The Sun.
London, England, 1847-11-20 00:00:00

I.lTiening

LONDON, SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 20, 1847

Another—the fifth—of the annual soirees of the
Manchester Athenaeum attested yesterday evening
the continued success of that remarkable and most
interesting institution. Eloquence has again streamed
from the lips of another—its fifth--chairman ; but it
is no longer the eloquence of the novelist, the senator,
the barrister, or the statesman, it is the scholastic
oratory and picturesque rhetoric of a distinguished
living historian. We cannot but admire the impar-
tiality of selection which has hitherto imparted such
a beautiful dissimilarity to the different anniversaries
of the foundation of the Athenaeum. Political parti-
sanship has in no manner influenced those to whom
this privilege of selection has been entrusted. The
literary reputation of the individual has from its
very commencement been regarded as the only qua-
lification, and the fraternal sentiments inspired by the
republican spirit of literature, have, for the
time being, extinguished all the qualms of
faction, and all the isolating predilections of clique.
The Genius of Humanity has exercised his undisputed
sovereignty over the hearts and imaginations of the
multitude, without the most shadowy distinction of
class, of policy, or of religion. His footsteps have
been followed successively by those who had already
acquired celebrity, the one by the pungency of his
satiric wit, the other by the poesy of his declamation,
and the other by the unaffected grace of his intelli-
gence, and the alluring suavity of his disposition. It
was but just, therefore, that the chair of the Man-
chester Athenmum should be occupied, on its fifth
anniversary, by one worthy in every particular of
following such predecessors. After the hearts of the
auditory had been stirred by the magic language
of those four gifted and impassioned orators,
it was it reasonable that another should be looked
tbr possessing intellectual powers of compatible emi-
nence. Bearing in mind the inimitable characteristics
of the writings of CHARLES DicxENs, and the en-
nobling principles of brotherly love inculcated by
him with such an irresistible combination of drollery
and tenderness—remembering the caustic sarcasm
which is the predominating embellishment of the
Parliamentary orations and political novels of DlS-
RAELl—recollecting, moreover, the dramatic and
tOrensic genius of TALFOURD, and the union of so
many accomplishments and of so much spontaneous
gentleness in the person of Lord MoRPETSI, it was
essential that no ordinary man should be chosen as
their successor, or otherwise that the character of the
assemblage would for this year be eclipsed. By in-
viting Professor ALISON to the presidency of the
Athenaeum the difficulties of the alternative were
obviated.

Supposing even that the principal advantage result-
ing from this admirable institution were the periodi-
cal congregation of distinguished men in the Free-
Trade Hall at Manchester, it would be eminently
deserving of eulogium, seeing that the annual soirée
of the Athenxurn has heretofore rendered their minds
subservient to the interests of the population. It
has conduced to the fraternization of solitary genius
and collective mediocrity. It has brought into
acquaintanceship the moral labourers and the phy-
sical labourers of the age—the people and their
teachers—the wisdom of the closet, and the ignorance
of the mart. If only in this, it has been beneficial,
for it has aided the course of_ popular education by

holding up to the admiration of the horny-handed
mechanics the shining lights of their generation.
lf, according to the vulgar adage, " one fool begets
another," a converse aphorism must be equally cor-
rect in application, and by familiarising the illiterate
many with the cultivated few, by enabling the
million to behold the animated marble of
the sculptor and the brilliant canvass of
the painter, to read the narrative of the his-
torian, and chaunt the numbers of the bard, to
hearken to the strains of the musician, and to the
voice of the orator, an innate affection for knowledge
may be awakened in the bosoms of the uncultured
artizans, and a natural appreciation of the True and
the Beautiful may be respired in the atmosphere of
the workshop.
A discourse more peculiarly adapted to the
audience, or more eminently characteristic of the
speaker, could not by possibility have been delivered
than the one pronounced yesterday evening by
ARCHIBALD ALISON, the historian of Europe since
the days of the French Revolution. It was demon-
strative of the connexion which has existed since the
creation of the world—from the most remote anti-
quity down to these our days—between industry and
knowledge, between handicraft and philosophy, be-
tween commerce and education. This admirable
dependence of mind and matter, the one upon the
other, was illustrated by Professor ALISON by a
felicitous enumeration of the most celebrated
seats of learning. It was the erudition of the
magi of Egypt, as well as the passage of the cara-
vans through the wilderness, which imparted such
authority to the sceptres of the PHAROAHS. Athens
did not owe its prolonged dominion and its immortal
memory more to the sophists who taught in the
grove and under the porch, than it did to one signifi-
cant circumstance—" the vicinity of the harbour of
Pirleus to the temple of the Acropolis." Rome be-
came the mistress of the world not only through the
sages of the senate and the occupants of the rostrum,
hut in like manner through " the hum of merchants
in the maritime cities which glittered along the
shores of the blue sea." Constantinople, again,
which "perpetuated for a thousand years longer the
pomp and majesty of the C26SABS," was indebted for
its strength alike to its treasures of art and eru-
dition and to its contiguity to the waters of the Dar-
danelles. In Florence the din of trade did not drown
the melodies of DANTE. In Venice the activity of a
commercial city did not impede the pencil of TITIAN.
In Genoa there was visible that mercantile enterprise
which had given birth to the golden intellect of
COLUMBUS. In Lisbon the necessities of the market
had produced the daring of Vasco DE GAMA, and the
encitements of the studio had evoked the song of
CAMOENS. Other kingdoms afforded the historian
examples with which to " point the moral" of his
harangue, and to testify how intimate and beneficial
was the association of energies perpetually shared
between Genius and Commerce. Beyond this
Professor ALISON maintained the advantages cer-
tain to accrue from the continuance of such
an institution as the Athenw um in such
a city as Manchester, by enunciating a sublime
truth—a truth worthy of being inscribed in gold
upon our portals—" What," said he, " what is life
but the education for eteritity ?" Such thoughts as
these cannot sink too deeply into the hearts of the
community, for they are (if rightly viewed) the seeds
at once of individual eminence and national ex-
altation.

After the auditory of the Manchester Athenaeum
had drank in to the last syllable the classic eloquence
of ARCHIBALD ALISON, their civic enthusiasm was
aroused by the appearance and address of RICHARD
COBDEN, and their loyalty to their country enkindled
by the American volubility of RALPH EMERSON.
There was a homely sagacity, moreover, in
the manner in which the festivities were brought to
a conclusion, in obedience to the advice of the chorus,
which tells man to "be merry and wise!" It was
fitting that the strong drink of wisdom should be di-
luted by the sparkling waters of merriment, and that
before the dancing commenced the comic words of
GEORGE CRIIIKSHANK should tickle the serious faces
of the company into laughter.

On Wednesday we pointed out the great proba-
bility that there would be a serious deficiency in the
national revenue, and the consequent necessity that the
wants of the country should be supplied, either by
the imposition of some new tax or the increase of
some of those already in existence. Even if there
should beno such decrease in the public revenue as we
have anticipated, and that the returns from the ordi-
nary sources of revenue would be sufficient to pro-
vide for the discharge of the interest of our public
debt, and the proper maintenance of our naval, mili-
tary, and civil establishments, a full investigation
should take place during the present session of Par-
liament into the ways and means by which the Ex-
chequer is to be replenished. It must be borne
in mind that the imposition of the property
and income-tax was only sanctioned for a limited
period, which will speedily expire, and that under
any circumstances application must be made to the
Legislature to justify its continuance. The whole
question of taxation must, therefore, be brought
before the representatives of the people, and we trust
that they will not be contented to legislate blind-
folded, or without fully examining into the policy of
the present system, and considering whether more
judicious, and at the same time more equitable prin-
ciples, might not be substituted for those at present in
operation. Great changes have taken place within a
few years. The doctrines of free trade have tri-
umphed, and the people have proclaimed that every
species of monopoly must be abolished. Those
measures that: would have been expedient or
necessary under the former state of affairs,
might possibly be highly impolitic when regarded in
connexion with existing circumstances. We now
desire, by every means practicable, to interchange
the products of our own and of other lands. We
have abolished all protective imposts. The foreigner
is as free of our markets as our own fellow-subjects.
Our great object is that he should be induced to re-
ceive our manufactures in exchange for his commo-
dities, and not to demand specie in payment therefor.
Every means, therefore, should be taken to develop
the industrial resources of our country, and for that
purpose to abolish, or materially modify every tax
that unduly presses on the labouring classes, and
operates as a bar or impediment to production.
Another important consideration is to adopt such a
system of taxation as will yield the largest amount to
the Exchequer in proportion to the sums extracted
from the pockets of the people.

Now, in every respect, the most objectionable
description of taxation is that which is comprised
under the head of " Excise." The expense of
its collection amounts to more than six per cent. on
the sums received, or nearly double that of collecting
the property and income-tax. In addition
to this, the manufacturer must of course cal-

culate his profits not merely on the actual
cost of producing the article, but also on
the amount of duty he is . compelled to pay
to the excise authorities. A similar profit
is required by the various parties through
whose hands the article passes before it comes
to the consumer whether native or foreign,
who of course must ultimately defray all these
accumulated charges. We believe that on a strict
calculation being made, it would be found that
the several Excise duties, which produce to the Ex-

chequer on an average something less than fourteen
millions sterling, cost the consumers more than
twenty millions, being a positive loss of six millions
sterling, or an unnecessary increase in the cost of
production of nearly 50 per cent. Is it necessary to
say how greatly the consumption of the articles
whose prices are thus enhanced would be promoted
both at home and abroad by the alteration of the
system?

There are other points connected with the Excise
which are even still more intolerable. There are
sundry rules and regulations of the most arbitrary
and oppressive character enforced on the manufac-
turers, and even on the traders in these articles. No

man's house is sacred from the invasion that may at
any time take place. Night or day he may be in-
truded on. An anonymous information, or even the
suspicions of a prying official, will be sufficient to
justify a domiciliary visit. In fact, the entire of the
Excise code is wholly inconsistent with the liberties
of the people. It also prevents, as we have on a
former occasion stated, the improvements that might
otherwise be effected in the process of our manufac-