But, upon the whole, we think
few men were more fortunate than our deceased friend. Like many of his
schoolfellows, he did not make and lose a fortune; his hair did not
become prematurely grey. There were storms, but they never reached him.
He never missed his church: he had always a friend, and a bottle to give
him; for your true Church and King man is generally reared on fine old
port. His sons were placed in his office; and his daughters
(good-looking, as most of the daughters of well-to-do, jolly old
gentlemen, generally are) settle comfortably in life. And so endeth the
chapter.

If this imaginary sketch be not true, it is not far from the truth. A
Government situation is known to be a pleasant berth, and is jumped at as
a man would jump at a freehold estate or a lump of Californian gold. A
man who has any influence with the powers that be, or a younger son,
instead of trying a trade or profession, will often seek a Government
situation, trusting, with the income arising from it, he may live in town
almost in idleness--at any rate in comparative luxury and ease. By the
side of a Rothschild he may be poor, but really he is not so badly off,
after all. The life of a Government _employe_ is considered gentlemanly,
easy, and not under-paid. Hence the doors of those who have places to
dispose of are furiously besieged by an eager and avaricious mob. The
higher offices are equally greedily seized, and equally as preposterously
over-paid. During one of the recent examinations before the committee of
the House of Commons, a quondam ambassador had the coolness to inform the
committee that the reason why the American ambassadors managed to perform
their duties for less money than the English ones was, that they lived so
much more economically; as if economy were a crime, and a thing to be
shunned by any of the numerous representatives of John Bull: and one
celebrated ambassador does not see how diplomacy can be carried on at all
unless the money of the nation be lavished on banquets, such as even
Soyer might envy and admire.

This is the climax of absurdity; and the time has come for such absurdity
to be treated with merited contempt. The axe must be laid at the root of
the tree. A reduction of salaries commensurate with the increased
cheapness of living, and with the difficulties the tax-payers have in
meeting the tax-gatherers' demands, must be made at once. It is childish
to suppose that such a man as Mr.