Star.
London, England, 1830-05-20 00:00:00

TO THE EDITOR OF THE STAR.

I Sin - Your paper of yesterday contains ;just eneotnivat upon the
naval administration of His Royal Highness the D,.ke of CLA-
RENCE, while Lord High Admiral of England.
Your statement, however, with ulna to his removal from that
office, is not correct. His Royal Highness neither was, nor could
be, summarily dismissed, the office being held by patent, and not
during pleasure. lam well aware that the impression made by the
change on the public mind at the time, was in perfect conformity
with your representation; but that is a circumstance which renders
its correction the more important. It is due, not only to his Royal
Highness, but also to the minister charged with such want of deli.
cacy and respect to the presumptive heir to the throne. The real
facts of the case are these :.—The powers of Lord High Admiral_
an office which had lain dormant for upwards of 100 years. ace of
great extent, nr,d totally independent of the Minister. It was re-
vived by Mr. CANNING in favour of his Royal Highness, not
only on account of the merits of the illustrious individual, but be.
cause he expected such an associate would confer strength and
splendour upon his administration.—The Duke of WEL Ltworow,
on the contrary, on his succeeding to office, felt himself sufficiently
strong in the Aristocracy, and viewed with a jealous eye the patro-
nage with which the Lord High Admiral was invested. That pa-
tronage had been distributed by his Royal Highness strictly accor-
ding to his ideas of individual merit, but the Minister wanted it
for a very different purpose. He wanted It for the extension of
Parliamentary influence, and not, as exercised by the Royal Duke,
for the reward of merit alone. The Minister had another object,
but one of minor importanee,--the discontinuance of the imptove-
ments which the Royal Duke was making in the Navy—referred to
in your paper of yesterday—plainly :hews that they did not exactly
suit the taste of the Minister, although, I believe, in the Navy
there is only one opinion respecting their value. Under these cir.
cumstances it is not surprising that a representation should have
been made in the highest quarter, complaining of the abstraction of
so large a portion of the patronage usually enjoyed by the Minister,
and of the necessity of Its restoration, to enable him to fill his sta-
tion with effect ; and those who have marked the devotion of his
Royal Highness to his illustrious relation and Sorerign from early
life, will not suspect him of a disposition to throw any (lA.:slides •
in the way of his Government. There are no sacritic:s that lt:•
would not cheerfully make rather than place himself in such a ale
tuatlon, and therefore the moment his Royal Highness b.:canie ac-
quainted with the objection to the revival of the office which he
then held, he tendered his resignation.—lt was a purely voluntary
act, to which he was moved by affection for his illustrious relative,
devotion to his Sovereign, and a sense of what was required by his
position in the State, as presumptive heir to the throne. That the
change either was, or could be, grateful to him, I do not assert. His
Royal Highness's merits, in readily tendering his resignation, would
fall short of what they really are, had that step been taken without
regret. Indeed thedeep interest which he has always felt in the
welfare of the navy, his own profession, to which he is so ardently
attached, will not allow the world to suppose that his resignation
was not accompanied with much pain, but still it was a purely vo-
luntary act. There was no quarrel between his Royal Highness
and the distinguished individual who benefitted by the change. It
left no angry feeling in thribreast of his Royal Highness, who, I
believe, gave that individual credit for being actuated equally with
himself by a sense of duty. Those who recollect the generous hos.
pitality displayed by his Royal Highness while in office, may easily
conceive the great expense in which the preparations made to fill it
with appropriate splendour, must have involved him, and which
could only be retrieved by its possession for a considerable
length of time. These preparations and outfit, including a service
of plate, amounted to a very considerable sum. His Royal :High-
ness thus retired a debtor from office, on his entrance into which,
such was the excellence of the economy observed in his domestic es.
tablishment, he was perfectly free from debt. There is one circum-
stance which may soften the regret universally excited in the navy
by his Royal Highness's resignation, and reconcile the public to the
postponement of the plans which he designed for its improvement.
So indefatigable did he prove in office, his constitution must have
soon suftred from such incessant labour and anxiety, while he has
since enjoyed, in a happy domestic circle, every blessing that can
contribute to the preservation of his health.
May 20.

The Rev. Wm. Lloyd, of Holycross Glebe, Thuds',
will succeed to the living of Pallas Green, vacant by the
death of the Rev. H. Burgh.
The Right Rev. Dr. Egan presided at a meeting of
the gen.ry and landed proprietors in Killarney on Wed-
nesday, when 1001. was subscribed, to purchase provi-
sions for the poor of that district.
Count de MOLTK E, the Danish Minister, arrived in
town on Tuesday, from Denmark. The Count attended
at the King's Palace, St.James's, yesterday, to make his
inquiries after the King's health. _ _

The collector of excise in Cork has refused taking the
old copper coin from the merchants and traders of the
city in pat payment of excise duties.
INCREASE OF POPERY.—At the meeting of the So-
ciety for promoting the Religious Principles of the Re-
formation, held in London on Friday, Captain Vernon,
R.N. son of the Archbishop of York, mentioned, as an
instance of the increase of Catholicism, that he was ac-
quainted with two families in the city of York, consisting
of twenty-two persons, who had recently conformed to
the Catholic religion.
Tne committee appointed in relation to the police and
nightly watch of the city of London have had several
meetings recently, it being the general wish of the inha-
bitants that some very important change should take place
in the system, now that the operations Ender the new act
have been extensively carried into effect through the
county. Some occurrences of rather a curious descrip-
tion have taken place, and given rise to a good deal of
conversation amongst the members of the Corporation ;
and it appears that the division which has exhibited itself
is not likely to be removed or compromised without an ap-
peal to the general body of representatives.
TnE RoY AL SOCIETY.—It would appear that the
" pressure of the times" is felt by this learned body, as
well as by many of his Majesty's subjects, there being
many of the Fellows who are in arrear, as regards their 1,
subscriptions. Contrary to the usual mode of payment
adopted by most other scientific societies, viz. by yearly
subscriptions, the charter of the Royal Society provides
that each Fellow shall pay one shilling per week towards
its support. Many of the members have neglected to make
good their subscriptions, and the Council, following, pro-
bably, the example set by many tradesmen in different
parts of the country, who do not choose to run the risk and
expense of a law-suit, of placing the names of their cus-
tomers who are deficient in their payments for goods pur-
chased, have resolved to pursue nearly a similar course.
A Wilms been prepared, and placed in the meeting-room
of the Royal Society, containing the names of those mem
bers who have forgot their engagements, and among these
are several distinguished noblemen and commoners. The
subscription, it is thought, in these times, is of eonse-

quence.
THE Taucx SYSTEM.—A few days ago a grinder in
this town was induced to take a watch and other trinkets
for work done from his employer. The watch, for which
he was to pay 31. 4s. was not long in his possession be-
fore it was necessary to carry it to a watch-maker. The
grinder asked what it was worth. Twenty-five shillings
was the reply. We are really surprised that the work-
men should submit to be cajoled in this way.—Sheffield
Iris.