The Sun.
London, England, 1833-08-24 00:00:00

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acquaintance With general business, who vial of active habits,
and who, if he gave up his whole time to it, might very soon
become an efficient servant. Mr. Arbuthnot told Mr. Church
that he would communicate what he said to Mr. Wood, and

that that would be quite sufficient.
The substance of this conversation was communicated by
Mr. Arbuthnot to Mr. Wood. Sir John Key having heard of

the vacancy, applied on the Ist of July to Lord Grey, for the
situation of storekeeper for his son ; and by the evidence of
Mr. Wood and Sir John Key, it appears that, about the 4th
of July, Mr. Wood wrote a letter to Sir John Key, informing
him that Lord Grey would appoint his son, and requesting to

know his name and age.
This letter and others connected with this subject, (but, as
he states, of an unimportant character,) Sir John Key destroyed
the day after the petitions against him were presented to the
House of Commons. Sir John Key called on Mr. Wood. and
(as stated by Mr, Wood) informed him that he had two sons,
one about 18 and the other about i 2 years of age, and that it

would be more convenient to him that the younger son should

be appointed to the place. Mr. Wood stated that he thought
the age would be objectionable, but that he would make in-
quiry; and he then directed Mr. Arbuthnot to write a letter

to Mr. Church, of which the following is a copy :
"My dear Sir,—l am desired to inquire of you, whether there
would be any objection to the appointment of a young man of
19 to the situation of storekeeper. It appears to me that so
young a persou would not be able to exercise sufficient autho.

rity over the people he will have to superintend.
(Signed) G. ARBUTHNOT."
This letter was written and received on the 9th of July ; and
Mr. Church says that he wrote a reply while the bearer of the
letter waited, but kept no copy of his reply, as he considered the
communication private ; " But," he added, " I have it fully,
thoroughly, and completely in my memory, and the letter
itself will be found at the Treasury, and will show how far 1
am correct in my statement." He then repeated the letter,
as follows :

" My dear Sir,—The storekeeper of this office has to give
sureties, 'sign bonds, and execute many other securities, for
which non-age would disqualify him. Perhaps you may not
be aware how much this office is watched; the same descrip-
tion of persons deal with us as deal with the proprietors of
newspapers ; I will only refer to a paragraph in the Age of last
Sunday, which stated that Sir John Key, a contractor, (which,
by the by, he is not,) has applied to the Treasury for an ap-
pointment for a friend of his. I merely state this to show how
necessary it is to be cautious ; and that, to a situation like this,
it is expedient to appoint a man who not only is fit, but who
will appear to be fit to others."
Mr. Church's recollection of this letter is substantially con-
firmed by Mr. Arbuthnot.
The paragraph referred to, but not inserted in the letter, is
in the Age newspaper of 7th July, and is as follows :—" Under
the corrupt system' a Member of Parliament could not be a
public contractor, or supply the Government with goods as a
tradesman; but it seems that the reformed Parliament has
corrected this mistake, for the City Ministerial Member, Sir
John Key, it is reported, is the principal contractor for sup-
plying the Government with paper. This is not all ; there
has, within these few days, occurred a vacancy in the Stationery
Office, occasioned by the resignation of the storekeeper ; and
Sir John Key has used his influence at the Treasury in favour
of a friend, who is to be (or perhaps is by this time) appointed
his successor. It will be the duty of this individual to ex-
amine the goods sent into the office by his patron. We hope
Mr. Hume will look into this.":
Mr. Wood, in consequence of this letter, saw Sir John Key,
and informed him that it must be his eldest son, because the
person to be appointed must be of age; and Sir John Key then
gave him the name of ,Kingsmill Grove Key for the appoint.
went. Sir John Key admits that he did deceive Mr. Wood
as to his son's age, giving Mr. Wood to understand that his
son was of age, and leaving him under that impression.
Sir John Key states, and he is confirmed by Mr. Wood, that
at this interview an extract of the letter from Mr. Church, of
the 9th July, with reference to the necessity of the storekeeper
being above the age of 21, and having onerous duties to per.
form, was read. It appears farther that Mr. Wood asked Sir
John Key if he bad seen the paragraph in the Age newspayer ;
his reply was, " I have heard of it, but I never pay any atten.
tion to what the Age says, and it is a prinui facie evidence of
the falsehood of a statement that it appears in the Age."
There was an Age newspaper on the table at this interview.
Mr. Wood wrote a memorandum to make out the appoint.
ment of Mr. Kingsmill Grove Key on this same letter of Mr.
Church, of the 9th of July, and then gave it to Mr. Arbuthnot,
from whose evidence it appears that when Mr. Wood gave bins
the order for the appointment, he said, " We are going to do
this in spite of Church." The appointment having been corn.
pleted, the letter was destroyed. Mr. Arbuthnot states that
he considered it was a private answer to a mere letter of inquiry,
and the purpose for which the inquiry was made being at an
end, he considered there was no further occasion for it. Mr.
Wood, when asked what he intended by this expression, sup.
posing he used it, says, "Sir John Key has constantly been
the object of attack in some of the Sunday newspapers ; this
attack was repeated on the occasion of this appointment, and
Mr. Church had alluded to it; my own impression was, that Mr.
Church was, for some reason, adverse to the appointment ; and
what I meant to say was, that I did not mean to be deterred
from appointing Mr. Kingsmill Grove Key by the remonstrances
in a Sunday newspaper, alluded to by Mr. Church." Mr.
Wood further states, that in Mr. Church's letter of the 9th of
July, he only attended to the point of age of Sir John Key's
son, and not to the supposed connexions between the Stationery
Office, and Sir John Key, as mentioned in the newspaper ; nor
does he recollect that Mr. Church, in the same letter stated
caution was necessary. He adds, that knowing Sir John Key
could not sit in Parliament as a contractor, " I did not pay
I the slightest attention to that, because it seemed to me im-
possible." Subsequently, in his evidence, Mr. Wood denies
all knowledge of Sir John Key having been, previously to
his being in Parliament, connected with the Stationery Office,
although he knew he was a stationer. It appears, from the
evidence of Mr. Church, that the names of the contractors
are not transmitted to the Treasury ; and Mr. Wood states,
in his evidence, " If aby papers relating to the contract came
to the Treasury at all, they certainly could not come to me ;
I am not certain whether they would come to the Treasury
at all, but they certainly would not came to me." Mr.
Church states, that at the time of writing the letter of the
9th of July, he was not aware who was the person referred to
of 19 years of age, but that a few days afterwards Sir John
Key called on him, and said that a relation of his and of Mr.
Jonathan Muckleston Key had been appointed to the office
of storekeeper ; on which Mr. Church observed that he must
take some precaution to prevent the examination by him of
the stores sent in by virtue of the contract of Mr. Jonathan
Key. Sir John Key replied, " I suggested that to the Trea.
sury, and they said you would be able to do it." And he
further said, " I stated to the 'Treasury that as soon as ever my
brother had completed his contract, I meant to leave the
stationery business." Sir John Key says that he did not
speak to the Treasury on this subject, and adds his belief that
the Treasury were totally Ignorant of his brother being a con.
tractor. Mr. Church was not aware at that time that the
person appointed was a son of Sir John Key, but, becoming
acquainted with the fact a few days afterwards at the Treasury,
he observed to Mr, Arbuthnot "that the appointment would
make a devil of a row." Mr. Church says subsequently in his
evidence, " I made use of the expression so often ;" and being
asked, whether before or after the appointment, adds, " It
would be before and after, I have no doubt." Mr. Church, in
another part of his evidence, says, " I supposed every thing I
said to Mr. Arbuthnot would go to Mr. Wood; there were
many things I certainly had stated in conversation, which per-
haps I should have been a little cautious of putting down in a
letter." The appointment was completed on the 16th of July.
On the 17th of July, Sir John Key introduced his son, on
his appointment, to Mr, Church ; who said it would be part
of his, Mr. Kingsmill Grove Key's duty, as storekeeper, to in.
spect the goods sent in under the contract of his uncle, and
that therefore he, Mr. Church, and the chief clerk, would un-
dertake the inspection, as a matter of decency. And ac-
cordingly all the goods sent in under the contract were so
inspected.
Mr. Wood in his evidence states, that on Sunday, the 28th
of July, Lord Althorp, and on the next day, Lord Grey, in-
formed him that Lord Althorp had received a letter referring
to three points connected with this appointment ; Ist, That
Mr. Key, the uncle, was a contractor ; 2d, That Mr. Kings.
mill Grove Key had to examine the paper sent in by that uncle;
ftd, That Mr. Kingsmill Grove Key was under age. Mr.
Wood sent for Mr. Arbuthnot, and asked if he believed these
things were true ; Mr. Arbuthnot replied that he believed they
were. On the same day, Mr. Wood wrote to Sir John Key.
telling him that the appointment must be put an end to. On
Thursday, the Ist of August, Sir John Key informed Mr.
Church that his son had resigned. On the same day, Mr.
Arbuthnot called on Mr. Church, and told him that Mr.
Charles Wood wished to know what would be the best way of
withdrawing the appointment of Mr. Kingsmill Grove Key.
Mr. Church waited on Mr. Wood the same afternoon at the
Treasury, and the appointment was ordered to be cancelled.
Mr. Church further adds, that at this interview with Mr.
Cltarles Wood, on the Ist of August (the only interview he
had with him), he told him he thought no ill consequences
would ensue, nor any charge be made, owing to the appoint-
ment of Mr. Kingsmill Key, and that to prevent all evil, he
had taken the examination out of the hands of the young
man. Mr. Wood's reply was, " Yes, I have heard that you
proposed to do so." These were (as stated by M. Church) the
words, " he did not express any approbation or disapprobation."
From the evidence of Mr. Arbuthnot, it appears that the
impression on his mind, previously to the 9th July, was, that
Sir John Key was concerned in the contract with the Sta-
tionery Office; and that this impression was confirmed by
Mr. Church's letter of that date. Both Mr. Church and Mr•
Arbuthnot were of opinion that Sir John Key was concerned
in the contract, but that opinion was not communicated by
them to Mr. Wood.
Mr. Arbuthnot says, with reference Mr. Key's appointment,
" Mr. Church told ine privately that he considered it objec-
tionable." Being asked, "Did he say it would produce a devil
of a row, or some such expression as that 2" he replies, " I dare
say he may have said so;" it was before the appointment
was completed, but after the order for its being made out had
been given. Mr. Arbuthnot further states, that Mr. Church
did not state his objections for the purpose of his mentioning
them to Mr. Wood, and he conceived he wished him not to
do so, because, as the appointment had been made, it might
have been considered obtrusive on his 'Mr. Church's) part ;
and that Mr. Church's impression was, that he had already
done his duty to the Treasury, by stating, in his letter to Mr.
Arbuthnot, that great caution was necessary in making such
an appointment; and, indeed, Mr. Arbuthnot supposed Mr.
Wood was aware of all this before, for he says, " I thought
, Mr. Wood was aware of all that; it appears he was not."
Mr. Arbuthnot vas, that he thought Mr. Weed had Well