The Sun.
London, England, 1828-06-23 00:00:00

SPIRIT OF TI-It PUBLIC JOURNALS.

(FROM THE Toms.)
An important motion stands for this day in the
House of Commons. Mr. M.. A. .Taylor having
some time ago procured an orders for a ,return of all
gums of money paid by the Commissioners for arbi-
trating claims on France to. fhe Ccithmissioners of
'Woods and Forests; qtatingby'whatauthrity paid,
for Ivhat purposes,' and at:WhaF-kkites, gave notice
of his resolution to Move titistidy.for a vote of cen-
sure for, what he conceives, and with manifest rea-
son, to i'lnisappliCatiOn of the public money,
and i'breaCh Of Public trust. A large sum, to the
amount; we'believe, of mote than .5,000,000/. ster-

ling, was, under one ormore conventions between
'the British and French Governments;transferred to
Great Britain by the Court of-France, as a fund out
- - - - -

of Which to liqUidate the.claims of Biltish subjects
on the latter power. • 'A Board of Commissioners, it
is well known, was appointed for the adjudication of
such claims; in the execution or supposed execu-
tion'of which duty, these ilentlemen continued for
tWelve, years, as we are Informed,' -receiving very
ample salaries. It must seem clear to everyone
who understands the rights and duties of the House
of Commons, that whatever sums of money remain
in the Treasury, beyond the exigencies of the parti-
cular service to which they have hy law been appro-
priated, ought to be at once submitted to the cogni-
zance and control of Parliament, and the further

application of such surplus be determined by Parlia-
ment alone. Now it appears by the return..to the
order above-mentioned, that from the balance in the

hands -of the . British-claim Corntnissioners, the '
enormous sum of 250,000/. was,' instead of being
credited to the nation, paid over to the Commis-
sioners of Woods and Forests, expressly for the
discharge of tradesmen's bills employed in the wells
at the King's new Palace in St. James's-park r This
transfer, in the teeth of law and usage, from:the domi-
nion'of Parliament to the menials of the palace, and
by the sole 'fiat of the King's Prime Minister; will
we presnme, according to the result ,of thedebate on
Mr: Tajlor's miatiOn, bring once more to the teat
the dogma -of ministerial responsibility. That
not a single individual wid be made responsible
that is to say, practically, for such a transgression, it
would be superfleous to add. But it may amuse us
to watch the shifts and contrivances through which
the remedy provided by the letter of the Constitu-
tion is to be got rid of.
,In the mean time what ag-
gravates this offence beyond expression is that while
the appetite for waste and extravagance has been
thus pampered, the British subjects for whose be-
nefit the whole Itind was created appear in some
cases to have suffered injustice from the Commis-
sioners, by the rejection of their well-founded claims.
The petition of Baron de Bode is now before us,
a quotation from which is here subjoined, and will
satisfy, we think, the minds.of most readers, as to
•the motive whence it comes to pass, that unsightly
palaces are to absorb immense sums, while just cre-
ditors go unpaid.
" The summary of the case, that my right as a British
subject, to recover indemnification for the loss of my pro-
perty within the limits of France, during, and in conse-
quence of the French revolution, under the convention of
1815, was admitted by the British and the French Go-
vernment ; that myself and my case were reOztirpended by
the British Ambassador to the English Commissioners, who
insisted upon my right, without which the French Com-
Missioners would not have allowed of the admission of my
name into the registers, as the consequence was to be the
payment of so large a sum of money on my account by the
country whose interests they were bound in duty to pro-
tect ;- that the British Government, in consideration, of such
allowance,' released the French Government from and in,
dem sified it against any future demand from me on ac-
count of my lost property ; that subsequently, by an Act
of the Parliament of the United Kingdtim, commissioners
were empowered to examine and deter Mine the amount due
to registered claimants, but not to call in question their
right if claiming, which had already been admitted by the
interested party, the French. Government, which had paid a
large sum of money on that account ; that in my case, such,
examination has not taken place,—such investigation has
not been made; but, on the contrary, when the English
commissioners had removed to London, and had the whole
control in the settlement of the claims, and France hash
allowed the hinds, and the British Treasury had become
interested in the surplus, then my right of claiming at all
is totally denied : and this by the vary same parties through,
whose representations and exertions the French Government
bad been compelled to make the allowance for that claim.
That the award made against me was made an mis-
construction of some of the vouchers, in the absence of the
most essential evidence, and on a statement represented to
form part of a dced which was struck out before it was
signed.

" An award made on such grounds cannot on any ground
of common sense or justice, or any sound reasoning, be al-
lowed to stand good, whatever legal technicalities it may
have to support it. It will be perhaps observed, why were
these statements not made at the appeal. I have already
mentioned the reasons that actuated my counsel to adopt
the course they have taken, though contrary to my feeling
on the subject, and my having been refuwi to make those
observations myself, on my petition far a re-hearing. The
course my counsel have taken, was one of my principal rea-
sons of complaint,- and the grounds in support of petitioning
for a re-hearing; is it not an evory-day practice in other
courts, to grant-re-hearings or new trials where justicv has,
not been duly administered, or where a suit has been lot
in consequence of the mismanagement of it by counsel ?
:And am I, because say counsel has taken a wrong view of
my case, to lose my property? Is Government to tali
advantage of such an incident, contrary to the spirit and
intentions of the treaties and conventions, and thereby be-.
nefit the nation at my 'expense, to my total ruin ?
"The French Government, who was the party paying,
has not taken any technical advaistagee to injure the inte-
rests of the British claimants, and therefore why should.
the English Government do so? The French Goveras
meat has acted honourably throughout in this Liminess, in
the spirit and sense of the treaty of 1814, and convention
of 1815, viz. to indemnify British subjects fex the .oases
they had sustained in France, during, area in consequence
of, the,revolution.
" The consequence is, that between two powerful Go-
vernments, both of which acknowledged at the outset sty
right to indemnifications I shall he deprived of all remedy ;
although that Qovernment which seized and confiscated
my property. makes .an allowance for it, which the other
aoeetionett, in the nature of a trustee for me, actually re-
ceiVes..
" I had always understood it to be a fundamental pre_
rogative of the subjects of this realm, which every English -
mansiuheritaoat his birth, to have his grievances investi-
gated and redressed ;—that in this happy. country, for
every wrung there is a remedy. I hope that at last in my
case this will be verified.
" I beg to call the attention of the Honourable Mem-
bers to this circumstance, that mine is by no. 'nails a
party question : it is only, whether an investigation of the
Case of an unfortunate individual ought to be granted, tok
escertaiu whether he has or has not been deprived illegally
• motufeetnhtaeofenouwold:siaiatilecoecowtuoendlt!niyvetshtiegaftete nmehytec:h,e EanndgllishshGouolsd,erbne..
" I understand that if the House should consent to grant
.found entitled to .the indemnification. I claim, a difficulty
might
arise as to how and oitt of what funds I could be in-
demnified ; but surely it is impossible, that for such a
reason, the House will refuse to afford me the only chance I
have left of obtaining justice. But I humbly submit, that the
Commissioners have acknowledged that there remains in their
bands a large surplus, out of which, if my case be as I repre-
sent it, my claim may be satisfied. But should another diffis
culty be suggested—naraely, that the Hon. House has nopower
over that surplat o; other funds alluded to,—then I humbly,
submit, that as ;lie surplus, according to the Act of Par-
liament of the 50th of Geo. 111. will he at the disposal of
the Lords of his Majesty's Treasury, and consequently ap-
Plietible to the use of the British nation, tote House might
grant to use, try' vote, a sum of money equiValent to what
the British Treasury has gained on account of the rejection
of my claini. Though the sum due So me is a large fortune
for an individual, yet, in relation to a nation, if is incon-
siderable; and I will venture to say, that there is not an
individual in these realms whp would not feel indignant at
ratlealcildaegfreeello,wby-
sathe
bp
trti,igoantnobd eitnthseufisotwizi,asulissoeeniit,ngthinehaiesinattroigtraeel orfruoirattiu.s
" Besides, should the surplus fund remaining in the
hands of, the Commissioners not be sufficient to satisfy
my claim, surely tte sum or sums which hive lately been
discovered by the Finance Committee to have been appro-
. .priased out of the funds paid by France to indemnity the
registered British, claimants under the convention of 18 lb,
to other piirposes.than they were intended for,, as well as
the funds. distributed. contrary to the convention of 1 s tss
and. 1818, and the 59th of George 111., c. 81, to the sup.
plerueutari claimants, they trot being acknowledged by

145116

‘10":,

the French Government, and owing what they have re-
ceived entirely to the generosity of the British Govern-
ment, ongkt in justice to refund, in order that I, a regi-
stered claimant, may be paid what is dne to me.
" Thee funds were destined for a specific purpose, and
ought not to have been appropriated to any other, as long
as there is any claim upon them, and all demands have not
hem fairly and justly examined anal adjudicated according
to the senile, meaning, and intention of said conventions.
Thera can exist no good reason why I, who have an incon
testible right to indemnification, under all points of view,
should be treated su harshly—should not only be cast on
unfair and unjust grounds, but even refused a fair inveeti-
gatiou of ray case, when at the saute time Government
indulges in generosity by indemnifying the supplementary
claimants, who, as it has already been observed, have for-
feited all right of claiming, and are not acknowledged by
the French Government as claimants out of the funds des-
tined to pay the registered claimants.
It has not been my intention in this address to make
aay attack upon individuals ; and I have therefore refrain-
ed as much as was in any power from making use of harsh
tar offensive expressions. My object has only been to put
Hen. Members in possession of fame and of some of my
grievances; so that every lion. Member may form art
opinion for himself, and not be led away by observations
which by possibility may be made for the purpose of re-
sisting the inveetigatlion I pray for. I have curbed my
feeling, and hope I have so tar succeeded, that no irritation
tar soreness of mind can be said to he evinced in nay state-
ments e and which, even had this been the case, might be
excusable, considering that they meet have emanated from
those very circumstances which I have been obliged to detail.
" I confidently hope that Hon. Members will take my
enfottnnate case into coasideration, and support any peti-
tion ; that means may be afforded me for having any evi-
dence examined, anal any ease fully and fairly inquired
into, either by granting me a Committee for that purpose,
any by revising and amending the Act of Parliament of the
59th of George M. c. Si., and thereby enabling the
Lords of his Majesty's Privy Council to do that justice to
toy case which it deserved, and which, from what was
said when it was last before thief tribunal, their Lordships
svauld gladly afford, if the Act of Parliament would allow
of it ; or by any other means which to your Honourable
House, in its wisdom, may appear ost advisable. But if
nothing else shonld be granted to ruem, I trust that at least I
may be allowed to be heard by Connie! at the bar of your
Honourable House.
" Let me, once more, entreat Hon. Members to bear in
mind, that I have a mass of evidence which has not been
examined; that technicality and ine.tter of form in law
only, have heretofore prevented the extraiaation of it ;
that this is nay last hope anal chance of redress, the conven-
tion of ISIS, having exeltnied me from all remedy agaiwt
France;—that if my claim ebeald, upon investigation, be
established, the British native will war suffer basin, heeause
the money taw, been paid by France fox ; , that if
»av claim should 00 proper investigation, not be established,
can then no more complain.
In soliciting the support of Hon. Memberß,-and
attenalance at the House on the 26th day of June, when
the ItiK. E. G. Stanley will Ranee for my petition, of
which a eaapy is inserted in the Appendix, to he referred to
a Select Committee, I have the honour to be your most
obedient and humble servant,
" London, May ea."

" DE BODE."
(erton THE f./JRNING ADVERTIMER.)
Mr, 'Michael Angelo Taylor will this evening
make a truing in the House of Commons, which
has for its object the censuring of the appropriation
of any public money without the content of par ia-
men t We know not whether this motion wilt, (~7
-will not, have a retrospective effect ; but it has ori-
vitiated in the appropriation of a quarter of a million
of money to the building of certain palaces and
gewgaws, of which the public entertain ;,Jo very
exalted idea; and which money ought either to 15,7,,y,e
remained in the Exchequer or to have been applied
to the further liquidation of the demands of the
claimants on France. The debate, if ,g,r im-
poetant, will, at all events, be interesting. Among
the orders of the day we also observe, that
the Tizport on die Hotel-keepers' Bill is to be
brought op (without auy of the obnoxious additions
which tier* lately introdkke into it, and which
caused it to be :brownout) ; an 4 that the Report
- on the Alehouse L;eensing Bill is to b,eforther con-
sidered. Respectin the former, the Liponsed
Victuallers need now entertain ao apprehensionc,--
The Committee of the trade is sufficiently on the
alert to detect any surreptitious attempt to convert
the Bill to the injury of the ntuneroan body which
they represent ; and even if they were not, we be-
lieve the Legislature is sufficiently 00 its guarri to
quash any such sinister de,iign, With regard to the
utter--we mean the Alehouse Licensing Bill—it
mnst take its course ; hut from the svirit already
e-vaned by the House of Commons, we do not anti,'
eipate the introduction of any clause with which the
.Licensed Vie.tuallers would willingly quarrel
IPEOM THE NEW TIMES.)
On the 29th November last, speaking of the Lon-
don University, we used the following words :—"
Is
It to be supposed that in London- and Westminster
there are slot friends enough of the Established
Church to raise as large a sum as has been already
raised by the Dissenters hi those cities? Three
hundred thousand pounds, if we recollect aright,
the sum that has been raised by the patrons of the
New University. One hundred pouLds each, from
three thousand individuals, will make up the sum re-
quired for an ample and efficient antidote to cise dif-
fidence it tends to generate. We should also
earnestly recommend the immediate formation of a
Committee of the Bench of Bishops, to whom the
Church, in such a ease, naturally looks up as her
leaders and instructors. There are, in that venerabiP
body mot not lessdistinguished for their piety than
for their extensive learning; at-id who, apart
trom their high honours, are better epealified
superintend the erection of a great school, such
as that which is now building, than any, or than
all of the personages who have promoted it"—
On the first of December we spoke on the same
subject as follows :—" At the risk of marring time
effie;ency of the school of Upper Gower-street, of
thieniog even the class of the great master of poli-
tical economics, we call most seriously on the Clergy
and Laity—en the instructors and members of our
National Church—to come forward speedily and
vigorously, and unanimously, in its defence against
-.itch an institution." Such was our language
six months ago, and We feel an honest pride in
quoting, it, because. it was tite first invitation that
the press held out to the friends of the Church and
of the Constitution, to attempt that great work
whose auspicious commencement we this day lay
before our readers. As we anticipated ON
Tinars-
(lay, the Duke of Wellington was in the elatir.
And we may say without fear of contradiction,
that on no former occatioo, not even at the close
of that memorable slay on which lie Was the
honoured instrument in the hands of Providenre
of chasing despotism from the face of Europa,
did his Grace occupy a prouder station than
engaged in laying the foundations of a se-
rnimry which is destined to co-operate Avith the
thrice ,',,onotired names of Oxford and Cambridge,
in chasin4. from England the despotism of ignorance
and intidclits•: As we anticipated, also, the task of
following up tti; work which his Grace had begun
was left to one of tilt: most learned and most eloquent
of modern Bishops, the excellent Dr.Blorntield. The
result of this combination or' power and learning was
most gratifying. Twenty Thousand Pounds were
,:obscribed in the room, the largest alien we believe
ever collected in England at one meetisq-e-collected
too, for purposes which, though of the highe4 and
most lasting importauce, do not address themselves
to common men nor to common minds, and which '
are not fitted to, excite any of those mare vulgar
sympathies by which the mass of mankind are ordi-
narily influenced. his i‘lajesty has condescended to
tivnify his approbatiim of the new institution, awl
one of the resolutions passed at the Meeting, the
prayer of which will, we have every reason to sup-
pose, be complied with, solicits his Majesty to
take it under his special patronage, and to per-
mit it to be called the " King's College, Lon.. •
awn. n" We could have wished that a yet more
:specific appellation had been selected —and we doubt
not it will, in common parlance—that it had been
called " King George the Fourth's college." We
could have wished also that a resolution had been
passed for the appointment of the day on which the
foundation-stone should be laid. No day iii the
Calendar can .be conceived so appropriate as St.