§ MR. STIRLINGsaid, he would beg to ask the First Lord of the Treasury, If it be true that a pension of Fifty Pounds had lately been granted out of the Fund set apart for persons of literary eminence in distressed circumstances, to Mr. J. Close, residing at Kirkby Stephen, Westmoreland, the author of Poems, and styling himself Poet Laureate to His Majesty the King of Grand Bonny, Western Africa?
§ VISCOUNT PALMERSTONreplied, that it was quite true that a pension of fifty pounds a year had been granted by Her Majesty, upon his recommendation, to Mr. Close, the Westmoreland poet. That pension was granted in consequence of the recommendations contained in a petition, which was signed by almost as many persons as had signed some of the petitions that had been presented that evening, and among the names of those subscribing to the recommendations were the names of Lord Carlisle, Lord Lonsdale, and a great number of country gentlemen, clergymen, and others—altogether some hundreds of names. The grounds upon which the recommendation was founded were that Mr. Close was one of those men, of whom he was glad to say several had appeared of late, who in a very humble station of life, and with little education, except what they might have gained by their industry, had nevertheless by innate genius risen above 1376 the class to which they naturally belonged and had distinguished themselves in literature, not certainly in a manner equal to Burns, but generally deserving to be placed in the same category as his works. The pension was given, as he thought, deservedly, to a Westmoreland poet of a humble class, to whom fifty pounds a year, perhaps, made all the difference between penury and comfort, and to whom, also, it would be recommended by the additional consideration that it had been given by the Crown, and was a mark of distinction which of itself would be of great value to the recipient, not only as agreeable to his own feelings, but as increasing the consideration he enjoyed among his neighbours. As to the title which the hon. Gentleman said Mr. Close had assumed—of Poet Laureate to the sable warrior on the coast of Western Africa—until the hon. Member gave notice of his question he (Viscount Palmerston) had been ignorant that Mr. Close enjoyed any such distinction. If it was meant that such an office was a source of profit, and disentitled its holder to a pension from the Crown, he could only say he feared it would be difficult to obtain from the sable warrior even the butt of sack which was the traditional stipend of Poets Laureate in this country. He was not aware that Mr. Close had any pretensions to the title which it was supposed he had assumed.