442 Notes of the Month on [ APRIL, 



If the nation have any sense, they will in this instance, and in all others, 

 put an end to the " retiring pension" system. The origin of this system 

 was a job. When a new man came into the ministry, with a parcel of 

 dependants, who must be provided for, there was nothing to be done but 

 to turn out some of the dependents of some former man. But perhaps he 

 was still a minister, and would offer some objection. In that case, the 

 pleasantest expedient imaginable for all parties, was to suffer the former 

 holders of place to accept a " retiring pension ;" in other words, a sum 

 equal, or as near as public decency would allow, to their whole salary 

 for doing nothing. All parties, of course, were satisfied. This iniquity, 

 we say, must be put an end to. Another principle of peculation is, that 

 a public servant, after a certain number of years of attendance, is entitled 

 to receive his superannuation allowance, equal to his full salary. But 

 on what reason is this extraordinary principle founded ? On the rea- 

 son, that because the public gives a man the enjoyment of one or two 

 thousand pounds a-year for twenty years, for doing what thousands 

 could be found to do for a fraction of the money ; this actually esta- 

 blishes a claim to be paid as many more thousands a-year without the 

 pretence of doing any thing. We can perfectly see the propriety of 

 half-pay to the soldier or sailor, who has worn out his health or lost his 

 limbs in the service, or who is ready to return to it on the first call. But 

 it is completely incomprehensible to us how any public man can, with- 

 out blushing as deep as his own red ink, support the proposition that, 

 because some hanger-on of place has been paid for twenty years twenty 

 times as much as his labour or his life was worth, he should therefore 

 be fastened on the public bounty until his worthless life was at an end. 

 As to the Bankrupt Commissioners, if they are cast out by an universal 

 outcry, we cannot discover why they should be better off than any other 

 cashiered officers. Let them go; though if they have deserved punishment, 

 we cannot see why the offence to justice of letting them go free should be 

 permitted. But let us not, in the name of common-sense, reward a par- 

 cel of fellows who have been rewarding themselves very handsomely for 

 many a long year ; and whose dismissal is demanded by the nation on 

 the express ground that their office is a public burthen. 



We are glad to see that the Bill for carrying up the street from Water- 

 loo-bridge to Long-acre is brought into the House ; and that the work, 

 and Arnold's new theatre, are to be commenced together. The street 

 may be a great ornament to London, and the theatre, we are sure, when 

 it is under the direction of so ingenious and tasteful an architect as 

 Beazley, will be a great ornament to the street. 



In the City some improvements are taking place. The projected City 

 Arcade, from Bartholomew-lane to London-wall, is likely to be carried 

 into effect, notwithstanding the well-known indisposition of monied men 

 towards joint-stock concerns. However, an Arcade in London, which 

 one may walk through every day, is unquestionably a more tangible 

 investment than a treasure-fishery at the bottom of the sea. The prose- 

 cution of public works at home will afford employment to a number of 

 industrious individuals ; and patriots may serve their country better by 

 promoting such an object, than by haranguing about the stuff that gene- 

 rally fills the brains of soi-disant patriots. A street is better than a speech 

 at any time. 



