The Sun.
London, England, 1809-08-25 00:00:00

i)./11;1#0Tla

Yesterday there uvas a General Meeting of the
SQbseribers to this Fund, convened by public Adver-
tis*rnent.

Sit FRANCIS taitt.NG (the Chairman) shortly open-
.i.crthe business for which the Meeting had been con.
vetted. It was in Consequence ot the sense lately
expressed by a numerous and most respectable Meet-
ing of Merchants and Bankers, that the Committee
perfettly coincided in the opinion of that Meeting,
and at their 'recommendation thought it proper to
convene a General Meeting of the Subscribers. It
was now six years • since the public were first ap-
pealed to by the Committee; and the subscriptions
which had been received at that time very greatly
surpassed the warmest hopes ofthose who were the
first promoters of the Institution. More than
400,0001. had now been received ; but, on the other
hand, relief had been atliarded to many thousands of
wounded and disabled men, and to the families of ,
those who had fallen in the service of their country.
As the war was now on laud, where the losses are
much greater than in sea-fights, the claims upon
the Fund would consequently be in future more nu-
merous ; and as the entire sum originally subscribed
would go no farther than the present claims upon it,
it appeared necessary replenish the Fund, and
again appeal to the liberality of the public. A Gen-
tleman of the Committee (Mr. Marryait) was pre-
pared to state fully to them the manner in which the
Fond had hitherto been applied.
Mr. MARRYATT then rose, and made a detailed
statement of the receipts and disbursement, of the
Fund: , The suni originally received by sut'sccil:tiun
was somewhat more than 350,0001. to I,,,!•licin, sum
was to be added the interest of the monoy',llat had
been invested in the funds, and the profits on stock
sold, which, added to the sum originally ttceis e,
amounted to the total sum ot 424,.321.

which, after deducing the suii.s vote„ 1,. icy;<-trds, t,i--
nuities, and presents, It ft a ballucc oi 0,2211 ;is, 5:).
Many of the gratuities, bowel er, tucil ti,:;" :iad
vo.edc had never been cl::imed, and
be •f-, ,olisioe.ible profit, it the stock were sold at
present price; so that he caktilatcd the actual
bal nice to be about 130,0001. hich wuuid i,ro-
hably be entirely aosor ed uy toe cl ,itus that were
now expeded to be inane by tne tamiiies of about ,
three thousand killed, an:l sill tnonsano wounded, in-
cluding those who nad and wounded at
the battles of Corunna and T;i:avera. he trusted
that the Mcet,ing o,ld be perie4iy satisned with
the conduct of the Committee, in the administra-
tion of the fund hithei to ; but as the charaoer ut the
war had changed in a great measure, and was now
carried on more by land than by sea, the Commit-
tee thought that new regu:ations ought to be
adopted in future, as the claimants wculd probably
be much more numerous. Alter he had stated the
nature of the different disbursements, he should Sub-
mit to them some resolutions to the future manage-
ment Of the Fund. As to the sum given directly to
the wounded and the families of those which has
/alien, this amounted to ab..ut 250,0001. and was
a part of the expenditure about which there could
be no obje&ion. it would appear by the accounts
that 40,0001. • had beets given to the Naval and
Military Asylum, for which that Society under-
took to receive and educate all the children, of
either sex, recommended by the Committee, whose •
cases could gibe them any claim upon the Patriotic
Fund. The price of advertising in the public pa-
pers amounted to no less than 11,0001. Great as
this sum was, he. was convinced that it Would not
have been for the interest of the Fund to have been
more sparing of expeuce on this subject. On the
contrary, the Committee received many letters of
complaint, if they delayed tote advertising the re-
ceipt of the smaller subscriptions. The amount
of the sums voted as rewards to merit, amount-
ed in the whole to 16,0001. and it wool,' be
recollected, that it was one of toe resolutions of
the original subscribers, that rewards or honourable •
badges should be given to distinguished merit. There
had been some little difference of opinion upon the
propriety of donations of this sort; but he thought,
that from necessity, they must be dispensed with in
future. The claims of merit alone must yield, to
merit accompanied by 'distress. He would here
take occasion to answer some observations which
had been.made against the institution itself, as inter-
fering with the Legislature. If this hard-hearted ciocs
trine were to prevail, it would go as well to cry down
all public charities, or private benevolence. It might
as well be argued, that, because the Legislature had
established Poor Rates and Workhouses, it was in-
terfering with the Legislature to give any assistance
to the poor. Besides the alleviation of private dis-
tress and suffering, the Fund had been produaive of
a very great public advantage. It was well known,
that a great cause of the repugnance of the poor
to let their children go into the army, or navy, was,
that they thought that they should thereby, it any
casualty happened, lose that assistance from them In
the decline of life, which otherwise they might have
expected. This repugnance was, in a great 'measure,
done away by the sums which it was known the
Patriotic Fund paid to the aged parents of those who
fell in the service of their country. Perhaps, at
some future period, the Legislature might think it
proper to. adopt such a regulation. There was a
sum of about 16,0001. which had been-voted to the
relief of British prisoners in France. This did not
come under the letter of the original resolutions, but
it came within the spirit of them. When Bur. ta-
pane refused to permit an accredited agent for English
prisoners to remain in France, or any supplies to be
furnished them by the British Government, many of
these prisoners were reduced to the greatest dis-
tress; and the Committee had only given such re-
lief as amounted to an addition of • three halfpence
a-day to the allowance of the aged, the infirm, and
the sick, who were not able to endure such privations
as those, who were in health. They hid also esta-
blished an ii::espital and a school at every depot of pri-
soners in trance. This money had been managed
with such ccconomy and attention by those who SU-
permteded the distribution of it, that he believed more
good was never done at less expence, and that this was
an expenditure which ought to be continued. With
respect to the wounded,he apprehended that there must
bean alteration; and that for the future, the relief could
only be given to those who were disabled by their
wounds. Those who were wounded slightly, or
even severely, would not wish to be paid for the
mere pain of their wound, at the expense of the wi-
dows and orphans of their companions who had