A Hundred Years Ago
TEE " SPECTATOR," OCTOBER 22ND, 1831. NEWS OF THE WEEK.
Thus considered, the session of 1831 may be regarded as one of the longest, while the high subjects to which its labours have been directed will long distinguish it as the most interesting, that has occurred either in our times or in the times of our fathers. It is good, now that it is gone by, to pause awhile, for the purpose of asking how far it has fulfilled, how far it has disappointed, the hopes of the People of England ; and to inquire, where it has fallen short, what were the more immediate causes of failure. In the department of Finance, we owe to the Parliament of 1831 the abolition of the Coal-tax, of the Candle-tax, of the Printed Cotton-tax. We may add to these remissions—for though the Revenue is expected to gain by it, so undoubtedly will the People— the equalization of the Wine-duties. Of the much-ridiculed Budget of Lord Althorp, these are the abiding advantages • and we believe it would baffle his detractors to pick out from the labours of the most praised of his predecessors three reductions for which an honest Minister had a better title to a people's gratitude.
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