Since the above Wits Nvritten, we have been favoured, through
the Tem s id this- morning, with a solemn and it half of' more hest words on this pitzling subject, in the shape of it letter from Mr. Jell, a 'Ater froi» Sharp, au It of Mr. Cooper the surgeon, ditto of Frisks-is!: Schuler the Duke's." jager," ditto of Frederick Goedeek- ineyei his gamekeeper, ditto of Will. Caukill his assistant gamekeeper. Mr. Jell commences Ivith hiniself : he is a barrister, not an attorney— the bearing of this 1i:et on the story is not very obvious. He and Cap- tain Sharp laid an interview with the ihtke on the 21st [this settles the date of' i■l.r. Perfect's letter), when his Royal Highness mentioned the letter in the G/o/o.; and having stated that be had no recollection what- ever of the accident, nor of having been abroad at all on the 15th, re- quested Mr. Jell and Captain ;Aar)) to tvait on the Misses Perfect, and to state thus much. They did so; and ssaw. Mr. Pei-feet and Miss Perfect,—who said more than once, "if he [the Duke] hod taken off his hat to me, I should have thought it a e011iplinient." Mr. Jelf says 44 It is not true that I or my brother admitted that the Duke of Cumberland was the person. On the contrary, we both said repeatedly, that his Royal Highness was not the least conscious of- the circumstance • that he bad not the slightest remembrance of it ; that to the best of his recolection he (his Royal Highness) was not on horseback on the day in question, as there had been a consultation at -Kew respecting the accident to one of Prince George's eyes. We did not state that the circumstance occurred in consequence of the-defectice state of the Duke's eyes. I stated in general terms that such a thing might have happened without the Duke's being aware of it, in consequence of the defect Qf one of his eyes, and pointed out how very unlikely it was that any in- tentional affront could have been meant (supposing the thing had really oc- curred to the Duke), as his Royal Highness had not the smallest remembrance of it."
The date of the letter was altered, Mr. Jelf says, at the suggestion of Mr. Perfect himself; who told him moreover, that the first letter to time Globe was written by a man of radical or violent principles, who was a humble servant of his daughter, much against Mr. Perfect's inclina- tion. Mr. Jell goes on- " On entering, with may brother, the drawing-room of the Duke of Cumberland at seven o'clock on that day, before dinner, his Royal Highness called us up to him ; and, in the presence of Mr. W. Holmes, M. P. [so it was the ex-Whipper- in,-after all], who was conversing with the Duke, his Royal Highness said, or used Words to this effect—' Well, after all, it appears that these young ladies have mistaken Sir George Quentin for myself. I learned it about an hour ago from Miss Quentin quite accidentally, when sitting in nty son's room, where Miss Quentin and others were paying Prince George a visit.' Sir George Quentin catne up shortly afterwards, and said or used words to this effect- ' Yes, I was the person mistaken for the Duke. I remember the circumstance of unintentionally frightening some young ladies on the new road between Hammersmith and Barnes, on the day in question.' In consequence of the dif- ficulty and mystery being thus cleared up, it was agreed that Sir George Quentin, Mr. William Holmes, and myself, should go to Mr. Perfect's the next morning, which we accordingly did."
In his letter to the Post, by the by, Sir George says—" I was not conscious that they were alarmed, or I should have im mediately apologized." Sir George's interview with the ladies, in company with Mr. Jclf and Mr. W. Holmes, hum been, it seems, correctly described. Miss Perfect did Mention the whiskers ; but Mr. Jelf assured her there could be no whiskers in the case, and Mr. Holmes and .Mr. Jelf turned Sir George- round and round, and pointed out the, resemblance between him and the Duke,—not so .successfully, however; as they seem to have desired, for she did not say she was convinced, but merely suggested that her father's letter should go to the papers, and Sir George might stnd his letter also. Captain Sharp corroborates the statement of Mr. Jelf. From the following passage, we almost suspect that the Captsin is a- barrister also-
" I here beg to state, that my brother did not say, as stated in the Timms, • that we were directed to apologize for the Duke ;' neither did he say, 'that the Duke was passing very rapidly along, his mind being absorbed by the acci- dent which had happened to his son, and was then returning from a visit to the Princess Augusta, to acquaint her with the circumstance of his son's accident.' On the contrary, my brother remarked that the Duke was absorbed by the accident which had happened to his son, Prince George ; and, therefore, if his Royal Highness had been out riding on that day, such a thing might have oc- curred without Ids knowing it.'"
The affidavits bear that the Duke was shooting from four to six o'clock ; it was at five o'clock that the alleged rencontre took place.
The story is not yet done, for the Times promises us more last words in vindication of Mr. Perfect's veracity.
Previous page
