The Statesman. — London, England, 1809-07-07 00:00:00

THE STATESMAN. , EAST IVDIA HOUSE. viavesnae, JULY G. An Adjeurncl Court of the Proprietors of East India Stock was hclJ this day, to consider a mo. tion on the subject of the Report of the Committee flf the House of Commons on the 4buses in East India Patrouage. After the minutes of thd last Court were read, Mr. RANDLE ..lacasosi rose.—A subject of greater crinsectnence than the present, lie presumed to think, had not engag ed the attention of that Court for many years Lek. Character was as necessary to a public Corporation as to a private individual ; and if character was necessary to any public Corporation, it was peculiarly so to the East ladle Company, whose existence as a Body fell to he periodically renewed, and to which it would be certainly proper that a period should be put, if thy Company was found not to answer the great end of its establi s hment . The Court were not ignorant that fur a series of years reports had gone abroad of so serious a nature, and so discre ditable to the Coin play, that if they were not re moved, the character of the Company mast be greatly endangered. They knew that, as farliack as 1798, these reports assumed so grave and weighty an appear nice, that an Inquiry was instituted for the purpose of tracing the subject to the bottom. It was not his intention to tread over the painful steps by which that Inquiry was stilled ; but the i suppression of the lequiry at that moment 'fur 'fished such a record of their own guilt, as led to the worst of inferences. From that time, the ex istence of an improper traffic in the appointments ;n the Ctenpany's service was hardly doubted, but the certainty of it was fully established by the Report of the late Committee. He should not ask the rteport to be read, but should shortly refer to a few lace •ogos in it. It was the Report of a Cont. milieu of twit of aaaracter, equally distinguished fur their hninauity and feeling as for their ability and integrity. The first part of the Report went to a full and fair acquittal of tic Directors of the Com;..any—a satisfaction in which he cordially partook, and if he was not mistakeu, a satisfae.. Linn too iii which the Court would that day express their concurrence, by voting their thanks to those of their Directors who were in Parliameng, for their conduct :in toe occasion. The Report then proceeded to the painful task of noticing the varimis instances of trafficing, which had came under the observation ur the Committee, and a recurrence of which it was not only the duty but the interest of the Court to endeavour to pettd.-- The Report then a cat on to state the bye-laws of the Company, the forms of the declaration, are. It then proceeded to give an account of the lii quiry in 1798, which it herd sip, as it were, as a liesking-glass, in which that Court should see the folly of their own conduct, and learn; from past experience, to act better in future. It would se e m, indeed, as if this were the only reason of their entering into the detail- The deficiency of powers in the Directors to administer the oath, an I to punish, was next referred to, and the Re port concluded with a recommentlatiOn as friendly a., it *as potent, that if the Directors, or the Company, neglected to du what was necessary, a stronger arm would take Ulm. It was to these latter points he meat principally to lireet the at. tention of the Court, and to prevent the appoint meats ,passing through several hands, which the Directots, from once losing sight of them, could hardly be aitle to guard against, that his reso. I .+! e aft. lid be directed. The Report stated, as the reason of the Committee for not recant weeding any itameditt- Parlia..,eutecy measere, that it would ti mend on the Directors them :elm, by adopting stronger measures thus they bad yet followed, theinselva to chock the evil. It would he for t ••• Court of Proprietors that day to Fay, i use evil was to h' suffered to grow more , raok and inveterate ; or, if they should be able, when they eAllc.l , in Parliament to renew their , abartei, todtire thew to look into the interior of their conduct, and should th'nce be able to cons. poi them to say, " Stich persons are deserving of support and encouragement." Beitig so tentletly called on by the Report of the Committee, he should use no eptillgy for pressing the matter on the eo nsi.leratioe of the Court. He shoithi first shortly state the uatt!re of the ; second, the rent...ly he or.t•ioscd ; and thirdly, should touch on the jusiice of -air case, as it athxteil both sides of. Cie bar. As to the evil, it was as odious, dis. g a stin * ,. and disgraceful a species of traf f ic, as could well be sup nosed. Tbe appointment to an office was allowed to travel about from hand to hand, till it , became a sort of mercantile commodity, and bore its value on the face of it, as if it were a pawn broker's duplicate ; though this was an appoint. meat which it was expressly declared could not he disposed of, and which, from the nature of the duty to be discharged, required the highest circumspection in the appointment of a fit and proper poison to fill it.. He proceeded. to point out the mode in which the Civil ainiMilitary appointments were tilled up ; this, however, so far es it was defective, he did nut attribute to this or that set of Directors. It had grown into a system fur many years. The young man peti. tioniag for a Writership is brought in before the Directors, and probably, without any questions put to hint, but, simply having ascertained that he was a native of this country, he is scat to the C om mittee. of Correspondeuce, before whom be need not appear, but who, having examined into the of the documents, a report is made tbst be is a fit person to be appointed. It was not surprising that agents should be found who would engage in a traffic for places where this was the nature et the inquiry. As the law and vrac. tic° swot', it would be esteemed impertinent to question a Director as to his motives in appointing a young pia s to any situation in his noinination ; b u t his object was to relieve the Directors from this unpleasant situation. .As to Cadets, they did - sot require any petition. Sheis had said to Mr. Da.. vises., that of these he had disposed of 14 during the last year; sad it was not remarkable that this should be the case, wiles it was Onderstoptl that the Directors, aceortkog to their seniority, hid a right to digitise of a certain number, which they gjd...not by means of cards to to.rticoiar young men whom they knew, or who were recommend ed to than on accouut of their heroic exploits, but (as in the case of a nomination by Mr. Thorn. ton, whom he named because his respectability was kno.►n) to oblige Miss Elisabeth Spindler, who, along with a Miss Morrison and Mr. Sher, shared in the price paid for it by the friends of th e y o ung mats by whom it was to bu held. The only question in nse to put to these young men was, if they had read the papers hamlet! to them ; and on their answering in the affirmative, they were appointed. This was an evil rowing for a century. The mode he suggested fur its currec. lion was, that writers, cadets, and students, should be admitted in open Court only; that the. Director recommending any such should sign a certi ficate, that lie had made inquiry into his character, connections, and qualifications ; that all questions deemed necessary should then be put, not only to the person recommended, bid to the Director re cummending him; and that it should be the duty of the other Directors, in the mean time, and previous to the appointineut, to make every inquiry into the three points—character, counectiuns, and qualifi cations—to which he hail purposed limiting the investigation. If these three requisites had not occurred to himself, his attentioti would have been directed to them by the speech of Lord Castle. reagh on a late Investigation, who had declared that he never did recommend to the Directors, for their approbation, any young man as to whose character, connections, and qualifications, he had not previously satisfied himself. These appoint. meets were made irrevocably, and the mode which boyroposed was, therefore, she more indispensable. 'ihe CIIATIMAN said these appointments were not irrevocable. Mr. Jace.sox contended, that no young man was appointed a studei. t where there was uot the in tention of sending him out as a writer. This was the ordeal which he proposed ; and the question was, supposing it to be agreed to, if it was likely to be efficacious? He begged to judge on this point, that it might be compared with the cases on record, where no inquiry, or sufficient inquiry, appeared to hare been made. What he proposed was, that each Director recommending a young man for a situation, civil or military, in the Company's ser vice, should indorse the petition in this form—" I, A. B. have enquired into the character, connet tions, and qualifications of C. D. and declare it as my opinion, that he is a fit and proper person to be received into the service of the Company." He could not, after the best consideration ho had given the subject, devise any better means of preventing the evils complained of, and if the Company had been as vigilant before, his conviction was, that what they now knew never would have occurred. Ifeconld hardly figure it possible that any manshould be fuuud so callous, as, a itit the consciousness of having vio lated his duty, by taking a false declaration, to ap. pear in presence of twelve or thirteen of big col leagees, all of whom had power to question hinkuu the propriety of his conduct and motives. lie would not suppose any man, far less a man thought wor. thy of a seat within that bar, capable of such har dihood. Ho therefore recommended this as an effectual check. In doing so, he was not entirely without authority. The Chairman and Mr. 1.1 o• sanquet, had both countenanced a similar idea in their evidence before the Committee of the House of Commons. It might be objected, that this would occupy too much of the time of the Diree ton ; but were it necessary even to hold an_Evtri Court for this special purpose, he should not think even that an inconvenience to be put in competi tion with the evil complained of. What he sug gested would. have the effect of putting the Com pany well with the Country ; of convincing the Public that appointments of this kind could nut take place but in open Court; and that there was no possibility, from the ordeal which was en. joined, of any frath: 'taxiing unpuuistied. Tier next question was,• if this regulation would be just? This depended on the fact, whether it would operate as an undue abridgement of pa. trunage. However it might be proper in Par. liawcnt to abridge or restrain this patronage, by did not think it would be proper in that Court; by a side wind, to attempt to do so. This pa tronage, undoubtedly, could only be given to the Director, for the good of those for s whom it was given, namely , for that of the Public and the Proprietors ; and though it had now degenerated into porsooal nomination, that ought still to con: Ow to take plate through a fa 4 and open me dium. It was impossible, after what the Court had seen, that gray could be too circumspect in a question of this kind. When the inquiry was in agitation in the rear 1799, a Worthy Director (Bosanquet) had calculated how many affidavits of purity would be requisite for the Cadets and Wri ters appointed within the last six years, on the idea of the motion for inquiry being adopted.— While s tile Honourable Director had been calcu lating the number of oaths, he (Mr. Jackson) had been calculating also, but for a different purport ---to ascertain what would Lie da• value qt these appointments et the market price, as it was Nue. I macl to be ; and the result was, that within the' six years it would amount to 1,000,0001. This was an amount of patronage which he considered an object worthy of consideration and regulation. Some persons had maintained, that so great a patronage ought to be in the hands of Covers reent ; and that it was tie anomaly "that a Coe pany of Merchants should have the disposal , of an influence so extensive. Others were equally eager in eontentliiig, that so vast an accession of patronage would make Government so strong, that no constitution, however pure, even from the time of the constitution of ancient Gcaece or Rome, could stand against it. Of this opinion was the Meeting at the Thatched.boaae; and though he slid not entirely agree with the opi. nion, he was not satisfied that it was totally. void of foundation. There was still another opinion started on this subject, by an Hue. Friend of his, who, I% itb a disposition to indulge in a sally of merriment, hid an honest heart, aail an en . 14rgtti understanding (Mr. howndes); arid he asked, why not sell these Cumruissious, and from the produce of them, form a fund for the die. • tressed and wounded seanr:n and soldiers who had ;, been employed is the Couipauy's service ? Whit. ever Might be his opitdOn, Were the question now to be started, whether Commissions in the British army should be disposed of by sale or not ? and however erueh he might desire to see the benevo lent wish of his Hon. Friend realised, he must be , alloweil to say, that he could not even approve of tills disposal of the patronage of the Compaiy. A fourth idea was, that the senior Proprietors should share a little in the Patronage, and that after they were satisfied, there would ttill be enough to gratify every ambition of the Dircc. tors. This opinion was not entertained a JO out VASA OR which to proceed, for, on re. Terrace to the ancient Charters, in the time of Elisabeth, Charles, &c. it sv•uld be found that the nomination of various servants of the Company was then in the Proprietors.- - Though he believed he was so old a Proprietor, that in this view of the subject, he might himself look for some part of this Patriotic, he still could not persuade himself that it ought to rest even here. It leas necessary fur those who, like himself, came forward to desire reformation of abuses, to show that they had nu interest in what they laboured to accomplish, but that with sic. glenas of heart they were anxious to do their duty ; and when the public read their resolution, they would see that they were not self.interested, but that they . wished to walk perfectly iu the law of the Company. His object was that patronage should remain as it had formerly done, but that it should be qualified and corrected, so as to exclude the possibility of abuse. He ss ished, therefore, that the number of recommendations should re main the same to each Director, but that the ap pointment should not be absolute. There were persons who by this regulation would lose; *itch as the Member of Administration who presided at the. Board of Contrail. • He asked no cliang2, but slat they should act agreeable to the, law and to prudence. Though the Directors were in the 1 use of sending nominations to such gentlemen, it was an iudiscreet and an illegal practice. In the Act of Parliament it was' stated, that those persons who formed the Board of Cuntroel should hare no controul or nomination over the officers of the Company ; therefore, in giving them any such nomination, they transgressed both the spirit and letter of the Act. It could never be the meaning of the Act that those who were to controal the Directors should receive fay.mrs from them, tie that their political censors should he their political deutors. • One of the most transceodeet geniuses which this or any other county y ever saw (Mr. Fus), had lost himself on this subject, bec.tise lie wished to secure the patronage to him sell' and his colleagues. The Bill commoids called Mr. Pitt's Bill, etas built on the contrary princi. pie, *ail exclieled all patronage in his Majesty's Ministers. The Director', therefore, in acting as they led done, proceeded contrary to law. He proceeded to refer to the attacks made on the old East India Company, in the reign of King Wit. ham, all of which, though urged most ably and. eloquently, failed, till bribery was detected on the part of their Chairman, Sir 'l'. C,ike, when they were at once deprived of their charter, arid had only seven years to wind lip 'heir accounts. He begged of the Court to cons ter what might hethe effect of allowiwg East I ne la patrona, which Alight be construed into a-largess, to remain at the present snorneot contrary to law, at the disposal of the Preside's; of the Board of Cuntroul. If the Directors wished to gratify persons holding that office, let them do so without subjecting tile Corn. patty tiedanger. lie concluded by moving the fol lowing Resolution :--- " That this Coort baring taken iota its serious consitlera (jou the Report laid before it nn the .29. th March last, pur porting to be a Report from a Srlret r.mittee of the Howe I of Commons, "appointed to inquire into the esistenee of any corrupt practices in retard to the. appointment and mai uattna of Writers or Cadets in the service of the East India Compttly," cannot but cartes its deep regret at the eorrnpt nod improper transactioit. therein disclosed. Aml that thk Court, while it observes with great plea-ore the deelara ilou of the said Committee, " that throeghout the whole of the evidence they remark nothing which traces any one of saris eorruOt or improper bargains to any Director, or seduces a reasonable suspicion that they were done with his privity or connivance," is decidedly of ispiniou, that a greater degree of circumspection, •in the appointment of the Civil and Military Servants of the East India Coutpan) is oat why essential to its reputation, :tad to the buc fess of its affairs, but hi,;hly important to the public interest. It doth therefore determine, That in future all AVriters and t'adet4, as well a. the Student; meant for inch appointments, shad be examined and ehwen in an open Court of Director., which Court shall be bound to, make, by the interrogation of the Candidate, and of the person recommending him, and by "ich ether elimination and mean, as shall seem to theta to be et • pediertt fur that perpose, a full Inquiry into the cbar,,c ter, con nectiow, and qualifications of the mid Candidate, as well as into the means of his introduction to that Court. and to record upon their proceedings the resale of ..teh inquiry, n ith their determination thereua.—That all such Candidate. shall pre :-eat itetitious fur their appuimmeuts; bet that no petition shall be entertained or discussed, listless the same be endorsed or under written by a Director in the following terms, over and above any declaration now required, via. " I, A. B. Wag one of the Directors of the East !oda Company, du declare, t bat I have_ fully inquired Into toe character, the conocetiow, and martini callous or tlte n itithe Petitioner C. D. and that in my opinion be is a fit person to petition the East India Company, fur the appointment whit It he hereto solicits.'' But that nothitte con tained in the still or any other declaration from a Director, shall relieve the said Court from the obligation of pur.uisig with the utmost Uric:nem the aforesaid inquiry. And that it shall not be lay. fel for any Director to circulate any written recotantlidtatun of any Candidate, or otherwise interfere in. his appointment, than in an open Court of Directors : Pro vided alllsys, that each Director sha.l be at liberty so to endorse or underwrite so sanity, and such petitions as Ice is mild, according collie present mode and rules respecting patrottay., I be entitled to sito oominatiow, nod no more ; and that the Comet of Dlrectun do lay before this Court, at least olive in ti a year, or oftener if required, as account of the nuother n' Y. Filers, Cadets, and Studeats w h:ise pet' dons h eve heel .greed to, as well as the number of those whose petitloos have been rc;etted." Colonel SCOTT seconded the motion, anti wa4 followed by Mr. Lowndes on the same- side. Mr. SAMVEL Dm., wished that the matter had °Agitated with tt)e thtectors, or that the motion had bueti Ouly a tecommentlation to them, ithtrati of being, as it seam' to• beg au ordu tvm than. • L0N.120111 t Primal . Published o) 0. Loy 61.1., at . OT tt.ittaiL t•stICC.• Mr. 'two? and Mr. I'. NIOOILE sevorall) ported the motion, showing that Mr. Dixon') jections proceeded solely from his ignorance of the rig:its of that Court. Mr. GIUNT, ssithout opposing the motion, which on the contrary it was the wish of the rectors to promote in every way in their powii; still felt himself wblige4 to dissent from many Vt . the statelients ttilthe Hon. Movers He shen—tt that inquiry had always originatml with the Di rectors. The inattention to the duties of his once oil the part of an individual Director, ho assured the . Court was.to be perceived in his o wn private concerns, and was rather peculiar to him than gr.. neral to the Directors. The Ditectors had passed' several It ioltit.unh since the Iloport of the Com mittee, ith the rim of in;:etiitx the abuses cant plainin of, but they had no objection to adopt others. He chewed that if the Proprietors sere ever in the posse3sion of 6.2 dispos ti of patronao it was in general Court ; end that only previous to tbe Institution of the Joint Stuck, when (herb were seuarate veuturo, and supercargoes were ap. pointed by each parry, according to the interest. In evidence of the emeriti propriety of their ma. nagenient, he asked if there was any where to be foetid such a body of servants,'Civil and Mitit try, as that belonging to the East India Company' 'The question as to the recalls from India, was to come on at another General Court f of which no tice bad beim given. Ho should, therefore, say nothing upon it. Mr. Lows nEs pre notice of . his intention oo a future day to move, that a piece of viatc• be pre. senkd tp Mr. Jackson fur the services tendered by him to that Court. The girestion was they put, and agreed to un;. Mr. JACKSON then moved the Thanks of the Court to Mr. G. Smith, the Meyer, and Mr. Grant, the Seconder of the Motion for the Com mittee on the Abuses in East4trdia Patronage; and also to all the °Orr Dirrcturs who were Members of Parliament, for their support to that Motion. Mr. &mimosa moved, That the name of • Mr. Thethason be added, he having supported the inquiry. A ftar some eoirversation Mr. JACKSON stated, th tt the words ge other Mein hers, lAD were Director;," comprehended every person with %ilium the Court was connected. Tito motion was uusiiiiiuutisly carried u it •ri ginally stood. The CUAIRMAN, DEPUIIr ClllllOl Mr. 51141211, and the other Directors who were Mem. hers of ParliAment, severally returned thanks. Mr. P. Mum/ then moved, Thu the R, sole. tions of the day be printed fur the use of the Court, and he advertised in the Newspapers. After a pretty long converse flan, it was :weed that not only the Resolutions edam Jay, but that all the Resolutions come to by the Director•, on that so oject, since the Report in question, be pub. fished us du: Newspapers.—Adjuurnail. The weather has been an ettrintely changeable, lately, that a meadow at Patter&le, belonging to J. Alouucey, Esq. was, on . the 2d day of last month, covered with snow from three to eight inches deep ; on the PM day of the same month, an abundant crop ►ras cut froze► the sate meadow, bcin the earliest hay in that 11.‘ighbour. hood, or within twenty miles round. .• Dr. TAYLOR'S ANTI-WASMODTC PILLS. Certain rare of the Epilepsy, or Falling Sick. e", Coe sashimi Fits. Hy,teric and ihwalytie Agreelime., and an its fallible Antidote of that Mortal alalady the Apoplexy. IT has been asserted from respectable aother;ty, that a great majority of cases of Epiletey are inrurable' by any remedy that has let been discovered. And Mike& some of the aterliiitges presetilsed by the Faculty fur this dremlfal t'omplaint, are not oalyinetheacious. but often hurt ful.-1 earsectiots.• Electricity, Epispastics, are nearly potteries:. as Anti-Spasmodic(. Vali•rian has hero rkistirseil by many Prectitioiters almost a specific in Cutoutslan Fits, but espi•rietwe bas proved that in none cases out of ten it has been of use real sees see. Mask. Castor, .11ssaferli iss, Perky Rout,', i-eus quereinas, Eat racium hya.eutta anti massy other Remedies, Ina hirb great cistititlence has be e n placed by the Faciiity, have been used a itlr.att success. A Medical Gen tleman of the present day, lair, however, diseaverrd, rifler leach study awl labour, a remerlt for this Disorder. which Is. in must e ases, an aftsoluti• specific; and iu the coune of hie extensive practice in one of Cie county ionise in this kingdom. be uses it a ills cinaplete and unvarying stir ces. 1•0 extend, Ipitteter, sa happy a discovery beyond the eirtait of his immediate private practice. lie has allowed it to lw advertised, for the use of those afflicted with Epilep tic. and Couvulsim Fits, and the dreadful elE•cts of th....e Disorders. Printed Directions for the use accutapaay each Hex, the price of which is 46. lid. duty included. The Epikpsy often attacks Suditeolv. and without giving any wartime; tail more frequently preceded by a paint in Coe head, I.ls-itude, some disturba n ce of the awes, Implicit steep. matmal dread. dimaseas of siaise is the ear,, palpitation of the heart, coldness of the :td in soma • there is a Inflation of forskation. or of cold air. die. W ore:Alm from we Lower extremities towards the lit ad.-1* the Fit, the Patients fall soddenly t s the ground Lobearc the ramie of the Falling Sickness) frequently with a viiiket cos.—The thumbs are shut ay dose is the palms of tic Maga. and arc with diliculty taken out; the eyes are di:forted. us. that nothing hut the. whites are to be ss•eu I all sensation is ' suspended, insomuch that by as smell. noise, .'r otherwise. nur eves by piarhiiig the hods, eats tit lv Ise braaCht to them selves; they fr ad at the movaih, it it h a hicsiii kin! of noise the toughie is f:rgervitler lan6rated ley fhe and giver. it's vitilest convL...stee motion of the arms .turd less. Sisasetinost. however, Haab!, easte.ed is! is agitated by:, copraitivo motions, a all ail, and the Patients are a. lIIINIOTrabtr' as a statue'. At length there is a n-eitztion of +het:popsies. arid the afitats securer after a Imager or shorter normal]; when tit, y complain of it hula, torpor, or beariama of the head, will a lassitude of all the jir:ll-. The disease will antis It strong a; • • 11 as weakpeopic ; ant is (base who are subject to et, any considerable excess is drinking, violent )nession.:;c. will is gearral bring oa a tit.— Slone have epileptte pato tsiims retansing periodically after considerable iturryals; and the disease bat been thought se hist so.,e; .'ependruce on the phases of the moue.—( its. the Pra. tire of Phtsie aud *very.) When 0- -pi ; tep.y attacks persons abseil their tereuty-Asst year, and the iits cutitimie to gr., w mare frequent, lit automat functions are often des4l•...ed as well thow til the mind, and the inn melancholy helpless and fo .lish. Sometimes it will termivate in melancholy or madams, auu sometimes to a mortal aptylexe or palsy. To gas - 1 netstidtt liter dresifui entrequences Is a omy which ilte I..iblic owe to their Ahmed ariessiensrs, by adin.- iikeriug to them Dr. Taylor's% skull-spate% Pills. _whklt ate sold nbolesale and retail by by Rarclay and Sow, 93, Fleet -street, London; mid retaN fly Alan.-ens and No. IS, Strad; Newberry mod ham l'aufs ; i.lrry stud t w Bun Church-yard; Tuft nod Itnitnu , R %ciliate; Witbers Strand; Saucer, ()stare-meet ; Vale, ; Doha, flay iaarket t Ear:e. Swallnw.ateeet p add by all re "ratable .vaatirts id medic ilia. in re k big Vrice 4s. bd. per box. rr Wa have atteinrity to state this thew vroaderfbily ef feadinta PINS have bee. used with es t raoi line, biletts3 :.• Statord. • -- I *