The Sun.
London, England, 1839-06-28 00:00:00

feeling manner. He would not say that Sir John Stod-
dart had been undone, but he thought that Secretaries
of State and Commissioners ouidit to be very careful

before they made charges against any person. Tile
Attorney-General also was removed, by virtue of the
recommendation of the Commissioners. His office was
described as a sinecure—it was not wanted at all, and

ought never to have been created. Thus, by implica-
tion, he (Lord Ripon) was blamed for having created
the office. He denied that the office was a sinecure,

and he did that upon the authority of the Attorney-
General himself, who had never Leen examined on the

point. In August 18;37, his health having given way
to the climate, he asked for and obtained leave of ab-

sence, and came to England. In January 1838, he re-
ported himself as being able to return to his duties, but
his Noble Friend, then Secretary for the Colonies, de-
sired him to remain in England, because it was probable
that his office might be recommended to be abolished
by the Commissioners. He was thus detained against
his will ; which was too bad, because he was receiving
only half salary while he was absent from his duty. At
last permission was given him to return, and in April he
sailed from Portsmouth. It was a strange coincidence,
on the very same day the vessel sailed from Malta which
contained the recommendation for the abolition of his

office. Now, it was a gross injury to a man to be held
up to the world as one who, for a series of years, had
continued to hold a sinecure office, while at the same

time he could prove, not only by himself, but by every
respectable man in Malta, that it was not. He wished
to be allowed to explain under what circumstances he
made the appointment. He did so upon the earnest
solicitation of Sir Frederick Ponsonby, who said he
was constantly placed in most difficult and pain-
ful situations, from the want of an English law
adviser. Sir Frederick was a clear-minded, upright,
honest man, and would have made no such recommen-
dation had it not been ❑ecessary ; he said that without
such assistance he could not continue the administration
of the Government, as he had almost arbitrary power,

both civil and military, and bad been often obliged to
consult the Chief Justice. Now what an anomaly was
this—the Chief Justice advising upon matters that
might afterwards come before himself in Court. He de-
nied that the office of Attorney-General was a sinecure.
Had he wished to create an office for a friend, or one
whom he wished to serve, he might have made it a better
one—instead of appointing any friend or relation he ap-
plied to the Noble and Learned Lord opposite (Lord
Brougham) the Lord Chancellor, and after telling him the
whole case, said to him, " Select for me, and for God's
sake give me a good man." That was proof he never
conceived that the office was to be a sinecure—he never
saw the gentleman who received the appointment—
never knew him except from the high manner in which
he was spoken of as having performed his duties. Well,
upon arriving in Malta, the first thing he heard was an
intimation that his office was to be abolished ; he was

left there in a state of suspended animation for some
months, but in August be came home to learn his fate ;
it was not until the 17th October that he received a
note from his Learned Friend enclosing the warrant for
his execution—it was to take place on the 31st October,
and on that day he officially died. Now that was very
hard ; he had given up and lost all his legal connexions,
in this country—he had gone to great expense in the re-
moval of his family. Well, but he was to be liberally
dealt with according to the recommendation of the
Commissioners. He applied to the Treasury—his case
was considered, and " in consideration of the nature of
his office, and the sort of duties he had to perform,"
they awarded him 300/.
Lord MEL BOURNE.—A-year.

Earl RIPON—No ; 300/., as a whole ; if it was 800/.
a-year it would be well that the Lords of the Treasu y
should write English. The man who had abandon d
his profession here—who had lost his prospects—who
had served seven years without a notion that his office
would ever cease, was awarded the munificent sum of
300/. He then came to the third clause—that also
was his appointment. He knew that the Collectorship
of the Revenue was not an office of much labour, but
it required a man of good sound sense—a man of
honesty and principle, for there was a considerable
revenue to be collected, and therefore he made
the appointment. His office was abolished—
but he also was to have an ample superannuation, and
the Governor told him that he would use his influence
with the Government for that purpose. After his case
had been considered, he was awarded the sum of 230/.
as a whole for his " ample superannuation"—all of
which was expended in bringing him home. He made
application to his Noble Friend, but the month of De-
cember passed over—January the same—then came
the month of February, when his Noble Friend was
himself cashiered, and that also he believed without
being examined. No one having been appointed, he
(Earl R.) advised him (for he was a relation of his own
—he did not wish to conceal that) to write to the
Chancellor of the Exchequer imploring him to consider
his case, which was one of great hardship, if not cruelty.
He did not think a suitor could have expressed himself

in terms more simple and respectful. He was a gentle-
man by birth and education, the grandson of a person
distinguished in the literature of the country. He was
at an early age in the army, and had the honour cf being
aide-de-camp to the Illustrious Duke near him (Wel-
lington). Although his health compelled him to retire
for a time he returned to his duties at an early period,

and had an opportunity of distinguishing himself at the
siege of Bayonne. He fell into an error which was very
common—he married poor, and- soon had a family of
six children. In the course of these proceedings he sought
an interview with the Chancellor of the Exchequer, but
could not obtain it, and something occurred which pre-
vented
an answer to his letter, But the Treasury
thought his case so hard that they gave him 100/.
they admitted that the 250/. had been almost useless
to him, and they gave him as a superannuation 100/. ;
so that after five years' services he had the comfort of
en deavouring to live, or rather to starve, upon the in-
terest of 100/. It would have been before the removal
of this gentleman that the Secretary of State should
have secured something from the Treasury to relieve
him from the painful situation in which he was placed,
He (the Noble Earl) thought this case so hard
that he took the liberty of writing a letter to
the Noble Marquis, recapitulating the circumstances
of the case, inviting his attention to them, and
requesting him, on public grounds, to see
whether something more could not be done. He
found no fault with the Noble Marquis, and had no
doubt that he made a proper representation at the
Treasury ; but it was not successful. On the 9th
April, the Treasury wrote a letter as an answer, de-
clining to do any thing more, but adding that Mr.
Cumberland's removal from the office had been recom-
mended by the Commissioners of Inquiry, on the ex-
press ground of notorious and admitted inefficiency and
incompetency for the performance of the duties of it ;
and that the adoption of that recommendation by Lord
Glenelg, evinced his Lordship's assent to the
grounds on which it was submitted. The Trea-
sury founded their refusal to do justice to
Mr. Cumberland on that statement, which was
not the ground on which the Commissioners
recommended his removal, which was not the
ground on which his Noble Friend acquiesced in it, and
which there was no foundation for in fact. The terms
on which the abolition. of the office were recommended
were that the office of collector should be efficiently dis-
charged, and it appeared from his ignorance of the lan-
guage of the country that scarcely any European could
be competent to discharge it. That was no personal
charge, but it was a most absurd proposition. The Com-
missioners recommended that Mr. Cumberland should
be immedately superannuated ? How could they have
recommended that, if he had been removed because he
was:entirely incompetent? The very recommenda-
tion proved that they never intended to convey that
he was inefficient and incompetent.—(Hear, hear.)
With respect to the charge brought against him, he
had never been examined upon it. Neither had the
Governor, the Chief Secretary, nor the Auditor-Gene-
ral been examined, for if they had been they would have
said that he was a most efficient officer. There was not
the slightest ground for imputing to this gentleman any
thing connected with the discharge of his duties which
could at all justify his removal. But the worst of all
was, that he was condemned without being heard,
calumniated without reproof, and ruined without re-
dress.—( Hear, hear.) He hoped that in future the
Commissioners would take care to hear a charge before
they came to a determination, and that the Executive
Government of the country would not do injustice by
the adoption of such a Report. The Noble Earl con-
cluded by moving for certain papers connected with the
transaction to which he had referred.
Lord GLENELG said his Noble Friend had ani-
madverted on the conduct of the Colonial-office, the
Commissioners, and the Treasury. Entering as he did
into the feelings of his Noble Friend on some parts of
the subject, he was not surprised that he had expressed
himself with some degree of warmth. But be must
enter his protest against one part of the language of his
Noble Friend—he meant the assumption that, when an
office was abolished it was, ipso facto, a cashiering of the
officer, that was, fixing upon him a stigma and a reproach.
His Noble Friend had spoken of these officers as being
cashiered, and had taken it for granted that because
they no longer held office, they were condemned in the
eyes of the country. That was a principle totally un-
sound and untenable.—( Hear, hear.) 'There were two
questions which ought to beseparated in the considera-
ation of that subject ; one was the abolition of the office,
the other the compensation to be made to the person
who held the office. With respect to the compensation
he agreed with his Noble Friend, that where for public
purposes a person was deprived of an office, or where his
office was reduced,Sthe Government were bound upon
every principle of justice to be liberal in the recompence
to be made to him.—( Hear, hear.) NVith respect to Mr.
Cumberland, he (Lord G.) truly felt for his situation.
He had induced the Treasury to re-consider his claim,
and the last conclusion to which they had come had
been since he left office ; but he had no hesitation in ex-
pressing his regret that they had not been more liberal
in regard to Mr. Cumberland, and this was the senti-
ment which he had avowed when in office. But his
Noble Friend had proceeded to reproach him, because