individuals, so is it with nations. That the sudden cessation of the
drain upon our resources from the East, and the partial reimbursement we
have already realized, will sensibly lighten the burthens under which
the Minister has hitherto laboured, and make him with joy to realize the
expectations which, in proposing the income-tax, he so distinctly, yet
cautiously, held out, as to the period of its duration, we may consider
as indisputable. Add to this the pacific policy which Sir Robert Peel
and his Cabinet are bent upon maintaining, as far as is consistent with
a jealous regard to our national honour, (and which our late resplendent
successes are calculated to facilitate,) and the revival, erelong, of
the revenue, concurrently with that of trade and commerce, which may be
confidently anticipated under our present firm, cautious, and
experienced councils, and we may give to the winds our fears as to the
continuance of the income-tax one instant after it can be prudently
dispensed with. What, however, as a matter of _mere speculation_, if the
nation should by and by, when familiarized with the character and
working of the income-tax, become more reconciled to it, and prefer its
retention as a substitute for _the Assessed Taxes_, which at present
press so heavily on all, but particularly on the working-classes! But
while Sir Robert Peel was remodelling the Corn-Laws, and creating a new
source of direct revenue, he also undertook another task--a herculean
task, one utterly hopeless, and beyond the reach or even conception of
any but a Minister conscious of occupying an impregnable position in the
confidence of the country: we allude to his reconstruction of our entire
commercial system, as represented by his _new Tariff_. What courage was
requisite to grapple with this giant difficulty! What practical skill;
what patience and resolution; what exact yet extensive acquaintance with
mercantile affairs; what a comprehensive discernment of consequences;
what firm impartiality in deciding between vast conflicting interests,
were here evinced! And observe--all these great measures, effecting a