The Sun.
London, England, 1831-04-18 00:00:00

TOTHE EDITOR OF THE TIMES.

SIR, Permit me to turn from the consideration of that measure
which is to stecide the fate of my country to a subject which al_
fects my own character. I ans not anxious to be distinguished
by any false attachment to the punctilios. of life; but I trust
never to be slow nor indifferent to those points of honour which
mark the brave man. I have never desired to attack any one
covertly, nor have I ever shrunk from personal responsibility for
all I may have done or said when the demand has been made on
me, nor will I ever shrink. An assumed name was not taken by
`me to wound the feelings of others. I first addressed you, Sir,
with my own signature, and would have continued to have done
so; but you were pleased to give me my present mmi de guerre.
and at your instance I have preserved it. My letters have often
been written openly in the club of which I am member, and I
have never made any secret of writing them. Indeed, I have
been highly blamed for my incaution, and have received the cen-
sure of my friends for refusing to attend to the counsels of
secrecy. Having unfortunately wounded the feelings of a son by
a sad—and I will avow, without hesitation, a most unpardonable
—mistake, I did not hesitate, the moment I was assured of that
mistake, to make all the reparation in my power, or to offer all
the satisfaction that might be required of me. Another son felt
that I had imputed improper motives as to the hospitality of his
father, and sent, as he felt he was called upon to do, an old bro-
ther Officer as his friend to call on me. I refer to that gentleman
whether I shrank from responsibility, or sought to protect myself
under the disguise of an assumed name. Feeling that Iliad not
done wrong, I put myself at once into the hands of one who,
both as a soldier and a gentleman, enjoys the esteem of the
world, and is of a house more ancient than that of which the ho-
nourable Commissioner of Excise is a scion. It is not that lam
to speak of myself, but without fear of contradiction I may say,
that my conduct was satisfactory both to the principal and his
friend. My disguise is so little preserved, that it has not con-
cealed me from the honourable Commissioner, or he could not
have alluded to a circumstance of my life for which I feel no
shame—for which I need not blush, and which 1 never attempt-
ed to conceal any more than my real name. I was driven from
that profession in which thirty years of my life passed, and, as I
hope, without a stain: yes, I was driven from the army—but
how? By an act of injustice which I could not resist. I re-
ceived the greatest insult that could be offered to a commanding
officer. An order which I felt called upon to give for the main-
tenance of discipline was directed to be torn from the orderly
book, in the presence of my own officers and of the field-officers
of the garrison of Dublin. Was there any thing left to me but
to retire ? Of that order lam not ashamed. It might have been
imprudent, considering the feelings that then reigned at the
Horse Guards—but de mortuis nil nisi bonum. It was not an
order, I feel confident, that would have lost me the protection of
the Duke of Wellington, had he then been either ray colonel or
the commander-in-chief. That order, at some future and befit-
ting period, I shall request you to give to the public, and to its
judgment I shall resign myself. It lost me no private or military
friend, though it released me from the acquaintance of many
young officers to whom I had shown too much kindness. A ra-
dical and an emancipator, as I ever was, I could not look for jus-
tice,in former time?, at the Horse Guards.

Of the Honourable Commissioner's inclination for business, I
certainly know nothing, but of his aptitude for it I may pretend
to form some opinion. Some fifteen years since, I stood on the
same hustings with him at Stamford, and from the exhibition he
then made of inability as a candidate, I feel authorized to infer
he is as inefficient at a Board as he was on the hustings. To the
worthy independent electors of Stamford, I will leave thedecision
of my correctness or incorrectness, as to judging of either the
aptitude or inclination for business, of the late nominee of the
Marquis of Exeter. After the exhibition I there witnessed, and
the reputation he then enjoyed, any farther acquaintance would
have been studiously avoided by me, and particularly as, from my
entrance into life, 1 had an unconquerable aversion to fine gen-
tlemen and those who are commonly thought men of fashion.
There is certainly no positive reason why the Hon. Gentleman
should not be employed in the civil service of his country ; but
is it not strange that so many scions of nobility should have an
aptitude for business, and an inclination to receive the public
money ? Only examine the compositivpi of the 13nsmi of Excise.
Lord George Seymour, Ch7iirman
Sir Francis H. Doyle, Bart., Deputy.
Alexander Campbell, Esq.
Sir John C. Mortlock, Knt.
Hon. Charles R. TrefUsis.
Viscount Lifford.
• Woodbine Parish, Esq.
William Plunket, Esq.,
Hart Davis, Esq. •
Hon. Berkeley Paget.'
Hon. Wm. Henry Percy.
Thomas Harrison, Esq.
Can a dozen Commissioners be absolutely required for the ma..
nagement of the Excise Office ? A salary of 1,4001 a year is
very convenient ; and the affixing a signature, and a few months'
attendance in the year, no very great or painful exertion. is not
almost every appointment marked by Parliamentary influence
and rotten borough possession ?
I have no personal object in view,—no private malice to
indulge in ; and shall fearlessly continue to perform ray
duty by the public! as long, Sir, as you consider my effbrts as
advantageous, and that my letters are favourably received. I
court no one, I fear no one. RADICAL.