te by which the house
of commons declared its opinion that the civil list should be referred
to a select committee. When these arrangements were considered, it
appeared that the most material changes made after the abolition of
certain offices, were the reduction of the pension list in future to the
sum of L75,000 per annum, and the subtraction of L460,000 from the
civil list, to be placed under the control of parliament. On hearing the
statements of the chancellor of the exchequer, the members of the late
government expressed their satisfaction that the present ministers, so
loud against expenditure when out of office, and pledged to retrenchment
when they came in, had been driven to acknowledge that they found it
impossible to carry economy further, in the matter of the civil list,
than had been done by their predecessors. The new estimate, they said,
was identically the same with the former, except as to the principle,
whether a certain portion of the amount should be kept constantly under
the control of parliament. The system of retrenchment proposed was by
no means satisfactory to Messrs. Hume, Hunt, and others of the radical
school. Ministers, they said, had not adhered to their promises of
retrenchment in framing the estimates, especially in regard to the
pensions. It was of no use to tell the people that most of these
pensions were charitable; charity begins at home; and the house was
bound to be just to the people before being generous to poor peers, or
the poor relations of wealthy peers. Another point on which ministers
had to encounter stern opposition from their old allies, was a proposal
which they made for an increase in the army of 7680 men. No opposition,
however, was offered to a resolution moved in consequence of a royal
message, assigning to the queen, in case she should survive his majesty,
L100,000 per annum, with Marlborough House and Bushy Park as town and
country residences.

GENERAL ELECTION.

The election of the new parliament took place in the midst of general
excitement. This was very auspicious for the ministry. The declared
intention of the dissolution had been to obtain from the people a house
of commons pledged to support the reform bill. The only test by which
candidates were tried, was their determination to support that measure.
Nor was it sufficient to save a candidate from the storm which raged
all over the country, that he should be willing to reform the
representation. It