many noblemen and gentlemen became
implicated. The Earl of Derwentwater was
one of them; his estates in Durham and
Northumberland were forfeited to the Crown,
and were soon after given to Greenwich
Hospital. So largely has the value increased by
the discovery of mineral veins underneath, that
these Derwentwater estates now yield a gross
rental of more than fifty thousand a year, the
whole of which belongs to Greenwich Hospital.
Then there are estates in Greenwich town worth
a few thousands a year. Then the Hospital was
awarded, from time to time, forfeited and unclaimed
naval bounty and prize-money, deserters'
prize-money, a per-centage on all
bounty and prize-money, a per-centage on
Admiralty droits, a per-centage on the freightage
earned by carrying treasure in royal ships, and
the residue of a Patriotic Fund raised during
the great war. Then there were fines levied
against smugglers, the effects of the famous
Captain Kydd the pirate, portions of the coal and
culm tax, Robert Osbaldeston's bequest of
twenty thousand pounds, and other bequests from
other persons. Then there was, for a period of a
hundred and thirty years, sixpence per month
from every seaman in the Royal Navy; and, for
a still longer period, the same amount from
every merchant seaman—now commuted for a
perpetual government grant of twenty thousand
a year. And even the paltry fourpences, absurdly
charged to the public for viewing the
Painted Hall, go to the same fund; if these
pence supplied a few extra pipes of tobacco to
the old men, the public would like it better.
From all these sources, the funded property of
Greenwich Hospital is now so large (something
like three millions sterling), that the mere interest
on the amount, added to the rental of the
Derwentwater estates, makes up the noble sum
of a hundred and fifty thousand a year, or thereabouts.

There are too many cooks to attend to this
nice broth. Naval officers have been allowed
to entertain the belief that Greenwich Hospital
was intended for them as well as for the humble
seamen; the belief is erroneous, but under
its influence places and offices have been multiplied
unnecessarily. It may not be that our
old admirals and commodores, captains and
lieutenants, are overpaid: far from it; but it
is unquestionably wronging the sailor to let
them dip so deeply into the Greenwich Hospital
revenue. The officials are so many, that they
have often quarrelled through being in each
other's way.

A special commission, five years ago, recommended
very sweeping reforms. Nearly every
one has felt that this grand establishment,
with its magnificent endowments, palatial buildings,
and expensive administration, fails to
promote duly the objects for which it was
originally founded. The old wooden-legged,
one-armed, one-eyed, wrinkled, battered,
weather-worn seamen, do not, as a class, love
Greenwich Hospital as a place of residence.
The long galleries and the spacious colonnades
become sadly wearisome to men who have yet a
little life and jocund spirit in them. As
out-pensions can now be obtained with more
facility than formerly; as the scale of such
pensions is improved; as long-service men have
now the privilege of drawing pay and pension
together; as there are increased facilities for
obtaining some kind of employment out of
doors—as these things are so, the more able
and less decrepit among the men show a yearning
to leave the place, rather than pass their
days in listless idleness and mental vacuity.
There is a small library; but it is not of much
use to men who have not reading habits; and
no artificial substitutes for ordinary occupations
and amusements would remove from the
establishment that monastic character which
it certainly exhibits to its unemployed, dull, and
moping inmates. The poor old fellows' wives
are neither wives nor widows as to social
position; and there is little of family comfort
for them. Various items of reform, however, as
we have said, have been made since the
commissioners prepared their report five years ago.
The pocket-money of the pensioners has been
raised from one shilling a week to three, four,
or five, according to the rank they held in the
Navy; an addition of two shillings a week has
been made in the grant to the married men, to aid
them in supporting their wives; the wives and
children can obtain medical advice and medicine
gratis; widower pensioners with children are
allowed an additional sum of two shillings a
week; the widows of deceased pensioners are
allowed sums varying from one to four pounds,
to enable them to proceed from Greenwich to
their parish or home; a grant has been made
towards the Pensioners' Children's School;
pensioners may go to visit their homes for six
weeks together, obtaining their pocket-money
beforehand, and also the money-value of their
rations for that period; and, lastly, the retirement
of the nurses or female servants, being
the widows of seamen or marines, has been regulated
and improved.

All these are steps in the right direction;
but still something more is needed. The good
folks at Greenwich Hospital spend thirty-five
thousand a year in managing a hundred and
fifty thousand—that is, commissioners, receivers,
governors, lieutenant-governors, secretaries,
comptrollers, assistants, clerks, servants, &c.,
run away with nearly twenty-five per cent of
the revenue that belongs to the establishment.
This is one of the many things which are "too
bad." The Duke of Somerset, as First Lord of
the Admiralty, drew up a memorandum of
recommendations, about a year ago, for the
consideration of the Admiralty. During last summer,
the heads of a scheme were communicated
to parliament for rather a sweeping
reform at the old men's home; then the Admiralty
and the Treasury had a talk; then each
board raised objections which the other endeavoured
to clear away; then they appointed
three persons to work out all the practical
details of the scheme; and then the year came