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Lyttelton Times, Volume X, Issue 616, 2 October 1858, Page 5

A protesbant clergyman, the Rev. Mr. Sey-mour,-has publicly denounced, "in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost," the " Idolatrous ceremony" of the procession of tha host as ifc passed along the streets of Tuam on the festival of Corpus Christi. Dr. M'HaW; himself carried the host. It is remarkable, that beyond shouting and hissing, Mr. Seymour was not molested.

The House of Lords, sitting as a Committee of Privileges, gave judgment on the Ist June in "the great Shrewsbury case." There were several claimants to the title of Earl of Shrewsbury, but all except Earl Talbot had withdrawn. Lord Cranworth, and after him Lord St. Leonards, Lord Brougham, and Lord Wensleydale, concurred in deciding that Earl Talbot was the nearest.male descendant of the first Earl, and therefore entitled to the title and dignity of Earl of Shrewsbury. This decision does not carry with it any property. Very large estates were secured to the title by the Act of Settlement of 1719. The late Earl, considering that he had a right to dispose of those estates, had made the infant son of the Duke of Norfolk his devisee. But the House was not called upon to decide to whom the estates belonged. Italy.—The debate on the loan in the Piedmontese Commons, gave Count Cavour an opportunity of reviewing the financial policy of his_ and preceding Governments. The complaint was, that the country was too heavily taxed, and that the taxes fell upon the poor. Count Cavour's object was to show that the taxes imposed since 1848 were conformable to sound principles, and did not press uyon the poor. Thus the labourer does not pay the personal tax; the salt duties and all the customs duties have been enormously reduced, so that food and clothing are cheaper than heretofore. Wages were never so high as they are now. The labourer, therefore, earns more and buys cheaper than he ever did before. He showed that silk manufactures have made great progress, that railways have given the manufacturers largerprofits by cheapening the cost of transit, and wine-growers in like manner. He declared himself in favour of the income-tax.

"I constantly |iear speak of studying to establish a general system ; if there were a country in which a genera? .system existed I would have gone there to study it, and then return here and propose it. We have direct and indirfift taxes, an in almost all the countries of Europe. It would havt> been an imprudence to try to improvise a system here. We have thought it more advisable to impose some new taxes which should have the smallest defects possible. Good taxes, allow me to' say, do not exist, (daughter.) They must always have the effect of imposing a burden upon the citizen, and of diverting a portion of capital from production. But there are conditions which must he observed if we would not have very bad taxes— that is to say, that the sacrifice of the tax-payers be nor greater than the benefit to the State ; that the expensesof collection should not be heavy; that they should not bear injuriously upon, one class of citizens to the benefit of another class ; that they should not press upon instruments of production, or (as far as can be possibly avoided) upon raw material; that the taxes should be distributed as far as possible proportionally."