The Sun.
London, England, 1863-04-23 00:00:00

, sides are willing to accord their meed of approval,
it seems an invidious arrangement on the part of
Mr. GLADSTONE to adopt so unsuitable a proceed-
: ing as to tax charities. It is as unwise, in a
public sense, as it is ungracious in a private one,
since the free institutions of England are among
her noblest efforts, and redound to her fame,
more than victories abroad or splendours at home.
This new plan of Mr. GLADSTONE'S is one devoid
of political faith or public rectitude. He proposes
to take away from the poorest of the poor
the sums that kindly disposed individuals
have amassed for their benefit. Had these sums
been separately bestowed in small portions on the
destitute throughout the kingdom, no Chancellor of
the Exchequer could have touched them. They
have been directed to purposes of lasting utility and
a considerable sum has, in each instance, been de-
voted to the erection of edifices that will remain to
benefit the sufferers of far distant years, when those
who reared them and those who now derive ad-
vantage from them have alike passed away from
this earthly scene. The sum abstracted from
these institutions is to be £lOO,OOO yearly.
This is a very trifling amount to men-
tion in the year's expenditure, and to form
part of a surplus, can be of little use. Taken from
these places, however, it will work incalculable
evil, and produce results the most sad and sorrowful.
It is a well known fact that our charities are not
rich; there are endless applications constantly made
for increased funds; and with every effort that can
be used, with all the generous contributions that
are constantly bestowed, how many unhappy chil
dren of mortality, suffering from the " thousand
ills that flesh is heir to," are refused admittance
into the hospitals in consequence of want of accom-
modation. How will these evils be augmented
tenfold by the arbitrary decis'on of the ruler
of our, finances. It is a scandal on the
wealthiest country in the world that her Chancellor
of the Exchequer his to draw part of his
means from the abodes erected for the succour and
support of the houseless poor, when suffering under
those sad dispensations which all the comforts and
appliances of wealth cannot render otherwise than
afflicting to those in affluent circumstances. Mr.
GLADSTONE has always been most censorious and

severe on those who advocate a sentimental line of
policy. He thinks feeling should be eschewed in
all matters of finance. In this case it is justice
that speaks against him. What right has he to
appropriate that portion of the money which a
community has set apart for the most sacred cause
that can adorn humanity. If this disgraceful pro-
posal is carried out, it will be as a sledge-hammer
blow upon the future prospects of these institutions.
Wno will care to bestow from their abundance to
swell the sums of an extravagant Exchequer Ali-
oister—who will be likely to give from their mode-
' rate means to support a society which must pay the
tax-gatherer whether it succours the objects of
distress or not. Who will spare anything from the
means of their bare subsistence to aid an institu-
tion that is shorn of its privilege of immunity, and
left to he the prey of unscrupulous experimen-
talists in finance. What security have we that
next year there may not be war with some foreign
Power ? and then the Income-tax will be consider-
ably increased; and the next year perhaps it may
be doubled, as in the Crimean War. Once the prin-
ciple has been admitted of taxing charities ;—of
course, they must undergo the ordeal of paying the
increased ratio. What, then, is to become of the sick,
the blind, the lams, the bedridden ?—they must
perish miserably in our streets while the noble in-

stitutions that were to be a refuge for their hour of
need, the means of restoring them again to health
and usefulness, or the blessed instruments that
were to smooth their passage to the grave are
rendered comparatively useless, and perverted from
their purpose by the freaks and fancies of an
unsympathising Minister. The sum is contemptible
as regards its benefit to the Exchequer, but were it
increased a hundredfold it is not by such means that
the State will ever be properly served, and the in-
terests of the community protected. It is earnestly
to be trusted that the House will not sanction the
passing of this proposal. It will be a blot on tht
fair fame of the legislature if it allow the project
to become law, In a Christian country let them not
forget the precepts of its Founder, " For as much

as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my
brethren, ye have done it unto me." If Mr. GLAD-
STONE can reconcile it to his conscience to employ
his extraordinary powers of calculation to no
batter purpose than to devise means of extracting
money from the penniless, and be satisfied
in employing his remarkable eloiuence in per-

suading the House that his ideas are correct,
let not other members follow his example

They will be degrading their high position
and abusing the powers entrusted to them by their
countrymen if they seek to stultify our charitable
institutions. It is of no use to say that enough will

remain to supply needful assistance. There never
can be enough done to aid the distressed in any
country. Those best informed on the subject have
presented ample evidence of the appalling want,
the sad privations, and the cruel deaths that daily
occur around us. This hitherto unknown interfer-

ence with these beneficent institutions will be like
the small edge of the wedge inserted to sap their
foundations and assail their stronghold. We have
all enough, and too much to do with the harsh and
unpleasant details of business, the cold and cruel

assumption of those dressed in a little brief autho-

rity, but if one spot more than another should be
rendered safe and sacred from their intrusion,
it should be that where mercy has founded a
refuge for misery. Another argument that may be

cited is that in no other country could this act of

aggression be perpetrated. England alone contains
institutions that are supported by voluntary con-
tributions. In other lands the burden of providing

for these sufferers falls upon the State. Not con-

tent with being relieved from this grave responsi•
bility, the Government now wish to seize upon the

produce of a people's munificence, and to mulct the
treasure house of the poor to add a mite to the

millions that are annually wasted or misapplied
to suit party views and carry out political
intrigue. Before it is too late let the

wrong be averted, and in refusing to allow
its being carried into law the Legislature
will confer a special service on the Chancellor of
the Exchequer, since nothing can profit him so
little as to allow him to follow his mischievous
course. If the man whose friends call him a
" heaven-born financier," and who considers him-
self the "rhetorician of the age," is to distinguish
himself in this way, it is indeed lamentable. We
have been taught that those who speak
with the tongues of men and of angels, and have

not charity, become as sounding brass, or as
tinkling cymbal, and our experience of human
nature confirms its truth. Great gifts of head are
valueless for the benefit of mankind if the heart
cannot feel in accordance with the inspirations of

the intellect. One thing is certain, the English

people admire talent, but they love honour more ;
and if their liberty of donation is to be ques-
tioned, a day of reckoning will be called
for, If a mistaken Cabinet succumb to the dic-
tation of the Chancellor of the Exchequer's
arbitrary demands, and an infatuated House of
Conanaon3 are too spell boufidiq his eloquence to re-