The Sun.
London, England, 1853-07-26 00:00:00

ROYAL PRINCESS'S THEATRE, OXFORD-STREET. the part of the evil which the amendment of last
'under the Management of Mr. Charles Kean. night attempted to retain for a prolonged term.
Not only was one description of property totally
THIS EVENING, JULY 20,
exonerated, but a loophole was afforded through
Will be performed THE DAY AFTER THE WEDDING. Sup-
ported by Mr. and Mrs. NV. Lacy.
After which, Lord Byron's Tragedy of SARDANAPALBS. which parties desirous of defrauding the
Exchequer might creep and evade the operation
Principal characters by Mr. and Mrs. C. Kean.
To be followed by CHESTERFIELD THINSKIN. Characters
by Messrs. Harley, Meadows, Addison, and Miss Vivasb. of the law at a comparatively trifling expense.
Settled personalty was also exempted, and the in-
genuity of lawyers was taxed to the uttermost to
drive " coaches and six" through the provisions
of the statute. The success that attended these
efforts may be judged from the simple fact that,
notwithstanding the enormous increase of personal
property, the Legacy Duties have not only not in-
creased in a similar ratio, but they have remained
stationary during the enhanced prosperity of the
nation. This proves beyond the possibility of
doubt the serious extent of the evil, when
so many persons could contrive to cheat
the revenue and to avoid their fair con-
tributions to the national exigencies. Lord
DERBY'S complaint is that those attempts will no
longer be successful—that the evasion will no
lenger be practicable. Smugglers might as well
remonstrate because their plans have been de-
tected, and the wines or brandies which they had
so long provided duty free to their customers
should' at length be compelled to satisfy the claims
of the Custom-house. Yes, there is a grievance
connected with the bill, but it is not that alluded
to by the ex-Premier—it is that it only renders
half justice, that it permits the Probate Duties
professes,
still to betheveadbetdu,.daefnid
ncnloessetntloetd, asandit
unsettled
peciroupalie:tcy.

THEATRE ROYAL ADELPHI.

Proprietor, Mr. B. Webster.—Directress, Madame Celeste.
THIS EVENING, Jul.,/ 26,

Will be performed GENEVIEVE. Characters by Messrs. Ben.
Webster, A. Wigan, Leigh Murray, Keeley, Parselle, Paul Bedford,
Cullenford, Woolgar, 0. Smith, and C. J. Smith; Madame Celeste
and Mrs. Keeley.
After which, will be presented SARDANAPALUS.
To be followed by THE CAMP AT CIIOBHAM,
To conclude with JOHN JONES.

ROYAL OLYMPIC THEATRE.
Lessee and Manager, Mr. Farren.
Great success of the New Drama.

THIS EVENLNG, Jur 26,

Will be performed the New Drama entitled THE TIMES. Charac-
ters by Messrs. Farren, T. Mead, H. Marston, William Farren,
G. Cooke, and Shalders; Madames Anderton, 11. Gordon, E. Tur-
ner, and Bartlett.
After which, an entirely New Burlesque, by Francis Talfourd,
Esq., entitled SLITLOCK, or, TILE MERCHA-NT OF "VENICE
FRESEEVED." iti'llylock, Mr. E. Rob:on,
To conclude with THE WANDERING M[NSTREL. Jem Bags,
Mr..l. Robson.

ASTLEY'S ROYAL AMPHITHEATRE.

Now ender the Direction and Management of Mr. W. Cooke.

The tide of success has fairly set in to this favourite Establishment.
.No greater test can be given than the crowded state of the Theatre
nightly to witness the ever-memorable Battle of Waterloo, with
its marches, encounters, and brilliant tableaux.

New and splendid Scenes in the CIRCLE, by Artistes of known
talent—introducing a new engagement, MAHOMET BEN SAID,
tle Arabian Grotesque, from the Cirque Royal, St. Petersblugh, by
permission of the Emperor.
61st NIGHT OF LIFE ON THE TURF, with a real Fox Chase.
N.B.—Miss Emily Cooke is re-engaged, and will appear at this
Theatre at the conclusion of her Continental profesnonal trip.
THIS EVENING, Jmy 26,

It was with something like incredulity that we
perused, some months back, the intelligence of
China being involved in the toils of Revolution.
It seemed preposterous. Generally speaking, we
believe that the majority of persons in Europe
would have experienced scarcely more amazement
had they received information that San Marino
had suddenly resolved itself into a despotism, or
that Omit PACHA had been summarily elected
Vlaclika of Montenegro. Yet, inconceivable
though the first rumour of the Chinese rebellion
appeared, every fresh dispatch relating to it
brought us only additional, and at last wholly in-
controvertible, facts of a confirmatory or corrobo-
rative character. There was no mistake at all
about it : JOHN CHINAMAN had indisputably, un-
conscionably, incontinently, gone mad—that is to
say, of course, in a political acceptation. It must
be remembered that the disturbance we are here
speaking of is no mere emeicte of a fleeting or
superficial kind, a momentary outbreak a la
Ch,inoisc. It proves on inquiry to be a gigantic
rising of that ancient race against the Tartar
dynasty, whose annals reveal an existence of
scarcely two hundred years' duration. A rising,
however, not in vindication of the old Ming
dynasty, but—wonderful to relate—in the glori-:
ous name and under the shadow of the benignant
principles of Christianity.
Everybody can realise the idea of "everlasting
smash," conveyed by the proverbial phrase of
A Bull in a China-shop ! But fancy the China-
man himself and all his dependents suddenly
demented in the very heart of the region of
crockery—" gane daft" in their own warehouse—
crazed by the bite of a political tarantula ! Ima-
gine the consequent destruction—the din of the
breakage—the "confusion worse confounded !"
Why, compared with this, A Bull in a China-shop
would be mere child's play, a butterfly in a bed
of roses and hearts'-ease. And it has been pre-
cisely thus with our good friends the worshippers
of the Trimarti and the disciples of Confucius.
In 1841 we English gave the world a pretty good
notion of a Bull in a China-shop. Since then,
but particularly during this year of grace
1853, our some time foes of the Celestial
Empire have afforded us a tolerably fair
illustration of Chinamen gone distracted in their
own warehouse. The result has been proportion-
ately disastrous. The whole of the southern half
of the Empire has been already conquered by the
insurgents. The standard of rebellion has flut-
tered in triumph before the walls both of
Nankin and Chin-liang-foo. Everywhere, as
yet, the troops and generals of the EMPEROR
have been defeated, and defeated, too, igno-
miniously. Nay, it may even be said, with-
out exaggeration, that the advance line of the
revolutionary army has drawn a no less distinct
barrier between the upper and the lower moieties
of China, than had been defined by nature through
the channel of the Yang-tsze-iiia,ng. Such, in-
deed, had been the progress made by the so-called
rebels two or three months ago, that the Brother
of the Sun, the Cousin of the Moon, and the
Nephew of the Stars and Comets, in other words,
the reigning Sovereign of China, the Emperor
TIEN-TIH, had humbled his celestial dignity, so far
as to call loudly for the aid of the British bar-
barians.

And during the week, the Performances will commence, with
THE BATTLE OF WATERLOO, with all its original militarY
effects.

To be followed by Mr. W. Cooke's Scenes In the CIRCLE, intro-
ducing talent unprecedented, among whom will be found the great
Arabian Wonder, lqaboreet Ben Said.
To conclude with the successful Hippo Drama of THE CHASE ;
or, TALE ON THE TURF, in which a real Fox Chase will take
place.
Doors open at Half-past Six. Box-office open daily from Eleven
to Four. Stage Manager, Mr. w. west.

ROYAL SURREY ZOOLOGICAL GARDENS.
THIS EVENING, JULY 26,
PANORAMIC VIEW of CIILTSA.N, Splendid and &cresting
MENAGERIE.
no extraor-
dinary concluding with the
grand
Gonranfrunrivalled MILITAUT BAND. Vocal and Instrumental
a
Concert. Variouss amusing novelties,
spectacle of THE FEAST OF LANTERNS, and
display 91 FIREWORKS, and EXPLOSION of CHINESE FIRE
RAFTS. Admission Is.

HIGH WATER AT LONDON BRIDGE.
TWA DAT Morning 48 min. after 5 I Evening 9 min.aft. •
To.rmowww—MOllling 30 min. after 6 Evening 51 min.a.ft. 6

THE WEATHER.—Sus OPTICS, JULY 26.
THERNOMETER, IN THE SHADE.
73—highest since noon yesterday.
58-10WeSt this morning and during the night.
69—this day at noon.

BAROMETER, 29• P.
WIND, S.W.—Light breeze, and fine weather.

~.., „„74.,„,,,,,,
er.,b
, ,x.„,-,.....„
~,
,i , ,„„
~,;.,..„44,.„,;-,,
~,„!„,,, „,.,
...

_)1111,

LONDON, TUESDAY, JULY 26, 1853.

Our anticipations with respect tothe course about
to be adopted by the House of Lords on the Succes-
sion Duty Bill have been already fully and com-
pletely verified. The measure passed through
Committee without mutilation or alteration of any
kind ; and it may now be considered as having
received the Legislative sanction. It has indeed
weathered the storm—the shoals and quicksands
that obstructed its progress have been safely
avoided, and the vessel, if it has not as yet cast
anchor, has at least arrived within sight of its
destined port. We heartily congratulate Parlia-
ment and the country on this auspicious result ;
but more especially do we congratulate the Noble
Lords to whose temperate and judicious conduct it
may be attributed. It would, indeed, have been
productive of the most serious consequences if,
through any hasty or ill-considered decision, there
had been a collision with the other House of Par-
liament—and that on a question on which the
dissentients (whether justly or otherwise it is un-
necessary now to speculate) alight he sup-
posed to have been influenced by personal
feelings and a selfish desire to escape their
fair proportion of the public burdens. We
say whether juAly or otherwise, because grave
suspicion On such a. point would he almost as in-
jurious as the reality ; and, if under present cir-
cumstances, the Bill had been practically rejected,
it would have been impossible to have vindicated
the motives by which a large proportion of its
opponents had been actuated in their proceedings.
The impending danger has, however, been averted.
The formidable evil has been crushed in the bud,
and that which has been described as " the cor-
ner-stone and foundation of the financial system
of the year," has been triumphantly carried through
the House in its integrity, without being in any
degree impaired, or without even a single verbal
alteration.

At such an emergency it is surely both allow-
able and reasonable to reflect, for an instant, how
far these passing occurrences might be turned to
advantage by our Government. We are all suffi-
ciently acquainted with the exclusiveness of the
Chinese as a nation—living within the limits of
their own dominions, allo wing no intercourse
between their own and any foreign population,
continuing for centuries secluded from the rest of
the human faniily, and impervious to the beauti-
ful and beneficent influences of civilisation. It
is notorious, in fact, that this insulation of them-
selves from the rest of mankind continued,
until little more than a dozen years ago, to be
secured by penalties of death against over-curious
foreigners as with the Japanese, those congenial
islanders of the Eastern Archipelago. Scarcely
any appreciable improvement in this respect,
moreover, has been effected by the long-vaunted
treaty of Nankin—China having been virtually
closed up from the scrutiny of other countries as
effectually, to all intents and purposes, since the
peace of 1842 as it had been prior to that result
of war and diplomacy. It is true that no less
than five different ports on its extended seaboard
were rendered accessible to our commerce by that
memorable arrangement ; but beyond that our
guns and our statesmanship have alike proved in-
cffiacious ; they have alike failed to obtain
for us any facility towards penetrating the
crust of prejudice in which the genius of the
Chinese people is still imbedded. They continuo
still an enigma, a riddle, a mystery. It seems
almost as hopeless even now to dream of making
ourselves square with them among the nation-
alities within our own hemisphere, as to count
upon the quadrature of the circle as within the
limits of possibility. They remain at this moment
influenced in our regard with a barely definable
repugnance. They are jealous of our interference
almost beyond the reach of accurate delineation.
They recoil before the horrible notion of a closer
intimacy with Western barbarism--in a sublime
ignorance (an ignorance that would be irresistibly
ludicrous, were it not in some sort pathetic in
like manner) of the marvellous fruits of this
same savage Western cultivation of inductive
philosophy—the steam-engine and the spinning-
jenny, the railroad and the electric telegraph.
Precisely when, from the remembrance of our
past ten or eleven years' experience, we might
not unreasonably feel disposed to despair of ever
effectually breaking this life in death, this sleep
In waking of the Chinese—a novel and inesti-
mable opportunity for so doing is all at once pre-
sented to our rulers in the entreaties made for
assistance on behalf of the Emperor TIE-TIII, dis-
mayed as the young monarch is, and almost
paralysed- before the steady and apparently irre-
sistible advance of the gigantic army of the
Chinese v
be oonlluytiln
o)onri
stos.lin recolection that the in-
habitants of that vast and Populous empire mum-
bee in the aggregate about one-third of the whole
human family, it will be manifest, of course,
on the jllSt t, that the right coudeetrset:f
of airs at the present crisis is of the first,
or, as the phrase goes, of the last import-
ance. A heavy responsibility, therefore, We
cannot but think devolves under these peculiar

There was, however, a very- unequivocal trial
of strength. A contest which, although "short,"
was also "sharp and decisive." No less than one
hundred and seventy Peers attended in their
places, while eighty-two more paired ofi, so that
practically, two hundred and fifty-two lent their
assistance in the struggle ; the majority on the
side of Ministers being thirty-four. One divi-
sion only was taken, but that was so con-
clusive, that, although sundry objections
were made to other points, no amendment was
pressed, and all the clauses were eventually car-
ried through Committee.

The proposition, on which the trial of strength
took place would, if carried, have been fatal to
one of the most important principles of the Bill,
and, as a matter of course, to the entire measure.
It would have exempted the existing settlements
from the operation of the Act, and thus have
deferred, for some 30 or 40 years, the equalisation
of the burden which has been so urgently and so
justly demanded. The Noble Lord undoubtedly
showed that the working of the law might, in
certain cases, he attended with great hardship to
individuals ; but similar hardships have been sus-
tained for a series of years under the Probate
and Legacy Duties, and yet no effort was made
to relieve the sufferers, or to act equitably towards
the middle classes, who were the aggrieved
parties under the system heretofore in operation.
Now, however, that it comes home to themselves
—that it touches their own pockets—it can be
appreciated, and we trust that the appreciation
will speedily be
followed by an efficient remedy.
Into what, after all, does the complaint re-
solve itself ? Simply this. Not only was one
description of property _.real estate—completely
exonerated from any charge in any
shape, either
for Probate or Legacy Duty—but the Legislators
who sanctioned this partial enactment were, at
the time when it passed through 4,4 Parliament, ne
cessarily Landowners. They freed themselves
the charge, although every
consideration of
ju tic and equity should have induced them to
e burden equally on all, Without favour or
-
affection of any kind. They had not,
even the
decency to make any attempt 'at -concealment, to
disguise the palpable favouritism by even the
Had every description of
most flimsy veil.
landed property been exempted there might have
been some plausible argument -put forward on
th, othei• charges to which it ltia3 exclusively
liable, awl, to which personalty, properly so
called, did not', in any degree contribute.
But the " bold Barons" and Honourable Gentle-
men of these good old times did not deem it
essential to make any excuse or apology for their
aetF. They, therefore, cut the ground away
from the a.rguinent—a weak one at the best—by
pla,eing the charge 011 what are technically termed
"chattels real," and the inheritor of every lease-
hold was- compelled to pay the double impost.
Probates and t,F glcies, as well as being
the local taxes---the payment liable for
whereof was made
the chief pretext for the exemption of freehold
estates—and the devisee of such leasehold pro-
perty was compelled to-_ sell or mortgage his
acquisition for the purpose of providing for the
demands of the ta=e-gatherer.
But this, was not by any meant the wont
portion of the regulation 5 nor, indeed,
was it

circumstances upon the Councils of her Britannic
Majesty's Government. Direct interference in
the civil war now raging in China we should be
the forethost to reprobate as in the uttermost de-
4lee reprehensible. Nevertheless we feel satisfied