The Sun.
London, England, 1830-01-28 00:00:00

fortune to give, almost daily, since w com-
menced our public labours, proofs and illustra-
tions of this proposition. Let but a body of
men be entrusted with irresponsible power to
dispose of the money of others with no respon-
sibility but to their own consciences, and there
is hardly anything in the way of job which they
will not attempt with effrontery. All classes,
however much they differ in other respects, have
a wonderful resemblance in this. The Magis-
trate looks with becoming indignation on the
crimes and misdeeds of the poor, and has no
doubt as to the propriety of sending a poor
wretch to prison for filching a pound of bacon ;
but he has a aon or a brother, or a cousin in
partnership with a brewer or a distiller—his
brother Magistrate has a right of way to stop
—another has some equally praiseworthy end
in view, and half a dozen of these worthies,
without shame or compunction, coolly take
from one man a licence or give a licence to
another, according to the interest of the brewer,
who has counnitted to him thereby the power
of poisoning and taxing the poor. The
holy men of God, the Levites, to begin at the
top with my Lords the Bishops, take always
especial care that their sons shall have the best
offerings at the altar, and have a wonderful
knack at discovering a fitness for the work of the
Ministry, and a title to its best rewards in those
young men who find favour in the eyes of their
daughters. The daughter knows the lad who is
best fitted for supplying the spiritual wants of
the parish. We should be sorry to repeat after
Mr. Attwood, at the Birmingham Meeting, that
what " they wanted was bread and beer, and
beef. They did not want religion, they had
enough of that ;" but then we think we are
warranted in saying that when my Lords
Bishops have the catering for their own
families out of the Church revenues, they
never seem to think they can have enough.
As to irresponsible Vestries, there is a harmony
in the operations of all of them, which beauti-
fully illustrates7our proposition. Self-election,
whether in the south or the north, invariably
exhibits the same results. Many of our readers
may not be aware, that what is called the Select
Vestry, but what ought ought to be called the
Irresponsible Vestry, is a pretty close imitation
of the constitution of a Scottish burgh, as far as

election is concerned. At Edinburgh, on Wed-
nesday, the 20th instant, there was a meeting of
householders on the subject of the Land
Tax ; which, though fixed at a definite sum,
notwithstanding the immense increase of po-
pulation, is not lowered to individuals. The
Dean of the Faculty of Advocates (Mr.

Jeffrey), stated that -"
it had been strongly
impressed upon the minds of many of the inha-
bitants for a long time past, that the Magistrates
of Edinburgh, i❑ the name of cess, and the ex-
pence of collecting it, had for a course of years
levied a much greater sum from the inhabitants,
than by law they were entitled to do." The fol-
lowing particulars which he added, are quite
characteristic :

" It was a fact which could not be disputed, that,
notwithstanding the great extension of the city dur-
ing the last forty or fifty years, the amount of cess
levied had scarcely in any case been diminished, ex-
cept in a few instances of old buildings in the Old
Town. This was an unaccountable circumstance,
for it was clear to every one, the sum being a fixed
one, that as the assessable property increased, the
proportion paid by each individual should decrease.
But the old householder found that he still paid just
as much as before. What, however, was chiefly com-
plained of, was, the extraordinary amount charged as
the expence of collecting the tax, and which was out
of all proportion to what is charged in any other place
for collecting a similar impost. It was a fact that
the tax paid to Government between 1788 arid

1824, was exactly 66,850 L; now, the expellee of
collecting this sum was 24,6881., being in the. pro-
portion of between a half and a third of the whole
tax. From 1788 to 1813, the expence cf collecting
the cess was, on an average, 30 per cent.; from
1813 to 1823, 40 per cent.; and in 1823, it was 50
per cent. or one. half. In 1824, it was reduced to
40 per cent.; and it was still so high as 25 per cent.
upon the sum legally leviable.—(Hear, hear.)"
In the Paper from which we make this quota-

tion (the Scotsman), we find the expence of
collecting the Land Tax of the Burgh of Canon-
gate (part of Edinburgh) is exactly cent. per
cent. " Desirous," says our Contemporary,
" of enquiring into these matters, the heritors re-
quested both the late and present Magistrates to
convene a Meeting ; but which they, deeming
it unnecessary, refused to do." To be sure—
what could be more unnecessary than to call a
Meeting, when they were determined not to abate
anything in the sum levied ? Compare with
these proceedings the conduct of the Select
Vestry of St. Pancras. A man who has irre-
sponsible power in the disposing of other people's
money, feels generally no other scruple of con-
science than lest he should not take enough. In
this respect the conscience is apt to be very ten-
der occasionally.—Morning Chronicle.

An Institution, which, like the Royal Aca-
demy, was founded by the Sovereign, as an
asylum for those arts which cannot flourish
without improving public taste and shedding
lustre on the national character, must be pro-
ductive of honour or discredit to the country
according as its Government. happens to fall
into contempt or unworthy hands. Chartered
bodies, however pure and noble the intentions
with which they are founded, are liable to great
abuses, and too often in practice counteract the
very object for which they were created. The
Royal Academy has been peculiarly fortunate in
having its interests presided over, even from its
original formation, by men of high principle
and of distinguished fame—men who had risen
to eminence by the successful application of
great talents anti persevering industry, and whose
reputation was too well established to allow them
to enter into the petty jealousies of their profes-
sion, or to fear the honourable ambition of rival
genius. The names of Reynolds, of West, and
of Lawrence, will live while the school of British
painting survives, not only in their works, but in
the memory of those qualities which caused them
to identify their individual fame with the en-
couragement of rising talent and the promotion
of the general interests of art, Those were men
who, independently of their professional merits,
possessed cultivated minds and manners that
qualified them for the intercourse of the intel-
lectual and polished circles of society. Reynolds
was th.e friend and associate of the scholars and
poets of his d;„Iy. The simple manners and
unassuming deportutent of West were not
spoiled by Court favour. in the sunshine of
Royal patronage he preserved the gentle-
ness and suavity of disposition which, with-
out the ostentation of politeness, indicates
the genuine and inbred courtesy of the heart.
As to Lawrence, his acquirements were general
and attractive enough to make his company
sought after by tle most eminent men of his
country—and it may be enough to say of him,
both as an artist and a gentleman, that he was
qualified to grace even the Court of a Leo the
Tenth QT A I,,orenzo de Metticis. In choosing