692 Notes of the Month on QDEC. 



to a thousand now. Let the Lord Chamberlain offer the same sum from 

 his salary for the best comedy, the best tragedy, and the best opera ; 

 the judgment to be formed not in the closet,, but from the natural trial 

 of the stage. Let the prize be given to the best acting plays, in the 

 three styles ; and we shall soon see a new vigour given to the English 

 stage. This would be a noble expenditure of his salary, and would 

 render his name more long-lived than his title-deeds. Let him try. 



We rejoice that the time 'is come, to mark with indelible contempt 

 the grasping and wretched meanness of public men. Let the fol- 

 lowing instance speak for itself: 



Lord Bathurst, on Monday morning the 15th, waited upon the 

 King, and informed his Majesty of the death of Mr* Buller, Chief 

 .Clerk to the Privy Council, and at the same time solicited his Ma- 

 jesty, in whom the appointment now rests, to bestow it on his son. 

 The King at the time gave no answer to the application ; but his 

 Majesty has since written to his lordship, intimating, that probably 

 the new Lord President of the Council may be inimical to the ap- 

 pointment, but if he should not, his lordship's son will be appointed 

 to the office by the King. 



Now, let us see the state of the case. What are Lord Bathurst's 

 claims on the country ? He is a man altogether without talents ; a 

 most feeble, awkward, and puzzled speaker ; and, in every sense of the 

 word, a most trifling personage. Yet this man has contrived to hitch 

 himself on office for many years, with sinecures and appointments, 

 amounting to upwards of twelve thousand pounds a year ! and notwith- 

 standing this enormous payment from the public purse for abilities 

 so utterly obscure, his constant effort has been to fix his sons on the 

 public, an instance of which occurred a short time ago, and was 

 defeated by the general voice of the House of Commons. 



Buller, the Clerk of the Council, dies on Sunday, and instantly runs 

 up my Lord Bathurst to ask this place from the King for his son. We 

 set aside the spirit in which this man, quite conscious that his masters 

 were on the point of being turned out, acted in attempting to secure 

 this place. Of course, his habits of life made him ready to grasp 

 at every thing. But we ask, did he acquaint the King with the 

 real state of the case ? did he tell him that the ministry were on the 

 point of resigning, and that, if defeated on the Civil List that night, they 

 must resign before twenty-four hours were over ? If he did not, we 

 may leave it even to himself to fix the name which such conduct 

 deserves. However, he may congratulate himself that he lost no time, 

 that he was consistent to the last ; and that having begun life as a sine- 

 curist, and dragged it on as an established hanger-on upon office, he 

 closed it by an effort to pension his family upon the public. But the 

 public are awake at last, and we shall suffer no man in future to encum- 

 ber us with his noble sons, cousins, sons-in-law, or mothers-in-law. 

 The sinecure system must be at an end, and the imbecility and avarice 

 of noble mendicants, be they who they may, must be no longer fed 

 upon the hard-earned, and heavily-burdened property of the honest 

 people^ 



The Court of Aldermen has never been held to be an assembly of sages, 

 yet they shine in comparison with the blundering of the late ministry. 



