The Northern Daily Times.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1857-05-25 00:00:00

PUBLIC AUDIT.

The ignorance of the present system of control.
and audit is manifest in the Government its (,It.
Even the President of the Council a few days since
stated in the House of Lords that " with regard to
appropriating the monies of one department for the
purposes of another," that was simply impossible,
as it would not be allowed by the Audit Board.
Now, we believe that Lord Granville was
P
formerly her Majesty's Paymaster-General, and
ought, it is presumed, to have made him-
self acquainted with the laws regulating the
appropriation of public monies ; but both he
and Lord Stanley of Alderley, another ex-Pay-
master-General, had to be set right by Lord
Lord Monteagle, the present Comptroller• General

of the Exchequer, who stated that there was no
audit whatever applicable to any of the civil ser-
vice votes; " that the whole of the civil estimates
of the country which were carried on by the
freasury were entirely out of the control
of the auditors, and under no circumstances
whatever would civil estimates, such as those
hey were discussing, be submitted to the
Board of Audit." Lord Monteagle, the paid Comp.
troller-General of the Exchequer, stated this ex-
cathedra, and then the President of the Board of Trade
to justification, stated, " that the head of no civil
department would apply such sums, except with,
the sanction of the Treasury" Of course not !
But we should like to know under what authority
the Treasury can misappropriate monies for other
purposes than those directed by parliament. Well
may Lord M Amesbury complain of the expendi-
ture in St James's-park ; but we perceive by the
votes that Sir Francis Baring, the chairman of the
Public Monies Committee, has taken no the ques-
tion of this doubtful expenditure. • We may be
thankful that our public functionaries have proved
themselves so trustworthy, and that we have had
no eases of fraud during the last few years of
extraordinary expen liture ; but the government is
entitled to no credit for this. We maintained that
the treasury itselfmust be brought more immediately
under the control of parliament ; and although the
committee may ere long close its labours, and
recommend some alteration of the existing practice,
we shall not rest until the public auditors are vested
with greater powers, ena:)odying the simultaneous
control O'er the appropriation of the grants of
parliament, and held responsible to parliament for
a prompt audit and report upon every public
account. Thad this is done no confidence can be
placed in any.system, or set of men, be it ever so
well-arranged on paper, or be they ever so numerous
or able.—Press.

THE LUNDICILL COLLIERY EXPLOSION.

THE VERDICT.

The jury are of opinion that Abraham Turner, Thomas
Grey, and others, met with their deaths from the effect
consequent upon an explosion of earbutted hydrogen gas
in the Lundhill coal mice, on the 19th February kw, bat of
the immediate cause of such explosion there is no conclu-
sive or sufficient evidence to show. The jury cannot come
to the conclusion that it was criminally negligent but acci-
dental ; they, however, must condemn the laxity of the
discipline, and the non observance of the rules, allowed by
the manager and his deputies in the Lundhill mine. The
jury also beg to add that they fully concur in the remark
m ,de by Mr Wood, Mr. Elliott, an, Mr Woodhouse, that
an improved system of ventilation and a better sub-div siott
thereof is requisite to be adopted, especially where day and
night shifts are working ; they also approve, generally, of
the remarks of those gentlemen in reference to safety laatps
and other valuable suggestions made by them in their
evidence of
Friday last. The jury are also glad
that, although the subject of the education of the working
miners was not alluded to by the before mentioned gentle-
men, yet that emission has been remedied in the able
charge of the coroner, and the jury cannot too forcibly
recommend that every practical effort should be resorted
to, to raise the miners to a higher, mo,alan mental, con-
dition than is now unhappily too prevalent. The jury also
beg to report their admiration a d appnval of the heroic
co ,duct of Messrs. Web-ter, Maddison, and others, in their
ardous and dangerous effort to recover the bodies. The
jury cannot el ise th it remarks on this awfully di.astrows
accident without expressing their deep heartfelt sympathy
for the bereawd sufferers. They are of opinion that the
prop cietors of the colliery were not cogniz cat of tho laxity
of the conduct of their underviewer, depuies, and work-
men.

DREADFUL AT FE 'APT AT MURDER AND
ROB BERT .

At the Msrlberough-street Police.court, London, on Thursday,
Alfred Bartlett, a young neat' of small stature and forbidding aspect,
was charged with having attempted to murder his grandmother, as
old lady 70 years of age, named Restall, living a' Charlton, near
Stroud, and with having robbed the house. From the evidence col-
lected by the pol cc it apeearel that the prisoner, on Sunday, left
his wife at No. 1, Archer-street, and went down to Charlton. About
the evening of Monday it is believed that ha reached Charlton, and
finding the old woman in bed, he roused her up end was let into the
house and supper was provided for him. With the knife supplied to
him to eat his supper with, he intended, it is conjectured, to cut the
old woman's throat, hat from some cause welch has not yet been
ascertained, he did not succeed n his purpose. On Tuesday morning
the old woman was found in her bedroom in a frightful state. Her
skull was fractured and shockingly bruised. Oae of her ears was cut
In half; her back was one mass of bruises, and oue of her fingers was
smashed. It is thought that this injury to the finger was the
means of saving the old w. man's life, by breaking the force of the
blows aimed et her head. The injuries had been inflicted with a heavy
poker, which the pevouer meet have taken up stairs with him at tho
time he took the knife. The house had been ransacked, and a quan-
tity of portable articles had evi 'ently been taken away. The rid
woman, though so dreadfully injured, was not dead, and medical
assistance was immediately summoned. From certain information
that was obtained the prisoner was suspected, and telegraphic mes-
sages were sent to different parts and to London. where the prisoner
was know to have taken lodgings recently with his wife. The
police were immediately on the look out for the prisoner,
and Police constable James, C 157, succeeded in taking the
prisoner into custody in Archer-street. When the constable laid hold
of the pr'sener, ha noticed that the prisoner tried to put his hand into
his pocket. He called to a constable to lay hold of the prisoner's
hand, and on searching his pocket found a razor, with which the
prisoner evidently intended, in case of capture, to attempt his own
life, or the lif3 of any on who should seize him. On searching the
prisoner's lodging's, a trunk fag of miseel anemia property was found ;
and as the prisoner lied for a short time been employed as a waiter at
the Man Nestor Art Exhibition, it was conjectured that part of this
property had been stolen from the Exhibition. No time was lost in
telegraphing down to Manchester, but the reply had not arrived when
the court closed. Ti the prisoner's possession were some dnplicates,
which are supposed to relate to property stolen from Mrs. Restall's
house. The latest information states that the old lady may possibly
survive the violence she has susteiaed, but that Is very doubtful. The
prisoner has been alw le very well treated by his grandmother, and
this renders the crime the more attrocions. The prisoner was formally
remanded, and will either be tent to Manchester or Stroud, near
Gloucester, without delay.

Re B.ALPARI2rms.—Some of our moderately-populated rural parishes
are beging:ng to discover serieus faults in the working of the present
poor-law. They assert that on them the act comes with heavy effect'
and promises to be a heavy tax. In the perish of Lilliesleaf, in this
county—which is of the class mentioned, maintaining a steady popu-
lation, but from the want of sources of employment requiring to cast
off a surplus beyond a cert ain figure—the poor-law works oppressively.
Oat of the surplus which passes off beyond the parochial bounds, there
is a certain amsnnt of pauper claimants who find their settlement in
Lilliesleaf. These turn up here, there, and everywhere ; and, if they
have been of the alas, of labourers, shifting from place to place, they
fall back on their native parish. Devoid, as the poor-law may seem to
be, of romance, the oddness of some of the cases which occur is
striking. We will give One illustration. About forty or fifty years
ago perhape when nobody remembers anything about the party, a
person leaves the village of Lilliesleaf. He moves about from place
to pace—all trace of him is lost, and he is the same as dead. Some
time after the introduction of the present poor-law, he goes off to
America, leaving a widow to lament his departure. The widow is in
poor circumstances, and is poorer fel whoa she becomes, some time
after, the mother of an illegitimate child. The child, born perhaps in
Glasgow, has no settlement there, but follows its mother for a settle-
ment. The mother follows her husband according to the Act. The
husband is in America, but was born at Lilliesleaf, and to Lilliesleaf
the child comes, to the bewilderment of the parochial board there, who
cannot comprehend how a human b.eiuse who never was within a
hundred miles of their jurisdiction, slimed be forced upon their tender
mercies. They protest and resist; but the law is decided. The
exporting parishes, therefore, contend that they are exposed to pauper
contingences out of their surplus population, which fall heavier on
them than on prosperous wealth-producing parishes. we will not
argue the question, but it certainly strikes us that a case, such as we
have quote, may illustrate the enigmas of the Poor-law Act, and how
litigation, and parish righting with parish, may arise.—Glesgow Paper.
Tess BURNING Boor CASR.—At the Worship-street Police Court, on
Thursday, Mr. Burch, the resident medical attendant at the London
Hospital, came before the sitting magistrate, in reference to the
following matter. On Tuesday, the 12th lint., a labouring man
named George ts 11
was charged before Mr. D'Eyncourt with
in her face a burning " boot," the
assaulting his wife by tereseng
charred leether adhering to her chin, and so injuring it as by her own
testimony to have caused such
,pain that she was unable to eat or
sleep ; the poor woman, however, begged for mercy on her cowardly
assailant, and the magistrate, in consideration of this and his being
working
man, who did not misuse his earnings, limited the punish-
ment to three months' imprisonment, characterising the act as one
o: a very brutal nature. Mr. Barch now said that the woman had
been admitted to the hospital in a very excited state, shortly after the
eiremestance mentioned, and since then had become a raving maniac ;
it was therefore deemed necessary by the authorities of the establish-
ment to make the same known to the magistrate at this court, as it
might be that her mind was affected at the time she charged her
husband, in which case tile evidence 'against him would, unless
corroborated, have possibly subjected him to unjust imprisonment,
His Worship observed that if his recollection was correct, the defend-
ant admitted the act, but alleged it was an accident, as the burning
boot struck her while he was in the act of flinging it into the yard.
This was certainly just possible; but the wife distinctly alleged, even
after this, that he held it to her face. She was perfectly reasonable
during her testimony, and repeetedly implored tse leniency of the
Court for him, consequently she was deemed a truthful witness.
The officer of the district, however, should snake minute inquiries,
a nd in the event of there being any fact discovered favourable to the
o ffender, Sir George Grey should be communicated with,

TELEGRAPHIC NE Ws

(By British awl Irish Magnet c Tel•graph .)

THE PRINCIPAL' LIES.

MARSFILLES, MAT 25.

The Emperor of Aus,ria has c interre 1 the,orde
on several high personages of Moldavia and Wa'

lachia.

The Emperor of Russia has also conferred the
same honours, and has more particularly disti►.-
guished the metropolitan.

FRANCE

PARIS FRIDAY EVENING

A letter from Rome of the 171 h mentionstha•
the Pope was still at Macerate where he was welt
received by the population. He wos to leave on
the 18th for Anccna, where great f tes were in pre-
paration for him A numb Tof foreian ships of
war had arrived in that pin for the occasimi. Tho
French, Austrian, Neapolitan, and Spanish Consuls
established at Ancona had come to Miteerata to
meet his Holiness, who was accotnpanied by a
very trifling escort. The very favourable reception
he continued to meet with from •the people was
still considered as a sign that the Pope's intention
is to grant certain reforms in the administration
before his reurn to Rome
A private letter from Turin states that M. Cavour
bad sent a note to Vienna. wh'ch, in the opinion of
the Austrian Minister in Paris, was found satisfac
tory by the Austrian Government. It is, therefore,
thought probable that the diplomatic relations be.
tween the two Governments will be re-established
before long. _ _

The Persian Ambassador has notified to the
French Minister for Foreign Affairs the suspension
of diplomatic business for ten days, in consequence
of the solemnities of the Ramezatt, which he is cele.
brating together with all the members of the Em-
bassy.
The funeral of M. Vicillard, Senator, the old
friend of the Emperor, and the preceptor of his
brother, took place to-day It was attended by a
considerable number of persons, either known as
Public men. or as distinguished in letters and
science. and lytio desired to pay their ttilutte of re-
spect to his memory. According to the last wishes
of the deceased, the funeral was very simple. It
Was expected that, in actor lance with .the general
usage, the remains would be borne to the church
for the religious ceremony ; and it is said that the
usual notifications were issued for that purpose
A very short time, however, before the hour came
for removing the body a document was found, in
Which, to the surprise of every one, the deceased
had expressly prohibited his remains being taken
to any church, but that they elioule be carried di-
rectly fr( m his house to the burial place. The
Archbishop- of Paris visited him
.a short time
before his death. The Court is much annoyed that
so staunch and public a partisan of the Emperor
should have commanded so remareble a devia-
t;on from the usual practiee, and forbidden
the observances which, except in very rare
instances, are adhered to. The incident is much
talked of. The body was borne from the residence
Of the deceased, in the Rue Sr. Lezare, to the
oemetry of Pere la Chaise. M. Vieillard's brother.
Adjutant at the Palace of Compiegne, eve(' as
chief mourner, accompanied by M. Boyer, of the
Trperial navy, and M Reynaud, his nephews
It..e Emperor's household was represented by
ado Chaumont-Quetry, Chamberlain ; M.
oquart, the Emperor's private secretary ;
d Dr. Conneau, his chief physician. The
Minister of State and the Prefect of Police also
attended. The Minister of Justice, who was de-
‘ahled at Fontainebleau, was represented by his
nen, M. Charles Abbatueci, Master of R,-quests to
the Council of State. The deputation from the
Senate was composed of MM. Elie de Beaumont,
Gauthier, Leverrier, Goulhot de St. Germain,
Admiral Hugon, Marquis of Lewoestine, Count.
Lauriston, and Boulay de la Meurthe. The Corps
Legislatif, the C.luncil of State, the Institute, the
political pt-ess, and the various ministerial depart-
ments were fully represented The Duke de
Plaisance, General Grouchy, Generals Piat, de
Casablanca, Levabit Lacrosse, Marquis d'Audiffret,
General Foucher, MM. de Thorigny, de Tocque-
Yale, Taschereau, Mesonan, General Courtais
Petitet, Councillor of State, the Abbe Glayze
Volowski, Gouin, Greterin, Cuvilier, Fleury, and
Ravin, of the. Siecle, were present. The funeral
cortege was escorted by a battalion of infantry of
the line. M. Boulay de la Meurthe, senator, pro-
nounced a speech at the tomb of the deceased.
The funeral of the Marquis de Pastoret, Sena-
tor, and Member of the Academy of Beaux Arts,
also took place to-day at the Church ortho Made-
leine. The Marquis Duplessis-Belliere, the
deceased's son-in law, acted as chief mourner, with
the Barons Hazen and de Van freland, his nephews.
The Emperor was represented by a chamberlain,
and the Senate sent a deputation. After the
religious service_ the remains of the deceased were
Provisionally deposited in a vault, whence they
are to be conveyed to the Castle of Fleury, Swis-
eudon, to be interred.in the family burial piece
The Marquis de Pastoret was one of ties ( w of the
Legitimist aristocracy who took office under the
Present Empire.
The following article from the Siecle, on the
ILAProaching elections, is meant as a reply to the
iti:hion and the Gazette de Prance, the advocates of
abstention," It does much credit to the Siecle,
4" is, moreover, remarkable as having produced
some sensation in the Faubourgs —a sensation to
Vide they have been long strangers. The article
s been eagerly sought after, and is read with
Uueh attention, It is to this effect :
With.,.. the reserve becoming a serious journal we have
-qua vlsed our political frieeds to make use of their rights
„e 1,14 to take part in the elections for the Legislative Corps;
Etehave the satifeedon to learn that our advice has been
aeeu ree dyad, and that our views coincide with those of
Lu, most advanced as of the most moderate men of the
secs Party of the French Revolution. The Liberal party
fin!, offers a good and worthy example in laying aside dis-
prll73loxis and differences of opinion in order to present itself
ated before the poll. We are, perhaps, justified in ex-
i g astonishment at the tone of irony, bordering on im-
I:, 'Aeneas employed by the Legitimists towards the Siecle.
‘ them abstain from voting if they choose ; let them
an the orders of the head of the party, and say that a
;Talent of duty inspires them; to this we have no
ou eetion. We have never meddled in their family
e airs. Moreover democracy has, never understood the
dillies of a citizen in the same light as the Legitimist
athie, toeracy. This is easily explained; the Legitimists are
';'0,43 all the servants of a man, while we only obey prin-
t es that form the force and honour of our party.. . .
rifsa have not the presumption to impose candidates bnt
aVtie adopted by our friends will be supported by us with
°tit power and to the extent of our liberty. All liberal
rl3;iti'ee, which extends from the middling classes to the
fa°st, obscure ranks of workmen—all that grand democratic
LladY Which accepted the revolution of 1789, and which
14i
'u,s the prudent, moderate application of the principles
Featimed at that epoch, will take part in the elections.
tele
ea; the Debae the Presse, the Estafette, the Siecle.
eed sis
La ""a various provincial journals which follow the
T: policy, do not possess the authority of the Legitie
read Purnabs they have on their side the quantity
the
ancient regime." Bat in times of universal suffrage
Pantity is not to be despised. We have regretted that the
Interpretation given to the electoral law should not be more
extended ; but this is not a reason why we should desert
hselectoral battlefield. Fortified by the approbation of
most eminent men of the democratic cause, we shall
!° all that is possible, -within the limits of the law, to ad-
owekl iee the election of our candidates We do not resemble
e Legltims ts ; our frame of mind is on a parity with
:031r fortunes. We do not say that we shall gain numerous
0341 ties ; but if we sustain a defeat we shall derive con-
and °£ from the reflection of having performed our duty,
of
seek haying fought loyally and with patriotism for our
0.1), 'ince Napoleon returned to Paris at nine
el last evening from his journey to Germany.
I(;.the ball to be given by the city of Paris to the
‘llg of Bavaria is to take place on Thursday

tie he Presse announces that the Conference on
Neuchatel question is to meet to-morrow, in

•trtler to take entroz in .e of the instructiohs
received by M, ,le H.07,te1.1-t, which authorise him
co Sive the protocol draw,' up by the Conference
A titleot thunderstorm burst Over Paris yestet-
day afternoon, about tiff o'clo .k, anti was sec .m•
tainted with such untiNuEilly h..avy rain fo:
time it seemed as if a w.tterspout had sen,
:town its contents In many ;daces the street-,
were flooded, and for soul:, minutes all pass tge was
Impossible Time early part of the day had been
• r.pr,,,sively warm, wi•li the glass at 4- variable." 30
liar the stoim was not altogether unexpected. Thu
heavy rain fell for about. It .It at. bout, the rest ill
'be evening being d. l!glitiolly 4.001 anti agreeable,
though with the sky somewhat ovet cast.

AU-4 FRIA.

VIENNA, MAY 20.

On the 16Th instant the Emperor remitted the
punishment of 14 common matetactors who were
confined in the prist ni of Buda and Pesth. After
.finner 00 the 18 h !heir M,jesties took a drive in
the mountains around Buda During the night of
ihe 18 tt the Arelnittelless -oplitit Frederica was
much troubl..(l with diarrhcet, but she had no Lever.
Her sister, the Archduehess Gisolla, is quite well
Hoin. Phis morning the Emperor went by extra
train to Waitzen.

The pers►►ns who signed the petition which the
Primate of Hungary presented to the Emperor a
few days ago pledged themselves to keep the whole
matter secret, but it has transpired that Prince
Esterhazy, Prince Bitthyani,iron Sins, and a
tnurth mAgnat,, refused to put their names to it
Although his Majesty made such great concessions
to the Ronan Catholic Church, in order to secure
the support of its servants, all the Hungarian
bishops signed the address. The contents of the
petition were privately made ktiowii to the Arch-
duke Governor-General before it was presented to
the Emperor, who is said to have.returned it at
once to the Primate, with the words—' This is not
a time for such matters," or " I have no time for
such matters "

At a sitting, held a day or two since by the
directors of the National Bank, some of them
reproached Baron von Pipitz, the governor of the
bank—who is a governan nt employe—with undue
interference in the business of that institution
According to the statutes the directors ought to
examine the accounts of the cashiers, but the
governor undertook to do it. If the self-isstuned
duty had been properly discharged, M. liter, one
int tlie cashiers, would naturally have had no op-
portunity of embezzling property to the amount of
35D,000f1. -or 360.000f1. As has repeatedly been
said, it is one of the weaknesses, of the Austrian
Government to -meddle tlo much in the private
affairs of the establishments which are under its
protection. It cannot be doubted th..t a supreme
control is necessary, but Austrian Ministers—and
more particularly thatentightened statesman Baron
Bruck—are greatly inn-lined to make mere puppets
of the directors of the various joint-stock com-
panies.

- The Ultramohtanists, who hate the Jews with a
deadly hatred, are delighted to learn that such a
li9tinguished man as Sir F. Thesiger has resolved
to oppose Lord Rilmerstott's bill.
In consequence of the number of English
machines which were purchased at the Agri-
cultural Exhibition the price of silver has risen
1 per cent. -
. - -

Eighty rooms have been taken at Marienbad, in
Bohemia, for the King and Queen of Prussia and
their suite. The apartments are engaged from the
middle of June.

We learn from Bucharest and Jassy that the
Divans ad hoc are not likely to assemble before the
15th of July.

PRUSSIA.

BERLIN, MAY 21.
Her Majesty's message to the Houses of Parlia-
ment, announcing the approaching marriage of the
Princess Roy4l with Prince Frederick William of
Prussia, involving as it does a call upon them to
make proper provision for her dowry, will pro-
bably give rise to some curiosity as to the provision
made in Prussia itself for supporting the dignity
of the Crown and of the Royal Family. The few
data that I can offer to your readers on this
subject are necessarily incomplete, but I hardly
think that any of them are very far wrong.

The Civil List in Prussia, or, to speak more pro
perky, the claim entailed on the public domains for
the support of the Crown, is 2.573 099 thalers, or
£385,965. The amount is, as its name implies
(Kron-fidei-commiss), not the result of an annual
vote of che Chambers, but a fixed sum entailed on
the produce of the Crown and State domains in
virtue of an arrrangement made by the late King,
in 1.820. who caused an amalgamation of the
Crown State domains under one management ; and
at that time the above-mentioned sum was
fixed upon as a fit and proper amount for the
Monarch to derive from the common fun I
for the support of the dignity of the Crown.
Since then the value of money has considerably
decreased in Prussia, as elsewhere, while, at the
same time, the demands oa the head of the State
are continually increasing, so that it may confi.
dently be looked forward to that in a few years the
King will be obliged to make some alteration
either by precluding a great number of claims that
are at present made on him, or by applying
to the Di ti for an improved arrange-
ment. At the commencement of the
session before last, it was whispered that His
MOesty contemplated a step of this kind, but no-
thing of the kind was brought forward ; the plan,
however, that was then conceived was to change
the entail of the fixed sum into an entail 'of the
landed property at present producing that sum,
from which the King, well knowing the present
mismanagement of the woods and forests reckoned
on deriving a much larger income under his own
management. For various reasons, however, the
plan has been nipped in the bud.
In addition to the amount of two millions and
a half of thalers settled on the public domains
the King is possessed of considerable private pro
perty, though more considerable in extent, perhaps,
than i❑ produce. It consists of fourteen different
estates in the provinces of Brandenburg,
Saxony, and Silesia, which belong to him
as the head of the Royal House, and are
distinguished by the name Haus-fidei-commiss
guter. • There is, further, his share of the
property left to the Royal Family by the late
King, to be divided equally among hie children,
the Familien fidei-commiss guter; the value of these
is reported to have amounted to 10.000 thalers.
And, thirdly, there are the estates which the' King
has purchased with his own means, the chatull
guter, the preclude of which more especially forms

the privy purse, in the most unrestricted sense of
the word ; they consist of five rather small estates,
and produce about 350,000 thalers a year. What
the total of all this may be, I have no means of
stating, as the rental of the Hausiidei commiss-guter
is unknown to me, as well as the amount of the
King's share of the Frmilien:ficlei-commis-guter": and
it is even doubtful whether the King draws his
share of the latter at all.
Out of these apparently Itirge sums the King
provides a considerable money allowance to all the
Princes and Princesses of the Royal House,
in addition to defraying the expenses of a number
of institutions and establishments, which with us
would either be in the hands of the State or
of private persons. The amount spent in charity
or for benevolent objects, generally come out
•)f the privy purse, the allowances to the Royal
Family and the maintainance of the household
(which in its various ramifications numbers be-
tween 900 and 1,000 persons) are defrayed out of
the general fund accrttinaglsfroomin etrhecaebirot ofyen a
tenftuirotnheedr
sources. The King is
sum of 350,000 thalers (52,0001), placed at his dis-
posal by the State, with which he defrays the
innumerable claims upon him for building or en-
larging churches and schools—for assisting artists
and encouraging art and science by,the purchase of
works of art—for furthering enterprises of general
utility over and above what the various public
offices do in this respect officially. By this arrange,
ment the King is enabled to do a great deal of
good in a field of benevolence, for which his per-
mat talents peculiarly qualify him; and it will

not surprise your readers when. I add that, with
his rear lines and liberality in giving, neither, the
350.000 dialers (ealled the Disposition Fund) nor
his own revenues suffice to meet his generous
,ecinirements. The king and- ("mien are perfectly
iruF le in their own tastes. habits, and wants, and
f•onfoantly deprive themselves of a number of
personal gratifications that they may he enabled
'o satisfy the many pressing claims made upon
them.

The money allowance made to each of the Royal
Princes (called here apanagen) is 'BO.OOO thalers a
year, or £l2 000; to each ot their children, or to the
cousins ot the Kotg, the half, or 40 000 ; where the
young princes or pi incesses have nor as yet formed
their household they only draw the half of the
sum they eventually receive on commencing house-
keeping. Whether the Royal Princes, in addition
to their apanage, also receive any salaries in
vir ue of their military rank or other post they
may fill, lam not aware. The Prince of Prussia,
as heir presumptive, I believe is in receipt of
half as much again as his brothers Carl and
Albrecht, "arid" like them also draws his share
of the Familien- fi lei eommiss estates, and in
addition to this, he has some private estates of
his own.

Bosides the numerous expenses which the Royal
purse has to defray in Prussia, and wh;eh your
renders will readily slim up under the heads
of household, palaces (twenty-seven in numb

gardens, stables (with 400 horses and 300
carriages), there are others that we are not ae-
eustotned to in England, such, for instance, as
the subvention to the two Royal theatres. All
the actors and singers at these two houses are
really and literally th© King's servants, and must
play and sing for him whenever he requires them
When thiS oceurs at any other place than
theatres and opera-house, of course the public gets
no dramatic or operatic entertainment that eve.ninc..!;
the deficiency, therefore, between the costs of th,:.
theatres and their receipts, must be defrayed by the
King, and forms the amount of the subvention—
about 150:000 thalers. There then is a further
regulation in Prussia. that no officer in the army can
marry without the King's consent. This consent
is never withheld if the intended couple have
income enough, including the husband's pay, to
live upon ; but, if the pay and the private means

together do not make up an income of 1,000 thalers
a year (1501), the consent is withheld. This appa-

.ently rigorous law, however, converts itself prae-

tirally into a claim upon the King, on the part of
all those offi,ers desirous of marrying girls with-
out property, to bestow on them a progressive allow'
ance sufficient to make up their pay to the necessary
limit. As the pay of a second lieutenant is about.
.£3O a year, and that of a first lietit-enant £l5, it
may well be ' believed that the making up of this
sum,of.Rlso in a good many instance is a rather
onerous charge on Royal funds. This is one
instance of the paternal relationship kept up between
the Ring and his officers; another is the allowance
that he makes to them towards the exoenses of
the their mess, and in some regiments towards the
cost of their uniforms. Another very peculiar
source of Royal expense arises out of the Queen's
being patroness of all the Stifter (religious houses or
foundations) throughout the kingdom. For every
single presentatation that may sooner or later be-,
come vacant to these refuges for aristocratic poverty,
there are always at least 100 lay nuns .of noble
birth consuming the tedious years that intervene
between nomination and fruition in lingering
expectancy ; to each and all of these fair aspirants
the Queen contrives to convey some crumbs of
Pecuniary comfort to prevent the hungry souls
from starving ere the long looked for presentation
to the stilt can fall in. As the .chief activity and
happiness of the Queen consist in promoting works
of charity, religion, and benevolence—a pastime of
a peculiarly expensive kind—it may easily be
imagined that this collateral claim on the Royal
purse is also far from being a trifle.