ong as the sum granted could meet the demand; and there was no
principle on which the grant was regulated. Secret pensions at the
king's pleasure were paid out of it, and in every way the independence
of parliament was menaced; and though the more legitimate expenses of
the royal household were diminished by the king's penurious style of
living, and though many charges not directly connected with the king's
personal expenditure were removed, the amount was constantly exceeded,
and applications were made from time to time to parliament to pay off
debts incurred; and thus opportunity was given for criticism. In 1769 a
debt of L513,511 was paid off in arrears; and in spite of the demand for
accounts and for an inquiry into the cause of the debt, the ministry
succeeded in securing this vote without granting such information. All
attempts to investigate the civil list were successfully resisted,
though Lord Chatham went so far as to declare himself convinced that the
funds were expended in corrupting members of parliament. Again, in 1777,
an application was made to parliament to pay off L618,340 of debts; and
in view of the growing discontent Lord North no longer dared to withhold
accounts. Yet, in spite of strong opposition and free criticism, not
only was the amount voted, but also a further L100,000 per annum, thus
raising the civil list to an annual sum of L900,000.

In 1779, at a time when the expenditure of the country and the national
debt had been enormously increased by the American War, the general
dissatisfaction found voice in parliament, and the abuses of the civil
list were specially singled out for attack. Many petitions were
presented to the House of Commons praying for its reduction, and a
motion was made in the House of Lords in the same sense, though it was
rejected. In 1780 Burke brought forward his scheme of economic reform,
but his name was already associated with the growing desire to remedy
the evils of the civil list by the publication in 1769 of his pamphlet
on "The Causes of the Present Discontent." In this scheme Burke freely
animadverts on the profusion and abuse of the civil list, criticizing
the useless and obsolete offices and the offices performed by deputy. In
every department he discovers jobbery, waste and peculation. His
proposal was that the many offices should be reduced and consolidated,
that the pension list should be brought down to a fixed sum of L60,000
per annum, and that pensions