PRACTICAL MEASURES.
SEQUEL TO NO. T.
THE REPORT ON THE CIVIL LIST.
THE result of the labours of the Civil List Committee is not a re. trenchment from the Civil Lists of GEORGE the Fourth and Wm- LIAM the Fourth, but an increase of 10,0001. Excluding existing pensions, whose position is yet unsettled; the 1,2001. per annum which, come what may, the proposed Act impowers Queen Vie. TORIA to grant every year in new pensions; and the pocket-money of ADELAIDE the late Queen Consort,—the following account exhi- bits, in juxtaposition, the allowance to the luxurious GEORGE and the jolly WILLIAM, with that which Ministers demand for the young maiden VICTORIA.
Privy Purse of the Sovereign Salaries of the Household Expenses of the Household Royal Bounty, Alms, and Special Service Unappropriated Monies
• Secret Service. to be transferred to the Consolidated Fund, but ap- plied to the some purposes and under tire same authority as heretofore" £385.000 £385,000 £39150,0000
Totals The form of the Report itself is not unworthy of its substance. i
Its character is that of a rogue writing to a fool. It begins with some twaddling claptrap about the labours of the last Committee, the " relief of the Civil List of the Crown from the expenses of the Civil Govern- ment," and "the surrender of the Hereditary Revenues," (bating the most valuable,) " by which the public have benefited to the amount of 70,6841. 10s. 5d.," (but taking care not to mention that the public have given in exchange upwards of three millions). As the old Committee were guided in fixing the amount of the future Civil List by the expendi- ture ofthe past, so is the new. The former Committee "did not think it consistent with the respect due to his Majesty to scrutinize the details of his domestic household ; " neither did the new. The men of 1831 proposed reductions to the amount of 11,529/. 10s. ; and the men of 1837 have got as far in the way of retrenchment as 7,7111. But as, " during the late reign, the Ladies in attendance on her Majesty were provided for out of the sum of 50,0001. allotted to the Queen Consort, and which has been already omitted from the First Class of the Civil List, it therefore becomes necessary, during the reign of her Majesty, that provision should be made for the Ladies of her Majesty's Household ;" and this necessity causes an addition of 9,7601. The last Committee had no means of investigating the expenses of the Household; and the present only had the gross amounts of the tradesmen's bills. However, the " Reform " Ministers asked a thousand pounds more than CASTLEREAGH required for GEORGE the Fourth : and the con- venient Committee recommend it.
The exertions of Mr. GROTE and Mr. HUME, though mostly ineffec- tual in the Committee, have, however, contributed to give the Report a little more of occasional truth and purpose than was displayed is 1831. It comes out that the Committee had "not the power of sending for papers or examining witnesses ; " but were "limited to the papers before them," and to the Ministerial explanations. Having no means of examining into the subject, they suggest that " the Treasury and the Great Departments of the Household " should inquire " whether the several existing offices of pay might not be united," and abetter system substituted in their room,"—a recommendation useless as to any result, but significant of the state of the case when it is assented to by the Ministers.
The Report also suggests the consolidation, on a vacancy, of the sinecure Governor and Lieutenant-Governor of Windsor Castle,— by which, we suppose, 1751. a year will be saved ; the abolition of sinecures in the Household, if, upon inquiry, any (!) should be found ; the establishment of a " Superannuation Fund in certain depart- ments of the Household ; " and the adoption of a "mode suited to modern times" of applying the "sum annually distributed as alms and charity,"—for this Committee, like the last, made no scruple to investigate what was in its nature private, whilst they shrunk from the Great Officers of the Household, and other overgrown abuses.
The documents laid before the Committee were of a very gereral kind. Few particulars are furnished as to the number of persons and the amount of their salaries. The "bills and disbursements " only consist of sums total. Still, enough peeps out to warrant the suspicion that the whole establishment is a remnant of feudality ill stilted to the present age, and so patched and altered that it belongs to 11011e ; whilst the particulars imply very great profusion,and the consequent capability
of a considerable retrenchment. We should therefore have presented the following classed and arranged tables, had they no other character than that of data. But they have also a curious interest, as exhibiting, and for the first time, the disbursements of the existing regal establishment. The two principal classes of the Civil List are for the " Salaries," and " Expenses " of the Household. It was explained in our first paper on this subject, that the Household is divided into four depart. meats; the actual cost of which is as follows.
LORD CHAMBERLAIN'S DEPARTMENT. £2,000 924 5.616 2.685
7,576 5011
3,500 2,400 2,400 5.129 7,100 502 419 356 1.556 1.236 3,6600
GEORGE IV, WILLIAM IV, VICTORIA I.
£60,000 £60,000 £60.000 130.300 130,300 131.260 171.500 171.500 172 500 28,200 23,200 • 13 200 8,040 46385,000 4385,000 £325,000
SALARIES Mr SINISCORIATS AND SHOWMEN,
Lord Cliamberlain
Lords in Wallin.;
8 Grooms in Waiting Geutlemen 17.11ers.11rocalis. Pages, &c First Lady of the Bedchamber
7 lea
S Maids of Honour
8 Bedchamber Women Corps of Gentlemen at Anne Corps of Yeomen of tie Huard Order of the Garter Order of the Bath
Kin. and Heralds at ATMs
Sergeantsitt•Arrns and Officers of Ceremonies
Chaplaius at Windsor. Kensington, Brighton. and Preachers at Whitehall Governor tt Wiudsur Castle and Lleuteuant-tiuseraur of ditto
FEristoris,
SALARIES OP THE WORKING psept.e, Medical Establishment for her Majesty and the Royal Household Officers basing charge ot Furniture, &e
Master of Mush! and Baud Surveyor of Pict ales and Principal Painter Comptroller of Accouuts, Clerks, and Messengers in Lord Chambsrlaiu's Retinal and Superannuated Allowances
stargemasters and Wittermen
Office 9,705 5,809 3,110 7,556 1.916 400 182
TRADESMEN'S BILLS, &C.
1.--- “ ..• ..--- ...--
I1831. 1 1832. 1833. 1834. 1835 1836. TOTAL.
., £ £ £ £ £ £ £ 1 12.000 10,079 10,298 11,282 12,533 11,331 67,520 96 200 . , 493 671 225 1637 ., 1 962 699 847 597 798 690 4,595 1 230 10 25 81 19 356 724 392 393 207 257 396 391 2,038 .1 3 570 381 225 213 1,26.1 264 2,869 57 120 251 397 169 634 1,549 1 70 19 49 333 87 26 636 • 144 446 496 770 877 12 2,747 1 19 31 33 8 .. 93 s! 167 390 161 791 714 395 3,121 . 231 99 214 93 287 231 1.181 46 531 .. 171 74 793 • 17 20 235 78 209 16 266 , 1,646 1,530 1,314 1,660 636 1.962 8.751 , ." 365 421 322 348 364 343 2,175 248 470 268 316 167 281 1 695 . 2,174 2,477 2,639 2,486 2,631 3.014 15,431 s 1,593 541 336 497 761 1.033 4,809 : 3,978 3,229 3.064 2372 2,843 4,119 19,607 . .. 2,642 59 1,547 938 25 5,253 15 23 ..14 52 : .75 94 37 27 27 97 359 1,356 1,828 1,247 857 917 898 7,104 62 .. 200 126 .. 399 • 313 .. 337 .. 40 400 1,091 . • 1,767 1.760 1,819 1,935 1,894 1,957 11.154 .. 682 .. 315 439 .. .. 1,407 84 109 118 87 117 118 634 . 1,077 1 010 850 861 1,081 1,090 5.965 3 822 2,206 3,595 56 .. .. 6,631 1 . 61 39 32 37 92 18 271 .. 49 28, 3 45 137 260 . 491 461 399 at 430 479 2.637 138 117 112 130 121 150 774 3i: il- al 13 a, id 5,189 4,392 4,542 4,154 4,640 4,631 29,050 riz le • s' m al 692 1,250 1,008 1,268 1,153 1,363 6,636 13 of Cl' :c.
u.
a- ... 1,648 1.631 1,633 1,632 1.642 1,573 9,769 .. 3,895 2,097 2,933 2,839 2,940 2,997 18,651 ... A 43.644 42,831 ' 40;315 39,453 41,635 41.918 219,869 - --
Account of the appropriation of the preccding disbursements to each of the Royal Palaces.
1834. 1 1835. 1836. Tarty..
£ his' a in Pall Mall and l'ages' Urrifornis. Cloth Kensington and Kew l'a Surgeons and Apotheca Allowances in lieu o
hiii_ 111,111
ist. .1a mes's Palace The King's Mews Plate Buckingham Palace Ilamprou Court and Stilt WatenneraChapel bos s laces
lag, Yeomen, Warders
null Maundy ries ... Carlton Riaing.house. Liaise 1'astle 67111 6,a36 4.917 3,430
2.217 1,436
2,237 4,947 1,727 1,730 Lisair 31 346 t 761 303 2,150 495 292 2,0 7.s23 134 .. 3,505 55 988 536 45 ..
2,730 2 160 Lodgings 1.195 1.133 Stationery 2,221 2 966 Wiishig 34 iseella 'worts A Pow - ances and Pnynients
Messengers' Bills
if
FtittsITURE,
Ii pholsterersandCabinet•
midaira Colima Maroilarcturers
Ta triers. Mat.lay ers, uitd Fleor-cloth Manufactu
revs Pianoterie.makers und
Or s a n 4111 iblers Or Mohr Restorer's,
Curvers and (Olden Lamp nut Lustre Mann fact urers lip:inners
Plate.ulass Men
Furniture.printers Trunk3nakers and I.ea the-sellers Cluck makers &Opt iciau Chinamen Dyers Silk•mercers Litsendrupers Wool lenitraps rs Feanistress Washing
FERNITUI4E4ITTINGS.
Joiners and Blind-al Ike Locksmitlisatontnonger and Armourers 413e.orr
Tilifors
Hat tees Hosiers and Glovers Dacoavrioris.
Paper-ha ngers Gold [mermen and En
broiderers Artist, Decorators, an Ilerald•painters
PERSONAL,
SU! volts. A pothecarie
Chemists, 12c Portrait.painter Card makers Stationers. Bookseller and Engravers Goldsruiths Mason, Plumber, au Glazier Miscrssarisors, blodellers iind Floor.
chalkers Soap Chimney-sweepers
Allowances in lieu Apartments and Lod lags, Hire of house Disharsernents Lo Chamberlain's 011ie the several Houseke .ers, extra 1tuuemaid Charwumeu. Rates at Taws Sundry Payments for It musing and Cleanit Picture, Cleaning t Chapels Royal, Peg. and other Travellir Expeuies, Diseharg Chapel-boys. &c Allowances to the Y men and Warders the Tower, Chap toys, Watermeu, in lieu of Clothitig,s perannuated and
empt Yeomen Messengers' Bills
Or A pare'
4.926 4,770 3,‘,95 43,644 42.883 1831. . 1832. 1 1833. AIX' 2,192 1,833 3,849 993 2,639 4.713 2,933 40325 £ 901 3.730 4.361 6S.431 • .
9,524 642 39.4581 41,636 41,908 249,864
11.037
3,783 1.926 2.431 964 2,486 4.401 2,849 379 4.432 3 335 329 326 21102 3.349 5.023 25.411 assi 3,923 30.423 12,195 11,233 34,943 131 3,013 1,866 2,107 1.174 2,810 4,474 4.103 27.412 2,940 2.997 18.651 736 939 6,002 1.7:6 9,427 9,150 1,369 • • 6.608 18,214 3,131 2,596 1.172 3,088 1,938 18.214 11,326 14 733 6631 16,210 LORD STEWARD'S DEPARTMENT.
SALARIES Or SINECCRISTS AND SNOWMEN,
The Lord Steward Treasurer Comptroller Master of the household, Ranger of Windsor Home Park, Knight Marshal, Marshalmen, and Expenses of the l'ilarshalsea Prison Chapel Royal, Chaplain at St. James's, Whitehall Chapel, and Lutheran Chapel Anon once in lieu of Table-Money
SALARIES OF THE WORKINO•PEOPLE,
Secretary, Pas master of the Household, and Clerks. Office-keepees ani Messengers in the Lord Steward's Office 2,920 Domestic Servants in the Ewry, int. and Beer Cellars. Clerks of the Kitcheu's Office, Kitchens, Confectionery, Pastry, Table•Deckers,&c 9.938 ['straws:a,
Superannuations, Bounties, and Itetitkisl Allowances 6,36$ TRADESMEN'S Box% &c.
£ £
1831. 1932. 133. 1834. 1835.
1336. Tarts,
£ £
11 rio ii
2,665 1,943 1,751 1,765 1,663
2,050 11,242
Butter, llama, Cheese, &
Elias
4,089 4,035 4,317 4.293 4.649 4276 26364
Milk and Cream
1,727 1,463 1,351 13.s7 1,429 1.474 8,785
Butchers' Meat
7.052 8 157 8,574 8,653 8.997 9,472 50,911
Poultry
2.907 2.924 28(8 2,635 3.101 3.633 18.153 Fish
1.467 1.423 1.520 1,471 1.6:83 1.979 9,496
Grocery
3743 3786 3,745 3.336 4.257 4.644 24.031
Oilery
1.965 1.765 1.770 1,693 1665 1.793 10651
Fruit and Confectionery
1.50 1371 1,154 1,464 1,379 . 1,741 8.693
Vegetables
438 363 372 414 456 497 2.530
Wine
5,652 5 308 6.135 5 095 5,998 4,3511 33 883 Liqueurs. &c
1.410 1,625 1.555 1.737 1.414 1 843 I 9.583 Ale and Beer
1.934 2,325 2.406 2.-168 2.639 2 811 14633 Wax Candles
1.737 1.361 1.616 1,5,4 1,619 1,977 10.234
Tallow Candles
622 51:9 617 618 615 679 3,720 Lamps
5,236 4.618 4.014 4,144 4.214 4.660 26.385
Fuel
5.455 6,153 5,286 5,350 5,173 63346 34 268
Stationery
633 591/ 514 537 549 324 3.737
Turnery
263 263 293 270 316 376 1.786
Brasier::
641 546 784 706 783 890 4.350
China, Glass, Sse..
2.208 1.139 2.250 1,172 956 1.323 9.003
Linen 139 971 1.429 1.027 1.477 1.045 6.127
Washing Table Linen 2,740 2.757 23,31 2,950 3,049 3,130 17,457
Plate .. - 464 13100 512 612 355 2,943
- --
£ 55,8.13 56,188 33,230 56,692 53,316 63,307 349,476
The Royal Gardens 12.607
10.710 9,910 10,400 10,310 10,569 64,506
Maunday Expenses 257
260 163 266 270 276 1.592
'loyal Yachts 236
146 .. 337 75 45 829
Board Wages 3,273
3 296 3.455 3 553 3,541 3,615 20,733
Travelling Expenses 1,013
1,066 1,101 1,032 376 1,030 , 6,191
Allowances for Beer,
Bread. Sze. 896
799 925 , 782 757 764 4,923
Extra Servants, Hireti
Persons, &c 3,775
3.663 3374 3,629 3,733 3,616 21.819
Board Wages to the Yeo- men of the Guard" 2,145
2.315 2,230 2,230 2,230 2 230 13.380
Compensations 1,315
1,692 1.541 1.169 , 1,305 1.244 8,766
Sundries and Disburse- ments 6,150
5.534 5,725 5,427 I 5.652 4.719 ' 33,207
£ 38,010 85,663 86,757 35,756187365 92,065 525,622
- ---1 ---
DEPARTMENT OF THE MASTER OF THE HORSE.
SALARIES Or SINECURISTS AND SHOW-MEN,
Master of the Horse £9,500 Chief Equerry and Clerk Marshal 4 Pages of Honour 1.400600 4 Equerries
Equerry or Crown stables
Master of Blies llourids
31: (1150
SALARIES OF THE WoRRiNG.propi.E.
PENSIONS,
Secretary, Cler ks et Stables in Loudon, at Windsor, and Brighton 1,500 inspector and Veterinary Surgeon 600 Coachmen, Postillions, Helpers, Grooms. Porters, Footmen, and other Domestic Servants 12,563 Superannuation and Retired Allowances 2,766
TX•IIISMLIf'S BILL., &c
1831. ------- 1832.
1833. 1834. 1 1535. 1836. TOTAL.
£ £
£
Liveries
5.974 5.730
6.475 6,392 6.020
6,209 36.799 Forage
5,062 4,965
4,413 4,965 5,732
5308 30.441 Farriery
1,043 1,159
1,090 1,096 1,076
1.012 6.476 Horses
4,163 4.643
4.030 5,712 4,661
3,345 26.609 Carriages
3,767 2,436
4.643 1.803 2,979
4.325 20.503 Harness
(s')7 324
410 2,070 1,s83
aw 5.34
Saddlery
954 910
1,45; 370 677
577 5,445 Bits and Spars 112 48
81 41 130
30 445
-Whip
90 99 46 61 59
46 401 Limps, Gas-lights. 930 1,219 739 326 672
642 5,143 Coals and Wood 978 970 889 835 936
934 5,592 Si at ionery 86 93
77 82 64
44 452 Turnery Articles 175 199
161 133 180
176 I 1,1174 Candles and Soap 215 212
2:s3 336 222
214 1,331 Waalting 68. 36
92 79 105
34 521 Ironmongers 230 160
121 227 247
18: 1,167 Allowance fur Lodging 672 786
615 623 641
59,1 3,962 Sundry other Small Ex iwnses 2,121 5,993 3,119 3,177 3,324 2,322 20,550 Travelling Expenses and
Disbursemeni &
2,151 2,062
1,702 3,0q1 1,948 1,846 11,795 Post-horses 1,330 1,397
1,311 1.4'z-5 1,425
1,402 41,571 King's Plates 2,2115 2310
2,310 o I 2,310 2.310 13.755 Stud Hills 990 934 55: 551 663)
MI;I 4,332
hunt ditto 4,339 4,473
4,4r'3 5.051 5,330 27.273 I ---
38,734 233,574 Deduct 38,241 41,319
39,206 40,640 :40,433
Proceeds of useless llonies sold
735 1.029 793 1,665 1,159
529 5.915
-
Net Expense for
Bills, 9cAi 37.506 40,290 384(13 33,975 39,274 38.205 j 332,659
MASTER OF THE ROBES' DEPARTMENT.
if325 SE'lxipearriedsriture in 1836 1,000 From these accounts, and our former remarks upon the subject, the reader will be able to resolve the Royal Household into its ele. merits. so as to perceive what its nature really is. And, stripping it of the formal disguises in which it is wrapped, it will be found to follow an every-day course; consisting in reality of four de- partments-that of the ridet, the housemaid, the butler sad cook,
A2,030 904 904 1,158 500 1,924 3.535 1,676
and the coachmen. The Master of the Robes, analogous to valet, takes care of the regal wardrobe; which, last year, cost 1,8Ea1 and the Salaries RV. —though Queen \hermit% is voted 5,0001 The work in the Lord Chamberlain'a department evidently concerns the neatness and tithes% of the chambers. It devolves upon this establishment to keep every thing nice and cleanly above board ; to
etiperintend the sweeping of the chimnies, (150/. per annum); to look after the "seamstresses" and their work. (2940; to criticize the labours of the up stairs washerwomen (3,0141.); to see to the hanging of curtains and pictures; to notify to " mason, plumber, and glazier," that a pane of glass is broken, or that a paltitial pipe
is stopped or leaky. It is for the Chamberlain, and his officers, to
provide " soap" at 479/. a year ; to deal with the " dyers ;" to look after the " finor-chalkers ; " to scrutinies. " lamps" and "Ittetres ;" to dust the furniture. see to its repairs, and provide new when necessary,— which necessity, in the reign of the last King, wore the appearance of fatality, as, after all the extravagance of GEORGE the Fourth in this line, the expenditure on "upholsterers and cabinetmakers " went on year rifler year. to the extent of ,:early 12.000/. or a total of 67,:e201. The Lard Steward's establishment is solely concerned with the kitchen, the buttery, the wine and beer cellars. If the reader scan the Tradesmen's Bills, be will see that they only deal with matters ministering to the carnal man. He will also perceive that to this department is attached by far the greatest staff of chaplain.. The Master of the Horse is yet more strictly limited to the duties of a groom and coachman—the highest matter with which he has to deal is the " liveries."
Had the right ordering of Queen VICTORIA'S Household berm sub- mitted to common capacity and honest purpose, it is palpable that the first step taken would have been to separate the sinecurists, and the mere ceremonial officers, from the working-people. The next consideration would have been the nature and extent of the duties of this latter class ; and the establishment would have been most liberally framed to correspord with them. Instead of the present independent, and we doubt not jarring departments, the economy of the Royal Household should have been placed under one responsible functionary, analogous to the house-steward or major- domo of a nobleman's establishment. This really superintending officer would of course have had his working subordinates ; and tinder his control, and responsible to him, would have been three or four other persons—chief butler, chief cook, and so forth ; for, let us over- lay things as we will, we cannot alter their nature, or extend even the functions of a palace household Leyond the economy of furniture, the supply of the table, and the care of the stud. In dealing with the ceremonial parts of Queen VICTORIA'S establish- ment, one leading principle should have been kept in sight—theprin- ciple of civilization as opposed to feudalism—the simplicity of the present age as opposed to the cumbrous forms of the PLANTAGENETS and Tenors. As regards the Great Officers of State, we still retain the opinion put forward in September, that they should be honorary—not only for considerutions of moral respectability, but from the impossibility of appreciating such services as that of standing behind the chair of the Sovereign during the perform- ance of a play. The inferior actors in the state pageant—the supernumeraries, as it were, of the procession—would of course be paid; but there is no •reason why the scale of their payment should be different from that of subalterns in the Army or Navy —their remuneration is honour and distinction. We find men of sta- tion and respectability paying 450/. for an ensign's commission, besides outfit. They subject themselves to the tie of military duties, and to the strictness of martial law ; they give up the power of fixing their own domicile, or being master of their own movements for a day to- gether: and in return for this and their 500/. or 600/., they get 95/. a year, and the privilege of tying a red silk sash round their waist, and wearing a pair of brass epaulets on a blue frock-coat. And in sug- gesting this principle of payment, we do it on a point of punctilio; for the Crown might not wish to be served gratuitously by subordinate officers,* otherwise there would be no difficulty in filling any number of ceremonial offices about the Court with perfectly competent persons who would discharge the duty for nothing. Such is the morbid love of petty distinction in the generality of mind., that money might be raised by the sale of them, as we find in a less reputable pursuit. The stage displays of the ROMEO COATES of former times, and the PETER BoRTlnrIcx of ours, ( who paid, or promised to pay, the manager of the Surry for permission to enact Othello,) would be greatly increased were it not for the manager's fears of empty benches.
We cannot of course state the saving that a rational reform of the Civil List might produce ; for even the Committee, assisted by the
verbal explanations of Ministers, intimate that the data before them were totally insufficient for the purposes of investigation. But accounts are ticklish things, however general they may be ; and enough peeps out occasionally to warrant the conclusion that a very large retrench. ment might have been effected, not only without diminishing the real splendour of the Crown, but with an advancement of its real dignity and respectability. For example—
Of the whole sum of 131,2601. spent on the" Salaries of the House- hold," we can only trace about 35,0001. as paid for any efficient service ; and that is doubtless much more than the present nature of the regal dig- nity requires, from the number of menial attendants maintained to wait upon those who do nothing, every useless officer of state requiring three or four satellites to form his train. If to this sum be added 10,500/. for
superannuation pensions, there is h•ft :About F-0,fM.ftll. spent in sinecures or showmen to keep imp fantastic and exploded forms. We do not mean
that all this 50,000/. could have been reduced ; for, in recasting the establishment, and changing it from the barbarism of feurlatity to the rational simplicity of civilization, some expense for fitting state avid
ceremony must have been immured. Nor could the whole of any re- duction have immediately fallen in, from the necessity of providing for the present holders of offices, some of them bought with hard cash, We merely say, that according to the gross and lumpish data before judicious econmoi-tie capable of IrePiiin,r the siert, of the times, could, upon these Salaries of the Household alone, have effected is saying Of
• It is, however, so served at present The Gentle: met Pease:triers buy their posts; and their pay :s merely an annuity. 50,000/ ; which we formerly guessed as the retrenchment possible upon this and the next item, Expenses of the Household. The retrenchment that could he effected in these Expenses, is a more conjectural matter than even the Salaries. But enough is palpable to indieete a lavish expenditure. By simplifying the establishment, the numbers to he maintained would • f course be reduced; but, taking it as it now stands, the cost appears very great, tested in the only way that is open tither to the public or the Parliament.
It will 1w seer' by the third table, that the last Sovereign used only three palaces,—NVindsor, Brighton. and St. Jecnes's ; for which last Queen VICTORIA has substituted Buckingham House. The Expendi- ture in the Lord Charnleahain's department—the cost for the furniture and chamber-officers attendant upon it—amounted on the average for each palace to nearly 3.5,0001 a year; and that too when the greater part of the moveables are sid,tantial and enduring heirlooms, and from their very nature indeprielent of fashion.
The Sovereign teatime of course, be in more palaces than one at a rime ; but the averse cost of food. that is for the salaries of the Lord Steward's department and the kitchen. is 43.000/. etch residence.
Bet the expenditure on horses and carijaries is higher yet. With a depreciated paper currency and during the high prices of the war, economists used to calculate that 501t1. a year was the expense of a carriage, coachman. and footman, with all incidental exptetses. At this rate, the present cost of the ).latter of the Horse's department would suable Royalty to keep 1.5.5 carriages and 155 footmen in this deetertmeet alone. 'But a carriace can now be jobbed for 2001. a year ; which would provide the Queen with nearly 400 carriages and pairs. Now we do not require that the Alenarch secedd job carriages.... we are aware that a King or Queen must keep other than carriage-horses; nor do we expect that the regal establishment is to be kept upon the scale of private individuals. But we repeat, that, upon .the gross and lumpish data open to us, this profuse expenditure seems more fitted for an Asiatic satrap than the coustitutimed first magistrate of a free commonwealth.
Even looking at time thing as it stands, the whole amount voted for the Civil List of Wreetest the Fourth was not expended. On the contrary, a surplus of 20,00e/. was carried to the account of his private purse. In addition to which, some of the items are obviously extravagant. We have already noted the cost of furniture, more than 11,000/. per annum. Look at the 26.009/. paid in six years for horses— not to mention the 4011. for whips ! The gross annual charge for remounting our whole army is 18,375/.., reduced by the sale of useless horses (5,000/.) to a net le1,575/. The average net cost of the King's horses alter the sale of the useless ones, is nearly 4,0001. a year. The liveries," in the department of the Master of the Horse alone, cost 6.20a1.—almost enough to clothe three regiments of Infantry, each nearly 000 strcmg.• And thine are other items over which the house- keeper may ponder. It is indeed whispered that the kite King was anxious to get every thing he could rap and rend for the FITZCLA REN ere:, either in no-al or in malt. But Queen VICTORIA has no Emcee.. RINCES to fit out or to furnish : a large stun of the larger sum than GEORGE or Witeeem gut is therefore surplusage. If it be taken to aug- ment her own personal income. already 50,000/ef from the Dutchies of Cornwall and Lancaster, and 60,000/. from the Privy Purse, all we c an say is that the mode of augmentation is most improper and immoral. And if such a plan be not intended, what is to become of the surplus ? If this expenditure were necessary for the Queen, DO one would wish it reduced ; het ceremonies and sinecures contribute no more to her personal comfort, than the crews of a fleet contribute to the personal comfort of the Admiral, or the hundred thousand men of an army minister to the pleasures of the Commander-in-Chief. On the con- trary, they are a plague, by becoming a restraint and a watch. The personal comforts of the great are dependent on their immediate per- sonal attendants. In the case of Royalty, it is probable that a very few. thousand would suffice to cover their expense. The general cha- racter of the Exeunt-as defeats the investigator here as elsewhere ; but a change having been made in two items, and fuller particulars furnished upon them, we are enabled to guess as to other matters. Under the chess of Charities and Special Services, was included a sum of loess '/. fur " Home Secret Service ; " which one would natu- rally suppose was at the special disposal of Royalty. Such cannot be the case, however, unless the .Miaisters have been guilty of a juggle, seldom witnessed but in an insolvent's schedule ; for the whole of this sum is to be traasferred to the Consolidated Fund, and "applied to the same put poses and under the same authority as beretolure." It will have been observed that the " Ladies in attendance" are an addition to the Civil List. Their total cost is 9,761/. ; of which, 9601. only is to be peal for actual service; S,SO4/. going to the wives and daughters of Whig lords and gentlemen. Thus, in ostensibly direct services, we have 10 per cent. for the use of the Queen, and 90
per cent. for the purpose of influence. In a fund which from its name aid place appeared to he entirely at the disposal of the Sovereign, not one farthing, it seems, belongs to her. Ln short, out of 19,764/. figuring away for the Civil List of the Queen, only 960/. is expended upon her.
It may he alleged as en answer, that the people are fend of royal ex- hibitions; at.,1 if they Nviii have them, they pay for them. Apart from the person of the Queen1 and the number of attendant carriages on these occasions, the creat sight is the I luusehold Trent's, which are paid for in the At ley Estimates. lint in reality, the most si.nrehinp economy would not detiree from the effete of any public ceremony. And after all, it is the notion of a vulgar spirit to suppose, with Manager P.I.TNN, that IV/thin: Can attract the people but re:aerial gewgaws. Give to any thing an intelleetted or a moral associetion, and you will have done enonei, for eetlisiastn, or for dieeity. It was net by gilded pomp that NArot voN passed triumphantly from Lyons to Paris. The veterans, when errs ed against hint, preserved their lank; mod their military decorum till they reel it a elimp• c of the old white greatcoat advancing tote; rd. ;Lem. When Jeters CA:sett returned triumphant from the civil ..vei ,2 1 d as the conqueror of the Roman world,
• The wet if clothe,: y of 7:1 rank and file and 57
numeoinniivii,atd (Act; ; which includes the Gdonel's snack.. So Mr. Herten- rated it Let night : funnel ly he considered it 100,000!. the vanquisher of a hated and oppressive aristocraey, and the successful leader of the people yet the impression of his fivefold triumphs was weakened by a simple effigy—when the sight-tiviug romans, in the full tide of excitement, saw the statue of eearo in the procession, " The pomp was darken'd, and the day o'ercast, The triumph ceased, tears gusli'd from every eye, The world', great victor pass'd unheeded And the sight of a girl queen, with a severe simplicity of paraphernalia, adopted to spare her people, would be far more impressive then the gilding of a coach or the livery of a lackey, even if these hail to be reduced,—which, so far as our suggestions have gone. they would nut.
It will be understood that we regard the moral effects of the lavish profusion of Ministers, rather than the economieul results (la levision
of the Civil List. But though economy on this question is just now blown aside by all parties as contemptible, it is a something that cannot long be slighted without producing IS mischievous in- fluence. Whether it is in itself a first rate merit, or that it can only exist in conjunction with a welhattempered and orderly mind, its ale sence may be found with pleasant and shining qualities, but our ly with steady virtue, The bad economist is generally false in friendship, dis- honest in dealing, uncertain in conduct, mei dependent in character— the slave of those who supply or have supplied his craving. Whether we look round upon life or back upon history, such is the fact. CHARLES the Second, Louis the Fifteenth, Geonee the Feurth, differing in times and degrees, were alike insensible of the value of money and disregardful of its uses. Amid a variety of other vices, the great Roman historian notes the "alieni moors sal prtfizsirt" as the chief characteristic of one of the worst pretligatts of autiquity. And pecuniary laxities, springing from corrupt associates and early un- control, scandalized the name of Nlanie ANTOINETTE, if they (lid nut contribute to bring her to the block.
Are these instances likely at any time to apply to our Queen ?
God forbid ! We hope that a happy nature and it careful education will save her from the temptations to which Ministers hare exposed her by keeping constantly before her the spectacle of ridiculous excuses for the squandering of public treasures, and by even swel- ling her privy purse, if the surplus should get there, through in- direct means. But there is a future as well as a present in her life ; and it is to be feared that this Civil List may hereafter rise up against her, all guiltless as she is. When the glu-s of novelty is faded, and the charm of youth has passed, and time and illative, and the weaknesses of humanity closely scrutinized, have given stow real and many fancied causes of dissatisfaction, the items of thisCicil List will be the first thing fastened upon. The masses then will ignorantly compare this seemingly enormous expenditure upon one persm with their own bitter struggles and destitution. Ere that day. the present Ministers will most probably have descended to their native nothing- ness; but the Sovereign is a state fixture : and, whatever may be tier future unpopularity, it will be chargeable upon the party now in power. And they will have produced this sad result without the shadow of an excuse. Had fate enabled a Reformer to pick his time, a more favour- able time could not have been invented. When (imam: the Fourth ascended the throne, he was an elderly profligate, habituated from his earliest years to the most lavish expenditure in the induleence of his appetites and his countless whims. WILLIAM the Fourth had more re- gular habits than his brother, but a less apprehensive mind ; lie was also imbued with absurd notions of kingly state, imbibed before the Ame- rican and French Revolutions, and with vulgar prejudices, picked up in the ward and gun-rooms : more than all, he had a whole brood of illegitimate children, crying continually, Give, give ! With such men, perhaps no new arrangement of the Civil List cort4f have been made, for the Monarch would have parted with his Ministers. But Lord 'MELBOURNE had in his hands an innocent girl, carefully and economi- cally educated, without prejudices, and with a pliant mind. And the settlement of the Civil List is not a question of mere frugality. It does not concern the spending what we have—it involves the alitai appetens. Under Whig management, so far from the demise of King WILLIAM lessening the cost of the Royal Family, it causes a large pecuniary increase. This, however, is a matter of account, and must be presented accountant-fashion.
:AMOUNT TO ire EXPENDED THROCCIH TM! DEATH OF WILLIAM THE Fomnr.
Civil List of Queen Victoria, including 75.e001. Pensions.
Allowance to Adelaide, the Queen Dowa;er
Allowance to the Duchess or Kent " the Mother of the Queen" r
DEDUCTIONS IN CONSEQUENCE OF THE DEATH OF WILLIAM T/IE FOURTH.
Civil List at William the Fourth, including the Civil List Pensions Annuity to the Dutcliess of Kent and the Princess Vkteria, ■22,000 Annuity to Prince th.orge of Cumberland. resigned (according to Alr. Spring Kiev). 6,000 PECIINIAHlt ]Ass TO THE NATION, PEN ANNUM, DV THE. DEATH OF Wii LIAM THE Forwrir In addition to %Well, there sill he on thc Queen's 1111:Mliage..a, ataotity for her Consort, of ineme.rbty 100.000 Besides annuities to even y offigning of the marring,.
Such is the " Reform" Ministry's settlement of the first "practical measure" in the new reign !
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