The Sun.
London, England, 1844-04-30 00:00:00

FLANDERS MAIL.

BRUSSELS, Arm 26.—The Secret Committee was almost
entirely taken up with the communications which the
Minister of the Interior made to the Chamber. The Minister
referred to his remarks on the preceding day, especially with
respect to the system of duties of customs and the commer-
cial policy of France and England, from which he inferred
the necessity of proceeding to a reform in Belgium, begin-
ning with the adoption of a moderate system of differential
duties.
The Chamber decided, by a majority of 57 to 16, that the
discussion on the principle of the system of differential duties
should take place in Secret Committee.
At the request of the burgomaster and aldermen of Liege,
the Minister of Public Works has just appointed a Commis-
sion to ascertain by what means the city of Liege may be
preserved from inundation, and to prevent the injury to which
it is exposed.
It seems by our accounts from London to be uncertain
when the King and Queen will return home.

VISIT OF Till EMPEROR OF RUSSIA TO THIS
COUNTRY.—The approaching visit of his Imperial Majesty
the Emperor of Russia to this country, which it may be re-
membered was first announced in the Morning Post, will
render the present season the most splendid which has oc-
curred since the visit of the Allied Sovereigns, at the conclu-
sion of the war, in 1814. The nobility and gentry are daily
flocking to the metropolis, and the house-agents are seeking
for houses in every direction. His Imperial Majesty, who
will be attended by several members of his Illustrious house,
and a numerous retinue, will occupy the splendid suite of
apartments in St. James's Palace. Preparations are already
commenced at the Palace for his Majesty's reception, and
also at the mansions of the leading members of the aris-
tocracy, who will vie with each other in the magnificence
and splendour of the fetes which they will give in honour
of his Imperial Majesty's visit. It is understood that there
will be a brilliant display of fireworks in Trafalgar-square
on the evening of the day on which his Majesty arrives.—
Morning Post.
We hear that Sir James Duke, M.P., continues to
suffer so severely from an attack of rheumatism, that some
time is likely to elapse before he will be able to attend to his
public iiuties.
COLBURN'S MONTHLY MAGAZINE, for May, comes
before us strong in celebrated names and attractive sub-
jects. Mrs. Gore and Mrs. Trollope, two ot' the cleverest
female writers of the age, contribute each an admirable
picture of life and character, severally entitled " Mili-
cent, or Summer and Winter," and " The Rubertses on
their Travels." From the popular humourists, " Tit-
marsh" and Leman Blanchard, we have a most amusing
little story, called " The I'artie Fine," from the first,
and a pleasant sketch, entitled " Deceased People whom
we meet with Daily," from the other ; to which may be
added, a laughable anecdote by the author of " Peter
Priggins," with the title of " The Bit of I'referment ;"
an anonymous paper bearing the title, " The
11l-
Humourist, or Our Recantation ;" and a humorous
essay "On the Duplicity of Men." Horace Smith takes
"Lachrymose Writers" for his subject ; James Kenney
finds a more pleasant one in " Mrs. Hope, the Fortune
Teller ;" and John Poole affords equal entertainment to
the reader with " The Beauty of Brighton." Among
several sterling papers still left to enumerate, we must
point to the " Recreations in Natural History," " More
Reminiscences of the late Prir.ce Talleyrand," and " The
Medical Student's" conclusion of his striking story called
• Marianne Esterling.";