The Express.
London, England, 1853-07-06 00:00:00

APPOINTMENTS.

THE COMNHITEE ON DOCKYARD

CASE OF LIEUTENANT ENGLEDUE.

Yesterday the committee, consisting of Lnrd Siy-
mnur, chairman. Lord Itotham, Sir B. Hall, Sir F. Daide,
and Mr. Becket., re-assembled fir further inquiry into the

circumstances connected with the restardion of Lieutenant

Engledue to laic former rani in the s Tries by the late
. . .

Board of Admiralty.

At the lut meeting of the committee the witnesses eat-
mined were Admiral Berkeley, M P„ one of the bilitiof
the Admiralty, and Captain Duncombe, M.P., owl Sir T.
Herbert. M.P.' two of the loins of the late Boar.' „tr Mims.
ralty : Admiral Berkeley deposed that Lieutenant Engledue
wu struck off the list in 1811, for refusing, when
eal'fd upon, to join his ship, and that he

Admiral Berkeley saw rep reason since th it period that
could induce the Admiralty to restore Lieut. Engledne
as the offence was a breach ut discipline, and any re instete-
Inept would form a brit precedent.
Yesterday the first witness called was Capt. Duncombe,
who stated that it was quite in the discretion of the super-
intending Lord ef the Admiralty, on his own responsibility
and without bringing the question helore the enteral beard,
to decide air:rinse the restoration of en efticer.
Capt. Milne, one of the Lordo of the AUinisolty was then
examine-1-1W stated that he bad been at the Board of
Admiralty since December, 1.47, nod deposed that i.uting
the who're ut that period whenever Lieut. king:ethic's me-
morial come before the board, his application for restoration
was always refused; and that the memorialist was referred
"to the former sibs's( ref the board." 'There were many
cases in the service where etticers had refused to serve,
especially in the medical depar molt, as they preferred en-
tering into private practice on Quire. They had even struck
oft M consequence, but he did not know do y had been
restored. Lieutenant Engledue was an e theer of energy
and ability, and looked up to in the service, noel he de-
clined to serve, and it was neves...ay her the interests c t the
navy to be strict in these mats: TS, %%here an e fther was
Irequired who was well skilled in gunnery, ae Lieutenant
Emelt:due was ; and if he refused, there was uo alternative
but to strike him off the list. . .. . _ . .

Lieut. Engledue, It N , was then called and examined.
He said he bad heard the opinion of the different naval
officers who had been examined before the committee on the
subject of hie (Lieut. Eugledue.e) letter to the Admiralty,
declining to joie the ship he was appointed to, and he now
had to say that if he had reflected upon it, he should not
have written that letter, and that he did not pretend to
defend it far a moment. Ile was wiling to admit that had
he been a lord of tee Admirel•y et the time. and any one
else had written the letter in question, he ehoule meat
decidedly have concurred in the conclusion that the writer
ought to have been struck ott the list. Since ilea letter
was written, and since the date of his memorial to the
Admiralty. h had verbelly expressed his regret at the in-
judicious haste with which that letter was written, tied
representing that he was quite prepared to make tiny
apologies to their lordships. Admiral Dundee, in particu-
lar, had been of opinion that the measures velum.' against
witness were harsh ones, and lint his support towards his
re-instatement, thinking it was hard he should suffer for the
rest of his lite, particularly as he had diAlnetuiehed him-
self by his services in the navy. lie could refer to
Imo written communication to the Admiralty, they v ere all
verbal. He had had a conversation with Sir W. Parker,
then first naval lord, before he was removed from the list,
and before he wrote the letter, and also with Sir John
Pechell, remonstrating on the injitetice el making him scree
as lieutenant, and on that reCintiOn Sir W. Parker said,
" Sir, if you don't serve I'll scratch you off." He subse-
quently represented his case to Sir W. Parker, and Sir H.
Pottingereon taking them out to Chloe in the Great Liver-
pool, and on that occaeiun he said, " Why, if you take me
off, don't you scratch every officer off the list who has com-
mitted himself, and disgraced himself, who is nut admitted
into private, end hardly tee) public. society ?" and he men-
tioned an instance to Sir W. Parker of the son of an old
friend, and said to him, " how can you reconcile it to
your conscience to remove me, an honourable Won.
and distinguished in his professier, from the list,
and retain on it another man who ha. .eseraeut
himself as a man, and whom the world, which
knows no better, still looks en as an bonen, able
man 1" In proof of the estimation in which his services were
; held he might mention that Sir Charles Napier wish«l him
to join the Portuguese fleet, whip: he (Lieut. F.eglectue)
was on board the Excellent, hut he declined, saying that if
his country called on him to serve there he would.
Lieutenant Engledue then went on to cute that
he offered himself to the Admiralty to instruct in the
new system of gunnery and also in the steam.. ngine.
Feeling, however, that his services were overlooked or hese-
! lected, he determined not to serve again, finding that many
'seen of his pupils he hod instructed in the Excellent were
promoted over hint ; and in 1810 he joint d the r•lnitliCrcial
marine of the Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation
I Company. He had been superintendent of that company's
packets since 1811, and was the first officer wile arraugeil
their coaling Stations, and the route of their attain commu-
nication between England and Calcutta.
By the Chairman—Witness wit not aware that the Pen-
insular and Oriental Steam Navigation Conti...lle—as
stated by Mr. Henderson, one of their directors, at the last
meeting—had passtd any resolution stating that no hi Ile-
ence of theirs should be used either one way or the otht r at
elections far the hormigh of Southampton. As an English-
man, however, residing there, he thought he had a et r'ect
right to take what part he pleased in politics; mid he
did take en active part on the occasion of Sir
Alexander Cockburnhs re-eke:bun, on his In ing made
Attorney General, when he, Lieutenant Engledue, and
others, thinking Southampton should have a candidate of
a more commercial character than Sir A. Cockburn, took
the chit at a puhlic meeting, and invited Captain St 'pitied,
of the East India-house, to stand. Te is had i tiled the
animosity of Sir A. Cockburn against him (Lieut. nant
Engledue),and had occasioned the present inquiry. Mr. Staf-
ford, Secretary to the Admiralty,came down to South .mpton
in 1842, and was introduced to witness by Capt. Austen.
captain of the packets, and witness went over the comeauy's
vessels, and out on a trial trip with the Secretary, t it no-
thing took place beyond a conversation as to arming the
merchant ship., and the machinery, sad nothing IV..atecer
was said to the Secretary of the Admiralty about witness's
reinstatement, nor did the sending in of the memorial te be
restored arise Out of this. Witness, in his memorial, pro-
posed to make himself useful in the equipment of ships and
raising of men at Southampton, it he were restored, but Lot
I to go into the service again, unless on a matter of emergency,
as he held a much better appointment in the
l'eninsular and Oriental Company's service than any in the
royal navy. Witness had at this time commenced tt aching
the contract crews of the Peninsular and Oriental in the
practice of gunnery, and had mounted a gun at his own .
pense, but the Admiralty grumbled about paying 2el.
1 towards the practice, anti the whole affair was Riven up.
It would depend ou the emergency of the cue set ether, if
called twee, he (Lieut. Engledue) would be ready to serve
in the navy even if restored, and i.. would also depend on
the appoimment that was offered him. Witness aid not
take any part at the last election for Southampton, and had
no vote. If called on to serve when restored, and bolding
an appointment under the Peninsular and Oriental, it
would be a matter of consideration whether be would serve
again and go nliaat. Ile thought that his services in carry-
ing out the steam route to Calcutta led him to deserve
well of the government as did Lieut. Waghorn, and called
for his re-instatement.
By Sir B. Hall—Took no part on behalf of Mr. B. Cecil-
rane's election.
Mr. Jesse, head of the appointment department of the
Admiralty. confirmed, by reference to the records, the feet
of Sir J. linuglas refusing to serve on the Talaveru, and
being struck off, but re notated in 1841, his removal datiug
in 1835. During the interval he had been very usetul in
China. Lieutenant Sarsfleld was attune off for taking a
situation as mate on heard;a post-office packet, the Admi-
ralty thinking It derogatory to the navy, although it woo in
the service of the government. He was struck off in 1627,
and restored in 1831, but witness did not know whether his
arrears were paid aim. lie could not Sod the cases of Cap-
tains Hewlett and Laweer. The case of Master Mapleton
was that of taking the command of a merchant ship without
permission, but he was restored the next year.
The committee then adjourned to consider their report.

A LODGINO-HOUSE IN MISLBOURNE.—It Ras by
no means one of the lowest lodging-horse, as 1 afterwards
learnt, but it was bad enough for the worst ; excepting only
that our throats were not in danger of being cut, it was
only short of that. It was shocking. The bedroom we
were shown into was filthy, very small, and with a very
little window which had not been opened to admit INA
ad. for a week at least. The blankets were hideously ditty,
displaying ostentatiously large dark blotches of grease, aid
net-woike of dirty splashes, like foul mockeries of a map of
the moon. There ve -re two beds of this description ; the
room would not have held a third. In Ibis pl-ce we had
some tea, and bread and Latter, with fried meat—
such 'tuff Just as we were about to take possession
of our wrotched bed,. in walked a man, with his wife carry-
ing a child, follawed by the landlady, who announced them
as the oceupatta et the other bed ! I began a vigorous re-
monstrance, but was instantly stopped by the reminder that
we had begged to be taken in, and had agreed to anything :
and if we did not like it we might instantly depart. Our
heads fell on our breasts in sick submission. The night we
passed defies deacri,stion ; partly because so much of :t
is
unfit to relate. The man was drunk and offensive. the
woman an urseemly slave, and insolent. The child c: lid
all night. Besides this sleep was impossible for the lice,
bugs, mosquitoes, and a lively sort of bceile continua'ly
running over our 11412,1% and nett:A, and trying to get down
the hack. In the morning every part of every oi.o of
us was covered with large red swellicgs, or small rid
punctures. Sot one inch of us had been spared. Our
frees, as we looked at each other, were painful to behold
As for me, I coma scarcely lift my eyelids, so swollen with
hlight ; my tecond girl
bites upon bites. My wife, once lovely, and far from bad
looking even after all our harassing, was about the melt
unsightly woman I had ever ?yen; my eldest daughter,
;2
oeuprapoll..httie
boy,
moon.cair.
weNigasohnet aoyfesagusrldas at
liontidwoeuali own hands. My wife's nada hp
was a tomato. I cotal have erica like a child, with a
mixture of grief. rage, and self-reproach. She bore it ad-
mirably. I paid bur shillings each for our tea, four shil-
lings each for our bed—floor inclusive—and four stifling's
,ach for our breakfast ; at which there was plen•y of
fried beef steal., but so tough that we could not eat a mer-
sa.—Dickens's Household Words."
IMPROVEMENTS IN IRELAND.—It is shown by a
return just printed, that from 1847 to March, 18.52, leans
, to 38,0441. 7s. 11d. have been made for public works in
Ireland.

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