The Sun. — London, England, 1836-05-25 00:00:00

COUNTY OF MIDDLESEX. THIRD REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE OF VESTRY, OF THE PARISH OF ST. GEORGE, HANOVER-SQUARE, ON THE EXPENDITURE OF THE COUNTY OF MIDDLESEX. COUNTY PAUPER LUNATIC ASYLUM. Your Committee have so fully in their First Report, de tailed the immense expenditure of the Pauper Lunatic Asylum, at Hanwell, that the present Report, although a short one, they hope will be to the purpose. The first Re port of your Committee, as it exposed the abuses that oc curred in the expenditure of the public money, naturally occasioned a little irritation on the part of the Magistrates, but it is not the intention of your Committee to notice all the angry remarks, which their former report gave rise to, contenting themselves with submitting to the Vestry a few additional facts and documents on the subject. First,—Your Committee showed from the 9th of Geo. IV. c. 40, sec. 30 and 33, the illegality of the proceedings of the Visiting Magistrates, in appropriating a surplus— arising from an overcharge on the Parishes for " the main tenance and care, medicine and clothing, requisite for the lunatics, and the salaries of the officers and attendants," — to the purposes of buildings, &c. &c. The Magistrates in Quarter Session, have decided that your Committee were right, by ordering the discontinuance of such a misappropriation of the money of the rate-payers of this and other parishes. Second,—Your Committee submit to the Vestry a Re turn of the Deputy Clerk of the Peace, ordered by the House of Commons, to show the extent of the misappro priation. `‘ APPENDIX TO REPORT FROM THE SELECT COMMITTEE ON COUNTY RATES, PAGE 17. " MIDDLESEX.—The sum of 124,4401. borrowed on mortgage of County Rates, for purchasing the site and building, furnishing and fitting up County Lunatic Asylum, which was first opened for reception of pauper patients on 16th May, 1831. In addition, the following have been paid (out of monies received for maintenance of paupers) for furniture and repairs, viz.:— "In 1831 1832 1833 .£6,391 13 91" Your Committee add, that from the monies received for the Maintenance 1834...2,195 15 9 of Paupers, were applied to the same 1835...1,478 2 10 purposes £10,065 12 41 Your Committee submit to the Vestry the facts of tte illegality of the overcharges ; the discontinuance of the practice of appropriating those overcharges to buildings, by the Magistrates in Quarter Session ; and the amount re turned to the House of Commons by the Clerk of the Peace, with the addition for the years 1834-1835, taken by your Committee from the Magistrates' published accounts. Your Committee, in the discharge of a painful duty, have had occasion to disapprove exceedingly as to the outlay of the public money by the Visiting Justices, at the Pauper Lu natic Asylum at Hanwell. It is now, however, the pleas, ing duty of your Committee to approve . of one thing done by the Visiting Justices ; they have adopted the plan of the parish of St. George, Hanover-square, in the poor rate expenditure, viz., all the demands on the Lunatic Asylum for the quarter ending on the 31st of . March, 1836, were p Lid during the quarter ; and on the county day of the General Quarter Session of the Peace, 14th April, the V s . t:ng Justices returned to the Magistrates, that there was nothing owing by the Institution on the 31st March last. Your Committee - feel quite assured that the Vestry w v'r much apProve of this new practice of the Visitii When your Committee commenced their investigation of the county rate expenditure of Middlesex, the charge on the parishes for each lunatic at Hauwell was, by order of the Visiting Justices, Bs. per wok ; •it is now ss. 10d., be ing a teduAion since the inquiry began of 27 per cent. Your Committee stated in their First Report, that the charges ought nut to exceed -is. per week for each lunatic. The statement of' your Committee seemed so preposte rous, that it ckppsea your Committee to some very strong remarks, one of which your Committee take leave to quote. (Vroea the 31st Report of the Visiting Justices of the County Lunatic Asylum, page 0, Apri1,1835.) "Lunatic Asyharns are not like prisons,—for the punishment of crui! ; nor are they like workhouses,—places for the resi dence of the indigent of all ages, labouring under no dis eases except such as are casual ; and who have no right to expect more than a supply of the necessary wants of na ture, and who, if wilfully destroying either clothes, bed ding, or any other article, would be instantly dismissed from the house. Asylums are hospitals for the insane, for the most suffering part of our fellow -creatures, but many of wheni are disposed to continual acts of mischief and 'de struction, yet are themselves subject to no law, and ame nable to no tilhunal. The leading principle in the mnhog,e !neat of them is, not to keep•-their inmates at the minimum for which human nature can be sustained ; but whatever may have been the cause of the malady, to provide for the health and cont . /bit of the patients. It is true, that in a very great number of cases, vice has brought on the disease; but it is no less true, that the vice which has ruined the mind, has left the body feeble and emaciated, and requiring an additional supply of wholesome nutriment. In these eases, a rigid adherence •to the diet table, framed and a lapted only for the strong and the healthy, would indeed be a matter of economy,—the patients would die, and the parishes he relieved of all further expence." Your Committee think the Vestry will be gratified to learn, that a very great reduction in the expense has not caused the death of the patients ; for in January, 1836, the 34th Report of the same Visiting Justices, page 4, states " They have been also enabled gradually to reduce the weekly payments for each patient to 6s. sd. ; and on ex amining the accounts to the close of the year, they find the balance in favour, cf the Institution so much increased, that they have directed the rate to be still further reduced to ss. 10d. for each patient. This reduction has been ef fected without any diminution of the comforts qf the patients, as their welfare is felt to be the primary object of the In stitution, at the same time, the strictest economy compati ble with that is uniformly practised." But the practice which the Visiting J c iistices have adopted of paying every expense of the quarter in the quarter, will be productive of the most important advan tages—it enables the parishes to ascertain, for the first time, the bona fide expense of the quarter. Independently of the 10,0651. 12s. 41d. already shewn, as derived from an overcharge for the weekly care of the patients, there is an unappropriated surplus from the same source, viz., an overcharge on the parishes—it amounted (vide each Annual Report of the Visiting Justices.) On the Ist of January, 1834, to • £B7 13 7 On the Ist January, 1835, it had in creased t 0... 1,133 8 7 On the Ist January, 1836, it had further increased to 2,986 12 1 On the Ist April, 1836, it had still fur ther increased to 3,398 0 10 So that the overcharges for the care of the Lunatic pau pers, amounts to the very large sum of £13,463 13 2fr--Of which has beenl appropriated, as shewn in violation 10,065 12 4I of the Act of Par liament Not yet appropriated... 3,398 0 10 X 13,463 13 2 X 13,463 13 2i Your Committee make great compl a i n t aga i ns t t h e Vi siting Justices of the Lunatic Asylum, in withholding infor mation which your Committee think the rate-payers, or their representatives, have a right to. Your Committee, since their first report, caused the Vestry Clerk to apply officially for certain documents to elucidate the subject of the Expenditure of the Asylum ; to which application, the following answer was received : (Copy.) H " anwell, 7th Feb. 1835. " SIR-I have no orders from the Magistrates to furnish any further documents ; but I will lay your note before them at their next Committee meeting, on the 12th inst. " I am, Sir, your obedient servant, "T. B. Chappell." " W. ELLIS." Your Committee waited patiently for an answer from the Visiting Justices, but none was returned ; they therefore caused' another official letter by the Vestry Clerk to be sent, to which the following is the reply : (Copy.) " Asylum, Feb. 18th, 1835. " am directed by Dr. Ellis to inform you, that your letter of the 6th instant was laid before the Visiting Justices at their last Meeting, but that he received no in structions thereon.—l am, Sir, " Your obedient servant, " Mr. Chappell." " WM. SKEET." In consequence of the refusal to furnish the information, your Committee deferred making another Report on the Lunatic Asylum at Hanwell, until they obtained possession of a sufficient number of the documents published by the Magistrates themselves, to prove the charges made by your Committee against the administration of the public money at that public Institution. The last document your Com mittee refer to, is the Treasurer of the Lunatic Asylum Account to the 31st March 1836, read in Public Court of Quarter Session for Middlesex, at the County day, April 4, 1836. TREASURER'S CURRENT ACCOUNT. Cash ht band 654 3 3 1 Arrears due Due for Maintenance from 31 Dec. tto 31 March, 1836 2,460 0 I Due for Sundries Billi:impaid £3,39s 0 ioJ Your Committee have s :own this was an increasing sum derived from overcharging the Parishes for their patients, and although the M'agistrates have " gradually reduced the charge," still the sum of ss. 10d. has for the quarter from 31st December, 1835, to 31st March, 1836, produced a profit to the Institution of 4111. Bs. 6d., being an over charge for each pauper of upwards of one shilling per week. Your Committee make out this chargé against the Magis trates from their own documents. Surplus on 31st March, 1836 3,398 0 10 Surplus on 31st Dec., 1835 Profit on 13 Weeks at ss. 10d. on 605 Patients £ 411 8 9 Your Committee thus show that the real expenditure on the Paupers has been under 4s. 9id. per week for the Quarter from 31st December, 1835, to 31st March, 1836 ; and therefore, when your Committee stated in their first Report, that the charge for each Lunatic ought not to exceed 4s. per week, to which opinion they still adhere, and however, preposterous it might then have appeared, your Committee now demonstrate from the Magistrates' own statements, that 4s. 91d. is the present weekly expenditure, however much more may be levied by the Magistrates from the Parishes. Your Committee further remind the Vestry that they entertain no doubt but that still further reductions in the weekly expense of each Lunatic may be made without any injury to the patients—by a rigid system of economy in the administration of the public fund—by a careful attention to the Contracts—and by a searching investigation of the ac counts, so as to reduce tbe weekly expense of each Lunatic to the sum, or even below the sum which your Committee originally stated, of four shillings. Your Committee cannot withhold the fact, that there is not deposited among the archives of the County, in the custody of the Clerk of the Peace, a bill, or a voucher for the payment of any hill con nected with the sums paid for the maintenance and care of the Lunatics at Hanwell, or the bills for building, repairs, &c., paid out of the Maintenance Fund, involving an ex penditure of upwards of Fifty Thousand Pounds. Yoar Committee submit these important topict to the serious consideration of the Vestry. ______ 27th April, 1836. JOHN LESLIE, Chairman. JOHN GUNTER. THOMAS HODGKINSON. THIRD REPORT. Your Committee present a Third Report on the import ant subject of Assessing, Collecting, and Expending the County Rates of Middlesex ; and they regret the fact, that for the parochial year ending Lady-clay 1836, the parish of St. George, Hanover•square, has had to pay an increase of County Rates to the extent of 696/. Is. 6d., as ivill be seen from the comparison of the two years : . . Lady-day 1834, to Lady-day 1835, four quarterly county rates paid £6,520 11 8 Lady-day 1835, to Lady-day 1836, four quarterly county rates paid _ £7,216 13 4 . . . The baunty Rates have taken from St. George's, Ha nover-square, more than one-fourth of the whole Poor Rate assessment for the last two years. Your Committee entertain a very strong opinion as to the illegality of many of the quarterly rates, which the Middlesex magistrates have assessed upon the county. Your Committee have prepared a Table of the twenty four quarterly rates made during the six years ending on the 2nd of April instant ; and the table shows, IN ONE LINE, an analysis of the f rtancial state , of the county during each of the twenty-four quarters. Letter A, sheds the date of the commencement of each quarter : B, the amount of uncollected rates at the commence ment of the qtrarter ; C, the cash in hand at the com mencement of the quarter ; D, the amount assessed up on the county far the quarter ; E, the petty receipts dur ing the quarter ; F, the total amount of the four pre ceding columns ; and G, the actual expenditure of the quarter. There is a blank line left after each four quar ters to separate the years. Before insertinc tliis table, your Committee remind the Vestry, that it was in consequence of the fraud committed upon the county by Mr. Mainwaring, a former treasurer, whose defalcations amounted to a large sum, that a local act for the County of Middlesex was obtained, viz.: " Third of Geo: IV. cap. 107,—Local Act for Middle sex." Tile preamble states, " Whereas abuses and irregu larities have occurred in- the office of Treasurer of t ile County of Middlesex ; and it is expedient to make further provision relative to the appointment of such Treasurer, and the security to he taken from him and his sureties for the due execution of his (ACC, AND FOR PREVENTING THE ACCUMULATION OF LARGE BALANCES IN THE HANDS OF SUCH TREASURER IN FUTURE, and to make such further provision and regulations touching the assessing, collecting, and levying of the County Rates. Your Committee direct the attention of. the Vestry to a section of the Act of Parliament, which states the power the magistrates have in make Rate to meet the actual ex penditure between positively defined periods, from the county day in one Quarter Session of the Peace, until the county day in the neft Quarter The 9th section authorizes the magistrates " to make a County Rate at each and every Quarter Session for the quarter of the year then next ensuing, to be computed from the county-day in every such Quarter Session until the county day in the Quarter Session then next ensuing?' Having now shown the spirit and the letter of the law as to making quarterly rates on the county of Middlesex, your Committee, with the aid of the table, will direct the particular attention of the Vestry to the practice of the Middlesex magistrates in this part of their duty to the law and the county.—(See Table at the end of this Report.) Your Committee will commence their observations with the first quarter in the table : 1830. April 12.—Uncollected rates (B) 12,544 4 11 Cash in hand, (C) 3,162 18 6 £15,707 a 5 Letter G, shews the actual expenditure from the 12th April, 1830, to the end of the quarter on the 3d July, was 15,1801. 13s. 6(1,; now, although there was already assessed on the county, and cash in the treasurer's hands, equal to the whole expenditure, and a surplus of 5271.—yet co lumn D shews a new rate was made, amounting to 16,5501. Os. 3d. The second line shews the next rate to have been almost as unnecessary. The 3d line ex hibits the ensuing quarter even worse ; and the 4th line is so extraordinary, that your Committee extract it. Line 4 in Table. Ist Jan. 1831. Uncollected rates, (B) Cash in hand, (C) 23,259 2 2 The Quarter's expenditure from Ist Jan. to 2d April, 1831, (G) 12,944 5 11i £10,314 16 23- Your Committee think, that any person having read the Local Act of Parliament, particularly the two portions already quoted, would have thought the county was suffi ciently tilted, it having to supply the money equal to the actual expenditure of the ensuing quarter, and a balance of 10,314/. IGs.‘24-d. towards the quarter to Midsummer, without any additional taxation in January ; but the Mid dlesex magistrates were not of that opinion, for letter D shows they assessed the county in another rate of 16,866/. ss. 6d., thereby increasing the balance at the close of the quarter, from 10,314/. to upwards of 27,000/. Your Committee will not weary the Vestry with an exa mination of each of the 24 quarters, but request the Ves try to compare the letter F, the assets of each of the quar ters, with letter G, the actual expenditure of the quarters. Your Committee remind the Vestry that it has been said that it is impossible to collect from the poor Parishee; and with this fallacy many persons are deluded. Your Com mittee request the Vestry to recollect, that they had the honour to be appointed to examine into the receipt and ex penditure of the County Rates of Middlesex, in the month of July, 1834, and they in consequence began their enqui ries soon after that period ; now the amount of the uncol lected rates, it will be seen, has been very much less in the quarters subsequent to that period, than they ever were before ; and the quarter which ended on 27th June, 1835, spews a smaller amount of arrear, or, in other words, a better collection than had ever before been known ; the rate on that quarter was 'partially made upon the plan suggested by your Committee in their Report of February, 1835, page 6, and if the system had been worked out in all its integrity by, parties friendly to the plan, it could not fail of success. The table shows that On the 27th June, 1835, a balance was left of uncollected rates, (B) 3,030 4 6 Cash in hand, (C) £5,055 9 3,1 Your Committee must request the favour of the Vestry to attend to the fact, that the uncollected rates were then the smallest in amount that had been known. The system was unpopular among the Magistrates, and they reverted in the next quarter to the old prnctice, which introduces the subject of the enormous rate assessed upon the County on the 9th July, 1835, for 32,9911. 10s. Od. That rate was discussed in Vestry in that month, and owing to the Tepre sentation of the County Treasurer to a deputation of the Vestry, (no member of your Committee who •now report, was of the deputation), it was agreed to pay the rate, and not to appeal ag ainst the ra t e ; an d w hi c h rate was pa i d b y the pa r i s h o f St. George, Hanover-square, on the sth August, 1835, 3,3351. 10s. Od., on which day your Com mittee beg to point out to the attention of the Vestry, that (in 27 days from the making of the rate on the 9th July), the Treasurer was in possession of 7, 9 64/. 19s. of the new rate ; and on the Ist of September he had ob tained in actual cash 21,535/. 6s. Gid. The total payments from June 29th to 19th October, 1835, was 21,200/. 15s. 51d. ; now from the mode of stating the expenditure ae eit is impossible t o stat e accurate l y what the cash ba lance nce i in the Treasurer's hands was on the Ist of Septem ber ; but your Committee incline to the opinion that it was about Seven Thousand Pounds ; and at the close of the quarter the cash balance was 11,0011. 10s. 11d., during the THE SUN, LONDON, WEDNESDAY, MAY 25, 1836, quarter your Committee thirk the cash balance exceeded this latter sum. _ It is thus shewn that the Treasurer of the County had on the Ist of September, 182$, more money in hand than was sufficient for the whole expenditure of the quarter end ing on the 19th of October. From the Ist of September to the 19th October, he receved in addition to the sum already mentioned 10,9411. Iss. 6d., of which 6,559/. ss. was paid to him on the 2d, 3c, and sth of September, and the account for the quarter chsed with a balance in favour of the County-19th October 1835, of 17,210/. Os. 4-id., of which 11,0011. 10s. lid. was cash in hand. There is a difference of 3304 10s. 6d. between the ba lance in favour of the county, a: stated by your Committee, and the accounts published if the quarter ending 19th October, 1835. One item of tie difference, but not in the expenditure account, is thus stied— " Allowed the Collectors of the Rates for the extra Parochial places for Pouidage, making Assessments, &c., for the Yeas 1830, 1831, 1832, 1833." On this item your Committee remark, that these sums are bona fide payments from the County Rate,—that they do not appear in the expenditurE of the County,—that the accounts of several of the years, as audited by the Magis trates, and published, balance without any such payments. Under these circumstances, your Committee adhere to the balance, as stated by them, until satisfactory evidence is given to the contrary. The probable cause of the insertion of this item on the back of the expenditure accounts, was the mode your Committee adopted in their former Report, page 7, in examining the expenditure of the year, commenc ing 14th October, 1833, and ending 13th October, 1834. Your Committee, having shown that 11,0011. 10s. was cash in hand to commence the next quarter's expendi ture, on the Monday, 21st October, 1835, were exceedingly surprised to find the following entry " 1835, Dec. 15, Messrs. Snow :and Paul one- fourteenth part of Principal of No. 20 Bond for 63,0001., ,borrowed at 4 per cent. on ac count of Connty r Lunatic Asylum £4,500 0 0 " To clitto„ . Forty - Days' Interest on the above, from Ate sth of November to 15th of Decem ber, at 4 per cent. Much as these items astonished your Committee, they were much more astonished to hear one of the Magistrates, Capt. Acklom, state, in.. the public Court of Quarter Ses sion, on the 14th April instant, that the County sustained the loss of the 191. 14s. 6d. additional interest to Snow and Paul, because the Parish of St. George, Hanover-square, did not pay the Rate. Your Committee, in a former Report of the County Ex penditure, recommended the Magistrates to adopt the plan of printing, " on the order and demand for tile payment of each Rate, a Copy of the Estimated Expenditure for the Quarter." The Magistrates adopted the suggestion ; and your Committee reprint the estimate upon which the ex travagant Rate 32,9911. 10s. was assessed upon the County in July, 1833. In this document, published by the Magis trates themselves, will confute Capt. Acklom's attack on the Vestry of St. George, Hanover-square. JULY, 1835. ESTIMATED EXPENDITURE FOR THE NEXT QUARTER. 3d Geo. IV., cap. cvii., sect. 9; . and 2th Geo. IV., cap. 40, sec. 14. Central Criminal Court, and Middlesex and \Vcstminster Sessions (Prosecutors and Witnesses) 2,200 0 0 Bills and Salaries remaining unpaid Ditto to Alichaelmas — ' 13,195 15 0 Wages, &c., at the gaols 2,646 12 0 Kin.r's Bench, Marshalsea, and Fleet Prisons 350 6 0 n. Tontine CPUNI'Y PAUPER LUNATIC ASY- LUM. Mr. John Beadnell, Six Months' Interest (due the 10th July) on 7,6301 172 16 0 One - fourteenth Part of Principal (due ditto) of No. 1 to No lB Bond fur 13,440/ Mr. Richard Crawshay, Six Months' Interest (due the sth of August) on 21,428/. One-fourteenth Part of Principal (due ditto) of No.2lßond for 30,0004 2,143 0 0 Mr. John Beadnell, Six Months' Interest (due the 16th Oc tober) on 571/. Bs. 6d. Messrs. Snow and Paul, Six Months' Interest (due the sth November) on 40,500/ BlO 0 0 Oae-fourteenth Part of Principal (due ditto) of N 0.20 Bond for 63,000/. 4,500 0 0 Mr. George Crawshay, Six Months' Interest (due the • 23d November) on 13,3571. 2s. 9d. - . One-fourteenth Part of Principal (due ditto) of N 0.22 Bond for 17,0001. 1,214 5 9 WESTMINSTER NEW GAOL. Mr. Daniel Cave and others, Six Months' Interest (due the 21st April, 1835) .on 3,7001 92 10 0 One-fortieth Part of Prin cipal (due ditto) of No 12 Bond for 4,000/ lOO 0 0 Sir J. Woolmore, Six Months' Interest (due the 12th of July) on 4,7501 • 112 16 3 One-fortieth Part of Prin cipal (due ditto) of No 23 Bond for 5,000/ 125 0 0 Altion Company, Six Months' Interest (due the 19th July) on 17,1001 427 10 0 One-fourth Part of Prin cipal (due ditto) of No 1 Bond for 6,8001 1,700 0 0 One-tenth Part of Princi pal (due ditto) of No. 8 Bond for 2,0001 2OO 0 0 Mr. George Crawshay, Six Months' Interest (due the 23d July) on 20,000/ 4OO 0 0 Mr. Wm. Carr, Six Months' Interest (due the 23d July) on 15,0001 337 10 0 Mr. Moser and Others, Six Months' Interest (due the 26th July) on 9,5001 237 10 0 One-fortieth Part of Prin cipal (due ditto) of No. 24 Bond for 10,0001 250 0 0 Mr. Richard Crawshay, Six Months' Interest (due the 21st October) on 18,0001. Sir J. Woolmore, Six Months' Intereit (due the 21st Oct.) on 4,500/ ll2 10 0 Mr. Daniel Cave and Others, Six Months' Interest (due the 21st October) on 3,6001. 90 0 0 Mrs. Margaret Field, Six Months' Interest (due the 21st October) on 900/ 22 10 0 Mr. Christopher Thorpe's Ad ministratrix, Six Months' In terest (due the 21st October) on 5,400/ 133 0 0 Mr. Richard Crawshay, Six Months' Interest (due the 25th Octobcr)on 7,600/ l9O 0 0 One-fortieth Part of Prin cipal (due ditto) on No 25 Bond for 8,000/ 2OO 0 0 Mr. George Crawshay, Six Months' Interest (due the 26th October) on 18,500/ 462 10 0 Sir J. Woolmore, Six Months' Interest (due do.) on 4,6251. 109 16 10 Mr. John Hurles, Six Months' Interest (due do.) ou 1,8501. 40 4 9 5,795 7 10 L. 36,114 0 To be provided thus : 1835. June 27. Balance in Treasurer's Hands 2,025 4 91 Arrears of Rates 3,030 4 6 July 9. Rate at Three Half-pence L. 38,146 19 3 Estimated Expenditure 36,114 0 1 Surplus L.1,932 19 2 Your Committee remark, that one item that appears in the July estimate is for Snow and Paul, sth Nov. 1835, 5,310/. And the rate on July 9, 1835, for 32,9911. 10s., was attempted to be justified on the ground of this and other bonds. becoming due after the expiration of the quar ter, and, as was alleged, before another rate could be en forced to meet the payments. The pariish of St. George, Hanover-square, paid, on the sth of Au, past, 1835, their quota 3,3351. 10s. of that ex travagant z ate. On these, :facts your Committee rely, as a complete refu tation of Captain Acklom's public statement against the Vestry of St. George, Hanover-square. If Capt. I.cklom had stated, that the Vestry of St. George, Han. over- square, having unnecessarily contributed, in August 1E435, for payments coming due, according to the Magistrates' -estimate, in the November following, ---did not chooie to r.dvance funds a second time for the same pur poses for v rliich they supplied the money four months be fore, your Committee might then have agreed with him, and his rev o.arks on the conduct of the Vestry of St. George, Hanover-i ;quare, might have been spared. BuL yol is Committee will not waste the time of the Ves try by I'l°6 ;Ong individual attacks; they attack the system, and declare the real cause why Snow and Paul were not paid on the sth Nov. was an inefficient administration of the county funds. The debt on the county rates of Middlesex at this time, 26 April, 1836, is as follows At £4 0 0 per cent. 4 7 0 " ............ . . 1,800 0 0 4 10 0 " 4 17 6 " 5 0 0 " £239,2.97 17 0 This sum is the remaining portion unpaid of money bor rowed on mortgage of the county rates of Middlesex for purchasing the sites, and building the County Pauper Lu natic Asylum, and the Westminster New Bridewell, Tot hill Fields. The above debt is of recent origin. Beyond the sums annually required of the rate-payers of the county to pay off the principal and interest of the above enormous debt, there is required two thousand eight hundred and fifty pounds per annum to pay the Middlesex Tontine for prin cipal money borrowed towards the expense of the House of Correction between forty and fifty years ago. It was bor rowed in three divisions, commencing in the year 1790, again in 1792 and 1795. Each annuity was granted to ; three classes of purchasers ; Ist, those under twenty years of age ; 2d, those above twenty, and under forty ; 3d, those above forty years. The whole sum borrowed in the three years, was 62,000/. ; the sum paid by the County to the present time (April, 1836) is one hundred and thirty-six thousand, two hundred and fifty pounds. No one of the classes of either of the three loans is yet extinct, the whole interest being still claimed. Your Committee have not touched upon the prospects of a reduction in the county expenditure, as under the present constitution of the Court of Quarter Session for Middlesex, there is no chance of any material reductions. Obvious improvement is opposed with the utmost tenacity. A more striking illustration cannot be given than in the repeated discussions which have taken place at the meet ings of the Middlesex Magistrates, on the subject of em ploying the prisoners in the House of . Correction, in grind ing wheat and making bread. A vote was granted on one county day, to commence the plan—it was res cinded on a subsequent County day, and on some futile objections, such as the following : Because bread could not b made cheaper in the Giltspur-street Prison, than it could be purchased by contract, it could not be made anywhere cheaper. Ano ther Magistrate stated that he went to the Store-keeper and asked him what he thought of the plan of snaking Bread ; the Store-keeper, was sure it would be very inconvenient, but he would obtain further informa tion. The Storekeeper then went to the Baker who has the Contract. " Oh," said the Baker, " I am obliged to keep five extra men, because your loaves are all made eight ounces each." The Store-keeper came back to the Magistrate with this important information, and it decided that Gentleman's Vote against the plan. Another Magistrate did not object to the plan, but thought the present an inconvenient time, because the New Inspectors of Gaols had not reported to Lord John Rus sell. But the whole Court of Magistrates did not, with a with a view to reduce the County expenditure, avail them selves of the fact, which was then stated by themselves publicly in Court, that at the Lunatic Asylum, at Han well, the Lunatics made all the Bread for the establish ment (about 670 persons) and the costs (January last) was stated at 9s. per cwt. The coot for the Contract Bread was 11s. 3d. per cwt. ; the difference in favour of the Rate-payers of the County, by making Bread in the establishment, being nearly thirty per cent., and this on one of the largest items of expendi ture in the prisons of Middlesex, independently of the cheaper plan securing to the Prisoners, pure, unadulterated, Wheaten Bread. Your Committee now beg leave to detail the course of proceedings to the Middlesex Magistrates on the three last County days of each Quarter Session, on the subject of making the County Rates. On the Rota Paper of the day's business, A County Rite is to " be made for the next quarter of a year ;" that is, from the County clay on which they assemble, to the County day in the next Quarter Session. According to the 10th Section of 3 George IV., cap. 107, the Treasurer must declare, " That three-fourths, or more, of the monies actually received by the Trea surer, for the said County, have been actually and duly ex7,ended." Your Committee have shown particularly, the progress of the money actually received during one of the recent Quarters. When the business of the day arrived at the point of making the County-rate at each of the three last Quarter Sessions, the making the rate was deferred for several hours because of the large balances in the Treasurer's hands ; and in one of the instances he left the court avowedly to pay away as much money as would enable him to make the declaration aecordin , to the Act of Parliament. The treasurer re turned, after several hours, state(: that he had paid away five thousand pounds ; the question was then asked of him " Arc we within the Act of Parliament ? " " Yes." " Then who moves the rate ? "—and the new rate was made. Your Committee wish here to direct the attention of the vestry to one of the great mistakes made by the Middlesex Magistrates, which is, that under the 9th Geo. IV., cap. 40, sec. 14, they are to provide, in due time, for the pay ment of the bond debt and interest. This is admitted ; but then the questio❑ turns upon what is " due time." The money is to be raised in every Quarter, to meet the ex penditure from one county day to the following County day, and therefore the Bond debts must be regulated by the 9th Section of the 3rd of Geo. IV., cap. 107. This mistake would not occur if the heavy debts were arranged to be paid in the third month of each quarter, and the parishes compelled to pay the current rate in each quar ter—according to the plain intentions of the Legislature. Your Committee will submit a plan, before they close their Report, which they think would, if adopted, give greater security to the rate-payers of the county, and ob viate the evils of the existing system. The Vestry will gather from the Report of your Com mittee, the very defective mode of assessing, collecting, and expending the County rates. An event has recently oc curred by the resignation of the office of Treasurer of the County of Middlesex, which may be turned to the great advantage of the Rate-payers of the County, as there is now no vested interest as an obstacle to the improvement. Your Committee are aware that the Local Act of Par ' liament for Middlesex is in the way, but that it is a difficulty not insurmountable, because it can be amended. Your Committee have shewn that the whole spirit and the letter of that Act has been evaded ; that the Parishes have been unnecessarily taxed ; that the Creditors of the County have not been duly paid ; that large balances have been allowed to accumulate ; and that for the year ending on the 2d of April, instant, there has been a great increase of the whole County Rate, compared with the preceding year (5,8471. 15s. 11d.) It appears to your Committee, that uniting the office of Collector of the County Rates and the office of Treasurer in one person, is one of the most objectionable plans ever adopted. The Salary paid out of the County Rate to such Treasurer being Seven Hundred and Fifty Pounds per annum ; an office in the Sessions House, Clerkenwell, is ap propriated to the Treasurer. The Treasurer finds a Clerk, to whom be pays a salary of One Hundred and Fifty Pounds per annum ; this Clerk gives security to the Treasurer in a sum of Three Thousand Pounds ; the Clerk collects the extra Parochial Rates, and deducts from what he collects Ten per Cent. for his trouble, which never appears in the published accounts. The Treasurer has also to pay a per son for attending the Central Criminal Court during its sittings, to pay the prosecutors' and witnesses' expenses ; this occasions a cost to the County Treasurer of about 25/. per annum. The Treasurer has to find heavy securities for the due performance of his duty. The clear salary he re ceives is above 5501. per annum. It is quite evident to your Committee, that the real du ties of the office are done by the Treasurer's Clerk ; and if the Office and Clerk, as at present constituted, were put under the direct control of the Magistrates, the office of Treasurer might at once be abolished, and the Bank of England appointed the Receiver of the County Rates of Middlesex, and the funds in aid thereof—whereby at least five hundred pounds per annum may at once be saved in the Treasurer's salary. The Finance Committee of' Magistrates could then pay the bills monthly, by drafts on the Bank of England ; and whon the quarters rate is made, the receipts of each pa rish's quota of that rate may be bound together as a Banker's Check Book, and sent to the Bank of England ; the inti mation, accompanying the precept, to each parish to pay the Rate into the Bank, and unless the same was paid in the time according to Law, the Magistrates were deter mined at once to enforce it. But your Committee, in the proposition they suggest, have in view further important advantages as likely to arise from the plan suggested, beyond the saving of five hundred pounds per annum in the salary of the Treasurer. They think that the Account of the Middlesex County Rate would be a good one for the Bank of England, that the undoubted security which an amended Act of Parliament would afford that Corporation, would induce the Bank of England (having always the balances in hand of the current account) to advance a sum sufficient to pay off all the bond holders whose interest exceeds four per cent., and thereby occasion a further saving to the county of nearly fifteen hundred pounds per annum. A still further most important advantage might be de rived by the rate-payers of the county, if the Bank of Eng land would advance a sum sufficient to pay off the whole Bond debt ; because in that event, as the Bank would be the only Bond creditor of the County, the arrangement might be so made, that out of every quarterly rate, and in the third month of each quarter, a fixed amount of the 10,575 8 6 principal debt miglt be paid off, together with the whole interest due to tha' day ; by this arrangement the four quar terly assessments ould be equalized. Your Committee are aware of the obstacles to surmount in carrying out thesuggestion, but they hope that the pa tronage of a situaton of Seven Hundred and Fifty Pounds per annum, in the ;ift of the Magistrates, will not be one of them ; but tha the good of the County, and the inte rests of the Rate-layers at large, will have due and proper consideration. Your Committc, in concluding their Report, beg to re mind the Vestry ci the peculiarities of the County of Mid dlesex—the enormous Rental of the County ! At present Five Millions, Tlree Hundred and Sixty-eight Thousand, Eight Hundred and Eighty-four Pounds ; and of the very small comparative amount of that property held by those Magistrates who wally transact the business of the County, so that the doctrin: which may be perfectly true, in most other Counties, that tic great landed proprietors, being Magis trates, are prescit at their respective Quarter Sessions to tax their own property, does not hold good, as it relates to the County of Middlesex. Your Committee are of opinion that to effect the proper diminution of County Expenditure, nothing short of the principle of Sir John Hobhouse's Vestry Act, applied to the Assessing and Expending the County Rate of Middle sex, will do so, which principle has already caused greater Reductions in lo2al taxation, than any previous Legislation on the subject. JOHN LESLIE, Chairman. JOHN GUNTER. THOS. HODGKINSON. ADDENDUM. April 29, IS3G. Table showing the Progress of County Rates paid by the Parish of St. Gorge, Hanover-square, from the year 1738, under the 12th George 2d, cap. 29. Total Amount Paid. Annual Average. From 1739 to 1748 inclusive... 425 5 0 ... 42 10 6 1749 to 1758 inclusive... 227 16 3 ... 22 15 71 1759 to 1768 inclusive... 296 3 1f... 29 12 3-i• 1769 to 1778 inclusive... 1,117 0 9 ... 111 14 o' 4 - 1779 to 1788 inclusive... 2,012 6 10k... 201 4 8 1789 to 1796 inclusive... 2,923 11 7 .... 365 8 11. 1797 to 1806 inc1u5ive...26,037 10 5 ...2,603 15 Of 1807 to 1816 inc1u5ive...31,639 1 1 ...3,163 18 11 1817 to 1826 inc1u5ive...39,244 3 7 ...3,924 8 4i 1827 to 1835 inclusive...s6,l3l 12 3 ...6,236 16 0-1- Lady-day, 1835, to Lady-day, 1836 ......7,216 13 4 The whole amount paid by the Parish in County Rates for 58 years, from 1739 to 1796 inclusive, was 7,0021. 3s. 7d., being 2141. 9s. 9d. less than the last year's payment. THE FOLLOWING IS THE TABLE REFERRED TO IN T REPORT :- POST-OFFICE DEPARTIVIEN SIXTH REPORT OF THE COMMISSIONERS APPOINTED TO INQUIRE INTO THE MANAGEMENT OF THE POST OFFICE DEPARTMENT. (Continued from The Sun of yesterday.) HOLYHEAD. We have directed much of our attention to this esta blishment, which is by far the most considerable that is under the Post-office, comprising, as it d oes, a packet station, through which the principal part of the post com munication between England and Ireland passe s, and like wise an extensive yard, which has been formed for the ma nufacture of boilers, and the repair of the ve ssels and machinery of the p ac k e t s -on the Weymouth, Milford, Liverpool, and Port Patrick stations. Since the union between England and Ireland, it has become especially i m p o rt a nt that the Governmen t should prride some one st a tion where a safe and speedy p assage mite be at all times s ecured as far as possible, and that the packets there should be maintained upon the most efficient footing ; both with a view to the regular transmission of the mails, and to the comfort and accommodation of the pas sengers ; nor are we disposed to recommend to you r Lord ships any reduction of expenditure which would interfere with the attainment of these objects. There are at present six steamers employed in the con veyance of the mails between Holyhead and Kingstown an extra steamer is laid up in ordinary. There are four sailing vessels which bring the coals required for the use o f the steamers, and a cutter which has not been used for any public service for the last four years. The inquiries of Mr. Gardiner and Captain Evans have been particularly directed to the state of the land establish ment. We have already had occasion to call the serious and special attention of your Lordships to some of the evi dence which they received ; we now submit the whole to your consideration, together with that of the officers of the Post-office, who were particularly connected with this de partment. We must at the same time express our deep regret that such a state of things should have been found to exist in any branch of the public service. The stores required at Holyhead are of large a mount, and as there are no tradesmen in the town from whom they can be obtained, a supply is kept in store of all articles ne cessary for the maintenance of the packets on the station, the general repair of the vessels, the manufacture of boilers, and the repairs of machinery. In April, 1830, a Return was made to the Revenue Commissioners of the value of stores in charge of th e officers at Holyhead, and the cost was stated at :0 631 ' They then expressed their surprise at the mode in which these stores were supplied ; no part of them being obtained by contract, but an unlimited power given to the agent of addressing requisitions for stores to the deputy post master at Liverpool, who supplied them. From a Return which we have obtained, it appears that the value of stores now in charge at Holyhead -amounts to upwards of 12,000/., and on inquiring_ of the agent whethe r the Post-office had not recomme n d e d that means should be taken for obtaining any part of the stores by contract this officer stated that lie had been at one time directed to make inquiries with a view to ascertain upon what terms coals could be supplied by contract, but that he found from the terms proposed to him, that it would not be advan tageous to procure them by contract. A reference to the agent's own evidence, however, wil l show that the only parties to whom he then applied on the subject were the persons who had previously furnished the coals for the packets, and who have continued to supply them ever since. All the stores, with the exception of coals and timber, are purchased by Mr. Banning, the postmaster at Liverpool, who is stated by the agent to be responsible for the clna lit Y and price of these stores—a responsibility which Mr. 13 °' ning disclaims. Mr. Banning, although he admits his own incompeten c y to judge of the quality or prices of stores, and claims ir re ' sponsibility in respect of them, has nevertheless, by direoti °Bl A of the General Post-office, purchased them for the Holybet: station, and occ as i ona lly f or th e pac k ets at Milf or d ; 131 : Post-office never having employed th e i r own pac k e t -age" . at Liverpool f or thi s p ur p ose . ' Mr. Banning receives no emolument for the service wh ich he has thus performed. The stores purchased at Liverpool are conveyed t° Holyhead in vessels belonging to the resident engineer. There are other vessels (equally seaworthy) trading r e " gularly between Holyhead and Liverpool, but the agen t did not employ them to convey Post-office stores, altliono the commanders had offered to carry them at a much love r rate of freight than was paid to the resident engineer. We cannot too strongly express our opinion of the propriety of such a practice in any public department. conceive that in all eases an officer of the G o vernme nt should be prohibited from having any interest in the suPP I Y or freight of stores. Some of the stores received from Liverpool are state d by the commanders and engineers to have been of very ferior quality ; particularly the oil and tallow supplied f or the engines, which were occasionally unfit to be used in tli e machinery, and offensive and disagreeable to the passenge rs. Certificates from one of th e t ra d esmen at Li ve rpool , who supplies these stores, have been transmitted t o us by the Post Office, with a view to show that they were no t of inferior quality ; but, on referring to the evidence of M r * 111‘Knight, it will be seen that these certificates do not or ply to the stores complained of, but to stores which ha ve been recently received at Holyhe a d. It is stated that the stores f or th e use o f th e packe t ,: ate generally issued to th e ma t es an d eng i neers , w ho ke e l, pass-books in which eve r y ar ti c l e th ey rece i ve i s entere' No receipts are given for such stores. Theses pass-books, on being compared with the chargcr in the store-keeper's day-book, did not at all corresP e c i many articles being charged by the s t ore -k ee p er as iss ue to the packets, which were not inserted in the pas s-books re • No account was taken of old s t ores re t urne d into s te r from any of the packets or colliers ; nor did it at all ag e° how they were disposed of. the The agent at Holyhead permitted the officers of a' ,. dock-yard to sell stores of every description to private viduals, or to purchase them f or th e i r own use . We uno`b, stand that this practice, which we c on sid er to be mesa ,des. jectionable, is strictly prohibited in his Majesty's naval P - tnr e The resident engineer was a l so p erm i t t e d t o manuf/ ek articles for his own private us e an d emo l umen t in the etite yard, to employ the workmen, and to take whatever t he rials he required from the Government stores, using iron which was entrusted to his own charge. idle r He was also allowed to take coal s f rom th e stores , e the for the purpose of working up hi s own ma terials i° dock-yard, or to dispose of to others. no ae' It is stated that he rep a id th e coa l s i n ki n d, but o ld count could be found of th e quan tity o f coa l s lie hat' or returned into store. ell There was no m us t er o f th e ar tifi cers or workmen wen coming into the dock-yard. " Th e accou nts of; th e employed were invari a bly p u t i n b y th e eng ineer or to keeper just as they pleased."• It appears that one man:who bad been absent inkSse°ot; land, was regularly entered in the engineer's be n . t he having been during that period daily employed In dock-yard. The whole of th e ar tifi cers an d l a b ou rers underubtiih: store-keeper, recei ve d th e i r wages f rom him at a 13 and house, kept by himself, in the town. The entline e ! .s smiths received th e ir wages f rom th e i r foremen at d iff e er f6eo other ale-houses, instead of being paid at the ag ent's t heir or in the dock-yard. These foremen who paid them d• wages, kept the account of the time they were emPl n Y t e oc ted The stores were left in a most unsafe and unPr e : t hete state. No watch was kept during the night, no r 5 .v8 ,4 any person belonging to the establishment who r esided the yard. w itlo ti l the timber was allowed to remain in an open f i eld, ber any brand or mark to distinguish it ; and the nornrdeill keys which different people had of the dock-yard aa"_"000 access to the stores at all times. Great facility Iv l or e& given for the commission of fraud and peculation•aci_bjece or might have been charged against the different R . I ' 4 de' colliers to almost any amount, without the possibilltY° eegi tection. And the permission granted to the resident ; te neer and storekeeper to dispose of stores to private store duals, afforded them the opportunity of selling th of rie ioe for their own advantage, without exciting immediate F of fraud on their part. i n s In the Report of the Commissioners of Ite i v r t ni stl; quiry in 1830, it is remarked that " the whole ° Holyhead, appears to have been hitherto con bserve d ' ir perintendence over all the parts of the estafibdliesdhretcolltthaies packet agent, to whom, as has been already 0 e intended to assign also the direction of the . 1 - 1 w s u Aerpo ons t. engine department ;' and besides these various Po s t upon his attention, lie is responsible for the Office duties, as lie holds likewise the situation m sanje 1: 0 t o e postmaster at Holyhead. The competency d t o 13,e• reasonably doubted." iod of tLig,,ets, dividual to discharge the whole of these duties may . The establishment, has been, since the Per i o f the pack' .15 port, greatly enlarged, and the whole c ontro the hnu .. ,, the dock-yard, and stores, permitted to remain_ii h i s 07 1 : of the agent ; who has, in addition to the dutiesrsat'ed alter station, directed and superintended the rePa i t o i t o h n e s r l s v t li a i t c i h on li s a . ve been made in the packets c retarv' s On examining the chief clerk in the Se ..ce res pos were informed that the agent was the I's P n e ar „ ei n en- an d co ol for the issue of stores, and the g ood tx head, M r " G° re- 4 " - ' gularity of the station ; but, at ..o y issue of s to o _ es . stated that he " is not responsible theforor price o f u s for for the receipt of stores—for the qualitytoreeeper account —for the labour account —for the s department' „. jr ad nor anything connected with the engine_dovard for the an. , is not a single book kept in the . j of which he could answer. at Holyhea d ' var In the course of the inquiry antics iD c ~- v = ??r, 6 • • g. • 65 • fp . : . 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Z--1.4. 000 Cn CC g kKi2l( 4rl ~~ J MIDDLESEX. ABSTRACT of the ACCOUNTS of SIR R. BAKER, Knt., TREASURER of the COUNTY of MIDDLESEX. FitOM THE 4TH OF APRIL, 1535, TO THE 2ND OF APRIL ; 1836. RECEIPT. Balance in hand on the 4th of "April, 1835 £1,309 4 Sl.l Received on account of County Rates Received of the Lords Commissioners of His Majesty's Treasury, under the sth and 6th Will. IV., cap. 80, called the Appropriation Act, viz.—One.half of the Expenses of Criminal Prosecutions at the Central Criminal Court, Clerkenwell, and Westminster Ses sions, from the 25th of June to the 30th of September, 18`15 • The whole Expenses for the Convey ance of Convicts to the Depots, from the Ist of July to the 30th of September, 1835 - 308 8 7 For Rent of Vaults under the Guildhall, Westminster For Copies of Register of County Electors For ditto ditto of Finsbury ditto For ditto ditto of Tower ditto For ditto ditto of Marylebone ditto For Maintenance and Clothing of Prisoners convicted at the Tower Sessions For Fees received by Inspectors of Weights and Mea sures, under the Act 5 and 6 Will. IV. c. 63 HOUSE OF CORRECTION.—For Maintenance of Pri soners under Sentence of Courts Martial, Deserters on Route, Sums taken from Prisoners by order of Ma gistrates, and applied towards their support in Pri son, and for Copies of Commitments by order c.f Vi siting Justices For Prisoners' earnings .1' or Maintenance of Deserters in the New Prison For Fines under various statutes For Sundries EXPENDITURE. 1,044 15 0 150 0 0 81 •2 0 58 12 6 vo 3 6 7 5 0 '77 2 0 90 12 G 202 16 6% 182 15 11% 3 U 6 107 12 6 8 6 6 £76,140 15 3% Bridges Clerks of the Peace and Criers 476 3 6 Coroners' Fees and Travelling Expenses . 1,433 16 7 Expenses incurred under the Reform Act-2 Will IV. cap. 45 314 1 8 Newgate—Removal of Transports £3,163 0 11 New Prison Clerkenwell House of Correction X 12,051, 3 5 3,752 7 0 Tontine Annuities for Build us ing Ditto 2,851 15 5i 14,905 Is 101 1 Westminster Bridewell 5,812 18 91 0 i Interest on Money borrowed on account of building Westminster 8ridew , 11....£8,085 2 5 Amount paid in part Dis charge of Principal .14,0(10 2 5 11: 7 King's Bench, Marshalsea, and Fleet Prisons ----41,21, 350 5 0 Law Expenses 467 7 6 Lunatic Asylum, Repairs of Lunatics (whose Settlement cannot be ascer- taMed- -- --- 1,504 1 11 Interest i on Money borrowed on account of County Pauper Lu natic Asylum £3,473 3 0 Amount paid in part Discharge of Principal 8,88814 4 .12,361 17 4 14,209 7 5 Militia Printing, Sundries, and Incidental Expenses Prosecutors &I Central Criminal Court SessionsXs,l27 5 4 Witnesses Middlesex Ditto at the Westminster Ditto lB4 3 10 5,1357 2 8 Session House Clerkenwell Sheriff of Middlesex, in lieu of Debtors' liberate Fees 2:35 18 0 Treasurer of the County 750 ii 0 Vagrants and Paupers Weights and Measures Act-4 & 5 Will. IV. cap. 49 1,403 19 6 Westminster Court House 476 11 21 X 70,792 5 61 Total Receipt £711,140 15 34 Ditto Expenditure 70,792 5 6% Balance in hand April 2, 1836 Z 5,348 9 8% Sr. :viARYLEBONE.--From the recent report of the fourth board of auditors for the year ending 1835, it ap pears that the total number of persons now in the workhouse and infirmary is 1,140; the casual out-door poor 1,589; the permanent out-door poor 376 ; the illegitimates 107 ; the luna tics 78 ; total average number relieved weekly, 3,290. The weekly balances of cash left in the hands of the vestry averages 27,0751. The present supposed value of the parochial pro perty is 40,800/. THE COUNTY TREASURER OF MIDDLESEX.— In consequence of Sir Robert Baker announcing his intention of retiring from the Treasurership of the county of Middlesex, which he has many years held, a Committee of Magistrates was appointed to inquire into the nature of the duties, and the emoluments attached to the office. The following gentlemen formed the Committee :—Sir Charles Forbes, Sir James Williams, Sir Peter Laurie, Colonel Clithero, and Messrs. Hall, Laurie, Rotel', Flower, Acklom, and Wilson. The Committee, after sitting for several days past, have just con cluded their labours, and the report prepared will be submitted at the next county meeting of the Magistracy. Saturday next will be the birth-day of the poet Moore, who on that will enter on his 59th year. THE LIFE OF THE FIRST EARL OF SHATES BURY. By Mr. B. Martin, and Dr. Kippis. Edited by G. Wingrove Cooke, Esq., Author of " Memoirs of Lord Bo lingbroke."—" There is not in all our English annals," oh. serves the Literary Gazette, " a more interesting period than the one in which Lord Shaftesbury was an actor. Our esti mate of him has always been of a high order; his talents were great, and the liberties of his country his first object. The concluding scenes of Lord Shaftesbury's eventful career have all the incident of a drama. We give Mr. Cooke the greatest credit for the care and industry with which he has arranged his materials. The whole work is a valuable acquisition to our English historical literature." g 7," X o7' Fr; t.= ,„ "fi2. S "ri 12)4' K o ra O 1 ea' 1 ;3.