The Sun.
London, England, 1830-01-07 00:00:00

THE SINKING FUND,

'rife following notice, respecting the. application
arwd wtrionnt of the S;niiing Fund for the current
voter, has appeared in the Gazette :

The Lords Commissioners of his Majesty's Treasury,
having certified to the Commissionerr for the Reduction of
the National Debt, in pursuance of the Act. 10'1
IV., r. 17, s. 1, that the actual surplus revenue of the
United Kingdom of Great Britain ane, irelsod, beyond the
actual expenditure thereof, for th.e year thded the 10th of
October, 1829, amounted to sum of 2,274,027/. Ils
1144. ; the Commissior:cs' for the Reduction of the Na-
tional Debt hereby is-;ve notice that the following sums will
be aPPliealtle, under the provisions of the said Act, towards
the re'!..ileiito of the National Debt of the said United
Kingdom, between the sth day of January, 1830, and
the sth day of April, 1830, viz.:—
" One fourth part of the said surplus ..C568,506 17 1
" Interest receivable on account of
donations and bequests

2,630 2 7

£571,137 0 6,1
" S. INGHAM, Comptroller-General.
" ntion3l Debt Office, Jot. 5."

Thn
oft cial returns of the revenue engages, as
visual, much attentunt in the city, nn•! as there are
tutu parties to the discussion,—one disposed to take
the best, the other the worst view of it,—there is
of course great differenee between them. The
latter contend that the real deficiency on the quarter
ought to be 90,000/. more than is stated in the
official return, because 130,0001. was received in
this quarter for corn duties, while, in the Corre-
sponding quarter of last year, only 4.0)0001. was
received from that source. The ti.,Arieney in the
year, they further affirm, instead of 1,165,4491.,
ought to be 2,39.5,449:'.; inasmuch as the corn
duties for 1828 were only 130,0001., which in 1829
yielded 900,0001.; and that 450,0001. constitutes
the Irish tea duty which was transferred from the
Irish customs to the English excise, and is not,
therefore an item fairly carried to the account of
revenue, being subtracted from one branch fit order
to add it to another. This comeatnt on the re-
venue we give as one that has been current in the
city, but without adopting it. One cause of de.;
crea.,e in the revenue stems to have been generally
overlooked; which is, the very low price all com-
modities bear at present, which must necessarily
cause a corresponding loss to the Government in all
cases where od valorem duties are established. It
way further be said, that no allowance has been
made for the effect of retrenchment in the various
departments of the Government, which may prove
nearly of sufficient extent to counterbalance the de-
crease in the revenue, and leave the balance of re-
ceipt over expenditure as high AR if the produce of
1829 hud been equal to that of 1828.

BUONAPARTE AND LANNES.

Buonaparte had ceased to address Lannes in
the second person singular, but that General
continued to use the same familiar mode of dis-
course as formerly in speaking to Napoleon. It
is hardly possible to conceive how much this
perseverance in familiarity, in one of his most
valiant brothers in arms, excited the bile of'
Napoleon. He had already given a striking
proof how much he stood in awe of the candour
of his ancient comrade. Well knowing the un-
ceremonious frankness of Lannes, and that his
high spirit of daring would actuate him as much
in the.city as in the field of battle, Buonaparte,
on the great occasion of the 18th Brumaire,
fearing his reproaches, had given him the com-
mand of Paris, in order to be assured -of his
absence from St. Cloud. Since that time, and
notwithstanding the continually growing greatness
of the First Consul, and which, as it increased,
became every day more -exacting of deference,
Lannes had so thoroughly preserved his freedom
of speech, that he had become the only one who
dared to treat Buonaparte as a fellow-soldier,
and tell him the truth without ceremony. This
was enough to make Napoleon determine to rid
Mini& of the presence of Lannes. But under
what pretext was the absence of the con-
queror of Montebello to be procured ? It
was necessary to create an excuse, and in
the truly diabolical machination resorted to
for this purpose, Buonaparte brought into
play that wily disposition with which lie was so
superabundantly provided. Lannes was by na-
ture thoughtless of the morrow ; lavish of his
money as of his blood, he distributed it prodi•
gaily to his officers and soldiers, who loved him
as if they were his children. Thus his fortune
consisted of debts due to him. When he was
in need of money, and this was not seldom, he
used to come in all simplicity to the Tuileries,
and ask it of the First Consul, who, I must
confess, never refused him. Although well ac-
quainted with the situation of the General,
Buonaparte said to him one day, "My friend,
you should attend to appearances and be suitably
housed, to have your establishment on a footing
worthy of your rank ; there is the Hotel de.
Noailles, why don't you take it,
.and furnish it
with proper magnificence ?" Lannes, whose own
candour was such that he never suspected in
others any other than the apparent meaning of'
their words, followed the advice of the First
Consul. The Hotel de Noailles was taken, and
superbly fitted up. Odiot furnished a service
of plate, valued at two hundred thousand francs.
General Lannes, after having thus conformed to
the wishes of Buonaparte, came to him and re-
quested 400,000 francs, the amount of the expense
incurred in a manlier by his order. " But," said
the lira Consul, " I have no money." " You
have no money ! what the d—lam Ito do then ?"
" But is there none in the guards' chest ?
Take what you require. We will arrange that."
.Mistrusting nothing, Lannes went to find the
guards' treasurer, who made some objections at
first to the advance required, but who soon
yielded, on learnin, that the demand was made
with the consent of the First Consul. Twenty-
four hours had not passed after Lannes had re-
ceived the 400,000 francs, when the treasurer
received from the chief administrator of the
chest of the guards an order to balance his ac-
count of the funds in hand. The voucher for
the 400,000 francs advanced to Lannes was not
allowed. In vain the treasurer alleged the au-
thenticity of the First Consul for the transaction :
Napoleon's memory had suddenly failed him ;
he had entirely forgotten all that had passed. In
a word, it was incumbent on Lannes to restore
the 400,000 francs to the guards' chest ; and, as
I have already said, Lannes had no property on
earth but the debts that were due to him. He
repaired to General Lefebvre, who loved him as
his pupil, and to whom he related all that had
passed. " Simpleton," said Lefebvre, " why
did you not come to me ; why did you go
and get in debt with that --? Hold, here
are the 400,00 francs for you ; take them to
him, and let him:o to --- !" Lannes hastened
to the First Consul. " 'What," he apostro-
phised him, " is it possible you can be guilty of
such a baseness as this ? to treat me in itch a
manner ? to lay such a foul snare for Inc, after
all that I have done for you ; after all time
blood that I have lavishly shed to promote
your ambition ? Is this the recompense
you have in store for me ? You for-
get, then, the 13th Vendemaire, to the success of
which I contributed more than you. You forget
the Milesimo. I was Colonel before you ! It -
was to serve you that I again became a soldier ;