, 1866-04-20

0CaLnpS nave DTOuSIlt LII S,0OUjVUOt., CnuS
more than making good the portion of
the Fire INSURANCE Duty ~relinquished
last year. The estimated income from
this source was 9,29O,OOOL. the sum of
26O,OOOL, having been allowed for the
reduction Of the duty, but the actual
income has exceeded the Estimate by
27O, The receipt from the Pro
perty and Income Tax shows the great
est decline; but the falling off is &C
counted for by the reduction of the tax
from sixpence to fourpence in the
pound, and the sum received is actually
IN excess of the amount anticipated, al
ter allowance was made for this reduc-
ton. The Income Tax at the beginning
of last year was raised at the rate Of
about 1,300,000t, for every penny, and q
sixpenny tax would therefore have pro-
duced 1900, OOOk !; a reduction Of two
pence in the pound would, of course,
cause a loss of 1900, O0OI, but of this
only 1,65O,OOOL was expected to fall on
1866; the anticipated income was,
therefore, 6,15O,OOOI., and it has, in fact,
proved to be $500, OOOL. The Revenue
from the Crown Lands continues to i'm
prove slowly, reaching this year 800, OOOE.,
or $1,000 above the Estimate, and
100000 above the Revenue of last year.
The Miscellaneous Receipts can never be
satisfactorily determined beforehand, but
if they include, as they should, the China
Indemnity, the total shows a falling off of
$50, O90L. below the Estimate, perhaps
due to a backwardness on the part of
some Colonial Government in repaying
lis contribution on account of military
expenditure. The estimated expenditure
of 1866 was Sc, 139, OOOk., and it is be-
lieved that the real expenditure varied
but little from this sum. The actual in
come has proved to be 81, 812, OOOI and
the surplus of the past twelve months
may be reckoned at something like
1870 OOL.
The following graceful letter has been
written 10y the Queen to Mr.. George Pea
body
"Windsor Castle, March %, 1866.
THE Queen hears that Mr.. Peabody
intends shortly to return to America, and
she would be sorry that he should leave
England without being assured by her
self how deeply she appreciates the noble
act of more than princeIy munificence by
which he has sought 10 relieve the wants
of the poorer class of her subjects resid-
ing in London,
ut is an act, as the Queen believes,
wholly without parallel, and which will
carry its best reward in the consciousness
of having contributed so largely to the
assistance of those who can little help
themselves.
The Queen would not, however, have
been satisfied without giving Mr.. Peabody
some public mark Of her sense of his mu-
nlicence, and she would gladly have con-
ferred upon him either a baronetcy or the
Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath,
but that she understands Mr.. Peabody 10
feel himself debarred from accepting
such distinctions.
at only remains, therefore, for the
Queen to give Mr.. Peabody this assurance
of her personal feelings which she would
further wish to mark by asking him to
accept a miniature portrait of herself,
which she will desire to have painted for
him and which, when finished, can either
be sent to him to America or given 10 him
on the return which, she %rejoices to hear,
he meditates TO the country that owes