The Sun.
London, England, 1842-12-31 00:00:00

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FOREIGN.
A Council of Ministers was held at the Tuileri
on Wednesday, at one o'clock, at which the King pi
sided.

A numerous meeting of the Members of the Char
ber of Peers was held on the same cay, at one &doe
in the apartment of the Grand Referendary.
The administration of Customs' duties has just pui
lished a return of the principal merchandise import'
into France duringvthe first eleven months of the Pr'
sent year, by which it appears that the duties prl
duced 90,000,000 f.

. ,
The Moniteur Parisien states, that the tenders
supply the French Government with 4,800,0001b5.
Virginian leaf tobacco, 7,000,0001b5. of Kentucky lea
4,400,0001b5. of Maryland leaf, and 80,0001bs. of 111
vannah leaf, to be delivered at Paris or at Havre, wet
opened before the Minister of Finande on Tuesda
last, when Mr. Brown, a Liverpool merchant, w 2
declared the lowest bidder for the three first article.
and M. J. P. Peccator for the Havannah leaf.
Terradas, who was so deeply implicated in the /31
insurrection in Catalonia, arrived last week at Perpig
nan, from which place he will be sent, by orders c
the French Government to Clermont. Amongst t,ll
other fugitives who have arrived at Perpignan is til
Alcade of Figueras.
A grand banquet of the old scholars of the LYce'
Napoleon and the College Henri IV. was held 0!
Monday at the Restaurant Douix, in the Palais-Royal
M. Odillon Barrot was unanimously called to the
chair. Among the guests were M.dePontois, Niessl
Salvandy, Larabit, Ferdinand Barrot, Barillon,
Etienne, Deputies, and many other distinguisbedlo"
of the bar, in literature, and the arts.
The health of the French Consul at Barcelona was
the great toast of .the evening. His brother retorned
thanks.

PUBLIC OPINION. 1
The Post contains the following remark as
article on the subject of free trade :—" The industr'°-,,
people of this nation, as 'ail confess, never were in -
worse condition than they are in now ; is it not, there"
fore, the next thing to idiocy to go on believing ";
unutterably impudent assumptions of the free-trad.
doctors, which experience has so completely contra"
dieted ? They say the free-trade measures which have
passed were only half measures. They did not gad
so when they passed them. Mr. Huskisson prornir
with the most fervent plausibility that the adruiss',°-
r,
of foreign manufactured silk at the duty he propose"'
should stop smuggling.. Twenty years after Mr. 1111,:
kisson's plans were adopted,
.Mr. Porter stated in his
evidence before the Import Duties Committee that
half the foreign manufactured silk now introduces
into this country is smuggled. Mr. Porter saY5 the
duties were not made low enough. Mr. Huskissl
then deceived the country, or was himself deceived,
and misled the country. They may now call then-
measures half measures ' if they please, but fru°
these half measures they promised the country an inci-
e
proved state of trade, and now they tell us that tra
is worse than ever it was. And to what purpose ,1°
they tell us this ? Not that we should consider wh„..e"
ther we have not gone too far, but that we may be
induced to go farther ! Why not go back Why, 11°.
at all events, pause and reflect upon our actual Pol.
tion and the nature of the legislation which hasPre"
ceded that condition, and has led to it ?"
The Herald thus speaks of the Poor-law Comm"i
sioners :—" By far the greater share of the opposition
to the New Poor-law has been provoked by the Orli
duct of the Commissioners, Sub-Commissioners, an
Secretary to whom its administration' has been en"
trusted. These personages have endangered the very
existence of the many excellent provisions contained
in Lord Althorp's Act by their determination to en:
force uniformity in parochial government, regardles:f
of the insurmountable obstacles thereto arising out s
ever-varying local differences, by their
to monstron.,
affectation of scientific phraseology in their correspond"
ence and orders, by their utter imperviousness he
public opinion, by their general disregard of t
wishes, requests, and suggestions of the rate-poYerea
by their excessive obstinacy in their once-declar
opinions, and above all by their persisting in a res°hy
tion to treat .pauperism as a crime and paupers as
.1
criminals. The Act itself as passed was defective
enough; but the power it gave these Commissioners
of making orders and rules in accordance with what
they might construe to be its spirit, and the manner
in which they have misused that power, have so Xe
creased the defects of the Act, have so shoekedti a,
feelings of the people of England, and have aete,hat
injuriously on the minds of the working classes,
by far the :most popular amendment which SIT Jam, e
Graham could make in the law would be a completec
change in the personnel of the Comniission
cretariat."

The following is from the Times :—"
nell's recent letter to the Poor .law Guardians of the,
county of Cork, which will be found in another part o'
our impression, is ostensibly and primarily a dissertiv
Mr. Ma'
tion, first, upon Poor-laws in general; and, secondly,
upon the Irish Poor-law in particular. He has, ho"'
ever, as perhaps might have been anticipated, on;
trived to drag into his composition by the head an;
shoulders as many extraneous inflammatory elaPtrln
as were necessary for the purpose which he seems re
have had in view in penning his epistle, viz., to Secure
if possible, the benefit of the Anti-Poor-law cry'
which is obviously rising, and which everybody
cex-
pected to rise in Ireland, for his own repeal party ; and
to direct it against all who see through the factint,s
insanity of that abortive movement, be they Tef.r.''
Whig, or Radical. There is a great deal of very t°l;
cibly spoken truth in Mr. O'Connell's obseryatioll
upon the principles and practice of the Irish Pncfs.-
law ; there is, in that part of the letter which direct
treats of the professed subject of the epistle, mu of
powerful exposure of the monstrosity and craeltt,
the principles upon which the modern Poor-lavi:r bls,y
tern is based ; and it is shown that in Ireland, "
infatuation, these principles have been carried out ore,
an exaggerated form, and with additional and 111,1°„--
vexatious circumstances.- And, in admitting "":''
which we gladly do, we would also take the °Pll,4°l,r-
-tunitv of doing honour, and we do it most unfeignedly'
to tie expression by a political 0pP096115.,
of the very Christian sentiment, that private aa a
giving is the first great duty—paramount to,
never to be superseded by, the fulfilment of
secondary obligation (an obligation enhanced by t
hl
necessary deficiency and fluctuation of individll,,
charity) of making a public provision for the poor' ns
The Chronicle says—" In our advertising cnium d
will be found a list of the names of the noblemen le
gentlemen who have already become members °J. tin
general committee for the metropolitan boroughs,
order to promote free trade by the abolition of tit
Corn and Provision-laws, and all other monopolies.
is announced that a further list of names will be Pub-
lished forthwith. In the mean time, the public sv!l
see with satisfaction that many of the first namesfol,'
the country, in point of rank, respectability, and P.tity
perty have placed themselves in the front of the bat
in.
which is now about to be waged in good earnest ft
the metropolis against the partizans of mmopolY„
cannot be too often repeated, that the meeop°,"s
though reeling under the blows they have recel,7l,o
will not give way without an obstinate struggle. hpir
people must bear constantly in mind the adage —e
yourself and God will help you.' Even shoe' 1,15,
Government be disposed to yield to their just iceman.
this pressure from without would not be the 105,11;r
dispensable, to enable Ministers to give effect to
wishes. But it would appear that the favourable al',
position of the Government has been too lightly °
sumed."

MONEY-TRADE--COMMEZCZ.
The forty-third anniversary of the Commercial
Travellers' Society was celebrated on Thursda),r,
the London Coffee-house. Robert Currie, 'r)siii;
presided, and upwards of 100 gentlemen sat down
dinner.
Afr.
The Anti-Corn-law League party have, on
Cobden's authority, their promised 50,000/. alln°st hl.l
hand. The same gentleman states that if he and I -
fellow-agitators, could divide and subdivide them"
selves," or be in fifty places at; once, " they miht re-
ceive 200,0001. or 300,000/., as well as 50,0001."
PUBLIC IMPROVEMENTS. f St•
At a vestry meeting of the rate-payers 0- 4, 3
Mary, Lambeth, held on Thursday in Church-sweet,
was unanimously decided that portions of eight roa
or places in that parish, each averaging about 80"
feet in length, should be dedicated to the use of the
public.
A self-loading cart, for sweeping the streets °I
Manchester, Invented by Mr. Whitworth, an t';
gineer, has now 'been in efficient operation 10
town for the last ten months, altogether doing away
with the necessity of sweepers and scavengers.
.O.ND POLICE.
The Jury have found a verdict of " Wilful Mur-
der" against Michael Meaghan, for the murder 0'
Thomas Leary in Whitecros's-street.
An adjourned inquest was held on Wednesdar
before Mr. Carttar, at Deptford, on the view of tle
body of Elizabeth King, a married woman, w'llo t
was alleged had lost her life through the inattention
of Mr. Arthur, the parish surgeon. The Coroller
considered the case to have assumed so serious a form
as to demand a post )nortent examination.

]LITERARY AND SCIENTIFIC. of
The late ArchdeacOn.Wrangham was the ecliOr
an edition of Plutarch, and an elegant poet, both 10
his own and the Latin languages.
A Bactrian, or two-humped camel, which is °f tb:
species much employed by the Chinese in land-es';
riage, and designated by them the Tong-iqe-f°,',4,,°3
" camel with feet of the wind," has just been mit--
to the Zoological GardenS in the Regent's Park.
COVET--r.astEsonr.anxim.
The Earl and Countess of Wilton are not expec'