have been made or given to or for the use of any such parish or extraparochial place, or the produce thereof, and in any such case to direct that the distribution of the proportions of such devises, bequests, or gifts, or the produce thereof as shall be so apportioned, shall be made and distributed by the incumbent or spiritual person serving the Church, or by the churchwardens of any such distinct and separate parish, district parish, or district chapelry, either jointly or severally, as the said Court of Chancery may think expedient; and it shall also be lawful for the said Court of Chancery to apportion between the remaining part of such parish or place as aforesaid, and such separate divisions or districts, any debts or charges which may have been before the period of such apportionments contracted or charged upon the credit of any Church-rates in such parish or place; and all such apportionments shall be registered in the registry of the diocese in which such parish or place shall be locally situate, and duplicates thereof shall be deposited with the churchwardens of such parish or place, and of each such division or district as aforesaid, and in all such cases the costs shall be at the discretion of the said court; and such apportioned debts or charges shall be raised and paid by the parish or place in which they may be apportioned, in such and the like manner as the entirety was to be raised and paid, or in such manner, and under such provisions and conditions, as the said Court shall direct; and when any securities may have been given for the same, the Court may order new securities to be given for the apportioned debts by such persons and bodies, and in all respects as the said Court may direct; and all securities shall be valid and binding; and the powers and authorities given to the said Commissioners by the herein-before recited Act, passed in the third year of the reign of His late Majesty King George the Fourth, with respect to the apportionment by them of such devises, bequests, gifts, and charges, shall, after the passing of this Act, with respect to the future exercise of such powers and authorities, cease and determine."

It will be fully perceived by all persons, that the remedy is here given by a simple petition to the Chancellor, and not by bill. The cost of this former proceeding is trifling; the latter is well known to be so expensive a remedy, that it is but rarely applied. The populous parishes of St. Bride and St. Andrew, Holborn, are already getting their petitions framed for the Chancellor, we are informed, and there can be no doubt that the first judge in equity, knowing fully the spirit of a bill brought in by his own Cabinet, will give a decision as favourable as just. We trust also that the much abused trusts of parishes—charitable trusts-will be put by the same high authority on something like an equitable and satisfactory footing. The Commissioners for building new Churches had the power given to them, under the Church Building Statutes, of dealing effectively with the

charitable trusts, and of dividing them among the new divisions of parishes, but declined to exercise it. In fact, as that commission had no power to examine evidence upon oath, the case with them differed widely from that of trusts brought under the vigilant superintendence of a Court of Equity.

We take all these points as indicating on the part of Government a wish to strengthen the hands of the Presbyters in their administrations. We knew well its excellency, and we received with gratitude the boon of Sir Robert Peel's Act; but we must tell Sir Robert, and we do it fearlessly, that the Church expects at his hand a general endowment measure for all new Churches. The pew system is one that all localities cannot support; but the expenses of all localities are pretty nearly alike to the minister. If Sir Robert has done much for the Romanists, he must at least do as much for the Catholics. And to this latter appellation the Anglican Church possesses the justest of titles, since she does not hold in a local system having all its excellency in Rome, but in a broad adherence to that catholicity of excellence that is neither Constantinopolitan, Roman, Syrian, Chaldæan, African, or Abyssinian, but assuredly Christian. We do not ask Sir Robert Peel "to gild refined gold, and paint the lily,"-to make more splendid that portion of our Hierarchy which is already sufficiently so; but we do call on him to raise every minister's income into that respectable position that may place him independent of his congregation, and enable him to give his full, undivided energy to his spiritual calling. If matters be suffered to be as they have been, certain are we that the Church's downfall is sealed; for though the Jews of old, when they built the Temple, had each of them his weapon in his hand, his sword girded by his side, and so builded, yet is it not to be expected that any powerful system of excitement should last beyond a given period. The poor incumbent may for a time be ready to do his devoir nobly and sincerely to his uttermost, but human energies cannot support the incessant charge of an extensive parish, the task of bringing up and educating, possibly, a large family on scanty means, the necessity for additional exertion in literature and tuition, called in as aids to eke out his scanty pittance, and at last, however gallant his mien and determined his early demeanour, he must sink under exertions to which anything short of immortal energy succumbs.

ART. X.-1. Speech of the Right Hon. Sir Robert Peel, Bart., in the House of Commons, 14th February, 1845.

2. Official Accounts of the Board of Trade relating to the Trade and Navigation of the United Kingdom, 1845.

3. 8&9 Vict. c. 37, intituled " An Act to regulate the Issue of Bank Notes in Ireland, and to regulate the Repayment of certain Sums advanced by the Governor and Company of the Bank of Ireland for the Public Service." 21st July, 1845. 4. 89 Vict. c. 38, intituled " An Act to regulate the Issue of Bank Notes in Scotland." 21st July, 1845.

The

THE sole object of all legislation is the welfare of the people. This is a maxim universally admitted but frequently overlooked by those who have the privilege to govern. It comprises the employment of means for imparting moral and religious education, providing against foreign aggression, maintaining civil order, and establishing a system of commerce and finance under which all ranks and classes may accumulate wealth, and securely enjoy the fruits of their industry. These are the ostensible objects which every Government professes to have in view. The means adopted for their attainment are necessarily dependant upon the circumstances of the country, and the ability of the men to whom its affairs are entrusted. The wants of an enlightened people will always be declared as soon as they are felt. sagacity of some statesmen enables them to anticipate these wants; the genius of others is aroused to lofty exercise only when an emergency has arisen; while the prudence and circumspection of a third class confines them to the beaten path of public opinion. But whether the measures adopted originate solely with the Government, or are carried out in obedience to the popular will, is a matter of small moment compared with the effects they may be calculated to produce upon the welfare and prosperity of the nation at large. These effects are to be estimated by a review of the condition of the country previous to the passing of such measures, the applicability of the measures themselves to that condition, and the results, if any, that have already followed their adoption. Such a review, to be executed with justice and impartiality, could not be comprised in a few pages. Our object at present is simply to take a hasty glance at one department of our legislative policy, without even presuming to act upon the Roman maxim of judging of the whole from that one; yet this department, as it relates to the financial policy of the Government, necessarily assumes to inquire into the tendency of that

policy, and the effects it is calculated to produce upon our social relations at home and abroad.

It is presumed that all measures which tend to relax the springs of commerce, and to enlarge the sources of our wealth, must tend also to furnish the means of our defence, to provide for the moral and religious education of the people, and to realize those political advantages which constitute at once the power and the security of a great nation.

These principles appear to be involved in the measures introduced into parliament since the accession of the present Government. The plan of finance promulgated by Sir Robert Peel in 1842 proceeded upon the assumption that direct taxation is better than indirect; that each individual should contribute to the support of the State in proportion to the amount of his annual income; that taxation should press as lightly as possible on the poorer classes; that taxes which tend to obstruct our commerce with other countries should be modified or abolished that the duties on the importation of raw produce should be less than on the importation of manufactured articles; and that the productions of our colonies should be admitted at a lower scale of duties than those of foreign countries. These are principles which appear to be founded on truth and sound policy; their object was manifestly to relieve the pressure of taxation where it was most severely felt, and to stimulate individual industry and commercial enterprise.

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The principles laid down in 1845 were an extension of those of 1842, and were fully enunciated by Sir Robert Peel in his financial statement on the 14th of February. That statement, after dwelling upon the necessity of providing effectively for the public service, recognized, as of paramount importance, the distribution of taxation in such a manner as to lay the foundation of great commercial prosperity, so as to add even to the comforts of those who should be required to bear the largest and most direct share of the taxes. It recognized the necessity of considering the claims for the reduction of taxes upon those articles which enter most largely into general consumption; the remission of such as required a great increase of establishment to effect their collection, and the entire removal of others, by which a new scope would be afforded to national enterprise, and an increased demand created for our manufactures.

The application of these principles was professedly a great experiment with respect to taxation, in the hope that general prosperity would contribute to fill up the void which the cessation of the income tax might otherwise occasion. They assumed, among other things,

1. That duties which yield only a small revenue ought to be abolished. Such duties give more trouble and annoyance to the public, and occasion a greater expense, than is compensated by any advantage derived from them by the State. Of the 813 articles comprised in the Tariff at the commencement of 1845 it was accordingly resolved to abolish the duties on no less than 430. These were duties levied on articles of import, the amounts of which in individual cases were very small. Although highly proper to retain the means of inquiry regarding the import of foreign articles for the purpose of statistical information as well as for the prevention of fraud, it was believed that these ends might be accomplished without the exaction of duty. While, therefore, the duty is dispensed with, the means are still employed of ascertaining the quantities and weight of all foreign articles imported into Great Britain. The collecting of a merely nominal duty would, it was imagined, be no inducement to greater vigilance on the part of the officers of customs. It is presumed that these officials will be equally efficient whether there is a duty to collect or not. The total abolition of these duties supersedes the necessity of keeping up a great number of small and vexatious accounts, and with the necessity for warehouses. The articles on which the duty was thus abolished included fibrous materials,-silk, hemp, flax; yarn, with the exception of worsted yarn; furniture woods; animal and vegetable oils; ores and minerals, except copper ore; iron and zinc in the first stage of manufacture; dyed stuffs; and all drugs, except some particularly noxious: cotton, wool, and glass. The duties on a few of these articles, such as cotton, wool, and glass, were considerable, but the great advantages anticipated from their abolition wholly outweighed any benefit to be derived from their

continuance.

2. That it is better to abolish duties altogether than to reduce them. The mere reduction of duties does not mitigate the expense of their collection, nor is it always attended with any particular advantage to the public. So long as they continue to be imposed they must to that extent act as a drag upon commercial enterprise. Their diminution may be in some respects beneficial, but when circumstances warrant their total abolition, the latter step is greatly to be preferred. Take the case of glass. Since 1815 the amount of duty on glass had been trebled. It was not less than from 200 to 300 per cent. upon the value of the manufacture. The charge for the supply of glass was enormous in comparison with the intrinsic value of the article and the cost of its production. There was no duty the collection of which required such a constant and vexatious interference with the pro