The Sun.
London, England, 1853-05-13 00:00:00

CHEAP EDITION OF SIR, E. BULWEE LYTTON'S NOVELS
Ant TALES: "•
Crown Bvo., cloth, 2s.
LEILA. ; or, The SIEGE of GRANADA ;
and CALDERON the COURTIER.
__ _

By Sir EDWARD BULWER LYTTON, Bart, M.P.
With a Frontispiece.
HAROLD and LUCRETIA will complete the series.
London : Chapman and Hall, 193, Piccadilly.

READING FOR TRAVELLERS.—NEW VOLUME.
In a few cliffs, price Is.
CHARACTER and ANECDOTES of
CHARLES the SECOND.

Recently published :
MON TE NEGRO and the SLAVONIANS of TURKEY. Is. 6d.
The VILLAGE DOCTOR.
FRANKLIN'S FOOTSTEPS : A Sketch of Greenland. Is. 6d.
MAGIC and WITCHCRAFT. IS.
OLD ROADS and NEW ROADS. Is.
London: Chapman and Hall, 193, Piccadilly.

THE WELLINGTON DINING-ROOMS,
Entrance, 161, PICCADILLY.
This splendid Establishment (formerly Crockford's Club) IS
2COW OPEN to the Public, on a scale of magnificence unpreco-
dented in London, combining extreme moderation in charges with
the meet unexceptionable Cooking and Bill of Fare and uniting
the tudefendenqe of a public dining-room with the comforts and
aecemmodation of a first-rate club
Scales of Charges.—Dinner from the Joint, with vegetables, bread,
cheese, am., 2s. ; ditto, with soup or fish, 2s. 6d. ; ditto, with soap.
and fish, 35.; made dishes, witu the joint, as per bill of fare; made
dishes, without the joint, but with vegetables, bread, cheese, &c., is
extra. Waiter, each pitaon, 3d.
The Wines and Beers will be sold by Imperial measure, and the
decanters all marked, so that the quantity paid for will be actually
11 ipylied to the consumer. The Public will, therefore, appreciate this
novel arrangement, more particularly when they understand that
the Imperial pint contains four-flfihs of what it usually sold as a
bode le.
The Dining-Room will be open from Hoff-past Two, p.m., until
Nine, p.m.
The magnificent Suite of Saloons, on the first floor, fitted up for
Smoking, Reading, and Chess, will be well supi lied with the London,
proymeial, and Foreign Papers,
Magazines, Books of Reference, &c.;
and Tea, Coffee, Iciis Seltzer Water, ev.o• , will be supplied from
eleven a.m., by Mr. Ward, of Bond-street-
The Dining room will be open on Sundays at half-past Five
o'clock.

Lessee, HENRY THOMAS MUNDT, 160, Piccadilly.
Nth yey, 1853.

RO) AL SURREY ZOOLOGICAL
GARDENS.—Open for the season Whit-Monday and four
ros
esting days.—The Zoological Collecticn contains a variety of in-
-I}g gpeciresns, and the Gardens throughout have been improved
and beautified. The Pictorial Representation is an extensive VIEW
of the BAY and FORTS of CHURN, painted by Messrs. Denson,
and at dusk is represented the attack of the Chinese fire-rafts on the
British fleet, explosion-shps, ke.—Grand Vocal and Instrumental
Concert. Engagement of the eminent vocalist, Miry Cicely Nott.
Conductor, Mr. Godfrey. - May-day Games and Rustic Sports, May-
pole and Morris Dances. "Pop goes the Weasel," by 25 couple, con-
°acted by Mr. Flexmore.—An extra Military Band during the day-
time; and at dusk a grand display of Fireworks, combined with the
Feast of Lanterns and other displays.—Doers open from 9 in the
.posing. Admission, Is.

THEATRE ROYAL, lIA.YmARKET.
Trader the management of Mr. Buckstone.
THIS EVENING. MAY 13,
Will be peiformed THE LADY OF LYONS. Supported by
)(Assn. Howe, Corrl, Roger,,, and Barry Sullivan; and Mise Helen
raucit.

Aeliter which, MR. BUCKSTONE'S ASCENT OF MOUNT PAR-
NASSUS.
To conclude with OUR MART ANNE.

ROYAL PRINCESS'S THEATRE, OXFORD-STREET.
under the Management of Mr. Charles Keel.
THIS EVENING. Mar )3.
'MR be performed the Tragedy of MA,CLETII. Principal Cha-
racters by Mr. and Mrs. C. Kean.
To conclude with the new Drama, adapted from the French of
Nona. Scribe, by Mr. Palgrave Simpson, called MARCO SPADA.
Principal characters by Messrs. W. Lacy, J. Vining, Ryder, Graham,
and Everett; Misses Heath and C. Leclereq.

ROYAL LYCEUM THEATRE.
Under the Management of Madame Vestris.
THIS EVENING, MAT 13,

Will be performed A.S.S. Characters by Messrs. F. Mathews,
Suter, and Rosters ; Mrs. Macnamara and 311ss Wyndham.
After which, A FAST TRAIN—IIIGH PRESSURE EXPRESS.
Characters by Messrs. C. Mathews, Baker, and Suter.

T 9 be followed by TRYING IT O.N. Principal character by Mr.
C. thews

To which will be added a DIVERTISSEMENT, in which Miss
7tosina Wright will appear.

To conclude with THE CRITIC. Characters by Messrs. C. Ma.
thews, fe. Matthews, and R. Roxby ; Miss St. licorge, and Mrs,
M senamara.

THEATRE ROYAL ADELPHI.
Proprietor, Mr. B. Webster. —Directress, Madame Celeste.
THIS EVENING, MAT 13,
Will .13e presented THE ROUSED LION. Characters by Messrs.
B. Webster and Wigan; Mrs. Keeley, and Mrs. L. Murray.
t ter which. A DESPERATE. DAME.
To be followed by TO PARENTS AND GUARDIANS.
It, conclude with TUE DANCING SCOTCH Al AX.

secondly, that any measure would be defective
and incomplete which omitted settled property,
and did not place it on the same foundation as
that which passed by bequests. From" these data
it naturally follows, that the only alteration that
remained for the Chancellor of the Etchequer was
either to abolish the Legacy Duties altogether, or
to introduce such a measure as that now
under discussion. This, however, does not re-
move the question from the category in which
'it has been placed, that, as a new tax, it must be
supported by much stronger arguments than
would be required for the retention of one
already in operation. The tax for which it is to
be substituted, also becomes an important element
in the calculation, one that should be disposed of
in the first place. Every tax is a grievance. We
must therefore inquire into the relative advan-
tages and disadvantages of those respecting which
a comparison is to be instituted.
The new tax, then, is required for the gradual'
reduction and ultimate abolition of the Property
and Income Tax. That will be manifest from the
financial statement of the Chancellor of the Ex-
chequer, and from the nature and circumstances
of the case. It is by means of the additional
revenue to be obtained that the Income Tax
can be reduced from 7d. in the pound to 6d.
in 1855 and again to sd. in 1857 ; and, finally.
abolished in 1860 (that is to say, if Mr GLan-
STONE'S views can be carried into practical execu-
tion in these respects); and that we are, indeed,
even destined to see the end or even the re-
duction of an impost which, if fairly and
justly apportioned, would be of all others
the best and most eligible for the commu-
nity, not merely for the working classes, but
also for the owners of accumulated and realised
property, the territorial aristocracy, and the
moneyocracy. The new tax is calculated to pro-
duce £2,000,000 sterling ; taken with the existing
duties on legacies, which must be dealt with at
the same time, the amount would be £3,500,000,
which would be nearly equivalent to 7d. in the
pound on schedules 1 and C. There could not,
of course, be any alteration in the other sche-
dules, for, unfortunately, skill and industry-
are not hereditary ; and no financier, we believe,
ever had the hardihood to put forward, or would
venture to enunciate, such a proposition as that
the widow and children of a professional man, or of
a merchant, a manufacturer, or a trader, should be
required to pay a heavy tax to Government, not
on the property bequeathed to them, but for
the ability, the genius, the wealth-producing
powers of which they have been for ever deprived.
The question, then, merely rests with the owners
of accumulated and realised property of any
description. They are the parties who are
alone concerned. And it is for them to decide
whether it would be more desirable to pay a pro-
portion of their income in each and every year, or
to be called upon, at uncertain intervals, to pay
a large proportion of their capital. We believe
that the former plan would be, in every respect,
the most eligible for the parties, and for the com-
munity ; and we want no further evidence in sup-
port of the assertion than that taken before the
Copyhold Commission, which shows the great
practical inconveniences, the ruinous results, of a
fine amounting to one or two years' rental on the
improved value. Parliament had to yield to the
loud and general complaints on the subject to
change the law that had prevailed for centuries,
and even to tamper with " the rights of property,"
in order to avert the serious evils incidental to the
system ; and yet, within one short year of the pass-
ing of that salutary statute, Mr. GLADSTONE proposes
to act on the condemned principle, to revive the
impolitic system in its worst forms, and, practi-
cally, to bring all the freehold lands in the United
Kingdom into the most objectionable kind of
copyhold tenure. And this immediate grievance
is to be borne in place of the contingent and very
problematical reduction and ultimate abolition of
the Property Tax. We ask the fuudholders, the
landed proprietors, the owners of any kind of
property, to consider calmly and attentively both
propositions, and say which they would really
desire to have adopted, and that, not from preju-
diced or party feelings, but in accordance with the
real merits of the case An intelligent traveller
once said, that a person having to change his
money some hall-dozen times in going into dif-
ferent small states would find it gradually
vanishing from the expenses of the operation and
the extravagant demands of the money-changers.
If Mr. GLADSTONE'S views should be adopted and
carried into practical execution, the inheritor
an estate that has gone through four or five suc-
cessions within a few years—a matter very pos-
sible—will find himself hoplessly embarrassed,
and obliged to part with the fair domains that
had been handed down through a long line of
illustrious ancestors.
There is another point that must be inquired
into. By what machinery does the Right Hon.
Gentleman propose to carry the tax into operation ?
Let it not be forgotten that it is a tax, not on the
income, but on the capitalised value of the inheri-
tance. How is this value to be ascertained ? And
if it can be averaged for the purpose of the tax on
successions, what is there to prevent its applica-
tion to the Property and Income Tax, thereby
removing the only impediments to an equitable
adjustment of that impost ? We submit these
interrogatives for the consideration of the Hon.
Gentleman. It would be well if they were pre-
pared with satisfactory responses before giving
their votes in favour of the new tax on succes
sions.

At length the Report on Manning the Navy
has been issued by the Committee. Long and
eagerly expected, it has at last arrived. It would
be impossible, notwithstanding our impatience
hitherto in this matter, to regret for one moment
the delay which has actually occurred. Although
to all appearance unconscionably protracted, for
that delay we have now, in this really masterly
Report, been fully and most satisfactorily com-
pensated. Without any further preface, we
would here at once express to the different mem-
ben of the Committee our admiration for the BO-
lic i t ude they have evinced for the well-being of
the country in every stage of their prolonged inves-
tigation. Scarcely anything of real importance,
feferring to the matter under inquiry, has been
by them overlooked, either through neglect or in-
difference. They appear to have gone carefully
through every one of those eleven sections which
were submitted to their scrutiny by desire of the
Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty. They have
entered scrupulously into all, not forgetting a
single detail ; and they have rendered their in-
quiry effectual because they have conducted it

systematically. Firstly, they have considered
" The entry and training of boys and seamen, and
the periods of service for which they are engaged."
Secondly, "Whether such periods of service could
be advantageously extended, and the regulations
which it would be advisable in such case to adopt."
Thirdly, " The practicability of permanently re-
taining the services of boys and seamen, as is the
case with the Royal Marines, so as to insure the
means of rapidly manning her MAJESTY'S ships
when required for service." Fourthly, " Whether
a period of service abroad might be followed
by a period of service at home, in the coast-
guard, dockyards, or home ports." Fifthly,
"Whether a reserve of seamen might not be or-
ganised to remain in England, reference being had
to the scheme recently laid before Parliament for
that purpose." Sixthly, " Whether measures
could be adopted at the present time, in order to
secure the services of a large body of seamen for
the defence and general service of the country in
a case of emergency." Seventhly, " The ques-
tions of pay and prize-money, and especially the
clause of the Act sth and 6th WILL. IV., c. 24,
relating to bounty." Eighthly, "All regulations
at present in force relative to petty officers and
seamen gunners." Ninthly, " The award of good-
conduct badges and of pensions." Tenthly, "The
entry of seamen into the coast-guard and dock-
yards." Eleventhly and lastly, " The admission
of seamen into Greenwich Hospital and their sup-
port therein." These were the subjects submitted
to the consideration of the Committee, and it is
upon these eleven propositions for inquiry that
the Committee have now definitively pronounced.
Before they allowed tkuusetirefi to arrive at apy