200 Soies of Ike Month on [FEB. 



They are all now quietly transferred to the castle of Ham, in Picardy, 

 where, by the last accounts, they had began to talk politics, hold cabinet 

 councils on their own blunders, and quarrel so fiercely, that at length 

 they could agree only in a petition to be sent to separate prisons ! 



Some of our papers mention, that if Prince Polignac, senior, is uncom- 

 fortable, his family contrive at least to make themselves happy ; and 

 quote the instance of his son, who, a few evenings ago, distinguished 

 himself as a performer of the waltz, at some West-end rout. But as all 

 Frenchmen are philosophers by nature, why as the papers observe 

 should not a son dance when a father is in prison for life ? 



It may sound very well for Mr. Herries to start up for the royal rights 

 in the Pension List; but all men know that the royal rights were 

 untouched, and that the " ministerial patronage" was the true reading. 

 We cannot help agreeing with the language of an intelligent contem- 

 porary : 



" Let no meritorious servant of the State be deprived of what he had a 

 right to expect would solace his latter days ; but, on the other hand, let no 

 undeserved pension be held sacred, because some pretty lady, or convenient 

 sycophant, may have in its confidence a ' vested interest.' It has been urged 

 that not to respect pensions which have already been granted, will distress 

 individuals. This may be matter of regret ; but while the public at large 

 lament the pressure of the times, why should not those, who have too long 

 enjoyed affluence, to which they had no just claim, suffer with the rest? All 

 we call for is, that the. grants which have .been made shall be explained and 

 vindicated. Mrs. Arbuthnot can have no objection to let it be known what are 

 the services which she has rendered to the State, in the cabinet or the field, to 

 entitle her to more than 900. per annum ; and Mr. W. Dundas will, of course, 

 be delighted to prove that his a mall pension of 4,500. a year is far from being- 

 a sufficient reward for merit like his. Then the female Bathursts can favour 

 us with the grounds on which they claim the several sums which appear 

 against their names in the Civil List. These ladies, by the way, it has been 

 stated, are members of the family of Mr. Bragge Bathurst." 



But to one pension we have peculiar objections. We now see the 

 Scotch Lord Advocate receiving a pension of 600. a year for his wife. 

 The salary of the Lord Advocate is 1,500.; but his emoluments are 

 4,000. a year. Yet this man, after receiving the large sum of 5,500. 

 a year for several years, comes with a petition for 600. a year, or the 

 alienation of a principal of about 12,000. from the country for his wife ! 

 Why did he not provide for her out of the profits of his highly-lucrative 

 office ? Or why not out of the regular income of his profession, like 

 other barristers ? If he had never tasted the sweets of office, he must 

 have done like the rest of his profession lived within his means, and 

 taken care, by due economy, that his family should not come upon the 

 public. But the very thing which should prevent his degrading them 

 to this expedient^ becomes the ground of his adopting it ; his receiving 

 5,500. for a succession of years, substantiates the pauperism of his ivife, 

 and his rank entitles him to fix her on the public as in want of public 

 bounty. 



Another pension of some notoriety seems to have escaped the general 

 purview. Who has not heard of Lady Hester Stanhope? This lady 

 has had no less than 1,200. a year for at least twenty years or has 

 received 24,000. sterling. And to what purpose ? The descriptions 

 of our travellers represent her as leading a life of the most singular arid 



