Star.
London, England, 1810-05-01 00:00:00

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cc Your Committee cannot avoid &sem. ing n' Obn it lie eapenT &tire' , and laying elsesii bet= the Rita
as an omission of duty in the Board of Admiralty; bt It i much earlier pbrihd. . .
whotii he was re-appointed, not to have taken a se- . 66 Without an effectual and speedy audit, the
cond bond ; and the 164 of the first; which remained House may rest asiured that all other checki and
in the Admiralty abotit the year.lBo6, shews g cul. provisions Will prove ineffectual to secure the interests
pable 'carelessness as to the-custody; of such impoiteat Of the public against fraud or negligence. Tne evile
instniments. . Securities ought to be taken more Ire- of both have been long felt, and frequently
.exposed
nettedc er s in
quently than has hitherto been the usage, from' all offi- to view ; and varions atte.npts have been made to
weviterhethdeepa
rrrceeivntt,owr lelphennldditsuiretuatoiofnps
public time
counteract them, by regulations, which have from
and tour Committee recoMmend that rogue time to time been altered, modified, and revised;
money ;with what Success and utility your Committee n ill,
lations should be established to that effect, under the proceed to consider in the second part of this Report:"
.
directions of his Majesty in Council, or of the Corn- --- .. .
mis:sioners of the Treasury."'" I LORD ERSKINE': LETTER:
‘.‘ In the course of these investigations, it becdme a ,
matter of consideration hoW far the continuance of _
The following is the fetter addressed by Lord P i
—lt S -IN It to I. B.
the oaicnof Paymaster of Marines may be necessary ,
for cenductino this branch of the public service; your licenonnoostelsiezin,
nEliagga.izntstihe time of the discusilon id the House at
ntons on the subject of tie resolution •f the Bench of
b the Pros. It win be read wits a lively Ins
Committee bearing in mind that all useless offices ' terest by all those who desL-e, like ourselva, to preserve respect
ought to be suppressed ; and that every additional; fur the character of the Learned Body to whom it &adva
channel through which public money flows, affords DF.AR SissamAN—From someciing that has been
an additional hazard of the misapplication, detention, stated to have fallen from my friend, Anstruther, upon
or kiss of a part of it. your Motion on Friday, the public (and naturally
" Recent experience in the cases of the Acts for enough) are up in arms against me—l am sure he
regulating the office of Treasurer of the Navy 25 did not intend to hurt or injure me, as we have
Geo. 3. c. 31.) and Treasurer of the Ordnance 46 always lived on' terms of intimacy and friendship. I
Gee. 3, c. 45.) induces a reasehable mistrust as to could have pievented that misapprehension had I
the efficacy of all legislative provisions and directions. foreseen it, by authorising you to state in the House
In cases where the temptations to a contrary practice of Commons what had passed between us upon the
are great, the means of evasion have not beeen found subject of the Resolution ; but, I asked your confi-
impracticable. , deuce, to avoid even the appearance of acting invi.
" The Commissioners on Fees, &c. (1787) in their diously towards friends in the professiortiiwith whoni
I third Report, p. 101, and 5, referred to, and printed I have spent the greatest part of my life, and to whom
lin the proceedings in consequence of the Finance Re- I am sincerely attached; but, as things :have turned
Iports, G. 11. pronounced an opinion as to the inutility out, I cannot do justice either to them or to myself;
of this office, which, ' besides being an unnecessary ex. more effectually, than by stating the facts regarding
pence, tends to multiply accounts, and disperse the this proceeding exactly as they stand : .
public money ;as there will always be a balance left I Went to Lincoln's Inn on the 3d of February,
in the hands of each officer to whom any portion of it two rears ago, not with the view of considering any
is issued.' They continue, that, this office ought, in public business, but to dine at the Bench with my old
their opinion, to be carried on in the Office of the friends and companions at the Bar. It happened on
Treasurer of the Navy, not only as being a branch of that day when the Benchers were chinking their wine
the pay of the navy, but that the officers may be con- . after dinner, in their own apartment, that a report of
tiguous to check the pay of the marines on ship board, several propositions was brought up to them from
the debts due from those who embark, and tor other Gentlemen of the Bar, assembled in the Hall, one of
purposes.' : them, (as appears by the minutes of the society) being
" There was at that time an Agent as well as a - the Resolution in question—what passed in conversa-
Paymaster, the former of whom acted as Deputy, and don on the subject I do not remember, my attention
transacted almost the whole of the business ; and the had never been called to it, and coming as it did from
Commissioners recommended the continuance of the' the Bar, it is extremely likely, since no decision was
efficient person in the office, with a salary of se6oo, . to be come to upon the subject, that I might not have
and the discontinuance of the Paymaster ;—but the . opposed any view that the other Benchers were dis-
Board of Admiralty, deeming it more expedient to posed in such conversation to consider it, and the ra-
reverse the suggested improvement, abolished the ther, because I had and have the highest opinion of
first; and continued the second ; the great diligence and the greatest confidence in the learning and into.
and regularity of Mr. G. Villiers, who was represen- grity of those who were present, more accustomed
ted in the report from the Admiralty of. August, than myself since I left the 'Bar, to attend to the con-
-1799, G. 11, as an able and attentive officer, by terns and duties of the Society. An answer was sent
whom, since his appointment in 1792, the business of to the Bar, that the Bench would take into its cowl-
nearly the whole of the Marine Department had been titration the suggestions of their report, which contained
conducted, being given as a reason for disregarding several different subjects for its future deliberation.—
this recommendation of the Commissioners. The re- . According to the usual forms of the Society my name
moval of the Agent, after a service of 28 years in the appears, as of course, to that answer, and stands first,
Marine Department, was attended with an annual ex- from the courtesy of the Bench to rank of seniority ;
pence in the nature of a compensation, paid out of die but it is most evident that no sanction was given to
marine poundage and stoppages, and directed to be the proposition by this proceeding. We were sitting
inserted in the Paymaster's annual account. • • • over our wine and sending an answer of respect to the
68 Your Committee do not hesitate in recommen. Bar. From that time forward I never heard more
ding to the House, that the office of Paymaster should upon the subject, having removed to a distant part of
be forthwith suppressed; and that the business should ; the town, until I heard not long ago that the Reso--
be transacted in the office of the Tr.eistirer of the lution in question had been adopted and confirmed in
Navy', under whose direction drafts may be prepared the May following the February, when I had dined .
of such an establishment as may be necessary for that in the Hall. I heard at the same time that it was
purpose, which ought to be submitted to and approv. considered by many to be objectionable.
ed by the Commissioners of the Treasury. I What part I should have taken, bad I attended
66 It may deserve consideration, whether some of , with the Benchers who adopted it, it is impessible for
the houses in Somerset-place, as they become vacant, , me to say—whether the objections which now most
may not be applied to the extension of such offices as ' forcibly present themselves to my mind upon the sub-
are at present cramped for want of room ; your Com. ject of the Resolution, would then have occurred to
mitree being of opinion,. that official houses are (ex- me, since they do not Appear to have occurred to
cept in some special cases) au improvident mode of ' others, or how far, if they had occuriedi they might
adding to salaries, or of paying public servants, inas- , have yielded in decision, from confidence in die judg-
much as the charges upon the public, for building in . ment of my friends present, I will not even venture
the first instance, and for continual repairs afterwards,' to conjecture, because it would be invidious towards
are out of all proportion to the benefit or accommoda- : men whom I highly respect for their talents and h ,-
lion which is derived to the officerrrho inhabit them. ; nour, and would besides be arrogating to myse f,
•.- In 1 without any certain foundation, that I should have

The discovery of Ivit. G. Villieres default led to
the detection of another of very inferior amount, but'
arising principally from the same causes, in the Cm-
ductor's Department under the Treasurer of the Navy.
* *
Mr. Charles Barrow (the late Conductor) was'
responsible for the balance of £3713, at the end of
1808, which was increased to £5689 in January 1810.
An extent has been issled against him for the
sum due, but there is no probability that more than
£5OO will be recovered. No security was taken for
the due discharge of his duty, nor has it been usual
to require it in that department. A case has been
laid before the Crown Lawyers for their opinion as to
prosecuting him criminally.

been wiser upon this subject than those whom I hid
always considered, and still consider to be my eq labs.
Be this however as it may, I can never be taken in
my absence, to have been concurring in a dec.sion
of such importance, when i had no opportuni:y of
exercising a deliberate judgment upon a matter that
was to affect the interest of others.
But this I can firmly say for myself, that if I had ken
present when the Resolution in question was adopted, and
had concurred with those who adopted it, I should not the
less on that account (with the opinions I entertain at pre.
sent) have hesitated to propose that it should be rescinded
I have always considered the retraction of errors in public
men, acting sincerely, but without due consideration, to be
not only no humiliation, but Me highest and most grateful
illustration oftalents and virtue ; yet in nothing is the world
than from the general blindnus
obvious •truth,

#C A default to the amount of 893,926, in the ac-
ount of the Treasurer of the Ordnance, would natu•
rallythave found a place in the present Report, if it
had not undergone the investigation of the Commis-
sioners of Military Inquiry, who have lately present-
ed, in their Twelfth Report, an ample and distinct
detail upon this subject: Your Committee, however,
desire, in passing, to call again the attention of the
House to the practical inefficiency of the late Act for
the regulation of this Office, and to enforce the ob-
servations of the Commissioners in p. 17. ' That
upon the second appointment of Mr. Hunt, in 1807,
the not taking any security from him, was a great
omission of duty.' I,'

From the inconveniencies and losses attending
either an imperfect Oitirdy examination of accounts,
your Committee are' led to the more extensive subject
of the general audit of accounts, and to the constitu-
tion of the present Board of Commissioners under 46
Geo. 111. c. 141.
44 It was noticed in their Report upon the Pay-
Office and some part of their attention in the two
succeeding Beskions has been directed towards this
most essential object, while they were carrying on
their other inquiries.
4‘ The novelty and untried effect of some of the
regulations under which the Board of Auditors were
beginning to act in 180? ii.n& 1808, formed one of
the chief obstacles which prevented your Committee
from proceeding further to collect materials for a full
Report upon the present system of examining knd
passing the accounts of all the great bunches of pub•

more perpetually :erring,
of mankind. to this obvi( .. We see NO merely intli-
vidualr exposed to the greatest cluantiticf.visit)Tessiiations
undone avid ruined, to cover a mirtahe nede4tift 40icedt
and complicated policy of the State. "
I may appeal safely to you, my dear Sheridan, for
the sincerity of this remark, because you know that
though I was not a party to the Resolution, I com-
municated to you in confidence my determination to
move for its repeal, and expressed an opinion, that the
Benches would reconsider and rescind it on the prin-
ciple adverted to. It is one of the greatest blessings
attendant upon our own free Government, that we Are
instructed in our duties, and corrected in our errors
by public opinion, and they who refuse to be so in-
structed and corrected, are unworthy of the most in-
significant trusts.
The Inns of Court, without any incorporation or
clearly defined jurisdiction, have preserved-for a long
season the character of the English Bar, and I have
no doubt that they will continue to preserve their im-
memorial reputation.
You will not wonder that I am very anxious upon
this subject—you know my subscription to the Free-
dom of the Tress, and in very critical timcs to other
branches of public liberty.—You haveciten done me
more than justice by eloquence, which 'though not
requiring the warmth proceeding frothipartial regard
and opinion, has iltiayi been so retiicrkable when I
have been thesubject. .
I mean to call upon my friend Anstruther tt. .
morrow morning, who, I am quite sure, will be ready
to do me justice. Your's, most. faithfully, •
Saturday night. EitSLUUL.