F.R.S., Professor of Botany in King's College, London, for his researches in structural and physiological botany. Mr. Richard Spruce, for his botanical and geographical discoveries in South America, and for his services in introducing cinchona seeds into India.

the poet, with one of 1007. each to the two daughters of his first marriage, Miss Kate Southey and Mrs. Bertha Hill. Dr. George Petrie, LL.D., the Irish archæologist, in two grants of 1007. each, with four of 251. each to his four daughters at his death.

Pensions of 150l.

It is unnecessary to point out that several of these names are of European celebrity; Dr. John Anster, LL.D., translator of but while some of them who have obtained 'Faust,' in consideration of the successful apthe largest pensions have been in the enjoy-plication of his talents to the cultivation of ment of handsome incomes from employments of various kinds in the public service, others to whom the smaller pensions were granted have had no such resources, and, at the same time, have been so little inferior in scientific attainments, that they deserved a more liberal recognition.

We now come to Class V., 'Attainments in Literature,' a class which, in spite of the complaints of literary men against the administration of the Pension List, is not only the longest in point of numbers, but the largest in regard to the amount voted. It contains 166 pensions, of which 37 were granted to Poetry, 23 to History, 14 to Biblical Literature, 13 to Novels, 12 to Archaology, 12 to Periodical Literature, 11 to Miscellaneous Literature, 7 to Topography and Travels, 6 to the Drama, 6 to Philology, 5 to Translations, 5 to Moral Philosophy, 4 to Classical Literature, 3 to Art Literature, 2 to Biography, 1 to Geography, 1 to Oriental Literature, 1 to Political Economy, 2 to Languages, 1 to Music. The following are the particulars of the pensions granted in

this class:

Pensions of 3001.

Lady Morgan, the Irish novelist. Mr. Wordsworth, the poet. Professor John Wilson, of Edinburgh, Christopher North,' with one of 507. to his daughter, Mrs. Gordon, at his death.

Pensions of 2007.

Colonel Gurwood for his services in editing the 'Despatches of the Duke of Wellington,' with one of 50l. to his widow. Rev. Henry Cary, one of the Librarians of the British Museum, for his translation of 'Dante.' Mr. Patrick Fraser Tytler (son of Lord Woodhouselee), author of "The History of Scotland.' The four grandchildren of Principal Robertson, the historian, in four grants of 50l. each. Mr. Alfred Tennyson, the poet laureate. Rev. Dr. Samuel Bloomfield, editor of the Greek Testament. Mr. J. R. M'Culloch, the political economist. Mr. Leigh Hunt, the poet, with one of 757. to his daughter at his death. The widow and six daughters of the Rev. Dr. Chalmers, the Scottish divine, in one grant of 50l. to the widow, and six of 251. each to the daughters. Mr. Sheridan Knowles, the dramatist, with one of 100l. to his widow. Mr. William Carleton, the Irish novelist, with one of 1007. to his widow. Mr. Silk Buckingham, the traveller. The widow of Mr. Robert Southey,

literature.' Dr. William Henry Emmanuel Bleek, Ph.D., in recognition of his literary services, and in aid of his labours in the depart ment of philology, especially in the study of the South African languages.'

Pension of 1407.

Mr. William Howitt, in consideration of 'the long and useful career of literary labour in which he and his wife, Mrs. Mary Howitt, have been engaged.'

Pensions of 1007.

Dr. James Browne, LL.D., Member of the Faculty of Advocates at Edinburgh, in consideration of 'his literary attainments.' Mr. George Burges, M.A., editor of 'Plato,' and of numerous Greek plays. Rev. Robert Kidd, editor of Dawesii Miscellanea Critica.' The widow of wife of Mr. Thomas Hood, the humourist, durMr. William James, the naval historian. The ing his illness, with one of 50%. at his death to his daughter, Mrs. Broderip, and one of 50l. to his son, Mr. Tom Hood, now editor of 'Fun.' Mr. Bernard Barton, the Quaker poet. Mrs. Sarah Austin, translator of 'Ranke's History of the Popes,' and other works from the German. Lady Hamilton, widow of Sir William Hamilton, Professor of Metaphysics in the University of Edinburgh. The wife of Mr. Thomas Moore, the poet, in consideration of the literary merits of her husband, and the infirm state of his health,'-the grant in this case having been made to the wife, because Mr. Moore himself had been in receipt of a pension of 3007. since the year 1835. Mr. Payne Collier, the Shakespearian commentator. Mr. James Bailey, editor of 'Facciolati's Lexicon.' Dr. John Kitto, editor of the 'Pictorial Bible,' with one of 50l. to his widow, and one of 100l. to his four daughters. Mr. John Poole, author of 'Paul Pry.' Mrs. Jameson, for her writings on Art, with one of the same amount to her two sisters at her death. Mr. William Jerdan, editor of the 'Literary Gazette.' Sir Francis Bond Head, Bart., traveller and essayist. The widow of Mr. David Moir, poet and novelist. Lady Nicolas, widow of Sir Harris Nicolas, the historian and antiquary. Mr. Alaric Watts, editor of the 'Literary Souvenir.' Rev. Dr. Hincks, Rector of Killyleagh, for his researches on the Khoorsabad Inscriptions, and in Assyrian, Egyptian, and Babylonian History and Mythology, with one of the same amount to his three daughters at his death. Mr. Thomas Keightley, for his popular Histories. Mr. Samuel Lover, author of 'Rory O'More,' and other Irish novels. The widow of Mr. Gilbert à Beckett, one of the police magistrates of

201., with one of 50l. to his widow. Miss Eliza | author of Memories, a Pastoral Poem,' and Meteyard, author of the Life of Wedgwood,' editor of the Middlesex Chronicle,' a local and other works published under the name of paper published at Hounslow. Mr. Robert 'Silverpen.' Young, in recognition of his services as an historical and agricultural poet in Ireland.' Pensions of 30%.

Pensions of 50%.

Mr. Alexander Maclagan, in consideration of his literary merits.' Miss Julia Tilt, author of five novels.

Pension of 251.

Mrs. Turnbull, sister of Dr. Leyden, the Orientalist, in consideration of his literary merits.' The widow of Dr. Glen, for his services to Biblical literature, by translating, while a missionary in the East, the Old Testament into Persian. The widow and daughter of Mr. Joseph Train, ‘in consideration of his personal services to literature, and of the valuable aid derived by Sir Walter Scott from his antiquarian and literary researches.' The widow of Mr. James Hogg, the Ettrick Shepherd, with 40l. to his daughter at her mother's death. Mrs. Lee (widow of Mr. T. E. Bowdich, the African traveller, author of An Account of the Mission to Ashantee'), 'in consideration of her contri-sixty years after her father's death. butions to literature' as the author of 'Memoirs of Baron Cuvier' and of various works

Mr. Joseph Hayden, author of The Dictionary of Dates,' with four successive grants of 251. each to his more fortunate widow.

on Natural History. Mr. John D'Alton, in
consideration of his contributions to the history,
topography, and statistics of Ireland.' Miss
Thomasine Ross, 'in consideration of her lite-
rary merits.'
Dr. John O'Donovan, for his
valuable contributions to ancient Irish litera-
ture and philology, with one of the same
amount to his widow. Mr. Charles Swain, in
consideration of his literary merits.' The wi-
dow of Rev. Robert Montgomery, author of
"The Omnipresence of the Deity,' 'Satan,' and
other works. Mr. Francis Davis, for his con-
tributions to Irish literature. Mr. John Bolton
Rogerson, of Manchester, author of 'Rhyme,
Romance, and Revelry.' Mr. Thomas Roscoe,
editor of the 'Landscape Annual,' and transla-
tor of Benvenuto Cellini, Sismondi, and Lanzi.
Mr. John Wade, author of 'British History
chronologically arranged,' in consideration of
'his contributions to political literature, more
especially during the time of the Reform Bill
of 1832. The widow of Mr. John Leaf, of
Friskney, near Boston, author of 'Biographic
Portraitures,' and of numerous contributions
to the periodicals published by Messrs. Cham-
bers, of Edinburgh. Mr. Henry Laing, 'in
consideration of his services to the study of
Scotch antiquities and Scotch historical re-
search. Mrs. Lucy Sherrard Finley, 'in con-
sideration of her services to literature.'

Pensions of 40%.

The daughter of Mr. John Banim, the Irish novelist, in consideration of his suffering under severe illness, which has deprived him of reason,' with one of 50%. to the widow at his death. Mr. Benjamin Thorpe, in addition to one of 1607. granted in the last reign, for his contributions to Anglo-Saxon literature. The widow of Mr. James Kenney, author of 'Sweethearts and Wives,' Raising the Wind,' and numerous other dramas, with one of the same amount to his two daughters at the mother's death. Mr. Henry John Doogood, a parlia mentary reporter, author of 'The Coming Day,' and other poems. Mr. George Thomas Thomason, formerly a printer in Thames Street,

Pension of 201.

The daughter of Dr. Robert Bisset, LL.D., author of 'The Life of Burke,' and 'The History of the Reign of George III.,' granted

6

No one who knows what English literature has been during the reign of our present Queen, and how vast have been the numbers of those who have made it their

profession, can read the names of these pensioners without a feeling of disappointment. No Minister, if called upon to select 166 persons, from the writers of both sexes, who, by their literary attainments during the last thirty-two years, have merited, in the words of the House of Commons' resolution, the gratitude of their country,' would consider that he had fulfilled what the same resolution calls his 'bounden duty' by making such a selection. It is, no doubt, one of the evils of having to apportion annually among so many classes of literary applicants a part only of the fixed sum of 1200l., that the Minister is precluded from taking a more discriminating view of the claims before him, to say nothing of those which may have been left to him as a legacy by his predecessorassuming that the latter claims are not set aside or forgotten on each change of administration. The small amount, also, which remains after the best cases have been provided for, frequently compels a Minister to assign inadequate pensions to claims with which he would willingly deal in a more liberal spirit if he had a larger margin at his disposal, or induces him to bestow petty sums on inferior writers, on whom, under other circumstances, he would never dream of conferring pensions, however small. This is the only excuse that can be offered for granting of pensions to writers of whose productions men of letters hear for the first time when the annual return to Parliament is published. Authors of books which have never commanded a sufficient sale to defray the cost of printing, or which, if once read, will never be read again, are not the persons who can be considered as having deserved the grati

·

tude of their country;' while others who turns before us, which show that of the 385 may have more pretensions to attainments pensions granted since her Majesty's accesin literature,' secure a more profitable return sion, nearly a quarter were made to Scotchfrom the Minister who pensions them, men, nearly a fifth to Irishmen, and only two than they are ever likely to obtain from the to Welshmen; and these were not men reading public, because a few years' payment of letters, but two tradesmen of Newport, of the pensions will more than realise the who were pensioned for their loyalty in full value of their copyrights, assuming that, assisting the late Sir Thomas Phillips in in the judgment of publishers, they have suppressing the Chartist riots in that town. any value at all. There are, of course, some The sixth and last class is that of Attainsignal exceptions. Every one will recognise, ments in the Arts,' which appears to have among the names we have recorded, those found so little favour in the eyes of succesof men whose genius has enriched literature sive Ministers, that the total amount granted with works which will live as long as the to it during the present reign has been less English language itself; others who have than one-sixth of that granted to Public Serperformed good and honourable service in vices, and little more than one-seventh of fields of thought not calculated to com- that granted to Literature. Of the 19 penmand large pecuniary results; others who sions of which this class consists, one of have spent their lives in researches of which 200l. was granted to Lady Shee, widow the full value will be reaped only by poster- of President Sir Martin Archer Shee, with ity. Such men have earned a right to look one of 2001. to his three daughters on their to the nation for their recompense, and it is mother's death; one of 300l. to Lady Eastdue to the nation to say that it has never lake, widow of President Sir Charles Lock grudged them a generous acknowledgment. Eastlake; one of 150l. to Mr. Richard CocIn honouring such claims the Minister kle Lucas, in consideration of his merits as honours himself; and the only regret that an artist, and for presenting some valuable has ever been expressed in regard to them ivory carvings and antiquities to the South has arisen from the feeling that the pensions Kensington Museum;' pensions of 1007. each assigned to them have, in many cases, been to the widow of Mrs. Welby Pugin, the archiinadequate to their deserts. This feeling tect; to the widow of Mr. John Hogan, the will be understood by comparing the Irish sculptor; to the widow of Mr. Cross, the amounts granted in the various classes of painter; to Mr. George Thomas Doo, F.R.S., literature: a process which will at once prove, the line-engraver; to the widow of Mr. if proof were needed, that the grants have George H. Thomas, the artist, and to the not been made on any principle of compa- widow of Mr. John Leech, the artist of rative merit. This will be especially observ-Punch,' with subsequent pensions of 50%. able in the classes of the historians, travellers, translators, novelists, and poets, to some of whom pensions have been given as much below the merits of their work as those which have been given to others have been beyond them. In no other way can we account for one historian receiving three times as much as another of far more learning and research, or one novelist receiving five times as much as another of much greater genius and inventive power. As to the poets, the petty sums granted to mere poetasters have simply vested money which might have promoted the comfort and rewarded the talent of men of real eminence, who would rather submit to the proverbial vicissitudes of a literary career than lose caste by accepting an inadequate pension from the State.

Another question suggested by an examination of the names of the literary pensioners relates to their nationality. It has frequently been asserted by the Welsh journals that no author born in the Principality ever succeeded in obtaining a pension on the Civil List. So far as the present reign is concerned, the question is settled by the re

each to his son and his daughter; a pension of 957. to Mr. George Cruikshank, the caricaturist; a pension of 80l. to Mr. Kenny Meadows, the illustrator of Shakespeare; pensions of 751. to the widow of Mr. W. H. Bartlett, the illustrator of various works of home and foreign scenery; and to Mr. John Burnet, the line engraver; pensions of 501. to the widow of Mr. Benjamin Robert Haydon, the historical painter; to the three daughters of Mr. Archer, 'in consideration of his valuable contributions to the science of photography; and to Mr. John Hayter, the portrait painter. If we were to draw from these names and figures the inference that artists have been in easier circumstances than men of literature and science, we fear that the inference would be contradicted by the facts; and we may therefore presume that they have been more modest in the assertion of their claims, unless indeed we are to conclude, what for every reason we are unwilling to do, that Ministers have been more deaf to their appeals than they have been to those of others.

In conclusion, we venture to make a few

suggestions as to the future management of | than is likely to be given to a Minister the Pension List.

In the first place, we would remind all Ministers, present and to come, of the resolution of the House of Commons passed in 1834, which expressly declared it to be the bounden duty of the responsible advisers of the Crown to recommend grants of pensions to such persons only as have merited the gracious consideration of their Sovereign and the gratitude of their country. If these sentences could be kept before the eyes of every Minister, when he sits down in future to make his annual selection of pensioners, there would be fewer mistakes on his part, and there would be more ground for Mr. Disraeli's opinion, expressed in the discussion which took place in the House of Commons on the 23rd of March, 1867, in reference to the pension which had been granted to Mr. Robert Young, that 'the pensions which have been granted to the claims of literature and science have, on the whole, been given with good taste and discretion by the Government of the country, to whatever party they belonged.'

by the applicant himself, is proved by a late narrow escape from the mistake of granting a pension to a fellow of a learned society,' who was better known to the Mendicity Society than to the Treasury. It was announced in a semi-official paragraph in the 'Times' that a pension of 751. had been granted to this individual, who was only thirty-one years of age, and of the smallest pretensions on the score of literature; but the announcement having led to inquiry, the result of which was unsatisfactory, the intended pension was revoked.

In the third place, we are inclined to think that no pensions should be granted of a less amount than 100l. It may, probably, be urged in defence of small pensions that they have been granted as much to distress as to merit. That this has really been the case, is shown by the numerous entries of such phrases as 'destitute circumstances,' impoverished condition,' distressing position, scanty means,' &c. But there is nothing either in the Act of Parliament itself, or in the resolution of the House of Commons, defining the persons to whom the pensions are to be granted, which refers, directly or indirectly, to distressed circumstances. The minor pensions are too small for those who have really merited the gracious consideration of their Sovereign and the gratitude of their country.' All claims which do not commend themselves to consideration in strict accordance with these words of the resolution of the House of Commons should be reserved for the triennial grants of the Royal Bounty Fund, which is also under the control of the Prime Minister. The elimination of petty cases of small literary pretensions would enable him to give larger pensions to those which have a fair claim to national reward; and men of mark would no longer be humiliated by having their names reported to Parliament as the recipients of sums which are wholly inadequate to their merits, and which may give foreigners an erroneous impression of the value set upon them by the country.

In the second place, it is clear that, if the mistakes which have occurred in granting pensions to recipients unworthy of them are to be avoided for the future, more care must be taken in the preliminary investigation of claims. The Minister must rely not only on the recommendatory signatures attached to the petitions, but must seek information from independent sources. It would also be an additional and important security against error if the grant of pensions were made the act of a Cabinet Committee, with the condition that no grant should be made unless the Committee were unanimous. When George IV. charged his Privy Purse with the sum of 1000l. a year for the purpose of giving pensions of 100l. to ten literary men of eminence, he placed the money in the hands of the President and Council of the Royal Society of Literature, in the belief that an independent body of gentlemen of literary tastes would be better able to make a just selection than any single individual, however eminent. This trust was performed for many years to Lastly, though poverty without merit conthe entire satisfaction of the royal donor and stitutes no claim to a pension, we have grave of the pensioners themselves, who felt hon- doubts whether a Minister is justified in oured by having their names announced as granting a pension to any person in easy the Royal Associates' of the Society. That circumstances. It may, no doubt, be assumthey were not unworthy of the distinctioned that when a man of literary or scientific may be seen from the names of the associates first elected, who were the poet Coleridge, the Rev. Edward Davies, the Rev. Dr. Jamieson, Mr. Malthus, Mr. Mathias, Mr. Millingen, Sir William Ouseley, Mr. Roscoe, Archdeacon Todd, and Mr. Sharon Turner. The necessity of obtaining more information

reputation accepts a pension of 1007., 60l., or 50l. a year, the fact of the acceptance may be regarded as an indication of narrow means; but this is not invariably the case, as every one may ascertain for himself by glancing over the list, in which he will recognise the names of many persons of both