stablished sinking-fund of L5,000,000. The chancellor of the exchequer
proposed to employ a part of this surplus in a grant of L500,000 for
the erection of new churches; of L300,000, for the renovation and
improvement of Windsor Castle; and of L60,000 for the purchase of the
Angerstein pictures, in furtherance of a design to establish a national
gallery for the fine arts. In his financial calculations for this year
the chancellor of the exchequer anticipated a continued surplus, on the
strength of which he proposed a further repeal of taxes to the amount
of more than L1,000,000; and as an auxiliary measure, he suggested the
discontinuance of certain bounties on fisheries and manufactures, which
he considered no longer necessary. In his arrangement an extension
of the scheme for reducing the interest of the national debt formed a
prominent feature. He proposed to convert the old four per cent, stock,
amounting to L75,000,000, into a new fund, bearing interest at three and
a half per cent.; and giving the holders the option of being-paid off
at par, or of acceding to the new plan. This arrangement met with the
decided approbation of parliament, and was carried into execution
with great facility. It may be mentioned that during this year Austria
unexpectedly repaid L2,500,000 for loans advanced by the British
government during the late war. This was but a small dividend on the
debt due to England, but it enabled the ministers to be liberal, as they
were disposed.

THE TRADE QUESTION

During this session important steps were taken towards a more
unrestricted system of trade. One important measure consisted in a
repeal of what were still left of the protecting duties between Ireland
and Great Britain. Enactments were also passed tending to withdraw
British silk manufacturers from the protection of laws which prohibited
the importation of foreign silks. The plan adopted for this was to lower
the import duties on raw and thrown silk; to repeal all bounties on the
exportation of this article of manufacture; and to substitute a duty
of thirty per cent, on foreign silks, instead of prohibiting their
importation. This scheme met with the opposition of partial interests,
but it was carried by a large majority. Among other important measures
of relaxation passed this year was the immediate removal of all unequal
restrictions on the import and export trade of wool, with a gradual
approach to the same system in the linen manufa