FOREIGN AFFAIRS.
The year 1853 witnessed little in the foreign relations of the United Kingdom to excite the public interest, except in connection with the dangers to which the integrity of the Turkish empire became exposed. The establishment of the empire in France consolidated the amity between that country and the British government and people. With Europe generally the best understanding existed. Various treaties were formed with countries of minor power, all having a tendency to preserve peace and promote commerce. The public were made acquainted with others which had been made or ratified the previous year; and the expectation was general that the repose of Europe would remain undisturbed. A treaty of friendship, commerce, and navigation, was ratified the previous October with the republic of Peru, and published the beginning of January. A similar treaty was ratified at Guayaquil on the 23rd of January with the republic of the equator. On the 1st of February, a treaty relative to the succession of the crown of Greece was ratified in London, between her Britannic Majesty, the French Emperor, and the Emperor of Russia. “Declarations” were signed at Florence and Rome, on the 17th of November, and exchanged between the governments of Great Britain and the Roman States, “for securing national treatment to the vessels and commerce of the one country in the other.”