Star.
London, England, 1809-03-02 00:00:00

FALMOUTH, FEB. 27.

Sailed his Majesty's ships h Sam a and the N•NPAREIL on a
cruise. Arrived a French shooner from Rochelle, for Martinique,
with provisions, prize to his Majesty's ship 'hew's ; a French
brig (prize) is now making tor, theharbour, she is supposcd armed
from her appearance.—Wind E.
PLYMOUTH, FEBRUARY tt B.*

Came in the. Goode Werwagting, BRNTR, from London ; Nord
Star, QUDZRDEY E, from London ; Famera, GARBUTT, from Fal-
mouth for Corunna, but now bound to London; Wilberforce,
DRISCOLL, from Dublin, with provisions for this port ; Good
Statesman, GuiLLE a, from Exeter and this part, bound to &Lica
and Gibraltar, laden with sugar and other goods. In going front
Plymouth Pool last evening, to proceed on her voyage, she struck
against an anchor, or some other hard substance, and immt.diately
filled with water, by which accident, great part of the sugar will
be lost, and the other goods damaged —The San Josef Spanish
brig, from South America, with sugar and cocoa, met with a simi-
lar accident, and her cargo is much dasuagrd,in the Ground Tier.

MI

om Brest, of eight sail of the line Rear-Admiral Ds COIXCET'S flag. has ise;iii7i;itTecifi;n the
TONNANT, of 84 guns, to the Dtm.fa, of 38 gm- s. in which ship .
le Rochefort, of three sail of the
kb said he is going to the Brazils. Caine in the QUEBEC, of 36
ins, and two frigates ; and the guns. from Portsmouth.
ail of the line and six frigates, are Sailed theo Intelligent and
,Encounter gun brigs, on a cruize;
and the Dolphin,
44,
Capt.
Watson, with
newith neat® 5 marlin's
on
e British squadron from off Brest board, for our fleet in the lArest Indies.
PORTSMOUTH, FEB. 28.
listing of 15 sail of the line, are in s
ailed his Majesty's sloop Go 'AA ws, . u ith a convoy for
NAAR, of 80 guns, and the AMELIA, Guernsey. t 4
MAaCH I.—Atrived the *Milani Dent, Muss osr ; and the
t off three frigates of the L'Oriettt Vicissitude, Gociosta, for Jamaica, both from the Do wng
riven them into Bas Roads,
.where Sailed his Majesty's ship Racoon, on A cruize; Tatl.LONAa.nd .l
$
t} em, wit 4 the hope of capturts
' g Trtmcd"cotri-vioory the Downs„.
sHi...M,.:.l.estr_s•brig Limner. -is ap-
. r 1 I for the Dorms.—V! yaS. W.
•

. -
The Seventh and Eighth Reports of the Com-
.
miasioners of Kinky Enquiry have been presented
to the House of Commons. From the former of these,
which relates•to the Office of the Secretary at War,
we. shall.extract some part of the more important con-
tents.—lt appears, that at some time prior to the year
1796, a certain office, unsanctioned by Parliament,
and unknown to the Legislature, bad sprung up, and
diverged from the regular war department, entitled
the Foreign Office. It was the supposed business of
this new establishment, to inspect and regulate the
accounts of foreign corps in the ilritish service ; and
it consisted, in the first Instance, of an Inspector Ge-
neral (Mr. E. J. A. Woonsoan, with a salary alto
gether amounting to £1,295 per annum), -and- four
clerks under him. In 1801, Mr. E. J. A. WOODFORD
resigned, with an allowance of £5OO per annum on
the half-pay establishment.; and, after some other
changes in cilia' Foreign Office, it was suppressed
(with the exception only of the situation of Accoun-
tant General in it), at the Peaceof 1802.
On the breaking out of the present war, it was re-
established, with Mr. RALPH WOODFORD at the head
of it, at an expence to the country, in one year, of
£6140. This, then, being the pay, it is necessary to
add, that the business done for it is stated to be the
same, in relation " to the Foreign Corps, as is tran-
s sacted in the War-Office with regard to British
" Corps ;" or, in other words, there have been in
reality two War. Offices, and two War Secretaries,
the one domestic, and the other foreign ; of the exis-
tence of one of which the country and the constitn-
tion were alike ignorant ; and it appears further, in
confirmation of this statement, that in many instances'
this newly-created office assumed powers totally in-
dependent of the old one, tome of its accounts being
" never submitted to the Secretary at War." In
other instances the colony, which was thus settled
upon our resources, has assumed even greater
powers than the parent state ; Mr. RAPER, the first
Assistant to the Accountant, receiving an allowance of
501. per annum for a certain service, for the discharge
of which no similar allowance is made in the War-
Office ; and when Mr. WOODFORD had himself sub-
mitted to General FITZPATRICK the propriety of dis-
continuing certain allowances, " the propriety
in con-
" sequence of an unexpected change in the Office of
" Secretary at War, declined making any alteration ;"
neither can we find that he left behind him in that of-
fice any. memorandum for the information of his suer
cessor upon this point. The authority of some Secre-
tary at War was likewise had for fitting up and fur-
nishing " that part of the office-house where Mr.
" RALPH WOoDFORD and his servant reside, though
64 it does not appear that the residence of the Chief
44 Clerk in the office-house is at all requisite towards
44 carrying on the business of the department.
The Committee next inquires what checks were
devised or practised in the expenditure of the public
money entrusted to the Foreign Office, while Mr. G.
J. A. WOODFoRD was at the head of the Department,
with a salary increased to 26901. per annum, hestates,
that he had power to draw on " the Agent of Foreign
" Corps every two months for the pay and probable
expence of the corps under his inspection ; and he
44 employed whom he pleased to negociatehis bills, and
46 when the difference of exchange was in favour of
66 England, he gave credit.for it in his accounts. It
ee does not appear, however, that he sent home any esti.
44 mates to justify his tills ; but he states, that by com.
munications. madeto the War-office orAgent, either
" by himself orbyhis direction, the War-Office was
44 always enabled to know that the sums'drawn for did
" not exceed the wants of the service ; but he does not
" recollect that lie ever staid the balances in his hands.—
" These, however, he thinks never exceeded 10,0001.
64 except when he left the corps on the eve of their
" march through Germany, at which time the utmost
" extent of the balance was 25,0001. and this be left
66 in hts banker's hands, sukeet to the orders of his
44 Deputy, Mr. GAHM:see, who applied it in course to
" the use of the corps. Neither does Mr. \Vomit-our)
" recollect that he ever sent home any cash account of
" the money which he had drawn for. It appears,
" therefore, on the whole, that those checks and precautions,
" which are usually adopted in the cases of sfficers entrust-
" ed with such large powers of money transactions, were
" pot observed in leis case." The sums drawn by Mr.
WOODFORD, from the time of his appointment in Au-
gust 1794, to the time of his return to England in Sep-
tember-1796, orof his ceasing to receive his allowances
as Inspector General in December following, amount-1
ed to 461,1391. 10s. I Id. But the most singular part
of the transaction is this, that the final auditing of Mr.
Wtxmeoen's accounts is, (we cannot call it entrusted
to) but performed by, or said to be performed by a
Captain Fov, a person who held no situation whatever
la any branch of the War-Ojfice, who had no powers or in-
struction: whatever, for Me discharge of this most impor-
tant duty, and who himself says, that he had a mere
" verbal authority from Mr. WINDHAM, to compare
" the vouchers with the expenditure of Mr. Worm-
" sonn!s accounts ;" and. having doneso, his certificate
was " the foundation of all Mr. W 001)Ft:imp's final dis-
" charges." Whether or no these charges ought to have
been hastily granted will be evident, when it is known
that Mr. E. \VooDFoRn, being obliged, after two years
resistance, tore-producehisaccounts, it was discovered
that the whole of his bills, as well as those of Mr.Cotrt-
nlaint, his deputy, were credited at their sterling
amount, although the payments took place chiefly on
the Continent, where the bills must necessarily have
been negociated" against foreign coin; and that neither
•' the mode nor the rate, according to which the vari-
ous denominations of foreign coin were procured, or
46 expended by him, can be at all ascertained 6.r his ctis-
." charge," the Secitcraity at Wan, only certifying in
general terms, (and that only in four instances, and
omitting it in seventeen) thatMr.Woobroan'scharges, I
including the loss and commission on the bills, havebeen
admitted by him as proper charges against the public.
It appears farther that an army agent (Mr. ROBERT
Loma) being likewise appointed for the foreign regi-
ments in the year 1791-, the public money was issued
to him (contrary we believe to law), not for specific,
but for general purposes. The sums which passed
through this man's (Lukin's) hand during the seven
years of his agency, amounted in the whole to
And at the time of his resignation in
1801, although he had twelve thousand pounds of the
public money, he only paid over. Iwo thousand to his
successor, retanaing .the other ten thousand pounds
for dome yeas* afterwards, wheu, exclusive of risk,

"'^'^'-'lr

,pen it Old- assotest to one tiled
saw.- pounds. We have before slated,
that -the-money was not icstiettO Evicns for scifie,
but for general purpoies: bit .this is not all—Mr.
LI:KIN having been called 'upon in the year 1808 to
produce further documents, replies, that" numerous
" payments were made by him under either VERBAL or
IMPLIED Authorities from-the War-Office; and for a
44 considerable number of these payments • made by
44 him in this manner, he bad afterwards obtained
44 covering letters from the War-Office."
Mr. DISNEY succeeded to Mr. Lulus, in the gene-
ral foreign agency, who never gave security for the
due execution 'of his office till some months after his
appointment; when _Mr. YORKE became Secretary at
War. The emoluments of this Gentleman appear,
unlike those of his predecessor, to have been defined.
Mr. Noouten having been appointed by Mr.
YORKE, in Iso 1 , Agent to the Army of Conde,
and the Swiss corps, is stated to have retained in
his hands from that year to 1805, an average sum
(which was paid over to him on the commencement
of his duties) of £4OOO, without, in the intermediate
time, making the slightest mention of this or any
other balance in his favour, in the quarterly esti-
mates, what be delivered into the War-Office : but
it is stated, by way of set-off, that subsequent to the
repayment of this sum of £4OOO, the balance was
against Government at one. time in 1805 to the
amount of £l4OO ; and at other different periods he
was likewise in advance, from not receiving the full
amount of the estimates in time to make the payments.
Of the mode in which public money is reduced by
the expences of agency, the following instance may
serve as a specimen. A Colonel SONTAG was, in
1806, appointed Inspector-General of Foreign Offi-
cers abroad, receiving allowances from England."
His appointment on this head is calculated at £1420
per annum ; but the whole of the money distributed
is only about 49000 per annum; and out of this Mr.
DIMNEY, whose emoluments we have stated to be de-
fined, receives likewise a per centage of 3i, therefore
the whole of the expences of distribution amounts in
this instance to " above £l9 per cent. en the money
" distributed." It is true Colonel SONTAG has the
misfortune to have another office of Paymaster, &c.
the gain resulting frc:m which is not more than one
and three quarters per cent, on the money paid ; and
he considers his pay as Inspector-General in consi-
deration of former and confidential services ; but, as
the Committee justly observes, a pretence is hereby
created, for continuing the same pay and emolu-
" ments to his successor for the same service, who
" may not have a similar claim to such an extra be-
" neht."
The Report concludes with a statement to the fol.-
lowing
effect : that in this establishment of Foreign',
department in the War Office, Mr. RALPH WOOD-
FORD 'had retired upon half-pay fiom the office of first
Clerk, whose duties Mr. JAMES LUKIN had undertaken
in addition to his own as Chief Accountant, but with
the additional pay of 10s. a day ;. and • that another
clubbing both of duties and salaries had taken place
in the person of Mr. Raven, the first Assistant in
the Accountant's department. Upon which it is
justly observed, that the circumstance of one man's
being thought equal to the execution of two offices,
is a proof that one of these. was at first unnecessary :
and that it is not usual to grant half-pay to Officers
who retire from a temporary employment.
The general recommendation of the Ccunmitee is as
follows : " That the Foreign Department be discon-
tinued, and that the general business of these corps be
carried on at the War Office ; that the examination of
the current accounts be transferred to the Comptrollers
of Army Accounts, ..as we have recommended in
our sixth Report in respect of the accounts of British
Regiments, and that the accounts in arrear be exa-
mined at the War-Office, under the usual controul."
They observe farther in the conclusion, that " in the
distribution of money voted by Parliament for the
service of the foreign corps, there has not only been
an unnecessary number of appointmenti created for
the purpose, but that the mode, in other respects, is
greatly deficient in simplicity and economy." The
Committee then proposes a number of useful regula-
tions, upon which we shall only observe, that they
are all prospective only---:none of them have reference
to the punishment of past offences, or the recovery of
the public mener. Shall one man, on retiring from
office, deliver only a sixth of the balance in his hands
to his successor, and retain the other 5-6 tbs till the
simple interest upon it amounts to 15001. ? And shall
not even a civil process be instituted against him for
the recovery of this sum ? Shall another keep an un-
touched balance of . 40001. for years unmentioned,
while lie is every quarter delivering in estimates upon
which fre,h money is issued into his office,*and RO re-
tribution be enforced ? A thousand other questions
of this nature occurred to us on reading the Report
before us, which we must omit for the present. In
prospective reguLt tior s we h.,s,e no faith whatever—
they are as useless as it would be to tell the wind
where to blow, or the tide how far to roll. Nothing
can or will prevent the people from being plundered,
but the dread of retrospective vengeance.

GRISDALE, the brave fellow of the 10th Light Dra-
goons, who so gallantly took the French General LE.. •
FETA' RE prisoner, is now at Brighton.—The sword and
pistols of the above-captured General were sent to his
Royal Highness the Prince of WALES.
On the day appointed for the General Fast, in
Scotland, the Rifle Company, and the Forres Com-
panies of the Morayshire Local Militia, voluntarily
assembled and paraded there, dressed in military
mourning, and afterwards marched with muffled
drums, to attend Divine Service, in Forres church,
as a testimony of the high respect they entertain for
the memory of General Sir JOHN MOORE, who fell
so gloriously in the service of his country.
Although the' operations of 'Bonaparte in Spain
appear, at present, in a palsied state, a whole army,
in this country, enlisted under the banner of Fortune,
are now actively on the alert. The ireat Lottery
campaign, which will be decisiv,ely determined next
Month, will admit, indeed, of no delay' in preparing
for is important events; and it is bUt. just towards
adventurers, to say, that they are now seizing the
earliest opportunities to qualify themselves for partici?
pacing of its numerous and- superior benefits.
BarriSii NAVY.—The Report to this day is,. Ships
of the Lire at Sea, 85—Of from 50 to -44 guns, ICI--
. Frigates 120—Sloops ' 104--Brigs 23-I.—Total 00
-I.n commission 849.—Grand Total, including those
• in ordinary, repairing, building, &c. 1141.

gewouswormim■"
• AfILITifRr INQUIRr. sand five hundred
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