The Sun.
London, England, 1849-02-02 00:00:00

OPENING OF PARLIAMENT.

.FROSL ♦ CORBESPONDIWT.)
The meeting o Parliament this year dawns at a period of
strange events. I hope it will please the Lord of Lords to
pour upon this nation the abundance of His mercy, and at
this time, especially, to fill the hearts and minds of our
Ministry (the rulers of the land) with TRUE WISDOM, so that
in all things the intent and designs of the session
manifested through the Royal Speech, may, in unity
of spirit and in the bonds of peace, work_ together
for good—and so that the burden of taxation may bettlrneatl
relieved; a task, a duty, so easily performrel
ob_y punessgand
practice a single word or rule in the spii
pure word of God. What a change of sentiment f holiness
and feeling of
heart would spring up and rise in the bosom of every oppressed
and heavy laden man existing under the laws of England,
were it seen that Ministers watched closely thegates of our
revenue or public purse, and never suffered an inroad of cor-
ruption and abuse—a single draw of cash that is not fairly won,
and justly due 1 How plain, how simple, how easy, how bright,
Is ' the rule that ought to be laid down and worked upon ! Eco-
nomy and retrenchment the watchword, but sparing nothing;
yet rid the people of useless and unmerited burdens
theg the
ranks of army, navy, and every department of State of
weed, thorn, and brier 1 I suppose there never was
a nation under heaven loaded with a burden of tax-
ation through a long course of years, and TIME Os'
pal,cx, as England is. Why is it so? Why will our
Commons (the representatives of the people) and
the Lords upon earth suffer these things! Why not strip
the State, and make us clean of every sinecure and unnecessary
place and pension, and so secure the love of the people, even
as the love of Christ is won by the stripping of our sins ?
Sir, it matters little or nothing to me what is done
or left undone by legislation, as my years of life draw
fast to an end; but, I confess my anxiety to see a
better state of things—a change better suited to the
wants and wishes of those who now exist, as well as those
who will come after and throng the stage of life, when slime
portion of our sorrows may be done away, and many, many
sing for joy, that Britain yet is a happy, happy land!
Sir, I am addressing you and the public, as an old Tory
and true Conservative. I submit myself to Ministers with
loyal, pure, and sincere desires—and the first and most im-
portant work I know of is this—to take and deliver the whole
community from the hands of lawyers; but I do not mean
they should starve--no, that would be a pity—but I would have
no mere than the people wanted to transact the regular ordinary
occurring business in every relation of life—local courts
established, and lawyers appointed by Government at
Stated annual salaries, according to ability and require-
ment: 'Every sort of work repaired by the public should
be free of expense. Lawyers for neglect or -.offending
Vibe discharged. I would like to see little for barristers.to do,
and by degrees less for the Lord Chancellor ! , If Ministers
are at a loss, I can give them a plan.
all and every case of mortgage of property, I would
that a title once proved to be right and good, should ever
afterwards be registered and transferred in a proper local
Government-office, at any time, by payment of a trifling fee,
the same as stock in the funds,—and a considerate stamp, if
any.
Wills.—Under this head my system is this:. in every
local or county court I would devote offices for the proving
of wills, and the testator name and appoint one executor;
the other one in all cases to be the commissioner of the
court, whose duty should be to see the intent duly and
truly carried out—(l need not assign my reason).
Probate and Legacy duties repeal, as also insurance from
fire, a duty that I think disgraceful to any Government. I
will now add the tax upon windows, which is impolitic, hard,
Iliad severe, and presses unfairly, and ought to be repealed.
These are all virtually a tax upon property, which, if feces-
nary, saddle upon the right horse properly, under the head or
name of " Property-tax."
January, 31, 1849.