The Sun.
London, England, 1865-04-03 00:00:00

upon the million he will be safe to gain rather than

lose. The removal of imposts which only concern a
few may indeed affect the Exchequer, and of course
the diminution of direct taxation, such as the penny
off the Income-tax, last year, must make a certain
reduction. That is no reason why such taxes should
not be removed or lessened when the national
finances can bear such removal, and the Income-tax
especially calls for further decrease, oppressive and
unjust as it is to the toiling professional classes who
come under that mysterious schedule D, which in-
cludes every rank of society, from her MAJESTY
downwards. Bnt while every one admits that with
a flourishing revenue the public burdens should be
lightened, our Chancellors of the Exchequer do not
seem to appreciate the truth that reductions of taxes
affecting matters of general consumption are really
no loss but a gain, and, therefore, the public have
a right to demand such reductions as long as there
is a sufficient balance in hand to meet the temporary
decrease. The Fire Insurance duty is just one of
these cases, and Mr. GLADSTONE might have learned
from the facts brought forward the other evening
how much he was really losing by his impracticability
in the matter. The other items in the tables are
satisfactory enough, especially the Excise, which
shows the immense increase of £1,351,000 in the
year, thus proving the internal prosperity of the
country.

DEATH OF THE DOWAGER LADY AFFLECIC. —The
demise of the Dowager Lady Affleck, wife of the
Rev. Dr. Whewell, master of Trinity College, Cambridge,
took place at the master's lodge at Trinity College on Sa-
turday night, after an illness of some duration. It is almost
unnecessary to say that the whole members of the univer=
sity deeply sympathise with the rev. the master in his be-
reavement. The deceased lady, who was the eldest daughter
of Mr. Francis Elles, of the Royal-crescent, Bath, married
fisrtly Sir Gilbert Affieck, Bart., who died in 1854. Her
marriage with Dr. Whewell took place in 1858.
DEATH OF LADY GEORGIANA RYDER.--The above-
named lady died on Thursday night at Westbrooke,
the family seat in Hertfordshire. The deceased was third
daughter of Henry Charles, sixth Duke of Beaufort, by
Lady Charlotte Sophia, daughter of Granville, first Mar-
quis of Stafford. She was born Oct. 8, 1800, and married,
May 30, 1825, the Hon. Granville Dudley Ryder, brother
of the Earl of Harrowby, K.G., by whom she leaves a nu-
merous family. The Lady Georgians Ryder was sister of
the Marchioness Cholmondeley, Lady Calthorpe, Lady
Louisa Finch, and Lady Mary Farquhar, and aunt of the
present Duke of Beaufort, Lady Blanche Dupplin, Lady
Londesborough, &c.

GEORGE CRUIKSIIANK has, we are grieved to hear,
been seriously indisposed. It appears that some time be-
fore Christmas, hornet with an accident, the effects of which
have lingered upon him up to a few weeks since. After a
short stay at Ventnor, however, somewhat of his old
strength and spirits returned, so that he is now able to re-
sume his professional pursuits.
The Passion Week Performance of the Messiah,
by the National Choral Society, will take place at Exeter
Hall, on Monday next, the 10th inst. Miss Louisa Pyne,
Miss Palmer, and Mr. Sims Reeves are already engaged.
Band and chorus of 700 performers. Conductor—Mr. G.
W. Martin.

DEATH IN THE HUNTING-FIELD. —A fatal accident
occurred on Friday last near Annesley-park, Not-
tinghamshire. Mr. Chawarth Musters's hounds met on

hat day at Ostenhall, and among the field was Mr. Green,
- -

spirit merchant, Nottingham, mounted on Spinner, to
whom the stakes in the Hunt Cup at Nottingham Spring
meeting was awarded. When near Annesley, Mr. Green's
horse bolted with him along the highway leading to
Kirkby, and, passing through the tollbar, the unfortunate
rider reeled and suddenly fell to the ground. Medical aid
was at hand, but Mr. Green was lifeless, the base of his
skull being injured, and' there was a large quantity of
blood about the left ear and nostril. When passing the
tollgate he appeared to be gasping for breath, and his left

foot was out of the stirrup.
A PICTURE OF ORIENTAL ABJECTION.—M.
Gerenne has finished his picture representing the re-
ception of the Siamese Ambassadors by Napoleon the
Third, who commissioned the arfist to paint the remarkable
ceremony whereat those distinguished orientals crawled on
their hands and knees before his Imperial Majesty and the
Empress Eug&ie. Ranged about the throne is the French
Court. Many portraits are introduced in full state cos-

tume. Tho Ambassadors are superbly dressed in their
national style ; their umbrellas lie near to them.

THE FIRM OF ROUTLEDGE, WARNE, AND
ROUTLEDGE, according to a contemporary, will shortly dis-
solve—Mr. Warne commencing a new business under his
own name, and the Routledges continuing the business
lately removed from Farringdon-street to the Broadway,
Ludgate-hill.
BRILLIANT SUCCESS OF THE CHEAP EDITION OF
MR. DICKENS'S NOVELS.—The first offered to the
trade by Messrs Chapman and Hall (says the London
Review) has been the famous " Pickwick Papers," in 2
vols., double columns, and bound in green wrappers, with
very smudgy representations of dear old polite Pickwick
thereon. There are certain names peculiarly talismanic
amongst booksellers. Some of the cleverest men in this
country could not find a sale for 100 copies of any single
work from their pens, whereas the agents of some other clever
men could effect a sale of 50,000 copies in one day. The
favoured few could be counted upon one's fingers, and two
historians and a poet would be amongst the number.
Charles Dickens is, perhaps, the greatest of these favourites,
and Messrs. Simpkin and Marshall's faith in him extends
to the 1,560 copies which figure in their first order fur his
cheap "Pickwick." Messrs. Whittaker and Co. take 208;
Messrs. Hamilton and Co. (better known as purveyors of
religious works), 260 ; Messrs. Kent and Co., 780 ; Messrs.
Virtue Brothers, 260 ; Messrs. W. H. Smith and Son, the
great railway bookstall-keepers, 1,560; and Mr. George
Robertson, the Australian book-merchant, 312.

BARON LIEBEG :ON SEWAGE.—The important
and highly valuable reports communicated to the
Corporation of the City of London by Baron Liebeg, on
the agricultural value and economic disposal of the sewage
of great towns, has been published in a complete form by
W. 11. Collingridge, with the numerical quantities reduced
to ordinary English standards. These interesting docu-
ments will, we have no doubt, be eagerly perused by agri-
culturists, horticulturists, and by an, in fact, who are en-
gaged in the cultivation of the soil.

A SUBSTITUTE FOR COTTON.—MiIk-Weed, the
Asclepios Syriaca, is, according to the New York
Weekly Tribune, a substitute for cotton. "We have been
shown," says the editor, " several specimens of textile
fabrics woven from the seed-inclosing fibre which fills the
pods of the plant well known as Milk-Weed, and botani-
cally named the Asclepios Syriaca. These fabrics are very
soft and pleasant to the touch as would be expected, but
seem also quite firm and strong, as would not be expected.
Mr. James P. M'Clean, of Brooklyn, has patented inven-

tions whereby this substance is utilised. It takes dyes
admirably—much better than cotton—and sheds its seeds
without ginning or other difficult labour."

hope the case will not be passed over or hushed up.
No one is safe from accident or illness, and if a
respectable, well-conducted man is to be hustled
about and dragged from station to workhouse
because he is too ill to speak for himself, it is
quite time that a different system was organised.

The Revenue Tables just issued are highly satis-
factory, and although Englishmen have become so
accustomed to their own prosperity that they take it
very much as a matter of course, yet there is good
reason for rejoicing when each periodical report
assures us that the material welfare of the country
goes on steadily increasing in spite of all changes.
The tables before us bear testimony to the wisdom
of those principles of political economy which have
of late years directed our affairs. We could wish,
indeed, that those principles were still more widely
developed, and there is no doubt that a correspond-
ing increase of revenue would be manifest. The
reduction of taxes which press on the multitude,
which extend over a wide area, scarcely ever fails to
repay itself speedily. The increase of consumption
very soon compensates for the reduction of duty,
and we generally find those very items which have
been temporarily diminished, showing, after a brief
interval, the most remarkable increase. This has
been notably the case in our Post Office, whose
revenue keeps on steadily increasing. This very
quarter it shows an increase of £290,000. The
stamps bear equal evidence of the profit to be de-
rived from temporary and apparent loss. The quar-
ter gives an increase of £62,ooo—the year of
£213,000, so that, according to this proportion, the

rise in this item next year will be still more conspi-
cuous. We wish Mr. GLADSTONE would be con-
vinced of these figures to extend the principle
of reduction a little further, resting assured
that so long as he removes those taxes which press