The Sun.
London, England, 1831-02-03 00:00:00

TO THE EDITOR OF 2'llE TIMES.

Sts,—The word of Captain Cadogan is indubitable : he declares
that his lady, Miss Honoria Blake that was, has never received a
sixpence from the Pension List, either before or since her mar-
riage. I believe him, and so will every one; but then, who is
the Miss Honoria slake who stands charged on the Irish Pen-
sion List, since the 24th of June, 1812, with 43/. 18s. 4d. ? On re-
ference to the Peerage, I find, under the head of Baron Walls_
court, Honoria, aunt, and another Honoria, sister of the pre-
sent Lord. It may, then, be the latter, Captain Cadogan is
pleased to use the words "it is falsely stated." They may be cor-
rectly used t bins ; but whence arises the falsity ? The mistal'e
is with the Treasury : why is net a proper designation given to
each individual, so that every person should be positively known
on a mere reference to the fist. The Parliament is highly
curable for not having previously voted the publication of the
list. The great pauper list should have been annually laid on its
table, and then neither the Treasury nor any one else would have
fallen into errors which concealment and mystification have pro-
duced. The comments or" Radical " would not then have been
required to elicit the truth. The very circumstance of Captain
Cadogan's letter is an argument for publicity. Why should the
wife of that gallant Officer be confounded with a set of persons
who have had the meanness to live upon the public purse ?
" Radical " Must be pleased that he furulibed him with the occa-
sion of making such a declarations and would, I am ennfident,
be still more pleased, if others enrolled on the list could make a
similar declaration, either for themselves, their wives, their mo.
them, or sisters.
The whisper of the clubs is, that Lord Seymour, the son of the
Duke of &..anerset, now pleased to call himself St. Maur, has sent
in the resignation of the pension of 571. Is. tkl., which had been granted to his lady before her marriage, as Miss Sheridan. It
would have been indeed melancholy if such a resignation had
not been made. .9. sister of this lady, married to the brother of
a noble Peer, tylio has no family, it is to be hoped does not retain
g
hers. The Sarah Ponsonby that attracted the particular attee.
tion of " Radical," by her three grants on the English Pension
List, of the trifling sum, in of 37/. Ifs. 6d., and in 1882, of
471. ss. od., but in the reign of the gallant Doke Wellintot.
iu 1809, of 2001.65. 'id„ is no less a person than the romantic lady
who abandoned her family to accompany her friend, Lady Bullet
in her seclusion, and who buried thosnselves in the beautiful vale
of Llangollen, until the attraction of their cottage brought them
into notoriety; but because ladles of high family were pleased tc
be romantic, is it a consequence that such romance was to be
fosteted at the publie expense ? The Civil List was certainly
public revenue (In well purposes, Let the
not voted from the\
proud visitants who were admiited within the sanctuary of these
voluntary recluses have contributed to its maintenance, or it
should have been supported by the houses of Ormonde and Pon-
sonby. Elizabeth Mulay has escaped the notice of " Radical"
and his able coadjutors. She is to be wand in the Irish pension
list since Juno, 1198, with 881. Is, This lady, if I am not greatly
mistaken, is now somewhat alma forty years of age, and so she
must have been quite a child when the pension was granted to
her. Her own services could have been 0; but then, what were
those of her parents I believe only that her mother was one
of the Lanesborough family, and who married a handsome
gentleman, who was either of the garrison of Dublin or of the
Castle; but his services never extended beyond the one or the
other. The Lady Catherine's sister, Lady Mary, married a PO/i-
-sm-thy, and by her exertions with her husband's relatives, a pee-
sion was obtained for her sister, her husband, and their childreo.
Miss Marlay is the survivor,
I':as Mary,
The Bathursts, Mrs. or Miss Charlotte, or Mrs. or s.
It has been
and Master or Mr. Charles, are not rightly known. It
thurst,
denied that they are of the sinecure Palernly Earlrot;r‘ 1.4
se BatlitllS:,
but that they are the wife and relations of ,
of rim sap..srt
whose great merit was being bdrfilirr as'lvsiktershare„ Air.
Doctor,"
who
was
describof idcaiwould ;1.1,w
flu, to be, as far as the paucity
ofp
men. ,
Mrs
Pr:
gge
.aie of the most mischievous
au.;usa,ut
the
Bathurst held very lucrative posts. He ayes

Duchy of Lancaster. He certainly was of a profession—that of
the bar ; but it was never understood that he lost man briefs
by leaving it to make motions in the House of Commons. e was
1.1
there a considerable talker to defend the most accursed sy system of
Government. He was of the Pitt school and Pitt faction, fro which
the greatest part of our present misery maybe dated. The talk and
cheers of brother Bragge are not deserving—at least of the country,
if they are all of one and his family—of nearly 1,4001. a year' and
if Charlotte be his wife or widow, that the sum of 9001. Should
be toiled for by the people to secure to her the indulgences of
life. If not mistaken, I apprehend this gentleman assumed the
name of Bathurst for a considerable property in Somersetshire,
lett to him by a relative or friend : the rents may have 'failed,
and so the small increase of her pension, in 1829, of 100/. tie. 9d.
might be requisite to make up the deficiency. Mr. Bragge might
have served both his party and his brother well; but that his
family deserve these pensions, it is well to inquire what services
he ever rendered to the people. All that I recollect of him are
his cheers. The following couplet records them :
" Cheer him whilst he answers drily,
" Cheer him, cheer him, brother Hiley ;
" Cheer him, when his spirits flag,
" Cheer him, cheer him, brother Bragge."
There is a Miss Clemenlina Drummond, as far back as Sep.
tember, 1E96, on the Scotch list, for 491. 10s.: on that' to be
granted by his present Majesty, is Captain George Drummond
(de Melfort) for 97/. 10s.; and they, I apprehend, are brother
and sister. The lady has changed her name by a marriage with
a gentleman who holds a lucrative office in the Court of Excite.
quer, and who should be above drawing so miserable a pittance
when, from the perquisites of his office, though it be really for
labour performed and enjoyed for life, lie receives from the
public a very handsome income; but as he finds his superiors so
tenacious of their holding, he, as a man of the law, feels, I sup-
pose, he would only be acting unwisely to let go this. The
brother is on half-pay in our army. This family is one of
the many who so madly attached themselves to the: for.
tunes of the Stuarts, and followed them into exile,, and
thereby lost their estates, receiving only empty honours as
the recompense of their devotion. The De Melforts were
established in France, and were driven from it only by
the Revolution. The wily Harry Dundas contrived to have
restored to a Drummond the great estates belonging to that
powerful family,—to a member of it whom he could turn to his
purposes, by having the influence of the property placed in his
hands. This person he got restored to the earldom of Perth.
This case was thought to hare some resemblance to that of Doug.
las. Under every circumstance, the nobleman who, by marriage,
has come into possession of these vast estates, should take upon
himself the support of these relatives of the received heiress. It
was not enough by. his interest to hare obtained a commission in
the army. There is also Barbara Cockayne on the Irish pension
list since June 1798, for 2221. 3s. Now this lady is apparently
the Hon. Mrs. Cockayne, who married the brother of a Lord
Cullen, an Irish peer, the title being now extinct, he and his
brother, the lady's husband, having died without male issue. On
her marriage, this lady's husband might have been limited in his
means, but the estates of the family were large, for on their sale
for distribution to the daughters, they are said to have produced
nearly 300,00/. One of the daughters, who married the second
son of the Earl of Limerick, received no less a sum than
60,000!. as her fortune. His sister is the amiable lady of the Se-
cretary of the Treasury, Mr. Spring Rice. Mrs. Cockayne is
said to he living in affluence in one of our great midland
towns. Really these pension lists cannot be re-voted. No
Member representing any body of the people can be found bold
enough to give his vote for such a grant : if he does, he will
well deserve to lose his seat at the next election. This matter is
more an affair of the House than that of the Ministers. The
people are expecting both to do their duty. There must be at
least a Committee of revision. Mr. Robert Gordon, Mr. John
Wood, and Mr. Warburton should be members of it. Sir James
Graham shout 1 preside as Chairman. Unless there be such a
Committee, it is to be hoped that the people's " Watchman,"
Joseph Hume, will insist upon the vote being taken upon every
individual case, so that no abuse shall be continued ; and this
cannot tail to he agreeable to his Majesty, who so nobly sets
himself against all wanton expenditure. The coadjutors of
" Radical" must not cease to labour, as there are yet many cases
deserving of notice, and which call for particular exhibition. The
case of Dame Louisa Harvey is not yet made clear. It is proved
that this person is not the widow of the late Admiral Sir Eliab
Harvey. It is not the present Marchioness of Carmarthen, as the
widow of the late Colonel Sir Fenton Harvey, one of the bravest
of the Peninsula soldiers. She was an American lady, a Miss
Caton, the sister of the Marchioness Wellesley. It would be
singular that the daughters of the free Americans should come to
be quartered upon the industry of the ground down Briton. It
would be disgraceful that the grandchildren of the old patriot
Carroll should partake of English pensions.
PHILO-RADICAL.

CHANCERY COURTS.