The Sun.
London, England, 1860-05-16 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON, WEDNESDAY EVENING, MAY 16, 1860.

lOUNTRY APARTMENI S.—To be LET,
\-1 Furnished, THREE BED ROOMS, a Sitting Room,
and use of a Kitchen, near a healthy village twelve miles
from London. The house stands in -a very extensive garden
and is dose to Buthy Park, at an easy dist ,nee from two
stations. Omnibuses piss within a few minutes' walk to and
from London, and the stations several times during the day.
re those seeking rural retirement and quiet comfort this ad-
vertisement offers unusual advantages. • Address, M. E.,
Hampton Wick, Middlesex.

aREAT,,„ WES TERN RAILWAY.-
WHITSI7NTIDE HOLIDAYS -RETURN TICKETS

- -
issued on SATURDAY, the 26th of May, and intermediate
days, will be available for return up to and including Satur-
day, the 2d of June.
GREAT WESTERN " RAILWAY. WHITSUNWI DE
lIOLIDAYS.—EXQURSIONS to the NORTH at LOW
FARES.—Trains will leave the Paddington Station at 10.20
4.m. for OXFORD (fares Gs 6d and 4s), Banbury (8s and Gs),
Leamington and Warwick (10s. Gd and 6s), Birmingham (12s
and 7s), Westbromwich, Wednesbury, and Bilston (128 Gd
and 7s Gd), WolVerhampton (13s and 8s), Wellington and
Shrewsbury (17s and 10s), Oswestry (18s Gd and 11s), Welshpool
(20s and 12s), Llangollen Road, Wrexham, and Chester (18s.
6d. and 11s), Birkenhead and Liverpool (218 and Its 6d); on
Saturday, May 26, returning on Wednesday, May 30 ; on
Monday, May 28, returning on Thursday, May 31 ; and on
Wednesday, May ZO, returning on Saturday, 2d of June. The
train will return from Liverpool (Landing Stage) at 10.30
a.m.

GREAT WESTERN RAILWAY. WHITSUNTIDE
HOLIDAYS.—EXCURSION to the SEASIDE.—On SA-
TURDAY, May 26, a Train will leave Paddington at 3.3)
p.m., for Chippenham, Trowbridge, Westbury, and Frome
(fares, 10s and 6s), Yeovil (11s and 7s), Dorchester and Wey-
mouth (12s and 8s), returning from Weymouth at 7 a.m. on
Wednesday, May 30.
GREAT WESTERN RAILWAY. WITITSUNTIDE
HOLIDAYS.—On Saturday, May 26, an Excursion Train
will leave Paddington, at 6.v0 p.m., for Bath and Bristol, re-
turning on Tuesday, May 29, from Bristol at 8.15 a.m., and
Bath at 8.45 a.m. Fares—Bath, 128. and Os ; Bristol, 14s and
78.

GREAT WEST ERN RAILWAY. WHITSUNTIDE
HOLIDAYS.—On WHIT SUNDAY, May 27, an Excursion
Train will learn Paddington at 7.30 a.m.' for Cirencester and
Stroud (fares Os and ss), Gloucester and Cheltenham (10s and
6s), and Ross and Hereford (128 and 8s), returning from Here-
ford at 6.30 p.m. the same day.
GREAT WESTERN RAILWAY. WHITSUNTIDE
HOLIDAYS.- On WHIT SUNDAY, the 27th of May, an

Excursion Train will leave Paddington at 7.43 a.m.., foi Ox-
ford (fares 6s 6d and 4s), .Banbury (8s and ss), Leamington
and Warwick (10s 6d and 6s), Birmingham (12s and 78),
Westbromwich, Wednesbury, and Bilston (12s 6d and 7s 6d),
farnodm (13siyWoolvlverelrihaammpptotonnat7 p.m.
and 8s), returning the same day,
laTnSEUxNeuTrlsDi
Excursion
Train Hgt HOLIDAYS.—On
AITI Y 1
eSWa elspSnarldWEd r tigtnioniSlUN'taitiboW.A3E-m3s.l7a,YWf2o7rl::Taplow (fares,
58., 3s. 6d., and 2s.- ed.), rwyford, Henley, Reading, Theale,
Aldermaston, IVoolhampton, Thatcham, Newbury, Kintbury,
and Hungerford 58. 6d., 45., and 35.) ; returning the same day
from Hungerford at 7 p.m.
GREAT WESTERN RAILWAY. WHITSUNTIDE
HOLIDAYS. —On WHIT MONDAY, May IS, an Excursion
Train will leave Paddington at 10.45 a.m. for Taplow, Twy-
ford, Henley, Reading, Theale, Aldermaston, Woolhampton,
Thatcham, Newbury, Kintbury, and Hungerford, returning
the same day from Hungerford at 7.0. Fares to Taplow, 55.,
3s. 6d., and 2s. 6d. ; to the other stations ss. 6d., 45., and 3s.
N.B.—For further particulars of the above Excursions,
time of return from intermediate stations, dm., see handbills.

SPORTING INTELLIGENCE.

BETTING AT MANCHESTER—TuEspAr.

Business was to-day almost confined to the events now
decided at Bath. The Wizard for the Derby was in bettor
odour than yesterday, 100 to 30 being taken a time or two
about him. Umpire and Thormanby were each in request
at their quotations. 21 to 1 was currently offered against
St. Albans, whom it is said pulled up lame on Saturday
last while at exercise. Loiterer was in some demand at 50
to 1, and those odds were taken to win a few hundreds
about The Rap and Cramond, and 1,000 to 15 once about
Traducer.

THE DERBY.
100 to 30 agst The Wizard (taken)
11 to 2 agst Umpire (taken)
6to 1 agst Thormanby (taken)
20 to 1 agst St. Albans (offered) •
20 to 1 agst High Treason (offered)
25 to 1 agst Horror (take 200 to 7)
50 to 1 agst Loiterer (taken freely)
50 to 1 agst Cramond (taken and offered)
50 to 1 agst The Rap (taken)
50 to 1 apt Sutton (offered)
1000 to 15 agst Traducer (taken)

BATH AND SOMERSET RACES.-TUESDAY.

Lansdowne Trial Stakes (Handicap) of .5 sous each, with
40 added ; winners extra. One mile. 17 subs.

Mr. King's Fitz Avon, by t irikol, 3 yrs, 6st 51b (inc.
51b extra) (H. Grimshaw) 1
Mr. S. Jacob's Amsterdam, 5 yrs, 9st (inc. 71b extra)
(Aldcroft) 2
Mr. Saxon's Lady Peel, 4 yrs, 7st 81b (Comery) 3
The following also ran :—Felicitas, Theory, Rara Avis,
Mushroom, Predictor, Catherine, and Sparta.
Betting-9 to 4 agst Amsterdam, sto 2 agst Fitz Avon,
6 to 1 agst Catherine, 7 to 1 agst Felicitas.

Fitz Avon made play throughout at the bend Predictor,
who was lying second, was driven over a post, and Am-
sterdam went on in attendance on Fits Avon, but never
quite got up, and was beaten by a neck ; a bad third ; Pre-
dictor trotted in.

The Biennial Stakes, of 10 sovs each, with 50 added, for
fro-yr-olds ; colts, Bst 101 b ; fillies and geldings, Bst
71b ; certain penalties and allowances. T.Y.C. Half a

mile. ¢0 subs.
Mr. Saxon's Big Ben, Bst 71b (L. Snowden) 1
Mr. Parkes's Matilda colt, Bst 10Ib (J. Adams) 2
Lord Strathmore's Shillelagh, Bst 101 b (Aldcroft) 3
The following also ran :—Bohemionne colt, Camerino,
Overton, and Bandit.
Betting-7 to 4,n Big Ben, 6to 1 each Camerino and
Overton, 7 to 1 each agat the Matilda colt and Shillelagh.
Custance weighed for Mr. J. Shelley's Vapour, Bst 41b,
but the horse did not arrive at the post in time to start.

The three placed were in front throughout, Shillelagh
leading until nearing the distance, where Big Ben took up
the running, and won a fine race by a head ; a bad third ;
Camerino, Overton, and Bandit were next.
The County Members' Plate (Handicap), of 50 sous. One

mile.
Mr. Saxon's Informer, 3 yrs, 6st (Midgley) 1
Mr. Grimshaw's Harlequin, 3 yrs, sst 101 b.. (J. Adams) 2
Mr. Stinton's Grillade, aged, 7st 71b (Gray) 3
Tho following also ran :—Pomena, Contract, St. Cla-
rence, Arcanum, Codicil, Volunteer, Table Bay, Albert
Smith, Robin Hood, and Waterford.
Betting-5 to 2 agst Pomona, 7to 2 agst Informer, 7to 1
agst Harlequin.
Won by three lengths; a head between the second and
third; Pomona close up. _ _ _

The Biennial Stakes of 10 sovs each, with 50 added, for
3-yr-olds; colts, Bst 101 b ; fillies and geldings, Bst 71b;

the second to save his stake. One rade and a half. 57

subs.
Lord Derby's Cape Flyaway, Bst 101 b (Aldcroft) 1
Mr. Merry's Brother to Rainbow, Bst 101 b (Custance) 2
Duke of Beaufort's Blue Ruin, Bst 101 b (A. Day) 3
The following also ran :—Dartmouth, Lupullus, South
Australian, and Loiterer.
Brother to Rainbow seemed! to have the race within his
grasp at the half distance, but Cape Flyaway collared him
at the Stand, and won by three • quarters of a length ; wide
intervals between the others.

The Kelston Stakes of 10 sove each, 5 ft, with 50 added;
weight for age. Certain penalties and allowances,
T.Y.C. 24 subs.

Mr. G. Fitzwilliam's colt by the Flying Dutchman out
of Bohemienne, 2 yrs, 6st 71b... (J. Adams) 1
Mr. J. Sargeant's Crater, 3 yrs, 7st 131 b .... (Charlton) 2
Mr. F. Robinson's Ariadne, 4 yes, Bst 91b (A. Day) 3
The following also ran :-Highwayman, Star of the
West, Sycophant, The Pope,, Reverie, and the Rover.
Betting-6 to 4 agst Ariad.ne., 9to 4 agst Rover, 7to 1
agst Bohemienne colt.
Won by two lengths; three lengths between the second
and third ; Sycophant, Highwayman, and The Rover were
next close together.
The Bath Handicap of 10 sell I each, 5 ft, with 100 added.

Winners extra. Once round ', about one mile and a half.

21 subs., eight of whom paid 5 sovs each.
Mrs. Osbaldestone's Maid of C ►rleans, by Autocrat, 3 yrs,
Est 71b
Mr. T. Stevens's Dreadnought, 3 yrs, 7st.. (Grimshaw) 2
Mr. Saxon's Jenny Longlegs, :3 yrs, 6st 121 b.. (Comery) 2
The following also ran :—S; tapleton, Philomel, Theory,
and Pomona.

Betting-6 to 4on Philomelo 6to 1 agst Dreadnought.

Won by a length; two lengths between the second and.
third.

LATEST DERBY BETTIJ LTG ON TIIE COURSE,
100 to 30 agst The Wiz ►r d -
9to 2 agst Umpire (taken)
13 to 2 agst Thorman day (taken)
13 to 1 agst Nutbour; a (taken)
20 to 1 agst Buccane ar (wanted)
25 to 1 agst Mainsto:
40 to 1 agst Sutton ( Olen)
St. Albans no t mentioned.

A QUA: TICS.

ROYAL LONDON YACHT CLUB.

The first regatta of the sea sc •n amongst the yachts of this
very popular club took place yesterday, and notwithstand-
ing the uncertain state of the weather, preceded as it had
been by days of heavy rain, there was a very large and
fashionable attendance on 'board the Prince of Wales
steamer, which had been ch Artered for the occasion by the
club, where every attention, in the choice viands and other-
wise, were paid to the comic r, its of the guests.
The following were the co c apeting craft :

Thin Class.
Station. Yacht. Tons. Owners.
1 Violet 9 Lord de Ros.
2 Haidee 8 Thos. Bartlett, Esq.
3 Surprise 8 Thos. Carr, Esq.
4 Clara
Extra I Match.
1 Mayfly
2 Eugenie
3 Spray 5.. ,„ George Haines, Esq.
4 Blue Bell 6 J. W. Ridgway, Esq.

For the first of these were pr,izes of £2O, £lO, and £5, the
drat Platy the atrs ,AzatviA tio priori woo 410

; the course in both being from Erith to the Coal House
Point and back to East Greenwich. Mr. A. Arcedeckne,
the commodore, was at his post early, and assisted by the
other officers of the club, every opportunity was afforded
the visitors of witnessing the match.

The start of the first match took place at ten minutes to

12, and all were round very prettily, the wind at the time
beitig due easterly. The Blue Bell took the lead very
smartly, and in beating down showed that she was admir-
ably handled by her owner. The Spray was the second
boat, and these two positions were retained in each suc-
ceeding mile. At 12 O'clock the larger, or those denomi-
nated the third class, were :also well started, the Violet
having, however, to encounter a mischance in setting
her topsail, which threw her much in the rear. .Di-
rectly they were fairly under way the liaidee took the
lead, and rota ned it throughout the whole race. The other
yachts wore at Gravesend, more astern of her, however, than
at Coal House Paint, where, owing to the wind veering very
considerably, they became closer, and rounded in the fol-
lowing time and order;—

Hours. Min. Sec.
Haidee
Violet
Blue Bell
Spray.
Surprise
Mayfly 2 16 .... 30
Clara

They now proceeded up against the ebb, which was very
strong, and the attention of the spectators was mainly di-
rected to the Bell and Spray, which far a length of time
made a beautifal race, much science being exhibited on
both sides. The Clara, then, becoming advantaged by the
wind, began to show her power, and certainly materially
mended her position ; the Bell improving, but the Spray
falling off. race finished in the following manner :
Hours. Min. Sec.
Haid e e
Violet
Surprise
Blue Bell
Clara
Spray
Mayfly

The worthy Commodore then presenter' the first, second,
and third prizes of the third class to Mr. Bartlett, Lord de
Ros, and Mr. Carr, and the first prize of the extra match to
Mr. Ridgway, the second being held in abeyance, owing to
the Spray fouling, as it was alleged, the buoy.

_REPEAL OF THE PAPER DUTY.

Last night a public meeting was held in St.
Martin's-hall, "to protest against the usurpation
proposed by Lord Derby to the House of Lords, in
the retention of the tax on paper, independent of
the House of Commons and the Crown. •*ln order
to attract the attention of passers-by a number of

men were employed to wali about in front of the
hall and in the adjoining streets, bearing placards,
on which were inscribed such questions as " Is the
House of Lords to govern the finances of the people
and the country ?" "Is the House of (Lords to de-
prive the Commons of its privileges ?" By the
hour fixed for the opening of the meeting a nume-
rous audience was collected. Mr. Sergeant Parry
was called to the chair. Among those on the plat-
form were Mr. Bright, M.P. ; Mr. Hadfield, M.P. ;
Mr. Lawson, M.P. ; Mr. Ingram, M.P.; Mr. Lea-
tham, M.P. ; Mr. Coningham, M.P.; Mr. Craufurd,

Mr. Padmore, M.P. ; Mr. Pese, M.P.; Mr.

Routledge (Eyfisham-mills) • Mr. It. C. Rawlins
(Hope-mills) ; Mr. Duncan M'Larcn, &c.
The CHAIRMAN said that a meeting had seldom
been called for the purpose of considering a more
interesting or important question than that which
was to engage their attention on that occasion.
One of the most valuable privileges of the people
had been assailed by the rash and insolent menace
of a few irresponsible men. (hear, hear.) The re-
peal of the paper duty had been settled long ago;
not only by the decided expression of the public
mind, but by the consent of the leading men of
both the great political parties, and by the distinct
vote of the House of Commons. They did not now

require to discuss that question. What they had
to consider was whether, after the representatives

of the people and the Crown had agreed on a finan-
cial scheme, such as the repeal of the paper duty,
any other body in the country had a right to in-
terfere. (Hear, hear.) A threat had been made
by Lords Monteagle and Derby that an attempt
would be made in the House of Peers to reject
the Paper•tax Bill on the second reading.
Using the mildest and most temperate lan-
guage, he could only express his conviction that
if the House of Lords, which was an obvious
anomaly—(hisses and cheers)—among the institu-
tions of a free country, ventured to usurp any of
the privileges of the House of Commons- or of the
people, the days of hereditary legislation were
numbered. (Hisses and cheers.)
Mr. BEAL moved the first resolution, which was
as follows:

" That the Excise tax on paper —an obstruction to lite.
rature and education, an impediment to commerce and in-
dustry, and a means of diminishing rather than incieasing
n
tdomt
ohfe
oemtLnhaosenr,
didarrevenue—hasnsetxttoho lase rejecttsimposition,
gnh the
ebbscetyeri
onbo
itsvl rinoe
of
noutrhl
odei
reit as
acirledatophnaieyl. t
wtyThd
b,O
hyeuoal
diftt Thfaboeo
be equivalent
tscatehxo ome
neither
HouseneCil
ote
hnn
e r
y
whose undoubted right it has always been to be taxed only
by themselves. That such a proceeding, being an act of
usurpation, would be derogatory to the dignity of the
Crown, subversive of the privileges of the House of Com-
mons and of the rights of the people, and would tend to
impair the authority of the House of Lords."
Mr. R. C. RAWLINS (Hope-mills) seconded the
motion.
Mr. BRIGHT, in supporting the resolution, said
it was several years since he addressed a public
meeting in London ; but he recollected that the
last time he did so they were assembled for the very
same purpose, as far as taxation was concerned, as
that which had now called them together. Looking
back to that time, and reflecting how slowly every-
thing good travelled in this country, they might,
perhaps, congratulate themselves on the progress
which they had made, for at that time so unjust
were our laws with regard to the press that every
labourer, however humble, who advertised for work,
was obliged to pay a tax of ls. 6d. before his ad-
vertisement could appear in a newspaper, while not
a farthing more was levied on an advertisement of
a column in length and concerning the sale of an
estate worth £lO,OOO a year. That tax had been
abolished, and the practice of advertising had greatly
increased. After that the newspaper stamp was
surrendered, and the result had been that in Lon-
don there were now three principal penny journals,
together with smaller and less impor tan t newspapers
iu almost every parish, and that throughout the
country a complete revolution had taken place with
regard to periodical literature. There remained,
however, an important branch of the taxes on
knowledge, which still remained unsettled. The
raw material of all our books and newspapers, that
which was, as it were, the basis of our educational
system, still remained taxed with a duty which one
would suppose could only be proposed and main•
blued in a period of utter barbarism. That tax
yielded a net annual revenue probably under
£1,200,000. That tax had been condemned by a
Royal commission, by the express decision of the
House of Commons, passed unanimously under the
Derby Administration, and by the Government offi-
cials, who were driven to acknowledge that it was
from day to day becoming more untenable, and that
it ought to be repealed. (Hear, hear.) It had been
condemned by a united Cabinet through the mouth
of the Chancellor of the Exchequer, and a bill had
been passed by the House of Commons declaring
that it should cease on an early day. (Hear, hear.)
Now, there was a party in the House of Commons
which was in intimate connexion with a party in
the House of Lords, and though the party in the
Commons was in 7a minority, it was alleged, he
knew not with what truth, that their confederates
were in a majority in the other house. When Mr.
Gladstone brought in his budget it was received
with such enthusiastic favour throughout the coun-
try that a far larger majority of the House of Com-
mons than was at first anticipated voted in support
of it. Not long after the introduction of the budget
an amendment was moved by Mr. Du Cane, one of
the members for Essex, the gist of which, though
it was rather roundabout in its terms, was that it
would be improper to remove or reduce the duties
on wines, silk, paper, and so on, and to make up for
the deficiency thus created by an increase in the
direct taxation on property. On the 24th. of Feb-
ruary the House of Commons, by 339 agaiinst 223,
decided in favour of the reduction or repeal of these
duties, and against the lowering of the income-
tax., On the second reading of the Pnper-tax
Repeal Bill, on the 12th of March, ara amend-
ment was moved by Sir W. Miles, to the effect that
the 'repeal of the paper duty was in expedient
at the present tiem, as it would entail th e addition
of 10d. in the £1 to the income and property tax.
The whole of that debate turned upon tl se question
whether the income tax should be 9d. wit h the paper
duty continued, or 10d. with the papea• duty re-
pealed ; and by 245 against 192 the Howie of Com-
mons declared in favour of a 10d. tax on :the owners
of property, and the total abolition of the most
odious of all forms of tyranny and taxati, m upon a
great and important branch of industry.. (Hear.)
Afterwards, on the third reading of the bill—when
most persons believed there would be no ;strenuous
opposition to it, for none had been mall 3 in com-
MittCep And it was rare, after a decifiiye crt,Yitii9A on

the second reading of a measure, that any great
effort was made to contest its further progress—the
third reading, he admitted.was carried by a majority
of only ten. (A Voice—Nine.) No, ten in reality.
(Much laughter, in which Mr. Ingram joined.)
Well, whether a majority of nine or ten, seeing that
a majority of 13 sufficed last session to overthrow
the Government, he. hoped it would be sufficient to
overthrow this most hateful and injurious tax.
(Hear.) It was important to recollect that not only
had the House of Commons condemned the tax, but
it had provided a substitute. (Hear.) Both bills
had gone up to the House. of Lords, and everybody
believed that this question was settled. Were the
papermakers criminals who had broken our laws,
who had forfeited our syrapatht P Were they to
be made the objects of the experiments of a House
of Parliament which for 200 years had had no ex-
perience in questions of trade or taxation'? (Hear.)
When a resolution passed the House of Commons
for the imposition or repeal of a tax, the usual
course was that the new system came into immediate
operation. Why, then, was it that in this case,
after the question had been settled by public opinion
and the House of Commons, this great trade was
again to be put on the rack and submitted to' Go-
vernmental torture ? He knew a papernigleer; who,
relying on the repeal, had undertaken the buililing
of a large mill. Another had bound himself to
provide paper at a decline of £l4 a ton the day
after the bill became law. Mills which had been
abandoned for years past and allowed to fall into
ruin were now beginning to assume a lively air and
to!exhibit signs of renewed activity. The repeal
gave promise of more employment and better wages
for the people, of the development of civilization,
morality, religion, and everything a people ought
to cherish. All those who worked to supply the'
literary appetite of England were enlarging their
journals and magazines and bringing out new
works at an unheard of cheapness in price, and all
this was being done under the belief that 200 years
of practice had settled the question.. When- the
Crown and Commons were agreed upon the repeal
of a tax, why should the House of Peers, which
during he whole of that period had never meddled
with such questions, step forward and dash the cup
from the lips of the people who were eager to satiate
their thirst ? (Cheers.) In comparison with this
question, a million of revenue or the existence of a
particular tax was of no consideration whatever.
He had been very much abused. and occasionally
ridiculed—(a laugh)—for having said that the con-
stitution of England was something which one could
not very well know where to find or how to lay
hold of—that it was not written down in any book
like the constitutions of some other more or less
favoured nations. But they did know some certain
things which all Englishmen had agreed to acknow-
ledge as principles of the English constitution. For
example, by the constitution, the people were not
to be taxed except by and through our representa-
tives in Parliament. (Hear, hear.) By the consti-
tution all supplies to the Crown for the service of
the year were gifts of the Commons. (Hear, hear.)
All bills with reference to taxation which were
brought into Parliament must make their first ap-
pearance in the House of Commons. That portion
of the Queen's Speech at the commencement of the
session which related to taxation was addressed,
not to the Lords, but directly and exclusively
to the Commons. The Chancellor of the Exche-
quer was always a member of the House of Com-
mons. He never heard of one sitting in the
House of Lords—if he did, he was afraid their lord-
ships would not always be able to rise in time for
dinner. (Hisses and cheers.) The estimates were
prepared for the information of the Commons ; the
Lords had no official knowledge of them whatever,
or of the votes which were passed by the Commons,
till the grants were embodied in bills and sent up
to them in order that they might take the form of
law. In the present instance the House of Com-
mons had sent up to the other House of Parliament
two bills. The first of these was that which added
ld. to the income tax; and the Lords having made
no objection to it, it had received the Royal assent.
The second was the Paper Duty Repeal Bill, which
their Lordships now threatened to reject, although
they had already passed the substitute for that tax.
(Hear, hear.) He must say he thought such con-
duct very like what was called a" take in." (A
laugh, and hear.) It was very like a fraud on the
people, and sharp practice to the House of Com-
mons. (Hear, hear.) Even supposing that —the
privilege of the Lords to repeal or impose a tax had
never been disputed, and that they had an un-
doubted right to do what they now proposed, it
would be, under the circumstances, a most unjust,
if not imprudent and insolent proposition, for them
to refuse to repeal a tax after having passed the
substitute for it. (Hear.) If the House of Lords
insisted en assuming entirely new functions, how
could the Commons conduct their business ? How
would the House of Commons know, when they
passed any of the votes in supply, that the Lords
would not reject it? Sucb behaviour on the part
of the Lords would throw the functions of Parlia-
ment into inextricable confusion, abil introduce un-
certainty of the most perilous kind into everything
connected with the taxation and expenditure of the
country. (Hear, hear.) The House of Commons
had provided £70,000,000 for the service of the
country. The Crown, through its responsible
advisers, had expressed perfect satisfaction with
the amount, and declared that more was un-
necessary, and yet the Lords, who had never
had the estimates before them, who could not
possess so much knowledge of the subject as
the Commons, stepped in and insisted that the
sum was insufficient by £1,200,000, the precise
amount of the paper duty. Seven years ago, when
Mr. Gladstone was formerly Chancellor of the Ex-
chequer, he carried through the House of Com-
mons a Succession Duty Bill, which was intended
to abolish an exemption, which the owners of free-
hold property had enjoyed for nearly 70 years,
from paying the tax on the passage of property on
demise. The bill went up to the House of Lords,
and Lord Derby denouncing it in all the_ power of
language, threatened its rejection ; but still it
passed. On the 25th July, 1853, on the second
reading of the bill, Lord Derby said," he was quite
ready to admit that the House of Commons was
quite right in vindicating its technical privileges,
as well as guarding its bona fide control over the
money of the country." He would like to know
what would become of their bona fide control over
the money of the country, if, after the House of
Commons had decided there was no necessity for
the paper duty, the House of Lords should con-
sider itself competent to maintain that Auty, and
justified in doing so ? The bona fide control of the
House of Commons would then have vanished en-
tirely, and the country would be handed over for
future taxation to the House of Peers, which was
not elective, and had heretofore never shown any
desire to accommodate the expenditure of the State.
(Cheers.) That no one might accuse him of con-
cealing the rest of Lord Derby's observation, he
would read the whole of it. His lordship con-
tinued—" But, at the same time, he would say
this, that if measures were to be introduced into
the House of Commons alterin& the whole financial
arrangements of the empire"—it could not.be said,
at all events, that the abolition of a single Excise
duty would have that effect—" measures imposing
new and unheard of taxes on new and extraordi-
nary principles of taxation—and it was asserted
that their lordships would have no power of alter-
ing a single word, of correcting even a mistake,
or of rectifying errors into which the House of
Commons might have fallen—that was in effect
I to say their lordships' house was a useless por-
tion of the Legislature"—(laughter and cheers)—
" and that as far as financial measures were
concerned, they had only to record the bills
framed by the other House of Parliament."
Leaving the particular grievances of the
papermakers, he asked them to consider what would
be the consequence if the principle established by
the sacrifice of many English lives 200 years ago—
(cheers)—were now tamely surrendered to the House
of Lords, which for the first time in our modern
history had affected to deal with the qxation of the
kingdom. It was bad enough in all Tonscienee to
find that the House of Commons, though, of course,
sympathising to some extent with public opinion,
yet in many respects most inadequately represented
it, especially on the question of taxation ; but, at
least the men returned by the people, if their votes
had not the influence which they ought to possess,
could protest in the name of their constituents
against any injustice which the Government, or a
majority of the House, might attempt to inflict on
them. But where were the representatives of the
people in the House of Lords ? There was no man
in that assembly with any sense of that responsi-
bility which he necessarily felt to tbe constituency
who honoured him with their confidence in the
House of Commons. We boasted of our love of
freedom, our newspapers filled their columns every
day with details of what men were doing in other
parts of the world, some in overthrowing, some in
building up noble fabrics of human liberty. The
people read these accounts with interest; some-
times he almost feared they allowed their feelings
to be excited even beyond what was good and rea-
sonable, but he besought them never for a single
moment to forget what waft being done, and what it