The British Press; or, Morning Literary Advertiser.
London, England, 1819-08-05 00:00:00

A lOW frets Mr Willies Willi into certified thot Mr. Ul4l.
ay had sheen bees nest irestlemos-like is hie nositseve,
sod so as Officer, he (Sir W. Willinn) had bed towns to
admire his hoossimily. when he •no severely wnsfind us
Fuentes d' Hessen, bst wore nrecielly be bed )iod sem.
sin li.obsovve hie sea in the sunflower ("bleb ha revs
In the Wiley points acted with floe ophtlostois of oho
refiners.. The fullowisg letter was Sloes ►ead fun Coelnet
Gordon:—

" Birmingham. July 114, 1819. •
" Dana LINDSAY—I shall not inquire fur what 'wpm,*
you are anxious to have my opinion of year conduct whilit
you served is the bib Magma Gunir4t, and have only to
hope. that the pleasure 3 feel in giving it may be augmented
by hearing it ens render you any service.
" During the time you were a the 6th Drawee Guards
your conduct as an Officer and a Gentlemen met with the
highest approbation from every member of the corps.
"In your ritaatiow as &seven of the Regiment I feet per-
Reuter gratification he stating the very general appeohntime
your unremitting attention to its ditties always proctored
yon, and assure you. I have frequently heard my gallant
and much-lamented friend, Sir William Pontionby, speak
in terms of high commendation of your seal, hinnanity, and
emotion, particularly after the battle of Salamanca, on
which occasion he received the most gratifying accounts of
your exertions. I beg to add, that I perfectly recollect, after
the battle of Llerena. obese you had a good deal of employ.
wear, hearing Illsjor.Geu. Le Merchant (srlso commanded
oar Brigade) speak in the most marked and huk/owe man-
ger, in approbation of the unremitting attention sad feeling
you displayed towards the wounded on that occasion.
the approbation of Ihr late Lient..Colonel Prescott
(who commanded the regiment at the time) of your conduct,
both public and private, you tit/tallied to the fullest extent.
" Believe me, very sincerely yours,
" ARTHUR H. GORDON,
bent -Colonel Stb Draguou Guards.
ff To O. Lindsay, Esq. S S."
One dated Guernsey, from Major-General Bayley, contain-
ed the following expressions:—
" In making you this communication. I cannot omit add-
ing, that the professional knits ledge of this Officer has
proved of the greatest benefit since he has bees here, not
only to the Military of the Island, lint to all classes suffer.
ing limier complaint* of the rye, to whom he bas been most
humane and indefatigable in giving his assistance. I may
say, that many people one the preservatiou of their sight
entirely In him ^
When he had concluded, the following witnesses
were examined on his behalf :
Surgeon Devoe, by the accused.—State what you
know of the Iwo men, l'hilips and l'yke ?—A. In
the latter end of August, 1817, I received an order
from the Secretary at War to go to Chatham to
report on the cases of four men of the 64th regi-
ment that were then in htwpital there ; I did so,
and in consequence of my report they were taken
from that and brought to York Hospital and placed
under the care of Sir W. Adams. I believe in No-
-1 vember ; they continued under his care seven or eight
months, and these two men, Philips and Pyke,
were reported as fit to do the duty of soldiers, and
ordered to join their regiment. The other two were
discharged by the Chelsea Board on pensions.—
Philips and Pyke joined the depot of their regi-
ment ut the Isle of Wight. They were there found
to be unfit for service, were invalided, and sent to
Chatham to the military depot. Shortly lifter their
arrival at Chatham, in making the health inspec-
tions, I found these two melt, examined them, dis-
covered that they did uot require hospitul treatment,
and enrolled their names and state of their disease
in a book kept for that purpose, being a register.
I then reported to the head of my department at
Chatham the state in which these two men were,
pointing out, that I considered them as fit cases to
be eliewn to Isis Royal Highness the Commander-
in-Chief, as these men had been taken out of 41
military hospital, from the treatment of military
surgeons, and placed under the care of a civilian
at York Hospital. 1 drew up the report of
their cases in December, and I believe it was
transmitted to the Army Medical Board, and
on that statement Mr. Lindsay was directed to
draw the attention of the Commissioners of Chelsea
College, and of his Royal Highness the Comman-
der-in-Chief, to their cases. They were discharged
by the Chelsea Board in February, 1819. and got
pensions. Witness then proceeded to elate, that
the men did not require treatment the second time
they came to Chatham—they did not receive any
treatment whatever out of the Hospital, that he
was aware of ; at the time lie had decided the men
did not require treatment, had not received Mr.
Lindsay's letter. The construction he put on the
letter wits, that it was private one, from one friend
to another, written in a jocular manner. It appear-
ed that the reason for Mr. Lindsay's writing in that
way was, that the men might not be interfered
with, but allowed to go about like other invalids,
drink, smoke, or do what they pleased, that, on
their arrival, they might appear in the true colours
to the Commander-in-Chief. If he thought it
could have borne the construction put on it in the
charge. should have thought it to be the greatest
insult. Mr. Lindsay would not dare to address
him for such a purpose; would not allow him or
any man in society to do an; did not return an an-
swer through the War Office; or otherwise; did
not think it necessary; to the best of his recollec-
tion, did not write to Mr. Lindsay suttee on any
subject. Mr. Lindsay was perfectly sure the nten
would not require treatment when they were sent
to Chatham the second time ; he had seen them at
York Hospital, and in fact every thing that could
be done for them had been done by Sir W. Adams.
No particular precautions are observed, with respect
to invalids not received within the Hospitel ; they
receive subsistence, and are 'allowed to walk about
like the other pensioners. Vascular cornea merest
the blood-vessels shooting over the transparent part
of the eye. When men who have laboured long
under ophthalmia drink much their eyes become
red, particularly when they have had ulceration of
cornea, and the two men in question would
probably be affected with a reduces in the
eyes on committing any excesses. The epi-
thet proper, applied to vascular cornea, appear-
ed to hug to be only a vulgar cant expression;
the direction nut to prevent theist from getting
drunk was nut that they might get worse, but that
they might not appear better on coining to town
then they really were. Ile could have guarded
against their getting drunk by taking them into the
11'1,1Pitals as they were invalids ; understood Mr.
Lindsay's object to be, that the redness in their
eyes might be the more palpable to the Com-
maudersansChief, ind plainly *hew them to be wi-
th for service. The question being one of sonic
importance
•id medical officers, if the men had
ebstastied from drinking for a few clays. his
Royal Highness might have been deceived its
to the elite of their era, but sso professional
man could; had no control whitevei over the men
without taking Skein into the hospital ; did not cuts.
ihein to require hospital treatment, and Sir