The Sun.
London, England, 1825-02-18 00:00:00

'of the evening, sent a message for permission to
examine divers Commoners, namely—Mr. V.
Fitzgerald, Mr. F. Lewis (the Revenue In-
quiry Commissioners), &c. before their Lord-
ships' Committee "on the State of Ireland ;"
a Committee that is proceeding very actively
with its labours, and daily has an uncommonly
full attendance of Peers, with the Marquis
of Lansdown in the Chair. Their Lordships'
request was eventually complied with. Another
subject of considerable interest to the country
was mentioned by Mr. Moberly, on presenting
petitions against all the Assessed Taxes, as bur-
densome and grievous in their operation, and of
expensive collection.
.11e said he should move
their total repeal, March B—because the
Chancellor of the Exchequer could afford
to repeal the whole of them. They produced
3,000,000, while, according to accounts just
printed by the House, there was last year paid
into the Exchequer, a Surplus of 6,587,802 ;
(Vide Parliamentary Paper, No. 16 to Feb. 18),
and he thought such amount would be better in
the people's pockets than given to support a
" delusive Sinking Fund." Mr. Moberly gave
notice that he should at the same time move the
repeal of the " Beer 'fax," as a partial duty,
affecting the poorer classes only, but retaining
the Malt Tax, as equally operating on the seve-
ral classes of the community.

[MORNING CIIIIONICLE-1
We received last night Brussels Papers to
the 17th of February. The account of the
produce of the subscriptions in Amsterdam
for the sufferers from the late inundations is
highly honourable to the Dutch character. Al-
ready a million of florins has been subscribed
in Amsterdam alone, and one house is said to
have subscribed 250,000 florins. In all times
the Dutch have been distinguished for their
public spirit vnd forwardness in all acts of bene-
volence. Louis Buonaparte details some very
interesting particulars of (heir humanity in
relieving the sufferers from a great fire at
Layden. It used to be the fashion in this
country to abuse the Dutch, but we should like
to know what people has ever equalled them in
all deeds of philanthropy. We used to pique
ourselves on the readiness with which we came
forward with subscriptions in the cases of etner-1
gency ; but how very inferior we are in this
respect to the Dutch I To take a well known
instance The subscriptions for the relief of the
Irish Nation after the utmost exertions, and
recurring to every expedient for exciting the
public sympathy, produced only in this Empire
and its dependencies, including even St. Helena,
the sum of 300,000/. that is only three times as much
as the single town of Amsterdam has subscribed
in a day or two. This superiority of the Dutch
over other nations in liberality is in a great mea-
sure owing to the manner in which wealth is dis-
tributed among them. The whole property does
not descend to one son, but is divided equally
among the children ; so that the heartless extra-
vagance of great wealth, and the shiftiness of
straitened circumstances, is more rare with them
than with ourselves, and, economy being habi-
tual, there is always something to spare for exi-
gencies such as the present.