The British Press; or, Morning Literary Advertiser.
London, England, 1809-05-17 00:00:00

- - • • • • •
IY:AR OFFICE.-1

FROM PAP:TRA LAID REFORIE TIRE 110 List
RESPECTING U. LORIN AND Igli•
PERIM wtiormuitb.
•.• • Qificefor al:tilting the Public Amoylto,
• . Sinueo.et-place, Match i, tout.
Ttlr •
Loabs.—We duly received. Mr. liuskisatnes,
ettcr, dated' lyth ult. transmitting. by comoniud
of your 'Lordship,' for our consideration, aid report
thereon, the thclused useiuorhal of E. J. A. Wood-
ford, Esq. Lite Chief Inspector.generad of Foreign
Corps, desiring that he u.'2,itt trot Ile culled before
us for examination; and -i ;iii(ying your Lordships
•direetiOn that Mr. Wwiiiiord be nut cidled before
*us 'Aril our report 'boll be made to your LordshiF,s
• on his said memorial.
11.1,•e the honour to represent to your Lord-
ships. that having fully considered Mr. Wisidforti's
inemortal, and hope_ also reviited all the p.occetl-
i.l:44 of tin, 6001,1 ill%e to motley receited and
...ie.:J-11.NA on et ••1 foreign corps, VIP deem it
1,-,',!•4:17 wale detail, not only for
• of niali.l4:, tliuse proceedings fully intelii-
t;•ble to roar Lord.ioloi. but also ostli a view to rt.-
Olt insinuation'. prat. I,Looli conveyed in
I'Vottilford's'intinorial .1a1.1,,t this hoard, espreiaily
tln: real object of Mi. Woodford's memorial ail-
p;srs ti us not merely tpie tibmining of au exten,iun
of tile.: fur answeriog such ipiestinns au we may pro-
pose to him, but principally the avoiding., if he can,
rendering itt us? aerostat whatecer into this
oa'ce fur exassotation. . _ _

It appearing so long ago as in the Latter end of
the year UM, by the annual certificates transmit-
ted to us by the Paymaster General of the forces,
under directions contained in the Auditors us r. tlist
Irtweeu the gitth of December fjp.t, the 3ist
of December 1797, the sent of W 0,27,0.
had been issued to Mr. Lukin, as agent for throw,
corps, we required that officer, as we do in ni:a,r
cows et the him nature, to deliver Its account
thereof:into this office for examination cisey attslt-
sd, wetter with the vouchers in support eirreof.
In reply to onr requisition, Mr. Larkin wale]
to us, that having mimed dileetinii• iron' t.:e
Secretary at War to deliver his account- perinuic
into his office, he was in expectation the r
forthwith examined there, and ..f recevnag Ills Al -
jasty's Warrant for alloitin the wattle. C.
sidecars Air. Lukin's letter. tbt.. 13'.ard were rip., r:y
Of opinion, that Mr. Lukin on4lit, not withstaiii;iiig
any thing contained therein, to be conana;eroci as an
leisure-it aecountaist, and therefore pers.st:d in their
-inisitaun.

it ussviog efterwurds been ceitdltd, that a•fitr-
ther suns of 33i,5001. had heel, iwprested to Mr.
Lukil in 179 e, aid unotlwr taw of tbsterd.
13.1. Bd. in 179.5, this Board's r4cluvotton to
him to render so as.a.vu,,t of all money itopreeted
to him wa,, nu dh, 2,2 of July, 179i4, repeat-
ed. To which requisition he replied, in a let-
ter dated Stssb July 1799, that he haul :dread),
pased a part accounts at the War-olfme, in,
pursuance of.durections from the Secretary :It War,
and that he had o.ltaitted !Its Kijot)'s Warrant,
for the tatinz ; that hr had also received the instrue-
bons oldie Secretary at War to proceed without de-
lay, in making up and deliveriog into his office
the remainder of his accenting. ail inviter to
this letter the I.4‘iird of Auditors required Mr.
Lukin, 6y a letter dated est.! August* 1799, whets
he stould have Pained the King's -Sipa Manual
fur licsidAttne,: the whole of his eceoisit., to deliver
tbt Same into this office, in order that he might be
relieved an the uimal maarer, which he was told
could not be done untii the Sign Manual way so ie-
..; tenet.
It appeared afterwards by further certificates,
that in the years 1799 and ism), Mr. Lukin had
received the further Owns of 102,7861. 19%31. and
$4.5.4551. ss. 3d. on among/tor Foreign corps ; up-
on which the 'limal requisiriims of this Board for the
deliver" of an account, dilly vouched and attested,
were repeated, by letters to Mr. Lukin, dated
40th and !Hit) of February 1804. In answer to
these letter., Mr. Ltikia stated, that a'! Ins ac-
Counts had been examined at the War-rnrce, nir.l
His !Visit-Ay.* Warrants granted accordingly, which
Warman* were in the possession of the Payan:v.icr-
(knead, to whom he had •paid over the halaiiee
that remained in his hands at the settlement of his
accounts.

Ou taking into consideration the above reply of
Mr. Lakin, this liciard directed certified copies of
those warrants to be culled for; hut as the original
warrants were to be obtained at the Pey-otiice,
they were procured from thmee by our inslwctor-
General, and on our perusing them, the fillouing
resolution was made by the Board, vit. r That as
Mr. Lakin is returned io the certidcates Ivan the
Paymaster-General's Office us an imprest aCs.,72nt-
• ant. and as the Board, upon inspection of the King's
warrants under a hid% he. received the :une,ry. see
nothing therein to relieve hips
,/'roar render* on ac-
count in this (Vice, they actordinaly think lit to
require him to deliver an ort•onot into this C
duly attested, accompanied with the vlticjier.? io
suppliet thereof, •Ini or ifetuf; ItanidUy tl.e 7111
June 1804.

Toe warrants a;-I...Are‘l tb 1... clt 'IC
and „nen bo portant ilocume,its, art viny other
reaolation. beef) comma. teas dtei ive of sir. to=
kin's responohility to this orii,:e as n
conntant, it would, in our 0E1.81119n, i.3VI` scnoun'ed
to a complete der:.l:ction of our cle.y ; and in Proof
of the juatne.... or that opinion, ve hose further to
Laurin your I.or4bhips, th•J the tic..oit.it end
wrrhers were :ierir;•.!ingly d.•1.•;•,•,1 i,.tr thus olhee
11,1 the.3d dry of October when it ap-
peared by the Arcomquiltla owl, atit ilet.t. that he
was indebted in the '0 I 31 of l.!-, #;:,1. whirl&
we accordingly releared to voi:r I. r'laiuips, and
jwhich SIM Lae since lien ;tutu the ,e. pt of
Hi* Mat.sty's'Exelle%:ll.r.
Nothimi (seen: Ted which burr rn-.:rrinUy on Mr.
Lukin's accoonr, until the nth of N,lVe,nlier
except a pulMeatiou by Mr. Poole, 6:14" of the In-
apectora of Foreign Corns, (copies of r. arc in
thitOffice) when the Hoard received n letter from
the Secretary at War, t.,erl on that day, rcoutst-
ing to be informed, Whether, in the route of
the proceedings that will be had in this OlFe' mem
the said occourtts relative tn Forriwi dm se-
veral individuals who will be friend to have received
imprest's of Money from Mr. Jerkin upon account,
ktheir bills or otharpneei, wig be ticemed to Ix
t&aceousednets, sod toll, motel). he celled opeti

6y the Auditors, to slim that foe sums received by
thew respectively have been duly applied to the
public service."
lu• answer to the above letter, dated the 2lst
No►eiober, this Board requested to be informed by
the Secretary at War, " how far the establi.hed re-
gulutioas for examining accounts of His Majesty's
•retlular forces, were to be applied to the exatnitia-
Ilion of those of the foreign corps, and desired that
they might be put in possession of the copies of
appointment., and of all instructions at any time
given by the Secretary at War, to the Agent, In-
soector-Generid, loyeetors, or other persons, in
ru!atiou to the pay and allowances to the said corps;
or in rt.:4mA to the receipt of any public monies by
any of the sind persons, whether by impies.* faun
the Puyinaster-Genend of the forces, by the pro-
duce of bills of exchaoge, or by ally other way. or
memis histet er. and of the distribution of the
same."

On the 4th of January last, this'Board had un-
der their cousider4tion a letter from the Secretary at
War, dated the r.Bl of that month, which letter de-
manded very ',Articular attention, as it brought
Mr. E. J. A. Woodford, for the first time, under
the speiel consideration of the Board as a pisblic
accountant. 'fhet letter informed the Board, that
it 1)6,14... found upon a further inspectiou of the
accounts of Mr. Woodford" (though thatgentle-
man boldly states in his letter of the 18th Decem-
ber that the accounts in question never have been at
any time in his possession) that his charges for the
loos upon his bills, and especially upon those ne-
gociated through Mr. Devauz, hare been calcu-
late(' at supposed rates of exchange, instead of
being found, as they ought to hare been, upon the
actual produce of the same bills, as converted into
the denominations of money placed or taken to Mr.
Woodiord's credit, in account with regiments and
, ; and it being probable that the erro-
iiArties on this head, together with those for
11, may prom to be very considerable, lie
thinks it proper to suggest, that, if nut inconsistent
won the rule* of this office, the Aoditors.should
call 'spoil Mr. Woodford to render, without delay,
ft diA.,iiet account of the proper charges of the
above drecriptiou, in order that the balance thereof
which shall be found to bedne from him, may be
recut (-red to the Public."
_ _ _

T;) above information induced the Board to cause
a minute inspection to be made of Mr. Lakin's ac-
count with relation to Bills so drawn, whoa it was
found that credit had been taken be him for Bills
of Exiiumge, drawn by Mr. M'ooilford alone. to
the :minuet of 462,9141. 19s. Id. (exclusive of the
ruin w 45,C341. 15s. 9d. on account of salaries, &c.
in the Foreign Department of the War-Office, in-
cluding '• Monies issued on account of the reduced
c‘c!arrcv.'') for the expenditure of which no account
Of vouchers have been delivered, except the Bills of
Exchauge themselves. These Balls wilt indeed
operate as (heehawing to Mr. Lultiu. so far u he is
concerned ; but it became the duty of the Board,
tmiforinably to the constant practice in such cases,
to regard 31r. Woodford as a snb-acronsitant, and
accoolitigly they required him to produce an ac-
count of ad monies arising from such Bills of Ex-
change; a t account not rendered the less Recto.
sary by the direct charge which the Secretary at
War has brought against Mr. Woodford.
Mr. Woodfora havint *Waded complying with the
retpthilitons so made to Mot, by letters dated Jan.
18114 and Feb. Mb, the *inner of those lettere was
referred by the Board to the Secretary at War, for
the sole purpose of obtaining his opinion as to the
extrusion of time it tnight.he ream:misfile to allow
to Mr. Weodford for the debvery of hie accounts,
as well as to Mr. Gardiner, Inspector of Foreign
Corps, whose account this Board had also required
to he delivered at the same tinse with. Mr. Wood-
fortni. In reply to this reference. the Secretary at.
War metes " that he is at a less to understand how
Mr. Woodford's accounts should never hare been
hi his oars :.ossession, and suggests the propriety of
the parties, Mr. IVoindford and Mr. Gardiner, being
called upon fur 'further explanations, and that they
.:aotibl be desx,rl to state within what period their
accounts can he completed."
I.7lmas receiving the above letter from the War-
Office. this Board immediately required Mr.
Woodford and Mr. Gardiner to attend on a future
day. in order to be examined on otth under the
authority conferred on the Board by the Auditors
Act, in reiatino to their respective accounts; but
Woodford requesting that a week or ten days
more might be allowed him to prepare himself far
his meeting tile Beard, a week was, without hesi-
tation or difficulty, rented to Mr. Woodford ac-
eordio;;ly, n Inch. added to the six days notice be-
• fore given, amounted to a period of 13 days In the
Ante. Mr. Woodford's attendanee ort this Board
line, however. been suspended under thedirection of
your Lord.!iipsi signified in Mr. Hlnsktiallm's letter
above-mentioned ; and the Board have, therefore,
thought it expedient to postpone the examination
of Mr. Gardiner until Mr. Woodford shall appear
before them.

• 'lntioticing the contents of Mr. Won(lford's Me-
morial preseiced to your Lordships, it is °lsere-
nide that s eompact is by him aillewc., to have been
made by the Steretery at War with him on his ac-
ceptiog the ofti,,e of lospectnr-General of Foreign
Corps, that he teas sat to becoste a public accostatamt.
But nnthiu in confirmation of such swertion
ap-
pc4ts u, the iii.tertetions given to Mr. Woodford, a
ropy of whirr o e have received fmm the War
(Iffik:e ; on the contrary, there are many articles in
chore to..rocairms, particularly Articles 9, 17, 21,
25, and Tit. which bear a very different import.
The second Jiailgraph of the swum Memorial
con sins the I fol tieing uwertino. via. ' that all ex-
peosi:s and sc.:omits pato' gto his office. were
fully approved, and conlirme7l (as was stipulated
when Ire at repted that office) by the authority un-
der ishien he acted, as he hopes liereafte4 to make
more loll), appear toyear Lorcli4Aips."
It remains to be proved, mblaitbstanding this
awertion, that all accounts r•rtuiniug to Mr.
Worslfore.'s otNt r. bare been fo;ly approved and
confirmed. Certain it is, that we are not in pow
temon of any document to establish thnee farts,
whatever may yet remain in the War Office ; sod
*lieu we roos;der the very serious charge brought
against Mr. Woodford by the Secretary at War, in
his letter of the 2.i Jesus!, last, the probalidity
is,- that no such document exist* concerning tiee
prifit and loss on the stain of 9fit,9121. 19s. td.