The Sun.
London, England, 1853-03-25 00:00:00

TIE WELLINGTON and UNITED
SERVICES BENEVOLENT INSTITUTION.
Fosmded October 21, 1852.
AtaIMIL/C afF.P.TING held at the Freemasons' Tavern, Great.
Queen-street, Lincoln's-inn-fields, as a NATIONAL TESTIMONIAL
Inthe late DUKE of WELLINGTON, for the RELIEF of VETE-
RAN SOLDIERS and SAILORS of her Majesty's and the Honour-
able East India Company's Service, and their WIDOWS and
ORPHANS.
COMMITTEE.
IloNos..Lav
The Right Honourable Lord ERSKINE, Slaugham Park.
Lieutenant-General the Most Noble the Marquis of Tweeddale. K.T.,
Lord Lieutenant of Haddingtonshire, and late Governor and Com-
mander-in-Chief; Madras, Yester House.
General the Most Noble the Marquis ofLondonderry, K.G , G.C.8.,
Lord Lieutenant of Durham, Holdernesse House.
Rear-Admiral the Right Honourable the Earl of Cadogan, K.M.T.,
Chesham-place.
Captain the Right Honourable Lord Alfred Spencer Churchill, Os
forashire Yeomanry Cavalry, and formerly of her Majesty's 83d
Regiment, Blenheim Park, Woodstock.
General the Right llonOurable Lord Viscount Lorton, Lord Lieute-
nant of Roscommon, Rockii.gham.
General the Right Honourable Lord Viscount Combermere, G.C.8..
Constable of the Tower of London, and Lord Lieutenant of the
Tower Hamlets, Combermere Abbey.
Colonel the Viscount Le Couter, Aide-de-Camp to her Majesty, and
High sheriff of Jersey, St. Heliers.
The Right Reverend A. Olivant, D.D., Lord Bishop of Llandaff,
Hardwick House.
Captain , the Right Honourable Lord Dunsany, R.N., Sherburne
Lodge.
The Honourable Edward If. Mainwaring Ellekr Onslow, late Lien-
tenant-General, Scots Fusilier Guards, Woodbridge House, Guild-
ford.
Sir Edmund Bacon. Bart., Deputy-Lieutenant of Norfolk, Premier
Baronet of England, Raveningham
Colonel Sir William Alexander Maxwell, Bart., Deputy-Lieutenant
of Lanarkshire, Calderwood
Major Sir Trevor Wheeler, Bart,, Cross House, Torngn.
Sir Ralph Abercromby Anstruther, hart., Deputy-Lirieutentoant of Fife-
shire and of Caithness shire, formerly Ideutenant-Colonel Grena-
dier Guards, Balcaskit •
Lieutenant Sir Henry S. Wilmot, Bart., R.N., High Sheriff of Der-
bphire, Chaddestien.
Sir Richard Paul Jodrell, Bart., Deputy-Lieutenant of' Derbyshire
and Of Noribik, Sall Park, and Nethercote House.
Lieutenant Sir Henry Jervis Meredyth White Jervis, Bart., R.N.,
Donuyearney.
Sir William Fowle Middleton, Bart., Shrabland Halls.
Sir John Shaw, Bart., Susse --gardens, Hyde-pa&
Sir A•exander Charles Maitland Gibson Maitland, Bart., late 79th
Highlanders, Deputy-Lieutenant of Midloth-an.
General Sir Thomas Macdougall Brisbane, Bart., G.C.8., LL.D.
7lifakerston. •
Rear-Admiral Sir Au fustus W. J. Clifford, Bart., C. 8., Gentleman
Usher of the, Black Rod, and Deputy Great Chamberlain, West-

field House.
Sir Moses Monteflore, Bart., Deputy Lieutenant of Kent, and of the

City of London, Grow( nor Gate.
William Wigram, Esq., Director of the Honourable East India Com-
pany, Grosvenor-,quare.
William Dent, Esq., Director of the Honourable East India Com-
pany, East Tula House.
General sir Richard Darling, G.C.H., Brunswick-square, Brighton.
Admiral Sir Francis W. Austen, K.C.8., PortsdoWn Lodge, Ports-
mouth.
Admiral Sir George Mundy. K.C.8., Grosvenor-street West.
Vice-Admiral Sir Edward Chetham Strode, K.C.8., Deputy-Lieute-
nant of Somersetshire, Southill.
Lieu onant-General Sir John Grey, K.C., late Commander-in-Chief
of the Honourable' East India Company's Forces at Bombay, Mor-
wick Hall..
Lieutenant-General Sir George Charles D'Agailar; K.C.8., formerly
Adjutant-General, Brunswick-square, Brighton.
Lieutenant-General Richard Seeker trough, Royal Artillery, Onslow-
square.
Lienieuant-General Richard G. Hare Clarges, Bitchfleld, Grantham.
Lieutenant-General James Welsh, Madras Army, 11, Queen's-parade,
Bath.
Major-General A.. Macdonald, C. 8., Royal Artillery, Onslow-square.
Rear-Admiral Henry Prescott, C. 8., Southampton.
Post Captain Sir Eaton Stannaid Travers, R.N., K.H., Deputy-
Lieutenant of Norfolk, Ditchingham Lodge.
Major Sir Wm. Lloyd, H.E.1.C.5., Deputy-Lieutenant and Major
Commandant of the Denbighshire Yeomanry Cavalry. Brynestyn.
Rear-Admiral Sir John Ross, C. 8., F.R.S.E , North West Castle,
Strauraer.
Rear-Admiral Gordon T. Falcon, 27, Westbourne-terrace.
The Very Reverend J. H. Cotton, 8.C.L., Dean of Bangor.
The Very Reverend A C. Tait, D.O L., Dean of Carlisle.
P. sato/none,' Esq , late High Sheriff of Sussex, Brighton.
William T. Kevillo Davies, Esq., Deputy-Lieutenaat and late High
Sheriff of Herefordshire, Croft Castle, Wigmore.
Francis Jervois Ellis Jervois, Esq., late High Sheriff of the county
of Southampton, Heriard House.
William Money Kyrie, Esq., Deputy-Lieutenant and High Sheriff of
Herefordshire, Homme House.
The Rev. T. P. Wright. M.A., Honorary Secretary to the London
Orphan Asylum, Hackney.
The Rev. Philip W. Ray, Greensted Rectory, Ongar, Essex.
The 'Bev. Thomas Stanton, 31. A., Burbage Rectory, near Marl-
borough.
The Rev. Charles Causton, M.A.. Stratton, Moreton-in-Marsh.
Charles Ormson Eaton, Esq., Tixover.
Nathaniel Ilibbert, Esq., hiunden House.
George Oliver, Esq., Blackheath.
Robert Nicholas Fowler, Esq., 50, Cornhlll.
Theodosius Uzielli, Esq., 23, Threadneedle-street.
John Belbert Helbert, Esq., Gloucester-place, Portman-square, and
Stock Exchange.
ilbert William Justice, Esq., Thurlow Lodge, Wandsworth-road.
(With power to add to their number.)
noNOBLRY
The Right Honourable Lord Erskine.
S. Hutchison, Esq., Bromley-hill, Kent.
Rev. J. Bartlett, M.A., Chairman of the Athenmum Life
Office, Sackville-street.
SNCEETABT-11. Tommey, Jun., Esq., 12, Pall-mall East.
Agra aid United Service Bank, Head Office, Agra; London Agency,
9, Old Jewry ; Branches, Bombay, Calcutta, Madras.
Messrs. Barclay, Bevan, and Co., 54, Lombard-street.
Messrs. Bouverie, Murdoch, Bouverie, and James, 11, Haymarket.
Sir William B. Call, Bart., G. R. Marten and Co., 2s, Old Bond-st.
keasrs. Cocks, Biddalph, Cocks, Biddulph, and Cocks, 43, Charing'
Messrs. Currie and Co., 29, Cornhill.
Messrs. Dimsdale, Drewett, Fowler, and Barnard, 50, Cornhill.
Sir Richard Y. Glyn, Bart., Halifax, Mills, and Co., 67, Lombard-
street.
Messrs. HerrieS, Farquhar, and Co., 16, St. James's-street.
31
Sir John William Lubbock, Bart., Forster, Clarke, and Co., 11, an-
siou-house•street.
Messrs. urnmanney, Son, and Co., 40, Charing-cross (Navy Agents).
Orientalßank Corporation, Head Offices, 7, Walbrook and Bombay;
Branch, Offices, Calcutta, Madras, Colombo (Ceylon), Singapore,
Victoria (Hong Kong).
Messrs. Prescott, Grove, Cave, Ames, and Co., 62, Threadneedle-st.
Messrs. Puget, Bainbridge, and Co., 12, St. Paul's-churchyard.
Messrs. Ransom and Co., 1, Pall-mall East. •
Messrs. Roberts, Curtis, and Co., 15, Lombard-street.
Sir Samuel Scott, Bart., and Co., 1, Cavendish-square.
Simla Bank. Head Office, Simla ; Branch Offices, 4, St. Martin's-
place, Trafalgar-square, and Calcutta.
Messrs. Williams, Deacon, Labouchere, and Co., 20, Birchin-lase.
Among the many benevolent and philanthropic institutions with
' Which this "set- metropolis abounds, and which anew their lustre
Under the bountiful hand of charity, there is not a single institution
in existence _directly imparting to Abe Veteran Warrior, his relict,
and destitute Orphan children, their share of that Bounty so gener-
ously apportioned to every other branch of society. To supply this
want, so long felt and acknowledged as a national reproach, this in-
stitution has been founded, under the auspices of their fellow-coun-
trymen, for the relief of Veteran Ron-Commissioned and Petty
Officers, Soldiers. Sailors, and Marines, of her Majesty's and the
Honourable East India Company's Services, and their Widows and
Orphans, as a grateful and lasting tribute by the British nation, in
honour of the great and distinguished servieesofwthisehelas and te Duke of
*Wellington, and to give effect to the benevolento 186,
subsequently inten-
tionsre-
ferred expressed in his letter of October 10th ,
to. -
This unconscious neglect towards so meritoriousandlimiarbyody?Amen,
600,000 of whom are engaged in the naval .
d, when we consider
the country, is obvious to every reflecting
that the majority of them are debarred irom the exercise of those
civil rights and social privileges enjoyed by their fellow-countrymen,
to which, in common with them, the Soldier and the Sailor have at
least an.eqUal, if not a paramount claim.
The painful and harrowing scene, on the compulsory separation of
the Soldier and Sailor, perhaps for ever, from his family, can be bet-
ter imagined than described, conscious, as he is, that should he fall
et the battle-field, or be swept away by contagion in a foreign clime,
how little if any protection or succour will be extended to those he
may happen to leave behind; but should ho survive, and return to
his native land, exhausted both in mind and body, the probability is
that he finds his family in the same utter state of destitution in which
he left them"' and they are compelled on a scanty pittance to eke out
the remnant of a miserable existence, until at length death puts a
Period to his sufferings, when that pittance ceases altogether, thus
leaving his widows and orphans totally unprovided for. What lan •
guage then can depict the wretchedness of that forlorn and dejected
Widow, who is cast on the wide world friendless and destitute, with
her famishing young ones looking up, and clinging to her for food,
/Aliment, and shelter, which, alas! she is unable to afford, and whose
cheerless prospects find refuge in the union-house, or terminate in
the grave.
There needs no rhetorical display to arouse the feelings and enlist
the sympathy of Englishmen to a sense of the deep obligation they
owe to those who have devoted their youth and vigour to the service
Of their country ; and with what zeal and alacrity wilt those brave
Sam go lath, in future, .o encounter the enemies of our country, and
/maintain unimpaired her renews and her wealth, when they reflect
that those having claims upon them are admissible to this Institu-
tion—which, while it administers to their wants, will at the same
lima soothe that bitter anguish known only to the heart of the deso-
late, and extend to all the fostering hand of kindness.
Row great, therefore, are the claims of these classes when stricken
With years, or overtaken by sickness, upon our sympathy and bone-
Voience, but more especially when it is remembered, that it is to them
We are mainly indebted for the liberty we enjoy, and the protection
afforded to those pursuits which have so sii.nally contributed to the
Unexampled pro,perity of our country. To whom, then, can her
defenders appeal? Why, gratitude promptly answer to all, froin the
Queen on the throne to the humblest individual in her realm.
On referrin,g to the correspondence of the Secretary with the late
Duke of Wellhigton on this subject, we feel bound, in justice to the
Memory of that great man, to publish the following extract from his
letter, dated " Weimer Castle, October 10th, 1846," which will be
Preserved among the records of the Institution as the basis of its
foundation :
" When the Duke will see a well-considered plan for relieving the
distresses of the Widows of Non-Commissioned Officers and Soldiers,
and tor the care of their Orphan Children, which last, in his opinion,
ought to be formed on a plan similar to, or identical with, that of the
London Orphan Asylum. He would willingly contribute towards the
expense of carrying such a plan into execution.
" In respect to the Widows and Orphans of Officers of the Army,
the Laws and Regulations of the Service have already made provi-
sions for these, the administration of which has been placed under
the exclusive control and direction of the Secretary-at-War, who
decides the question whether the Widow of an Officer should have
the Pension allotted by the Regulations to Widows of Officers of the
rank of her deceased husband according to the view which he may
take of the adequacy or otherwise of her ether means of living. It
will be seen, therefore, that in every case in which an Officer's Widow
or Orphan Children might have a claim to a prevision under the Laws
and Regulations administered by the Secretary-at-War, a Grant from
this intended Fund would only tend to diminish to an equal amount
the Grant solicited from the Public Fund under the administration of
the Secretary-at-War.
"But the Duke confesses that he sees many objections to levy
Subscriptions from Officers of the Army to provide for the Widows
and Children of some already provided for by Government."
We cannot close this address without expressing a confident hope
that the public will, by a well-directed and combined movement, co-
-olerate with us, and give effect to the benevolent intent so admir-
ably expressed in the communication referred to
By granting limited pensions, in accordance with the funds of the
Institution, and admitting the recipients into an Almshouse and
Rome, the neglected Veteran and Widow will be sheltered and pro-
vided for; and, by establishing a Collegiate Asylum, the Orphans
and Children admitted during the lifetime of their parents will be
Protected and educated in a manner suitable to their several condi-
tions in life, and placed on an equality with those of the civilian.
The Institution will be supported by subscriptions and voluntary
Contributions.
The Design of the Institution will be :
per annum (the amours
1.--Tbat a pension not exceeding £
to be.flked at the first Meeting of Subscribers) be granted to Widows
in distress and to Veterans 'not otherwise provided fa; and to excite
emulation and good conauct, that an Almshouse be provided for
"Widows in the decline of Me, itho a Home for the aged Veteran, and
that pecuniary aid be rendered in cases of emergency.
II That ample provision be made for the maintenance and edu-
cation of Orphans and Orphan Children, whose relatives or friends
May not be in a position to do so, until en Asylum be provided for
them. -
111.-3 hat a Collegiate Asylum be endowed for the Orphans and
Orphan Children, and those Children who may be received on the
foundation, during the lifetime of their parents, on terms commen-
surate with 'heir means. that the management of the Asylum, as
regards inmates under 14 years of age, be adapted to the plan re-
commended by the late Duke of Wellington.
IV.—The- Veteran's Home and Widows' Almshouse will be at-
tached to the Asylum, and, in accordance with the resolutions passed
at the public meeting held 21st o..tober, 1852, the building willcom-
Prise a commodious and Magnificent structure, upon the most ap-
Proved plan, bearing the name, and recording the triumphs of
" WELLINGTON."
Candidates for relief are admitted by election ; bat in the case of a
Soldier or sailor being killed in action, or dying on foreign service, his
Unity shall be admissible to the Institution upon the nomination of
the directors. Annual subscribers are entitled to one vote for every
guinea subscribed yearly. Life subscribers are entitled to one vote
for. every ten guineas contributed by them. Persons collecting sub-
scriptions or contributions are entitled to the like privileges in pro-
Portion to the amount subscribed or contributed. ,
The property and funds to be vested in trustees, to be nominated
at the first general meeting of subscribers ; and the Institution will
be under. the management of a president, vice-presidents, and a
board of directors, consisting of 36 life governors.
, Noblemen, military, naval, and other gertlemen, who feel an in-
terest in the welfare of the Institution, are earnestly requested to
give their patronage and support, and those noblemen and gentle-
'alit who may be desirous of becoming members of the committee,
mil have the goodness to signify their wish to that effect.
, Subscriptions and contributions are earnestly solicited, and will be
thankfully received on account of the Institution, by the committee
kid honorary trustees, at the Offices of the Institution, or by the re-
spective bankers.
A numerous list of country bankers will shortly be announced.
HENRY TOMMEY, Jun., Secretary.
All communications to be addressed to the Secretary, at the Offices
Of the Institution, 12, Pall-mall East, where attendance is given
.41Y frOM 11 to 4 o'clock.