PRACTICAL MEASURES.

No. I.

IF the last two sessions of Parliament be carefully scanned, they will be found to have produced nothing, or worse than nothing, regard being had to the circumstances of the age or the just ex- pectations of the people. No advance has been made in esta- blishing any principle in politics. So far as it depended on the Ministry or the Parliament, organic reforms have retrograded- " been damped." Of the institutional improvements proposed by Government—the Church questions, and the Irish Municipal Bill—neither have been carried, or brought nearer carrying than when they were first proposed. The Parliamentary strength of the Ministerial party had dwindled, on the only question which essentially separates them from the Tories, from 27, when Sir ROBERT PEEL was in power, down to 5,* when the possession of office was reversed : and after an appeal to the country, made at the Ministry's own convenience, and with every influence of the Court and the Government in their favour, it does not seem likely that this majority will be increased. As regards the practical measures, whose results are to come home to the business and bosoms of the people,—those improvements which are to end in bettering their physical or moral condition, and for which alone, after all, organic changes are desired or desirable,— it is impossible to doubt but that public opinion, backing a strong Opposition, would have extorted more from a Tory Government with a Rotten Borough House of Commons, than has been gained from a " Reform Ministry and a Reformed Parliament."

The causes of this discreditable climax are various. One is to be traced to the composition of the House of' Commons; whose members, with a very very few exceptions, are obviously deficient in legislative capacity and acquirements. Another was predicted, and its remedy suggested by the Spectator before the election of the first Reformed Parliament. And this cause is to be found in the numbers and defective organization of the House : the num- bers rendering it too large even for debate, and quite unfitting it for discussion or deliberation : its organization, or rather the ab- sence of all organization, making it incapable of working the principle of the division of labour ; depriving it for the most part of the practical knowledge of its members, and so jumbling mat- ters together, that mere flash and superficial confidence are enabled to force themselves into notice, whilst sense and solidity are thrust aside. But though these two reasons must not be overlooked in an impartial survey, the great cause of the result- less nature of the last two sessions was the character of the Ministerial policy ; which has been essentially a policy of pre- tences. Pretence in what they attempted to do; for it was clearly unlikely that with their means they could accomplish their professed objects: it was evident that they selected their questions less for the purpose of carrying them through, than of getting up a warfare that might enable them to do nothing, but "keep out the Tories; "and even these questions were introduced feebly, brought on listlessly, and gladly postponed at every op- portunity. Pretence in what they left undone; for they made or magnified obstacles, whose removal, as the existence was obvious, indeed notorious, should have been one of their conditions of taking office. In opposition only were they active and earnest—in oppo- sition to the perfecting of the Reform Act. How this do-nothing policy ended in the House, we have told already. In the country it produced apathy, contempt, or smothered indignation, which the partisans of the Ministry called content, till a general elec- tion enlightened them. A result which it was not difficult to predict from the first ; for an aversion, amounting to abhorrence or disgust, against pretence of any kind, is one of the most deeply- seated principles of human nature. It is felt by those who can- not see it, or give it shape in words • and the feeling operates in every subject which addresses itself to the mind. It offends in literature and the arts, by the forced, the unnatural, the unreal ; in morals, it shocks by hypocrisy : in conduct, it becomes decep- tion; in trade, fraud ; and in policy, gives rise to that delusive course which alienates friends, rejoices enemies, and ends in such results as those we are now lamenting. We are aware indeed, that there are certain persons who ap- prove of this do-nothing policy ; maintaining that our Legislature has done too much already, and improperly obeyed the popular cry. " The prurient desire for rash and hasty legislation," says a writer who was announced on his first appearance as speaking "the sen- timents of men in office," and in this instance only reechoed a favourite Whig opinion,—" the prurient desire for perpetual and hasty legislation, is one of the maladies of the age. We should try to cure it. Heaven knows that our statutes are already volumi- nous enough. Somebody has said that if the Legislature were to go to sleep for two or three years, no great harm would be done." With respect to the substance of these premises, the people • Division on the 7th April 1835, on Lord John Russell's motion respecting Irsh Tithes—

For the Resolution 285

Against it

258 ltlajoiity against Sir Robert Peel . . . . 27 Division on the 27th May 1835, on the question " That this House doth agree with the Committee on ,the said resolution" respecting the English Church-rate Bill- , Ayes 2S7 Noes

are ready enough to agree with the writer ; but they deny his conclusions. Admitting the " perpetual and hasty legislation," they do not conceive that the remedy is to be found in doing no- thing, but in doing better. Conceding that our statutes are too voluminous for any one to read, too obscure for any save the ini- tiated to understand, and too contradictory for even the appointed expounders to reconcile, they vulgarly fancy that the evil is to be corrected, not by " going to sleep for two or three years," but by a skilful and careful consolidation, which should reject the useless, the absurd, the unjust, and retaining only that which is valuable, present it to the people in an intelligible form. What would be thought of an accountant, who being engaged to simplify and re- duce to order a voluminous and complex series of original docu- ments, should, instead of doing his duty, take his pay and tell his employers, " What's the use of more figures? there are too many figures already I" And what an individual would think of the idle and dishonest accountant, do the public think of the politi- cians who inculcate or encourage the do-nothing system. If it be persisted in, the People will shortly call for a change of Ministry, and that failing, for a change of the frame of government.

But, though it may be necessary to do something, yet it may

be asked, what, in the actual situation of parties, can be accom- plished? To which we reply, that a remedy for the state to which the Ministerial policy has reduced us can only be found in two courses,-1. An appeal to the country for PERFECTING THE REFORM BILL, by simplifying the suffrage, shortening the dura- tion of Parliaments, and protecting the elector by the ballot ; and which, if resisted by the Peers, as it doubtless would be, would rouse the nation sufficiently to enable the Ministry to do what Lord GREY might have done in analogous circumstances, reform the Lords : 2. The careful preparation of a series of PRACTICAL MEASURES, which should give us something, if not all which we hope to attain by further changes. According to the .` friends" and organs of Ministers, there is no chance of their adopting the bold policy ; and though a better instrument of legislation is requisite to give full effect to the second plan, yet much may be accomplished if Ministers set heartily to work. Many important and comprehensive official reforms may be effected by merely willing them. So can a searching retrench- ment, even in the Army, now that the Ministers are favourites at Court. Neither Tory Commoners nor Tory Peers would be stupid enough to throw out a bill for a repeal of some taxes, or a more judicious and therefore a better apportioning of the remainder. The same remark applies to a measure for ins- proving the Post-office and cheapening postage; to a plan for reducing to order and rule that indigesta moles of abuses the Colonial Governments; to a large and well considered Poor-law for Ireland; to a comprehensive plan to facilitate Emigration. No one will anticipate any difficulty in placing our Medical Law and Practice—the ridicule of Europe—on a proper footing ; although the leading practitioners should, as is usual, earwig some of their noble patients. Even as regards Law Reform, much might be done without great risk of Tory opposition. A careful, judicious revision and consolidation of the criminal and mercantile laws—indeed of' all laws that only affect the interests of the plebeian part of the community, might be passed without difficulty. A well-considered, useful, working measure—not a mere proposal to make a speech upon—for the establishment of Local Courts and the bringing of " cheap and speedy justice" to every man's door, would meet with more opposition; but if its utility and working capabilities were undeniable, it might pro- bably divide the Tory Lords. A tougher battle would be fought on that sink of abuses the Ecclesiastical Courts ; but if their extor- tion, corru ptiun, and " Popish " principles were made plain and pal- pable to popular apprehension, something could be done even with them, especially as they are hated by the "agricultural interest." Even as regards an internal improvement of the Church, no Tory principle would be involved in a regulation and redistribution of its revenues ; and were a bill brought in to please the People, it is questionable whether the Peers would dare to give effect to their displeasure. if the mind of the country be not yet advanced enough to support a comprehensive and uni- vered Education Bill, much may yet be usefully accomplished in this direction, and much in the way of public improvements, either fur purposes of pleasure, pastime, or use. Should the Tories ever regain office, they will work this last subject to effect. They have enough of MARK ANTONY in them to know the influ- ence of those seemingly little benefits, which directly touch the interest or pleasures of every man,—untolled bridges, new com- munications in large cities, parks and public grounds; e Common pleasures,

To walk abroad and recreate yourselves. Here was a Cesar."

Besides all these we have enumerated, many other " proved' abuses," or opportunities for beneficial change, will suggest themselves to any one who has taken a survey of our social and political system. And these, after all, are the very essence and use of government. It has been said that the end of King, Lords, and Commons, the cost of the army and navy, and the labours of the civil government, is only to put twelve men into a box. There is much exaggeration mixed with some truth in this over-lauded image ; but undoubtedly the true purpose of all these forms of rule is only to advance the wellbeing of the people —to contribute to the happiness of the greater number. Practi-

cally speaking—that is, for present use—it is too late to consider

Majority for the Melbourne Ministry . . 5 whether better instruments for this purpose might not be framed;

or whether Lord GREY and his Whigs did not throw away their opportunity, when, instead of using their power in removing "proved abuses," they preferred to waste it on Irish Coercion Bills and other measures of Tory spirit. If they have let the hours of daylight pass in unprofitable doings, it was in the teeth of warnings; and upon their heads be it. Still we do not, as we have said, believe it yet too late for the Whig Ministry to effect much in the way of Prac- tical Improvements, in despite of Tory opposition. But, in assuming that they can carry the greater part of such mea- sures as we have hinted at, we also assume that they shall really be Practical Measures : sound in principle, carefully considered, and workable in their details—not such crudi- ties as Lord ALTHORP was in the habit of thrusting on the House and the country. Should the Peers, however, choose to reject such measures, let them. We venture to say that the honest plan of maturing real acts for the Lords to pass, will answer quite as well as the hollow scheme of " preparing measures for rejec- tion "—the " pear-ripening policy," which has ended in such an egregious and ridiculous failure, and which with the old stale measures will fail more lamentably at every successive trial, by strengthening the enemy and weakening themselves. How far Ministers are likely to approve of these sugges- tions, we cannot tell ; but if they possess sufficient spirit to prefer their permanent interest to a short and ignominious ease, and have discernment enough to distinguish between their true, plain-spoken friends, and the false and flattering parasites, whose timorous and absurd counsels have brought them to their present plight, they will discard their sham principles of policy, their fast- and-loose practices on their friends, and apply themselves heartily to those Practical Measures, which are all that is now left them to accomplish. In this course, as in any other of real and straight. forward policy, our assistance shall not be wanting : and with these views, we shall from time to time, and as occasion offers, give an exposition of some of those subjects, in the large field of Practical Improvement, we have already alluded to.

We begin with the Civil. LIST, and its Pensions, not as the most important in itself, but as the question which must first be submitted to Parliament, and on which more depends than appears to a superficial glance. Its settlement involves the principle of true or pretended economy. It will also serve to show which way the wind sets ; proving both the real dispositions of the Ministers, and the footing on which they may be presumed to stand with their Royal Mistress.

THE CIVIL LIST AND ITS PENSIONS.

In Parliamentary and official language, the Civil List is granted to the Sovereign in lieu of the hereditary and occasional revenues of the Crown, which have been surrendered to the Public. This assertion, however, is a mere abstract historical fact, which becomes ridiculous or fraudulent if any practical conclusion is to be grounded upon it : for out of these revenues the Monarch had to carry on the whole civil go. vernment of the country,—to maintain both army and navy in time of peace, if he kept any, and in time of war too, if he required a larger force and for a longer period than his subjects were bound by their feudal or chartered obligations to provide. The Civil List now can only be looked upon as a provision made by the nation for its First Magistrate, in which ample allowance should be granted for his per- sonal comfort and public dignity : and we mean by dignity, such a state and display as the customs and circumstances of the country manifestly require—not what a philosopher might, abstractedly speaking, deem dignity, or a mere economist might think enough on looking to the prac- tice of America, or to other countries, where the habits of the people are less luxurious and ostentatious, or the nation at large less wealthy. But whilst liberality should even lean towards profusion in all that regards the necessary expenses of the Crown, every thing should be rigidly banished from the Civil List which merely forms a bait for the noble and needy intriguers of a party, furnishes a source of patron. age to a Minister, or enables him to make his Sovereign's expenses a cloak for gratuities and grants which neither in themselves nor in their origin be dared venture to bring before Parliament. And this caution is now more especially necessary, when the throne is filled by a young woman, whom the law, were she a subject, would still consider an in- fant, than if the Sovereign were a man practised in the courtly world, and capable of comprehending the nature of all the transactions for which it might be desired to make him a screen.

Proceeding to apply these views, we must observe on starting, that the materials for the inquirer are very scanty. Up to the death of GEORGE the Fourth, the Civil List was framed to appear as if the cost of the civil government was really defrayed by the Sovereign. The salaries of the Judges, Ambassadors, and some civil officers, with the diplomatic pensions, and several other items of expenditure, were charged upon it; and as the grant was made for the life of the Sovereign, and it was held to be indecent and disloyal to inquire into the particu- lars of the expenditure, it became a fruitful field for abuses, and swelled to a large amount. The Civil List of GEORGE the Fourth exceeded 1,160,000/. ; mid it was upon the point of separating the miscellaneous charges from the regal expenses, that the Duke of WELLINcros's Ministry chose to be driven from power. When the Whigs succeeded to office, they substantially shirked the question ; referring the whole to a Committee, and thus shifting the labour and responsibility from themselves. This Committee reported, "that it is expedient that the Civil List 'should be applied only to such expenses as affect the dignity and state of the Crown, and the proper maintenance of the Majesty's Household." They also suggested, with a sort of formal flourish, a saving of eleven thousand five hundred and twenty-nine pounds ten shillings, in an expenditure of more than half a million ! The Com- mittee moreover recommended, that the interests of the pensioners on the Civil List should be preserved intact ; as, although their legal right determined on the demise of the Crown, yet having hitherto been continued for life, the recipients might have made arrange- ments on the faith of that expectancy. At the same time, they sug- gested that the Royal or rather Ministerial power of granting Civil List pensions should be limited for the future to 75,0001. ; and pro- posed that the balance of the existing pensions on the Civil List of GEORGE the Fourth above that amount should be transferred to the Consolidated Fund. All these suggestions were confirmed by the House; the Tories only objecting to the reductions, and to the change from mystery to simplicity; the stanch economists taking it as a first step towards an improved system, and as a compact for the Reform Bill, and reserving themselves for a future occasion.

The Civil List thus granted was arranged into the five following classes.:

I. Their Majesties' Privy Purse.

The King £60,000

The Queen 50,000

£110,000 II. Salaries of his Majesty's Household 119,344 Ill. Expenses of his Majesty's Household 171,500 IV. Charities and Special and Secret Service 22,626 V. Pensions 75,000 £498,470

No attempt was made to give the details of this expenditure, except in the Second and Fourth Classes ; and there they are so few, and the unenumerated particulars so jumbled together, that they rather appear as if designed to shun inquiry than to satisfy an inquirer. We must, however, go through them as well as we can ; only hoping that if the Civil List be relegated to a Committee in November next, it will neither display so much affectation of fastidious delicacy, nor shroud matters in so much mystery.

And first of the Sillt (MIN.

THEIR MAJESTS'S PRIVY PURSE.

The King . £6050:004 The Queen

£110,0o0

This expenditure seems to be the pocket or pin money of royalty. In fixing its amount, the Committee observe. that " from the nature of the subject, they could have no data on which to form their opi- nion : " they therefore, in the case of the Queen consort, had recourse to precedent, by which alone they were guided. In consequence of Queen VicToeta being unmarried, a temporary saving of 50,000/. or 60,000/. will take place ; but a precedent on this momentous point cannot well be consulted, because the last tera of a female Sovereign, Queen ANNE'S, is too remote to he applicable to the present times. Reason must therefore decide the point ; and as 60,000/. was the allow- ance to GEORGE the Fourth as well as to WILLIAM, and as that sum therefore seems to be affixed to the exerciser of sovereignty, we dare say the nation will have no objection to the larger amount.

traint1

SALARIES OF HIS MAJESTY'S HOUSEHOLD..... ....... £119,344

The Royal Household seems to be regulated according to the old feudal or baronial system, being distributed into four divisions. 1. The Lord Chamberlain's department; which regulates and enforces eti- quette, and attends to the personal wants of majesty. 2. The Lord Steward's; which should keep the accounts, attend to the household economy, and look after the carnal comfort of majesty and its servants. 3. The department of the Master of the Horse ; whose name indi- cates its object. 4. The Master of the Robes ; which department also explains itself in its title. We have already stated that this is the only class of the Civil List in which any details are presented, as well as remarked upon their in- efficiency. The system pursued by the Committee was only to enu- merate those salaries of the Officers of State in which they recom- mended a reduction ; and as their recomendations were few and timor- ous enough, the greater part of these honorary, though overpaid func- tionaries, are excluded. As regards the menial servants of royalty, no inquiries were made ; the Committee "not thinking it consistent with the respect due to his Majesty to scrutinize the details of his household." There can be no wonder that such a dissatisfactory report emanated from a body animated by such servile ideas ! Even in giving the amount of the offices and superammations not reduced, they neither chose to state the amount of pay distinctly from the pensions, nor to separate the sum paid to officers of state from that to menial servants. If Ministers intend again to delegate this subject to a Committee, the country will expect a different result ; and we promise that it shall not be hidden under a bushel.

Such as the data are, however, we give them. Time names are those of the officers who held the appointments at the late King's death. LORD CHAJIRE.RLAIN'S DEPARTMENT, Lord Chamberlain—Marquis of Conyngliain Vice Chamberlain—Lord C. Fitzroy

Groom of the Stole—Marquis of Winchmer

Lords and Grooms of the Bedchamber, (numbers not 0,000

700 1;100

stated) 10.000

Captain and Band of Gentlemen Pensioners

3,600

Captain and Yeomen 500

4 Physicians to the Person

400

2 Surgeons to the Person

200

1S,900

Offices and Superannuations not reduced 36,124

57124 3,000

LORD STEWARD'S DEPARTMENT,

Lord Steward—Duke of Argyle Treasurer of the Household—Sir W. Freemantle

500

Comptroller of time Howehold—Rt. Hon. G. S. Byng

500

Secretary of the Lord Steward

750

.3.750

Offices and Superannuations nut reduced 31,235

31.tsri:a or TOE liORSE'S DIPS nTmENT,

Muster of the Iforse—Eul of .Illicinarle

_,700 Chief E.111,,try awl Clerk Mar,hal

750

Four ETA:Tries

Four Pages of Honour 800 Veterinary Surgeon 300 Equerry Crown stables 350

7,100 Offices and Superannurions not reduced 19,365

PLASTER OF TILE ROBE'S DEPARTMENT,

Master of the Robes—Sir George Seymour

850 119,344

With regard to the domestics of Royalty, nothing, we conceive, should

be looked at beyond the general fitness of the establishments. It is riot seemly for a nation to be squabbling about a footman more or less in the household of its Sovereign ; but as respects the Officers of State, one simple rule of reduction should be acted upon,—that where the duties are none, or merely formal, the salary should be abolished, or be fixed at an amount equivalent to the direct outlay the post may impose upon the party filling it. To this proposal we cannot see a valid ob- jection, either in principle or practice. As an invariable rule, the per- sons filling these offices should be chosen from the first nobility or gentry, both in fortune and respectability. From their condition, such persons must have ample means, which their character will have prevented them from squandering; and unless we misjudge the spirit of the better part of the English aristocracy, they would rather that an office which is virtually honorary should be made so in reality. Can it be supposed that the Countess of DURHAM or the Dutchess of SUTHERLAND really regard the emolument of Lady in Waiting, what- ever it be? Could the salary of the Lord Chamberlain be an object to the Duke of DEVONSHIRE, or to any nobleman who could worthily fill the post ? And, =teas mutandis, the same remark applies to all such offices.

It will perhaps be said, that " these arguments may sound very well in theory, but that practically it would be difficult to procure proper persons to fill the posts, if the salaries were reduced as we pro- pose." Such an assumption, however, is contrary to every thing we see around us. The glitter of a court, the frequent communication with royalty, its real or supposed friendship, and the fashionable con- sideration these offices bestow, would always procure many more candidates than there are places : and it must be remembered that those who desire these posts are the best, indeed the only persons, fitted fur them. The cost of a commission in a crack regiment would purchase an annuity nearly if not quite as large as the pay at returns ; yet we see men of family striving to enter these regi. ments,—subjecting themselves to the direct charge of mess and uni- forms as well as to the incidental expenses, and submitting to all the restraints and exposure of military duty, (for even home duty has its marches in bad weather,) for the social distinction they bestow. And in many other pursuits, and in society, fur greater in- conveniences and expenses arc encountered for a similar object. To urge the usual argument of public spendthrifts when bard pushed, that reducing the salary might shut out talent without wealth, would be absurd. Talent fitted to " shine in courts," can only be formed amongst the wealthy and the noble. The people are not likely to suffer by any change in the pay of Lords Chamberlain, Grooms of the Stole, or Lords of the Bedchamber.

We can indeed conceive a possible case, where the Sovereign may have a personal regard for an individual whose means are scanty, and that he might wish to increase them by a nominal post. Under such circumstances, there are ample funds at the disposal of Royalty, as we shall presently show, for increasing the salary. If the "delicacy " of the parties should shrink from such an arrangement, such delicacy, like virtue, must be its own reward. No rational person will maintain that public offices with large and unnecessary salaries are to be kept up because persons might be found with whom it would be an object to hold theta.

Upon the whole, we conclude, or lather we conjecture, that if the salaries of the Household were examined by a liberal (we do not ask for a severe) economy, a saving of from 30,0001. to 40,0001. a year might be effected ; which, with the 50,000/. from the Privy Purse, is no trifle.

tb Mr Mid.

E PENSES OF HIS MAJESTY'S HOUSEHOLD £171,500

This stun appears to be the cost of feeding and clothing the bipeds and quadrupeds of the Royal establishments. According to the Com- mittee, this is done at the cheapest rate : but, as the passage is a curious example of blind reliance upon fact and of rigmarole in ex- pression, we quote it-

,. The Committee next proceeded to inquire into the Third Class—that for the es;,enditure in the departments of the Lord Steward, Lord Chamberlain, Blaster of the Horse, and Master of the Robes. They bad no means of inves- tigei no the details of this expemLiture; but, being satisfied from the informa• tioa of the late as well as by the resent Chancellor of the Exchequer, that these different expenses were managed with every view to economy, and that it Irma be impossible for his Majesq's expenses to be reduced to a smaller amount, either according to any estimate which could be made for the future, or hr ref. rence to the experience of the time which has elapsed since his Ma- jesty acceded to the Throne; and feeling that it is not the wish of any pact of the pe.e le to curtail the hospitality or inteifere with the comfort Of the Sove- reign, ti.ey recommend that the amount allotted to this class should be 171.5001."

If they had no means, why did they not ask for them? What is the ire of the Steward's department, if it does not fulfil its chief function of keeping the household accounts? The Lord Steward, we dare say, could not have rendered them any information,—for which reason we propose the abolition of his salary ; but surely his Secretary, or the Treasurer of the Household, or their respective clerks, could have fur- nished the same particulars us any well-regulated private house can produce. Mark, too, the logic of legislators. They have no means of investigation, but a Chancellor end an Ex tell them no reduction can be mode ; and therefore they are "satisfied, " though it does not ap- pear that these functionaries Lad better " means" than themselves ; and nu one will conceive either Lord ALTIIORP or Mr. Govi.neate to be such conjurors that their judgment is immaculate upon the unseen and the unknown. We are ready to reecho the Committee's remark,

26,465

that it is " not the wish of any part of the people to curtail the bospi. tality or interfere with the comfort of the Sovereign ; " but, having been taught by the declamations of the Whigs out of office that the name of the Sovereign was only used as a cloak for waste and profu- sion, they may wish to ascertain whether it be true or false. In this, of course, as in the preceding list, a general view only is desirable. No one proposes to haggle about jugs of ale or joints of mutton. The only question is as to the propriety of any particular branch of the establishment, which, originating in feudal times, may now have become useless, or unadapted to the age.

The following are the heads of the faurtb Royal Bounty and Special Service £8,500 Alms and Charities 3,126 Poor of London 1,000 Home Secret Service 10,000 From the very nature of this expenditure, its details would seem not open to investigation. The sums might be considered too large, but the expenditure itself was properly secret. The Committee, however, went into this, and made a reduction of 5001. from the first item, and of 741. (how virtuously exact !) from the second. As we propose to free the Civil List of " our Maiden Queen" altogether from the odium and discredit of the Pension List, we conceive this class—upwards of 20,0001. of which is of the nature of a pension-fund—might stand as it is.

dfiftl) (MIN.

PENSIONS £75,000 This very unpopular and excitable subject may be considered under two heads ; the past and the future. We will take the past first.

Although entertaining strong opinions on the subject of pensions, we have not been so forward as some of our contemporaries in pressing it upon the public ; because We considered that this identical amount was not very material in a financial view ; that a sort of compact had

been made with the late King, in which the nation got the Reform Bill in exchange for the Pension List ; that the grant, moreover, was

legally given to the King for his life; and that the time for regulating the terms of a bargain is when you are making it, and not after you have signed and sealed. Now, however, the right is at an end ; and the

proper—indeed, considering the feelings of the country, the only course, we conceive, is to subject the claims of the pensioners to an

examination,—rather equitable, however, than legal. But the House

must beware of being jockied. On the death of GEORGE the Fourth, the gross amount of the Civil List Pensions was 170,0001., reduced by

duties and fees (no longer payable) to 145,7501. The Civil List Pen- sions of WiLtram were fixed at 7.$,0001. ; the difference of 70,750/ , (now reduced by deaths or resignations to 58,6680 being transferred to the Consolidated Fund. It is possible that many of the worst of the pensions were thus transferred, on the chance of keeping them out of sight. Unless, therefore, Members of Parliament look sharp, they

will be diddled, and be also made tools of for deluding the country. We trust that Mr. HARVEY, who has taken possession of this question, and that Members who are pledged to vote upon it, will bear this fact in mind. At all events, it will be our " congenial vocation " to scruti- nize closely the proceedings upon what is called the Pension List. With respect to the future, we would earnestly suggest that pensions should be entirely removed from the Civil List. Bad as we hold all

pensions to be in principle—expensive and profuse, as we shall shortly endeavour to prove them in practice—these Civil List Pensions are the worst of the kind. All the others are only granted on application to Pnrliament, or under some of its acts, or in pursuance of some office

regulation ; and legitimate service is always the pretence, and generally the reality, of their grant, however improper the grant may be in its nature

or its amount. But the Civil List Pensions are bestowed it the pleasure of the Minister, without responsibility, regulation, or check. They have been granted for no service, or for the worst of service ; their tendency, if they operate at all, must be to lower the spirit of the aristocracy, and to train its more needy members to the practice of those arts by which admission on it is procured, and to infuse into them the feelings of paupers. Nor is there any valid public reason that we can see to counterbalance its evils. A few names in science or literature—a few relatives of men who have served their countty against her

enemies—may have been placed there as outposts to parade before the public; but these are all of any worth, and these are unseemly. It is not fit that the poet, or the philosopher, or the relations of a hero, should be placed upon the same level as the minions of a court, the adepts in back-stairs intrigue, or persons of a still less reputable character.

These, however, are naked assertions. A few examples, in the form of an account, will show the matter more clearly. Running over the

Civil List as it stood at the death of GEORGE the Fourth, the only

names that we see connected with literature or science, are the late Dr. Goa ins, the historian of Greece, and, we believe, Royal Hist°.

riographer,—which explains his pension; ROBERT SOUTHEY, the Tory Poet Laureate; and the widow of Colonel CONGREVE, rocket-inventor and rept! favourite. From MO till 1835, distinguished names are scant ; Sorrn, the Royal Astronomer, being the only one under the GREY :thilistry. Of late they have become more numerous ; for which, however, the Tories are to be thanked. When PEEL last came into power, one of his claptraps was pensioning fur popularity ; and on Lord MennoenNe's reinstatement, be imitated his antagonist,— which explains the names from AIREY downwards on the left hand side of the following account, and which contains the whole charge, past or present, for letters, science, or art. In the heroic way, on the death of GEORGE the Fourth, we find nothing certain, except (prole Tudor!) ANN Countess Dowager of MORNINCTON. We bad an impression that the daughters of COLLING. WOOD Lad been used to bolster up the list, but we cannot find them. The names of WOLFE, RODNEY, and DUNCAN, are indeed there, with very miserable pittances attached to them ; but whether they are any relations to the great commanders we do riot know. The pensions to the grandchildren of poor SHERIDAN arc hardly to be censured; but no one will dream of keeping up a Pension List for any such purposes as this, especially when he looks at the wretched amount of the dole, and compares it with the allowance to Mrs. Fox, a connexion of the noble family of HOLLAND. Nor ought they in strictness to stand on the side of the a^-count where we have placed them : however, we can afford to be charitable with such a statement as we exhibit below.

The names themselves explain the nature of the right band side of the table. This list might easily have been extended ; but enough is given to show the character of the larger pensions, and a few small ones are added to display the delicate spirit of aristocratical pensioners. The reader will observe that some of the parties are dead ; and he will of course understand that the object is not to give a table of the names on the Civil List Pensions as they exactly stood at any given time, but to show the uses to which it has been turned.

LITERATURE AND SCIENCE. I ROYAL PENSIONS.

X s. d. , £ s. d.

• Dr. John G illies, Historian of George Fit zelarence, Earl of

Greece 104 040' Mutual r ; who ho resigin.d it

Mrs. Congreve, w Mow of Colo when it was regranted to his eel Congreve, inventor of the .ts it'e rockets 500 0 0 311 0 0 Lord Adolphus Fitzelarence., 500 0 0 Mrs. Nlaturin, willow of the no- Lord Frederick Fitzelarence .. 500 0 0 velist and dramatist 46 0 0 , Sidney. Adelaide Augusta Wil. Robert Southey 133 0 0 helmina, Ernestine Welliugs Sir James South, Astronomer tom and Sophia Phillipa, awl Royal, granted in 1831 300 0 0 to the survivor 500 0 0 Lord Errol and family 608 0 0 PEEL'S POrULARITY PENSIONS. Duke of Sussex's family 934 0 0 (I 0 O 0 O 0 Lord Elphinstotte 300 0 0 O 0 Lrril Allen and family 640 0 0 O 0 • 5Irs. Harriet. Arbuthnot. 938 0 0

Mrs. Ashworth's family 1 701 0 0

MELBOURNE'S IMITATIONS 07 PEEL. Lord Auckland and his sisters 701 0 0 0 Mrs. Bankhend, widow of Castlereagh's physician 350 0 0

0 0 Lord Bathurst's family 1 400 0 0 Lady Elizabeth Baker, sister

O 0 to the Duke of Leinster 4G1 0 0

0 0 Lord de Blagniere 1 937 0 0

0 0 Lady Cathcart 189 0 0 O 0 Lord Caithness's family 722 0 0

0 0 The Cockburn family 1 453 0 0 Lady Clare, the notorious Fitz.

O 0 gibbon's widow 700 0 0 Thomas Peregrine Courtney, O 0 his family 1'300 0 0 The Dyson family 893 0 0 Lady Louisa Murray, wife of

lion. Ann Rodney 76 19 0 Sir George and Miss Fox, widow and 233 0 0 JoJohn Mrs n Rodney 88 1 0 ' Jane Rodney 88 1 0 daughter of Charles James.1,214 Anne Rodney 88 1 0 Lord Gifford

800

0 Goddard family 702

Sarah Rodney . 88 1 Williainina Duncan 39 10 0 I lamilt on family 922 Ann Wolfe 40 8 Helen S. Sheridan 57 1 Caroline E. S. Sheridan (Mrs

Norton) 57

Jane Georgiana Sheridan 57 1 Franeis C. Sheridan. 57 1 Cliaiks K. Sheridan 57 1 Total of Literature. Ae...£4,340 0 Amount of Royal and Noble Pensions, brought from other side 123,348 0 Total of Civil List PensionsX133.688 0

Civil List of Wil-

liam fourth 75,000 Still payable from Consolidated Fund .58,688 133,698 0 0

There are nearly forty Peers, or their families, pensioners on the Civil List; among them are six Dukes, four Marquises, and eight Earls ; and the liberality with which the do-nothings or doers of ill are rewarded is very striking when contrasted with the pensions to merit. The ser- vices of Lord DE BLAGUIERE (does any one on this side•of the water know who he is ?) are estimated to be six times more valuable than those of his countryman " the poet of all circles ;" the reputation of Mrs. A eaertixoT was estimated by the granters of Civil List pensions as excelling Mrs. Someaviir.e's threefold ; the fame of Lady LOUISA MURRAY is valued by the same parties as superior to that of the excel- lent and gifted Miss Martian by 150 per cent. ; and the dulness of the BATH URSTS. (fully provided for in many oilier public departments) is considered more valuable to the nation than the philosophical genius of FARADAY, by just 363 per cent. After all this, we can still suppose the existence of a feeling that the Sovereign should have the means of rewarding old servants ; whilst many, unconsciously biassed by the notions they have drawn from the splendid reign of Louts the Fourteenth, will be apt to hold that to pen. non letters and science is the peculiar province of royalty. Be it so— they will find ample funds in existence for both these heads of expense, as well as for any peculiar individual whom the Queen may delight to honour. The Privy Purse is 60,0001. a year ; the Royal Bounty and Special and Secret Service (not the real secret service annually voted) 18,500/. ; and the Superannuation Allowances to the Household, expressly retained by the Committee for the purpose of pensioning old servants, instead of being transferred to the Consolidated Fund, doubt- less amount to 10,000/ or 15,000/. more at the least, making altogether upwards of 90,0001. to be expended at pleasure. Should this, how- ever, be deemed insufficient, add another 10,00W. tp the Royal Bounty ;

:Richard Ailey 300 Robert Southey (additional) 300 Mrs. Someiv ill,. astronomer 200 James Montgomery. poet. Lin Shaton Turner, historian 200 NOBLE 011 NOBLY-CONNECTED PENSIONS.

Stirs. Somerville (additional) 100 0 Thomas Moore, the lyric poet, historian, aud biographer 300 Michatl Faraday, the philoso- pher and chemist 300 John lianim, the novelist 130 Dr. John Dalton, the chemist 150

Sir David Brewster, astronomer 200 Sir Whiten; Ouseley,Orientalist 100 Miss Milford, author of Our fill tge 100

£3,546 NAMESANES OF GREAT MEN. Marquis of eetitiale's family 300 6 Lord Hereford 600 Lord Huntingdon and family 622

Sir William Johnston 738

6 6 Colonel Leigh, brother-in-law 6 to Lord Byron "00

6 Iord 51 into 938 Lady Milers, relation of the

0 Duke of Portland 1,002 Lord Montford 611 Countess of Mulgrave 800 Lord Purtmore 509 Dame Mary Rae, wife of the Tory Lord Advocate 660 Earl of hiothes and family 601 Lieut.-Col. 51. Shaw 999 Sir Robert show 714 Sir Culling Smith's family 755 Lord Strangford and family 607 Mts. Tierney, widow of the

Right Hon. George 400 IWr.James Moore, brut ler of Sir John, and his biographer, Napier's Cain. Cain, tic. tke. 780

Lady Westmeath 386 Lady Charlotte Murray Mac- 0 gregor 97 Captain George Drummond 0 (De Melfont) 97 Lady Maria Dillon ..... 43 Countess Dowager of Errol 88 Hon. Harriett Sewell 88 Varieties of the same genus ..94,414

Total of Royal Sr. Noble Ixp29.348 0 0

Pensions 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 O 0 O 0

0 0 0 0 0 0 0

0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

O 0 0 0 O 0 0 0 O 0 18 0 1 0 1 0 O 0

which is more than double the sum spent on proper objects for this lust quarter of a century. But if Lord MELBOURNE knows what is best for himself, and can comprehend what is due to the moral dignity and regal character of his Sovereign, he will take steps to separate her name from the odious Pension List, if be do not advise the Queen herself to recommend it from the Throne.

And thus much for the first Practical Measure ; in which, at all events, Ministers can encounter no "obstacles" from the Tories or the Lords.