JOBBING AT THE ADMIRALTY.
THE system at the Admiralty differs from the system at the Horse Guards chiefly in this respect—that Lord MINTO jobs for the Whigs and their connexions, and Lord HILL for the Tories and theirs. In both departments, the good of the service, and the ne- cessity of rewarding distinguished and ill-paid officers, of which we hear so much on Supply nights in the House of Commons, appear to be disregarded when profit and promotion are actually dispensed. To complain of a W big job, will no doubt be thought Nay unreasonable by those who, like Captain BERKELEY, saw no impropriety in the grant of the commission to young Mr. LOVESEY of Gloucestershire, except that it was for a Tory purpose. It was aat the jobbing that gave offence to the BERKELEYS, but the folly of allowing Tories to havethe disposal of Government patronage under a Whig Administration. The case to which we now call attention will therefore excite no indignation in the Captain BEREELEYS; who will doubtless consider it a proof of Lord Miarro's discernment and discretion, for it seems to be a pure Whig, job.
The situation of Captain commanding the Packets at Falmouth, is one of the most lucrative and desirable posts to which a Captain in the Navy is eligible. Besides the pay of a Captain of a first-rate, about 800/.per annum, there is, we believe, an allowance for table- money of about 350/. more ; and he has under his orders between thirty and forty sail of pennants, forming in fact an Admiral's com- mand. The appointment has therefore always been considered as one of the very best in the naval service. From its institution up to the
present time, it has uniformly been conferred upon old officers, who had distinguished themselves against the enemy. It was last held by Captain CLA YELL, whose professional zeal and ability made him a great favourite with Lord COLLINGWOOD, and who was COL- LINOWOOD'S first Lieutenant at the battle of Trafalgar. For some reason unexplained, but which from the sequel may be guessed at, Lord MINTO, since the late brevet promotion, removed Captain CLAVELL from Falmouth to be Captain Superintendent of Chat- ham Dockyard. Of course the table of his Lordship was covered
with applications from the veterans of the Navy—men whom want of interest, in spite of merit, services, and high reputation, had condemned for years to semi-starvation on the miserable half-pay
of less than 2001. a year. Nobody doubted that the appointment would be the reward of some old and distinguished oflicer—that one of NELSON'S or Cow NGWOOD's veterans would be the fortu- nate candidate ; and the astonishment and indignation of the service may be imagined when it was announced that Captain PLUMRIDGE had been selected for the envied office.
And who, in the name of obscurity, is Captain PLUMRIDGE ? Upon inquiry, it will be found that this gentleman stands 418th on the list of Captains ; that be obtained his rank of Captain some years after the close of the war ; and that Lieutenant MAR- SHALL, the most flattering of Naval biographers, sums up his merits and services in eighteen lines—several lines more than the subject seems to require. According to Lieutenant MARSHALL, Captain Peumeinee was made a Lieutenant in 1806; he once commanded the boats of a frigate at the destruction of a Danish cutter, in which glorious affair six men were wounded ; he was first Lieutenant of a frigate in the Mediterranean ; became a Commander in 1814, atur had sufficient influence to procure the command of several brigs in time of peace ; captured a smuggler with 400 bales of tabacco ; and was made a Post Captain on the 9th October 1822—as a reward for the tobacco capture, no doubt. Lieutenant MARSHALL also says that his agent is J. WOODHEAD, esquire; and that Mrs. PLUMRIDGE (lied on the 31st July 1827 ! To this it may be added, that since the Whigs came into power, he has obtained the command of a frigate. Here we have a full statement of the public claims of this gentleman to pass into one of the best situations to which a Naval officer can aspire—over the heads of 417 of his seniors in service and command. The most impudent subaltern at the Admiralty will not pretend that Captain PLUMRIDGE was appointed as a re- ward for his distinguished services. Why then was he selected for this command? That point requires an explanation which should be demanded and given in the House of Commons. III the mean while, we may assist the curious inquirer, by a reference to the chronicles of 1835 ; wherein it is recorded, that on the 9th of April 1835, Captain J. H. PLUHRIDGE (the death of whose first wife has been mentioned) was married to Ileeator AGNES, daughter of the Right Honourable HUGH. Eliot—the said Right Honourable Hums having been uncle to the Earl of MINTO, the First Lord, and his brother Admiral GEORGE Emote., one of the members of the Admiralty Board. Captain Peumninee, in short, married a first cousin of Lord MINTO and his brother. A suffi- cient reason, doubtless, in these days of purity and the no patro- nage government of the Whigs, for passing over 417 Captains to make room for PLUMRIDGE.
Now, we think we have stated enough to make out a case for inquiry, at all events. Let Mr. CHARLES WOOD and Admiral ADAM be put to the question : iIl those ready vOuebers far all that passes in their department justify the preference of Captain PLUMRIDGE to so many men of high reputation and distinguished services in the Navy ? Indeed the conduct of the Navy department requires scrutiny. We speak advisedly when we say, that with all the outcry against the abuse of patronage by the Tory Lord MisevILLE in the palmy days of jobbery, and the imputation cast upon Lord Huss at the present time, neither of these Tory functionaries were guilty of a grosser job than this of the Whig Lord MINTO in favour of his fair cousin's husband.
Previous page
