The National Register.
London, England, 1809-04-02 00:00:00

THE NATIONAL REGISTER.

APRIL L

E I ST- I It' 1.1 110 USE.

A Quarterly General Court of the Proprietors was held
on Wednesda.

The Chairman acquainted the Court that he had received
the Report of the Committee appointed by the House of
Commons to investigate the abuses of patronage iu the ap-
pointments of writers, cadets, &e. for India, which, by
permission of the Court, watt then read, It contained a
full detail of all those appointments which, is the course
of the Inquiry of the Committee, appeared to have been
obtained throdgh undue inffnence, or through some pecu-
niary induceMent, an acquitted, hi. the most unequivocal
manner, the Directors of having had 'any knowledge of, or
participation in those abuses.
Mr. JAciisoN trusted, after the Report which had been
just read, which filled him with horror at the moral de-
pravity exhibited throughout the Whole of it, and which
was so perfectly new to him, that the Court would pause
and take some step likely to stop the Course of. abuses so
enormous. if some strong and prompt measure was pot
quickly adopted, no man could be surprised when the re.
newal of the Charter of the Company should • be applied
for, that that renewal should be refused, and the Coni-
pany be completely annihilated. It was impossible for the
Company to bow under such a report, without the dan-
ger of utter extinction. Had the propositions submitted
to the Court in the year 1800, for the suppression of pa-
tronage, but which had been over-ruled by a majority of
140, obtained, he could not say by the fairest means, been
agreed to, it cause for this report could not now exist, and
abuses so foul would have been stopped in limine. He firmly
hoped that the Directors would not now falter in their
course, but would reader every aid in their power towards
furthering the inqUiry iow goinc, forward ; and if any do-
cument, likely to throw new light on the matter in ques-
tion, yet remained in their possession, that they would
produce it to the House of Commons without delay.
The Chairman proposed the followinc, Resolutions :
" that, on account of the increase orbusiness, a Military
Secretary shall be appointed,' with a salary of 1090/. per an-
nuni, - • _ _

" That two Assistant Secretaries shall be appointed for
Indian correspondence, with a salary of 6001. per annum each.
And, " That a Seminary shall be formed for the education of
Cadets for the Company's service, independent of the Royal Aca.
demy at Woolwich." _ _

Thum Itcsolutions were agreed to, remaining subject, how-
ever, to the future consideration of the Court.
REPORT

OF THE SELECT CO NQIITT EE OF TUE C93IIIIONS A PrOIIIIT.•
ED TO INQUIRE INTO THE ABUSE OF EAST INDIA PA,

TROWAGE.

This Report contains a voluminous detail, of which we con-
ceive that a brief abstract will be sufficient for the general
Reader. A number of abuses have been brought to light ; but
it is satisfactory to know that there appears no proof whatever
either of corruption or connivance on the part of any one of
the Directors, A remedy has been proposed by the Committee
as a check on the purchase of such appointments, namely, " That
a bond shall be given by the parent, guardian, or friend of every
person receiving a nomination, containing a penalty to be paid
on any future proof that a valuable consideration was given for
such appointment." This retrospective provision appears, how-
ever, to demand a strict inquiry, and a very serious discussion.
The following are some of the instances of abuse quoted by
the Committee, from which it appears, that the patronage of the
Directors was perverted to improper uses by inferior agents :

221

CADETSUIPS.
The sales of those nppointmems were extremely numeron4.
They were sold at from 150 to 300 guineas. The general agent
in this branch of the business was Mr. Anticslev Shee, who was
represented by Mr, Bankes, the Chairman of the Committee, as
having grossly prevaricated. A great number of other names
are mentioned, which it is not necessarsy to lay before the public.
as they merely neguciated an exchange from Bengal to Madrai,
and vice versa,

Here follows a detailed account of the measures employed by
the Company for the prevention of those► ;ambles, We shall not
enter into the history of precautions, which experience ltati
proved to be toetfectual.

ABUSES 01" PATRON:IOE !

The Tempter saw his time, the work he plied :
Stocks, anti subscriptions, pour on every side;
Till, all the demon makes his full descent
In one abundant shower of cent per cent,
Sinks deep within him, and poi,,esses whole,
Then dubs Director, and secures bis soul 1
I'o PE.

T 9 THE HONOUR ABLE THE CO%IPAIIK OF MERCHANTS

TRADING TO THE LAST INDIES.

GCNTLEMrN,

I liave carefully inspected the Report of the select Commit-
tee appointed by the United Commons to enqire into the disposal
of the Patronage of the Last-India Company. What do I there
find ? It strikes use, as it struck this Select Committee, that
" the human mind, 'fertile. in self-deception, accommodates itself
with wonderftil facility to overcoming scruples, or applies a
perverse ingenuity to .evading all restrictions, which stand in the
way of present interest,"
Gentlemen, this is a try ing crisis. We live in an age of in-
quisition, which, unless followed up by reformation, will termi-
nate in revolution. The princes of Leadenhall7street, as well
as greater princes than they, must submit to senatorial investi-
gation, and defer to the dictates of popular Opinion. Your
dynasty, Gentlemen, is not quite ancient'enoughlo sanctify its
abuses. Though you have subdued the great continent of Asia,
you must not expect to deceive the most enlightened people in
Europe. One thing rather gratifies me. lam Pleased to
ob-
serve, if such a discovery can at all please, that corruption
journies eastward as well as westward ; and that the good men
of Leaden4lall may finally shake hands With the great men of
St. James's. We, it seems, have all sinned, Let him whO is
without sin, therefore, cast the first stone, There is much dis-
tinction, civically speaking, between good men and true mei, ;
hut ought it not to be matter of regret, unquestionably and he-
minently, that good men are so seldom true men also ?
Where, however, is the particular enormity, it may he said,
of an East-India-Director, as in the case of George Woodfoul
Thelluson, even though a Member of the British Commons,
permitting his "first cousin," Woodford, to acquire nearly
10,000/. by East,lndia Appointments ! What if, to say the best
of it, his " patronage and confidence appear to have been most
grossly abused," do not these amicable accommodations conti-
nually take place ? Neither dead gentlemen, as in the cases of
Mr. Devaynes, and Sir Lionel Duel!, nor dead ladies, as Lady
Leigh and Lady Lumm, tell tales, or attempt to disclose the
secrets of the prison-house :--why then should living gem'snen,
or living ladies, be compellable to condemn themselves and in-
jure those whom their exertions were intended to benefit ? 0,
this impertinent 'modern system of inquiries !—O, these Smiths
and Wardles of onr age !
As for Mr. Etches, who seems to have got about 7,15/, partly
through niy Lord Castlereagh, by selling an East-India Ap..
pointinent or two ; when we learn all this was "on account of
' Servict performed for the Government," what loyal subject,
considering other rewards of the same.description, can obt;co