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 \Vales. 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 ; anti 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
of the country, •to have proposed a very enormous sum for
the Prince of Wales's establishment. He rejoiced exceed-
ingly at finding those reports practically done away on this
evening; hut he trusted that ministers would take the pre-
sent occasion to rise in their places, and to deny that there
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-
nvinogn the eminent, as
expatiated with
equal eloquence
suf-
ficient answer to the question. But, he added, that ' former
Princes of Wales had received larger grants from parliament
for
t ando
of theirwarmdignity.'lira
well as shining, virtues of the Prince, not omitting the honour
th esuppor
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.
. .

THE NIGER EXPEDITION.—Extract of a letter from the
Rev. T. Muller, dated her Majesty's ship Albert, River
Nun, August 19, 1841 :—" We passed the bar of the river
last Friday, the 13th instant, and have been very busy since
in repairing our rudder. We are lying at anchor a few miles
within the mouth of the river, where we have the sea breeze.
We buried alreadf one of our men on the shores of this river,
Mr. Back, the mathematical instrument-maker, who died
last Sunday from fever. I trust he died in the Lord. At
present, we are, thank God, all well. The rainy season will
now soon he over; but at present our people are very much
exposed to rain and wet. The river reminds me very much
of the Nile ; I hope the Niger water will be as good and
pleasant to drink as that of the Nile ; here it is brackish, on
account of the tide. To-day we are going to leave this place
for Jboo ; whether we live or whether we die, we are the.
Lord's.