The British Press; or, Morning Literary Advertiser.
London, England, 1803-06-01 00:00:00

VICTVALUNG•OFFICE, 19TR MAT, 1809.
THE Cornmisiioneri for Virtuailing Hit Majesty's
Nary do hereby give Notice, That on Monday the 6th
q'Juae next, they will be re :dy to receive Tenders, in 1 rising
(sealed up) and treatfor,the supplying in separate Contrath, of
Sea Provisions, Rum, and Fresh Beef, to his Majesty's Ships and
Vasels at

LEITH, LEITH ROADS, and the FIRTH of EDIN-
BURGH, •
• HULL,
NEWCASTLE and TINMOUTH I fAVEic
LIVERPOOL, and
BRISTOL,
for Twe(ne Kotula certain, and
.further until Six Months earning
shall be given 'on either side for the termination of the said Contevls
The mode of Paynient to be by Bills', payable with Interest, Ninety
Days after Bate.
7%• may arcti at the Streeter?.
Ogre, at this qsce,er by app/yin; !ache Colldlors of kit Mains
ty's Customs et Leith,. Hull, Newest*, Liverpool sled Eloistei re.
votively.
And all Persons who may Valk ;writer to wake Tenders upon the
said aeration, are desired to. take Notice, The no regard will be had
to any Tender that shall not be delitersd to the Board befiot One
o'clock on the said Jfonday the 6th of June hest; nor talks; the
person whe ,nukes the Tender, or same pr-on on his befall; attends
to utterer for bi.in ir.lati called for : And that suck Tenders as con-
tain ertrorosaus Prices upon some drtieles, and Pri,rs much infe-
rior to the reel Fobs* upon others, tsiU not be considered at impro-
per to be admitted.

ESSRS. BOYDELL and NICOL beg leave
to acquaint the Subetribets to the great National
Edition of
SHAKSPEARE,

That the Eight 'enth and 1.1. t Number of that Work will be
published on SATURDAY next, the 4th instant.
They cannot, however, part with those high and respeEtable
characters who have supported them in this very arduous un-
denaking, during the very worst of rrivi ti, with mt givirig
them some small mark of the sense they have of that rialto.
tic.n. They have applied, therefore, to Mr. Soidton, of
Soho, a name dear to his country and tl-s arts, who, with a
liberality peculiar to his character, has kindly undertaken to
supeentital the execution of a MEDAL,I to be prorated to the
.Stibuyibers. Mr. Buniton has, in this line at art, given the
Public alreedEa very satisfact.nr proof of tospowers, in making
eeeralhicei Ili Farthings of drama Britain superior. its point
•orwtl I t the Gad Coin of all foreign nations.
• Tbey o lboname a each Snbsertber to the Sliak.
sporesheiltillibbiollllll on the Medal presented; and that this
roarisedoll4/4shwOoracy. they Minot the favour of every
'Subscribers° sit Ili , with his own hand, on sheets of
vellani •'♦ resented' to him for•that purpose—.
ThOre adds be bona in i TO:uose, to be
platted °glory.
Alleltif reside in or mot London, -06 en •
treated jo eh, hypeur to tall at the Gallery, foe this
purpnos. who Fella at a dirauce from the Capital are
netptetfetly vsteel, that sheets.of vellum will be forwartbril
to them for their signatures, is the Way they-shall point slat •
Pall Mall, April 14, 180;.4.

.M

EXTRACT FROM TILE FIRST REPORT
• or TIM
COMMISSIONERS OF NAVAL ENQUIRY,
Appcinted by 43 43, Gre.

NAVAL STOREKEEPERS AT JAMAICA.
" The Navy Board, in their letter to the Officers
of Jamaica Yard of the 14th September 1797, very
properly enquire, whether the accounts and papers
of the office had been delivered over to Mr. Dick ?
We lament that on the receipt of their answer of
20th December 1797, this enquiry was not followed
up, by ascertaining what papers were received by
him, and particularly whether the warrant of 4th
September 1795, respecting the taking up money,
was not amongst them : This would have cut off all
subterfuge, and saved much future discussion ;
though we do not think it essential in the considera-
tion of the condua which a public servant, with
such minute and particular instrudions before him,
ought to have pursued. Mr. Dick deposes, in his
very extraordinury evidence, that where the prac-
tice of office and the instruttions were at, variance,
he followed the former; and the reasons for his
having done so, are sufficiently obvious ; such con-
digt, however, cannot be too strongly reprobated.
" Notwithstanding the late striking instance of
neglect in Mr. Smith, the correspondence that took
place on the subject, and his consequent dismission,
yet from the time of Mr. Dick's appointment in
July 1796, to the 16th of September 1800, the cash
accounts continued to be transmitted from Jamaica
without any alteration in form, or credit being given
for the premium on Bills of Exchange) or any en
(miry as the part of the Navy Board, why it was not
done. . .
64 On the 18th of September 1800, a letter was
wtizten by the Nail' Board to Vice-Admiral Lord
Hugh Seymour, referring to hear-Admiral Parker's
letter in 1795. observing, that Mr. Dick had not

[PRICE SIXPENCE.

brought the premium on his Bills to, account, and
remarking, that though it had been the prattice of
Naval Storekeepers to stand to the risk in the fluc-
tuation of the premium and discount on their bills,
they thought that this had been done away by their
warrant of the 4th of September I 79.5. A warrant
to the same effet as theletter to Lord Hugh Sey-
mour, was written to Mr. Dick ; stating further,
that they will not at present determine on the ap-
propriation of the money he had received, but re-
quiring him to obey his instruCtions in future • and
charging him with not supplying the Post Office
with bills on the application of the Deputy Post-
cnahl *— - leis -

master General, to _Ule him to make remit-
tance.s, without being obliged to purchase private
bills at a risk a; well as loss by the exchange.
" From the ttme that this order was communicat-
ed by Lord Hugh Seymour to Mr. Dick, lie of ne-
cessity brought the premium to the public credit, in
his monthly cash accounts ; but he soon after re-
signed the office, and returned to England.
" In order to ascent tin, with as much precision as
the case would admit, to what extent the public had
sufired, diving the late war, by not Deceiving the
benefit of the exchange, we called upon George
flibbert", Thomas Hughan, Robert Millegan, Alex-
ander Henry, and John Willis, Esquires, merchants
Of eminence having conneetion with the island of
JaMaica, fully qualitied to give us information on
that sabjed, whose examinations, taken upon oath,
appear in the appendix; and sve also. requested of
the Board of Ordnance to furnish us with the rates
of premium brought to account during this period
by their officers atlarnaica,
44 It appears, from the account of bills, which has
been laid before us, from the Ist of January 1723,
to the 31st of December 1800, between which pe-
riod the premiums werenot carried to account, that
the Naval Storekeepers at Jamaica dresy von the
Navy Board for 536,2581. 2s. 6d. sterling; and,
from toe best evidence we have been able to obtain,
the premiums, during that time, upon a low average,
amounted to 101, per cent, and consequently the
public have lost the sum of 53,6251. 16s, 3d.
" The bills drawn by Mr. Dick, upon which he
did not account to Government for the premium,
:mounted to 364,0001. therefore, by the above ave-
rage of 101. per cent.. the. public have sUstained a
loss of :46,4001. thereon ; but; had we confined the
average to the rate of premium whilst he was in of-
fice, the loss might fairly have been calculated at a
greater sum. _ „.. .
44 From the instrualons given to I..ointnanders
in Chief, by the Admiralty, we :Ind 'lre-a part of
their duty to approve all hills dawn bY:Naral Stole-
keepers, if satisfied *Vile nlO.lleY hat. been pro-
cured at the best rate of exchange ; yet it appears
that Mr. James Dick gave to the Coriiniander. in
Chief, bills to the amount of 43;0001. iwithont charg-
ing him any premium, though at thin period the
rate of exchange was high,- Qa Mr,_DicJes being
questioned to this point, notWlthitandfirg be had in a
previous part "of his examination ;informed ns that he
considered the premium on his bibs as hii property,
yet, in reply, he said, that 6 he thought the Cep-
mender in Chief, when he wanted public bills to/re-
mit his prize money to Ergland, had as good a right
to them as he had.;' but as -Mr. Dick neither pbs-
sessed a right to take hi nwif or give up to any other
what belonged to Government, we see no reason Cur
deducing from the charge against him the premium
on these bills, which he °Sight to have received, and
brought to account and we observe, by-the evi.
dence of Rear Admiral Biitah, that Mr. Dick pur-
posed to give him bills without receiving, any pre.
mium, which he declined accepting, alledging at a
reason for his refusal, that if it belonged to Govern-
ment, he should have to pay it hereafter, and. if,it
Was the fair emolument of Mr. Dick, he had no right
•to deprive him of it. The Rear Admiral thinks that
• Mr. Dick did not say, whether it was his perquisite
or the property of Government, but that he had
written on the subjea and had received no answer.
Rear Adfniral Bhgh therefore insisted on paying,
• and did athially pay to him, fifteen per cent pre-
mium on 4,0001. ; which circumstances strongly
prove, that Mr. Dick did not at that time considsr,
as he has stated to us in his eiticnnee, the preiniurn
on his bills to be his property, or a fair perquisite
of his office.
44 In order to acquire every pots:ble intaination
relating to these transaaions, we thought it -proper
to call upon the Comptroller and other Members of
the Navy Board ; by some of whom it is stated, that
owing to the multiplicity of business, the subjea of
the premiums on Bills of Exchange drawn at ..11-• •
niaica hid been wholly lost sight of till September
1600, since which period the premiums had been
carried to account ; but it appears that no measures
were taken for the recovery of what had been-pre-
vieusly received by the Naval Store-keepers, until
it became a subjea of our enquiry. We new un-
derstand that a suit has been instituted against Mr.
Vick.
" We have hitherto confined our observations to
one part of the subject only, the abuses committed
in drawing of, Bills of Exchange for money taken
up for the use of the Naval Department at Jamai-
ca: The abuses in the expenditure of this money,
and the wilful neglects in not sending timely der
mends for stores, by which a necessity' for stseh
large disbursements was created, though atitiles _not
so easily deteCted, or precisely substantiated, are of
infinitely more consequence ; indeed, it is chiefly
from this source that the Occasion of drawing Bills,
and the consequent great profit by the exchange,
took its rise.
44 The irregularity of Mr. Rick in the transmis.
sion of his accounts of stores
,expended and remain-
ing, and of the demands for the probable exigencies
of the service, and also in the mode of making
purchases, appear in a very vnluniinous correspon-
dence between the Commanders in Chief on the
Jamaica station, the Navy Board, and Mr. Dick
(which we caused to be laid before us), as well as
from the examination of two of the Members, and
the Secretary of the Committee of Stores ; whose
evidence, with a letter from the Navy Board to Vice
kiLdmiral Lord Hugh Seymour, we have only

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