The Sun.
London, England, 1841-12-25 00:00:00

become. This mutual dependence has also the
effect of preventing wars, by making it the in-
terest of every citizen to endeavour to maintain
peace. We therefore trust that every advance
made by the present Government of Spain to a
closer commercial intercourse with England will
meet with the support of every party in this
country.

We have received the whole of the French
Papers of Thursday, with Madrid Journals of
the 16th instant. The following are extracts:—
It is believed that the Council-General of Commerce
is determined on declaring for the abolition of the beet-
root sugar system, allowing an indemnity to the growers.
The Council of Agriculture, it is expected, will pro-
nounce itself for the preservation of the beet-root sys-
tem, with some changes in the duties ; and the Chamber
of Deputies, it is supposed, will oppose any indemnity
on account of the state of the finance. From this, it
results, that it is still impossible to foresee what will be-
come of this important question.—Temps.
BAYONNE, DEC. 19.—The Spanish Government has
just appointed M. Soler, formerly Secretary of Legation
in Greece, to the post of Consul at Bayonne,
Marshal Saldanha, Envoy Extraordinary and Minister
Plenipotentiary of Portugal in Austria, arrived at Bay-
onne the day before yesterday. He is to embark at
Marseilles for Italy, whence he will proceed to Vienna.
Lieutenant-General Espeletta, formerly Captain-Ge-
neral of the island of Cuba, has passed through Bay-
onne on his way to Spain.—Commerce.
It being a question at Toulouse what means should be
taken for introducing greater uniformity into the lines
of the streets, and for widening the narrowest ones, the
Minister of the Interior, on the recommendation of the
Prefect, has most judiciously adopted the principle of
ordering the general plan for this purpose to be drawn
up by an architect of taste and judgment, who is a
member of the Committee for the preservation of monu-
ments. M. Mege has, therefore, been instructed to pre-
sent a plan in which all the public monuments shall be
respected, and not sacrificed to the supposed exigencies
of the locality (as is unfortunately too often the case in
Paris), and in which all private houses and buildings of
historical interest shall be carefully preserved. If a
similar plan had been adopted a few years ago in the
capital, at Rouen, and some other large towns in France,
the country would not now have to deplore the loss of
many of its most valuable historical relics ; and Paris, in
particular, would be much richer in public and private
buildings of real national value even than at present.
In no part of France is public and official Vandalism car-
ried to a higher point than in the capital.
The Royal Academy of Medicine made a distribution
yesterday of the annual vaccination prizes to the candi-
dates who obtained them for 1839. The grand prize of
1,500 f. was divided between Dr. Belloz, of Besancon;
Dr. Litschgi, of Molsheim, near Strasbourg; ar.d Dr.
Nichet, of Lyons. Four gold and 100 silver medals were
also awarded. The total number of vaccinations effected
in 1839 was 528,265, being 45,417 more than in 1838.
In the same year there had been 14,917 cases of small-
pox, of which 1,497 were fatal; but in 1838 there had
been only 9,411 cases.
The number of hands engaged in mining operations
in Belgium is reckoned at from 38,000 to 40,000. Out of
these about 100 suffer from serious accidents every year.
A farmer and his wire, at Nonan-sur-Loire, having
been accused of petty robbery, and fearing the conse-
quences, vent last week to a notary at Beaugency, and
made their wills in favour of the children of the husband
by a prior marriage. They then proceeded to a rela-
tion's at Courbouzon, where they dined. A short time
afterwards the husband was seized with violent pains, and
died. The medical men, who examined the stomach
after death, found in it sufficient arsenic to kill twenty
persons. The question is whether this was an act of sui-
cide or of murder by a third person. The general belief
is, that both the deceased and his wife had contemplated
self-destruction, but the latter had failed in her resolu-
tion when the time came to carry it into execution. The
Magistrates are making the requisite inquiries to ascer-
tain the truth.

A correspondent at Amsterdam confirms the state-
ment that the ])utch Government had decided on esta-
blishing, as soon as possible, a line of steam-packets, to
run regularly between Amsterdam and Batavia, the
capital of the island of Java. Depots of coals and pro-
visions are to be formed for them at Cape St. Vincent, in
Portugal; at San Jorge del Mira, on the coast of Guinea;
at the Cape of Good Hope, and on the island of St. Paul,
lying about 600 geographic leagues from Java, and nearly
desert.

A letter from Luxembourg, in a Frankfort journal,
gives the following particulars of the late melancholy
affair in that town :—" It appears that at the ball supper
at Diekirch, in honour of the King Grand Duke, M.
Durion. the burgomaster, having made a speech against
the German Customs Union, which was severely criticised
by a Dr. Kuborn, M. Dumont, the receiver of the registry
duties, went up to the Doctor with a knife in his hand,
and challenged him to repeat what he had said. Kuborn
having repeated it, Dumont plunged the knife up to the
handle in his heart."

The Correctional Tribunal of Chatelherault, in the
Vienne, having, on the 23d inst., been called upon to
try certain inhabitants of the commune of Cernay for
resistance to the Government agents for taking the cen-
sus, delivered a long and elaborate judgment declaring
that resistance to an illegal act is a lawful right ; that
the agens des contributions did not possess the quality
auth.rising them to take the census ; and, consequently,
the resistance opposed to them in this quality did not
constitute either a crime or offence.