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LONDON, THURSDAY, MAY 6, 1841.

FIRST GRAND CONCERT OF THE SEASON.
Honoured by the Especial Patronage of Her MAJESTY the
QUEEN DOWAGER.
MISS CHAMBERS, the-- BANKER'S
DAUGHTER, be2's to announce her MORNING
CONCERT, by kind permission of Monsieur Laporte, at her
MAJESTY'S 4ILEATRE on FRIPAY 7th May, when' she
will be kindly a4sisted by Grisi, -111adaine
sioni, Mrs. Aveling- Smith, Aliss Bruce Wyatt, and Madame
F. Labliche ; Si2iior Rubini, Signor Lablache, Signor F. La-
blache, Signor So!a, and Signor Tamburini. Grand Piano-
forte, Mdlle. Katharint Bott ; Harp, Mille. D'Escaurrin ;
Horn, Signor Puzzi ; Conductor, Sigilor M. Costa.
Boxes, Sta'ls, and Pit tickets of Miss Chambers, 10, Davies-
street, Grosvenor• squire, where a Plan miy be seen, and Pit
tickets at the principal Lihraries and Music Shops.

EXCISE DUTIES.
The following remarks on this impost ,are
taken from the Fourth Number of Brande's
Dictionary of Science, Literature, and A.rt,, just
published

ABOLITION OF THE CORN MONO-
, POLY.—REVISION OF THE IMPORT
DUTIES—THE BUDGET.
The whole political conversation is absorbed with the
important announcements made on Friday night. The
Chancellor of the Exchequer and the Government have
been studying the Repoit of the Committee on Import
Duties to some purpose. They have promised measures
which will raise the commercial community from one end
of the country to the other in their favour—they have
adopted a principle that must, sooner or later, succeed—
they have determined to abolish the system of protective
monopoly, and to adopt duties for the sole purpose for
which their imposition can be justified, the raising of re-
venue—and they have boldly proclaimed to the House and
to the country the alternative, the proposed reduction or
additicnal burdens on the industry of the poor, and ulti-
mately a property-tax. The country has to choose be-
tween the two, and we have not the least doubt of the re-
sult. In the House they may meet with defeat, but an
appeal to the country will confirm their opinions.
Nor is this the whole of the valuable promise held out
on Friday night, The President of the Board of Trade is
to bring forward several practical alterations in other
parts of the tariff, such as the duty on coffee, and the duty
on French wines, to meet the requirements of the new
commercial treaty about to be signed.
It is stated confidently in the Tory circles, that, not-
withstanding the plain twaddle of Mr. Goulburn, the whole
strength of the Opposition is to be brought down to defeat
the Ministerial plan, when introduced in the shape of reso-
lutions, and they say that they are sure of a majority.
This is not unlikely; the Conservatives, par excellence, are
reckless enough for anything; but if they do defeat the
Budget in the House, they will have to answer for it to
their constituents without delay, for there will be a disso-
lution, to try the issue beteeen monopoly and justice.
Nothing can exceed the delight which the statement has,
given to every Reformer that we have seen, and it is a joy
that will be participated in by every part of the community.
The 3linisters of the Crown have done their duty, and
it now rests eith the people to support them in the ap-
proaching struggle. Let petitions be poured into Par-
liament on behalf of the measures that have been an.
nounced, and a death blow will be given to the principles
of monopoly, from which it is impossible that they can
recover. Whether the battle is to be brought to a close
in the present Parliament, or in that which is to follow,
it is alike the duty of the people to make their opinions
known, and the result cannot, in the end, be doubtful, if
they act with sufficient promptitude and determination—
Glasgow Argus.

Excise Duties, in Revenge and Finance, are duties ire-
posed on articles produced or 'manufactured at home,
w! i!e. the
possession of the producers or manufacturers.
They were introduced into England by the Long Parlia-
ment in 1553, being then laid or. the makers and venders
of ale, beer, cider, and perry. The Royalists soon after
falloe ed the example of the Republicans; both sides de-
c:aring that the excise should be continued no longer than
the te, mination of the war. But it was found too pro-
due ive a source of revenue to be again relinquished; and
when the nation had been accustomed to it for a few ?ears,
tie Parliament declared, in 1649, that the impost of excise
ti e most easy and incliff rent levy that could be laid
upon the people. It was placed on a new footing at the
Restoration ; and notwithstanding Mr. Justice Blackstone
says, that "from i:s first original to the present time, its
very name has been odious to the people of England,
it ha3Continued progressively to gain ground; and is at
this moment imposed on several important articles, and
furnishes nearly a third pact of the entire public revenue
of the kingdom.
For the more easy levy of the excise duties, England
and Wales are divided into about fifty-six collections, some
of which are called by the names of particular counties,
others by the names of great towns. Where one county
is divided into several collection;, or where a collection
comprises the contiguous parts of several counties, every
such collection is subdivided into several districts, within
which there is a supervisor; and each district is again
subdivided into a out-rides and foot-walks, within eacli of
which there is a surveying officer or gauger. Some excise
duties, that were justly objected to, have been repealed
within these few yezrs; aud, with the exception of the
duty on glass, which interferes injuriously with the
manufacture, we are not sure that there is one of the exist-
ing duties thct can be fairly objected to on principle,
though the rate of duty might, in some instances, be ad-
vantageously reduced. It has been said, that the excise
duties "greatly raise the cost of subsistence to the labour-
ing classes." But this assertion has really no foundation.
In fact, the only excise duty that can be said to fall on a
necessary of life is that on soap, which produced in 1838
Oa Great Britain ) 809,0311 ; but as the population of
Great Britain amounts at present to about 18 000,000, the
soap tax cannot, at an average, impose a burden of 11d. a
year on each individual. Uwe estimate its annual presswe
on a labouring family of five persons at from 2s. 6d. to 3s.
we shall not be within but beyond the mark.
The only taxes, in the various departments of the reve-
venue, that truly can be said to fall on articles neeesfary
for the labourer, are, besides soap, principally those on
tea and sugar. We incline to think that the duties on
these articles might be materially reduced without affecting
the revenue; but, however that may be, it cannot be truly
affirmed that they entail any grievous burden on the labour.
irg classes. The entire nett produce of the excise duties
in Great Britain in 1838 amounted to 12,775,9651., of
which the dories on spirits and malt, that is, on spirits and
beer, produced no less than 8 604,115/. Ira ',eland during
the same year, the excise dutie, amounted to 1,974 5661.,
of which the spirit and malt duties furnished +shore four-
fifths, or 1,795,1651, The rate at which this revenue was
C(lleeted was nearly 6A- per cent. in Great 13, itain, and
9i per cent, in Ireland. Now, we are bold to, say, that
no equal amount of revenue was ever raised with -so little
inconvenience or injury to the contributors. Esen though
they were not required by the public exiger.cies, the duties
on spirits obstruct a pernicious habit, and should not he
given up. They are the best of all possible duties; and
the only thing to he attended to in their impositi)n, is not
to carry them to such a height as to defeat their object
by encouraging smuggling. We have yet to learn, sup-
posing they arc not carried beyond this limit, that a single
good objection can be made to these duties.

CLOSING OF THE PRESENT EXHIBITION.
1-4 itiristi INSTITUTION
PALL-MALL.

The GALLERY for tha EXHIBITION and SALE of
the WORKS of BRITISH ARTISTS, IS OPEN DAILY
trom Ten in the Morning till Five in the Evening, and will be
CLOSED on SATIIRLAY, May 15.
Admission, Is. Catalogue, Is.
WILLIAM BARNARD, Keeper.
N. 3. The Gallery will be re-opened early in Jane with a
Selection of Pictu•es by Ancient Masters, with those of De-
ceasel British Artists.

STATE OF TRADE.
(From the Manchester Guardian.)
M ANCHESTER. —There has been no change in the tone
of the market since last week ; the demand con-
tinues exceedingly 'limited, and prices, both of goods
and yarn, gradually declining; being now on the ave-
rage fully as low as at the lowest point in December,
although good cotton is fully a penny, and inferior
cotton a ha'fpenny, dearer than at that time. The
situation of the spinners and manufacturers is conse-
quently very painful, and the working of short time is
gradually extending. The spinners of Ashton, Staly-
bridge, Hyde, and the neighbourhood, hale begun
pursuant to the agreement which we mentioned on Wed-
nesday last) to work four days per week ; and those in the
neighbourhood of Bacup will commence on Monday next ;
but we understand that no agreement on the subject has
yet been come to at Blackburn or Preston.
ROCHDALE FLANNEL MARKET, MONDAY, MAY 3.
There is very little change in the flannel market to-day,
except a reduction in prices. There has been very little
doing in wool ; and prices about the same as those of last
week.

SHIPPING INTELLIGENCE.
(LLOYD'S.)
LONDON, MAY s.—Wind this day at noon light breeze
from S.W., fine clear weather.

The obscurity and complexity of the excise laws has been
ly complained of. It is needless to say, that they
ought to be brief, clear, and level to the apprehension of
every one. But, so far from this being the case, they are
in most instances lengthened, contradictory, and unintel-
ligible. There were at no distant period some forty er
fifty Acts in existence having reference to the glass du-
ties, and at this moment front twenty-five to thirty hate
reference to the paper duties, and so for the others. It is,
in fac., alt but impossible for any one to tell what the law
really is on many pcints; so that the trader is left at the
mercy of the officers, and a wide door is open to favouritism
and fraud. This disgraceful stoic of things migl.t, how-
ever, easily be remedied by getting the Treasury or the
Excise to prepare a short abstract of the law as to each
duty, drawn up in the clearest and least ambiguous manner
possible, and without any of that verbosity, repetition, and
technical jargin that infects Acts of Parliament, and ren-
ders them all but incomprehensible to ordinary persona.
A manufacturer abiding by this abstract should be held t
have abided by the law, and should not be Its ther queF-
tined on the subject. A measure of this sort might be
easly carried into cffict. It would be an immense im-
provement, and would go far to obviate the only good ob-
jection to the excite duties.

DEAL, MAY 4.—Wind W.S.W.—Arrived the Friendship,
Richmond, from St. Michael's Remains, the Penelope, for
St. Lawrence.
PORTSMOUTH, MAY 4.—Wind S.S.E.—Arrived the Sa-
=rang, from London for Madras. Sailed, Prince Rupert, for
New Zealand.
COWES, MAY 4.—Arrived the Prince Rupert, for New
Zealand.
DARTMOUTH, MAY 3.—Arrived off, the Diamond, "Taylor,
for Calcutta ; Lady Katharine Barham, Freeman, Jamaica.
FALMOUTH, MAY 3. —Wind N. to N. N. E., fresh breeze.
Arrived the Eugenie, Cosel, for Nantes. Sailed, the Shel.
drake, packet, for the West Indies, Tagus, and Vigo.
PLYMOUTH, MAY 4.—Wind E. S.E., strong.—Sailed the
St. Anne, for Quebec.

THE LIZARD, MAY 3.—Arrived off, the Vesta from Char-
leston for Elensburgh.
SCILLY, Mar 2.—Arrived the Argus, from Cardiff for
Portsmouth, N.H., leaky, and must he hauled ashore; Vin-
tage, William, Oporto, for Jersey and Bristol, leaky. The
Rapicle, from Rio Janeiro to Antwerp, put in here this morn •
ing with loss of main and mizen masts, &c., has had seven feet
water in her hold, and it is expected must discharge.
LLA NE LLY, MAY 3.—The Effort, bound to London, on
leaving the harbour this morning took the ground in Llanelly
Dock Channel, and is so much damaged that she must dis-
charge.

DEPTFORD ANTI-CORN-LAW
ASSOCIATION.

DUNDALK, MAY 3.—The —, Jackson, from Workington,
(coal laden) struck a rock off the Mount of Corby, yesterday,
and sank, crew saved.
t LIVERPOOL, MAY 4. —Wind S. S. E. , moderate. —A rrived
the Independence, from New York. Sailed the Princess
Royal, Robinson, for Calcutta ; Athol, Bombay ; Frances,
Barbadoes ; Jane, Demerara ; Stormont, Belize ; Caledonia,
steamer, Halifax; Sylvanus, Jenkins, New York ; Leo, Mon-
treal.

[An error or two having yesterday occurred in the following
Petition, we re-insert it corrected.]

Petition unanimously adopted at a crowded
meeting, called by public advertisement, in Dept-
ford, on Monday, and lying for signature at the
White Swan and various other places:

To the Honourable the House of Commons in Parliament
assembled,
The Petition of the Members of the Deptford Anti-Corn-law
Association and others.

JERSEY, MAY 3. —Wind S.W.—Hebe, Le Boulteller, Rio
Janeiro ; Pelican, Labrador.

BRISTOL, MAY 3.—Arrived the William Thompson, Ro-
berts, from Jamaica ; Miranda, Cape de Verds.
SWANSEA, MAY 3.—Arrived the Enchantress, Edgar, from
Cuba; Providence, Hicks, ditto.
DUBLIN, MAY 2.—Sailed the Cousens, for Quebec.
CORK, MAY 2..—Comet, Gilpin, St. John's, New Bruns-
wick ; Larch, ditto.

Sheweth—That your petitioners are connected with trade
and navigation, and live in continual sight of the memorials of
England's naval greatness, which they have been taught is
mainly founded on the same.
That the existing Corn-laws amount to a confiscation of
their property, of the same nature as would have been inflicted
on the owners of the soil, if the owners of the commercial and
water-borne properties within the country had prohibited the
sale of the produce of the soil in a free market.
That your petitioners also believe the wealth, revenue, and
standing of the country in relation to foreign State;, to be cut
down in the same manner as if your petitioners had roguishly
and foolishly procured the prohibition of toe free sale of the
produce of the soil, for the sake of importing more provisions
from abroad.

BRIDLINGTON, MAY 4.—Tne Susan, from the Humber
(store laden), foundered off Darlington ; crew saved.

THE LIFE AND LITERARY REMAINS OF
L. E. L.—We are requested to state that " The Life and
Literary Remains of L.E.L.," by Laman Bla,ichard,
Esq.. in 2 vols. small Svo., with Portrait, is published
this day by Mr. Colburn, of Great Marlborough-street,
The materials for this work are derived exclusively from
authentic sources ; from her own notes and communica-
tions; from the statements of her nearest relatives ; from
her long aud continued correspondence with most intimate
friends, confided for the purpose; and from their recollec-
tions of personal intimacy with her. Every interesting
particular connected with her literary life has been selected
from a mass of accurate information to which no one could
have access but the friend whom she had solicited to be-
come her literary executor. Mr. Colburn has also this day
published, " Three Years in Persia and Koordistan,"
George Fowler, Esq., in 2 vols. small Bvo., with nume-
rous illustrations. A work comprising a vast fund of in-
formation, which is likely to have considerable influence in
causing to be established a direct commercial intercourse
between Great Britain and Persia.

They therefore pray for justice and compensation, first,
through the removal of the prment Corn•laws by the subtrac-
tion of three shillings annually from every grade of the exist-
ing scale ; and afterwards, through the substitution of bounties
on the importation of foreign corn, by corresponding augmen-
tations of three shillings annually on each grade of the existing
scale, till the bounties equal the pi esent duties, and then to be
vontinced for twenty-:ix vears, or no long as shall correspond
to the period during which the property of your petitioners
has been subjected to confiscation. With reservation always,
that such bounties shall at any time be commuted for a per-
manent tax on rent, of such magnitude as to your Honourable
House shall be proved to be a fair equivalent on the part of the
owners of the soil.

INQUEST.—On Tuesday evening, at six o'clock,
Mr. Baker, the coroner, and a respectable jury, assem-
bled at the Fir Tree public house, in Church-lane,
to inquire into the death of Abraham Wieller, aged 14,
and Edward Wieiller, aged 8, who lost their lives at the
late fire in Whitechapel. John Bowles, a seafaring
man, about a quarter to twelve on the night before, on
leaving the house in which the jury were then sitting, oh.
served the house No 4, Church-lane, and which was
nearly opposite, on fire. He instantly went over and
forced the door open, and proceeded through the shop to
a stairs in the passage, where he found a female in her
night dress, and took her into the street. The female
whom he had so released appeared to him as if she had
been in bed, and disturbed from her rest by the flames ; and
alien he had left her in the street safe he was going into
the house again, when he was prevented by a policeman.
A short time after he saw a man, whom he subse-
quently asceitained to be Abraham Burling, the owner
of the house, jump from the second floor window
iiito the street. He fell with considerable violence
on the pavement, and his fall broke both his legs by the
uncles. He was carried to the London Hospital in a dread-
ful state. Witness also saw a female, whom he understood
to be the mother of both the deceased, jump from the first
floor window. She waa caught by some person in the street.
Mr. Weilier, uncle to both the deceased, stated that on
the night before he went to the house, No. 4, Church-lane,
oppos to where his sister-in-law lodged, about eight o'clock,
and remained there untill about five minutes before eleven
o'clock. Ou leaving them he closed the door after him, and
efter going down stairs, passed through the shop. He did
not observe any person there. The gas was on, but he did
not perceive the slightest smell of fire ; nor did he see any
danger; nor could he in any way account for the fire.
One of the Jury complained of the inattention of those
who had the care of the parish engine, in never at-
tending with either the parish engine or the fire escape
ladders. It was also complained of, that George Wright,
who is paid a salary from the parish of Whitechapel for
taking care of and attending with the engine and fire es-
cape ladders, had also a situation in the docks, and an-
other in the County Fire-office, and scarcely ever attended
to the former duty. Several of the Jury men were of opi-
nion, that had Wright attended to his duty, as engine_man
to the parish, and brought the escape ladders, which were
kept not 300 yards from the spot, to the fire, the lives of
the two boys might have been saved. The Coroner would
write to the Vestry Clerk on the subject, so that something
might be done to prevent such negligence for the future.
The Ccronerthen summed up the evidence, and; the Jury
retured a verdict of Accidental Death in both cases.
The Annual Meeting of the British and Foreign
Bible Society took place yesterday, in the great room at
Exeter Hall, which was filled in every part, the body of
the Hall being occupied chiefly by ladies, and the platform
by noblemen and gentlemen ; among whom we noticed
Lord ,Mountsandford, the Earl of Chichester, Mr. Plump-
tre, M. P., the Bishop of Winchester, the Bishop of Chi-
chester, and the Bishop of Ripon, with man'. other active
supporters and fr;ends of this Society. The Right Hon.
Lord Bexley took the Chair.
HINTS TO ANGLERS.—A fins trout, weighing
upwards of albs , was taken with a gorge-bait in the long
reach of the Thames, at Pangbourn, last week; two pike
have also been captured, one in the same wale-, weighing
nibs , and or.e near Cavershana Bridge, weighing pilbs.
the river about Caversharn abounds at present, with shoals
of small perch. The fishing season in the Henley water
commences with the ensuing week; we understand that it
abounds with large pike and barbel,—.Reading Alerggrp.

.Y'‘-"elf‘e