whole nation felt at the last moments of the King my brother, was to me the sweet est of all consolations; and I can say with truth, it was to this cause that I owe the power of fully enjoying the confidence with which my accession to the throne has been received.

"This confidence shall not be deceived. Gentlemen, I know all the duties which Royalty imposes on me; but, strong in my love for the people, I hope, with the aid of God, to have the courage and firm ness necessary for their due fulfilment.

"I announce to you with pleasure, that the dispositions of foreign governments have experienced no change, and leave me no doubt respecting the maintenance of those friendly relations which subsist between them and myself. The spirit of conciliation and prudence which animates them gives to the nations the strongest guarantee which they have ever had against the return of those troubles by which they were for so long a time desolated.

"I shall neglect nothing to maintain that happy agreement which is its fruit. With this object it was that I consented to prolong still further the stay in Spain of a part of the troops which my son had left there after a campaign, which, both as a Frenchman and a father, I may call glorious. A recent Convention has regulated the conditions of this temporary measure in such manner as to conciliate the interests of the two monarchies.

"The just security which our foreign relations give us will favour the developement of our internal prosperity. I will second this salutary movement, Gentlemen, by causing to be successively pro posed to you the melioration required by the sacred interests of religion, and by the most important parts of our Legislation.

"The King my brother found a great consolation in preparing the means of closing the last wounds of the Revolution. The moment has arrived to execute the wise designs which he had conceived. The situation of our finances will permit the accomplishment of this great act of justice and of policy without augmenting the imposts, without injuring public credit, without retrenching any part of the funds destined to the different branches of the public service.

"These results, perhaps beyond expectation, Gentlemen, are due to the order established with your concurrence in the fortune of the State, and to the peace which we enjoy. I entertain a firm confidence that you will enter into my views, and that this restorative order will be completed by a perfect harmony of will between you and myself.

"I have resolved that the ceremony of my Coronation shall terminate the First Session of my reign. You will assist, Gentlemen, at that august solemnity. There, prostrated at the foot of the same altar where Clovis received the Sacred Unction, and in presence of Him who judges nations and Kings, I will renew the oath to maintain, and cause to be ob. served, the laws of the State, and the institutions granted by the King, my brother; I will thank Divine Providence for having deigned to make use of me in order to repair the last misfortunes of my people; and I will beseech the Almighty to continue to protect that beauteous France, which I am proud of governing."

The proceedings of the Chambers were commenced in the 23d by the election of five candidates for the Presidency of the Deputies, and the appointment of Bureaux, or Committees, to prepare the Address in the Peers. The candidates named for the Presidency were M. Ravez. M. Chilhaud de la Rigaudie, the Prince de Montmorency, M. de Longueve, and the Marquis de Baily. Of these the Kiug nominated the first mentioned, M. Ravez. M. Martignac was made choice of for the Vice-Presidency. On the occasion of nominating the Members of the Bureaux, and the Commission for the Address, the Opposition were left in a decided minority, having only 50 votes in one instance, and 61 in the next, whilst there were 91 and 107 for the Ministry. M. de Chateaubriand voted in the minority.

The Addresses of both the Chambers, in reply to the King's Speech, though, to a certain extent, they may be called echoes to that which they answer, are not without interest. Both the Peers and the Deputies speak with the most unqualified approbation of the plan for indemnifying the sufferers by the Revolution. They consider the measures to be worthy of France, and worthy of a new reign. The Address in the Chamber of Peers was carried almost unanimously; the numbers in favour of it being 148, upon a total of 151. All the preparatory forms having been gone through, business was begun on Monday, 3d of January, when three projects of law were presented to the Chamber of Deputies. The first of these concerns the Civil List and the appanage to the Princes and Princesses of the Royal Family, by which it is proposed to fix the former at 25 millions of francs annually for the King's lifetime, and the latter at seven millions. The second relates to the long-expected indemnity to the emigrants, which is estimated at thirty millions of rentes, to be inscribed in five years, at the rate of six millions yearly-the in

scriptions to take place on the 22d June of each year, beginning with the present year. The third project proposes to provide the means by which the plan of indemnity is to be carried into effect, without the necessity of imposing new burdens on the nation. By one of the provisions, the Sinking Fund is to be resorted to for a certain number of years; and the other is the old scheme for converting the rentes, with this difference, however, that it is to be optional on the part of the holders of the present French rentes; they are to be allowed to convert them into 3 per cents, at 75; that is to say, for every 100 of 5 per cents, 133f. 33c. 3 per cents, or 4 per cents at par, with security against being paid till 1835.

The

SPAIN. A Convention agreed upon between the Governments of Spain and France, for the continued occupation of Spain by French troops, has been published in the Madrid Official Gazette. terms appear to be those originally sta ted. The French Army of Occupation is reduced to 22,000 men, who are to occupy Cadiz, the Isla, Barcelona, St. Sebastian, Pampeluna, Urgel, Jaca, and Figueras. They are to be clothed, fed, and provided in every respect by Spain. The expense is fixed by this Convention at 900,000 francs per month. There is no time fixed for the departure of the troops, and they are only to be withdrawn as " soon as the parties interested shall judge it necessary." There is one thing in this Convention which proves the wretched state to which the King of Spain is reduced. It would be too odious to surround his person with French troops, and he dares not trust his safety to Spaniards. In this predicament an expedient has been adopted. pendently of the 22,000 French troops occupying the fortresses, two regiments of Swiss are to remain at Madrid to attend the King's person, jointly with Spanish troops.

Inde

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The King of Spain has refused, or at least postponed giving, his assent to the re-establishment of the Inquisition. has also signed an order, permitting, after the 5th inst., the importation into Spain of British-manufactured goods, in British ships, at an ad valorem duty of 25 per cent., and in Spanish ships at a duty of 20 per cent.

As the French troops begin to move towards the frontiers of Spain, the violence of the more furious Royalists displays itself with the less restraint. According to accounts from Madrid, the police there, being entirely occupied in the pursuit of political offenders, that is to say, of all who were not persecutors them. selves, opposed no check to the practices

and atrocities of common robbers and assassins, and whilst it was impossible to appear in the streets after dark, without the risk of property and life, the environs of the city were infested with banditti, who plundered and murdered in the face of the day. In the neighbouring provinces, those excesses assumed something more of a political character. The ban

ditti rose into guerillas, and selected their victims amongst the class from whom the bitterest hostility to the Constitution had flowed, that is to say, from amongst the clergy, whose houses they pillaged, and whose persons they treated with great indignity. The priests, on the other hand, whose distinguishing characteristic in Spain is not patient endurance of injuries, had raised a force among the peasantry, which they paid liberally, and which, under the guidance of its militant pastors, had in some instances succeeded in driving away the ravaging bands. At the head of this clerical army the Curate Merino is said to have been placed, and a sort of partisan warfare to be carried on with great spirit on both sides.

One expedient of the Council of Castille to furnish supplies for the Royal Treasury deserves to be noticed. It is proposed to confiscate the property of all those who, to ensure their personal safety, have lately emigrated from Spain, unless they return and deliver themselves up to their persecutors. The impoverishment of the kingdom by the sums withdrawn by these absentees is the argument for the mea

sure.

PORTUGAL. One of the French papers contains the heads of the decree of the King of Portugal, for the organization of the three estates of that kingdom. It gives the Nobility, and Deputies from towns and cities, merely a right to deliberate (without legislative power,) and to be consulted and heard by the King. The Chambers are to be assembled and dissolv. ed when the King thinks fit. A private letter denies any the remotest intention on the part of the Portuguese Government to recognise the absolute independence of the Brazils. A sort of qualified independence has been offered-allowing a domestic and Constitutional Government, of which the Prince should be head as Emperor-Regent-but still under the sovereignty of Portugal; and after the Prince's accession to the throne of Portugal, Brazil to be then governed by a Viceroy. The Brazilian Emperor, it is stated, relishes this offer. This proposition, already on its way to the Brazils, was shewn to the European Governments. No good result is expected from it. It is not pleas ing to the Holy Allies, and there is no

probability of its finding partizans among the Brazilians.

RUSSIA. Flood at St. Petersburgh.Letters from St. Petersburgh present us with a dreadful account of the calamities produced there by an inundation of the Neva, which took place on the 19th of November. In some parts of the town the waters rose to such a height, and with so great rapidity, that the inhabitants had not time to save themselves, but men, women, and children, indiscriminately perished. A storm accompanied this visitation of the waters, so violent, as to roll up the sheet iron which covered the roofs of many houses, as if it had been paper; broke in doors and windows everywhere, and combining its force with that of the current, swept away some of the lighter habitations. The stores of raw-sugar near the custom. house, and the Herring-magazine, con. taining upwards of 50,000 barrels of that article of food, were irretrievably ruined. The water was half a yard deep in the rooms of the Imperial Palace; several prisoners were drowned in the prison; and the regiment of Carabineers, who had got for safety on the roof of the barracks, were all carried away. The burial-grounds have been torn up, and dead bodies, with human bones, &c., were floated about the streets. The streets of Petersburgh were covered the following day with bodies of animals which had been drowned-with fire-wood, the stores of which had been broken up, and drifted away in all directions-with ships, which had burst from their mooringswith the contents of ravaged shops, and the materials of which wind and water had overturned. Whole villages in the neighbourhood of the Russian capital were, it is said, swept away. No food could be had in any quarter for days after the deluge had subsided, and business was entirely put a stop to. The inundation appears to have subsided almost as suddenly as it came on, the 19th being the day on which it began and end. ed. At Stockholm, on the 18th, the storm, though not equally violent, was productive of extensive mischief. The wind in both instances was from the north-west. At Cronstadt the sea rising over the great battery, laid the whole town under water, and the inhabitants were forced to take refuge in the second stories. Many merchantmen have perished, and a ship of the line of 100 guns stands in the great square. Above a hundred persons perished at that place.

The three bridges over the Neva are all carried away. The loss of property is immense, particularly coffee and sugar.

The damage done to the hemp is also great. The tallow, of course, has sustained no injury. The whole is estimated at 150 millions of roubles. The schools and theatres were closed. By order of the Governor, 400 soldiers were employed in burying the dead. It is said that the cavalry of the guard have lost many thousand horses. Five hundred oxen were drowned in the slaugh ter-house near the Kalinka bridge, and those that are left alive are in a very exhausted state.

This calamitous event was occasioned by high winds, which seem to have raised the waters of the Gulf of Finland, like those of the Red Sea, into a heap. Fortunately the visitation was as temporary as it was violent, or its consequences, bad as they are, must have been worse. It continued only twenty-four hours, and yet the subsiding waters are said to have left behind them 8000 corpses. The terror of the scene was augmented by the darkness of the night in which it commenced, which prevented the inhabitants from using the means they would otherwise have tried to save themselves. It is supposed that about 10,800,000 lbs. of sugar have been damaged, and more than the one-half of it melted away. Many houses have been levelled to the ground, and several villages in the vicinity are no longer to be found. In consequence, the greatest distress has been felt by the inhabitants. More than ten thousand were without shelter till the public buildings were thrown open for their accommodation. In addition to the loss of their houses, they have to endure the sufferings of famine, in consequence of the destruction of the necessa ries of life. In order to alleviate this, the Government attempted to fix a maximum for provisions, at the usual prices; and the Emperor has subscribed 1,000,000 rubles, about £.40,000, to be divided among the sufferers. Several of the nobles have followed his example in contributing liberally to their relief, and Count Miloradowitsch immediately sent expresses to Riga, Liebau, &c., to order supplies of provisions of all kinds.

GREECE. The last intelligence from Constantinople, in the French and German papers, leaves little doubt as to the disastrous issue to the Turks of the naval campaign between them and the Greeks. The shattered condition of the remaining vessels of the Captain Pacha's fleet, and the wretched appearance of their crews, sufficiently indicate the sufferings they have undergone. The Sultan, however, has judged it prudent, in the case of the Captain Pacha, to depart

from the savage policy of the Sublime Porte, with respect to unfortunate Commanders by sea or land. The Turkish Admiral was received with the customary salutations and compliments of success. This is, in the history of the Ottoman Empire, the first instance of the Sultan permitting a defeated servant to appear again in the Imperial presence, with the honours of his station. The pride of the Crescent seems to be sinking with the decline of its power. The usual resource of barbarous and impoverished governments is said to be in contemplation by the Divan. The public wants are to be supplied by means of a depreciated currency. The Grand Seignior, it is said, has ordered the formation of a new army of reserve, composed entirely of Asiatic troops, and orders have been sent to the Pachas to send their troops without delay. Some members of the Divan had advised conciliatory measures; but the majority, with true Ottoman pride, declared that new efforts must be made during the winter, to prepare a great naval force by the spring. Nothing had been decided, on account of the penury of the treasury.

In the meantime, the fortress of Patras is closely invested on the land side by 5000 Greeks, under the command of Constantine Bozzaris and Caliopoli. The Egyptian fleet which had taken refuge under the batteries of the Island of Candia was attacked and defeated by two Greek divisions on the 12th of November. Twenty transports full of troops are said to have fallen into the hands of the conquerors. A proclamation, which, though merely an act of strict neutrality, may still be regarded as in some degree a public acknowledgment on the part of the Ionian Government, that the Greeks, by their successes, have placed themselves in the condition of an independent nation, has been issued by the Lord High Commissioner of the Ionian Islands. It announces the regular blockade of Pat ras and Lepanto, according to the law of nations, by the Greek maritime forces, and commands all vessels sailing under the Ionian flag to respect it. The Greek Government, notwithstanding its strug gle with the Turks, does not neglect the education of the people. A commission of five of the most enlightened Members of the Legislature has been appointed to superintend the progress of public in. struction. Elementary schools have been established in all the principal places, and a University is about to be founded at Missolonghi, towards which one patriotic individual, Varvaki, has given a sum equal to about £.40,000,

ASIA.

EAST INDIES.-Narratives of a series of military operations at and in advance of Rangoon are contained in the Calcutta Government Gazette of the 29th of July, which has been received in this country. These all ended in a manner the most successful to the British arms. On the 1st of July, the Burmese were the assailants. The Burmese General, by positive orders of the King of Ava, drew out 12,000 men, with the avowed purpose of driving the English into the sea. They attacked the right of Sir A. Campbell's position, and penetrated at one time between our picquets, but were shortly after. wards repelled and put to flight. The force employed to drive them back consisted of only three coinpanies of native infantry, supported by two pieces of artillery. The enemy left 100 dead upon the field and some prisoners, while Gen. Campbell had not a man hurt. On the following morning, a numerous party of the enemy entered the town of Dallah before daylight, and fired on the British post from it. Captain Isaack, of the 8th Madras Native Infantry, who commanded there, pushed forward with a few men, and was unfortunately killed, and the dastardly enemy mutilated his body while it was in their possession. The town had been spared, although the inhabitants had left it; but in consequence of this use of it by the enemy, it was razed to the ground. On the 8th the British troops assumed the offensive, making an attack by water under Sir A. Campbell, who carried three stockades after a slight resistance, and destroyed considerable numbers of the enemy. On the same day a land attack took place under Brigadier-General M⭑Creagh, who had under him a force of above 1200 Europeans, and 300 native infantry. The object of this enterprize was to turn, and if possible surround, the enemy; but though it appears that the conduct both of officers and men was distinguished by skill and courage, and though seven strong stockades were stormed with very trifling loss, the results of the day are described to be only the flight and dispersion of the enemy, of whom near 1000 were left dead on the field. The body of their army, estimated at 14,000 men, escaped into the interior. The British had not more in the whole than from 70 to 80 killed and wounded. The Burmese are said to have fought bravely, but had not fire-arms for a fourth of their men.

An epidemic fever raged in Calcutta, and had attacked three-fourths of the population. It was not very fatal,

AMERICA.

UNITED STATES-The Congress met on the 7th of December. The Message of President Monroe is very satisfactory. Alluding to the effects jointly made by Great Britain and the United States, for the more effectual suppression of the Slave Trade, it is mentioned as a cause of serious regret, that no arrangement had yet been finally concluded between the two Governments. It appears, that although a Convention was concluded, and signed in London on the 13th of November, declaring the traffic in Slaves a piratical offence, certain obstacles had risen, which, not being entirely removed, the President had deemed it expedient to suspend the ratification till the definitive sentiments of Congress upon the subject had been ascertained. It is gratifying, however, to find, that the "differences had been reduced to a point, not of sufficient magnitude, as is presumed, to be permitted to defeat an object so near to the heart of both nations, and so desirable to the friends of humanity throughout the world." The discussions between the Cabinets of Washington and St. Peters burgh, respecting the North-west Coast of America, are announced as having been brought to a satisfactory conclusion. A Charge d'Affairs, it is stated, has been received from the Independent Government of Brazil; and it is announced, that Ministers Plenipotentiary from the United States are accredited to the Republics of Colombia and Chili, while Ministers of the same rank have arrived at Washington from Colombia, Guatimala, Buenos Ayres, and Mexico. "Our commercial relation,' says the President," with all those States, are mutually beneficial and increasing." A Treaty of Commerce, similar to the one concluded with Colombia, would have been commenced with Buenos Ayres, had it not been prevented by the indisposition and lamented decease of Mr Rodney, the American Minister at that Government. With respect to General Fayette, Mr Monroe recommends to Congress, that a "provision may be made and tendered to him, which shall correspond with the sentiments, and be worthy the character of the American people." The latter part of the Message is occupied with a view, and a most satisfactory one it is represent ed to be, of the internal resources of the United States; the situation of which, the President states as most prosperous and happy in every point of view; and to ensure the continuance of this happiness and prosperity, he strongly urges the aug. mentation of their navy, and the extension of maritime fortifications. The conclu.

VOL. XVI.

ding paragraph adverts to Mr Monroe's retirement from office, and to the present address being the last of the kind which he shall have to make. The allusion is conveyed in language which is the more expressive, because it is neither affected nor ostentatious. His successor, as appears by the return of votes hither. to given, is likely to be Mr Adams.

SOUTH AMERICA-An official com munication has been made by the British Government to all the European States, of its intention to form treaties of com. merce with the trans-Atlantic States, severed from Spain and Portugal. Without such a declaration, we might have been charged with stealing a march in advance upon our commercial rivals; though in any case it is clear that we were at liberty to act towards the new American Republics as we pleased, being bound by no treaty to the contrary, and being no participators in the Holy Alliance. It is said also, that the only recognition of the sovereignty of the States in question, which Great Britain will make, will be her treaties of commerce with them. This recognition it is proposed at present to extend only to Mexico and Colombia. Mr Warde will proceed immediately to Mexico, with full powers to himself and to Mr Morier, who is already there, to conclude a treaty with that Government. Colonel Campbell, in like manner, will return to Colombia, and, in conjunction with Colonel Hamilton, who is still at Bogota, will proceed to negotiate with the Colombian Government in a similar treaty of commerce. The recognition of Buenos Ayres, which has long possessed a settled government, is expected soon to follow ; but some farther information, respecting its extent and external relations, is wished for before recognizing this state. No re port from Chili has yet been received.

PERU. The narrative of affairs in Peru, after the engagement at Junin, is thus continued by a dispatch of Bolivar's secretary, dated Head quarters, Huanta, August 27, 1824:-"After the events of the 6th at Junin, the enemy continued to retreat. At the present time they have lost six provinces, and more than half their forces; so that, according to all ac counts, the enemy's army is reduced to 2500 or 3000 men, broken, and without any moral force. In proportion as our advanced corps approach the enemy, they retreat, so that it is impossible to follow with the precipitation with whieh they fly. We have already taken large quantities of military stores, and hope hereafter to take more. The Liberating Army is daily augmented by deserters from the enemy. The Viceroy has formed a junc.

P