The Sun. — London, England, 1833-01-14 00:00:00

SPIRIT OF THE PUBLIC JOURNALS. It was understood that the Council of Ministers held yesterday was on the same subject which has for some time occupied their attention—the impor tant subject of Church Reform. The plan will, we trust, be of a searching nature, and as extensive in its remedial provisions as are the evils which de mand a cure. No trivial or meagre measure will suffice; such palliatives only increase the disease ; the discontent of the people in England, and espe cially Ireland, will be exasperated by the mockery of a bit-by-bit reform, and not a single Tory or high Churchman will be conciliated; on the contrary, both the lay and clerical Tory will be encouraged to more vehement opposition to a Government who, by a temporizing policy, show at once want of wisdom and want of courage. We hope and be lieve, however, that the measure will be satisfac tory, and we hail with pleasure the disposition which we know has been manisfested by many emi nent Churchmen to forward, instead of impede, any well-digested scheme for correcting acknowledged abuses, which they consider no., what their foolish brethren call them, the outworks of the citadel, but so many practicable breaches, through which the foes of the Church may at any time enter and lay the ancient and sacred fabric in the dust.—Tiezes. The recommendation by the President of the United States, in his message to Congress, to con tinue protecting duties only on those branches of manufacture which are necessary to the national se curity, may or may not be adopted by Congress. If, however, Congress act on his recommendation, the desire of the South Carolinians to withdraw them selves from the general Union will be greatly weakened. At all events, the party opposed to the nullifiers in South Carolina, by such a change of policy, will, in all probability, obtain an ascendancy. It has been observed, that Federal Governments at the best have a tendency to dissolution, and that what has now happened in South Carolina, was to have been expected sooner or later in one or other of the States. We do not see that the Swiss and Batavian Federations in Europe, however imperfect, were more inclined to dissolution than the surround ing Governments. In so far as Federal States impose powerful restraints on ambitious rulers, and secure to the different Members of the Federation a better chance of good Government, than the provinces of an extensive empire can have, they may be said to be less disposed to dissolution than other States. In fact, Federal Unions are the only means by which extensive countries can be governed, with out subjecting them to arbitrary power and in justice. The great secret of the rapid growth of the English colonies before the American revo lution, was, that they were held by a sort of federal union with the mother country, the in ternal affairs being committed to a separate legislature. The great cause of dissatisfaction in the colonies now, is the departure from the old system, in conse quence of which every colony has become a sort of Turkish Pachalick. Our colonies are a heavy bur den to us, and a heavy burden to the natives at the same time. The money wrung from this country is spent in enabling a set of useless functionaries to govern the respective colonies in such a way as shall be most to the distaste of the colonists. The New England colonies grew, rapidly into strength, be cause they were left to themselves. The Canadas, if left to themselves, would by this time have been great and powerful; but if we had offered premiums to the different philosophical institutions of Europe for the discovery of a mode by which the prospe rity of a fine country might be most effectually checked, a better mode could not have been sug gested than that devised by the English Government and its functionaries. No native Government, how ever bsd, would have committed the unspeakable folly of impeding all communication in a new country by setting apart one-seventh of the wild land as reserves for a clergy without flocks. Governments, whatever their name, can only be strong by an adherence to the rules of justice. When a people feel that they are oppressed, that the rules of justice .have been departed from in regard to them, they naturally feel disposed to resent the oppression and injustice. In the case of South Carolina, there can be no doubt that great wrong has been done to the inhabitants of that and several other agricultural States. Their interests have been sacrificed to those of the inha bitants of New England. If America had been, like Brazil, under one head, and the same injustice had been committed by that head which has been committed by Congress, the consequence would have been a revolt. In fact, the Federation, by giving to the different States the hope of effecting through its representatives in the General Congress redress of the grievance, tends materially to dimi nish the tendency to separation. In fact, a Federal Union could alone have prevented resistance long ugo, and there must be a strong love in the inhabi tants of the other agricultural States to the Federal Government, or they would not have delayed join ing the Carolinians at this time. The well-wishers to the people of the United States in this country saw from the first that the tariff, if persisted in, would endanger the Union. People may reason about the virtue of obedience and the danger of se paration; but we all know that it is exceedingly hazardous in rulers to count too much on submis sion. Should the Federal Union survive this crisis, it is to be hoped similar experiments will never l;e made by the majority on the patience of the mino rity. We have said that federation is the only con dition on which an extensive empire can be well governed. Had so extensive a region as North America been one State, it would have fallen to pieces long ago. We shall soon, in our own case, verify the maxim, if we do not delegate to our different colonies the powers of internal Legislation. The Bri tish Parliament is only adequate to the government of the islands. What is passing in America has led to applications to Ireland. Ireland and Britain are so situated, that one Legislature may attend to the good government of both. In fact, the chan nel between the islands facilitates rather than im pedes communication. A separation of Legislatures does not, however, necessarily imply a dissolution of connection. But the worst of the matter is, that the desire of separation in Ireland originates in causes that would lead to a dissolution. The Irish are persuaded that they are unjustly dealt with; that they are sacrificed to the ruling caste of England. Were the people of Ireland in the possession of a tolerable degree of prosperity, we should hear nothing of agitation for a separation, or anything else. Before we are entitled to blame the Irish for their agitation, we ought to be able to show that we have done something for the good of the people. Have we yet done more than offer a few palliatives ? Is it not notorious that we have hitherto committed the monstrous injustice of dedicating an enormous revenue to a church without followers, while the religion of the people, the only religion from which Government could derive any aid, is thrown for support on that people ? Is it not noto rious, that hitherto not one step has ever been taken by the Government to afford redress, till com pelled by insurrection, or the threats of insur rection ? Have not the utmost pains been taken to connect inseparably in the minds of the people resistance to the laws, with remedies for op pression ? Do they not see that the universal con spiracy against tithes has alone led the Legislature to attempt a remedy ? And even now, do they not see that the Ministry of this country, even if in clined, dare not do more than trifle with the Pro testant Church Establishment ? Upon every prin ciple on which the union of Church and State is justifiable, the Protestant Church has no right to existence in Ireland. A Church to be established "ought, at least, to be the religion of the majority. But the Church is perpetuated, riot for the sake of the people, but the English aristocracy. What is required in Ireland is good government, which the people never yet had. A nation of eight millions, of whom the great major ity exist by opposing inti midation to law, in order not to be crushed by the relations between the owners and occupiers of the soil, is alone a proof of terrible misgovernment. What inspires the Irish with a desire of separation is a deep-rooted conviction that no Ministry of Eng land will ever have power to grapple with that evil —that the Ministry of England will always support the law, and that execution of the law in Ireland is quite different from execution of the law in a coun try in which the law-makers have not to rely on fo reign force fcr the means. Ireland is a pregnant example of the danger of violating the principles of justice. Whichever woy we turn, we are surrounded by danger. For our part, we honestly confess we see no remedies for the disease. When a social system has arrived at so very diseased a state, all ordinary means prove inoperative. We fear England will yet have dearly to pay the injustice she has perpetrated with regard to Ireland.—Morn. Chron. The melancholy fact that Government would be under the necessity of sending a large additional mi litary force to Ireland must have been for some time foreseen by the most casual observer of the scenes which have been acting in that interesting and ill-fated country. Of the necessity of this, we fear, there can be but one opinion ; but of the causes which are thus producing new scenes of ruin and misery to a land for which Nature has done so much, and man so little, opinions doubtless differ widely, though we confess that they appear to us to be gradually concentrating into a focus, which must soon fix the present misery of Ireland on one party, if not on one man. But our business is not to criminate, but to cure; and we would, as we have repeatedly done before, earnestly call upon those, into whose hands the present destinies of Ireland appear to have fallen, to pause upon the threshold of her new calamities, and to ask them selves what must be the consequence, both to Ire land and themselves, if the present system of internal agitation and convulsion is allowed to go on ? To the principal actor in this frightful tragedy we would say, in the splendid language of the poet— " Is there not some chosen curse, Some hidden thunder in the stores of Heav'n, Red with uncommon wrath, to blast the man Who owes his greatness to his country's ruin ?" What renders the state of Ireland at the present moment the more interesting, and the error of those who are hastening on so fearful a crisis the more in excusable, is the fact that there has been no period in the history of her past misrule, when there was so fair a prospect presented of seeing her extricated from its consequences as now exists. Though we may not altogether approve either of the persons employed, or the measures which the present Go vernment has hitherto adopted towards Ireland, yet there can be no doubt that at no period hss there existed an Administration either so warmly inclined or so deeply pledged to consult i►er welfare by every possible means. Even were that not the case, the ills of Ireland are the ills of England; and it is impossi ble, therefore, that a Reformed Parliament, such as we have now got, could assemble without the state of Ireland being one of the earliest objects to which its attention must be direcred. There is, indeed, one way—and one only—in which the best inten tions of the Government and the Legislature can he defeated; that is, by the two countries being brought into angry collision ; and the sword being called for, instead of the hand of peace being held out and accepted. If a struggle is to take place, frightful as its progress must be, there can be no doubt as to the result ; and the utter hopelessness of an appeal to arms, on the part of the wretched and misguided portion of the population of Ireland, only enhances, in a hundred-fold degree, the crime of those who, to gratify a feeling which ►t is impos sible to define or comprehend, are insanely urging on a catastrophe of which they themselves may probably be not the last victims. If we mistake the motives of these persons, let them show us that we do, by giving heed to our counsel. Let them, we repeat, pause on the threshold of those calamities which await this member of our com mon country. Let them remember that there exists the warmest disposition, both in the people of England and the Government, to redress the wrongs of Ireland ; and that the beneficial effects of such disposition► can alone be defeated by the cup being dashed from the lip to which it is on the eve of being presenteal.—Morning Herald. Want of space has hitherto prevented us from noticing an article which appeared in The Sun on Thursday last, respecting the intentions of the Go vernment relative to the duties on newspapers and advertisements, and in which the accuracy of the statement which we published some time ago is called in question " The Spectator of Sunday last," observed our contem porary," contained a paragraph, stating that the Chancellor of the Exchequer would, early in the approaching Ses sion of Parliament, bring forward a proposal for the re duction of the stamp duty on newspapers, but that he bad not made up his mind to a reduction of the duty on ad vertisements. The Morning Advertiser of Monday, doubted the correctness of what the Spectator had stated on the subject of the advertisement duty, and mentioned a particular scale of reduction as likely to be adopted by the Chancellor of the Exchequer. We have reason to think that our respectabie contemporary, the Advertiser, is in error. The Chancellor of the Exchequer does not appear to have resolved upon the reduction of the adver tisement duty. He stands pledged, however, to reduce the stamp duty on newspapers, and we may expect that measure in the course of a few weeks. What the exact amount of the reduction will be is not known. Probably it will not be more than will enable the newspaper pro prietor to sell his paper at 6d. or sid. ; but the public, we are sure, will not be satisfied with anything short of such an allowance as will reduce the charge to the public at least twopence, so that the sevenpenny paper may be sold for fivepence. As to the duty on advertisements, it is said, but we cannot attach much credit to the statement, that the Chancellcr of the Exchequer is indisposed to make any reductions until an increased revenue shall enable him to do so, without immediately affecting the yearly returns." Now, in reply to this alleged error, or misstate ment, ou our part, we beg to put in two answers — the first, our original statement—the second, the improbability of the scheme attributed to the Chan cellor of the Exchequer, in consequence of its utter inanity as to all useful purposes, or rather, we might more properly say, its gross absurdity. Our first statement was that although no absolute decision had been come to by the Government as to the quantum of reduction to be made in the newspaper duties, yet that it nevertheless was the intention of the Government, or of those members of it to whose departments the settlement of the matter pro perly belongs, to adhere to the proposal made by Lord Althorp two years ago, both with regard to the stamp and to the advertisement duties; but with this improvement—to allow on the stamps the same per centage which is at present granted. That any change in the views of the Government has taken place since we made the above statement, we have not only no reason to believe, but hold to be highly improbable; for what benefit could the public derive from the trifling reduction on the stamp duty, attributed to the Chancellor of the Exchequer, while that on advertisements remained ? Reduce both with a bold and decisive hand, and all will be benefited—else touch them not at all, but allow them to remain a blot upon the character of the Administration, a standing proof of the hollow ness and falsehood of Whig pledges /. In this mat ter there is no medium course to be pursued, either in justice to the existing press of the country, in justice to the public, or in justice to the revenue. The interests of all call aloud in the same tone, and for the same enactment. The existing press would derive no benefit from the reduction said by our Sunday contemporary to be proposed by the Govern ment—the public would not be satisfied with it— the revenue would suffer from it. Is it at all rea sonable then to suppose, that such a scheme—so 'useless in one way, so mischievous in another—is harboured by his Majesty's advisers ? We repeat that we do not believe it; and we re peat also that we know of no mode, of no mea sure, by which the character of the Govern ment, and especially the character of Lord Al. thorp, for good faith, and sound judgment as a financier, would be more seriously compromised than by patronizing such a scheme as that which has been attributed to him; The promise of reduction was made publicly, and not once, but often ; while, in so far as the revenue is concerned, every one who knows any thing upon the subject must be aware that the newspaper duties arc but a drop its the bucket of the great ocean of taxation, and that although the whole were taken off, the revenue would not be greatly injured. The whole of the tax does not bring into the Exchequer qui.e so much as 700,0001. per annum, of which about ' 170,0001, arises from the stamp duty, and the re maining 480,0001. from advertisements. How paltry to propose a reduction of 50,0001. or 60,000/. in the lesser, and to allow the greater to remain in full force I The thing is not to be believed.— Morning Advertiser. SPIRIT OF THE SUNDAY JOURNALS. Much discussion has taken place in various of the public Journals on the choice, by Ministers, of Mr. Manners Sutton once more to fill the Speaker's chair. Those who urge the propriety of this choice rest on two main pints—the long experience the Honourable Gentleman has had in the office, and the saving of his pension of 4,0001. during the time of his holding it. Of the superior fitness of Mr. Manners Sutton for the office, we think but little. There are, we believe, many old Members of th e House of Commons as well versed in Parliamentary law as he is, and as well qualified in other respects to support the dignity of the Chair. And as to the saving of the pension, though an advocate for eco nomy, we like not to barter money for principle. The appointment by Ministers of the Anti-Reformer Mr. Manners Sutton to the office of Speaker of a Reformed House of Commons involves in it an ano maly, and a violation of public principle, for which the saving of 4,000/, per annum forms no excuse. It is, however, of a piece with the conduct of Mi nisters in other respects. Their exclusive patronage of the Tories has been manifested in hundreds of instances, since their accession to office.—News. Rumours have been afloat during the last week, of the probability of a partial change in the Admi nistration before the meeting of Parliament, by the accession of some of the more influential of the Con servatives, such as Sir Robert Peel, &c. &c. ; and it is added, that Sir Robert has been applied to on the subject, but has declined. We shall be glad to find the lat ter portion of this repot t true, for the sake of both parties, who would be injured in the opinion of the public, rather than benefited, by the alliance. Earl Grey and Sir Robert Peel never can form a political union, without yielding something on each side ; end this same yielding can redound to the cre dit of neither. - "lnstead of being strengthened by such an accession, the Ministry would be weakened, as the confidence of their old supporters, and only true friends, would necessarily be shaken to a degree not likely to be quickly re-established. If the Pre mier doubts his ability to manage his large majority, or rather, if he suspects that the tameness of the measures he is about to propose to a Reformed Par liament will not meet with the tacit concurrence of that majority, he may rest assured, that lie will, to use a homely term, be falling " from the frying pan into the fire," if he applies for aid to the Tories. Without conciliating the one party—which, do all he may, even to the sacrifice of his political consist ency, he never can conciliate—he will lose the esteem and confidence of the other. In all our poli tical reading and experience, we never knew a coal'- tion between parties heretofore strongly opposed in politics to succeed. The downfall of Sir Robert Walpole may be traced to one coalition; so may the subsequent ruin of the Pelhams ; and, in latter times, that of Lord North. The truth is, the public like consistency in Statesmen, more especially where they have attained to that maturity in life, as for their opinions to have become the result of ex perience, rather than of whim or caprice. A change in this case involves a dereliction of prin ciple, which the people do not readily forget or for give. Lord Grey will do well to stick to his old friends. They will never desert him, as long as he remains steady to theprinciple of Reform.—News. We hear, for the hundredth time, that Lord Pal merston is about to retire from the Foreign-office, and to be succeeded by Lord Durham, the son-in law of Earl Grey. The change will be a good one, if it be true, as stated by some who are riot very friendly to Lord Palmerston, that he is but a soi disant Liberal, and that when Earl Grey threw up the seals of office, six months ago, Lord Palmerston had given reason to believe that he would join the Administration of which the Duke of Wellington was to be the bead ; but if this be not true, and Lord Palmerston be at heart the friend of liberty, and -the advocate of an enlightened foreign policy, there can be no necessity for his quitting office to make room for the son-in-law of Eail Grey. There is much, however, to be explained in the conduct of Lord Palmerston, ere we can give him our feeble but cordial support. Why has lie not enforced re paration for the infamous outrages upon British sub jects, and the insults of the British flag, committed by the Dey of Portugal, Don Miguel ? Why are Sir John Milley Doyle, and the other Englishmen, who languished in the dungeons of that monster, and in whose favour the law officers of the Crown made an award, unsatisfied, as to the pecuniary part of the affair, to this day ? Why was even an hour's delay granted to Miguel, when application was made to him for compensation and redress ? Is it honourable, is it manly, in a British Minister to take excuses from the ruffian who sits on the throne of Portugal, when the French and American Go vernments have obtained to the uttermost far thing of their demands ? Again, why did Lord Palmerston allow the vulture of the North to put his fangs upon Poland, and to massacre the brave but unfortunate inhabitants of that country, when he had an offer from the French Government of cordial cooperation and support in an attempt to obtain emancipation for the Poles ? Was not the British Cabinet bound, by the treaty of Vienna, to secure the nationality of Poland ? And had not Lord Palmerston himself declared that, whatever else might happen, the nationality of Poland should not be destroyed? When Lord Palmerston can reply to these questions satisfactorily, we will say that a change is not necessary. Until then, we shall hail with pleasure the promised accession of Lord Durham, or of any other person of liberal principles, to an office which, in tile pre.ent state of Europe, should be filled only by a man of upright and dignified mind.—Merle's Weekly Register. The Bishop of London has had a long conference with Earl Grey on the subject of Church Reform. The result has not transpired ; but if we are to judge of the nature of the conference by what oc curred at the palace of the Archbishop of Canter bury, we may conclude that nothing very gratifying to E irl Grey was communicated by the Bishop of London at the interview which has just taken place. The superior clergy cannot, it seems, yet make tip their minds to the necessity of the sacrifices which are required from them by the nation, and they are preparing for a struggle which, for the sake of religion, ought not to be made. Nothing good to the clergy can arise from a trial of strength, but much that would be detrimental to their in terest would inevitably ensue. There are three par ties who feel a strong interest in the question of Church Reform—the superior clergy, the enemies of the Church, and the intermediate party who respect the Church and desire its welfare, but who wish to see it in the purity wilhout which it can never be of use. The first of these parties, having much to lose, and not being thoroughly sensible of the propriety of yielding more to expediency than they would be disposed to concede to what they consider the demands of right, will, we fear, stand too rigidly on the question of privilege, and neglect the opportunity which they possess of arranging their difference with the public in a way which would tend to confirm their own fair authority over it, although they must necessarily make concessions in conformity with the spirit of the age. As to the avowed enemies of the Church, who are numerous, we can see little danger to the clergy from either their open hostility or their intrigues, provided the heads of the Church themselves do not by their obstinacy—their " all or none" policy—disgust the moderate party, by whose support or opposition they must stand or fall. This latter party, we can confidently say, will not co-operate in any outrage upon the Church establishment ; but it is more than probable that if the superior clergy should exhibit a disposition to retain all that they now hold, without regard to the justice of the claim made upon them for sacrifices which, though large in their amount, they can yet afford to make, the third patty may abandon them to their own resources, and thus ren der their destruction by their enemics comparatively easy of accomplishment. As friends of the Church, we sincerely hope that the superior clergy will not allow a blind conviction either of their power or of their right, to detach from them that influential body without whose aid they cannot hope to contend against the enemies, not only of the Established Church, but also of religion itself.—ilierle's Week& Register. The Times of Friday contains the following para graph in a leading article— " The House of Commons has just been elected ; and being in its infancy, and no rational prospect of another election being at hand, neither the mode of election nor the duration of Parliaments is likely to occupy, for some little time forward, the minds of steady and reasonable politicians ; unless, indeed, it can be shown that no subjects of more immediate urgency are waiting. The ballot, therefore, does not press ; Quinquen nial or 1 riennial Parliaments do not press at this moment ; and more especially, because no candid man will say that such ques tionshave less apparent chance of being decided fairly in any future Session, than in that which is now about to open." Now, after the Speaker has been elected, what is the next important business which the House will have to attend to ? Why, to ascertain whether some of its Members have not been improperly returned, by the appointment of Committees to decide upon disputed elections. The evidence which will be pro duced before these Committees will prove the ne cessity of the ballot, provided it is allowed that the electors are to vote according to their own will, and not in obedience to the commands of superiors. This is the only real question to be decided upon. The opponents of the ballot keep this out of sight, and give utterance to a vast deal of irrelevant matter about the duplicity and meanness which secret voting would permit or produce. But in so doing, they shirk the question—" Am I to vote as I like, or as my master likes ? If the former, I must vote se cretly ; if the latter, openly. But, in the latter case, don't insult me by saying that I am an independent elector."—Spectutor. SHALL EARL GREY OR THE HOUSE OF COMMONS ELECT THE NEW SPEAKER ?—lf the choice of a Speaker of the Reformed House of Commons rested with the King's Ministers,--if the members for ex tensive and important cities and counties wese to be driven up to vote for a Government nominee, like the old tools of corruption who sat in former Parlia ments,—then we might congratulate the Conserva tives on their success in bamboozling Earl Grey, and their triumph in replacing that firm old Tory Mr. Manners Sutton in the chair of that House. But wait a little, Gentlemen; your game is only half played, and by no means won. It would have been more discreet in you not to have thrown your best card on the table, where it is already somewhat soiled, so early in the deal : your opponents may yet trump it with a better, and carry off the stakes, notwithstanding your chuckling. It is bad enough, certainly, that the attempt should be made to vote an old Tory, of the house of Rutland, into the chair of the first Reformed Parliament. But the mode in which the business is managed—the offer of Minis ters to hand over the votes of the representatives of the people (whose ears are still tingling with pro fessions of perfect independence from those very re presentatives), strikes us as being peculiarly insult ing. We are informed by the Times, that " Mr, Manners Sutton has accepted the offer of Ministers to secure, as far as their influence in the House of Commons can secure, his election to the Speaker ship." Very gracious and condescending, no doubt, in Mr. Manners Sutton. " As, I see, you will not make me a Peer, why I don't care if I become Speaker again, to oblige you." So the matter is comfortably arranged—between Mr. Manners Sutton and the Ministry : but not between the Ministry and the re p rese ntatives of the people in Parliament as „le , semua, as that Ministry may yet learn to its cost. Why should the Government interfere at all in the matter ? They are the paid servants of the people, and not the viceroys over that people's representa tives. The choice of a Speaker is not a measure of the Executive. The Ministry, therefore, had no right to take the initiative in proposing a person for that office. Their interference betrays an ignorance of the altered state of thing, which they have themselves been active agents in producing. They think that they have an old boroughmongering House to deal with. We trust that they will find themselves mis taken, and that he very first vote of the Reformed Parliament will show them their mistake in such plain colours as will make them cautious how they attempt to play the dictators in this genuine Pitt and Castlereagh style again. We should have ima gined that Lord Grey had had enough of promoting political opponents to offices of trust and secure emolument. The conduct of Lord Lyndhurst should have taught him a lasting and profitable lesson. Mr. Manners Sutton is too shrewd a man to make him self troublesome to a Ministry in whose hands the grant of his retiring pension was placed. But that check is now removed. He is snugly provided for, may retire when he likes, give as much trouble as he can while lie remains, and laugh at this most sim ple of all Premiers while he pockets his quarterly cash. He is irritated, moreover, by the refusal of his Peerage; and if he does not become a thorn in the side of the Ministry, be will be the most singularly conscientious and placable Tory that ever secured a retiring pension. The Government may yet be brought out of the scrape by an independent vote of the House and the rejection of their candidate. — Spectator. Parliament, at the present moment, stands sum moned for the '29th, but Ministerial :Arrangements, as well as other weighty considerations, will proba bly postpone the commencement of the Session till the second week in February. In the meanwhile, and pending those momentous discussions which the questions at issue must call forth, it is perhaps ne cessary to mark with attention the number and the power of the parties which the Reform Bill has called into action. Taking Members to be faithful to their engagements, and judging of them by their professions on the hustings, the Ministerialists and Reformers of every shade will, in the new Parlia ment, for England, Wales, and Scotland, amount to 429, while the party which is, we know not why, called Conservative, will only number 124. To these we may add the 105 gentlemen from Ireland; but their principles and professions are so charac teristically wild and anomalous, that it gives us some trouble to dispose of them. Taking them, however, at their own words, they give to the Mi nisters, on every question except that of tithes, an addition of 42, and to the Conservatives 25, while the remainder of the 105 is made up of persons who call themselves, and who belong to no party, save that which, by producing the greatest quantity of confusion, may work the most mischief to England, and give the largest portion of ascendancy to the Catholics of Ireland. Rejecting these nondescript gentlemen from our enumeration, the whole number of Liberal Members in the House, will be 471, and of Conservatives 149. Supposing, however, as we apprehend we safely may,. that some of these Libe rals prove Tories in disgAse—and knowing, as we do, that several of these will on many occasions be found in the ranks of faction, whoever may be the leader—we think it will be safe to conclude that four hundred, at least, will support all those measures of economy and improvement which the Reform Bill was mainly intended to secure. Under such auspices, and armed with this force, Earl Grey will promulgate the plans which have engaged the atten tion of the Cabinet during the recess; and we learn that amongst the first and the most prominent will be the measures for a commutation of tithes both in England and Ireland, and the repeal of the greater part, if not the whole, of the house and window duties. With respect to the taxes on knowledge, the Government adhere to the proposition announced by Lord Althorp last session, which, by reducing the price of the stamp on newspapers from the no minal sum of fourpence to the real sum of twopence, will allow all the papers' now priced at sevenpence to be sold to the public at sixpence. On the ad vertisement duty it has been determined, after the most anxious inquiry, to make no alteration for the present. These and some other measures with re spect to Finance and the Colonies will form the subjects of immediate consideration, but not until the House has been asked for, and sanctioned, an authority, the highest known to the executive, for the restoration of perfect tranquillity in Ireland. In anticipation of a ready assent of the Legislature to the preliminary step, the suspension of the Habeas Corpus Act, several regiments of horse and foot are to be added to the already imposing military force in that country; and if circumstances render it ex pedient, the English militia will be called forth to their assistance. On the propriety of this proceed ing the heads of the Opposition have been consult ed, and we understand they are fully consenting. Few, indeed, of those who wish to preserve the in tegrity of the empire—to insure obedience to law— or to stay the career of unbridled anarchy and licen tiousness, can object to such a course, when it known to be, and when the Legislature is pledged to make it, the preamble of a Bill for the settlement of the questions of tithes and of cess—for an effec tual redress, in brief, of all the real grievances of the Irish people.—Observer. We can positively assure our readers that a ne gotiation is going forward to effect a junction between Earl Grey and Sir Robert Peel. A modification of the Ministry by the ejectment of Lord Palmerston, to make way for Durham ; and of Goderich, to make way for any body, is at hand. Some difficul ties exist with respect to Lord Aitborp, which it seems might be got over, by sending his Lordship into the Upper House; but others, of a more for midable natnre, are offered by the peculiar position of Mr. Stanley. However, within these last few days a new turn has been given to the negotiation, and Earl Grey now only requires Sir Robert's assistance in Irish affairs. His in.ention, lie says, is to bring I that country under the dominion of the laws, and hopes that no party feeling will induce Sir Robert to oppose him in his arrangements for that purpose. Sir Robert has not, as we understand, yet given a decisive answer, and we recommend him to aecer• tain what are really the ulterior measures medi tated by the Whigs, with respect to the Church,be fore he gives any adhesion, no matter how quail fist], to the existing Cabinet. Let him not trust to the ten-times-told tale that the Church is to be sa crificedfirst, and Ireland to be quieted afterwards. He abandoned his principles in 1829, under the pre tence that it was necessary to tranquillize Ireland, arid he soon found that the mischief he had done was not followed by the promised peace. He should not make the same blunder again; if lie does, his po litical character, now at a sufficiently low ebb, is gone for ever. He should tread most cau!iously— one false step is ruin.—Age. NECESSITY OF REVISING THE PRESENT SYSTEM OF TAXATION.—Among the most urgent duties of the Parliament which is about to assemble, will be the revisal of our present fiscal system. Others of our abuses and grievances may be equally great, some possibly greater, but none are more palpable and glaring. We are over-taxed and mistaxed. To the overtaxation many eyes have long been open; to the mistaxation, fewer. But the manner of our tax ation begins at length to be thought of by popular constituencies, as well as the amount; and the voice which is raised for the repeal of so many taxes is not, as it was wont to be, a mere inarticulate outcry of the overburdened, eager to have the weight taken off their own particular shoulders, but a deliberate protest against an unjust mode of distributing the common load, and a claim to have the apportionment made on principle, with a due regard to the strength and convenience of all. The two pervading evilsof most fiscal systems, and of our own among others, are inequality and waste. There is inequality, when, ' to supply the public revenue, a greater sacrifice is required from one part of the people than from an other. There is waste, when a needlessly large por tion of the proceeds of a tax is swallowed up in the expense of collection, or when the tax necessitates or encourages bad processes of production, or diverts labour and capital from the channels into which, being the most productive, they would sponta neously flow. In the revenue system of this country all these forms of evil abound. Nor are the rewant ing striking examples of a still worse mischief, taxes operating immorally ; by precluding or discouraging the exercise of some virtue (as the taxes on soap, and on insurance), by obstructing access to whole some instruction (as the taxes on paper, pamphlets, newspapers, and book advertisements), or, finally, by holding out a premium to smuggling; as is done by all high duties on importation, arid in England, particularly, by those on foreign spirits and tobacco. But the objection of immorality applies to some pans only of our revenue system; the vices of ine quality and waste pervade nearly the whole. For instance, all our direct taxes proceed on the avowed principle of sparing the rich ; the very poor are also in some instances, spared ; but the rich invariably. Thus the window tax stops at a certain maximum; a limit is fixed, beyond which windows in any num ber may be added without being taxed. The dis graceful inequalities of the house tax have lately at tracted universal attention, though the whole extent of them is not even yet known to the pubic. The house tax,besides, even if fairly assessed according to the common standard of fairness, that is,in proportion to the bona fide rent, must still be an unequal tax; for a person of moderate income generally expends a larger proportion of that income in the rent of his house or apartments, than the very rich; arid the houseroom a man requires is proportioned, not to his riches, but rather to the number of his children ; that is, to his poverty. The tax on proba'es of wills, a most objectionable impost on many accounts, stops, like the window-tax, at a maximum. The same principle is carried into some branches of our indirect taxation. Thus the stamp duty on receipts does not rise in proportion to the amount of the sum paid : the ascending scale stops at a certain value. The legacy duty presents an inequality which, to a person unacquainted with the composition of the Legislature by whom that duty was imposed, would look like an unaccountable anomaly : it is laid exclu sively on what is called personal property ; land is exempted. Further, all taxes on articles of con sumption, which either nature or universal habit has placed among them the necessaries of life, are un equal in the highest degree ; for of such articles the poor consume as much, or nearly as much, as the rich, sometimes far more. The tax on foreign corn, considered merely as a source of revenue, and apart from its other evils, has all the iniquity of a poll tax ; for the poor man, unless he is actually starving, must eat as much bread as the rich, and (if we count children only, and not servants) has as many mouths to feed. The duty on raw cotton, re cently substituted for the still worse tax on the ma nufactured article, is objectionable on the same ground. Cottons are the dress, not so much of the rich as of the poor ; and the coarser article con , sumed by the poorer purchaser, contains mote of the raw material, and consequently pays a higher duty thereon, than the fine muslins worn by the higher ranks. Not only is inequality chargeable upon nearly the whole of our taxes, but from the additional evil of waste, in some one or other of its forms, very few of them are exempt. There are not many of our Excise duties which do not subject the pro ducers or dealers to vexatious and burdensome re gulations, interfering, in many ways, with the best and cheapest processes of production. Our Custom duties cause much unnecessary expense and annoy ance to the merchants, for which the latter indem nify themselves at the cost of the consumer ; and so far as those duties affect articles which can be pro duced in the country itself, or in the colonies, they are almost always purposely shaped to protect (as the phrase is) home and colonial industry : a term which always means, to set home or colonial industry upon producing some particular article (which it would not naturally take to) in preference to pro- clue ing hich i s o meCO uldth n it o er bta a i r n tie t l h e e , th fi r r o st ug in h g t r h ea e t t e n r e q d t i l u : l i fi ci ti and at less expense. The loss to the mot her coo, from the discriminating duties on timbe r aloner _A moderately estimated at a million sterling al e : c ra h r i r n i a e t d ir i s ia o v f e th s e av T e The measure, an approximation to which the n Tortes defeated c d h e fe a at s e u d m in t 0 1 8 t would have enabled us, without adding to ag e the public burdens, to get rid of all the taxes on 1 0 „ 1 ledge at one blow. We had no intention to o' o ' into a minute analysis of the vices of onr rei, a system ; as a brief abstract the above may On The question of most moment is, seeing the bet, of most of the existing taxes, seeing, at the 01, time, that taxes of some one or other kind Wet had, what should they be ? On this matter alj ciple is establishing itself in the public mind, we consider an extremely salutary one ; that an the modes of raising a revenue, those are comill7 3 he h n w atlo tiols : ‘ ,l the most eligible which are the most direct. Ai which blends itself with the price of a cometo7; has, indeed, the seeming advantage, that by con% ing to forego the use of the commodity it is Ross!: to escape the tax, while from a direct tax on 1 1 . 0 ; or on property there is no escape; and doubt, is one of the causes why a nation will sup ro be taxed much more heavily when the taxes cc; In that shape. But this increased willingness tooti dure a burden, which hitherto has almost al' been too readily borne, is at least a doubtful'. vantage. On the other hand, the more directli make your taxation—that is, the nearer youo proaeh to making the person who is to pay it I mately, pay it at once arid avowedly—the great your security both against inequality and ar, waste. In the case of all indirect taxes, there Ov apparent uncertainty hanging over the questionp:i pays them ? an uncertainty at least sufficient to : i room for doubt and cavil; so that there beingi sure standard acknowledged by all, to determine real weight with which the taxes fall on differ classes of the pryers, an excuse may alway s round for overcharging those who ought, 01 1, contrary, to be relieved. We ' unp this in Lord Althorp's budget, posed to tax the fundholder on ti thesis that he was greatly under' to be remarked, that all taxes o on the transfer of commodities, effect in diverting production fr, most beneficial course; indepen limiting the demand for the taxed rte as a discouragement to all in production, which,in order to advantage, require that the pra should be on a large scale. Taxi if possible, to be direct. But aims at equality at all, must be a property tax, therefore, we are difficulties of detail in valuini of property, and assessing them as to avoid inequality, without d feelings of individual:. But, to ficulcies, we cannot believe any° cessary, than that the practic► which exist in the community thet dail whi the CONTRACTS C HEESE „, , A ' r •PARTMEN Ts HE & CUTINI InAL of the BRITAIN and 01: 'rratrltSDAY, ready to treat Contra ct f or sup V ittuldling Stor namely Bialt..47l:ctrytisitt:iwillsestoiieiifr:tsl,l:Eithassrhi_ep,a:teiofrc.,Ase erizeso.(d..iseoffinauiwfoc(, cii ells ............ d ~, vIT BAGS . BEEF KIDNEY"unds clean, an, ader ing• The bee r a Clock on i .ty attend, in *thin ' an te I: Tender tea e• , - ••e accompar l° responsible d e perso n t en d er s v ia us, for th e d u al ) 8i5................1.___nit Rag LIGHT %%De Pictures h i fre consider 4 tiClated for E Z•••.:ZIL 26, H o La 2 Secon THE L , alO na.,:l4.l.Aittileilijiotiinitoni,„La.tl fairly gtri..telett4i. itivassible 100:00 dyur Boughton,gt BIRTH. Bank,t e 11:1: ..tt I'l-7ei'Lirhkek.„l::":.e.2l-t-idht°hhetn'arweinwllithbeelseta:l tvr: .. ,th w iof . eel.....is a Lasit T itit a ll l e e st . ii . _.. intrary, to be relieved. We had anexamP w .e , el:ii::r on ea thlyl lis in Lord Althorp's budget, when it Wee !", osed to tax the fundholder on the unfounded bX tesis that he was greatly undertaxed. It is W cool estiroatedvWl be remarked, that all taxes on commodities,W ditePioris cannot n the transfer of commodities, have more or with'''. Macfarlane fleet in diverting production from its naturafro P:i tt o ta 2 l ,industry Lost beneficial course; independently of whit ! miting the demand for the taxed article, they. .10 L14417726f" its as a discouragement to all those improvefoj d' - ‘ i production, which,in order to be introduce d 0 kj U li dvantage, require that the productive operal . j hould be on a large scale. Taxes, therefore, cut r I possible, to be direct. But a direct tar, ! i f ims at equality at all, must be a property ta x ;li l t Lell_ie °a * od a:l a d nd ida t o I property tax, therefore, we must come. I,j eiwoßevereane ire difficulties of detail in valuing the different I ttl 'i t keett e 7eig a grey mit Prk if property, and assessing them to the reve- 01. ted 0 die e for E is to avoid inequality, without doing violence t i 'l, 26 , H oi eelings of individuals:. B os u r t K , Bvve t l o n3ats s ,4 u td r o m sa ou r23a rt hs t odßo th w e e l e o lf , 04.0r,5, . 41,41 jT,,N Ticulcies, we cannot believe anything more to b e i r tiiir, VA .le , •sary, than that the practical skill and sag'? which exist in the community, should ' - a BI themselves to the task. That skill and earl i, ( l : Ti t eZ e G ieg E° i laily effect things far more difficult. In the while, now is the time for clearing up thor o the question of principle; setting right every 12 t r y fi • I lettip_ e t tWo eras .:orrectness in any of the conceptions commo nl iit ; tertained of a property tax, and rendering the. of such a tax definite and tangible, And this', propose to attt min in our next number.—Era gfi xii tt ... B .t oublii :i; , 'lty by .. " '"•-•.!.... 2 .. 6 . 2 . 11!! COUNTRY CORN MAR 3l l( .. E . T 36 S .,:iroifiij; Oats. WIE RIC2 DURING L.v ß sT arle vi y • . EEK. , ------ --- t ' 2,.. ii We h By a Per Quarter. !s.to S. Is.to s. s. to s. ,* '..-.4 - mail wi t h Carlisle 5 .5 C 26 IS —' 40 - I,P o se ; soUnd P * Hexham,.................. 46 59 28 32 18 22 .01 t ii mh It " c e place j Morpeth .................. 41 54 '2B 30 17 20 ~° 4 .411# 0 - eoritai n ,..,, Penrith ................. 54 I 2 5 --• 19 '''' ' • 1*. •....2L.0ng E n, Sheffield ................. 58 1 30 19 -;:, , 10., Winchester ....... 49 54 , 'l3 30 22 '2 4 .'t', PUbli lbed, ii Per Bushel. s. d. s. d. s. d. e. d. a. d. s. d. gog Cannarthen....... 5 6 6 0 3 0 3 3 1 3 1 8 0 A Coventry ----..... 70 90 48 54 36 40 57, Eton ~ Newcastle (Staff.) 8 0 8 6 5 6 5 9 2 9 33 . 3 5 "6. 3 el Lk. ti z i 1 1 ' h . Ft yr 0:_ .. BY 4 Author omsCt, pu li rit lseso A tili Northallerton ....... 7 0 93 3 6 4 6 3 3 4 0 0 . upi , ergy Stone-------. 8 4 9 0 5 3 6 0 3 2 4 0 6 / 1 0 vet: P rftetit• ' 5wan5ea........... 69 72 , 39 42 20 22 ~,- s 114 of th ton Warwick ........... 90100i46 5 0 2 2 2 6 ' tish Pr e . lint Per 8011. 0 achtion Barnardcastle ...... il2 0170 8 0 86 5 0 56 10 0 1, . g Durham .....----.,-. ill 6 14 3 '7 0 83 40 53 0 0 - ukle n . . Y RII Richmond ......... 11 61701 7 6 86 4 6 62 9 :1 - '- ' 1 .-....,_ . :..?!____ ... igm (1 it k , . Stockton ................... 11 0 12 31 9 6 10 0 4 0 4 6 0 - Pubr I iv ue d , i i WAKEFIELD CORN MARKET.—Jan. 11 . Wheat, Red, Norfolk and Suffhlk...—s. 465. to 55 5 . 0 ,,,, 11 ; , Nv i ,.., Lin. and Cam. —s. 425. to 535 . I .'" ' , I UAL ----- Yorkshire —s. 425. to 525. 1 9 2 6 , -. iv 1 , 11,,,,,,, White —s. 475. to 593. 0"" ' ,‘; g eo , ~,t t• I( --- Foreign, Red —s. —a. to 445. tilt u i tev . n` t ; Sir White —s. —s. to —a. 19 1 " , IL 4 - , s. e„,,_ Barley, Norfolk and Suffolk -- Lincolnshire Q9s. to 365. fit ~ if W . ,„, +Met --- Yorkshire Wold ---- Foreign —S. to --S. 0 0 5 e V s I •p. W. ; : Beans, Small ---- Tick 33s to t W o 35 34 ' 5 ‘ . 6001iStil Butler isFq," Oats, Potato 2os. to 225. fil l- I, p "oho° h --- Poland —s. 18s. to 205. 9 „°,, e , • 1 1 , ._ ellew . 8 , Mc --- Friezland and Small —s. I6s. to 19s. P I Y , cute r ,' , J. H —. Mealing Shelling 2ls. to 265. Od. pet t io : A f ew c( Malt 33s. 425. fine 455. per Rapeseed 2Ol. Os. 221. Os. 231. 10s. per • 1** `•••••......z ..........._ Angtn "1" SCOTCH MARKETS. 1 4 2 vole • Wheat. Barley Oats. Beans 1 04 --------, —.-- ---- ..—,---- „,.., i s A Aberdeen ........ 40 54 21 23 16 18 ~A 1 , Coldstreamflerviick.......... .... 30 34 34 58 1107 2118 1 1 4 2 1 4 15 22 10 2 24 1 .. ...„ 4 t. g ain Cupar ............... 48 70 28 3d 20 24 26 29 ..., Niertatio Dundee....... 50 60 30 33 20 25 30 31 J. . 10 N ara° n th Elgin ......... 40 47 24 26 17 20 23 30 A - 4 °su c h l e e Inverness...-. 40 46 24 28 16 23 23 30 3, ,colilinen,. he Kelso .............. 32 37 17 IS 13 14 23 24 A and ..obdo., cetnen Kirkaldy....... 40 45 27 39 25 32 45 48 „ 7, ..e r •' Lor Perth -......--... 54 57 29 31 21 21 26 30 %.;0. dock ; J . :n- The size of the measure varies throughout the 0 ; "• D unca n EDINBURGH CORN MARKET,—Jan. 9. 11 11 We had a large supply of all kinds of Grain to -day , a TRA M ,_ s'l SLAT] Barley, and the sales in general were rather brisk. .„, `v.. g Wheat. Barley. Oats. Pease. .' kb,' VOls. 8, First 575 lid 34s Od 21s 4 1 .1 29 3 od IRs.;', 4 .ICAL c Second Third— 4os Od PRICES OF PROVISIONS, &C. ' With i v t ,, LEmE E ' ti si e u e t f t , o p n e *. r 1b. ",.... .. 0 0 s. 4 4 d. to 0 0 s . 66 6 . s F a r l e t sh D ß it u to tt ,........ er, lb. o os. 9 0 1 to f Veal —................... 0 6 0 8 Ditto, per ca% t. 74 0 "ATER: Pork---..-- 0 4 0 6 Eggs, per dos. 1 0 /L a bei , L a mb, rer qr. 1 6 1 8 OatStraw(kpl.) 6 0 r., fig an Q l'a ti l 0 0 Ha h ryl e e, a ly t , eD D r si i tt t t. t Lo ......., 50 5 08 0 , ),..I : 94 l l ll t d az . .B 3 EDINBURGH MEAL MARKEI'..—Jan.B. gll AIMATI i The supply of Oatmeal at this day's market was 1 11 b a ge compai r a p 0 t 'lt : r t tw o e e 'r s nc ji °t i . a i . h r- . 370 0 68 34 and the sale dull, at last week's prices. r i lund. Per Sack of 2801 b. imp. Per Stone of 1411 x 1 NUEs I First Oatmeal £l 10 0 First Oatmeal d ated TIONF. 0. ..1-D n Second ditto 1 8 0 Second ditto e Barleymeal 1 5 0 8ar1eymea1............... c b ffltage; with 1 Peasemeal 1 5 0 Peasemeal kEY to HA. Pot Barley—No. 1, per cwt. 123.-24 145.-3d„163.-1' lid _ GLASGOW CORN MARKET.—Jan. 9. Vo l) • 1 " different C r n at m io a u r . ket is still inanimate, and prices ( I, th_ .I 1 British, old ari p ta e ei r 2401 b s. d. s. d. Oats, per 2641 b. 5. 25 oto3l 0 Irish i s 0 i . e , sential I .. ..,(1 i..,_ HAMEL. 1- Canada, free ..... ... 27 0 30 0 Beans, per 2601 b. # yb.to CH s - w vv i O tl i l u l o e r u at t G , , S Irish -2 0 27 0 English Barley, per 3201 b. Scottish new ...... 25 0 27 6 British toi,DLANAT n Scottish ............... 22 0 249 Oatmeal, per 14011 i 1 3 4 ,70, be', the Fl d lrish .................. 21 0 22 h a ll r, per2Bolb IS English ......... ...... 0 0 Pease, Scottish „ l5 d # 1ve,..1,%"; *berei 4, •Y a MINING I NTELLIGENCB, Ton - i, Quantity of Copper Ore sold at Redruth last Thur a I All g Yll h dy I 651 Lo BY ale - -- , ..•,.........,•WwW1N0M10N0 -.. 0b * l , Quantity of fine Copper.„,,,,_____ l' , h.' Y. 6s I a Average Produce ..,?...................... - , tltril -: Lon Amount of Sale, 9, ,25/,:i 3,.._,._ ou AverageStandanl. 111.- --. ati • 119 .--............ the 01 " l lli ik r, 6 .- 61131 tLh lt aed e Regent's-park, e a nod of Sir ' s- s i o a i fi : r Johnti :: e t: .: ziN n rc i i .s u: Deputy-Commissary-General Cumming, of a daughtq:, lite, PILL' , e he Dyinoke, of a son.a l3‘, SID I. - N. IL, of a son. he MARRIED. ice, gear, T N eat,- of OIDOOD:ja the e ee. rsl:9:22th,tt,hhh ini lust. n i in n tshst s .t t e . aca a ta 23 ot t tuss N s4 Hugh Se a I .o4 i lfv e St. Andrews, Holborn,, Ai., ~ er of Thomas liabgood, Esq., of Hatton.garden. I KON n q., ' , fee, i • AGE V V On the 12th inst. at Hampstead, Charles Ridge, E 5, , lo n i . I _, chester, to I'ryphena, daughter of the late Thomas a' 0 1%14 i exec vit Esq., of Lower G tosvenor-street blj, '•beg 1 ry DIED. r elhb l4 gen o f On the 11th in s t. i n his 64th year, Mr. Daniel Folk p„ ...1) er London -road. C Oak A EGA' r - On the 7th in s t in the 34th year of his age, Arnb . end ed '.1.. ts t re- laren, Esq., of Tavistock-square. lion • by th On the 7th inst. in the 68th year of his age, George ut .14 1,,,,e est Esq., of Sloane-s q uare, Chelsea, surgeon, late of the 11 ~, , 14 k ,..41:, DM On the 11th inst. in Parliament-street, Henrietta ?nays t i,"'‘lQH wife of Mr. Frederick Sh,lls, of the House of Lords. „caor x4llli ,„ ' ,b oat EV" On the 12th inst. in Great George-street, Westmins „y ~ M- Alexander Craig, Esq. ittliaears . On the 10th inst. in Eaton-place, aged 13 month* ' Ittetill .; SO Theodore, son of the Hon. G. Godolphin Osborne. e , 1111... i r - On the 11th inst. in Mecklenburgh-street, after a s I ~- , - • q.,,,,, , 1 3. protracted illness, Thomas Charles Waugh, Esq., the t LETS uo N, ley viving son of the late Joseph War , l , Esq g i AliL "D re ' re, " 1 "hA l s, t , On the 11th inst. at Sunning , t o o f ",,,,„ i r , s . (as Michael Duffield, Esq., of Hinde.street, in her 82,d Y . •gore,,, ‘'il Trn On the 30th ult. in Robert-street, Chelsea, very_ sayer -et of Matthew Blucke, Esq., of the Agent's-office, Royal 1 - 1 . As'' eve r _ try , d A ll It PRINTED AND PUBLISHED BY 51 U 11. I) 0 YOUN- , 'AU rl vu TO. SUN OFFICE, 112, STRAND, LONDON. -eau 'terar TLI)