The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1841-11-16 00:00:00

THE PRINCE'S INCOME

(From the Times of Friday)
As this important subject will one day come under consi-
deration, and is already exciting some speculation, the fol-
lowing extract from the Annual Register, explaining the
course observed in the case of George IV. while Prince of
Wales, may be read with interest:—

" On the 23d of June, 1783, the Chancellor of the Exche-
quer delivered a message from his Majesty, recommending
to the house the consideration of a separate establishment
for the Prince of Wales. The said message being afterwards
taken into consideration, the house was informed that his
Majesty had graciously resolved to take on himself the an-
nual charge of his son's establishment, without laying any
additional burden on his subjects; that £50,000 was to be
settled on the Prince, to be paid out of the Civil List; and
that all that was demanded was £60,000 as a temporary aid
to equip him at his outset in life. This sum was accordingly
voted, and an address of thanks presented to his Majesty."
It may be well to remark, that the subject of a separate
maintenance for the Prince of Wales is usually brought
under the consideration of parliament during the session im-
mediately preceding the birthday on which his royal highness
will have arrived at the age of 21. So, in the instance of
George IV., as that period would have been completed on
the 12th of August, 1783, the message from the Crown re.
commending the consideration of a separate establishment
for his royal highness was sent down to the House of Com-
mons on the 23d of June in that year.
In alluding to this grant of a separate income to the Prince
of Wales, Wraxall, in his Memoirs, says, " Notwithstanding
the ascendant which Fox exercised over the Cabinet, and in
particular over the Chancellor of the Exchequer, an event
occurred at this time, where his influence proved unequal to
overcome the obstacles opposed to it. The Prince of Wales
approaching the period of his minority, a separate establish-
ment became requisite for him ; and Carlton-house, which
had not been habited since the decease of the Princess Dow-
ager of Wales in 1772, was chosen as his future residence.
The income proper for his royal highness's support became
necessarily a subject of discussion among the members of the
administration, and produced great difference of opinion.
Fox thought that the sum of £lOO,OOO would not be more
than adequate to maintain his state ; while Lord John Caven-
dish, in whose immediate official department the business lay,
conceived that the moiety of the sum might suffice, under the
circumstances of the country, and the encumbrances on the
civil list. His Majesty being of the latter sentiment, it was
adopted; and Lord John having acquainted the House with
the gracious determination of the Sovereign not to call on
his people for any additional aid to his civil list, but to take
on himself the present expense of the heir apparent, limited
his demand to the sum of £60,000, as a temporary supply to
the Crown, and an outfit. Pitt instantly stood up, and having
expressed his perfect approbation of the proposition, as by
no means unreasonable or excessive, passed some very high
encomiums on the Prince : then, addressing his discourse
pointedly to the Secretary for Foreign Affairs, he observed
that rumours had been circulated, in a manner which seemed
to stamp them with authenticity, of a very extraordinary na-
ture. Those rumours,' continued he, ` asserted that it had
been the intention of some of the King's Ministers, contrary
to his avowed wishes, whose paternal affection for his subjects
suggested very different ideas to his royal mind, as well as
contrary to a due consideration for the exhausted condition
aa
cci
net i cs at
ers would take the pre-
-1 andl
'Wales's establishment. -
of the country, to have proposed a very enormous sum for
the Prince of He rejoiced exceed-
'
done away on this
y
to deny that there
esi nev gne int y
ionacgtc
a;fi
snbi
odu
tln
tghoet
riseh
torsue
si
ntreedpt
hoerti
rs that ppilm•
ever existed the slightest foundation for such assertions. On
so important a point he confidently expected that they would
furnish the house with an ample explanation.' Fox, thus
called on, rose, and in the manly tone which always charac-
terised him, replied, that as the vote now proposed went only
to the sum of £50,000 a year, that fact formed itself a suf-
ficient answer to the question. But, he added, that ' former
Princes of Wales had received larger grants from parliament
for the support of their dignity.' Having expatiated with
equal eloquence and warmth of colouring on the eminent, as
well as shining, virtues of the Prince, not omitting the honour
of his ready obedience on the present occasion to his Majes-
ty's pleasure, the secretary thus proceeded If however,
it had remained with me to advise, or had it been my pro-
vince to make the application of this day to the house, I do
not hesitate to repeat that I should have asked for a much
larger sum. But, as the person who possesses the best right
to decide upon that point has not coincided with me in senti-
ment, it becomes my duty to obey, and to act implicitly by
his opinion.' The vote then passed without a dissentient
voice.

The late Mr. Fanning, of Waterford, has bequeathed to
the poor of that city £30,000.

rATISTICS OP INSANITY.

Every document issuing from a public institution which
tends to elucid:lte the subject of insanity cannot but prove
interesting to the philanthropist and medical philosopher.
We have perused with attention and interest the statistics of
the Retreat neat. New York, an establishment erected pur-
posely for the reception, and treatment of persona belonging
to the Society of Friends. The report which is just published
exhibits the experience of that institution from its origin in
1796 to the year 1840. The Retreat was opened for the re-
ception of patients in the summer of 1796. It was originally
only designed for 30 patients, but it is now capable of afford-
ing accommodation to about 100. During the 4-1 years the
number of admissions has been 615, of which .282 were
males, and 333 females. As 146 of these cases were re-ad-
mitted ones, the number of persons treated was 469 ; or 223
men and 246 women. Of the 469 cases admitted there were
415 who were members of, or connected with, the Society of
Friends, and 54 not so connected. But of every 100 cases
of all descriptions received into the Retreat during the 40
years, the proportions discharged under the several heads,
and remaining under care at the end of that period, arc
shown in the following table :
Males. Females. Mean.
Recovered

Improved ..
Unimproved
Died

Remaining

11.5 7.2
10.6
3.9 5.4 4.7
24.8 20.7 22.6

13 9 15.6 14.8

Of those connected with the Society of Friends, 22 per
cent., and of others 37 per cent., had suffered from more than
one attack of mental disorder when first admitted into the
institution ; of 415 patients, 228, or about 55 per cent., were
resident in cities or large towns, and 101, or 24 per cent.,
from small towns and villages ; and 88, or 21 per cent., from
more completely rural districts. A very interesting table is
given below, showing the rank or profession of those who
have been admitted during the 40 years.

Men. Women
Gentlemen and gentlewomen l4 50
Clergymen of the Church of England
Military officers..
Physicians and surgeons 7
Solicitor
Architects and artists
Literary persons 2 1
Schoolmasters, governesses, &c.
Merchants, &c
Manufacturers
Tanners and carriers
Farmers, &c ..
Wives and daughters of farmers
Agents, clerks, and commercial travellers
Chymists and druggists
Persons in various descriptions of trade
Wives and daughters of the same 5O
Ship captains and sailors 4
Housekeepers l2
Seamstresses ..
Shopmen and shopwomen
,
Domestic servants....
Mechanics and artisans
Wives and daughters of ditto l9
Shoemakers
Tailors
Weavers 6
Exact rank not known 4

It appears that the mean age at the origin of the disorder
was 34, the men on the average being, attacked two years
earlier than the women. With regard to the origin of the
disorder, nearly one-third of the whole cases admitted were
found to be attacked at from 20 to 30 years. With reference
to the influence of marriage some important facts are ad-
duced, as the following statement will prove. Of the patients
admitted from 1796 to 1840, there were _ _

Men. Women
Unmarried .
Married, but having had no offspring
Married, with offspring
Widowed, but having no offspring 3 6
Widowed, with offspring l4 21.

It appears from the above table that of the patients sub-
jected to treatment for the last 40 years two-thirds, or 66 per
per cent. (64 per cent. for the men and 68 per cent. for the
women), had never been married. Of those who had been
married only one-fifth bad never had offspring.
We now proceed to the consideration of the probable
causes of the mental disorder. The causes of insanity are
generally divided into predisposing and exciting, physical
and moral. Of all the causes of mental disease, those which
have a tendency to predispose the brain to take on that pe-
culiar morbid action which generally gives rise to insanity
are of the most importance. These causes are frequently
insidious in their character, and therefore are often altogether
overlooked. The predisposing causes are divided into physi-
cal and moral.

'I he following tables illustrate their operation :
PREDISPOSING CAUSES.
PHYSICAL. Men. 'Women.
Hereditary tendency 32 36
Fright to the mother, followed or met by
premature birth 2 2
Congenital weakness of mind in various

degrees.

Decided congenital peculiarty of mind...... 19 4
Extreme degrees of melancholy or nervous

temperament

5 3

Lactation by parent strongly predisposed.... 1 0
Period of senility (average age of attack, 7g
years)
Insufficient exercise, or the stooping posture 2 0
Fever
liickets
Apoplexy and paralysis
Epilepsy .. .
Blindness
Chorea 0 2
Hysteria
Hypochondriacal tendency 2 1
Dyspepsia, &c.
Gout and Rheumatism 0 3
Injudicious bloodletting
Spermatorrhoea
Irregular secretions
intemperance and free living

In the 415 persons 232 laboured from physical predis-
position ; with regard to the hereditary predisposition, it
should b recollected that the cases were not considered, of
an hereditary character the history of which bad only been
characterized by the existence of insanity in collateral blood
relatives, it being obvious that cases of this kind do not
necessarily establish any direct hereditary transmission.
The following were the moral predisposing causes :
Neglected or perverted education, in three Men. Women.
cases very indulgent, in one very rigid 4 1
111-regulated temper and disposition 5 9
Solitary mode of life 0 I
Mental disquietude 4 10
Political enthusiasm
Excitement connected with religious hopes,
fears, and apprehensions 5 7
No predisposing causes known B3 81

A table is given showing the exciting causes of the disor-
ders, so far as these were ated or could be ascertained :

PHYSICAL EXCITING CAUSES

Men. Women.
Fevers and febrile diseases
Mechanical injuries of the head....
Inflammation of brain 4 2
Apoplexy and paralyses
Neuralgia and cephalgia
Hysteria ..
Dyspeptic and liver disorders 3 10
Unnatural propensities 6 0
Irregular or suppressed secretions....
Puerperal disorders
Protracted or suddenly subsiding lactation 0 2
Checked perspiration
Suppressed skin eruptions
Suddenly subsiding diarrhcea .............. 1 0
Long continued ill-health
Loss of sleep from fractured arm :
Severe scald in infancy..
Injudicious use of mercury
Intemperance
Use of opium and spirits 0 2
Generally dissipated and dissolute conduct 2 0
The following tabular statement presents a view of the