Stay till 1 read the deeds. ”
Lord

the same we had before settled, I am in

 

“ Why, they are exactly

haste, going to Court, &c. and Mr

 

equally so. I said,“ Then they might
*‘Wait another opportunity; ’ but this
'Was loudly objected to, and I was again I
"ordered, in a manner, to sign. This I
absolutely refused to do until I" had
"read them, and fortunately it ~~Was ‘I
did so, for I’ soon found the deeds very
different from the former papers I had
read; and in particular I obServed, with
indignation and astonishment, that this
deed made me [zersonally responsible
for 55,0001. younger children’s ﬁortzOns,
instead of the estate. I showed this
glaring "act “ of deception" oriiof' gross
D 2

20

negligence : I declared no considera-
tion should induce me to sign the deed.
Mr.

mistake,” and run his pen through the

 

very coolly says, “ It is a

clause. I take shame to myself that I
did not instantly declare that I never
would treat with persons either so wick-
ed or‘ so negligent: and if I had so done,
I should have avoided all the miseries
,I have since endured. But, weakly
I confess, I accepted the excuse, and
asuﬁ'eredrit to pass as a mistake, though

the repeated acts of

 

in my w
has convinced me this clause was pur-
posely inserted, with the intent of bring-
ing me totally and speedily into their
power.

Employed as I was in reading, chieﬂy
on farming concerns,» in hunting and

planting, I saw great temptations to

.251

improve WarWiCk Castle, and for the
greatest part of my life I steadily pur-
Sued this object. How I have succeeded,
I leave to those who know what I have
done 'there to declare. It will, I be-
lieve, speak for itself, and be considered
as a very great instance of successful
perseverance.

I found my estate very capable of
great and valuable improvement, but I
knew it could not be effected by those
insufﬁcient men I had in my service,
Whose abilities were unequal, and
whose integrity I doubted. I therefore
determined to try to obtain the assist-
ance of a person of a superior class, a
gentleman and man of business. I
could not however ﬁnd such a one,
when accident threw Mr. Vancouver

in my way. I was struck with his

{2‘2
quickness of apprehension, and like-
Wise With his knowledge‘;but I had
not knowledge enough of his character
"to Venture ‘to request him to undertake

the great object-I had in View.

I took however anﬁopportunity to
broach the matter to him: He receiv?»
ed it as a man of sense should do; he
declared it to, be "a scheme so big vsiith
Objections as to render it almost'un-
justiﬁable to attempt. He said,‘what
is true, that a‘stranger to every man in
the county, of habits and N practice'in
farming different from those of War-
wickshire, must create jealousies and
opposition; that, ,nOt- knowing the ‘cha;
racters Of any persons, he shouldpro;
ba-bly‘employ improper agents, &c.'i
that all the blame would rest 'With him i

that the gentlemen my: friends in "the

23:

neighbourhood, not at ”all acoustomed;
so stir out" of the old accustomed tract,
would call all improvement idle and dan- ;
gerOus Speculation; that the stewards;
Would be united in reprobating What”
they had not known ; that the tenants.
Would be alarmed at the prospect of;
rise of rents; that the old peculators,
the aCcustomed pilferers, and the honest
men would be routed, and join in the,
cry; that I should despise this at ﬁrst,
then begin to doubt, and at last to give-
up any plan entered on; that much
money would be expended, and little:
or nothing permanently done; that I
should lose time, and he and I be
laughed at generally, if not openly,‘

secretly.

_ I felt the truth of these observations,"
but they were nOtnsuﬂicient to suffer.

24

me to relinquish the strong inclination
I felt to do something of consequence
for the beneﬁt of the family and the
estate, and I at length brought Mr.
V. to consent to make the trial. I
assured him upon my honour, that as
long as his conduct merited my "good
opinion I would not desert him ; and I
kept to my word. It would be injus-
tice-to. him not to add, that more good
sense, mOre determination, more in»
defatigable industry, and more integrity,
never united to produce a great beneﬁt

to an estate,

The more he succeeded, under al-
most insurmountable obstacles of every
distressing kind, the more the malevo-
lence of .._._..___ increased; and there
was no pitiful act, no vile artiﬁce,
which his mind, fertile in such base.

25

work, knew well how to invent, was
not employed, with a never-sleeping
attention, to vilify Mr. Vancouver, and
to ridicule him and all his attempts to
improve my estate. I am sure such an
attempt, so well. executed, has never «
been exhibited; so thinks Arthur
Young, and every intelligent man. ' He
found my {estate round Warwick no-
minally in ﬁne order, no bog to reclaim,
no inclosure to make; but he found
every thing out of repair, no ditch
ever scoured, no]. improvement ever
suggested; the tenants idle and rich
Without industry, and all the estate in
a slovenlycondition. I Will not enter
into, a detail of what he did in three
years; but I say what is a fact that
cannot be denied, that an estate, the
rental of which was 80001. per annum,

was raised on ﬁve years leases only,
i E

25

to 14,3001. and not a tenant re-

moved.

To judge of the scale of improvement.
The cutting a ditch on an average ﬁve
feet deep, round eleven farms, near se-
venteen miles and three quarters, besides
making the Tachbrook for three'miles,
twelve feet broad, making in- all twenty~
one miles three quarters. The farms
were two-hundred acres each; and
every house and ofﬁce either new or
completely repaired; all the hedges
new, made perfectly straight, and well
planted, gates, roads, &c. the best sys-
tem of Norfolk farming adopted and
introduced, excellent implements of

husbandry, Devon cows", oxen, &c.

This great work was carried on en-
tirely by Mr. Vancouver’s direction,

27

and he seldom was less than fourteen
hours in a day employed. - All ac.
counts were kept separate and dis-
tinct in books, 21 in number. The
accounts kept generally by double en-
try, and an epitome made out on'a single
sheet for those who could not attend
to the detail. No one article was
omitted of expenee or labour, so that
the smallest error or failure of duty

could be easily detected.

The expenee of this great Work was
previously estimated, and it was exea
outed for the sum it was put at.‘ It
cost 180001. and the proﬁt was the
encrease of 60001. per annum, at the
expence of 3 years purchase. It cost
me nothing but thought and labour,
my tenant agreed to their advanced

£2

28

«rents directly, which paid the work

as it- was carried on.

I am conﬁdent that such a capital
improvement was never before exhié‘
bited. in so short a time as three years ;
and my tenants made no difﬁculty of
agreeing to my pr0posa1 of ﬁve years

lease only.

 

My thought ﬁt. to neglect to
give them timely notice, so they have
kept their leases for ﬁve years more,
but they are now expired, and a
very great rise is reasonably expec-
ted on them. The land 13 confessedIy'
under-let.

.Mr- Vancouver met ‘With‘ nothing:
but abuse and slander, but conscious
that he could bid deﬁance to the

29
malevolence of his enemies, helpersei-
vered, and I declared that I was rea-
dy at all times to receive any. fair and
open accusation any man would be
inclined to produce, but that I deﬁed
any, such to be made, and that until it
was done, I should treat with merited

contempt, all the slander poured out

by envy and’hatred.

Mr. knowing he could not

gain Mr. Vancouver, by his artiﬁCe, or

intimidate him by his threats, had rev-

 

course to a deeper game, in which he
completely succeeded, as will hereafter
appear.

Every day being more and more
conﬁrmed, in the opinion I bad form-
ed of the iniquity of this man. I no

longer held any communication with

30

him, but sent him a iist of about

twenty accusations against him, to be

 

delivered to him from me by his
Mr. v ,. but this he refused to.

do. I will not enumerate all the

 

charges, butstate only a few.

CHARGE FIRST.

 

I charge Mr.

attention, or direct imposition, in in-

With gross in»
serting the clause tooblige me. person-

ally to answer for 50,0001. for the

younger children’s fortune.

CHARGE SECOND.

I accused Mr. - of having de-

 

3,1

clared knowingly a direct falsehood
to Mr.

Hamilton’s solicitor, relative to theHacki—

 

, my late uncle Sir Wm.

ney estate, Which he falsely said was
entailed, a fact he knew was false, and
which I compelled him to deny in
”writing; but by this falshood I lost an
estate, value 6001. per annum, I had
contracted to purchase in Wales of Sir
Wm. Hamilton.

CHARGE , THIRD.

 

 

i‘charge -- -- and * ~ ~- of being
in a most shameful manner ignorant of
my affairs, after having had them above
two years in their possession. I actual-s
"ly‘ was obliged at a meeting held at
Lord ’3 house, in - street,
(present Lord ,. and Mr. ’ )

 

 

 

 

32

to set them right, and to‘ inform them
of estates, value above 3000l. per ann,‘

they knew nothing of.

CHARGE FOURTH.

 

'I charge Mr. With having
done all he possibly could to prevent
me from purchasing the ‘Tachbrook
estate, adjoining to my park pales at
Warwick, and consisting of about 25 00
of the best acres in the kingdom, in
so much as to make it a doubtful
and almost impossible event, and no-
thing but a personal application'With
Lord Bagot obtained to my family this
very inestimable possession, which if I
had delayed to purchase one week,wou1d
have belonged to Mr. Mills,'Who would
have. kept the house and manor ex-

tending into the park at “farwicky

33

castle, and by selling ”the test piece-_
meal, he would put animmense sum" I

into his . pocket.

A more valuable p‘urchase‘has never I
been acquired by a family. It

It is in the borough of Warwick,
and I have had the good fortune, by the
kindness of Mr. H. Lander, to possess
all, the remaining parts of that most
Valuable estate. I _ now have above ‘
7000 acres “of capital land round War-
wick-castle, which, if properly let,
should be worth at least 350001. per

annum. .

Please to observe! that Samuel Dean,
esq auditor, of accounts declared, and
I haVe his written account of the fact"

to produCe, that my estate neverprO-
’ r

34

,duced, (when I ﬁrst succeededto it)
10,0001. per annum, and that when
every necessary deduction, was paid,
there was not 49001. per annum to
spend.

"CHARGE FIFTH.

v I charge

 

with having in-
duced ‘me to give up a contract I
had made for a sale of timber, for
which I was to receive 70001. in a
few days.

He artfully told me that if I would
resign this contract, the trust would
-take it on themselves, provided I agreed
not to cut timber without the cone
currence'of the trust in future. I

foolishly conceded to this agreement,

35

 

by which I was of '70001.‘
for, no sooner was the contract I had

and V

 

made rescinded, ' than
refused to pay me one, Sixpence.

 

They had the impudence to keep the
notes I drew on them to persons in
the greatest distress," and whenl re-
claimed my notes, they laughed at
me, and have kept them till this day, .
for eight or ten years, leaving me in
absolute distress, and ruining the per-I
sons who had no other means of avoid-

ing absolute destruction.

 

This is one of the most . acts I
ever knew, and its consequences were

fatal to me.

It happened that a. most valuable

soap mine had been discovered by
F 2

36

Mr. Vancouver, on my Warwick-
estate, "I had caused it to be work,
”ed, but it was mis-managed, and
dishonestly conducted by those en-
trusted with the care of it.

It had cost me about 10,0001. to
bring/it to bear, in the purchase of a
place and utensils, &c. &c. ; but by the
evidence of Mr. W. Lamb. who has
been auditor or accomptant for more
.i than thirty years in the South-Sea
House, it was proved that by a strict
examination of a boiling the proﬁts were
30,0001. per annum. This. was a pos-
session which __._—-. was determined to
ruin, and by the infamous trick above
stated he effected it ; for being deprived
of all income, I could not pay the de-
mands, King’s duties, &c., consequently
the whole; was seized and: ruined, torn

37

up and; demolished; whereas had the
70001. been paid to me on my giving
up the timber contract, I should have

preserved this most valuable possession.

, I cannot estimate the loss I have.
sustained at less than 300,0001.

It is no speculation, but a fact, con~
ﬁrmed by the written evidence of four
admirals, and above twenty captains of
ships; by the trade, by the clothiers,
the bleachers, 8:0. in all, the woollen
lines, that there is no soap discovered
which is so good or so cheap, and it is
adopted by. Mr. Day, White, and others,
the ﬁrst contractors in the kingdom for
the Government, &c, ;, that it would
sell, as fast as it could possibly be made
is certain, but I, dare not attempt at

' present to beginthe manufaCture, be,

38

cause my creditors would seize it. But
I. have had very tempting offers from
persons of great respectability, and I
Well know I must never attempt to
manufacture it myself, but there can
be no reason Whatever for objecting to
sell my earth at so much per ton, and
this would produce an income beyond

that of my Whole collected estate.

Ignorant persons may laugh at this,
I reply, that no man used to business
does so, and that it is universally al-‘
lowed to be the most valuable mine
known in this kingdom. If any friend
doubts this, I pledge myself to give him
the most undeniable proofs of the truth
of my assertion. But _..'___. thus got
rid in a. morning of all my hopes; but
it must: revive again. It is a. shame

such a public as well as private beneﬁt

39
should be lost for want of common

attention.

CHARGE SIXTH.

I charge Mr. ..__._ with having ruin-
ed my Welch pr0perty. I had con-
tracted -Wlth Mr. Symmons for the
purchase of a noble estate in Wales,
and had nearly got the money for it on
mortgage, from the Elector of Hesse;
the remainder Mr. Symmons took him-
self as a second mortgage. The French
party, however, defeated this loan, and
I was prevented from effecting it by
this means. I then got the promise of
themoney in London, to be secured on

my life-interest in 12,0001. per ann.

40

Mr, .._._._ was determined here again- '
to interfere, and artfully got to the ear
of a lawyer, the friend of the person
from Whom I was to have had, in a
fortnight, the money to pay for the
Welch estate contracted for with Mr.
Symmons. He made him go to the
principal, and tell him, that though it
was not in fact necessary it might be
more satisfactory if my trust and Lord,
.—__-<.._.. should join in the deed. Please I
to observe the folly of this; the money
was to be secured on my life-interest, i
and consequently Lord —-—- could have
nothing to do with it; the moment ,I
died the whole business was at an~ end,
and the family could not in any degree
whatever be affected by it ; but by this
trick be frightened the lender, and
caused him to demand what he had
before never dreamed of, that Lord

41

 

' and my trust should join in the

security.

They did not so much as ever
claim any title to what I had offered as
security; yet they had the baseness to
cause this artiﬁce to defeat me from
obtaining the sum which otherwise I
should have had, and which would have
secured to me the possession of an
estate which certainly was worth
10,0001. per annum, and would most
probably be worth more than 20,0001. -
per annum. I intended to] leave it to

my second son.

I sent Mr. Vancouver there; his abi-
lities now sufﬁciently tried in ’War-
wickshire, were equally meritoriously,
honourably, and ably employed in

Wales. He brought that noble pro»
G

42

perty to a great degree of perfection,
and was just on the point of reaping
the fruits of his meritorious services,
When I, by this cruel act, was prevented
from receiving the money I should
otherwise haVe been in possession of
directly. I had exPended about 12,001.
in bringing the collieries to bear, in
making an harbour where sixteen ves—
5818 could load and unship.

I made a rail road for four miles, at
the cost of 40001. where all the coals
Were shipped, and ‘draWn by one horse.
There was neither shaft nor engine, an
inclined plane into an inexhaustable
mine of coal, which could be' shipped
at two shillings per ton;

I stood between Swansea and the
trade of the Cornish Mines, and the

43

Cornish mines and the smelting. The
cornish copper works offered to lay
out loo,oool, on my estate, because it
was the very ﬁnest spot on the princi-
pality for an engine to smelt the cornish

Copper.

In short, it was the ﬁnest estate
and the most valuable known, but
, by the above mentioned

 

trick, prevented me from keeping it,
and I was obliged to have it return-
ed to Mr. Symmons, from whom I
was to pumhase it.

I was to pay ﬁve thousand pounds
to Mr. Symmons, if paid in twelve
months, if guaranteed by my ----.-.-
if not ten thousand pounds, this they
refused to do, and Mr, Symmens has

instituted a (suit against me and my
G 2

44

trust for the payment of this very

sum.“ '

It will, however, produce one good
effect; it' will bring my case before the
court, and if heard, I have no doubt of

recovering a verdict in my favor.

To judge of the horrid destruction,
the inhuman treatment has occasioned,
be it known that they suffered my rail
road, which cost 40001. to be sold for
about {3001. Then this most noble
estate was lost to me and my family
for ever, and I had incurred an expence
of at least 12,0001.that Mr.
might indulge his malevolence at my

 

expence,

T o, prove that the estate was valu-
able as I state it to be, Mr. Hassal and

45'

Mr. Martin, persons 0f the highest
character as men of business and miners
in Wales, declare that they are ready
to publish the truth of the assertion to
the World, and no. one will dare to
dispute such authority; and a further
proof, that Mr. Symmons is grown old
and inﬁrm, and Wishing to diSpossess
himself of the estate and all trouble,
has actually let the estate for 5000
guineas a year for ﬁfty years, and astil].

further increased rent.
CHARGE SEVENTH.
1 now Come to a most ..._.__._ act of

my

can legally bring them to account for

 

_. and ______, and I believe I

it. Three of my tenants purchased

 

> .. . , anvestate of eight hundred and

4O

thirteen acres of capital land, only ﬁve
miles from Warwick: not chusing to
keep it, and believing it would be, as
in fact it would, a valuable possession
- to the proprietor of the Warwick estate,
they obligingly offered it to me. I
told them I had not the money ready,
27,0001. (the lime on it was of the ﬁrst
quality, and Worth 10,0001.), but that‘if
they would give me twelve months’
time I would purchase it. I was much
pleased with the farm, which possessed
many very great advantages. I actually
let it for 20001. per annum to the same

tenants I found onit.

' When all my resources failed, I asked

to sanction the purchase, other

 

my
lands at a distance being ready to sell,
that the exchange for a more nigh pro-
perty might be obtained, and knowing

47

is bound to purchase, I

 

that my
thought I had a right to give an opinion,
as to a purchase such as this, of ~

 

estate, which is one seldom to be met

with; but my , refused to sane-
the .,

 

 

tion it, and suffered

 

to purchase it.

 

Now a word as to this
gentleman. WhenI engaged him ﬁrst
in my service he was not worth a six-
pence ; he now is supposed to be worth
eight or ten thousand pounds per ann.

He is an active, bustling man, of a

 

a deal of low cunning and no
artful, intelligent, and active. I should
not do him justice if I did not sa)r I
owe much to his exertions on many
occasions, nor do I blame him for keep-
ing a steady eye on his own interest;

but I never can forgive his duplicity,

48

pretending to be attached to me, when
he was the instrument in the hand of

to counteract me in all I meant
to do. The fact is that ——-—--- tried to
corrupt, my agents, and to gain them
over to his. interest: Mr. Vancouver he
could not shake, but ---—-- he could.
He ﬁrst tried to bully him; that fail-

ing, he courted him,_ took him down to

 

——-—, to consult him relative to his

estates.

He then recommended him to
eight or ten gentlemen to manage theip

concerns.

 

Thus, became a very rich
man in a few years, kept eight or
ten clerks, drawers, engineers, &c. &c.
&c. purchased collieries, estates, houses,

&c. &c. &c.

‘40
I 'He'then became a partner with the
-, and was deeply connected

 

great
With him in, the purchase and Sale of
lands of his ..___._ and .._ . One

factrl“ will state which W111 be sufﬁcient;

 

. .._ trust;

 

.._'...‘._._‘ undertook, for the
to discover coal at +__, quite elose't‘o
die sea;”he employed engines of thirty;
four, then sixty-four horSe powers ;__he
got all the country gentlemen to sub-
i scribe, and ‘._..._._. and were actu-
ally partners in this wild scheme, where

 

they sunk much money, but the—.._-
bid deﬁance to their endeavours.

' .._—.._, as he always does, contrived},
I» believe, to get out of the scrape? by
bringing others into it; but the fact is
true as to the partnership; 3. very
pretty one it is; and can there be a

more eligible mode conceived of awe-e
H .

50

clients, and enriching themselves. The
agent suffered to purchase What he sets
his own value on, the laW advises, so
the business is settled to the content of

all parties concerned; and thus the per-
son who is

 

pays the very men Who
him for the trouble they have
taken in performing the trick neatly.

 

I state this as no very impossible
event.

Quwre.-—Can any agent legally pur-
chase for himself, during the time he is
employed, the land of his employer?
A strict investigation must be made,

and the , estate recoverd for my
family, if possible.

 

MIR ---'-—- WaS, by his friend and
partner w, permitted, not only to

51

purchase , but to sell it to Lord

, for, I hear, thirty-nine thousand

 

 

pounds, then making twelve thousand
pouds. Twenty-seven thousand pounds,

being the price I was to have given for it.

Besides keeping the lime pits, which

 

himself told me were worth
ten thousand pounds ; so, by this ma-
noeuvre, they pocket twenty-two thou-
sand pounds.

Queere if they did not share it.

This may be called an illiberal sup-
position, but when it is considered in
" how many ways these menare proved
to have been c0nnected, I believe no
one will say but what it is extremely
probable, especially when it is known
that --—---- has permitted this , ,

.. H 2

 

.52

 

 

his w friend - ._ . ,_ to keep twelve
thousand pounds in his hands for many
years unaccounted for, as they do not

pretend to deny.

CHARGE EIGHTH.

. I charge generally in having

 

imposed, under the fallacious pretext
of certain deeds presented to me for
signature, papers containing clauses
quite, different from any to which I
had ever assented; on the contrary
repungent to agreed and stipulated
terms and conditions, "in so much, that
there is hardly a single deed signed by
\me, Which is not on this score Subject

to objection,

They are but -----=--- tricks, to

53

obtain, by fallacious means, that which
never could be done by honorable and
fair ones.

CHARGE NINTH;

l accuse

 

, of having, on all
occasions, endeavoured to alienate the
affections of my 's0n from me, and
to make a breach, Without which
his Wicked plans could never have
been brought to bear.

 

.. , I am" sorry to say,
knowing but little of law, and too
indolent to make himself master of
thesubject, pays the implicit faith in
the creed of ~— 2 A, that a ro-
man catholic does in the Pope; and

rests secure, as he thinks, under the

 

54

 

broad shield of A ’5 legal
authority. ABut this will be found
to be but a paper one, and little suf-
ﬁcient to guard him from the con-
sequences which must inevitably ensue,
if he persists to believe that the in-
terest of the
that of the - .

can cease to be:

 

 

The dreadful trial is fast approach-

 

ing, when ’5 duplicity
will be detected, and the iniquity of
his conduct exposed "in its true colors;
and when the general indignation will
cover him with deserved disgrace.
Then Lord ' and Lord

will too late discover their error, and

 

 

2‘

that they cannot plead ignorance of
that which was their bounden

to know.

5-5

This I have often and most seri-
ously represented, but in vain, and th%
fault is not mine, if the iniquity of

~ and

 

 

conduct is not join-

ed in the general censure.

I could multiply the articles of
charge, but I have stated What I
trust is amply sufﬁcient to prove the
truth of my observation, relative to
_.._....__. No intreaty, no representa-
tion Will avail to persuade the man,
who, added to his other ——-- qualie
ties, is a man most. avariciously in-
clined ;, and four thousand per annum,
between him and his creatures, out
of my estate, is What he will not
be much inclined to relinquish This
forms the clue to much of his
conduct.

'56

CHARGE TENTH,

 

Is a general one, affecting my
and its advisers, and I pledge . myself
to the fact. I

The Warwick estate is about six
thousand guineas a year. Will it be
credited, as may be evident to an ex-
amination of the family account book,
thinks ﬁt to require

 

that my
about three hundred pounds per annum,
to possess this estate, in other words,
that it cannot keep itself, but a large,
sum is thought necessary for its preser‘

vation annully.

I shall now proceed to state the
relative difference between the income
of the estate, when I succeeded to its

57

inheritance, and what it now is, to
prove that I have been a very careful,
provident guardian of my family’s in-'

terest.

When I succeeded to the estate, by
[Samuel Dixon’s account, the rental was
ten thousand pounds per annum ; when
necessary outgoings were paid, it no-
ver netted four thousand pounds per

annum.

I had a debt to pay, part of which
was Optional, of about forty thousand
pounds, but I did not ﬁnd any fund,
out of which this or any other pay-
ment could be made.

But I did contrive at length. to
pay it.

58

I found almost eyery thing out of
repair, in and out of the castle. I be-
gan the arduous task of putting every
thing in the most perfect order ima~
ginable. The ﬂoors, the windows,
the ceilings, the chimney pieces, the
wainscots, the furniture, are all put in
by me, and they are the most beautiful
in the kingdom, as is generally ad-
mitted. A

I collected a matchless collection of

pictures, by Vandyke, Rubens, '&C.

The marbles are not equalled, perhaps,
in the kingdom. V

I made a noble approach to the
castle, thro’ a solid rock; built a por—
ter's lodge; made a kitchen garden,

59

and a very extensive pleasure garden;
a book room, full of books, some valu-

able and scarce, all well chosen.

I made an armoury; and, built walls

round the courts and pleasure gar-
den, &c.

I built a noble green house, and
ﬁlled it with beautiful plants.

I placed in it a vase, considered as
the ﬁnest remains of Grecian art ex-

tant, for its size and beauty.

I made a noble lake, from three
hundred to six hundred feet broad, and,
a mile long.

I planted trees, now worth one

12

60

hundred thousand pounds, and which
are now rapidly increasing in value,
estimating them at only one hundred
thousand trees, and to increase one
shilling a year, it makes the additional
value of ﬁve thousand pounds per

annum .

Besides, I planted one hundred acres
of ash, which should be, if properly
taken care of, one thousand pounds
per annum, cutting ten acres a; year‘

at one hundred pounds per annum.

I built a stone bridge of one hundred
and ﬁve ‘ feet in span, every stone
from two thousand to three thousand
eight hundred pounds Weight. The
weight of the ﬁrst tier on the centres

, was estimated at one thousand ton.

61

I gave the bridge to the town,

there being no toll on it.

I Will not enumerate a great many
other things done ' by me. ' Let War-
wick Castle Speak for itself. I

I discovered a valuable mine of
. soap on my estate, worth more than

my whole rents.

Now let us make a rough compari-
son of the value of my estate when
I succeeded to it, and What it now is,
that the malicious assertions of my
enemies may be confuted, who dc-
clare that I am continually injuring
my estate, and unﬁt to take the manage:-

mcn‘t of it.

By Samuel Dixon’s account, the

52

estate was value . . . £10,000

which at 30 years purchase . 30

 

Value . ' £300,000

.————-

The estate is now 55 22,300
3.0, years purchase.

4669,000
300,000

at 3 69,000 balance
Increased value . 369,000

 

 

 

Snowford I had left for £2000
60,000
per arm. at 30 years purchase. /
£429,000
Soap at least 20,000 per arm. '2
400,000
20 years purchase .
£829,000
Timber raised by me _ . 100,000

£929,000

 

63

The estate is now all out of lease?
and it may certainly be raised

300 000
£10,000 per arm. at 30 years l> ’

purchase . . J

 

 

£1,229,000

 

 

Brought over one million two
hundred and twenty-nine thousand
pounds, from this is to be deducted the

price of. Snowford.

 

 

 

1,229,000

Snowford, . 1; . $27,000
$1 ,202.-,ooo

Tachbrook, . . 75,000
561, 127,000

*—

 

By which it will appear that there is
every reason to assert that, at present,
the estate is above four hundred thou~
sand pounds of‘more value than it was

when 'I succeeded to the inheritance.

54

The soap not included. That is very
‘likely to be doubled in rents, on the

renewal of leases.

That every thing is now in complete
repair instead of being in the worst

possible.

That the debts I owe now are not
greater, if so much, as the one I had to
pay, or did pay, when I came to the

inheritance of my property.

That soap, timber, and new leasing
would make my annual income above

ﬁfty thousand pounds per annum, viz.

 

Present rental . .' £22,500
Soap . . . 20,000
Rise of rents . . . 10,000.

m

£52,500.

 

65

It is not possible to speak accurately
on} such a subject, but, on a deliberate
View of the subject, it Will appear that
the only questions are; will the 'tsoap
produce twenty thousand pounds pér

annum ?

It is confessedly the best and cheap-
est soap known, and is adopted by the
great army and navy contractors, by
the trade in general, by the Clothiers
and bleachers; therefore there is no fear
of the demand, and the quantity I
have on the Tachbrook' estate is amply
sufﬁcient for all possible demand.

The only other question is the rise

of rents.

I rode, tWo years ago, above one
thousand miles, into the Yorkshire
K

66

districts, and almost to Scotland.
The land was every where at ﬁve
pounds an acre. Surely any land near
Warwick, far superior, must be worth

 

 

that sum.
7000 acres at
556 per ac.
‘ £35,000
Somerset, 10,000 per. ann.
£40,000
Soap only, ._
£10,000 per .ann. g 10’000
£50,000

 

These facts, however they may be
;controverted, are sufﬁcient to prove
I have been a good steward to the
interests of my family, and sufﬁcient
to annihilate the malicious attempts

of ._....... and my , to make it

 

07

believed that I have injured my pro-
perty.

No one dares to meet me on this
ground, but Whispering cannot be
parried, and with some Who will not
give themselves the trouble to inquire,
or to learn, Will be believed. To

such I pay no attention or regard. 7

Conscious that few if any have
done more to beneﬁt the true interests
of my family. I. court the most rigid
inquiry.

I defy the proof of my having ever
preferred, in any one instance of my
life, a personal gratiﬁcation to What
I judged the welfare of my family.

I have. endeavoured to represent to

my and to my -—+.--—-, the hor-
K 2

 

653

Irors of a public appeal and investi-

gation.

I Wish to, settle every thing by ar-
bitration of persons, who stand too
high to, be suspected of being capable
of a partiality, or a bias which could
lead them from the great eternal rules
of truth. and honor. Such men as
Lord Erskine, and Lord Cathcart, Sir
John .Macpherson, Sir Christopher
Baines, &c. &c.

This brings me to insert another

Charge I forgot to make against

Mr.

 

When I requested, in 180..., an ar-

bitration, I named Mr. , because,

 

tho’ unknown to me personally, he

was, represented to. me :by my friends:

69,

on whom I could conﬁde, as a man
of I heart as well as of great abilities;
but

care to join -—————-———I— to him, as he

 

 

, fearing his verdict, took

said, to defend the interests of any

,, as if there could be two in-

 

terests between us; but it served his
purpose, for he got the ear of
and. of Mr.

as a fact, that they made an ex ﬁarte‘

 

9

; and I aver it

 

business of it, and neither an agent
was ever heard on my hart, nor was
any evidence called for to support my

claims.

I have good reason to believe the
case was actually drawn up in
Thus he had every
thing his own way, and when I
afterwards called on -————-.—-——, he

:CQQly told me, ”' He knew no more

 

 

7'0
*“ of my case than if he had never

seen it.” This was so far true, for

he never did see .my case.

But it was called an arbitration, ac-

cording to my Wish.

By such infamous acts did

 

me out of all my rights, and

 

thus he has held me in bondage for
years, while possessed of the ear of
Lord ..__..____ and Lord ......__.

They dare not have an opinion not
sanctioned by him ; and thus they are
drawn in to make common cauSe With
a base man, whose character must be
blasted the moment my case is fairly
heard.

Whenever I have written to him, he

71

has sent me no answer, or an evasive

one. No quaere is fairly answered.

When I send an agent, or respecta—
ble young lawyer to him, he begins
civilly and endeavours to caj ole them ;
when this fails ‘he proceeds to abuse,
in so much, that to avoid extremities,
they retire, determining never to risk

being again so insulted.

 

 

Mr. , who very civilly urged
my case : said ‘ You are a ﬂippant
fellow.’ -—---, who is a gentleman,

and Who does not want the spirit of
one, was going to throw the inkstand
in his face, but prudently retired, but

never could submit to enter ’5

 

door again.

Thus as Lord forbids me

 

72

to write to him, I am precluded from
ever complaining, and the party of con-
5pirators reign triumphant: But I
trust the time is come when this will
cease, and that their oppression will
be curbed, and I shall once more be
reinstated in the possessions of my

rights.

This award of ~-—----——---- and
allotted me one thousand pounds per
annum, but -—-—-—-—, by the most frivo-
lous and false pretexts, takes care I
never shall receive a ‘sixp-ence of it,
and eight or nine years are now in
arrears : he says, I have made it over to
Mr. ‘, but he has formerly de-

clared he will not interfere, but allow it

 

to go for my beneﬁt, but notwith-
standing, I cannot get a farthing of
it.

73

Not having any other fund, I have
been, years, the poorest and the most

miserably distressed person alive.

I have pawned my watch to relieve
persons in distress, and my gold sleeve
buttons, which I' had worn for thirty

years.

I could not get my tailor to make me
a coat, a shoemaker a shoe, tho’ they
worked for my iservants ; and, in order
to get out of rags, I have borrowed of
Lady __..____. and my friends the mOSt
triﬂing sums.

I have had the great mortiﬁcation to
see many miserably distressed families
sent tojail', and perishing, though they

were depending on me alone for exq-

L

74.

istence, when Ihave not had one farthing
to give them.

But I forgot to mention one act of
the most scandalous nature. A nursed
ry man had purchased, for me, a very
large quantity of trees in Scotland;
they were planted in Warwickshire;
they grew admirably there; but my
' +~—-—-—-—- sold them by public sale to any '
one Who would buy them, at a price
not half their value.-

Butnot one Sixpence would they pay
to the man who purchased them for
me, so he was obliged ‘to live a very
10ng time in jail, though his was one of

the drafts I gave for the seven thousand

 

pounds my L +7 me out of,

as I related before when I treated of

75

the trick of rescinding the contract. ‘_ I
ought then to have noticed a very imﬁor;
tantfaci‘, that it was the breach of faith
and engagement which ..._.____. had the
art of effecting, when he made Lord
_..._...__.. and Lord break their

engagement to me, that of their joining

 

“their names to‘ mine, to obtain the
.loan on mortgage of my life interests,

they would do it.

I asked the most able counsel’s
opinion; the answer was, so far from
doing them any injury it would be a
great beneﬁt, but this did not avail,
refused, and with his friend, the

.mortgagee’s IaWyer, he got him to put

 

his money elsewhere; so I was leﬁt
exposed to the horrors of a general attack ‘
of creditors, and to save Warwick

L2

70

Castle, I consented to give up every
thing to my trust, [z‘ro tem,

This I aver was to be the stipula-
tion, that I was to be restored to my
castle and my estate when the sum
advanced to pay the creditors was
restored; but this __ A never
should be done, and they
every expence to be incurred, to
_. any surplus arising to me o
for my beneﬁt.

 

Thus, I lost the soap, the Welsh
estate, and was driven unnecessarily
and ..________. from ”Warwick Castle,
and kept in a state of bondage and
distress for years.

If they had not done this ..___.....__.

77

act, I should at this moment have-
possessed at least twenty thousand
pounds per annum from the soap, and
twelve thousand pounds per ann. from
the Welsh estate, besides the twenty
two thousand three hundred pounds

my own landed estate.

 

The accounts of my are, of

themselves, sufﬁcient to prove the

M—

 

 

of my .
There is no date, no christian name,

no possibility of ﬁnding out any thing
but by deduction.

Twelve thousand pounds, left for
many years, by their own account,
in the hands of the partner receiver,
unaccounted for, and an estate round

Warwick of six thousand guineas a

78

year, actually costs some hundred

pounds to maintain itself.

Surely this fact produced in a court
of equity, Would set my —-—- aside,

on the Score of mismanagement.

Before I conclude, I must say a

word of the folly or the _.__._.__. of

 

. and my
ordered— , _ '. . p , to sell the

Somersetshire estate 'for- eleven thou-

 

, who actually

 

sand pounds.

This is, perhaps, as valuable a proper;-
ty, as is to be found in the Kingdom ;
I am Conﬁdent it is worth more than

ten thousand pounds per annum.

Secondly. The Northamptonshire
estate was ordered to be sold twenty

thousand pounds less. than it sold for,

79

and it was too cheap by far, as will be
owned by the gentleman .Who pur-
chased it.

Thirdly. The Gloucestershire es-»
" l - to be

sold for eleven thousand pounds- It

 

tate was ordered by my

was sold for sixty thousand pounds,
or nearly, and it is known to be un-;
dervalued at that price, being the

ﬁnest estate in the kingdom;

I reserved the ﬁne 'WOOdS at
+—-—-—-, when the eStates were) sold to

Lord
very desireable they were for his

, but as I considered how

 

Lordship to possess, I told him he
might have them, that I knew their
value, but I was contented to name

a. man, and he another; I nameda

or some other

 

famous quaker

30

name. He found the man appointed.
by Lord

common carpenter, belonging to his,

to :be an ignorant.

 

Lordship, so they could not agree,

and my most“ __

 

 

sold to Lord ........__. my woods at
half their value; but this is a sub-g
ject which is of very great consequence,
and I demand inquiry.

could not
justify the receipt of the money. The

 

I believe my

woods were mine,‘and I never gave

 

authority to sell them.

_Quaere, if this should not be im-

mediately inquired into?

The object is of very great “impor-
tance, more so than can be easily be;

lieved.

81 .
I have thus given a slight sketch
of this most misconduct

ofmy—

 

My honor and my interest calling
for an investigation, for if I do not
sift this to the bottom, none will ever
be able to account for the miserable
state to which I have been so many

years reduced.

Thank God, I have a feW valua-
ble friends remaining alive, who Will
not fail to exert themselves to the ut-

most in my support.

It is, indeed, a public duty, as well

as a private one.

It is too much to be exposed to the

malevolence of a set of villains, Without
M

82

being suffered to speak in one’s dea
fence.

If What I accuse them of is not
true, I am contented to be called and
thought a base slanderer: if I prove

my charges, I call upon every man of ho-

nor to be my friend against and

oppression, greater than has ever been

exhibited in any civilized country.

 

I have no Wish to gratify, no ob-
ject to gain, but the defence of an
injured character, and the restoration
of my just claims. I can feel no in—

terest, than that which is the one of
my family. '

But it is not possible to remain
longer the unresisting ‘victim of a

series of the most artful and un-—

83

principled tyranny that can be ima-

gined.

If my misfortune will serve to
prove, that no situation in life is out of
the reach of misfortune, it will not
be a discovery; but. it may be, per-
haps, one to know that the best in-
tentions will not screen a man from
the most horrid dangers, if he has not
a constant guard against the deep laid

schemes of artful and specious men.

If my faults have been great my
punishment has been greater; but it
would be much increased, if I were
to suffer desPair or indolence to pre—
vent me from exerting every power,
I possess, to obtain that justice, which

has been so long withheld from me,

M2

84

and has, I fear, placed me in the
eyes of my friends, in the list of those
whose faults, tho’ not declared, must, I
have occasioned a tame acquiescence
in the
, Who direct those who, from
their high birth and their education,
should be ashamed of being so di—

rected, and Who must soon be in-

 

poyver of unprincipled

 

eluded in, a common verdict of ab-

horrence.

I have done all that can possibly
be done by remonstrance, intreaty
and reasoning. But I never could

obtain an hearing.

 

 

It is hoped by the _ »,
that I may be driven to some act of
desPeration, to justify their conduct

85

in taking from me the management:
of my own concerns; But thank God,
I wonderfully preserve my health and
judgment, which is, not in the least
impaired, and trusting to the protec-
tion of the Divine Providence, which
will in due time protect the righte-

OUS cause.

I am perfectly convinced that I
shall soon see my enemies humbled,
and buried in the pit they have dug

for me.

I have thus endeavoured to give

an idea of my case.

. it, may if legible, which I doubt,
serve to give my friends some idea

80

of my case, and until it is heard, I
ask for no credit for any thing I
have alledged.

- WARWICK.

 

J w
~

Glendizming, Printer, 35,Hatton Garden, London.

87

CORRESPONDENCE.

It was intended to have fulﬁlled the
Wishes of the late Earl of Warvvick,
by merely publishing his Lordship’s
Narrative; but some evil and errone-
ous reports having been recently cir-
culated, respecting the motive of the
Publication, it has been consider-ed
necessary to add the following cor-

respondence relative to the Narrative.

 

Mess. FORSTER, Coon}, and FRERE’S:
compliments to Mr. PARKER,~ and beg

to know-if he hasany knowledge of.
N

88

the late Earl of Warwick having made

a Will.
Lincoln’s Inn, 3d May.

Mr. PARKER’S compliments to Mess.
FORSTER, COOKE and FRERE, does
not know of any written Will having
been made by the late much lamented
Earl of Warwick, but Mr. P. has a
kind of nuncupatoryWill to fulﬁl, name-
ly, to vindicate his Lordship’s ”honor
to the Public, by a Publication of his
most lamentable and distressing case,
from his own manuscript, in case all
his just and honourable debts are not
satisﬁed out of those claims he consi—
dered himself to be intitled to from
the trust funds, &c. it being his Lord-
ship’s very particular request, and
most anxibus Wish, that his memory

may not suffer the same unmerited

'39

disgrace, that his honor received in his
life time. Mr. P. hopes and trusts that
he shall be relieved from this most
painful Ofﬁce. ’ The true amount of
the just debts is not of that magnitude
as has been generally imagined. , There
will be many claims which ought to be
strictly investigated and rejected, a list
of which Mr. P. has, with remarks on
them.

Gray’s-Inn Square,

May 5, 1816.

In conﬁrmation of what Mr. Parker has
stated, he refers Messrs. Forster, Cooke
and F rere to the most solemn decla-
ration recently made by the late Earl,
in the presence of Sir Charles Greville
and Mr. P.

Messrs. Forster, Cooke and Frere have
to acquaint Mr. W. Parker, that the
N 2

{)0

late "Earl of Warwick has left a Will,
which will, ;probabl y, prevent any fur-
ther exposure of the late Earl’s affairs
by his indiscreet friends,

Lincoln’s Inn,

May 10, ”18:16-

Mr. Parker has to acknowledge Messrs.
Forster, Cooke and F rere’s information
of the late Earl of Warwick having
left a Will. As Mr. P. acted agreeably

to the intructions, and by the express
I commands of the late Ear-l, under a full
conviction of his Lordships just rights,
he :feels himself called upon by the
rude remark in Messrs. F .,C. and R’s
note, to justify to the world his own.
conduct on the part of the late much
injured Earl.

Gray’s-Inn Square,

May .11, 19:16.

Ql

Linclon’s 11212,
May 14, 1816.,
SIR,

Before your attempt to justify What
you term the late Earl’s rights, you
will doubtless take care to inform your-
self what those rights really were, you
do not appear to us to have any con-
Ception of them, and you will recollect
that you will be amenable to a high
tribunal for mis-statements. With this
we beg to close our correspondence;
and are, Sm,

Your most obedient Servants,
FORSTER, COOKE & FRERE.
W Parker, Esq.
Gray’s Inn Square.

Gray’s Inn Square,
May 15, 1816.
GENTLEMEN,

In reply to your letter of yesterday,

92

I must Observe, that you will never
ﬁnd me deviate from that rule of decorum
which I‘ am sorryr I cannot say has
been observed by others. I most cer-
tainly shall not tamcly submit to a
misrejzresentation of my conduct on
the part of the late much-injured Earl,
andI do not hesitate to say, that if your
efforts had been in unison with mine, to
promote a settlement of his Lordship’s
just rights, that probably he and his
family would have enjoyed many future
years of happiness. I must request to
be informed the names of the Earl’s
Executors, and when his Will is intend-
ed to be proved.
I am,
GENTLEMEN,
Your’ 5 obedient] y,

WILMOT PARKER.

Messrs. Forster, Cooke 69’ Frere,

Lincoln’s Inn .

93

Lincolrt’s’Invn,
May 1-7, 15816..

SIR,

You must excuse us for saying that you
appear to us to have such a total mis-
conception of What you term the just
rights of the late Earl ; that you seem
very little qualiﬁed to judge Whether
the prolongation of his life would or
would not have been a happiness to
his family. It was a- strange regard
for his family that induced him to ﬁle
so shameful a bill as that on the records
of the court. The Will of the Earl is
mere waste paper. Mr. T roward must
have known nothing could pass by it,
when he made it. One of the executors
is abroad, and whether it Will be proved

or not remains to be seen. We must

Q4

request you Will relieve us from any
further correspondence Whatever.
We are, SIR,
Your obedient Servants,
FORSTER, COOKE &FRERE.
IV. Parker, Esq.
Gray’s Inn.

Gray’s Inn Squaer,
May 27, 1816‘.

GENTLEMEN, ‘*‘
As some of the creditors of the late
Earl of Warwick. have applied to me, ,
respecting}; their claims, I request to be
informed if there is any intention of
paying such debtsas appear to be just and
honourable, which I consider myself
under- an obligation to see paid agree-
bly to his Lordship’s Wishes, conﬁded

in me to preserve his memory from

95

disgrace, consonantly to his solemn
declaration in the presence of Sir Charles
Greville. I cannot omit expressing
my surprize that youshould inform me
the Earl’s Will was mere waste ﬁaﬁer,
when you must be sensible of my
‘knowledge of the reverse. It will be
in vn to suppose that the trust and
receiver’s accounts, or even your ,own,
can remain uninvestigated, on the part
of the creditors, who are not ignorant
of my knowledge of the Earl’s claims.

I shall observe the same line of con-
duct on the part of creditors, I_ did on

the‘part ofthe Earl, namely, endea~
vour to prevent litigation, by amicable
proposals, and in the event of failing
in accomplishing an honourable settle-
ment of the just claims, for none
other shall I advocate, I shall not he-

sitate to vindicate the character and
o

96

r’honOur of the late Earl, agreeably to
his last Wishes.
I am,
GENTLEMEN,
Your obedient Servant,

' WILMOT PARKER.

Messrs. Forster, Cooke 89’ Frere,
Lincoln’s- Inn.

‘ Gray’s Inn Square,
June 14, 1816.
SIR, .

,, Understanding that you intend
proving the Will of the late much
lamented and injured Earl of Warwick,
my professional duty impels me to
~ intrude a" notice, to you not to discharge
the" claims of Mr. S. and Mr. T. they
being very doubtful, the former of
Which, the present *Earl of Warwick
told me, himself, should never be paid

97
"if he could prevent it, he considering
it to be a very unjust claim, and that
he gave Mr. S. his sentiments upon it
at Messrs. H.’s, and I was informed-by
a former solicitor of the late Earl,
that Mr. Forster told him it ought not
to be paid. I give you this notice as
being now concerned for some of the
just and honourable creditors of the late
Earl, Whose claims, it wast'his Lordship’s
particular Wish to have discharged. I
shall not advocate any impr0per claims.
Although the Earl’s life has been short.-
‘ened by ill-usage, the agents shall not
ultimately gain a triumph over the“ ashes
of this venerable and amiableNobl—e-
man. I have, Sir, feelings upon this
sad occasion beyond those of a profes-
sional man. I envy no - man’s rank
for fortune, and . {my mind IS superior
to all» the falsehoods that have. been

fabricated by the agents. The world
0 2

9.8

shall judge Whether the bill ﬁled, on
the part of the late Earl, was a shame-
ful record, as asserted by them. The
Public will peruse his Lordship’s own
Narrative, and will then see Whether
he had not reason to complain, and to
say that hewas an ill-treated and a
~—-:-—:-—-man. ,

Ihave the honor to remain, SIR,

‘ ~ Your most obedient Servant,
» - .WILMOT PARKER.
J. D. Esq.
P. S.’ His Lordship painfully observed,
that. the turning him out of his castle
last year had driven a long nail into

his cofﬁn.

D. June 14, 1816.

SIR,
I am going out of town in a feW
days, and shall be absent several months,

and mention this circumstance, that in

99

case you have intentions of instituting
any proceedings respecting the late
Earl of Warwick’s affairs, in which I
may be concerned, I shall be obliged to
you to communicate your intentions to
my solicitor, Mr. Lowe.
I am, SIR,
Your obedient Servant,

. 4 j. D.
Wilmot Parker, Esq. Solicitor,

Gray’s Inn Square.

Gray’s Inn Square,
June 20, 1816.

SIR,
Your favor of the 14th instant, which
,I observe by the post-mark, was not
put into the post ofﬁce before the lgth,
I had the honor of receiving this day.
I have to lament that the wishes of
my late noble client have been frustrat-

ed by your declining to revive his Lord...

100

ship’s suit, for a settlement of the most
improper accounts that ever were ex-
hibited, which in justice to his Lord-
ship’s honor and memory, ought to be
investigated. The opposition to an in-
vestigation, proves the necessity of an
examination. If the accounts are cor-
rect, the parties have nothing to appre-
hend from a fair and candid enquiry.
You have, Sir, innocently become an
instrument for a continuance of the old
system, in proof of which, I have to
allude to the premature application to,
your solicitor, to attend the audit of
the receiver’s accounts, before you had
proved the Will, and Without your so-
licitor having previously seen the ac.-
counts, or even being acquainted with
any one objection to them, and without
any application being made to me for
the particulars of the objections I had
made on the part of the late Earl, which

101

I Was prepared to ”substantiate, having
all the accounts to certain periods,
dissected with remarks upon - them,
which I consider a great disrespect
to the Earl’s memory, but it conﬁrms
what I stated in a former letter to you,
that the parties would strain every
nerve to prevent a proper investiga-
tion of the accounts. It was a grand ob-
ject to get the receiver’s accounts, which
I had Opposed passed in my absence,
knowing that it was in my power to
point out the errors, but they will yet
be detected on the part of the creditors,
"of which I am myself one, not only for
my labours, &c. but also on account of
the pecuniary obligations I am under
for his Lordship. I cannot, Sir, avoid
. expressing my Surprize, that you should
suffer these accounts to-be passed with-
out knowing the objections Ihad to
offer to them, after the information I

102

had communicated to you, but the only

reason that has occurred to my mind
for the non-attention, is, that I

presume you have suffered your mind
to be infected with the poison of
prejudice against me, at which Ican-
not be surprised, when I reﬂect upon
the strong prejudice and wicked mis-
representations that were established
against the injured Earl, whose spirit
now knows “ Why the good man’s share
in life is gall and bitterness of soul P"
His Lordship once truly observed to
me, that misfortunes were of service
to persons in his elevated Sphere in
life, who were too apt to forget there
is a future state of rewards and punish-
ments. This, Sir, was not the observa-
tion of a person who was either weak
in his intellects, or an i‘deot as has been
untruly and industriouly represented of

his Lordship by the parties, as a mask ﬂ

103

for their. own conduct towards him.
His Lordship’s Narrative will prove to.
the World Whether he was the person
that he has been most wickedly repre-
sented to be. Considering the, depri-
vations and insults his Lordship suﬁer'd,
it is wonderful he preserved his] senses.
He once told me, .it had often keen a
matter of consideration with him, whe-
ther his

to his miseries. I cannot, Sir, con-

 

should not put an end

elude this epistle, without adding the
following remark upon the” Earl’s Will
and assets; at ﬁrst it was stated that
the Earl’s Will was mere waste paper, .
and that his Lordship had not left any
thing but the clothes he died in.
Now I understand it is admitted that
his Lordship has left assets; but this
inconsistency accords with the old

system of delusion. I am sorry, Sir,
1) 7 _

104

that you are likely to be involved in
the vortex.

I have the honor to remain,
SIR,
Your most obedient Servant,

WILMOT PARKER
J. D. Esq. '

, ERRATUM.

In the ﬁrst Page of the Introduction,,line 6 from the bottom ,.
For alienum, read alz'um.

Where may had, lately published, in one Volume royal 4to, with

71 Copper-plates beautifully coloured. Price 10 Guineas in
boards,

CA MBRIA DEPICTA : being a TOUR THROUGH
NORTH WALES, illustrated with 71 Picturesque Views of

that Romantic Country, beautifully coloured from Nature, so as
to imitate Drawings.

By EDWARD PUGH, a Native Artist.

Printed for E. WILLIAMS, Bookseller to the Duke and Duphess
of York, No. 11, Strand; also the same Work on small. Paper, in
4to. and Plates not coloured, Price 5 Guineas in Boards. ’

CAMBRIAN POPULAR AN TIQUITIES ; or, an

ACCOUNT of some TRADITIONS, CUSTOMS and SU-
PERSTITIONS of WALES, with 11 Copper-plates coloured, and
illustrative of the Subject, 8vo. Price 185. in Boards.

A

Glendinning, Printer, 25, Hatton Garden, London.

RARE
DA
536
.869
N3
1816

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