The Sun.
London, England, 1827-03-14 00:00:00

EAST INDIA HOUSt-(THIS DAYS)

GENERAL QUARTERLY COURT.
A Court of Directors of the Honourable East India Company
was holden at twelve o'clock, to inquire into a proposition whe-
ther the present state of the Marine Constitution, at Bombay, was
such as the interest and honour o the Company required.
The Hon. Jr. STA NHOPE had observed from the public prints
that :t was understood he had, in giving notice of this
proposition intimated there was no public defences in India;
hut as he had travers xi every part of India, he could not be ig-
norant that there were both artificial and natural defences, and
that, indeed, every village was a defence ; but what he meant

was, that there was no community--no government.
Dr. GII.CHRIS: wished to give notice of a motion before the
regular business of the day was proceeded upon.
The CHAIRSIAN (Sir G. A. RosiNsoN) refused to allow the
business of the day to be interrupted.
Dr. GILCHRIST wished to know on what authority it was, that
notices of motions and preliminary observations could not be
made before the business of the day was gone into here, as well as
in the House of Commons, and in most other Courts in the king.
dom. If this prohibition was by any bye-law, or immemorial
usage, he would how to it, but he could not submit to the mere
ipse dixit of the Chairman.
The Citaitimax would allow the notice to be given, or the
motion itself to be brought forward, at the close of the business,
provided there was time.
Captain MaxriELD, one of those at whose requisition the
Meeting took place, begged in the outset to observe, that he
had received an anonymous letter, which he would read, though
perhaps this was not a proper place to take notice of such
a letter, yet as he knew not toe writer, nor had any means of
finding him out, and as this, indeed, was the second he had
received, he would state what it was. It stated that if he pro-
ceded in the course he was pursuing at the India How, he
would soon have cause to repent of it. If he followed
the example of Mr. Hume, he might find himself in
danger, from which be would not be able to extricate himself.
It was said that he was a good shot, but he was not to pride
himself on- that. The gallant Captain then proceeded to state
that he now :epeircrl to redeem his pled ;e of bringing before the
Court the insufficiency of the Bombay Marine Service, as it was
at present constituted. He himself had been in the service for no
less than an uninterrupted course of 25 years, and he would read
a passage from a letter, written in 1807, by Mr. Manning, the
Company's late Superintendent of the Marine at Bombay, and
that paragraph attributed the defect and deficiency to the want of
a regular code of laws governing the Constitution. It might
be said that the Court were anxious at one time to make
a code •of laws for the marine service, but that they could
not from many difficulties that existed ; but had the Directors
ever repealed the inconsistent orders they had made in 1804,
or framed any better regulations for having gnu boats,
or the accommodation of the crews of the boats that
were ? The only effect Mr. Manning's manly and honour-
able letter had, which was written in answer to one
written by the Court of Directors, was to have reduced his
influence in this House. Soon afterwards he retired in disgust ;
another superintendant had been appointed, and from that moment
till the present, the service had been in a state of degradation and
persecution. Your superintendent of Marines, ordered the birth
of a Midshipman to be taken away, (and God knows the birth
of a Midshipman is not enviable) and have the Midshipman
stowed into a cabin ; the Midshipman complained of the circum-
stance to Government, a Court Martial was appointed
to examine the complaint, but the Superintendent, being, a mili-
tary man, was acquitted, and his conduct met with the approba-
tion of this Court. But if the Superintendent were now alive,
he (Capt. Maxfield) would institute a new inquiry. It was
with reluctance he felt compelled to speak of the merits of
a body of men (the Marines) to which he himself belonged.
In 1799 a subscription was set on foot in this country, as a test
of public opinion respecting the French war ; a subscription
was also set on foot in the army and marines in India,
and Captain Selby, of the Bombay Marines, subscribed
his entire pay for that purpose.—(Hear, hear, hear.)—
There was no instance in which the standard of the Bombay
Marines was lowered to the enemy. He (Capt. Maxfield) re-
collected on one occasion at Java, when two English cruisers
captured two vessels of superior force, containing property to
the amount of 600,0001. belonging to the Dutch. It was
proposed to land them on the Prince of Wales's island, and to
divide the property, but Commodore Hayes, who commanded in
the station at the time, opposed that proposition ; saying, that

. .
Englishmen ought rather to consult their honour than their
interest, and tlla property, was restored. That man was not

. .
now alive, but if he belonged to any other service,
than that of the Bombay Marines, he would have been
distinguished for that act of patriotism. From 1812, down
to the present period, the expences of the Marine Establish-
ment, amounted to 1,200,000/. ; but the manner in which it has
been neglected, has induced a growth of piracy in the Red Sea,
which has caused a loss to Government of about another million.

If that million were expended on the establishment, it would give
satisfaction, and render it perfectly efficient for all purposes. The
Hon. Member, after a few other remarks, moved for the produc-
tion of Papers, containing Orders of the Court of Directors re-
specting the rules to be observed with reference to the Government
of the Bombay Marine Establishment.
Col. STANHOPE begged to second the motion of his Gallant
Friend (Captain Maxfield.) He had for a long time expected
that the evil system complained of by his Gallant Friend, would
have been brought under the notice of the Directors, and it was only
by a communication from his Gallant Friend Ir tely, that he learned
the subject was brought under consideration three years ago, but
had been disregarded. The Bombay Marine was the oldest
body in the Company's service, and was never known, as was well
observed by his gallant friend, to lower its flag to any enemy
whatever. By the regulations of 1795, a captain of the marine
ranked with a colonel of the army ; but subsequently the order
was changed, and captains in the n.arine, only ranked with majors
and captains in the army. On one occasion this order of things,
led to a foolish circumstance. Captain Hayes and his lady, and
some other officers, when at i:laner with the Governor-General,
were ranked as colonels in the army. This set the Pro-
prietors on fire, and they wrote home to the Directors, com-
plaining of the circumstance, an after the latter had pondered
over the matter, what did they do? They did not censure the
' Governor-General nor this amiable Lady, but they uncommo-
dosed the Commodore (Hayes).—(Loud laughing.)—This was
not a subject for laughter, when they recollected that the
Gallant Commodore's brow was covered with scars in their service,
and he had sacrificed one eighth of one sixteenth part of six hundred
thousand pounds. The Gallant Colonel then went on to com-
plain that there -,,as no martial law in the Bomt:.; Marine; that
they we:e sometimes ruled by the Company's regulations, sometimes
by those of Isis Majesty's marine, and most frequently subjected
to arbitrary rule. He complained, with his Gallant Friend,
of the practice of placing the Captains of East Indiamen over ves-
sels in the Bombay marine. The fact, however, was, that the Bom-
bay marine was not represented on the other side of the bar,
though the Merchants were. He therefore hoped that the
Honourable Chairman would, from his high sense of justice
and honor, speedily turn his attention to this subject, and re-
dress the grievances complained of: otherwise it would be
better for them to do away with the Bombay Marine altogether.
to pension the seamen who had long served them and fought their
battles, or to allow them to enlist in his Majesty's Marine.
Sir JOHN DOYLE thought the best plan would be to submit the
whole matter to the Court of Directors.
The CHAIRMAN felt highly gratified by the proposal made by
the Gallant General. It was not true that the Directors hail
neglected the Bombay Marine. On the conti ary, they were most
anxious to promote its welfare ; and he had the satisfaction to say,
that his Majesty's Marine had zealously concurred with them for
that purpose. He gave due praise to Lord Melville, for his atten.
tion to the naval arrangements in that quarter ; and observed,
that the object of the motion was to criminate (whether un-
justly or not, he would not at present say), the conduct of the
late Superintendant of Bombay.
After some observations from Sir C. FORBES and other Pro-
prietors, the original Motion was negatived, and an Amendment
proposed by the Chairman was carried.

The letters from Oporto are to the Ist inst. They
state that the rebels are in possession of Tras-os-Montes, and have
posts within thirty-five miles of Oporto ; that the English Gene-
ral has thought proper to halt his army at Coimbra, so that Oporto
is still left open to the inroads of the rebels. The English resi-
dents give these details, with warm remarks on the neglect of the
English property in that place by the Portuguese Government.—
It is believed that General Clinton is under controul, otherwise
they would not be left exposed to a sudden inroad of a lawless
banditti.

Accounts are in town from Scotland, stating that
some extensive forgeries of bills and notes have been committed,
and the bills circulated at Arbroath, Dundee, and their vicinity.
If the amount we hear mentioned, viz., 200,0001., does not far
exceed the truth, it will be one of the most extraordinary in-
stances of fraud that has ever occurred, considering hOw circum-
scribed the sphere is, and the intimate knowledge possessed by the
manufactures of each other's transactions in business. The indi-
vidual supposed to have been chiefly concerned in the fabrication
of the bills has absconded.