and fears many of his letters have miscarried. He again presents his compliments to the Misses Anderson, and again recommends them-as he has no intention of going to London for some time-to forward their petition to Sir H. Taylor. Acting on the above advice of the King's son, the Earl of Munster, they addressed Sir Herbert Taylor, the King's Private Secretary. The following was the Royal answer Brighton, 9th Feb., 1832. Sir Herbert Taylor begs to acknowledge the receipt of the letter of Misses Jean and Ann Anderson, and to acquaint them that their case has, by command of the King, been referred to the Treasury, with a request that it might be answered from thence. Not receiving any letter from the Treasury, they, at the distance of six months, again memorialised the King, and this was His Majesty's answer St. James' Palace, 5th May, 1832. The Misses Anderson's memorial having been submitted to the King, Sir Herbert Taylor has it in command to acquaint them that the Royal Bounty is under the control of the Lords Commissioners of the Treasury, to whom they should address themselves. Still no answer from the Treasury-(the Whig Lords seem to have been engulphed at that time with the Reform Bill)-and in Dec., 1832, they again addressed Sir Herbert Taylor, the King's Secretary, and the following is his final reply Brighton, 20th December, 1832. Sir Herbert Taylor begs to acknowledge the receipt of the Misses Anderson's memorial of the 15th inst., which he has submitted to the King, and has it in command to acquaint them that their former applications have been referred to the Treasury, as will the present one also, by His Majesty's order; and to that department, therefore, they should address themselves. Strange to say, no aid came from the Treasury. They did not receive so much as a civil reply from thence, although their memorial had been "referred to the Treasury by His Majesty's orders," as the above letters show (but red tape, in some quarters, has ever been proverbial); and it was under these distressing circumstances that the sergeant's wife discovered these poor helpless ladies in Glasgow, and that the blessed aid came to them, through our own hands, from the generous officers of the 6th Carbiniers then in Glasgow. The money thence obtained was nearly exhausted, and we were beginning to feel rather uneasy about the future destiny of those unfortunate ladies, when a most remarkable incident occurred which we may be excused for now shortly relating. Reading over, one evening, at our own comfortable fireside, some of the London newspapers of the day—and particularly the London Globe (the files of which may still be referred to)-our eyes accidentally alighted on a small paragraph, which bore that the Trustees of Messrs. Ross & Ogilvie, the once great army agents in London, were prepared to pay an equalizing dividend of one penny in the pound of their enormous debts. We called to mind how the old General had been entangled by these agents to a great extent as we have previously remarked: yet the gallant veteran had been dead now for more than thirty years-while Messrs. Ross & Ogilvie had been bankrupt for a much longer time-but we remembered distinctly that the old General had been duly ranked on their estate for, at least, £30,000 sterling; and as the paragraph mentioned that this dividend would be paid to the original creditors of the old army firm, or to their heirs or representatives, so we cogitated, and began to think that the lamented Colonel, in right of the good old General whom he succeeded, and Misses Anderson, the surviving sisters of the Colonel (and, consequently, his lawful heirs or heiresses), might establish their right to that dividend, which, though small, was yet important in the view we imbibed. We, therefore, went to London, and, through the Messrs. Wadeson, the highly respectable Proctors of Doctors Commons, we had the great satisfaction of making good the ladies' claim for £125, of the penny dividend, free of all expense! This was literally dead, but unexpected "found money for them, of which they had absolutely known nothing. We might here say, in no irreverential mood, that it was a perfect God-send to them in their extremities; and we could scarcely get them to believe it when we returned, and soon visited them again in Glasgow. We now made it a condition with them, in regard to the distribution of that money, that they would remove from their wretched hovel in Buchan Street, and go to a more comfortable place, which we had looked out for them in Commerce Street, at a rent of £7 10s. per annum-that they would go out and take exercise, and enjoy the pure air of heaven in broad day-light-and walk to our dwelling-house, if the weather permitted, on Saturday afternoon, when we would give them one guinea per week so long as the dividend lasted. They gladly agreed to do SO. In fact, the elder sister, Jean, now broke out into loud fits of joyous laughter, and then into the most piteous screams, convincing us that reason had almost fled from her once handsome and comely person. We soon began again to be very much dejected about them, because these apparently last resources, which we had secured for them in London, were coming rapidly to a close—in truth, the money was nearly exhausted; and what next could we really do for those interesting helpless and unfortunate ladies? Providence, however, is ever kind-even in some, apparently, of the most desperate cases. The thought flashed across our diversified imaginations at that period, that we might apply to our early friend, Mr. David Dreghorn, collector of the poor-rates of the parish of Govan-now Lieut.-Colonel David Dreghorn; and as the residence of the ladies was within his parish of Govan, that probably he, in his official capacity, would recommend them to something from "the Poor's-rates." We represented to him the extraordinary history of the ladies,and, at the same time, disclosed to him their destitute and deplorable condition. He could scarcely believe it; but we soon convinced him of its absolute truth-as we had previously done with Captain Hay of the 6th Carbiniersby going with him direct to the abode of the ladies and seeing and judging for himself. He, from what he saw, soon got them placed on "the Poor's roll of Govan," for the most miserable, but highest pittance then alloweda circumstance which, we shall say, though creditable to the benevolent intentions of those engaged upon it at the time, would have fired with perfect indignation the heart of the good old gallant General, and made the blood boil in the veins of the Colonel himself, could he have supposed for an instant that his confidential friend, agent, and executor, Mr. James Swan, would have placed those ladies, his sisters, in such a deplorable condition — swindling them absolutely out of their handsome legacies of £20,000 and upwards, and now leaving them as "Paupers on the parish." We suggested to Mr. Dreghorn that he, in his official capacity, should write to His Grace the Duke of Wellington-the hero of Waterloo, representing to his Grace the sad condition of the ladies, whose gallant brothers had fought and bled under the Duke himself. Mr. Dreghorn promptly agreed to do so, and the following is a correct copy of his original letter to the Duke, which we take the liberty of publishing in this place, without consulting him on the subject; but it can bring, we should think, no unpleasant sensation upon him at this remote period, any more than it does to our own breast Govan Parish Poor-Rate Office, MY LORD DUKE,-I take the liberty of bringing before your Grace's notice the following most heart-rending case, trusting that it will excite your well-known sympathies in behalf of the miserable ladies who are the subject of it. These ladies are the sisters of the late Lieut.Colonel Hamilton of the Scots Greys, who was killed at Waterloo. Your Grace is already aware that Colonel Hamilton left ample property to keep his sisters in the same affluent circumstances in which they were previous to his death, and which property he entrusted to the late Col. Gillan and a Mr. James Swan, Writer to the Signet. The latter named person took the management of the estate, and after the death of Colonel Gillan, had the sole control of the funds, which he embezzled. He afterwards became bankrupt, and the ladies were, in consequence, left in a state of the utmost destitution. Upon the case being made known to your Grace many years ago, you manifested a warm interest in the sisters, and generously procured a sum from the Royal Bounty, which enabled them to support themselves for a considerable time; but notwithstanding the utmost economy, the sum was exhausted many years ago. Every application has been made to the Government in their behalf, but as it appears that they have now no claim whatever to receive assistance from any fund, I have to crave most earnestly the attention of your Grace to their circumstances of misery. They have applied to be admitted upon the poor's fund of the parish of Govan, and if they are at all found to be entitled by law to parochial relief, so far as the distribution can go, aid will be given; but when I tell your Grace that the utmost they can receive is 2s. 6d. |