The royal gazette — [Charleston] S.C., 1781-08-29 00:00:00, page 4

Account of New Books.
ft HISTORY of t^ Decline and Fall of the ROMAN
EMPIRE. By Edward Gibbon, Efa; Vols. 11. W 111.4t0.
MR. Gibbon, in the preface to his fird volume published in 1777,
divided the decline arid fall of the Roman Empire mto three
periods. The firfl of these periods begins at the age of Trajan and
the Antonines, and ends with the lubverhon of the Western Empire,
about the beginning of the sixth Century; the second period extends
from the reign of Juhinian to'the age of Charlemagne ; and the third
,compfifes the interval between the lad mentioned epoch and the
taking of Constantinople by thoTarks. The Subject hitherto treated
by this elegant Writer is the firft of those periods, which he has exe
cuted with such distinguished ability a jullly intitles him to the firft
rank among the historians of the present qge. Asa Specimen of Mr.
Gibbon's flyle in these two volumes, we shall here give at length the
charader of Constantine, as it is excellently drawn by this celebrated
historian.
" THE character of the Prince who removed the feat of empire,
and introduced such important changes into the civil and religions
constitution of his country, has fixed the attention, and divided the
opinions, of mankind. By the grareful zeal of the Christians, the
deliverer of the church has been decorated with every attribute of a
hero, and even of a faint; while the diicontent of the vanquished
party has compared Conftahtine to the mold abhorred of thole tyrants,
who, by their vice and weakness, difhonoured the imperial purple.
The fame paflibns have in some degree been perpth uated to succeeding
generations, and the character of Constantine i§ considered, even in
the present age, as an objc& either of satire or of panegyric. By the
impartial union of those defers which are confeffed by his warmed
Admirers, and cf those virtues which are acknowledged by his most
implacable enemies, we might hope to delineate a jnll portrait of that
extraordinary man, which the truth and candour of hillory fhonld
adopt without a blush. But it would soon appear, that the vain at
tempt to blend such difeordant Colours, and to reconcile such incon
fluent qualities, m.uft produce a figure monftroqs rather than human,
tinlefs it is viewed in its proper and diftind lights, b, a careful fepa
tation of the different periods of the reign of Coriflantine. # ,
The person, as well as the mind of Conflantirie, had been enriched
by Nature with her choices endowments. His stature was lofty, his
countenance majedic, his deportment graceful; his firength and adti
?ity were displayed in every manly exercise, and from hi earliest
south, to a very advanced' season of life, he preserved the vigour of
his constitution by a drift adherence to the domeflic virtues of chastity
and temperance. He delighted in the social intercourse of familiar
conversation; and though he might lometimes indulge his difyofition
to raillery with less reserve than was required by the Severe dignity
of his Ration, the courtesy and liberality of his manners gained the
hearts of all who approached him, The Sincerity of his friendship
has been funded ; yCt he shewed, on Tome occasions, that he was
not incapable of a warm and lading attachment. The disadvantage
cf an illiterate education, had not prevented him from forming a just
estimate of the value of learning; and the arts and sciences derived
some encouragement from the munificent protection of Constantine.
In the dispatch of business, his diligence was indefatigable ; and the
active powers of his min'd were almof t continually exercised in read
ing, writing, or meditating, in giving audience to ambassadors, and
in examining the complaints of his Subjects. Even those who cen
sured the propriety of his measures were compelled to acknowledge,
that he possessed magnanimity to conceive, and patience to execute,
the most arduous designs, without being checked either by the pre
judices of education, or by the clamours of the multitude. In the
field, he infufed his own intrepid spirit into the troops, whom he
conducted with the talents of a cotiftimmate general; and to his abi
lities, rather than to his fortune, we may ascribe the signal victories
which he obtained over the foreign and d< medic foes.of the republic.
He loved glory, as the reward, perhaps as the motive of his labours.
The bdundlefs ambition, which, from the moment of his accepting
the purple at York, appears as the ruling passion of his foul, may be
juftified by the dangers of his own situation, by the character of his
rivals, by the confeioufnefs of Superior merit, and by the profpe&
tht his success would enable him to restore peace and order to the
diffracted empire. In his civil wars against Maxentius and Licinius,
he had n ;aged on his tide the inclinations of the people, who com
pared the unjdiffembled vices of those tyrants, with the spirit of wis
dom and justice which seemed to direct the general tenor of the ad
ministration of Constantine.
Had Constantine fallen on the banks of the Tyber, or even in the
plains of Hadrianople, such is the character which, with a few ex
ceptions, he might have transmitted to pofteritv. But the conclusion
of his reign (according to the moderate and indeed tender sentence of
a writer of the fame age) degraded him from the ranlc which he had
acquired among the most deferring of the Roman Princes. In the
life of Augustus, we behold the tyrant of the public converted, al
mod by imperceptible degrees, into the father of his country and of
human kind. In that of Constantine, we may contemplate a hero,
who had so long inspired his Subjects with love, and his enemies with
terror, degenerating into a cruel and dissolute Monarch, corrupted
by his fortune, or railed by conquest above the necessity of dissimula
tion. The general peace which he maintained, during the last four
teen years of his reign, was a period of apparent splendor, rather than
cf real prosperity ; and the old age of Constantine was disgraced by
the opposite, yet reconcileable vices of rapaciousness and prodigality.
The accumulated treasures found in the palaces of Maxentius and
Licinius, were lavishly confirmed : The various innovations intro
duced by the conqueror, were attended with an encreafing expence :
The cast cf his buildings, his court, and his feftivals, required an
immediate and plentiful supply; and the oppression of the people,
was the only fund which could support the magnificence of the So
vereign. His unworthy favourites, enriched by the boundless libe
rality of their maftef, usurped with impunity the privilege of rapine
and corruption. A Secret, but universal decay, was felt in every
Fare of the public administration ; and the Emperor himfelf, though
he Rill retained the obedience, gradually loft the esteem of his fub
ie&s. The dress and manners, which, towards the decline of life,
is chose to affe&, served only to degrade him in the eyes of man
kind, The Asiatic pomp, which had been adopted by the pride of
Diocletian, affirmed ah air of foftnefs and effeminacy in the person
of Constantine. He is represented with falfe hair of various colours,
laboriously arranged by the flplful artiffs of the times; a diadem of
3 new and more expensive faction; a profufion of gems and pearls,
of collars and bracelets, and a variegated flowing robe of silk, mod
curiously embroidered with flowers es gold. In such apparel, fiercely
to be excused by the youth and folly of Elagabalus, we are at a loss
to difeover the vrifdom of an aged monarch, and the simplicity of a
Roman veteran. A mind thus relaxed by prosperity and indulgence,
was incapable of fifing to that magnanimity which disdains fufpiciQn,
and dares to forgive. The deaths of Maximian and Licinius may
perhaps be jollified by the maxims of policy, as they are taught in
the Schools of tyrants; but an impartial narrative of the executions,
° r rather murders, which sullied the declining age of Constantine,
will mugged to our moll caridid thoughts, the idea of a Prince, who
could Sacrifice, without reluctance, the laws of justice, and the feel
ings of nature, to the dictates either of his passions or of his interest."
The FOURTH REPORT of the Commissioners appointed to exa~
mine, take and fate the Public Accounts of the Kingdom.
PROCEEDING in our inquiries into balances in the hands of those
accountants who appear upon the certificate of accounts depend
ing in the office of the Auditor of the Impreft, we find therein, next
to the Treafurets of the Navy, the names of several persons whole
accounts have not been prosecuted for upwards of Seventy years.
We could have no expectation of preifitihg by a pursuit of claims ari
fmg at so tempte a period; and therefore passing on to the next.clafs,
namely, the Paymatters of the Forces, we fee landing firft in that
class, the name of Henry Earl of Lincoln; whose final account of the
forces for fix months, to the 24th of June 17x0, is therein described
" to have been delivered into Auditor Aifrabic's office, but, being
very imperfect, to have been long since withdrawn, and not return
ed." We issued our precepts to his Grace the Duke of Newcriftle
for an account of the public money in his hands, custody or powe;
is representative cf Henry Earl of Lincoln, late Paymailer General
of the'Forces. The Duke of Newcastle, in a letter dated the 24th
of August last, informs us, that “ he never had in his hands, custody
or power, any of the public money which was possessed by his late
father as Paymaster of the Forces, nor any of his accounts or vouchers
relative thereto; nor could he inform us what balance, if any. was
due from him on that account; that his l*te father died integrate,
leaving him, and several other children, then infants; and that Lucy
Conntefs of Lincoln, Ids widow, administered to him, and possessed
what effects he left, which the applied towards difeharge of his
debts;" and in a subsequent letter, dated the 23d of November last,
the Duke informed us, that he took admiriiflration de boniemon to his
late father, in May 1748. In consequence of these letters from the
Duke of Newcaftie, we proceeded, no further in this enquiry.
Having issued our precepts to John Powell, Esq; the only a&ing
executor of Henry Lord Holland ; to Lady Greenwich,' adminhbatr x
to the Right Hou. Charles Toivnftiend, late Paymafler of the For
ces, to Lord North, and to the Right Hon. Thomas Townshend,
late Paymailers of the Forces, each jointly with George Cooke, Elq;
deceaied, for an account of the public money in their refpedtive
hands, custody, or power; we received returns thereto, which we
have set forth in the Appendix, with their several dates and hums;
the total of which amounts to 377,7881. ss. yd.
Having thus obtained a knowledg of the balances, our next step
was to examine whether they were liable to any such fervice^ or
fubjed to any such payments, in the hands of these accountants, as
rendered it necessary to permit them, or any part of them, to re
main longer in their poffefiiom For this purpose we examined John
Powell, Esq; the Cashier, and Charles Bembridge, Esq; thd Account
ant to the Paymaster General of the Forces; by whom we are in
formed, that the money in the hands of the Paymallers General of
the Forces, after they are out of office, continues as long as their ac
counts are kept open, liable to the payment of any claims of the Staff
or Hospital officers, or of any warrants for contingencies anchextra
ordinaries, which were voted during the time they were refpe&ively
in office, and have not been claimed; after the final accounts arc
closed, such claimants must apply for payment, either to the Treasu
ry or the War Office, according to the nature of the claim. These
films remaining in their hands, are likewise fubje& to the payment
of fees of divers natures, and of fees for palling their accounts and
obtaining their quietus, together with the payment of a gratuity to
the officers and clerks of the Pay Office; who, at the fame time they ,
tranfa& the business of the Paymaster in office, carry on also, make
up, and finally close, the accounts of the Paymasters after they are
out of Office ; but, having no salary or reward v hatever for this ex
tra buiinefs, it has been customary for them, when the final account
is ready to be passed, to prelent a Memorial to the Lords of the
Treasury, praying them to procure the King's warrant to the Audi
tors of the Impreft, to allow them a certain sum for their trouble,
payable out of the balance remaining in the hands of that Pay
master.
The films now in the hands of these late Paymasters of the Forces,
or of the Representatives of those who are dead, are still liable to
claims that may be made upon them under various heads of services,
and fubjeeft likewise to the payment cf fandry fees, and of the custo
mary gratuities; but neither these claims, fees, or gratuities, do, in
in our opinion, furnifla any objection to the payment of these balan
ces into the Exchequer.
Lord Holland tefigned this office in 1765 ; Mr. Charles Townf
hend in 1766; Lord North and Mr. Cooke in 1767; Mr Cooke and
Mr. Thomas Townlhend in 1768; since which, fufficient time has
elapsed for all the claimants upon these Paymasters to have made
their applications for payment. The Public are not to be kept out of
possession of large funis of their own money, nor public accounts to
be kept open, because persons may have for so long a time neglect
ed their own business: Not that these claimants are without remedy
after these accounts are closed; by applying cither to the Treasury,
or to the War Office, as the case may require, their demands may
be enquired into and fatisfied, by proper warrants upon the Pay
master in office.
The fees and gratuities become payable when the final accounts
are ready to be passed in tbe office of the Auditor of the Impreft;
how long it will be before the final accounts of these late Paymasters
will be in that situation, it is not cafy to ascertain. John Lloyd, Esq;
Deputy Auditor of the Impreft to Lord Sondes, informed us, that
the final account of Lord Holland was delivered into that office in
in January 1772; the final account of Mr. Charles Townffiend in
July 1^77; the final account of Lord North and Mr. Cooke in Octo
ber, 1779. John Bray, Esq; Deputy Auditor to William Aiflabie,
Esq; informed us, that the final and and only account of Mr. Cooke
and Mr. Thomas Townfhend was delivered into that office in No
vember 1779. From an objection hereinafter mentioned, made by
the a&ing executor of Lord Holland, to the final closing of that
account, and from the representation given to us by these officers,
of the situation in which the other accounts now are in the Impreft
Office, none of them appear to be in so advanced and perfect a fate
as to give us reason to exped their speedy completion; and therefore
we do not think the payment of these balances into the Exchequer
ought to be delayed until the accounts are fettled, Specially as we fee
no reason why the Paymaster in office may not be authorized to pay,
out of the public money in his hands, all the fees and gratuities,
whenever they become payable.
Seeing, therefore, no objection to arise, from the services or pur
poses to which these balances arc still applicable, to the payment of
them into the Exchequer, we adverted to such reasons as might be
suggested to us by the accountants themselves, or by those who have
an interest or trust in the funds out of which these balances mutt be
paid. To this end we examined the Hon. Charles J Fox, Esq; and
John Powell, Esq; executors of the late Lord Holland; Lady Green
wich, Administratrix to Mr. Charles Townihend; Lord North, Mr.
Thomas Townfhend, Co onel George John Cooke, and Mr. Charles
Molloy, devifees of the estates of Mr. George Cooke, late Paymas
ter General of the Forces.
Mr. Fox and Mr. Powell ebjed to the payment into the Exchequer
of so much of the sum of 256,4561. Bs. 2d. (being the balance in
the hands of Mr. Powell, as executor of the late Lord Holland) as
may be affected by the decision of certain suits depending in the
court of Chancery. The sum that may be fc affe&ed, according to
Mr. Powell's account, amounts to 73,149!. 10s. yd.
The Rate of the proceedings in these suits is set forth in Mr. Pow
ell's information, to be as follows: The accounts of Mr. Robert
Paris Taylor, one of the Deputy Paymasters to Lord Holland, in
Germany, during the late war, were examined in the office of the
Auditors of the Impreft, where he is surcharged with the sum of
1,0521. 13s. io|d. which surcharge he controverts. In the begin
ning of last year the executors of Lord Holland commenced two°ac
tions in the court of King's Bench against Mr. Taylor, and the ex
ecutors and devifees of Peter Taylor, his father, who was his surety,
to recover the sum of 28,1851. 9s. s|d. being the balance supposed
to be due from him upon these accounts, in which sum the surcharge
is included. As the question in these causes appears to be, whether
Mr Taylor was indebted to the executors of Lord Holland in this
sum, or any part of it, the balance of public money in Mr. Powell's
hands might be encreafed, but could not be diminiffied, by the event
of these a&ions; ar,d therefore Mr. Powell does not insist upon retain
ing any part of this balance to secure him against such event; but
Mr. Taylor, and the devifees of Peter Taylor, soon after filed two
bills in the court of Chancery against the executors of Lord Holland,
suggesting errors, and praying that these accounts may be taken in'
that court. These causes have not yet come to a hearing; but
the ground of Mr. Powell's claim to the detention of this sum of
7,149!. ,°s. yd. as colle&ed from his information, and the letter of
his Solicitor, appears to he this; that Ihould an account be decreed,
every item in Mr. Taylor's accounts will be open to litigation; and
Mr. Taylor having charged himfelf, before the Auditors of the Im
preft, with the sum of 786,357 guildres and 9 ftivres, which is
73J49!. les. yd. Gerling, as a profit to the Public arising cn money
tranfa&ions in his department as Deputy Paymaster, may suggest, in
the progress of these causes, that he has erroneously charged himfelf
with this sum; and therefore Mr. Powell claims to retain it in his
hands, to guard against the cbnfequences of a pofflble decision upon
this sum in Mr. Taylor's favour.
Subjects under litigation in a court of foftte fliould not be exami
ned elsewhere without an absolute necessity, and not even then but
with great caution. This point coming thus incidentally before us,
in the progress of an enquiry within our province, we may without
impropriety, venture to fay, that, in ohr opinion, the bare possibility
that Mr. 'I aylor may, in the Court of Chancery, object to, and
be difeharged of a sum he has charged himfelf with before the Au
ditors cl the Impreft, and which he was bound by his inftrudlions to
First, The injury sustained by the Public from not having the use
of the money remaing in the hands of the Paymasters of the Forces
after they quitted the office. We procured from the Pay-Office,
accounts of the balances and funis received and paid every year, by
each of these Paymasters, since they severally went out of office.
A computation of interest, at 4 per cent, per annum, upon these ba
lances every year, from fix months after they severally resigned the
office, proves that the loss by the money left in the hands of Lord
Holland amounts, at simple interest, to 248,3941. 13s. of Mr. Charles
lownfhcnd, to 24,2471. 3s. of Lord North and Mr. Cooke, to
'8,775!. 3s. of Mr. Cooke and Mr. Thomas Townfhend, to 3,419!.
15s. Total, 294,8361. 14s.
Such has been the loss sustained by the Public. Much does it be
hove them to guard against the possibility of the like evil for the
future. If there exiffs in Government no power to compel an ac
countant to disclose his balance, and to deliver back to the Public
what thier service does not require he fliould detain, it is time
such a power was created. If it does exist, the public good requires
it should be constantly exerted, within a rcafonable limited time after
an accountant has quitted his office.
Secondly. The other circumstance that claimed our attention is,
the delay in sassing the accounts of the Paymaster of the Forces.
7 he making up and passing these accounts is the concern of three
different parties: the Paymaster, whose accounts they are; the
Pay Office, where they are made up; and the Auditor's office, where
they are passed. The firft step mud be taken by the Pay office; there
the accounts muff be made up, and from thence sent with the vouch
ers to, the Auditor's office, before they can be examined. Near
46,090,6001. were issued to Lord Holland ; his final account was not
delivered into the Auditor's office until seven years after his resigna
tion. Above 2,000,000!, were issued to Mr. Charles Townfhend;
his final account was not delivered until eleven years after his re
signation. Near 2,000,000!. were issued to Lord North and Mr.
Cooke; their final account was not delivered until twelve years after
their resignation. 570,0001. were issued to Mr. Cooke' and Mr.
Thomas Townfhend; their only account was not delivered until
eleven years after their resignation.
In the office of the Auditors cf the Impreft, the custom of not
passing the accounts of a successor, until the predecessor's are comple
ted, ,is a cause of delay. A dispute with a deputy flops Lord Hol
land's accounts; but that can be no reason for delaying one moment
the accounts of his successors; they depend not upon, nor are con
nected with each other. It is regular to examine and pass accounts
in order of time; but in the case of the Paymaster's accounts con
venience, both public and private, will warrant a deviation from this
rule. Every accountant has a material interest that his accounts
should be passed with dispatch; the quiet of himfelf, his family and
fortune. It is not unreasonable to presume, that taking from an
accountant his balance may be a means of expediting the passing of
his accounts; whilfl he holds a large sum in his hands, he may be
less anxious to come to a final adjustment, less eager to procure a
quietus, the condition bf^which is the depriving himfelf of that ba
lance.
We are proceeding to examine the sum in the hands of the Pay
master General of the Forces in office; but finding, from the variety
and extent of his tranfadtions, it will require a considerable time be
fore we can obtain the knowledge necessary for forming a report,
we judged it most consonant to the spirit and intention of the a& that
regulates our conduct, to submit with all dispatch in our power, to
the wifdbm of the legislature, the consideration of a sum of public
money of such magnitude as that now remaining in the possession of
the Paymasters General of the Forces out of office.
GUY CARLETON, (L. S.)
T. ANGUISH, (L. S.)
A. PIGOTT, (L. S.)
RICH. NEAVE, (L. S.)
SAM. BEACHCROFT, (L. S.)
GEO. DRUMMOND, (L. S.)
Office o f Accounts, Belkard, 9^ Z.pril, 1,81.
Si OL'A or Gray'd on I hurlciay morning iait,
About the hour of fix or something past.
From Mr. Smith's in Tradd-ftreet, number eight,
A MARE, that has a very pleasant gait;
Her colour grey, she canters very well,
But of the brand I nothing now can tell;
My mem'ry tho' is not so very frail,
But I can recoiled a Ihort fivitch tail;
Her mane cut close, I think they call it rorch'd;
And thus, a fair description I have broach'd;
No faith, I'm wrong! I'd almost told a lie,
1 he mare is fix and fifty inches high.
Whoever brings her fafc to Accabte,
Shall then receive a very handsome fee.
3^^, r7Br.
Four Guineas Reward.
RUN away from the fubferiber, the following Negroes.:
"™ L> a likely flout fellow, yellowish complexion, of the Gam
bia or Guiney country, formerly the property of Mr. John Stanyarne;
he has been seen about the wharfs in town.—Tom, a flout fellow,
of the Guiney country, has the nick name among his acquaintance of
Guiney Torn.— Limus, a tall likely fellow, Carolina born.—Rachel,
a likely young wench, yellow complexion, has generally a smile on
her countenance; I have been informed that she now assumes the
name of Jenny. ONE GUINEA REWARD will be paid by Dr.
V ood or the fubferiber, for each of the N eve negroes that may be
delivered to the Keeper of the Sugar-Hoafe.t
foWnWjQ £^ Q WILLIAM SAMS.
charge '.dmfelf with, as a profit to the Public, and to which, L?
aught that appeals to us, he has nev-r yet obje&ed, but has, cn Q. •
contrary, in part applied to the i.fe of die Public, is not a fufficient
region for permitting the sum 0f73,T491. xes yd. to continue in the
hands of the executors of Lord Holland until two suits in Chancery
net yet heard, praying an account may be taken of the receipt of
913,4051. 6s. 2^d. and of the expenditure of 878,0081. 18s. i^d. during
upwards of four years of the lavs war in Germany, fbah Le finally
determined in that court.'
Lady Greenwich, Lord North, Mr. Thomas Townfhend, Colonel
Cooke and Mr. Molloy, do hot object to the payment into the Ex
chequer of their balances; nor do Mr. Fox and Mr. Powell, as to the
rehduc of Lord Holland's balance, upon severally receiving their
quietus, or a security equivalent thereto.
Where accounts mud be palled by the Auditors of the Impreft, the
payments into the Exchequer, made by the accountants, before tbe
final adjustment, are payments upon account only; but should these
accountants be directed to pay in their full balances, they will be.
entitled to, and ought in justice to receive, a security and indemnifi
cation against all claims and payments whatever, to which the ba
lances were in their hands fubjedl; the fund possessed by the Pay
matter in office being substituted in the place of these balances, to
answer such future claims and demands, the accountant himfelf will
stand liable only to the errors and omissions that may be difeovered
in the examination of his accounts, in the office appointed for auditing
them: Should there be errors, he may either pay the balance to, or
receive it from, tire Paymaster in office, according as it may be ’de
termined; tnen, and not before, he will be entitled to his quietus;
which being the formal official discharge of every public accountant'
cannot but be subsequent to the complete examination, and the pay
ment of the balance, if any, according to the final adjufiment of
his accounts.
Having, therefore, not heard, either from the accountants them
selves, or from those who may be interefled in our decisions, any rea
sons to alter our opinion, we conceivethat the balance cf public money
now remaining in the hands of John Powell, Esq; as the only a&ing
executor of Lord Holland, and in the hands of Lady Greenwich, as ad
ministratrix to Mr. Charles Townfhend, late Paymasters of the For
ces; and in the hands of Lord North, and of Mr. Thomas Townfhend,
tslate Paymasters of the Forces, each jointly with Mr. George Cooke,
deceased, ought to be paid into the Exchequer, for the public service;
and that such payments fliould be without prejudice, and a proper
security and indemnification be given to each of them against any loss
or detriment that may accrue to them in consequence cf such
payment.
During the cchrfe cf this enquiry, two circumstances engaged our
observation.