Star.
London, England, 1812-04-09 00:00:00

TO TEE EDI7Y4I OF 7HE S7'lR.

Slie—The public attention to various important
*natters connected with and dependent on a Renewal
of the East India Company's Charter, having been
• much excited by the proceedings of two Special Ge-
neral Courts of Proprietors, held at the India House
on the 25th ultl and 2,1 inst. I trust you will readily
a into.your Pawe the follovAng observations,
which a perusal of t.papers, containing the commu-
tireationelhat hive tilted 'Place between his Majesty's
Government and the Court of-Met-Writ hive given
riii•;to i" , " •
It is impOisibie for any person at all conversant
the affairs 'of British India, to from the true-.
**facts and arguments au • trdly and ably 'staid in
the letter from the Chairman' and Depni'y Chairinai
• of tht Coital of Directors, to the Right non: Rostirt
Dormas,' Alined. the 13th January, 1809. The dari.
gets to te apprehended from.laying open t 6 the pub-
lic the trade to. India are clearly pointed out by the
Directors ; and although their reasoning on thiasub-
ject PLIV :!preAr inconclusive to some persons, I do
not consider their statement in the least exaggerated.
It cannot be doubted that the interests of the nation
requite the Company's Charter to be renewed on the I
prosciples of the present system of Indian Admini-1
'vessels, though some modification thereof may be
aecened essentially necessary : but it is not my design •
fete consider the matter in a commercial point of view, I
*T.4I intend to discuss the numerous topics which!
a measure of such vast importance to the vital inte- ;
rests of,the -kingdom comprises. I propose merely
fo native a few sire stances affecting the honour
and interests of the ''East India Company's army. I
The 'Cosset of Directors are perfectly correct in
their assertion. that the Indian :limy has produckd
a body of Officers of high military spirit, and of very
distinguished skill imtt.conduct ipd in addition
ihereto, it may be safely averred, that no gritty in the
world possesses better soldiers. They have rendered
the most invaluable services to the State. The records;
of Government bear ample testimony to this af firma.!
fir n. Their honourable fidelity, their memorable
and exemplary conduct during six years of the most
calamitous and trying times, from 1782 to 1788,
whell they took the field in long arrears of pay, and i
*ere frequently paid in paper that bore a discount
LT4O to 70 per cent. stand unparalleled in military
41.
This Itutly.acquired character cannot be perina-
sternly affected b y the neent seditious acts of a portion of
the Indian army, unfortunately misled in an evil hour,
and goadedtoresistancebytheinflexible austerity of an
individual, and the intemperate exercise of. arbitrary
authority. As well Might the high reputation of the
British Navy be consigned to eternal obloquy for the
conduct of a part of it in the year 1797, or the well-
earned fame of his Majesty's forces be for ever sullied
by the excision of the sth Light Dragoons from the
British Army.
..
That the Indian Army haS deierVed well of its
country no one can deny, and therefore it is not too
much to expect that its merits will be duly attended
to, as well by the Court of Directors as by his Ma-
jesty's Government, for there are not only jealousies
and dissentions existing between the King's and Com-
pany's branches of the military service inladia, but also
among the different establishments of the Company's
forces. No substantial argument can be advanced for
the great. difference in pecuniary allowances to various
ranks anch tations of Officers and men ( particularly the
General Officers on the Staff) under the Presidencies
of Bengat, Madras, and Bombay ; kit many incon-
trovertible reasons can be adduced for placing the
whole en an equal footing ; yet do the East India
• Company pertinaciously adhere to this partial crooked
policy, to the evident and material detriment of the
. public service.
It appeari that the once intended measure of con.
solieiating the Indian army with the King's troops,
has been relinqiiished by Ministers, and the termer is
to c. ntinue under the Company's controul, subject
to certain regulations of minor importance, hereafter ,
to be determined on. Whatever military arrange.'
ments may• become a topic for future consideration,
it is indispensably requisite fur the conciliation of all '
' parties, and the welfare 'of the State, that an equality
of allowances should be established throughout every •
rank and station ( proportionate to their relative duties)
in the King's and Company's forces set ving in India;
and in order to remove the jealousies and divisions
noticed by Mr. Dundas and the Directors, it will bei
necessary to lay open to both branches of the army in 1,
India (King's and Company's) the benefit of all Com-I
=ands and Staff appointments, excepting such as are
peculiarly attached to each respective branch, and the
duties, of «hich cannot be indiscriminately exercised

by tither. Further to ensure this great desideratum, it
. will be requisite to abrogate the invidious, unjust,
and impolitte restriction on the rise of the Company's
Officer, which is now in force: At present he
• cennot attain a higher rank than that of Major.
General, and is excluded from appointment to
the command of that army in which he has been bred.
up. Good GOD ! how derogatory to the character and
feelings of a soldier f Place his Majesty's Officers in
- a similar humiliating situation—then, how would
THEY feel ? Again, what military honours await the
Company's Officer—he is not admitted to the enjoy-
ment of any, save that of bearing his Majesty's com-
mission, 'which confers on him equal rank with the
King's Officer, as far as that of Major-General. Here
is a check to his tnilitary career, and he remains un-
noticed by his arivereign, when he Las rendered the'
most essential services to his country. A red•ribband-
was never known to cross hie shoulder, although it has
decorated the person of one of the Company's ser-
vants. The Company's Officer has but little incite-
ment to pursue his profession through life—his aim
is, theretore, to relinquish it as soon as convenient,
and to accomplish this object, he rests all his hopes
in pecuniary advantages, which are every day be-
coming less and less. Under such a system .it is really
wonderful, that the Indian army thpuld have ac-
quired and maintained so eminent a reputation ; but
it is high time that the Officers attached to it should
-hive in view some other spur to professional exer-
tion than mere lucre--home Other reward than self-
gratification, emanating from an innate sense of ho-
nour—and as the renewal of the Company's charter
will afford a favourable opportunity for placing their
• tble and honourable basis, I
I Kill Sir, your very
ASIATICIie

COPIEWT-G4RDEIV THEATRE.

The histoecal play dieter Cesar continues to be
repeated, and yesterday evening attracted a crowd.
ed house. The revival of this piece must be pecu-
liarly gratifying to all, who are fired with the didri:
amor itatria, as well as to the admirers of the legiti-
mate drama. The sentiments which breathe through
the whole, display that noble love of country,freedom,
and hotiour, for which the Roman name was so dis-
tinFuished.
The subject is replete with strength and dignity •
and the ardour of patriotism, that glowed in the
Winds cf those—" who lov'd the name of honour,
mote .64.11 they fear'd death," has been inimitably
pooittayid by Shakspeare, whose inspired muse felt,
and give the whole force of these great examples in
her niaBic strains.'
Our immortal Bare has been happier in the execu-
tion of this play, as;a piece of uniform, and elevated
writing, than in any other of his works ; and this
seems naturally to have arisen from the correct idea,
and bold conception, which he had of the Roman
character, ever firm, even, and exalted, and to which
he adapted that appropriate style, which displayed the.
lull energies of his genius. Purer patriotism cannot
exist; than that of Brutus, who slew his friend for
the good of his country, and our great author has
done ample justice to him in the benevolence and he-
roic coolness, with which. be has marked his actions.
Cassius has a daring spirit, but it is the prey of
envy ; and Marc Antony is the eleant master of
oratory. As the characters are Noble Romans, so
should the persons representing them possess a com-
manding figure and features 't as every line is well
written, so should it be spoken with distinctness, and
accompanied with grace and action. It would be
in vain to expect to see this play acted with all the
requisites it demands, and it is to the credit of the
Managers of Covent Garden Theatre, that they have
consulted the British taste, by its performance.
In point of splendour in scenery, and chasteness
in the decoration of Shakspeare's plays at this
Theatre, the Managers deserve, and have obtained,
general praise t the chief dramatis persona are often
well supported, though they shine but as so many
great luminaries to shew the contracted littleness of
the surrounding stars. To the enacting of Julirm
Casar this observation may be properly applied ; for
it cannot be otherwise, than a source of mortification
to the spectator, who expects to find an adequate re-
presentative of the Great Alia:, to behold him perso-
nated by Mr. EGEHTVS, whose voice is harsh, and in-
expressive of dignity, and merely one gloomy rant;--
nor could we distinguish the Roman hero in his figure
and action. We need no add, that, theatrically, he
died unlamented. KEMELE conceives the part of
Brutus extremely well, and delivers his oration, in
which lie justifies himself for the death of Cscsar, in a
very able and impressive manner. In the quarrel
with Cassius he is calm and deliberate : towards the
J, end of the piece, his voice assumes too much of the
; whine, in the exclamation of some melancholy Oh's I
I YOUNG performs Carrie: better than many pans, in
which we have seen him, and seems to feel the cha-
ractsr naturally; but he is sometimes rather too
tehement in his action. CHARLES KSMRLE was much
at home in Marc diaiony, and loi.ked the Roman
well his -speeches were distinctly given, and, with'
a bet it pains, might be rendered perfect. In the
oration over Czsar's body, be does not speak the
words " honourable men," in that taunting, ironical
way, in which they should be spoken ; and in other
pasts of it he is not sufficiently pudica: :
" Si vie me ttcre,dukneum est .
"i Primtun ipsi tit's"
For a single instaece, if the El ttr lines--
" Oh ! Judgment ! thou art fled to trivish brag,.
'• And into have lan their rrairn— bear with me,
" My heart is in the eon there wish Cauar,
And I mutt paUse, 'till it come back to me— -"
were delivered with any degree of pathos, the house
would have been dissolved in tears. Mr. C. lieensee
was not heart.htoken, and the spectators temained
unmoved. IVe hope the above maxim of Horace will
I be observed by him, and then—" tears, such as holy
angels shed," will flow from the eyes of those around
' hint. Mrs. Poweet. was interesting in Portia ; but
Mrs. WESTON looked like an austere abbess in Cal-
Vihurnia. The Soothsayer was well drest, and well
played by CHAPMAN.
I The Roman people were not so numerous, nor the
'voices so strong, as Shakspeare intended. The scenery
1 is grand, chaste, and beautiful ; and the architecture
'so well delineated, that the spectator may fancy him-
self in Rome. The buildings in the street-seene
convey a comet idea of the solid simplicity of the
Doric Order. ;Ole interior of Cxsar's palace displays
much regal splendour and beauty. In the scene
near the Capitol, some steps are imitated so naturally,
that they appear to be composed of real stone. The
Senate is as superb as valid be expected, and the
statues majestic and commanding : the chairs of
state, and decorations, are extnessely rich.

1 ' PEDESTEMNISM.--Tuesday morning Mr. Agar,
the celebrated pedestrian, undertook to go, by a cir-
, cuitous route, from his residence at -Kensington, to
Blackwater, in Hampshire, and return, making alto-
, gether a distance of fifty-nine miles, in the space of
eight hours and a half, for a stake of 200 gu;neas.—
The pedestrian started at &plight, dressed closely in
flannel, with light but thick shoes. and his legs bare.
He arrived at Ashford common (seventeen miles) in
two hours and ten minutes, and refreshed at Engle-
, field-green, twenty-one miles, in rive minutes less than
three hours from starting. The pedestrian continued
steadily at work until he did half of his journey in
four hours and four minutes. After being well
rthbed, Mr. Agar pursued his Herculean under-
taking, and did his seven miles an hour tolerably
true, although he was much distressed in the last
two hours, but he won the match in three minutes
within time. This is the greatest performance of
modern Jays.
A statement of the number of soldiers sentenced
to general service, and to transportation, by General
icoutti Martial in the last year, has just been pub-
I lishcd by girder of the House of Commons.--The list
includes the names of 65 convicts, of whoM 60 were
tried for crimes committed on foreign service and
sentence of death commuted; the remaining IS were
tried in Great Britain and lrelAndt all for repeated
Idesertion, and some for the supe.radded office of
tainting again.

LILY lINTBLLIGENCE.
COURT OF KING'S BENCH, APRIL I.

• SITTINGS 111.11 MS TEAM.
DRUMS OF .FORTUNE.-.-NESEIT v. swum
The ATTORMIZENERAL, for the plaintiff, stated,
that this was an action to recover £lO,OOO, under the
following circumstances:—The plaintiff, who resided
in the City, having, in the spring of 1809, dreamed
that four particular numbers in the then approaching
Lottery had been drawn prizes; applied to the .I.e.
fendant, who is a .Lottery-oilice-keeper, to procure
him two of them, namely, No. 111, and No. 27.--
The defendant undertook to procure them for him ;
and he called at the office repeatedly for them, but
without effect, though he was always told they should
be procured t he was to have half of No. 27, and
quarter of No. 111. At last, a few days before t;,e
drawing, he got the quarter of 111, but did not get
the other at all. No. 111, was drawn a blank, but
No. 27, was drawn a prize of gio,ooo. The plaintiff
upon this, considering that he had a right to demand
payment of that sum of the defendant, but having nu
evidence of the fact, was advised to file a Bill in
Equity. He did acccordingly file a Bill in Chan-
cery against him, and in his answer, he stated, that
he had undertaken to get the numbers in question
far the plantiff. The Bill and answer he would pro-
duce in evidence; and having done that, he should
submit that he had entitled himself to their verdict.—
The Bill and answer was then put in, and read ; the
answer acknowledged that the defendant had under-
taken to procure the numbers in question for the plain-
tiff; he did accordingly go to the proper office at
the Bank, and left a memorandum cf the numbers,
and paid the usual fee. The eincmorandnm, how-
ever, it appeared, had been mislaid, and the numbers
were disposed of to some other person; the quarter of
the ticket No. 111, by some means or other, however,
OA come into the office previous to the drawing or
the Lottery, and that was delivered to the plaintiff.—
The answer concluded by stating, that the defendant
had used every endeavour to procure that numbers,
but without effect.

Lerd ELLENBOROVGII here observed, that in his
opinion, the defendant had done all that, by his con.
tract, he had undertaken to do; lie had used every
possible means in his power to procure the numbers
in question, at least so be had sworn, and the Jury
were bound to believe him.

The plaintiff upon this intimation of his Lordship's
opinion, consented to be—Nonsuitcd.

THE STATE BE:D.IINGRAIII V. DENNIS.

Mr. GABROW stated, that this was an action for
goods sold and delivered. The plaintiff was an emi-
nent upholsterer, and the defendant a man of large
fortune, residing in Sloane-square. The plaintiff had
been employed by him to furnish a house for him in
the country. This he had done, and his bill amoun-
ted to £42soo—out of that demand the present action
arose. Some of the charges in that bill might, to the
Jury, as they did to him, appear large ; but on in-
vestigation, they might not be improper. At some
of the- charges persons might laugh ; but, if they did,
he would tell them it was the laugh of folly ; fir,
who, in this country, and in this age, should attempt
to limit the fancies or the luxuries of men of large for-
tunes. One of the articles in this bill was a state-
bed. Formerly, state beds were only to be found in
the palaces of Princes, now they were to be found in
the dwelling of every Gentleman, of fortune and
taste. lie was not a man of taste, for if he was asked
which he should prefer, the old bed in which his lather
slept, nr the state bed of Mr. Dennis, be should say,,
give him his father's old bed! Such, however, had not
been the opinion ef Mr. Dennis ; he would have a
state bed, and it he would have such a bed le must
pay fur it. And when he had described it, he was
of opinion £7OO, at which it was chard, K ould not
be considered as too large a sum. Ihe description
in the bill was as follows :—A state bedsteai, with
French castors, lath bottom, deep French bead and
foot border, piped and stuffed ; all hair, and fine
canvas ; a dome canopy piped and stuffed ; carved
bronzed figures at foot, or molu ex.heads supporting
family arms ; a set of fine burnished gold flying
dragons at the corners ; a burnished cornice, with
cherubims aed doves in the clouds, eagles dispersed in
inter stices, &c. a sun in the centre of the dome, dart-'
ing his rays ; inside drapery orange satin, lined with
blue sarsnet, &c. This, said Mr. Carrow, was the
bed Mr. Dennis had selected. He, for his part, he I
must refeat, would rather have rested in hi. father's
old bed, from the dome of which the rays of the sun
were excluded, than in the midst of this superb and
magnificent collection of taste and elegance—these
cooing dove:, and :polling !owl. Mr. Dennis, however,
possessed taste, and having gratified his taste, the
bed being made to his particular order, he was in
justice bound to pay for it. All the bill, except
£l3OO bad been paiJ, of that sum £BOO had been
paid into Court, the remaining £5OO was the sum ia
dispute between them.
Lord ELLENBOROUGII never heard of such a tea 1
to be slept upon. There was in the neighbourhood
of the place in which the Court sat (at the Mansion-
House) a bed which cost /MOO, but that was a
public thing which ought not to govern the bed of I
any private person.
Here the ATTORNEY-GENERAL, for the defendant,
proposed to refer the matter to the decision of any
respectable person.
Mr. GA naow declined the proposition, asabe plain-
tiff telt that his character was involved, and wished,
to clear it from any imputation.
A shopman of the plaintiff was then called, to
prove the delivery of the goods, and in the course of
his examination Lord Ellenborough asked him what
was the largest sum he ever knew his master to be
paid for a bed of this deseription ? The witness as- i
swered ae2oo.

Lord ELLzsBoRoCCir.-14 Did you ever knnw a
person paying seven hundred pounds for a bed to go
about by hivuey ?"
The ATTORNRY-GKNERAL.—Hit Lordship means,
did you veer know such a person to go abroad with-
out a &per ? The witness replied in the negative.
Lord ti.LEIThonOUGII said, he should leave it to
the Jury to say, whether, when the plaintiff knew
the expense of this bed would be so enormous, it
was not his duty to intimate as much to the defen-
dant, in order that be might exercise a sane judg-
ment tiptin it.
After some further evidence, the plaintiff agreed
to a reference, and the Jurraccordingly found a ref-
diet for the plaintiff. *object to such reference.

i
i

army on a in( re equitable ;
trust it will not be neglected.
obeclicnt serraßto