The Sun. — London, England, 1817-10-23 00:00:00

PROVINCIAL JOUANALS. winch the Morning Papers have published at the sense of the Parishes of Dublin to Parliament, der not undergo very essential revision, it 'cannot expect to meet with a satisfactory attention. arid respects We apprehend that Parliament will writ turn any complimentary exertion of its powers in favour of those who can give their sanction to well Sentiments as this Petition Conveys—to•stich language ) such paltry antithesis, as, ' our requi tal ise-ea peace of arms, and a war of taxes ; we have the unnatural combination of national glory and national prostration ; tire ravages of war hare terminated, the ravages of taxes survive ; the waters hove subsided, but the tempest still howls above us.' fhe Lord have mercy on us ! and protect us from all such swoilen nonsense as this being ever again sanctioned, as conveying the sober reflections of the Citizens of Dublin, one of the roast enlightened communities upon the face of the earth. Amen ! " lire do not see any just or .necessary reason why the Parochial Delegation should indirectly require of Parliament to go to sear. They not only petition against what they call an evil, and miscall a breach of faith in tine Parliament, but they intimate what would be of the greatest be nefit to the country, which is, nothing more nor less than—War. They aver, tolidem verbis— ' 'rite. sources of our prosperity, which are derived almost exclusively from war, arc essentially and vitaliy diminished---(what does.vital diminution mean ?)—by the return of Peace,' Now, there is nothing which men would rather have back again e than ' the sources of their prosperity'— and, if Peace take them away, and War give them back, there'is nothing so desirable as War, arid it sources et prosperity. So dint the Parochial Delegation have called for Wir again—tire father of this very Tax—this iVindotse War Tax, as they call it, upon which ail tire Parishes are pouring out the phials of their wrath ! Truly, there is much wild and dashing incongruity in all this. Parliament may understand this Petition, but we confess that we cannot understand it, in wally part. It avers, ' that the Window TAX is a War Tax—the Munster has expired, yet the aliment for his support is still demanded of ins.' " Now, ‘ve thought that the Monster, tire Win dow Tax, had nut expired, and that its pernicious life formed the gravamen complained of. The Parochial Delegation say that he is expire:l ; and they say, that aliment is demanded for the Mon ster, though he has expired—which, in all conscience, is a monstrous demand enough The Delegation say, that, in the removal of the Income Tax, they are ' not jealous, but asham ed of the distinction.'—'There is a great dis tinction, cerorinly, between a Tax upon Windows in Inland, and a Tax upon Income in Eng. ---.....e. I laud—bet weetn a Tax not limited to exist only for " OPPOMITION TO THE RELIEF 'OF THE POOR FROM 1 a certain period, arid a Tax 30 limited ;—but why Tar, PRESSURE OF THE VV - I? DOW TAX. sttutta distinction should make the Delegation " The proceedings of the Third General Meet- : ashamed, is really a most inconceivable matter— ing of the Parochial Deputations, upon a calm pe- ' unless they were resolved to volunteer blushes for lusal, will. appear, to the considerate and rational all their C•Vvv, mistakes. They say they are not part of our Xteaders, to be deicient in that,tent- 1 ' grieved, taut saddened.' Now, what they gain per which it is essential should pervade all int- 1 by being sail, in preference to being grieved, is derfaltiegs of a grive and public oature ; they will more than we can find out ; but, if they pique Seem, also, to be miserably defective upon the themselves upon tire difference, they are, it must nose of argument ;—and, a s f or t h e P et i t i on to ; b e a ll owed, very melancholy politicians, indeed. Parliament, which Was read and adopted, and "We hope Parliament may compliment the which crowned tire occasion, it will appear on be ! Delegation with their most implicit ()diet— as ill-conceived, and as ill-expressed a piece of though, for the souls of us, we cannot do so— tt-imposition, as ever was destined to lay the cony when the Petition shall inform them, ' that eon plaints of sensible men before the Legislature. i steruation and dismay pervade the entire City, at " The last Meeting was accused of having act- ! the iatroduction of a Commutation or Substitute ed imprudently, in respect to one Parish, St.. Tax i' and, if it were only for the originality of Peter's-11)e Meeting of yesterday is very likely to . the thing, we hope Parliament may duly weigh be upbraided hereafter, with havin g act e d impale , the importance of tire constitutional sentiment in dently in respect to all the" Parishes. Qui milt de- 1 voleed in the remaiuder of the paragraph—' and cipi decipiatur—there seems to be a love of error, we supplicate their powerful mediation in dissuad a passion for self-deception, prevalent---a resolute • ing his Majesty's Ministers from prosecuting al) determination to hold all facts in abhorreuee, thoughts of so grievous an impost—the life-blood which presume to overthrow favourite fallacies— is exhausted, and stimulation is in vain.' and while this passion prevails, it is in vain to at- ""There is one Resolution, however, which tempt aey thing which reason alone may hope to w as p asse d, y ester d ay, at line Meeting of the Pa effect. The Petition adopted yesterday is foni,d6ll . risk De!cgates, which does them great honour.— upon error—it is compounded of errors—it moves Most heartily do we wish that we could, with upon errors—" blubber, fins and all," it is nothing equal sincerity, give to their Petition the humble hut error. The Window Tax isperrinachnisiyeall e d tribute of respect and. approbation which this Re a War 'Tax-=there is not extant a particle ofautho- ' solution exacts from us, - illy torcalling it a Wet Tax—it is not a War Tax by " The Resolution is as follows ea- - Law, mid in no other way could it, by possibility, I ' Resolved, That the polite attention of Mr. Hawthorne, have been made a 'fax of that mature. In the and the other Commissioners of Inland 'Excise, in the ski teeth of impossibility, all the Parishes of Dublin charge` of thelr official cltties, lots been such, as rminently to are made to call that a W ar T ax w hi c h i s no e n n u t i i ) t i l i i.; , t p eru to the gratitude and thanl , s of the Citizens of more a 'fax of that description than any other in " he , Parish of Hi co llib een , i nn t h e C ounty o f 'Taxis. The Window Tax is T the list of Assessed Waterford, h e ld i ts V estry , to cons id er of the a heavy imposteaand, if Celt severely, l e t i t b e Commutation and they decided as follows— complained of, in the name of common sense ; the Resolution ' being moved by Sir Sohn New but, let it not be described to be, what it never Dort :—"- could have beenaewhat it certainly is not. Upon ' a simple quest ion, of whether a heavy impost ,hall be mitigated, let the decision be made hi a grave and rational tempera-let tine proposed mitigation be examined—let it be soberly and patiently Ito- Vestigated-aand let the opinion, respectfully call ed for by the Minister, be the result 'of such in- As the welfare of Ireland, a vital part of the British . Empire, ought always to be au important consideration with the friends of Government, we are inquired that THE SUN alone, of all the Pa pers which profess to approve of the measures of the present Administration, has noticed a subject that has excited much hustle in that country, and has strongly operated "upon the passions of 7 ,-the--People we mean the proposed commutation of tae Window Tax. This topic has been most • ablytrelited by- the 'Conductor of The (Dubin?) Cori-espondea, and we have before extracted seve ral passages from that Paper, which were well calculated to dissipate prejudice, and - enlighten . the minds of our fellow-subjects, of Ireland. It , , might he tnciught that tire Ministerid Journals, as they are styled, from- motives of respect to VANSITT A . RT.,- one of the able4t and purest of public , and priVateeharacters which this Country has ever possessed, arid who discharges the important functions of his office with the most laudable zeal, assiduity, and knowledge, would not, have passed •over a subject in .which that Gentleman appears -to so much advantage. It might he thought also, 'that as that Gentleman deemed it proper to visit . 'lreland, in order to possess himself, io the fullest manner, of the general state of the Country, for the express purpose of devising the best means of re lief, thoSe Writers who profess to be ardent slip- Torters of Government Would have been induced to attend to a subject of so much interest and im 'portance. We, however, arc Kotid that we have been more attentive to the interest of the corn anunity at large, of which we shall always consi der Ireland as one of our essential portions. Lave, therefore, resumed our Extracts from the above-mentioned Paper of the 17th inst. and J continne to lay before our Readers whatever may contribute to the honour of the CHANCELLOR of the ExCHEQUER) on a subject in which he has 'manifested true patriotism and humanicy, as well as profound financial knowledge and political •Aorta. We qniry, fairly and candidly.. But, is this the ease ? Has a due and patient inquiry into the nature and effect of the proposed -commutation preceded •any expression of the opinions of the Parishes ? Surely, it is not necessary to affirm upon a 'wit); so plainly demanding a negative in reply. " The Minister says, yon have complained of the Window Tax —you have told Parliament that it is unequal in its pressure, and weighs oppres sively upon houses of small value-1 propose to r e move this inequality---to take away this dispro portioned burthen—l propose to substitute a Tax upon House Rent—confer with each other, and inquire how you can render this scheme of ame lioration easy and convenient to yourselves-1 shall be advised by your prudence.' - What fol lows ? Meetings are called, speeches are made aga . inst the war, and the peace, and the taxes_ That, being assembled it: pursuance of a Circular Letter front the Chief Commissioner of Excise, for the purpose-of ascertaining the Valor: of Inhabited.lloos e s within this Pa rish, we feel ourselves bound respectfully, but thinly, to de cline taking upon us :in office which we are not warranted to assume by any Act. Of the Legish,ture ; and at the same time to declare, that we consider the People of Ireland fully en titled, on every ground of strict justice and Sollnd policy, to look will. confidence to Parliament for a remission of the ex isting Tnxes, to a proportion coint»ensurate with that relief which has been granted to Great Britain ; inasmuch as Ire late,d has been avowed, even by the Miuuisters of the Crown, to 114Ve advanced, during the %Val-, in her scale of Tits:MIMI, fiforcrapitfly than Great Britain herself. ' we peculiarly deprecate the nitroduction ola House founded on l'Arochial Assesinent of Value, a; laviun the fouildati,in of a Property Tax, which we are Well kin. ii iced would be fatal to the existence of Ireland, still m ore , by the vat :Ire of its details ) than even by the weight of its contribution. " There is something moderate, and appa ready reasonable in ail tl►is—no peace of arms and War ot taxes,' or any such nonsense. But though we respect the temper, We cannot concur with the argument involved in the resolutions— because, although there is no Act ot the Legisla ture warranting the Parishioners to assume the oilice of valuators of inhabited houses within the parish; yet, the end at►d aim of such office being lawful, and destined to a public advantage, it may be exercised without any fastidiousness —and, in deed, _we suspect there is sonic affectation at the bottom of this. We look upon it as a truism in its way, hardly deserving of Sir John Newport's a►tthority, that the people look, with confidence, to the" Parliament for the remission of the taxes, when the same can be accomplished without in flicting a greater injury upon tl►e public. We are satisfied that the worthy baronet could not he se rious, when he adverted to an immediate remission o f the Taxes, to a proportion contn►ensurate that relief which has been granted to Great ._. . ~;j aills and paragraphs, stimulating the crowd to rashoe , s and impatience, arc sent forth —and the 'Tidy_ to the Minist e r i s , the T ax upon Wi n d ows __ ___ is n War Tax, away with it-we win have no etownotation—we chose the unequal" pressure and t h e oneconl borthen ;—and this is communicated tmitiner, which throws imputation upon the Mr.igtvr, and reprobation upon the policy of the ;!i!afe, through a series of new and formidable eventß, As no Government ever had contended aga iu st before—such as no other .Government on ear tt -roll!d triumph over. ‘` Very much do We fear, that if the Peti:ion It is impossible tbat lie could Lave thought of such a trying --= arid ; therefore, he could not have said it. " Sir John was bitnself a Chancellor of the Exchequer—Sir John laid on Taxes—and,- with all respect we say, it, unnecessary Taxes, and heavy Taxes. Sir John put the country to the expence of more than 40,0001. a year, by insti tuting Collectors of Excise, by appointing special persons to do that duty for a salary, which had been before done by the Collectors of the Cus toms; without any salary, upon that account — and this during a most expensive war. Tile an nual amount of this expense contributes its share to those complaints, which Sir John does not take any very violent pains to soften, in the Re solution which has the honour of his sanctiun ; especially when it is said, that the parochial as sessment of Volute would be laying the foundation of a Property Tax in Ireland. We ,are satisfied that this cannot be the real Opinion of so honour able and so upright a Minister. " Indeed, if Sir John Newport be 'evidence: and that beis, who can dispute, we feel it in cumbent upon us to cite his own measures against the import of the Resolution which claims the recommendation of his name, so improperly we must think, the more we consider the matter. — Sir John Newport never could mean that a Rent Tax was to be dreadi:d as the foundation of an Income Tax, because Sir John Newport himself did state, distinctly, in Parliament, when he was in Administration, that it was his intention to propose a Rent Tax. Upon referring to our files, we find, that on the 20th of February, 1807, Sir John did inform the House of Commons, that he proposed to lay a Tax upon Rent in the follow ing proportions :—he proposed, that instead of a Tax of Gd. upon houses above the value of 51. yearly rent, all houses, and the land held with them, above the value of 41., and - under 71, rent, should pay a duty of Is. Gd. provided they did not pay the Hearth Tax—if they did, then they were to be exempt. All houses and land above 101., and wider 401. to pay 3d. in the pound ; and those from 401., and upwards, to pay the Window Tax.' " Now, really, when Sir John proposed to exempt hones and lands, under a-year, from the Window Tax, and to substitute a !tent Tax in the place of it, he appears to us to have laid the very ground-work of this Commutation, which Mr.Vansiittart bas at present in contem plation—and we wonder much at finding him proposing a resolution, which is full of suspicion of that very design which he himself once con templated—and which, we prestune, lie would have carried into effect, if he had not been dis placed from his official situation. We do not remember any clamour at that sir ie against Sir John's design of commuting the Window 'fax, upon 110175e3 of a certain value, for a Rent Tax— nor do we recollect that there was any . clamour when he pro - posed that the Hearth Tax should be increased considerably—and, instead 'of being annual, that it should he made perpetual. IVa find, upon a momentary reference just made to . the Parliamentary Reports, that Sir John is stated to have said, that four hearths, which then paid 10s. GEL should pay 12s.—five hearths, 17s. (id.— six hearths, 4s. each—and so on to fifteen—from fifteen to twenty, lOs. each—from twenty to thirty, 16s. each—and above thirty, 11. each—and that those duties should be perpetual. " Now, we have no recollection of the Vestries being summoned in the county of Waterford upon this occasion—nor in any other county ; and we are quite satisfied, that there were no Parish De puties convened trwether, to embarrass the Go vernment, and maltreat even the language of the country, upon the proposal of a Rent Tax—the increasing also of the Hearth 1 1 3 X, and the making of that perpetual, which had been, ever since its commencement, but an annual Tax." Having given the above extract from a Writer on one side of the question, ire conceive it to be WIT duty to subjoin the Petition referred td on the other:— PETITION. ' " We, the undersigned Household ers o f the City, of Dub lin, bet; leave ; with all due deference and respect, to ap proach this lion. House, and by this our humble Petitiim, to implore alleviation of the grievous inflictions that oppress us, from excessive Taxati t .in, now become wholly insupportable, from the gradually increasing additions that the exigencies of the State, in a period of War, appeared to require. " We beg leave t i represent, that the pain and privations we endured its complying with their extraordinary demands on our industry and resources, were mainly supported by our sanguine and reasonable expectations of relief on the return of peace; hut we cannot suppress the respectful expression of our grief and disappointment, in the failure of these our just expectations. During the tremendous struggles of the Empire, our sufferings were without complaint, our patience without limit, our terror without despair - ; we contributed largely, we made sacrifices heysind our strength, and our IT quitrd is—a peace of arms, and a war of taxes; we have the unnatural combination of national glory, and national pros tration; the ravazes of war have terminated, the ravages of taxes surviVe; the waters hare subsided, but the tempest still howls above us. • Without adverting to the enormous amount oflocal taxes in this city, and their improvident _application, we beg leave humbly to entreat the attention of this Honourable House to the prayer of our Petition for a repeat of the WithlowTsax, founded on the pledge given to the Parliament oflreland, that it should cease with the war, We cannot be persuaded that this exalted and sacred pledge will remain longer unredeem ed by a gracious and parental Government, or that' his Ma jesty' rslittisters will risk the morals of th e p eop l e, by min renaneing,hv their high authority and impressive example j the breach of honourable engagement. We beg leave most humbly to represent, that the policy of repeal must appear obvious, from the utter inability of the Citizens to supply their contingent ; that the sources of our prosperity, which are derived, almost exclusively, frOdi sup plying the requisites of War, are essentially and vitally di minished by the return -of Peace ; added to this, our want of general manufacture, or, export trade—our shops 'infrequent ed—our -houses untenanted —our artizans unemployed—our nobility ant/ gentry lied--and oar city become the head-quar ters of sturdy and alarming beggary, exhibit our condition so humiliated, so tfinuerited, as should claim the compassion, omitting the justice, of an enlightened Legislature. We beg leave, most humbly and respectfully, to assure this Honourable House, that our loyalty and our duty in struct us in submitting, with becoming resignation, to the , utmost of our ability, in contributing to the good order and ' security of the Empire ; but the Window Tax exceeds our ability, and we implore its abolition—it is a War Tax, the monster has expired, yet the aliment for his support is still I demanded of us. " We big leave, most humbly and dutifully to state, that as an integral part of the Empire, we hops we are not pre sumptuous iti lookitig fur an integral share of protection. Our ruore favoured fellow-subjects of England have been relieved from a most important portion of the public contributions. In the removal of the Income Tax we are not jealous, but ashamed of the distinction. We arc not grieved, but sad. dened, at the contrast—it was their right, they had the faith of Parliament, and :hat fait b was kept With them. We have the sense right, the saitic faith, and we will uut offer such Much uneasiness has been excited in the .publid mind by the reports which have arrived from Spain and Portugal with respect to the march of Troops on the Frontiers of those Kingdoms. is well known that unflieudly discussions have for a length of time existed between the TWO' Courts, occasioned by the advance of the Poa•tw- gnese Forces on the Left Bank of the River of Plate ; but we are sure it will be satisfactory to the Public to learn, on iufaintation on which they may entirely rely, that both those GOVerll• inents have agreed to accept the Aledlettlui..l- tf i g Five Powers who are Parties to the Grand Al- liance ; and we may, therefore, look with confi- Bence to the speedy and amicable termination of all those differences which were tending to. dis- unite the Crowns of Spain and Portugal. It is with peculiar satisfaction that we fed ourselves enabled to make this statement, which must err. tainly remove all uneasiness on the subject. We received last night the Paris Papers of Sunday last, and this morning those of Monday. From the former we give extracts in another column. Amongst them is a Madrid article, which, in rathera curious style, considering the quarter from whence it comes, notices the reports respect ing a supposed war with Portugal. It at first sight appears to countenance the rumour of hosti lities against Portugal being actually contem plated, by the mention of the Spanish troops being stationed in the same manner as in all former' invasions of that Kingdom by Spain ; but, from other sources, we know the report to be un founded. There appears to be no doubt that the differ ences between Russia and the Porte are amicably arranged. FRENCH FIVE PER CENTS. Saturday 65 f. 25 c. The following are extracts from the Journals of Monday : ' KAKIS, OCT. I 3 . —Yesterday, after mass, the King received the Ambassadors, Ministers, 111ar shals, Peers, Deputies, Officers, &c. " The Duchess (le Berry is indisposed, but not at all dangerously. " We learn from Commercy, that in the night between the 14th and 15th inst. the vines were nearly all destroyed by the frost. In the Depart ment of Cher, on the contrary, the weather hat favoured the maturity of the grape. We learn from Bourges, that the vintage of the department would be every where finished by the 20th. "The last letters from Cadiz announce the entire tranquillity of Alexico. " The powder-mill called Saint Louis, at Ton• louse, blew up on the 11th instant ; but fortum nately without much damage —one workman bad his arm and leg scorched. The quantity of gun powder in it was about 200 kilogrammes. PETERSBLILIGH, SEPT. 24.—They write from an outrage to reason. at to suppose that Parliament 144 ' , creel-ere lit suspending the award of even-handed justice' " W e beg leart to state r that the effects of this Tax, me rally and physically considered, are such as a humane and i' tell igeut Legislature will seek to avert, being cal _ulated, bi its pressure and rigour, to alienate the hearts of the people , while their bodies languish under the means employed 11 avoiding it ; guiltless poverty is made the instrument 0 self-destruction, " We beg - leave to state to this Honourable House, 00 consternation arid dismay pervade the entire City, at th 4 threatened introduction -ofa Commutation or Substituts Tax; and we supplicate their powerful mediation, in clissuad; lug his Majesty's Minist e rs f rom prosecuting all thoughts so grievous an impost;—the life-blood is exhausted, and sti' muiation is in vain, '' To tile justice and In►pht►tiality of -a benevolent Parlie mem, {re subfi►it the prayer of this our most humble Petition' We trust that our voice, though distant, may be beard, ano that we shall sec recorded on the hearts of a grateful and ser , ' sitive people, the sentiments of respect and veneration tha t await allegiance requited, and attachment rewarded." f.* For " GOOD OLD T1316,' sec the Last Page. THEATRICAL REGISTER. - Performed Last Night. ,TiIEATRE ROYAL, DIM RI-LANE.—The Refusal: Sir Gilbert Wrangle. Mr. Dowton ; Lady Wrangle, Mrs. Glover. AP tcr which, Itugantino. TII Er% TILE ItOYA 11, , COVENT-GA nDEN.—The Stranger: the Stranger, Mr. Young; Mrs. Haller, Miss O'Neill. Aftcf which, The Libertine: Annsven—i France, 1 Waterford. Due--1 France, I G o t , liollanl, 1 lianiburgb, 1 Dublin, 1 Waterford. PRICE oi THIS DAY A'r T S'I7OCKS 'ELVF. WELOCIC. Batik Stock, .. 285 Bank L.Anti....eoi 11-16*4 :3 per Cent. Red. 804 79i nil,- . India 'Oft,. pr. 3 per Ct. Coos. BU4 80.4?, ; i Exch. Bills, lBs. 295. pr: 4 per Cents... .. 98# 974 97,1 k I CODS. fur N0v.82 SI A 8 0 iii 5 per Ct. N. Ann. HIGH %STATER AT LONDON BRIDGE TO-MORROW. Nlurning, 4! minutes after I.) Evening, ti zniuutes after THE SUN. lOLEAI s DICER E FALSUM AUDEAT LONDON, THURSDAY, OCTOBER 23, 1817.