424 ANNUAL REGISTER, 1809. 



deration, nor any thing convertible 

 in any mode into a pecuniary bene- 

 fit, on this account." The form of 

 certificate required to be signed by 

 the nearest of kin to each cadet, 

 contains the following declaration; 

 «' I do furiher declare, that I re- 

 ceived the said appointment for my 

 son 



gratuitously, and that no 

 money or other valuable considera- 

 tion has been or is to be paid, ei- 

 ther directly or indirectly, for the 

 same ; and that 1 will not pay or 

 cause to be paid, either by myself, 

 by my son, or by the hands of any 

 other person, any pecuniary or va- 

 luable consideration whatsoever, to 

 any person or persons who have in- 

 terested themselves in procuring the 

 said nomination for my son from 

 the director above-mentioned." 



The printed preparatory instruc- 

 tions, which are circulated by the 

 East India company for the use of 

 those who may be nominated ca- 

 dets, begin with the following re- 

 solution : " That any person who 

 shall in future be nominated to a 

 situation, either civil or military, in 

 the service of this company, and 

 who shall have obtained such nomi- 

 nation either directly or indirectly 

 by purchase, or agreement to pur- 

 chase through the medium of an 

 agent or other person, shall be 

 rejected ; and the person so nomi- 

 nated shall be rendered incapable 

 of holding any situation whatsoever 

 in the company's service; and in the 

 event of any person having obtain- 

 ed an appointment in the manner 

 before stated, and proceeded to 

 India previous to its being discover- 

 ed, such person shall be dismissed 

 the company's service, and ordered 

 back to England, and shall also be 

 rendered incapable of holding any 



situation whatsoever in the com- 

 pany'sservice." It is tobe observed , 

 that abuses in the disposal of cadet- 

 ships are better guarded against 

 than inthat of writerships, since the 

 present form of certificate has been 

 applied to them ; for in the writer- 

 ships the director himself only de- 

 clares, that to the best of his know- 

 ledge or belief, no pecuniary consi- 

 deration has been or is to be receiv- 

 ed; but with regard to every cadet, 

 the parent or next of kin makes a 

 similar declaration for himself. 

 The cases which are exhibited in 

 this report demonstrate that such 

 declarations are not of sufficient 

 force to prevent a very extensive 

 traffic in those nominations, which 

 are apparently the best secured by 

 a positive denial of all undue prac- 

 tices. An inquiry was set on foot 

 by the court of directors in 1798 

 upon the allegation and suspicion 

 of abuses in the nominations of 

 writers ; the origin, progress, and 

 failure of which it may be proper 

 to give in some detail. — 25th April, 

 1798. A committee of the directors 

 was appointed to investigate into 

 the truth of the alleged practice 

 of the sale of patronage, and to 

 consider of such means as may ap- 

 pear likely to prevent the same in 

 future, if such practices have oc- 

 curred. 9th July. Each director's 

 nomination of writers was laid be- 

 fore the committee, who resolved 

 that each member of the commit- 

 tee should state in writing the names 

 of the parties to whom he has given 

 the nomination, together with the 

 reasons which induced him to give 

 the same ; and that the several par- 

 ties who have received such nomi- 

 nations for their sons, &c. be re- 

 quired to produce satisfactory in- 

 formation to the committee upon 



oath; 



