_June 20, 1809._ _A Tit-bit for a Strong Stomach._
_July 31, 1809._ _The Huntsman Rising. The Gamester going to bed._ Published by T. Rowlandson, 1 James Street, Adelphi. (See 1811.)
1809. _Rowlandson's Caricatures upon the Delicate Investigation, or the Clarke Scandal_ (Mrs. Mary Anne Clarke and the Duke of York).--In order to make the caricatures, published by Rowlandson, on the Clarke scandal intelligible, it is desirable to recapitulate the circumstances, which are given in condensed form from the writer's 'Life of James Gillray the Caricaturist.'[11]
[Illustration: OH! YOU'RE A DEVIL. GET ALONG, DO!]
George the Third's darling son, the favourite Frederick, on whom he doted, and who was so popular out of doors that he was hailed as 'the soldier's friend'--a compliment which no soldier would be likely to utter concerning a commander who had not taken the right method to render himself the object of general affection--began to attract unenviable notoriety at the beginning of 1809. On January 27 Colonel Wardle charged the Duke with corrupt administration of the Half-Pay Fund, the sole control of this provision having been vested in the Commander-in-Chief.
The produce of the fund arose from the sale of commissions fallen in by the death or dismissal of officers in the army, and amounts thus realised were applied to the purchase of commissions for meritorious officers, and other beneficial purposes.
Colonel Wardle stated he should prove that the Duke of York had a mistress, Mrs. Clarke, living in great splendour in Gloucester Place, from 1803 to 1806. This lady had a scale of prices for the sale of commissions, and he would lay before the House Mrs. Clarke's prices and the Regulation prices.
A Majority £900 £2,600 A Company 700 1,500 A Lieutenancy 400 550 An Ensigncy 200 400
Every sale effected by Mrs. Clarke was a loss to the Half-Pay Fund of the difference between her price and the Regulation price. He then made a statement of a list of sales effected by her, the sums paid, the names and ranks of the officers, a list of exchanges, &c.
Her patronage, it was stated, extended also to ecclesiastics. He moved for a Committee of the whole House to investigate the subject. The motion was agreed to, and the witnesses were ordered to be summoned.