The Sun.
London, England, 1852-12-14 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON, TUESDAY EVENING, DECEMBER 14, 1852.

gain support by professedly relieving the burdens on certain
classes. (Hear, hear.) The Chancellor of the Exchequer,
in 1849, addressing a meeting of agriculturalists, had ad-
vocated the formation of a sinking fund, in order to raise
national credit, and had declared that it was not by the
reduction of this or that tax that imperilled agriculture
was to be relieved. (Hear, hear.) The right hon. gentle-
man had referred in terms of approbation to the effect of
the measures which he (Mr. Goulburn) had assisted in
carrying out ; and he had hoped that he would act on the
principle of those measures ; but from the way in which he
snatched at the small surplus of a million and a half, as
a means of reducing certain taxes, he feared that he was
pursuing a course which would have the very opposite
effect to what he professed to desire—the raising of the
national credit. (Hear, hear.) It would have been much
better to have reserved the surplus for a time. He objected
to a surplus being sacrificed instantly. (Hear, hear.) He
knew that-political economists represented a house tax as a
fair and legitimate direct tax to which the community ought
to be subject, and it might be, under circumstances which
required it, a coiled tax if properly distributed and modi-
fied. He objected, it was true, to the house tax of the right
hon. gentleman the member for Halifax, because he believed
it to be defective in the principle on which he thought a
house tax ought to be placed ; and he likewise objected to
the present proposal of the Chancellor of the Exchequer,
because, aithough it obviated some of the defects which be-
longed to the house tax of the hon. gentleman the member
for Halifax, it contained others which were essentially
fatal to its continuance. The right hon. gentleman said
that his proposition was precisely similar in principle to
that proposed by his late right hon. friend Sir R. Peel.
He (Mr. Goulburn) entirely denied the accuracy of that
representation, for his late right hon. friend only intro-
duced direct taxation when indirect taxation had been
carried to the full extent, and was found to be unpro-
ductive. (Hear, hear.) The Budget of the right ho-
nourable gentleman was likely to accumulate deficiencies
in future years, and so far from beimg a completion of the
system propounded by Sir R. Peel, it merely the tem-
porary object in view of giving partial relief, and was not
at all likely to be generally beneficial. The right hon.
gentleman said that the house tax recommended itself, be
cause it was only a substitute for the window tax. But
he recollected the time when no tax excited so much oppo-
sition as the house tax ; and in the years 1832-3-4 this
house was inundated with petitions complaining of its ex-
istence. (Hear, hear.) The right hon. gentleman must
therefore be prepared, if he doubled the house tax for the
sake of repealing the malt tax, for a repetition of that
agitation which ended in the removal of the former house
tax, and would ensure the repeal of the present one at no
distant date, if the right hon. gentleman succeeded in im-
posin., it. (Hear, hear.) His right hon. friend said that
the Government had remedied the inequalities in the pre-
sent income tax by removing exemptions and making a dis-
tinction between permanent and precarious incomes. The
right hon. gentleman must look with a very paternal feel-
ing indeed on the proposition of the Government if he ex-
pected that it would remedy those particular grievances
which were made the subject of complaint by 'various
parties who were opposed to the continuance of the tax.
(Hear, hear.) The right hon. gentleman said that he re-
moved an exemption by extending the income tax to Ire-
land. He (Mr. Goulburn) should rather say that by ex-
' tending the income tax to Ireland as he had done, he
added to the number of exemptions. (Hear.) Nothing
which passed in 1842 could justify the right hon. gentleman
in extending the income tax to Ireland. The principle of
the income tax of 1842 was that persons residing in Eng-
land should pay income tax on their property, though that
property existed in Ireland or any foreign country. But
Ireland herself was exempted from the tax on the ground
that other burdens were imposed on her which were con-
sidered as an equivalent for the imposition of the income
tax in England. When his right hon. friend told him
that he was at liberty to select funded property for the
purpose of subjecting it to the tax, he clearly violated the
contract with the public creditor. By imposing a separate
tax on that species of property, he violated the public
faith as much as by the most arbitrary invasion upon it.
(Hear.) The right hon. gentleman said that he made a dis-
tinction between permanent and precarious incomes. But
he did indeed place funded property in the situation of pre-
carious property, for if the right hon. gentleman could by
putting his own construction on the contract with
the public creditor tax funded property one-third more
than other property, what was to prevent a less moderate
Chancellor of the Exchequer from taxing it to a greater
extent? What was the penny now might become the shil-
ling, and what was the shilling might become the pound,
when the country was:weaker or the Minister more wicked.
As it stood before him, the proposition of the Government
involved the whole question in inextricable difficulties.
(Hear, hear.) The boon which the right hon. gentleman
gave the farmers was no boon at all, for at the present time
if the profits of the farmer did not amount to half his rent,
he had the power of going at the end of the year before the
commissioners, and getting it reduced or altogether re-
mitted, if he tisfied them that he made nothing. Then
with regard to the clergy, if the right hon. gentleman gave
the benefit of the lower assessment to the cleigy man with
1001. a-year, because his income was precarious, he had no
right to stop at 1001., because the income of the clergyman
with 1501. was equally precarious. (Hear, hear.) He ob-
jected to the Budget of the right hon. gentleman because
it was likely to produce a deficiency in the revenue—a sys-
tem which it was his ambition to put an end to, and the
evils of which were too much forgotten. (Hear, hear.)
On this ground he viewed with alarm the proposition of the
Government. He believed the right hon. gentleman was
debarring himself from those legitimate advantages which
in the present state of the revenue of the country he might
fairly look forward to. He believed they were lessening
the power and resources of the country in case an occasion
should arise for calling them into greater vigour and action.
He believed the proposal of the Government would gra-
dually weakenthe public confidence in the faith of the nation
by expending in the year more than they received. (Hear.)
Having regard to the several changes proposed—the altera-
tion in the property and income tax, the increase of the
house tax, and the reduction of the malt tax—with the con-
sequences involved in them, he would conclude by implor-
ing the house to avoid a measure which, by impairing the
public credit of the country, would damage our best in-
terests, and ultimately be equally injurious to the manu-
facturer and the agriculturist. (Cheers.)
Viscount JOCELYN moved the adjournment of the
debate. (Cries of "Go on," and " Adjourn.")
The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER hoped the
committee would remember the time of year and the day
of the month—(" Hear, hear," from the Ministerialists)—
and would come to an agreement to conclude the debate
on the following day. It would, he was sure, be very con-
venient to hon. members present if there were a general
understanding to that effect. (Hear, hear.)
Lord J. RUSSELL did not think it possible, when so
many members were absent, to come to any understanding.
(" Hear, hear," from the Opposition.) He would be very
happy to find that there was a disposition on the part of
the house to conclude the debate on the following night ;
but, as many members who had not spoken wished to re-
present the views of their constituents, he thought the
matter must be left to their discretion.
The debate was then adjourned.
The report on the Stamp Duties on Patents for Liven-
• tions' (purchase of indexes of specifications) Bill was re-
. ceived. _ . .

VI.J.L
Lord NAAS obtained leave to bring in a bill to extend
the provisions of the Designs Act, 1850, and to give pro-
tection from piracy to persons exhibiting new inventions
in the Exhibition of Works of Industry in Dublin, in the
year 1853.
The house adjourned at twenty minutes to one o'clock.

A_LBERT DOCK and RAILWAY, for Steamers,
Colliers. and General Commerce.
CAPITAL, £500,000, in 5'5,000 Shares of £lO each.
Deposit, Is. per Share.
Temporary Offices, 37, Poultry.
COMMITTEE OF MANAGEMENT.
Sir William Bacon Johnstone, Bart.
Sergeant Murphy, M.P., Linco'n's-inn.
John Bertram 0 rde, Esq., Weetwood-hall, Northumberland.
Thomas Ross, Esq., St. Andrew's-place, Regent's-park.
William Spooner, Esq., Temple.
John Fuson Smith, Esq , Lombard-street.
George Frederick Gregory, Esq , Avenue•road, Regent's-park.
George Angell, Esq., Fi iday-street.
ENGINEER—George Remington. Esq.
FAaLIAMENTARY AGENTS—Messrs. Dyson, Hall, and Co., Parlia-
ment-street
SOLIOITORS—Messrs. Sutton, Ommaney, and Prudence, Basinghall-
street.
BANKERS—Commercial Bank of London, Lothbury and Henrietta-
street, ea vent-garden : Messrs. Ommaney, Son, and Co., 40,
Charing-cross.
BROKERS—Johnson, Longden, and Co., 22, Tokenhouse-yard.
SECRETARY—Thomas J. Swayne.
It is now many years since any extensive improvement or ad-
dition was made to the dock accommodation for the great and in-
creasing commerce of the port of London. Nothing has been done
since the completion of the St. Katharine Docks in 1828, although
the number and tonnage of vessels annually entering the port, not
including steamers, have doubled within the last thirty years, and
the Victoria Docks are to be constructed on the north side of the
river Thames.
The Albert Dock will be formed in the Greenwich Marhes, on
the south side of the river, immediately opposite Blackwell,s having
entrances at Bugsby Hole or Reach on the east, and Greenwich-
reach on the west; and, including the basins, will contain 62 acres
of water. The proposed site being already connected with the
North Kent and South-Eastern Railways will give increased accom-
modation for the shipment and transit of goods and merchandise to
the great mass of the population of England south of the Thames;
svhi:e by means of a steam ferry to the north side of the river, at
Blackwell, goods may be carried across the river without being re-
moved from the trucks or waggons, and this company will afford
the necessary landing accommodation for that purpose at Blackwell-
point. The entrance basins of the Albert Dock will admit the
largest class steamers.
Warehouses will be erected adjacent to the Dock, appropriate
for all descriptions of goods and merchandise, with commodious
sheds for storing and delivering coals. A. railway running from
the North Kent line, by the side of the Dock, to Blackwell point,
where this Company will afford accommodation for a steam ferry
for the carriage of passengers and goo is to and from Brunswick
pier and Bow creek, will make a complete communication between
the Railways on both sides of the River Thames. The Dock will
thus be in communication with Railways to all parts of the
kingdom.
The Albert Dock cannot fall to be highly productive as an invest-
ment for capital ; its prospects being based on the rapidly-increasing
commerce of the Thames, the undertaking cannot fail to be a pro-
gressively improving property.
Arrangements have been entered into with Thomas Jackson,
Esq., of Pimlico, to complete the %hole works within the engi-
neer's estimate. Piers and sections have been deposited, notices
given, and all the necessary forms complied with for obtaining the
Act in the present Session.
Applications for Shares to be addressed in the following form, to
Thos. J. Swayne, 37, Poultry ; and to the Share-brokers, Messrs.
Johnson, Longden, and Co., 22, Tokenhouse-yard.
FORM or APPLICATION FOR SHARES,
" Albert Dock." To the Directors of the Company for making a
Dock and Railway in Greenwich Marshes.
Gentlemen,—l request you will allot me shares of 10/. each,
in the above Company ; and I hereby undertake to accept the same,
or any less number that may be allotted to me, and on demand
to pay the Deposit and Calls thereon, and also to execute the
Deeds of the Company when prepared, at the time required by ad-
vertisement in the " Times" newspaper. In the event of my failure
to do so within the time fixed for that purpose by such advertisement,
I agree that the shares allotted to me, with the deposit paid thereon,
shall be forfeited to the use of the Company.
I am, gentlemen, your obedient servant,
Name in full .........
Address .........
Profession or Business .. • •
Reference • • .. • • • •

ASTLEY'S ROYAL AMPHITHEATRE.
Proprietor and Manager, Mr. W. Batty.
The greateot novelty of the present day is Uncle Tom's Cabin.
To be witnessed nightly at this House.
On TUESDAY, Dec. 14th, the per ormances will commence with
the superior Equestrian Drama of UNCLE TOM'S CABIN.
To be followed by unparalleled Equestrian and Dramatic Achieve-
ments in the Arena, by the most talented Artistes of the age—in-
cluding M. and Mdlle. Lalande, and the Brothers Seigrist, from the
Cirque Olympie, Paris.
To conclude with the highly amusing Farce of THE DEVIL
TO PAY.
In consequence of the crowded state of the Theatre, Mr. Batty
begs to inform his Friends, that Seats cannot be kept after the con-
clusion of the First Act.
Stage Manager, Mr. W. West. Doors open at Half-past Six
o'clock; Box-olllee open daily from Eleven to Four.

THE WEATHER. SUN OFFICE, Dec. 14.
THERMOMETER, IN THE SHADE.
51— highest since noon yesterday.
45—lowest this morning and during the night.
52—this day, at noon.

-
BAROMETER, 29'47.
WIND, S.W.—Light bronze, and fine sunshiny weather.

15 CA* 4,* •
§AI44(
iYo

LONDON, TUESDAY, DECEMBER 14, 1852

Another evening has been spent, and not un-
profitably, in discussing the provisions of the
Budget. Notwithstanding " the time of the year,
and the day of the month," we should not object
to many more days being devoted to the same
purpose. The questions now before the House
and country are of the deepest and most vital
importance, not merely to the interests of party,
but to the welfare and prosperity of the nation.
They should not be finally disposed of until after
mature and attentive deliberation, when all the
arguments advanced on either side had been fully
considered, and due weight attached to each.
However it may be desirable to treat the financial
scheme as " a whole," in debate, the various re-
solutions must be separated when a division is
about to take place. And it will be impossible
for Hon. Gentlemen who believe the alterations
in the House Duties to be an unwise, unnecessary,
and inequitable proposition, to give it their sup-
port, however highly they may approve of the
other principles enunciated by the CHANCELLOR of
the EXCHEQUER.

The debate was, indeed, of the highest import-
ance. It not only elicited the peculiar views of
the different parties, but it indicated the extreme
difficulty, we had almost said the impossibility,
of uniting so many discordant materials into a
consistent Administration in the event of the op-
position proving successful in ousting the present
Cabinet. Whigs, Peelites, and Liberals may con-
cur in rejecting the Budget. But could they hope
for anything like unanimity in preparing and car-
' rying a substittile through Parilamett ? • Let us
suppose that Russail GtIAMTONE3 and OOBDE

had consented to waive all minor differences, and
to hold office together. After the delays inciden-
tal to the formation of a new Administration, a
new "financial scheme" should be brought in which
should command the assent, not only of the
" Leaders" who had been so fortunate as to ob-
tain office, but also of the various sections whose
opinions they were supposed to represent, and the
first point to be disposed of would necessarily be the
renewal of the Property and Income-tax, and
then an irreparable breach would be created.
The impost should be renewed in some form, or a
substitute provided before the sth of April next.
Notwithstanding the unquestionable prosperity of
the country, and the handsome surplus at the dis-
posal of the financial Minister, 5,500,0001. could
not be surrendered without creating a deficiency
highly injurious to the national credit. " Any
failure of which would," as the Hon. Member for
Glasgow declared in his admirable letter to his
constituents, " inflict a penalty on every one of
Her MA.TRSTY'S subjects far more grievous
than the payment even of our present
heavy taxation. It would be ruinous to those
who employ others, and it would throw those em-
ployed
out of work." Such a result, then, is .
especially to be deprecated, and it is with the ut-
most satisfaction that we express our belief that '
there could not be found a single member who
would risk such a result. It would be exceedingly
difficult to provide a satisfactory substitute.
There is . nothing to which the "fa,cilis descensus"
is more applicable than " fiscal subjects." It is
exceedingly agreeable to take off almost any im-
post. Some murmurs may be elicited from '
those who conceived that their own peculiar
burdens might with greater propriety have been
rendered less onerous. But no very energetic or
creationl be
of a new, or increase
offered to the re-
dmeitarenin;edwhoiplpe oasnityion will
of an existing, tax is received with fierce and un-
bending hostility. The Legislature, too, has dis-
tinctly and unequivocally condemned the system
of indirect taxation. It is only the "53 " • who
could entertain a proposition adverse to the sys-
tem of unrestricted competition to which the po-
pular branch of the Legislature is firmly pledged.
What "direct taxation " could be imposed in
lieu of the Property-tax ?
Hexe, then, the difficulty would arise. The
Right Hon. Gentlemen, the Members for the
Universities of Oxford and Cambridge, would resist
any modification of the present system ; hold-
ing that any distinction between schedules C and
D would be a breach of national faith to which
they could not be parties, no matter what might
be the result. Lord JOHN RUSSELL and Sir
CHARLES WOOD, although on totally different
grounds, are equally opposed to any new appor-
tionment of the tax which would recognise any
difference between permanent and precarious in-
come, and they have suffered themselves to incur
disgrace and odium, to forfeit the respect and
confidence of the great body of the people, and,
even eventually, to lose place, power, and
patronage, so dear to Whig minds, rather
than listen to the voice of public opinion, or sub-
m# to the popular will. On the other hand, Mr.
COBDEN, expressing the views of a numerous and
influential body, lauded the Government for its
"recognition of the principle—though they did not
carry it, far enough—of dealing fairly with the
Income-tax as regarded trades and professions,"
and added, " most assuredly that was a proposi-
tion which ought to have come from a Govern-
ment representing the Opposition side of the
House." It ought most decidedly to have done
so ; but how could the Honourable Gentleman
hold office in an Administration the principal
members, and the majority, of which were
opposed to every modification of the im-
post. Any Ministry formed previous to the
final settlement of the great fiscal question
could only exist on sufferance, and the country
has had too painful experience of such a state of
affairs to desire its repetition.
The views put forward by Mr. COBDEN were
exceedingly sound ; indeed, the Honourable Gen-
tleman has not appeared to greater advantage
since the termination of the Free-trade contro-
versy--we should rather say the repeal of the
Corn Laws : for much is still to be effected
in the cause of Free Trade or " unre-
stricted competition," or by whatsoever other
title it may be designated. His opinions singu-
larly coincided with those to which we have
already given expression. He showed the gross
injustice of the proposed increase of the House
Tax—that there was levied 21 per cent. on houses
against 3 per cent, on land. On Saturday, we
pointed out that the proprietor of dwelling-houses
would practically pay nearly seven times as much
in proportion to his capital, as the man who had
invested his capital in green fields ; or, going
more closely into the calculation, that the one
would have to pay 831. 3s. 4d., while the othei
escaped for 11/. 11s. Bd.

Again, the Hon. Gentleman showed the practical
inutility of the reduction of the Malt Tax, al-
though the benefits of its total
abolition,
as we have strenuously insisted,
that " the great grievance consisted in the Excise
a cplc proving,
ovti:je, dging
regulations." While the Honourable Mem-
ber for Kidderminster showed with great
ability that the brewers would reap almost the sole
benefit of the contemplated change, and that
the only way to secure the benefit to the consum-
ers was to break up the monopoly, which could
only be done by a revision of the licensing system.
We explain our opinions on this
needimportantscarcely
point,essential to the establishment
sound, wholesome, in beer" and the supply of a
unadulterated, and economic
ebfevaera"gfereteo the athirsty part of the community.
Mr. COBDEN also showed the gross injustice, as
well as the impolicy, of the Hop Duties ; and, as
we have already stated, the propriety of the prin-
ciple of the distinction between temporary and
permanent incomes ; and while he ably exposed
the glaring evils of one system of indirect im-
posts, and declared that the late CHANCELLOR of
the EXCHEQUER should four or five years since
have dealt with the Tea Duties as the present has
done,
into
save that the reductions should come
operation within three years, advocated
a large increase in the
amount of direct tax-
ation. How would GOULBURN receive such a
proposition from an influential colleague ?
How GLADMICE wince while the unpalat-
able would
propositions were boldly insisted on in a
Cabinet of which he himself was a member. The
h
There is, therefore,
the thing
te
reason why the matter should not
tggrea would
r be impossible.
be
disposed of, that the CHANCELLOR of
tsrtaheteh on ascertaining the true
portion of his financial scheme ; and
EasoxftenEilpyublu:ilopininiaeyn,, be enabled to modify the
and Ineemc_tax may hence-
forward on a satisfactory
basis.
thatofobr wjeeattrihdeenaanFbdlreofpoerrty ever be

Everybody fancies his own particular recipe to
be the indisputable panacea. it is not surprising,
therefore, that proposals should have already been
addressed to the Right Hon. the CHANCELLOR of the
EXCHEQUER, as to the best course to be pursued
under the circumstances, in the carrying out of
his grand scheme of artistic and industrial educa-
tion—in other words, as to the ablest design for
the building to be erected on the market gardens
lying between Brompton and Kensington. Certainly
there is lemon for some anxiety in this particular.
After paying in hard cash 300,0001.—namely,
150,0001. by grant from the Legislature, and another
sum of 150,0001., being the actual surplus left by
the Great Exhibition in the hands of the Royal
Commissioners—for the mere site of a new Na-
tional Gallery, it would be rather too hard to find
the metropolis disgraced by the construction of a
companion edifice to the one already standing at
the back of the unfinished NELSON Testimonial.
The time has surely arrived when we may se-
riously hope to see some less painful display
of that absence of anything like taste in
architecture by which we English have been
hitherto unfortunately distinguished. Lon-
don cannot afford to throw away yet another
chance of embellishment. It has already quite
enough to answer for in this way, both east and
west of Temple-bar. We can't so easily , forget
that horrid abode of thel Royal Academy, where
, a few Acme mushrooms seem to have pprouted out

of the litter of the old Royal Mews. Neither can

we lose a remembrance of the mongrel aspect of
that accumulation of rooms called Buckingham
Palace, of which it would be difficult to say
whether it is of the Gothic, or Tuscan, or Nor-
man, or Doric, or any other order of architecture.
We preserve a dreadfully vivid recollection of the
fact that there are two miserable squirts in Tra-
falgar-square, called by some insane people foun-
tains. Equally distressing is the knowledge that the
Lion and the Unicorn are perpetrating all kinds of
abominable vagaries in front of the town residence
of the SOVEREIGN, in defiance of the laws of heraldry
and of the experiences of the zoologist. It cannot
be forgotten, unfortunately, that while we can
raise up a noble column, we don't know how many
feet high, in honour of a small soldier like H. R.
H. the Duke of YORK, we can't for the life of us
manage, even with the assistance of the charitable
contributions of Russia, to complete, after the
lapse of forty-seven years, a similar monument to
a great sailor like the hero of Trafalgar. Again—
the capital of England has a public statue of
King GEORGE 111., but not one of ALFRED
the GREAT, she has another in memory of
King CHARLES 1., but not one of OLIVER CRO➢i-
WELL,--she has yet a third in homage to King
GEORGE IV., but not one of ARTHUR, or EDWARD
111., or ETHELBERT. There are the effigies of
CANNING, and BANKS, and CARTWRIGHT, but

there are not in our streets any at all of either
MILTON, or HOGARTH, Or DRYDEN, or CHAUCER,
or SHAKSPERE. It is not thus in Paris, Or, in
fact, in almost any of the capitals of the European
Continent. Across the channel, in the metropolis
of our imperial neighbours, they have dedi-
cated a fountain to MOLIERE, and a quay
to VOLTAIRE, and a street to ROUSSEAU. Be-
sides which, look at the sites of their public
buildings. Instead of hiding an exquisite master-
piece like St. Stephen's among a cluster of obscure
and dingy byeways—instead of having the Guild-
hall lost at the extremity of a comparatively nar-
row thoroughfare, they have their Tuileries
in the midst of a magnificent garden, with a
noble avenue of trees in front, conducting into
the gorgeous Place de la Concorde. Beyond this
they have the entire length of the Champs
Elysee, extending in the direction of Neuilly,
as straight as an arrow, crowned by the
Arch of the Star, having to the south of the Place
de la Concorde the beautiful Chamber of the Le-
gislature, and to the north the matchless temple
of the Madeleine. It is not, however, alone in
this particular
quarter that Paris is so remarkable
for the position of her national edifices. What a
noble site is that of St. Sulpice, or of the Bourse,
or of the Pantheon, or of the wonderful pile of the
Hotel de Ville ! Everywhere a similar regard for
the external aspect of the structure appears to be
kept in view by the administrators and the archi-
tects—everywhere, except in the capital of England.
Here we seem to be contented either with some
abominably ugly edifice like the National Gallery,
or with some masterpiece of art thrust away into
a dark corner. The period, we are fain to believe,
however, has at length arrived when this atrocious
want of taste and system must be supplied ; and
this happy change can alone be effected through
the beneficent aid of Her MAJESTY'S Government.
Precisely of this propitious character is the aid
held out in perspective as attainable through the
acceptance of the admirable scheme spoken of
the other evening in the House of Commons
by the CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER. An en-
terprise of this kind was in a manner foreshadowed
in that well-known sentence in Her MAJESTY'S last
most gracious Speech from the Throne—" the ad-
vancement of the Fine Arts will be recognised by
you as worthy of the attention of a great and en-
lightened nation." Hence the undertaking which
may be said to have already cost the country the
round sum of just 300,000/., merely to obtain
space in certain market-gardens, situated between
Brompton and Kensington. It would be idle now,
unluckily, to question whether or not the site of the
intended structure has in everywaybeen well selected.
It is too late—the matter has been definitively ar-
ranged. Fortunately, however, there is ample time

left for consideration as to the readiest and surest I
method of obtaining a good design for the future
National Gallery, or, to speak more comprehen-
sively, for the whole pile of buildings to be dedi-
cated to the culture of Art, and to the industrial
education of the community. A facetious, yet,
at the same time, sensible proposal in reference
to this problem has been already suggested to
the Right Honourable BENJAMIN DISRAELI by
one calling himself SPIRIDIONE GAMBAR-
DELLA.* We mention the circumstance as indica-
cative that the enterprise spoken of has even
now awakened some degree of conjecture, and
some amount of speculation. Numerous other
suggestions, we doubt not, will flow in upon the
CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER—aII advocating
the most various and contradictory arrangements.
The more, not the merrier perhaps, but really

the better in the end, for inquiry will thereby be
provoked upon a matter which (from our national
ignorance in Art) requires, we fear, from our rulers
very considerable investigation.

* How to Secure the Best Design for the New National
Gallery : A Letter Addressed to the Right Hon. Benjamin
Disraeli. By Spiridione Gambardella. Bvo., pp. 22.
Westerton. London, 1852.

In the debate originated on the 11th by Mr.
JAMES WILSON upon the Sugar Duties, Sir JOHN
PAKINGTON very properly repudiated, almost with
ridicule, the notion of finality in fiscal and com-
mercial matters. We thoroughly concur with his
sentiment, that " in matters of indisputable prin-
ciple, or great principles of right or wrong, they
might come to a final settlement ; but when they
came to deal with matters concerning the comforts
of the people, with fiscal arrangements, he said
that finality was an absurdity—it would be bind-
ing the first functions of the Legislature, whose
duty it was to consider the demands of the peo-
ple." Now Sir JOHN is at the present time called
upon to consider a fiscal, a treasury demand, a
demand of the Colonial Legislature which has the
unquestioned charge of the Canadian Treasury, a
demand for the alteration of an Imperial Legisla-
tive act, to which the Canadian Legislature was no
party—against which, on the contrary, it has main-
tained a nearly annual opposition ; yet Sir JOHN lays
great stress on his hope that the Imperial Act of
1840, so irritating to the colony, was to be viewed as
a final one ! We trust he will wholly throw over-
board a notion in regard to Canada, which he so
utterly scouted in regard to Jamaica ; we hope
that he will come after Christmas to the considera-
tion of the Canada Clergy Reserves question, when
Sir WILLIAM MOLESWORTH brings it forward, with
the deep conviction, to use his own language, that,
discarding the finality of any past measure, "one
of the first functions and duties of Legislature is
to consider the demands of the people." We are
rejoiced to see the question in such thoroughly
competent hands as those of Sir W. MOLESWORTH,
and regarding the subject, as we do, as one
of vital importance in regard to the connexion
of this country with Canada, we ask for the
candid and earnest consideration of the public and
the Legislature.
When one-seventh of the Crown Lands of Upper
and Lower Canada were set apart in 1791 as
" Clergy Reserves," for the support of the Protes-
tant clergy, Lord GRENVILLE inserted a clause in
the Act
varygiv giving
g the Colonial House of Assembly
power to
or repeal those portions of the Con-
stitutional Act, as it was called, which related to
these reserved lands. The land was then
of little value, being almost uninhabited. As
population increased, the annoyance of these
reserved lands, their interference with roads
and general improvement became so great that
all parties began to perceive that they must be
sold, and delivered from the condition of being a
public nuisance, and a bar to the improvement of
the colony. The great struggle began in the year
1817, when a Mr. NICHoLL proposed in the
Assembly that half the lands should be sold and
applied to the purposes of education. From this
time till the Rebellion in 1837 (a rebellion which
Lord SYDENHAM, who followed Lord DURHAM as
Colonial Governor, declared,
only two years after,
to be caused by this very question of Clergy Reserves),
there was almost a continued and bitter struggle
on the subject between the Representative Assem-
blies and the Colonial Governors, backed by their

nominative and anti-popular Council. The year
before the rebellion, the Council began to be so
alarmed for their clerical friends, that they peti-
tioned Lord GLENELG to have the question
settled by the Imperial Parliament. His
Lordship replied in truly statesmanlike style,
" that to withdraw from the Canadian
to the Imperial Legislature the question
respecting the Clergy Reserves, would be an in-
fringement of that cardinal principle of Colonial
Government which forbids Parliamentary inter-
ference except in submission to an evident and
well-established necessity." All this time, it will
be observed, the Colonists had been acting, not
only on the general and acknowledged principle so
well brought forward by Lord GLENELG, but, in
this case, on the special clause of Lord GRENVILLE
regarding this very question. After the Rebellion,
and the subsequent Union of Upper and Lower
Canada, Lord SYDENHAM, the Governor, pro-
posed and carried a Bill in the Assembly for
dividing the proceeds of the lands amongst the
various sects, half to the Church of England, and
half to such of the other sects as chose to apply
for it. This Bill was sent to England, Lord JOHN
RUSSELL adopted it ; but the Archbishop of
CANTERBURY and the Bishop of LONDON opposed
it ! The Lion's share of the spoil was not enough
for these Ecclesiastics. The Act was modified to
suit Episcopal taste, only to become, however, a
'fresh source of disquietude in Canada, from that
time to the present. English bishops thought
themselves the best legislators for Canada ;
doubtless they think so still ; but, we
warn both them and Sir JOHN, that, if
this conceit be persisted in, the Episcopal party
will pretty nearly realise the old fable of the dog
snatching at the shadow of meat in the water, and
dropping irrecoverably the piece in his possession.
The present demands of the Assembly are very
reasonable. They ask that the entire control of
these Reserves of which they were tacitly deprived
by the Act of 1840, should be restored to them
again ; subject only to the condition of full provi-
sion for life interests. There is not the slightest
evidence or probability that they dream of acting
unfairly between the various sects. The great
majority, indeed, of the population consists of
sects, which in England are Dissenters; but that,
surely, only strengthens the argument that we
ought not to run the hazard of turning Canada
into another Ireland, and rendering the creed of
the minority largely predominant in endowed
wealth.

The Colonists have, moreover, the strong
ground of appeal, that, since 1840, a statesman
hostile to their views has yet acknowledged their
full right to act and legislate in accordance with-
them. The late Colonial Secretary Lord GREY,
in reply to colonial representations, distinctly
stated in a dispatch, while expressing his regret
at their wish to secularise part of the funds in
question, that the Government were prepared to
recommend a Bill to the Imperial Parliament
placing these funds in their power, because the
question, whether the arrangement of 1840 should
be disturbed, "is one so exclusively affecting the
people of Canada that its decision ought not to
be withdrawn from the Provincial Legislature,
to which it properly belongs to regulate all mat-
ters concerning the domestic interest of the pro-
vince." It can, then, be of no avail for Sir JOHN
to resist the vast majority of the Canadians, up-
held as they are by the authority of two Colonial
Secretaries ; the latter, moreover, feeling a very
strong reluctance to give up part of a Whig
measure, and doing so solely in deference to the
only principle which can long retain the goodwill
or even the loyalty of our rapidly-growing colonies.
At the Cape of Good Hope, and still more in
Australia, the determination is becoming stronger

every hour, that the Colonial-office shall only
watch over the Imperial relations of the co-
lonies, that it shall not interfere in their

domestic arrangements ; and nothing surely
can more entirely belong to that category,
than in what way and to what extent
they will support some or any of the various de-
nominations amongst them. It should be borne
in mind that perhaps the larger portion of
grants are of those classes in which dissent chiefly
abounds at home, and have been accustomed to
support their own worship here ; hence they not
only find little difficulty in doing the same as
Colonists, but feel it an especial grievance that,
where their numbers and power are relatively so
much greater, they should still be saddled with
the maintenance of a Church from which they dis-
sent. Our Legislators must remember that a
colony is not the mother country ; and what men
will bear with patience in a state of society like
that at home, becomes intolerable under the re-
versed conditions of colonial life.

Sir JOHN'S mention of the majoritr in Canada
against the Reserves being composed of the Re-
presentatives of Lower Canada, and that the votes
of Upper Canada were nearly equal, we regard as
one of the most dangerous arguments which can
possibly be made use of. The union of the pro-
vinces is now rapidly consolidating ; to pit them
one against the other is the worst policy a states-
man can adopt. No one acquainted with the
population of Upper Canada doubts for a moment
that the great majority of it is strongly in favour
of retaining the settlement of the question in the
hands of their own Legislature ; but even if
half one province, and almost the whole of the
other, were of one mind on a measure, this
alone were ground sufficient to decline
interference on what is no earthly concern
of ours on this side the Atlantic. We
have, however, no kind of doubt that the Colo-
nists would do what was best for themselves. It
is disgraceful for us in England to pretend to
know better than they do what plan will best
harmonise with the interests of all parties there.
They are not children in understanding, although
we naturally call our colonies, as a whole, our
offspring. On the contrary, the majority of the
Colonists are some of the most energetic of our
own population, or the descendants of such ; they
love their old fatherland while looked upon by
it paternally ; but if crossed and thwarted when
of age to manage alone they are very
likely
to set up for alone. A much less irritating
interference aroused our old American colonies to
get rid for ever both of Archbishops of Canter-
bury and Colonial Secretaries.

CHAIRMANSHIP OF THE SOUTH WESTERN RAILWAY

—Mr. Chaplin, for many years chairman of this company,
has, it is stated, resigned the chairmanship, retaining,
however, his seat as a director. _

SUBMARINE TELEGRAPH TO OBBORNE.—Persons are
now employed surveying the distance between Lymington,
in Hants, and her Majesty's residence at Osborne, for the
purpose of connecting the marine palace of the Queen with
London by means of the electric telegraph.
OVERFLOW OF THE TlDE.—Yesterday afternoon the
tide arose to a very alarming height on the banks of tho
Thames, completely inundating the lowerparts of the water-
side premises, and rendering the streets adjacent impass-
able for foot passengers, especially in Rotherhithe and
Wapping. The tide rushed up the sewers with great force,
and so suddenly that many of the inmates of the lower
kitchens had hardly time to save themselves. The meadows
and Lammas-land at Fulham, Putney, and Wandsworth
were overflowed, and the steamers had some difficulty in
passing under the bridges.
THE UNITED STATES STEAMER, WASHINGTON, which
put back to Southampton last week damaged, left again
yesterday for New York.
THE HOUSE TAX.—In Newport, Isle of Wight, the
extension of the house tax to 101. householders will, it ihs
expected, be the means of disfranchising about 200 boroug
voters.
SUICIDE OF Mn. LESCHALLAS, THE PAPER MASER.
—This unfortunate gentleman, who for a great many years
has carried on an extensive business as
tpanper maker and
a 8
reMo'ndi y),
wholesale stationer in Budgerow, W tet C't
committed self-destruction yesterday morning ( ay. ,
by himself through the head in his warehouse in
Sise-lane. shootingDun'ng the last nine mouths Mr. Leschallas,
was about fifty-seven years of age, has laboured under
wa
ho
delusion that his business was going to ruin and himself
to poverty, whereas, in fact, matters were the reverse, for
his affairs, recently gone into, exhibited a large capital in
reserve after all claims and liabilities had been cleared.
Notwithstanding, his friends (the deceased was a bachelor,
and had no partners in business) were unable to disabuse
his mind on the subject. It was stated he had no less than
80,0001. in stock, besides 50,0001. in bills in hand, yet he
was constantly complaining, and persisting in approaching
insolvency. An inquest was held by Mr. Payne, the
coroner, yesterday, when the above facts were deposed to,
and a verdict of " Temporary derangement" was returned.
AGRARIAN CRIME.— Six persons, nearly all of them
substantial farmers, have been committed for trial by the
magistrates of Carrickmacross, charged with a conspiracy
to murder a bailiff named Patrick M'Ardle. During the
special commission at Monaghan last year two men, named
Herbert and Leonard, were convicted for having been
found by the police near Carrickmacross concealed behind
a hedge with firearms. It was supposed at the time that
these persons had been lying in wait to murder the same
M'Araie, who was expected to pass that way on his return
to hill home.