The Sun.
London, England, 1851-04-08 00:00:00

out exception, of property as well 55 of income. We
cannot, however, suppose that as he has been so deci-
sively defeated on that point, ha will not be prepared to
vote on future occasions in favour of its modification.
His own words will remain on record against him.
He declared that "if Sir ROBERT PEEL had any idea
that the impost would have been made per-
manent, no doubt he would have felt it his
duty first to have it entirely remodelled and recast."
This vindication of the departed and lamented states-
man, by his former colleague, from one of the few
blots remaining on his memory, must be regarded as
highly satisfactory—first, as showing that if the
Minister who introducad the tax were now living, he
would, under the altered circumstances of the case,
be one of the first to insist upon a revision of the
assessment—and, secondly, that the support of the
great financier of the Protectionists may he looked
for whe❑ the question is fairly raised, as it must be
some time before the measure has passed through all
its stages in the House. Sir CHARLES MOOD may be
disposed to look upon the division of last night as
conclusive, but he will fins that many such divisions
must take place before the country is again subject
to the incubus from which it has just escaped, al-
though that escape may be but for a brief period.

AS to Sir CHARLES WOOD himself, all we
can say for him is, that he still blindly and
obstinately adheres to the " conclusion" he had for-
merly arrived at. \Ve confess that we had not much
expectation of any improvement so far as he was
personally concerned, but we did hope that the good
sense of his colleagues would have induced them to
interfere so as to remove the chief cause of the loss of
popularity by the Government during the present
session. He would blunder on recklessly ; but some
of those who had the misfortune to be associated
with him might have interfered to arrest
his progress on " the road to rain." They have not
done so, however, and on their own heads the conse-
quences must fall. Of him we may adopt the lan-
guage of Blackwood, who in the number for the
present month truly remarks—
" This inveterate Bulget-bungler has more than once
ere this led the Whigs to tho very verge of destruction.
We might apply to him with strict propriety the lines
which Dryden has placed in the mouth of the Prince of
Dulnos—

.had well alone my perfect image bears,
Mature in dulness from his tender years;
Shadwell alone of all my sons is he
Who stands confirmed in full stupidity.
The rest to some faint meaning make pretence,
But Shadwell never deviates into sense.
Soma beams of wit on other souls may fall,
Strike through, and make a lucid interval;
But Shadwell's genuine night admits no ray,
His rising fogs prevail upon the day.'"
Yes, the " genuine night" of the Ministerial SHAD•
WELL " admits no ray," but we might have looked
for some dispersal cf the fogs from his coadjutors, who
" To some faint meaning make pretence."

They have, however, disappointed the reasonable ex-
pectation, and we must therefore prepare ourselves
for the contest that is thus forced upcn us—and the
once Liberal Ministry can only blame themselves for
the result, whatever it may be.
The Hon. Gentleman the Member for Leominster
was the only person who placed the subject in the
true point of view. His was unquestionably the
speech of the evening, and he enunciated the soundest;
principles put forward during the debate. He:
clearly pointed out the objections to the amend-
ment and to the resolution, showing that he,
was obliged to dissent from the former,
and that he could not approve cf the.
latter. He declared himself favourable " to•
the principle of an income-tax, because it combined
that system of direct and indirect taxation, which
was the means of making the wealthier classes con-
tribute in a rnanner proportioned to their means to the
revenue required for defraying the public expenditure'
of the country," but he showed a just appreciation of
the evils of the present system, and put forward the
strongest argument for considerable alterations
in Schedules D and E. " Many a man," said the
Hon. Gentleman, " might have a nominal amount
of income, the whole amount cf which he was not.
able to dispose of ; and no one would venture to deny
that there was a difference between a life income and
a permanent income, between an income which a
man enjoyed as long as he lived, and after his
death left to? his descendants that came after him,
and an income which he held on a tenure so frail and
fleeting as his own life. And if there was a distinc-
tion between a life income and a permanent income,
there was a still broader distinction between
either of those incomes and incomes which were
held on contingencies more precarious than life itself,
such contingencies as fortune, health, reputation,
and employment. A man in that position was
bound by every consideration of duty, by every
dictate of prudence and foresight, not
merely to lay by a portion of that income for the pur-
pose of assisting those who came after him to make a
start in life, but for the support of his own declin-
ing years or decaying health." These are
opinions to which we have often given expres-
sion, and which must be responded to by the
people, which must find an echo in every unpreju-
diced mind—an echo which must disturb the " con-
clusion" at which Sir CHARLES WOOD has arrived
with so much self esatisfaction—considering that "as
the tax was so unjust to all, it might happen not to be
so very unjust to any one."

A satisfactory set-Cement of the Ministerial diffi-
culties appears to be altogether impracticable until
after a dissolution. With the House of Commons as
at present constituted, there really cannot by possi-
bility be any stable adjustment of an Administration.
To adventure upon any such extraordinary step to-
wards the elucidatiota of the problem would, however,
be just now, to say the very least of it, in the highest
degree inconvenient. Therefore it is that the matter
is for the time being. procrastinated. Therefore it
is that the Legislature is disposed to accept the
return of the present Administrators to office in
preference to what would be yet more un-
satisfactory—namely, a reference of the ques-
tion at this particular moment to the opinion
of the electors throu g hout the United Kingdom.
Rather than jeopardii:ie the whole of the gigantic
scheme of the Industrial Exposition, the people
themselves are prepare d to submit to the perpetuation
in power of a Cabinet Bo effete as that presided over
by Lord JUIN RUSSEE.L. Until the autumn, conse-
quently, it is anticipat,ul that the affairs of the nation
will be allowed to rer a sin in their present lamentable
state of confusion— ev, the impediment preciously
standing in the way of an appeal to the
country being removed, the constituencies will again
have the privilege of selecting the most
eligible of their respet--Itive candidates. For a while,
therefore, many of the most cherished plans of im-
provement must remain in abeyance, the multitude
exercising that patience which is alone left to them as
a duty, coupled with al ie consolation of an implicit
confidence in the cbarac ter of the next Parliament.

Undir existing circumstances, of course, it can-
not be matter of am •prise to find the various
parties and sections of parties among poli-
ticians flattering them selves with the anticipation
of an overwhelming triumph over their antagonists.
The paeans chanted ei lready in expectation of those
hypothetical victories a tre only the rational result
of the illusions indulges I in for so long a period by
the majority. Demons trations have been made so
noisily by the Protect:, onists throughout the United
Kingdom, that it is bui , natural to find the organs of
the agriculturists alrti .cly exulting in the looked-for
acquisition of the rein:' of government. The Free-
traders, on the contraT y, satisfied with the complete
success of their agitrit ion, have for a considerable
period indulged in wl) at to their leaders must have
appeared a deliciou s as well as an unwonted
tranquillity. Having- witnessed the re-organi-
zation of the mere: catile system of the empire
upon the basis t F their principles, they
shrunk back sevt a ally into the quietude
which proved to them 41oubly delightful after the ar-
duous struggle with the advocates of monopoly.
The Anti-Corn-law R'kymer played no more on that
oo t e
env pe
ni p e whoseo
sbtr ei
ga
oirnagnst had
and
thrilledth
the most
sttoptrheej
uhd
caer
dt s.
The Catechist of Prot,e ction put forth no longer those
posers of inquiries wh 111 helped as much as anything
to lay bare the parad( n :es and the sophisms of the
sticklers for imposts 11 t the national provisions. The
orators of the Lenguie, the eloquent Alember for the
Tower Hamlets, the impassioned representative of
Oldham, and, conspieux us among all, the plain-spoken
genius of COBDEI asst 1 of his principal colleague in