The Sun.
London, England, 1844-01-01 00:00:00

trN. MD 0 IV, M ON' Es 4. Yl2 El 4 IN G, tTA. TT A, Ry 1, 1R44.

DUTCH APD FLANDERS MAIL.
THE lIAGTIE, DEC. 28.—The Second Chamber of
the States-General received in its sitting to-day
Royal Messages with the following projects of law :-
1. A project of law, authorising the State to dis-
charge a part of its debt (22 millions of florins) to the
Society of Commerce. This sum is to be paid by
means of the extraordinary tax, or, if that should be
insufficient, by other means to be determined by the
law.

MAGAZINE DAY.
BLACKWOOD'S MAGAZINE.

.and does not imitate Boz. The illustrations by
Leech are excellent.. The " Genuine Remains
of William Little" is to us wholly unintelligible.
'lt is well-timed, however, f4mino., as it does, au
agreeable Christmas puzzle. In the " Fish-
street Catastrophe" the (Mnouement is too long
delayed, and the poem frequently hangs fire.
The " Gaol Chaplain" contains a narrative of a
" Banker's Clerk," which is supposed to be re-
lated by a policeman. The story is ably told, •
particularly that portion of it which refers to th.:!
Castlereagh spy-system. The observations, which
we subjoin, on head-waiters, &c., are frodi an en-
tertaining article entitled "The London Hotel-
keeper :"

It is curious to see this high-;Tory periodical—
this staunch advocate for prerogative—this un-
flinching assertor for years of " the right divine
of Kings to govern wrong','—now, at length,
coining forward
_and 4cknowledging that,
" hitherto, the municipal laws and institutions
of this country have been defective, inasmuch as
they have made or little or no provision for the
adequate instruction of the people. Much, no
doubt, has been already done, but much still re-
mains to be done." What, is it Maga that thus
insists on the education of the " vulgar" masses,
and alludes without a sneer to the " Great Un-
washed?" Is it Maga that has at last found out
that the old " municipal institutions" were de-
fective—she who strenuously resisted every pro-
position for their refbrm when brought forward
by the Whigs? We look to-the title-page, &c.,
of the Magazine to see whether we are not in
error—but no, the grave, but abominably ugly
face of old George Buchanan on the wrapper,
convinces us that there is " no mistake," and
that Blackwood is really becoming a very re-
spectable Reformer, like the rest of civilized
humanity. What a striking evidence is here
of the irresistible force of public opinion !
Five years ago we should as soon have
thought of seeing this desperate Tory pe-
riodical advocate the education of the people, as
Of seeing the Bishop of Exeter play Columbine
in the pantomime. The " State Prosecutions,"
in which the above remark occurs, is, we pre-
sume, the production of a lawyer, or, at any
rate, of one who betrays in every page quite a
nervous anxiety to display his legal lore to ad-
vantage. It is a heavy article, and as dry as a
chip. The " Adventures in Texas" are resumed
this month, which we are glad to see, for the
series abounds in stirring variety of incidents,
which are put together with the dramatic tact of
a practised workman. In the political diatribe,
headed " Position and Prospects of the Govern-
ment," the writer rings the Tory tocsin, and calls
on all his party to organise, so as to neutralise
the influence of. the Anti-Corn-law; League.
" Let every existing Conservative Club, or As-
sociation," lie says, be stirred up into increased
action, and put into real working trim forthwith."
This is energetic advice, but it too late. The
vantage ground on which they have stood for
the last two years, is gradually giving way be-
neath the feet of the Conservatives; there is
discord in their councils—vacillation among
their chiefs—distrust and perplexity among their
subordinates—and instead of rallying or organis-
ing they are far more likely to split into sections,
each of whom will make a point of keeping
jealously aloof from the other. With, their great
opponent, the League, on the other hand, all
is strict combination—strenuous, persevering
action. Every move they make is as nicely
calculated as the moves on a chess-board.
They sound their way with the utmost precau-
tion—heave the lead so as to keep clear of shoal-
water. Hence their extraordinary success, which
is the natural result 'of boldness chastened by
judgment. In the present chapters of " Mars-
ton, or the Memoirs of .a Statesman," we have
some life-like sketches of the advance of the
allied armies upon -France under the Duke of
Brunswick, together with a portait of that
Quixotic republican, Lafayette, after his deser-
tion of his own troops. The Duke is painted in
far too flattering colours, for he had little more
of the soldier about him than his uniform, and
with all his resources was never able for any
-length of time_to make successful head against
the raw French conscripts. The " New Art of
Printing" is a whimsical quiz upon the present
mania for illustration, wherein it is ironically re-
commended that artists should be everywhere
substituted for authors, and that novels,
politics, reviews, &c., should be engraved in-
stead of written. The " Banking-house" is now
brought to a close, appropriately winding up
with the crash of Mr. Allcraft's establishment,
his own utter ruin, and subsequent fall in a duel,
where he received ample satisfaction" right
through the centre of the brain ! His last inter-
view with his clerk is worth quoting, and we give
it accordingly :
" Do not take on so, my dear Sir,' said Barrage,
running to him. Pray, be calm. lam sure you are
unwell. You have been ill for some time. You
Should see a doctor—although I am very much-afraid
that your disease is beyond their cure—in truth I am.'

2. The project of law for imposing an extraordinary
tax on property, and also for a voluntary loan. This
project is divided into two parts. The first relates to
the voluntary loan. This loan to the State is to be'
• for 150 millions of florins at 3 per cent interest. In-
scriptions will not be received for 100 florins, and the
multiples of that sum. The instalments are to be
paid before the Ist of April, 1844, for one quarter,
and before the Ist
.of July and the Ist of October,
1844, the Ist of January, the Ist of April, the Ist of
July, and the Ist of October, 1843, per one-eighth.
Every instalment is to be paid 30 per cent. in
cash, and 70 per cent. at the option of the parties in-
terested, either in cash or in bonds, payable by the
State, or by its transmarine possessions. These bonds
will be renewed in payment at the following rates:—
a. The inscriptions in the great book of the Na-
tional Debt Two-and-a-half per Cents. on the certi-
ficates of that debt at 56 per cent.
b., The inscription in the .great book of the Na-
tional Debt Five per Cents., and the certificates of
that debt at 100 per cent.
c. The bonds of the Syndecate Four-and-a-La
per Cent. at 96 per cent.

" Among the memorabilia of hotels is the übiquity
and insomnolency of head waiters. At all hours of
the day and night these wretched creatures are
' primed for service. The family which rrturns at
four from a ball, or the family which rises at five to
start on a journey, finds, them equally alert, after
having waited at all the tables, and slaved after all the
rings of all the bells the preceding day.. It maw
be doubted, indeed, whether they behold their beds
throughout the season,—a slight ablution or change
of wig, being their utmost refreshment. Hence the
curious weazoned old-boyish air of this peculiar and
much enduring race of men, compelled to curtsy and
submission to as many masters as the toad lying under
the harrow, when ilka tooth gave her a tug !" Be
it not supposed that we have aught to urge against
the, venerable dignity of the Clarendon, or the modern
refinements of Mivart's Apartement des Princes.
These, and many others, are excellent after their
kind. Moreover, if people choose to be victimized
by a hotel-keeper, the act and deed is their own. We
are ready to attest that, when an Mil) peer adduced
to a Brook-street hotel-keeper a charge of three-and-
sixpence a-bottle for soda-water in a former bill as a
reason for having betaken himself elsewhere, mine
host urbanely replied, ' Your Lordship ought to have
told me what you intended to give. When properly
arranged with, I can charge as reasonably-as any body.'
What can-an hotel-keeper say more ?
" But for this highway and byway robbery during
the harvest of the season, how, in fact, icould the
hotel-keeper enable himself to get through the autumn,
when his house might just as well be closed as her
Majesty's theatres, for any moneys taken at the
doors? Saving painters and white-washers, not a
soul crosses his threshold ; unless, now .and then,
some skinflint of a dowager, on her way through
London from Broadstairs to her dower-house in some
midland county, who saving for the sops of her parrot,
and the board of her maid, expends not a sixpence in .
the hotel ;—or a brace of tender parents conveying
some young hopeful to Eton, and spending four and-
twenty reluctant hours in London, for a preparatory
visit to the dentist. For six or eight months, in short,
every caravanserai stands empty as the heads of the
honourables and lordlings who frequent it in May
and July; its kitchen-range rusting; its curtains and
hangings being required to down with their dust,'
instead of its customers. Nevertheless, rent, taxes,
and waiters, must be paid as regularly as if the
hotel-keeper were not taking his pleasure at Rams-
gate, and his customers at three hundred miles dis-
tance. And how- is this to be effected, we should
like to know, unless by charging three-and sixpence
a bottle for soda-water while the sun shine's, and the
town is crowded ?"

d. The bond of the same nature at 31 per cent. a
82 per cent.

e. The Zosrenten of the domain (redeemable annui-
ties) Fire per Cent., at 100 per cent.
The Zosrenten of the trans►narine possessions are
Five per Cent. at 100 per cent. The bonds must be
accompanied with the coupons not yet due. Receipts
will be delivered for the payments to be made, which
will be converted into inscriptions in the great book

to be opened for that purpose.
The second division of the project of law contains
very detailed regulations relative to the tax on pro-
perty, which will be of necessity imposed in case the
voluntary loan should not be effected. The tax will

be lf per cent.
THE HAGUE, DEC. 29.—Advice has been received

his afternoon, by express, from Helvoetsluys, tha

the mortal remains of his late Majesty King William
Frederick have arrived here, and were immediately
conveyed to Rotterdam. The Minister of Marine
and Governor of South Holland immediately pro-
ceeded to Rotterdam, to be present at the arrival of

the steamer with the body, which they are to receive
in the name of the King, and see it deposited in the
great hall prepared for it.

BRUSSELS, DEe. 27.—The average price of wheat
last week was 17f. 69c., and that of rye 1 if. 35c. per
hectolitre. The duty on importation remains there-
fore at 37f. 50c. per 100 kilogrammes on wheat, and
21f. 50c. on rye, and the export duty on both at 25c.
Count d'Arschot and M. Wyns, burgomaster of
Brussels, have visited the Theatre de la Monnaie, to
direct the final arrangements for the grand files
which their Majesties will give to the inhabitants of
Brussels.

NEW MONTHLY MAGAZINE.
We expected more entertainment from the
reminiscences of " Prince Talleyrand " than we
have met with. One or two of the Anecdotes
related of him are good—especially the hoax
which he played off on an impertinent provincial
functionary, who. had visited him at 'his country
seat,Valencay ; but altogether the article wears the
appearance ofhaving been manufactured expressly
to order, and if we are not mistaken, the Prince's
account of his own melodramatic adventure with
a friend of his in America, who suddenly went
mad, and as suddenly conceived the' project of
his assassination, has already appeared in print.
However, the article has some redeeming points;
tire incidental sketches of the -chateau of
Valencay and its aristocratic inmates are neatly
hit off; and those who are not very-exacting as
regards quality of anecdote, but are satisfied with
mere superficial gossip, will be pleaSed with it.
And here, while on the subject of-Talleyrand,
we cannot refrain from expressing our surprise
that no authentic memoir has yet been published
of this extraordinary man. The materials must
surely be abundant and accessible without much
difficulty, for- from the time when,. as Bishop
of Autun, he solemnly consecrated the revolu-
tionary banners at the first celebrated meet-
ing. at the Champ de Mars, down to the
period of his last visit to England as French
Ambassador, he was constantly before the pub-
lie—now holding office under the .Directory—
now concerting with Citizen Bonaparte the
Eighteenth Brumaire—now conductit, the most
important diplomatic business of the Consulate
and the Empire—now plotting the Overthrow of
the latter and the restoration of the Monarchy—
and now, his last tortuous achievethent, figuring
as one of the chief confidential advisers of the
King of the Barricades. The private lite of this
slippery and successful politician, who bade de-
fiance to the caprice of Fortune, and even made
her his obsequious tool—his Slave of the Lanrp,
could of course only be written by a friend, but
his public life is the history of iris times, and
might therefore be written efficiently by any one
familiar with that stormy epoch. Mr. Alison,
we think, would acquit himself of the task with
great success. The " The Court of Cupid" is an
ingenious idea whose skilful workin,v-out will re-
commend it to all lovers of light reading. Lady
Londonderry, we see, contributes " A Narrative
of her Visit to the Court of Vienna," and im-
presses us with a vivid idea of tire conversa-
tional talents of Prince Metternich. We have
been amused by the following touch of aristo-
cratic prejudice :—" Five o'clock dinners," says
the Marchioness, " are to me very disagreeable ;
they entirely cut up and destroy the day, and
are extremely inconvenient to persons who like
a long morning." In our old-fitshioned simpli-
city we had forgotten that a Westend London
morning does not commence till tiro P.M., and ,
that midnight occurs about the= time when
we are busy with our breakfast. But we have
one comfort—it is never too lat 6 to amend
the error of one's notions. " Barak Johnson" is
a tragic narrative, told vigorously andunaffectedly
by Miss Strickland. The illustration that accom-
panies it, is too•exa.gerated in expression. The
murderer does not look as if he were bent on dis-
patching his victim to the capacious bosom or
Abraham, but simply as if lie were making wry
faces under the influence of a brisk dose of Epsom
salts. " A Visit to Rousseau's Residence, Les
Charmettes," has one besetting fault—namely,
that it takes too favourable a view of the charac-
ter of this maudlin, vicious sentimentalist, who
did more to corrupt his age • and that which im-
mediately succeeded it, than any dozen authors of
histiMe. We fear we shall shock the prejudices of
manyof our readers, when we state our deliberate
conviction that Rousseau never had a healthy,
natural feeling in his life. He was that meanest
of creatures, a selfish, whining egotist, and we
trace much of his malign influence in the earlier
writings of Byron, and the rhapsodical bursts of
Hazlitt. " People when at Home exhibits, in
a satirical, but not ill-natured spirit, tire difference
between a family circle made up for company,
and the same family when alone in the retire-
ment of their sitting-room. Mr. Poole's essay
on " Gentility—Vulgarity" reminds us of some
of Steele's best essay's in the " 'fader." We sub-
join Miss Cook's " Song of the Winter Tree,"
chiefly for the adroit and ready manner in which
the moral application is brought in in the closing
stanza :

Their Majesties came yesterday to the palace of
Brussels, and had a grand dinner, to which the Duke
of Valentinois, Prince of MonaCo' and several of the
Foreign Ministers and persons of distinction were in-
vited. Their Majesties returned to Lacken at ten
o'clock. •

We learm from Charleroi that a mill and 6,000
sheaves of corn have been destroyed by an incendiary
fire in the commune of Raves; the fire was kindled
by means of lucifer matches, a box of which was
found on the spot.
BRUSSELS, DEC. 28.—The budget of the depart-
ment of Foreign Affairs and of the Marine, did not
give occasion to many observations in the Senate.
The principal speakers were on the sum asked for
our Ministers of Foreign Courts, which was thought
rather high, and to the affairs of the British Queen.
The result was the adoption of the budget of the
Marine unanimously, and of that of Foreign Affairs,
with only one dissentient voice. _ _

The Moniteur of to-day, (the 28th) publishes the
text of the law which taxes the maximum of 80,000
man for the army in 1844, and at 10,000 men, the
amount of the body for the same year.

" Burrage,' said Michael it a whisper, and still
sighing convulsively—' It is all over. It is finished.
Prepare for the crash—look to your own safety.
Hide yourself from the gaze of men. It will strike
us all dead.

" You frighton me, Mr. Allcraft—you are really
very ill. Your brain is over-worked—you want a
little repose and recreation.'

" ' Yes, you are right Burrage—the recreation of
a gaol—the repose of a tomb. We will have one, at
least—yes, one—and I have made the selection.'
" Have you heard any bad news to-day, Sir ?'
" None—excellent news to-day. No more hopes
and fears—no alarms—no lying and knavery—eternal
peace now, and not eternal wretchedness.'
" Had you not better leave the bank, Mr. Allcraft,
and go home ? Your hands are burning hot. You
are in a high fever.'
" Put up the shutters—put up the shutters,'
muttered Michael, more to himself than to hisclerk.

Write bankrupt on the door—write it in large letters
—in staring capitals—•that the children inay read the
word, and know why they are taught to curie me.
You hear me, Burrage ?'
" I hear what you say, Sir, but Ido not under-
stand you. You want rest—you are excited.'
" I tell you, Burrage, lam quiet—l never was
so quiet—never sounder In body and mind. Will
you refuse to listen to the truth ? Man,' he con-
tinued, raising his voice and looking the clerk steadily
in the face, lam ruined—a beggar. The bank is
at its last gasp. The doors are closed to-night—

never to be re-opened:
" ' God forbid, Sir ?'
" ' Why 30 ?—would you drive. me mad ? Am I
to have no peace—no rest ? Am Ito be devoured,
eaten away by anxiety and trouble ? Have you no
human blood—no pity for me ? Are you as selfish
as the rest ?'

" Is it possible, Sir ?'
" It is the truth. But speak not of it. I will
have your life if you betray me until the event tells
its own tale. We close the door to night, to open it
no more. You hear the words. They are very simvle
words. Why do you stare so, as if you could nt
guess their meaning ?'
" Oh—l have dreaded this—l have suspected it !'
said Burrage, wringing his hands ; but it has always
seemed impossible. Poor Mr. Allcraft
" Poor ! ' exclaimed Michael. 'Lo you begin
already ? Do you throw it in my teeth so soon ?
You are in the right, man—go with the stream—
taunt me—spit in my face—trample me in the dust!' "

" What a happy life was mine when the sunbeams used

to twine

Like golden threads about my summer suit •
When my warp and woof of green let enough of light
between,

Just to dry the dew that lingered at my root.
" What troops of friends I had when ray form was richly
clad,
And I was fair 'mid fairest things of earth I
Good company came round, and I heard no rougher
sound
Than Childhood's laugh in bold and leaping mirth.

" The old man sat him down to note my emerald crown,
And rest beneath my branches thick and bright ;
The squirrel on my spray kept swinging all the day,
And the song birds chattered to me through the night.
" The dreaming poet laid his soft haiso-in my shade,
And sung my beauty, chorussed by the bee;
The village maiden came to read her own dear name,
Carved on my bark, and bless the broad green tree.

" The merry music breathed, while the bounding dancers
wreathed .

In mazy windings round my giant stern ;
And the joyous words they poured, as they trod the
chequered sward,.
Told the green tree was a worshipped thing by them.
" Oh, what troops of friends I had,-to make my strong
heart glad,
What kind ones answered to my rustling call !
I was hailed with smiling praise, in the glowing summer
days,
And the beautiful green tree was loyed'by all.
"But the bleak wind wind bath swept by, and the gray
cloud dimmed the sky,
My latest leaf has left my inmost bough ;
I creak in grating tones, like the gkeleton's bleached
bones,
And not a footstep seeks the old tree now.
"I stand at morning's dawn, the cheerless and forlorn ;
The sunset comes and finds me still alone ;
The mates who shared my bloom have left me in my
gloom ;
Birds, poet, dancers, children—all are gone.