The Sun.
London, England, 1833-08-17 00:00:00

ANTI-ANNUITY TAX PROCESSION.

(From the Scotsman of Wednesday.)
In our last, we announced the fart of ate imprisonmen•
of Mr. Tait, for non-payment of the Annuity Tax, an,'
we have now to mention his liberation from gaol at th,
instance of a number of gent!emen connected with tie
Inhabitants' Committee, who requested Mr. T. to consent
to be liberated and conducted to his residence by his friend,
and fellow-citizens, as an expression of their high respect
for his spirited conduct. Mr. T. having complied witl
the request, a public meeting of the inhabitants was called
by public advertisement, to be held on the Calton Hill, on
Tuesday evening.
According to arrangement, most of the trades with
their flags, banners, and music, assembled on the !Mum'
at half-past six o'clock, for the purpose of being m irshallec
in a line of procession. The slope all along the side
of the Calton Hill was literally covered with spectators.
The Calton Hill, we are sure, has not been so crowded
since the visit of his Majesty George IV., in 1822,
and its appearance last night was truly anima,ing and spirit
stirring. In every group, the annuity tax and the clerg)
firmed the subject of conversation, and while some pitied
the Ministers as being the involuntary instruments of
had system, others denounced both the system and th 0,...
that tacily sulerni ted to be its instruments, and exressi.l
their determination to oppose to the uttermost the conti-
nuance of the impost.

About seven o'clock, Mr. Tait appeared at the gaol
gate, and was hailed with loud and lengthened cheers by
the immen,e mulritude there assembled. He then stepped
into an open carriage, drawn by four horses, which stood
the street. The procession wis thr n about to m •ve
off, when, much against the will of Me. Tait and the
Committee, the crowd took the horses trout the carriage-,
and with ropes drew it along the route of procession
which was along W eteiloo-place and Princes-street, to
Walker.street. As the procession marched along, it war.
joined by several other trades, who had been lite in
getting rea4y, and se'doin have we seen such a dense mas-
of individuals as Princes-street pres-nted on this occasion.
When the procession had reiehed Walker-street, Mr
Tait left the carriage tad entered his own house, where.
from the balcony, he addressed he meeting in a lengthened
speech on the subject of his imprisonment ; his reasons
fir submitting to be incarcera'e I, and in general on the
injustice and oppression of the annuity 'ax.
The procession then returned by Princes-street to the
Mound, where the trades were addressed • by Messrs. Sar-
geant, Law, Gunn, and Taylor. Resolutions were moved,
sr-corier', and agreed to, to the effect, that the meeting
conceive the connexion of the Established Church with the
Sta'e, to be injurious to the cause of religion, opposed to
the true principles of Christianity, and to the best interests
of the community. That they, feeling deeply impressed
with the impolicy of this connexion, would earnestly re-
commend to the Legislature their immediate separation,
and that a petition, founded on these resolutions, should be
transmitted to Mr. Abercromby, for presentation to the
Hou-e of Commons, at his earliest convenience.

The proces-ion then dispersed quietly and peaceably.
Among the flags and banners displayed on tile occasion,
we observed the fultiwing inscriptions—" Witness the
Tyranny of the Clergy," "No Tax on Conscience,"
" Edinburgh shall be free," " Union is Power," " We
will knock off the Iron Fetters by the Hammer of Liberty."
On one flag was painted a tree of eight branches, exhi-
biting the portraits of the City Clergymen,—a fellow
appeared to be applying a huge axe to the root of the tree,
which was nearly cut through.