diately forwarded my plan, with the calculations, opinions, and other papers connected with the undertaking, to Mr. Perceval; and, after a long period, I received the honor of his sentiments, which, I lament to add, were hostile to my undertaking. My anxiety to have established a plan so important to Officers, urged me to endeavour, by repeated explanations, to counteract the impression which this Minister had received of my plan. I informed him, that a benefit fund existed at Madras, and one at Bengal, both requiring subscriptions six times the amount of mine: that a plan existed in the navy on a minor scale; that the establishment would be an individual and voluntary concern; and that, it being confined to officers alone, would admit of higher pensions than could be obtained by any other disposal of their money, and which arose from the casualties in the army; that I did not desire the plan should appear to the army as a measure of Government or recommended by them to the officers, but that his approbation was thought necessary by the Commander-in-Chief, previous to his Royal Highness sanctioning the same as an individual and voluntary undertaking. My efforts were, however, unsuccessful, and his Royal Highness the Commander-in-Chief could not depart from the opinion before mentioned.

I felt, with the most poignant reluctance, I was obliged to once more withdraw from the pursuit of what I had so ardently expected would have terminated advantageously to the interest of the officers of the army; and, in this sanguine expectation, I was confirmed by the opinions already mentioned, and particularly by those of Mr. Morgan, who, from his profound knowledge in subjects of this nature, was most competent to judge of its effects, and who has most decidedly pronounced my plan equal to fulfil its object.

In concluding this letter, gentlemen, I must observe, that I have made every exertion in my power, not only to com

plete the plan, but to carry it into practice, distinct from any personal motive of self-interest, as expressed in a letter I had the honor to address to Lieut.-Col. Torrens, in July last. I should have felt ample gratification in being hourly witness to the happiness it would have diffused to my brother officers, their widows and children; and I continue to believe, that had the plan been sanctioned, the pecuniary difficulties which are now, and ever must be, felt by veterans, who have exhausted their health, strength and spirits, in the cause of their country, and the still more afflicting distresses of the relatives of those brave men who have fallen in the service, would vanish. And, gentlemen, I must ever lament, that the policy of the respectable gentleman at the head of the Government should have obstructed a plan replete with much general good; but I still look forward to a future period, when I may have the pleasure of carrying it into execution.

I have the honor to be, &c.

D. ROBERTS,

Lt.-Colonel, 51st Regiment.

VOL. II. Pam. NO. IV.

Y

SUPPLEMENTARY OBSERVATIONS

ON

LIEUT. COLONEL DAVID ROBERTS'

PLAN

FOR AN OFFICERS' BENEFIT FUND.

AUTHOR OF

BY JOHN PHILIPPART, ESQ.

99.66

REMARKS ON MILITARY SUBJECTS," OBSER

VATIONS ON THE MILITARY SYSTEMS OF 1HE

BRITISH EMPIRE," &c. &c.

I

SHALL not subject myself to the charge of partiality from observing, that every officer or person connected with the honorable members of the military profession, must feel grateful to my friend LIEUT. COLONEL Roberts, for his patriotic exertions, to carry into effect a plan replete with innumerable benefits. The acknowledged approbation it experienced from officers of high rank and distinction, from individuals even, who are engaged in the business of assurances, and from every person who examined into its nature and objects, were circumstances which flattered Lieut. Colonel Roberts with great hopes of success-hopes, however, not arising from any idea or wish for personal emolument, but from a strong desire to advance the comforts of his brother officers, their widows, and children. That my friend's exertions were alone

guided by these wishes will appear from a letter' I shall subjoin, which was written at the time he was preparing, in obedience to the commands of his Royal Highness the Duke of York, to request the opinions of some General Officers on his plan, and which is fully expressive of his feelings on that delicate subject. From this letter it will appear that if Lieut. Colonel Roberts' plan had received the sanction of Mr. Perceval, his only wish was, that some well qualified person should be appointed to superintend the undertaking; and that he would have felt amply satisfied in the self-gratification of having been instrumental to the happiness of thousands.

Neither trouble nor expense were spared by Lieut. Colonel Roberts to effect his design. He obtained leave of absence to consult with the most eminent accomptants, and from all received highly favorable and flattering opinions. Mr. Morgan' liberally offered his valuable services on the occasion, examined into all the calculations that were formed as a groundwork to proceed upon, the prospects which might reasonably be held forth to the officers of the army, and gave the most favorable opinions thereon.

The fund was proposed to be established in a manner the most grateful which could be introduced to the feelings of all-it formed a medium for the affluent and benevolent to administer comforts, and preserve the respectability of officers, their widows, and children. From being

Although my friend has thought proper in this letter to flatter my humble services, I cannot refrain from publishing the same, as it fully explains his motives for the undertaking. Vide Appendix I.

2 The interest with which this very respectable gentleman embarked in the views of Lieut. Colonel Roberts, no language can sufficiently commend.

established on these grounds, it gave the subscribers an honorable claim to the benefits of the fund when in need of them. It would moreover have been a very powerful inducement for officers to continue in the service, a sure support to veterans, a comfortable addition to the government pension for officers' widows, and would have presented the means for having educated their children, as a pension was allowed therefrom for each child till sixteen years of age.

It must appear to every rational observer that this undertaking would have afforded a most honorable and most magnanimous example, exhibited by those who merit every thing from their country, that rather than augment the burthen necessarily imposed on the state, they would nobly have taxed their small incomes to obtain a competency when their decline of life, or disabled condition, might render their services no longer acceptable.

Inconvenience to any great degree could not be experienced from the subscription required-it was to be voluntary, and of the most trifling amount'-so much so that I feel convinced every officer would have subscribed to the measure. A few years since, a benefit fund was established in Hanover, under the sanction of His Royal Highness the Duke of Cambridge, and I have the highest authority to support my assertion, that its advantages were universally felt and acknowledged. There is one at this moment in the Madras Establishment, and one also in that of Bengal, both patronized by the Honorable East India Company, both requiring much heavier subscriptions' than Lieut.

1 One penny per diem for Ensigns, and the other ranks in proportion to their pay. The Colonel four-pence per diem.

2 A Prospectus of the Madras Military Fund is annexed. Appendix II.