The Sun.
London, England, 1842-10-18 00:00:00

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LONDON
TUESDAY MORNING. OCTOBER 18, 1842:

Some of our Tory Contemporaries havesought
to extenuate the defalcation of the revenue by
pointing to the late Turn-out, and such events,
they think, will not happen every quarter; and,
by referring to the general election as having
swelled the Excise revenue in the last year. A
little reflection on the mode in which Excise du-
ties are levied, will, we think, dissipate the delu-
sions they have built on these circumstances.

There is no longer any duty on beer, and all
the falling off caused by a diminution of the
consumption of that article will show itself, not
immediately, but hereafter, in the diminished
consumption of malt, which yields more than a
third of the Excise revenue. The Excise duty on
spirits is not levied on the publican's stock, but
at the distillery, and unless the Turn-out stopped
distillation it is not likely to have had much
effect on the Excise revenue this quarter. It
began, be it remembered, when the quarter was
half over. The Excise duties are levied on
auctions; they were not much suspended by the
Turn-out. Neither did it much interfere with
making bricks, or glass, or paper, or soap, nor
will& the post-horse duty, nor the manutitcture
of vinegar. If for a short season the con•
sumption of various articles was checked,
the effect will be more perceptible, we
believe, in future quarters than in the
quarter just expired. This statement will serve
also to refute the deductions drawn by the Tory
journals from the last general election, the ad-
antages of which to the revenue were less
shown in the quarter in which it fell, than in
subsequent quarters, when more malt was made,
and more spirits distilled. We are still inclined
to think, therefore, that the condition of
.our
revenue, so far as that is derived from other
sources than the Income-tax, is most deplorable,
while it is a lamentable proof of the sufferings
of the people, and the want of national prosperity.
We feel not, on this account, the least
despair fur the country. The source of its great-
ness and its wealth is the mind of its inhabitants.
This shows no sign of decay, but is as active as
ever, and is now particularly busy in tracing
out the causes of the national suffering. The
energies of our people are yet, we believe, un-
diminished. All the physical sources of their
power—the fertility of the soil, the productive-
nets of their mines, the teeming abundance
of their seas, are as full as ever. The hand of
the artisan has not lost its cunning, nor
is his surprising industry lessened. Pestilence
has not thinned the people, nor has the
sea devasted a single acre of our soil.
The cause of the national distress is plainly of
cwn imposing; it is not any curse inflicted
by the hand of nature, except that it follows our
transgressions of her laws, and our hope that
this cause will speedily be exposed and re-
moved, is derived from the vast mental energy
that is now engaged in scrutinising the public
condition. The inquiry will show, we believe,
that freedom of industry is the one thing needful,
but whatever it shall demonstrate to be required,
that, we are sure, the good sense of the country
will speedily secure.

An inquest has been held at Cheltenham on
the body of CHARLES BEALE, a person recently
confined in the Northleach House of Correction,
whose death is said to have been caused by the
severe discipline of the prison. After examining
some witnesses, the Coroner adjourned the in-
quiry to Friday, that he might communicate with
the authorities. We are not yet, therefore, en-
titled to say anything positive of the cause of the
man's death. The authorities may place the 5ub-
,;2410,11i rtpt light, and induce us to came to
li• .nclusion from that which the
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