The Sun.
London, England, 1851-04-22 00:00:00

OtTionhut

LONDON, TUESDAY, APRIL 22, ISSI.

Considerable dissatisfaction was very naturally ex-
pressed at the announcement of her MAJESTY'S inten-
tion to " open" the Crystal Palace with " closed
doors." The absurdity of the bull itself sufficiently
indicates the anomaly and incongruity which would
inevitably have marked such a proceeding. Here
Was an exposition of industry, not provincial in its
character, not metropolitan, not national, not Euro-
pean, but embracing within one comprehensive range
the whole family of mankind. It was promoted with
the avowed intention of celebrating the progress al-
ready made by humanity in carrying out the destinies
of modern civilization. It was no party movement,
no class demonstration, no exclusive festivity in ho-
nour of any one section of the masses—but a cosmo-
politan display of the products of art, industry, and
manufactures, calculated to promote good feeling
while tending also to excite emulation. The arena of
this international exhibition was one, moreover, of
appropriate importance : not the chief city of a sub-
ordinate state in Christendom, but the capital of that
great empire of the Anglo-Saxons which ex-
tends farther than the dreams of ALEXANDER,
or the colonies of CXSAR, or the conquests
of NAPOLEON —an empire comprehending in
itself peninsulas, and islands, and even arohipla-,
goes, territories in each of the four great continents
and a new one of no inconsiderable dimensions,
namely, the southern continent of Australasia. It
was in the metropolis of this gigantic empire of
Britain that the representatives of the industry of the
nations of the earth were to assemble during the
approaching season, and the inauguration of their
assembly was to be rendered more peculiarly re-
markable by the presence of her Most Gracious MA-
JESTY the Sovereign of these realms of England.
Yet, at the very moment when every one prepared to
exult at the proximity of this auspicious ceremony,
the island was "startled from its propriety" by news
that the public would be excluded from witnessing
its celebration. No wonder that the first exclama-

tions of surprise dropped down gradually into sounds
not very unlike, in some instances, the mutterings of
indignation. No wonder the satisfaction with which
the multitude were anticipating the commencement of
the Exhibition was somewhat damped by intelligence
so peculiarly sinister and inauspicious. All kinds of
conjectures were, of course, indulged in by the mal-
contents, including those of a certain dread expe-
rienced as to the possibility of an assassination. As-
suredly, if such were the actuating motives in this
very extraordinary determination, fear had blinded
her MAJESTY'S advisers to facts which would have
been apparent under other circumstances to those
gifted only with the most ordinary amount of
common sense. Reason would have told them, had
they not perversely deafened themselves against her
persuasive accents, that a deed of this kind might be
much more readily effected outside than inside the
Crystal Palace. Besides, had these lugubrious whis-
perers of alarm such little confi•ience in the loyalty
of ber MAJESTY'S subjects that they could dream of
any such atrocity being ventured upon without a cer-
tainty on the part of the assassins of being instantly
sacrificed to the frenzy of the popular vengeance ?

Shopkeepers we may be, cotton-spinners and manu-
facturers, but with all our thoughts of £ s. d.,
and with all our dusty habits of business,
there is still, we trust, sufficient chivalry left amongst
us to impel the vast body of the English population
to avenge even the pettiest insultjo our Most Graci-
ous SOVEREIGN. When SHARSPERE says, in Hamlet,
that " there's such divinity doth hedge a king, that
treason dares not peep at him," he might have added
that that protection is somewhat enhanced by the
loyalty of a devoted and energetic multitude. Against
any calamity, therefore, of the kind imagined there
was the most effectual of all defences that could pos-
sibly surround the QUEEN—the bulwark of a nation's
love, and of an almost unexampled popularity. Our
beloved MONARCH has appreciated the force of this
consideration, and with that regard for the wishes of
her people, which she has ever evinced from the pe-
riod of her accession, has at once consented to allow
the purchasers of season tickets to be admitted to
witness the ceremony of inauguration. For this
ready compliance with a generally expressed desire
we have reason to be thankful, in the first instance,
to the urbanity of the QUEEN, and in the next to the
assiduous exertions of Lord GRANVILLE and the other
members of the Executive Committee.

In consequence of the publicity given to the open-
ing of the Exhibition by her MAJESTY, it is intended,
we believe, to impart to the occasion an air of pomp
and grandeur of nearly unexampled magnificence.
With an edifice like the Crystal Palace, adorned by
such accessories., crowded by such an assemblage,
and invested with such associations, there will as-

suredly be no difficulty whatever in rendering the
event of its inauguration one of the most memorable
in the reign of VICTORIA. Among other things, it

has already been suggest, d, we observe, that from
the noble organs already erected in the build-

ing should flow music of an ,appropriate
character, so to combine the blandishments
of thi., about the divinest of the fine arts, with the
charms of other and equally charming decorations.
One of these superb instruments we had yesterday
ourselves the gratification of hearing as we stood in
the centre of the Palace, looking to the east and west

•
along the great transept, and listening to the solemn
tones of the diapason as they rolled down those
sublime perspectives of blue and amber. To afford
any adequate notion of the effect of the whole spec-
tacle would be difficult if not altogether impracti-

cable. The exquisite proportions of the structure, the
lightness and delicacy of its colouring,
the symmetrical blending of its solid and
transparent materials, the astonishing variety,
and, in a thousand instances, the amazing
beauty of its contents—some gorgeous, others curious,
others ingenious, others vast and complicated, others
again remarkable for their compactness and sim-
plicitv—render the whole scene one without a blemish
and without a parallel. Seeing the novelty as well its
the magnitude of the enterprise, it is earnestly to be

hoped that every endeavour will be made by the autho-

cities to render the ceremony of its inauguration one

worthy not only of the occasion, but of the age, the
. __

country, and the SOVEREIGN. That such efforts will
be adventured upon we rest entirely satisfied, from the

energy already displayed by those entrusted with the
conduct of the arrangements. As the project has
been undertaken magnanimously by England, we
trust that the Executive Committee will so act in

every particular as to render it creditable not only
to England but to Christendom.

Some short-sighted persons have thought proper to
censure the Liberal Members, more especially the re-
presentatives for the metropolitan districts, for yield-
ing too easy an assent to the imposition of the house-
tax. According to these sagacious personages, the
fiscal reformers should have " died on the floor of the
House" before they sanctioned so iniquitous and
partial a tax ; they should have insisted on the total
and unconditional abolition of the window-tax;
there should be no substitute for that which was so
utterly indefensible in itself ; but the blot and
stain should at once and for ever be
erased from the national statute-book. Such are
the complaints that have been
some of
faithful
indefatigably perform the im-
brought forwardwibteh
eaxhviiebwiteodf
timowpaairrdiingthtehe confi-
dence which should
to their charge. We trust,
o
however, that the people fnecwr t avnith honestlyuti en confided
de-
cide, that will pause before they de-
ration, o
they will consider tfheotnhrdpeaelmennulyatutahrlteose
question under consid, alternative
afforded,
who
afforded, before they venture to c
unwillingly yielded to the CHANCELLOR of the Ex-
to be carried
CHEQUER, and permitted his resolutions
without a division.
Sir CHARLES WOOD, in framing these
creso-
lutions, displayed a certain degree of mis-
chievous ingenuity.
''e
could not be subdivided, that it
tnwtroived i
would
not thatact they
et
ic
to affirm the part that related to the abolition of the
window-tax and negative that respecting the house-
prabl

tax. He took advantage of the circumstance that
the duty on light and air was technically a house- tax,
and that the windows or orifices only affected the
assessmetA. This argument was about of equal value
to that which declared " that persons were not im-
prisoned because they happened to be in debt,
but for contempt of the SOVEREIGN, or the
Court in which proceedings were instituted, in
refusing to obey the order for satisfaction."
It, however, proved effectual for the time being. It
was proposed that the duties granted by certain Acts
of Parliament upon dwelling-houses, and levied and
assessed according to the number of windows or
lights therein, shall be levied and assessed upon in-
habited dwelling-houses, according to the annual
value thereof, in manner therein set forth.
Now, if this resolution were affirmed the house-tax
would be imposed, if rejected the window duty would
be continued in its present unequal, oppressive, and
impolitic form. We believe that there cannot be a
second opinion that the proposed tax, although bad in
itself, is a decided improvement on that previously in
operation. It is an " instalment of justice," and it
would be an act of but scanty wisdom to forfeit all
by grasping at a full measure of relief. The Liberal

Members, if they had pursued such a course, might
have been praised for consistency, but it must have
been at the expense of their judgments and under-
standings. It was, however, distinctly and unequi-
vocally stated that the very first opportunity would
be taken to ascertain the feeling of the House on the
question. Indeed, Sir BENJAMIN HALL gave notice,
that if it were not competent for him this session to
do so, he should certainly on as early an occasion
as he could, move for the repeal of the house tax,
This candid announcement, while it gave warning to
the CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER of the unmiti-
gated and inextinguishable hostility of the Hon.
Baronet to that unjustifiable impost, should have
fully satisfied every fiscal reformer, and prevented
the utterance of the complaints and reproaches to
which we have already alluded.

As to a house-tax, per se, it is unnecessary for us
to repeat our views on the subject. We are, and
ever shall be, the strenuous advocates of direct
taxation equitably and fairly imposed. We desire

_ .
to do away with all indirect taxes, that
press unduly on industry, compel persons to contri-
bute to the support of the national establishments, not
in proportion to their means, but in proportion to
their necessities, and extract much larger sums from
the pockets of the people than find their way into

he Exchequer. We desire to see the glorious prin

ciples of free trade fully and fairly carried out—that
England should become the emporium of the world,
and this object can only be attained by gradually
reducing, until we ultimately abolish, all import
duties. We desire to increase our native
productions, to stimulate every description of
manufacture, and these can only be achieved
by repealing the excise laws, and rendering every
Englishman's house, in point of fact and truth, as it
is now in theory—" his castle." But taxation is a
necessary evil Unless we would repudiate the national
debt, we must provide for th© liquidation of the
liabilities imposed on us by the extravagance of our
forefathers ; unless we would see our native land
hurled from the lofty position she has achieved, we
must maintain our establishments in full efficiency.
There must, then, be direct taxation, but it should be
equitable, and the house-tax is not equitable. For,
in the first place, the exemption of all under
20/. value will exonerate many persons well able to
defray the impost. And again, why should house
property be more heavily charged than any other
description of real, or even than any kind of personal
property ? This is the real question to be answered,
and we have never heard a satisfactory response even
attempted. If a substitute for the window-tax were
necessary, why not have increased the charges under
Schedules A and C ? This would have satisfied all
parties, and been an additional step in the right direc-
tion; but Sir CHARLES WOOD cannot, even by acci-
dent, blunder into the right course, or do anything
calculated to lessen the odium or diminish the load
of unpopularity which he bas brought on his unfor-
tunate colleagues.

THE FRENCH REPUBLIC.

We have received the National, the only journal
published yesterday in Paris, Easter having been
kept as a close holiday at all the other newspaper
offices.

The National has a long article on the chimerical
and illegal nature of all attempts that may be made
to prolong the powers of the PRESIDENT contrary to
the provisions of the Constitution, and warns all those
engaged in them of the consequences.
General CAVAIGNAC will, it is announced, be
a candidate for the Presidency of the Re-
public, and his chances of success are
considered rather flattering, as from his known up-
rightness of character no one doubts but that he will
implicitly obey the provisions of the Constitution,
and at the end of hfs four years' service retire, without
seeking to be re-elected. It is therefore probable
that all, whether moderate Republicans, Legitimatists,
or Orleanists, who dread the ambition of the Impe-
riali,ts, and who are not strong enough to bring
about their own solution, will rally round CAVAIGNAC
and the Constitution.

Algiers journals to the 15th have arrived. The
Governor-General returned to that city in the
evening of the 14th, from his excursion to Phi-
lippeville. During his trip the Governor saw
all the authorities, and other persons who
wished to communicate with him, visited all
the public establishments, reviewed the national
guards and troops, and inquired into the state
and wants of the province. The Akhbar says :
A small column, consisting of two battalions of
Zouaves, of a squadron of Spahis, and of a detach-
ment of artillery was sent to the district of the Beni
Mansour, in Kabylia, and on the 9th it was sharply
attacked by a numerous band of Kabyles, under the
Cherif MOUL AY-BRAIIIM. In the engagement the
French had fifty men placed hors de combat, and
amongst the killed was M. HUSSON, Lieutenant of
Zouaves. It is announced that General BLANGINI,
on hearing of this event, and on learning that agita-
tion is rapidly increasing amongst the Kabyles of the
Jurjura, left for Aumale, where he will establish his
head-quarters , and the disposable reinforcements are
to follow him, so as to enclose the insurrection within
the smallest limits.
The Bourse was firm, with little business doing. The
Five per Cents. opened at 921. 25c., and closed at
92f. 40c. The Three per Cents, closed at 57f. 30c.
Orleans Railroad Shares, 825 f.; Rouen, 632 f. 50c.;
Havre, 260 f.; Great Northern, 475 f.; Avignon, 206 f.
25c.; Vierzon, 437 f. 50c.; Basle, 146 f. 25c.; Bordeaux,
400 f.; Paris and Strasburg, 370 f.; Tours and Nantes,
277 f. 50c. Exchange on London, short, 25f. sc.
BUSIDIESS DONE IN FOREIGN RAILWAYS AT THE
LONDON STOCK EXCHANGE, APRIL 21.
Boulogne and Amiens, 9% Central of France (Orleans
and Vierzon), 17% ex div.— Luxembourg, 3X—Northern
of France, 14% Orleans and Bordeaux, 4—Sambre and
Meuse, 4—Tours and Nantes, 6'A —West Flanders, 31,x.