POLITICAL AND GENERAL NEWS.
THE UNITED STATES.
The past month has been remarkable for general quiet and for an absence of excitement of any kind, rather than for events either of political or general interest. It has often been noted as characteristic of the American Republic, that, however fierce and menacing popular excitement may appear to be, it disappears with the immediate event which gave it birth. A presidential election, for instance, calls forth the most embittered and apparently dangerous contests between different sections of the Union, and an observer, unacquainted with the character of our people, and the practical working of our institutions, would naturally expect that the result, whatever it might be, would excite the defeated party to armed resistance, and plunge the country into civil war. But the whole country is never so quiet—the public mind is never so free from agitation, as immediately after an excited election contest. The adjournment of Congress has had a similar effect. Stimulants to sectional or party feeling are no longer there applied; the public attention is no longer fastened upon public men, and social and civil life resume their ordinary channels of quiet and harmonious progress.
Some of the State Legislatures are still in session, but their action is too local to excite general interest. A very important Act has passed the Legislature of the State of New York, re-organizing the Common School System of the State, and placing it partially upon the free basis. By the law of 1849 all the common schools of the State were made entirely free, their cost being paid by county, town, and district taxation. This was found to be highly obnoxious, chiefly from that provision which gave the voters in any district power to tax the property of the district ad libitum for school purposes. The new law was passed to remedy those objections. By its provisions a State tax of $800,000 is annually imposed upon the property of the State, and distributed among the schools. The balance, if any should be required, is to be collected by rate-bill from those who send to school, indigent persons being exempt, at the expense of property of the town. The bill has become a law and will go into operation next fall. Another very important measure has been introduced into the Legislature, concerning the enlargement of the Erie Canal. The Constitution of the State sets apart the surplus revenues of the canals in each year, for the completion of the enlargement; but the rapidly increasing competition of railroads has led the Legislature to perceive the necessity of accomplishing this work more rapidly than it can be done in the way hitherto adopted. The bill referred to proposes to borrow money on the credit of the surplus revenues set apart by the Constitution; and with the money thus procured, to complete the enlargement forthwith, setting apart the revenues as a fund to redeem the certificates. The measure was very strenuously resisted by the Democratic party, chiefly on the ground that it was unconstitutional. This, however, was denied by the friends of the bill. It was argued with great ability and zeal on both sides. In the Assembly the bill passed, by a vote of 76 ayes and 21 nays In the Senate it is still under consideration. We have already recorded the attempt and failure of the Legislature to elect a Senator in the Congress of the United States. On the 18th of March the effort was renewed by a joint resolution, and after a session protracted until two hours after midnight, it resulted, through the absence of two Democratic Senators, in the choice, by separate nomination of each House, of Hamilton Fish. In the Senate there were 16 votes for, and 12 against him. In the House he received 68 votes and there were but 8 against him. He has accepted the office.—The members of the Legislature and the State Officers paid a visit of three days to the City of New York, on the invitation of the Mayor and Common Council. They visited the different public and charitable institutions, of this city and Brooklyn; and were entertained at a public dinner at the Astor House, on the evening of March 22d. This is the first visit of the kind ever made.—A bill for the suppression of gambling, containing some stringent provisions, having been introduced into the Senate, and referred to a committee of three, George W. Bull, sergeant-at-arms of that body, endeavored to enter into negotiations with the reputed proprietor of a gambling "hell" in New York to delay or defeat the bill, for an adequate compensation. He managed to procure a note from the committee to the effect that the bill would not come up the present session. The attempt was exposed, and the offender forthwith dismissed from his office. An unsuccessful attempt was made to implicate the senatorial committee in this scandalous affair, upon the ground that they could not have been ignorant of the purpose for which their note was procured.
Nothing of special importance has occurred in any section of the country. In Ohio the Legislature has adopted a series of resolutions concerning the Fugitive Slave law, urging a faithful execution of the law, but recommending such modifications as experience may prove to be essential. In view of the Act of the Legislature of South Carolina, providing for the appointment of delegates to a Southern Congress, the General Assembly of Virginia has passed a series of resolutions to the following purport: 1. That while Virginia sympathizes in the feelings excited by the interference of the non-slaveholding States with the domestic institutions of the South, yet the people of that State "are unwilling to take any action, in consequence of the same, calculated to destroy the integrity of this Union." 2. That regarding the Compromise measures, "taken together, as an adjustment of the exciting questions to which they relate, and cherishing the hope that if fairly executed, they will restore to the country that harmony and confidence, which of late have been so unhappily disturbed, the State of Virginia deems it unwise, in the present condition of the country, to send delegates to the proposed Southern Congress." 3. Virginia appeals to South Carolina "to desist from any meditated secession upon her part, which can not but tend to the destruction of the Union, and the loss to all the States of the blessings that spring from it." 4. Believing that the Constitution provides adequate protection to the rights of all the States, Virginia "invokes all who live under it to adhere more strictly to it, and to preserve inviolate the safeguards which it affords to the rights of individual States, and the interests of sectional minorities." 5. Reprobates all legislation or combinations designed to affect the institutions peculiar to the South, as derogatory and offensive to the Southern States, and calculated to "defeat the restoration of peaceful and harmonious sentiments in these States." These dignified and temperate resolutions passed with singular unanimity: the 3d with but three, the 1st with only one, and the 4th and 5th without a single dissenting voice, out of 118 members present and voting. They were directed to be transmitted to the Executive of each of the States, with the exception of Vermont. In the Senate an amendment was passed, omitting this exception of Vermont; but the House refusing, by a very close vote, to concur, the Senate receded.
There is little doubt that these resolutions embody the prevalent sentiment of the South. The Richmond Enquirer, one of the ablest and most influential Southern papers, affirms them to be "such an expression of sentiment as will harmonize with the universal sentiment of the South, with rare exceptions. South Carolina," it goes on to say, "still wears the front of resistance and war; and in a portion of Mississippi we expect to hear of secret pledges of dark import, of maps, drawings, and lines of demarkation for a Southern Confederacy, of a President in embryo, foreign ministers in expectancy, and, in short, all the paraphernalia of a Southern Court. We have watched the Southern horizon with a steady and keen eye, and with the slight exceptions alluded to above, we can not but regard it as a fixed fact that the South has already acquiesced in the Compromise measures."
In Georgia, Alabama, Tennessee, and Kentucky, all the indications of public sentiment are of the same tendency. In Missouri the State Convention has adopted an address and resolutions in favor of the course pursued by Mr. Benton in opposition to those who are regarded as the enemies of the Union.
In South Carolina, the tone of the press and of public men is decidedly hostile to the Union. It is, however, a significant fact that the election of delegates to the State Convention failed to draw out a third of the vote of the State. Col. Isaac W. Hayne, the Attorney-General of the State, and member-elect from Charleston, of the State Convention, has published a letter in which he laments this apathy on the part of the voters. He affirms that any State has "a right to withdraw from the Union, with or without cause;" that he has begun to "loathe the tie which connects us with our miscalled brethren of the North." "Not the victims of the tyranny of Mezentius," he goes on to say, "could have shrunk in more disgust from the unnatural union of warm and breathing life with the rotting carcass of what had once been a brother man, than I do from this once cherished but now abhorred and forced connection." The policy which he recommends, now that the occasion which the "admission of California and the dismemberment of Texas" might have afforded, has passed away unimproved is, "to teach that disunion is a thing certain in the future; to direct, in contemplation of this, all the energies of oar people first to preparation for a physical contest," and then "to develop all our own resources, and cut off, as far as possible, all intercourse with the offending States. This done, to hold ourselves ready to move on the first general ferment in the South, which, my life upon it, will occur full soon, and in the meanwhile, to cultivate the kindest relations, and to keep up, industriously and with system, the closest intercourse with our sister States of the South."
A letter from Senator Phelps of Vermont to a member of the Virginia Legislature, respecting the Vermont law in relation to fugitives, appears in the Southern papers. It bears date in January, but we believe it is now first published. He gives it as his opinion that the law of Vermont, of which a synopsis may be found in our January Number, was passed in haste, and without due consideration, and does not embody the deliberate sense of the people or of the legislative body of that State. He affirms that the entire Congressional delegation of the State agree with him in deprecating its passage; and expresses the opinion that it will be repealed at the next session of the Legislature.
Chevalier Hulsemann, the Austrian Chargé, in reply to the famous dispatch of Mr. Webster, says that the opinions of his Government remain unaltered with respect to the mission of Mr. Mann; but that it "declines all ulterior discussion of that annoying incident," from unwillingness to disturb its friendly relations with the United States. Austria has not demanded, and will not demand any thing beyond the putting in practice the principles of non-intervention announced by President Fillmore; and is "sincerely disposed to remain in friendly relations with the Government of the United States so long as the United States shall not deviate from those principles." Mr. Webster, in reply, states that the President regrets that the dispatch was unsatisfactory, but is gratified to learn that the Imperial Government desires to continue the present friendly relations; and also that it approves the sentiments expressed in his Message, in accordance with which he intends to act. He says that the Government of the United States is equally disinclined to prolong the discussion; but declares that the principles and policy avowed by the United States are "fixed and fastened upon them by their character, their history, and their position among the nations of the world; and it may be regarded as certain that these principles and this policy will not be abandoned or departed from until some extraordinary change shall take place in the general current of human affairs."
Amin Bey, the Turkish Commissioner, in taking leave of the President, preparatory to returning to his own country, read an address expressing his appreciation of the courtesy shown him upon his visit, and his sense of the progress and resources of this country. He carries with him to Constantinople many valuable works, presented by Government and by private liberality, relating to the agriculture, industry, and commerce of the United States.
In Ohio the Constitutional Convention closed its labors on the 10th of March, having been in session nearly six months. The Constitution which they framed is to be voted upon on the third Tuesday in June. It embraces 16 articles, divided into 168 sections. It provides for freedom of religion, equality of political rights, trial by jury, the habeas corpus, freedom of speech and of the press, and no imprisonment for debt. The right of suffrage is vested in all free white male adult citizens. All patronage is taken from the General Assembly; judicial and executive officers are to be elected by the people; and the public printing to be given to the lowest responsible bidder. No new county can be formed without the sanction of the majority of voters in all the counties of which the boundaries would be changed. Provision is made for the liquidation of the State debt; and no new debt can be created by the General Assembly except in case of war or insurrection, or to a limited amount to meet any temporary deficiency; and funds borrowed for these purposes can be used for no other. No special act of incorporation can be granted; but a general law, subject to alteration or repeal, may be passed, under which associations may be formed. The General Assembly is prohibited from assuming the debt of any county, town, or city; from loaning the credit of the State to, or becoming a stockholder on any corporation or association. No divorce can be granted by the Legislature. An article prohibiting licenses for the sale of intoxicating liquors is to be separately voted upon. Provision is made for law reform, and for amendments to the Constitution from time to time. Every twenty years the question of a Constitutional Convention is to be submitted to vote. The details of the legislative, executive, and judicial systems, are not essentially different from those which generally prevail.
In Virginia a Constitutional Convention is now in session. It is at present occupied in discussing the question of the basis of representation. The section of the State east of the Blue Ridge, with about four-ninths of the free population, pays nearly two-thirds of the taxes. They desire that one half of the representatives should be apportioned in the ratio of the voters; and the other half in that of taxation; which would secure the preponderance to the eastern section. The west demand that representation shall be in the ratio of the voters, which would give the political supremacy to their portion of the State. The debates have been protracted and exciting.
The frontiers of Texas continue to be harassed by marauding parties of Indians. An expedition has been fitted out to bring them to terms.
The little village of Socorro, in New Mexico, has been the scene of a fearful tragedy. A band of desperadoes had gradually collected there, who indulged in the most wanton acts of outrage and barbarity, upon the Mexican residents, finally ending in more than one deliberate murder. A few members of the Boundary Commission who had been left there, headed an organization which captured a number of the gang, of whom three were tried and hung on the spot. The ringleader, who had made his escape, was soon after taken, and shared the same fate.
From California we have intelligence up to the 5th of March. The amount of gold received during the month, exclusive of that in the hands of passengers is about $1,817,000. The production continues abundant; though the profits of agriculture are represented to be quite equal, and more sure, than those of mining. Hostilities with the Indians still continue. Another engagement has taken place, in which 40 of the Indians were killed, without loss on the part of the whites. In Sacramento City, a gambler engaged in a brawl, shot down a citizen who attempted to prevent outrage. The murderer was seized by the populace, tried by Lynch law, found guilty, and in spite of the efforts of some citizens, hung from the branch of a tree, within a few hours of the commission of the murder. In San Francisco two men came near sharing a similar fate for an attempt at murder and robbery. They were, however, finally rescued from the populace, and handed over to the civil authority. No Senator has been elected. The Legislature met in joint convention; but after 144 ballots, finding no probability of succeeding in making an election, adjourned sine die. The whole number of votes cast was 49; thus making 25 necessary for a choice. The highest number for Mr. Frémont was 16. Mr. Heydenfeldt, formerly of Alabama, was for a time the leading Democratic candidate. He was opposed by a portion of his party, on the alleged ground of having formerly advocated disunion. This is denied by himself and his friends. Mr. Weller was subsequently taken up; and at the last ballot received 18 votes. The Whig candidate throughout was Mr. King, whose highest vote was 20.
MEXICO.
From Mexico the general aspect of intelligence is gloomy enough. It would seem doubtful whether there is sufficient vitality left for the re-organization of society, without an infusion of a more fresh and vigorous blood. The administration of Arista has not thus far realized the anticipations which had been cherished of it. The country is infested with predatory Indians and brigands. On the 15th of February, a train of wagons was attacked in broad daylight, a few miles from the capital, by a band of 15 robbers who drove off the military escort and carried away a large amount of goods. The Minister of War and Marine urges the establishment of military colonies upon the frontiers; and recommends the desperate measure of incorporating into these colonies the agricultural Indians, such as the Seminoles, who are accustomed to the use of arms, and are disposed to settle in fixed habitations, so that they may serve as a barrier against the marauding Camanches, Lipanes, and Apaches. The highroad leading from Mazatlan to the mines is held by the Indians. In Yucatan fears are entertained of the extermination of the whites. The refractory Bishop of Michoacan has at length consented to take the oath to sustain the constitution and laws. An act of the Legislature of Queretaro, restoring the Jesuits to that State, has been pronounced by Congress to be a violation of the Constitution. The exclusive right for 100 years to construct a railroad from Vera Cruz to Madellan has been granted to Don José Maria Estellan.
GREAT BRITAIN.
Our last Record closed amidst the unsuccessful attempts to find somebody who would undertake to carry on the government of the country. Stanley and Russell, the representatives of the Free-trade and Protection parties, felt too weak. Gladstone would not help Stanley, nor Graham help Russell; and nobody would help Lord Aberdeen. At last the advice of the Duke of Wellington was solicited; in accordance with which the former Ministry were invited to resume their places. They left office on the 22d of February because they were unable to obtain the confidence of the House, and resumed on the 3d of March, under the pressure of the same inability, every man his old office. At a meeting of the members of the House who usually supported him, summoned by Lord John Russell, he announced, among other measures, that it was the determination of the Government to proceed with the Ecclesiastical Titles Bill, with certain modifications. This aroused vehement remonstrances from a number of Catholic Whigs, who announced their determination to oppose the Ministry at all hazards. When the bill came to be presented, it was found that all that remained was the prohibition for Catholic bishops to assume titles derived from the name of any place in the United Kingdom. Dr. Wiseman must not call himself Archbishop of Westminster, or Dr. M'Hale sign himself "John of Tuam," under penalty of £100, if Government should have the folly to prosecute. Meanwhile they may address each other by these titles, and all Catholics may consider and address them so unharmed. The bill, as modified passed to a second reading on the 22d of March, by 438 ayes to 95 nays—a majority of more than four to one. Such is the finale of the absurd and disproportionate agitation with respect to the "Papal Agression." Nobody is satisfied. The Church party, who mourned over the shortcomings of the bill as originally presented, are of course still less pleased with it as emasculated. The Catholics who then opposed it as an injury, now resent it as an insult.
The Ministry has sustained a series of annoying defeats and checks on unimportant measures; and have therefore kept back all the leading business, such as the presentation of the Budget. The Protection and Free-trade parties are mustering their strength throughout the country, preparatory to a general election, which will probably take place at the close of the present session.
The prevailing crime at present seems to be poisoning by arsenic. Wives poison their husbands, husbands their wives, and servants both. A bill has has been introduced by Lord Carlisle prohibiting the sale of arsenic except in the presence of a witness, who with the purchaser, are to register their names in a book. It is also proposed to enact that all arsenic sold shall be mixed with substances which by their taste or color will give warning of its presence.
An insurrection has broken out among the Kaffirs at the Cape, which promises to be annoying and expensive. The ultimate cause is the gradual expulsion of the savages, which always follows the colonization of their territories by civilized nations. Thousands are driven from their lands, and compressed into a space only sufficient for scores, and begin to think it as well to die fighting as starving. The Governor at the Cape having formally deposed and outlawed one of the powerful native chiefs, dispatched an expedition to seize his person. This body of troops, consisting of 600 men, was attacked in a narrow defile by the Kaffirs, and suffered some loss. Attacks were then made upon three of the frontier settlements, and the colonists, to the number of 70 massacred. A levy en masse of all males between the ages of eighteen and fifty was summoned by the Governor, "to destroy and exterminate those most barbarous and treacherous savages, who for the moment are formidable." Several smart engagements have taken place, in which the savages, though worsted, displayed great daring, and considerable skill and discipline.
Attention has been called in Parliament to the proceedings of the various Revolutionary Committees composed of foreign refugees, and headed by Mazzini, Ledru-Rollin, and Klapka. Their proceedings were charged with being a violation of the obligations they incurred when they came to seek the protection of English laws. Members of Government expressed their decided disapprobation of the course pursued by the refugees in endeavoring to excite insurrection in foreign countries.
A Miss Talbot, heiress to a fortune of £80,000, has entered a convent as "postulant" with the intention of taking the vail in a few months, when it is supposed that her fortune will pass to the church. This has occasioned some excitement against convents, and a bill has been introduced intended to prevent the forcible detention of females in houses in which the inmates are bound by religious or monastic vows. It provides that all such establishments shall be registered, and subject to semi-annual visitation by public officers, who shall have power to remove any female who desires it. Concealment of any part of the premises, or of any person therein, false lists of the inmates, and any obstruction to the visitors, are to be punished as misdemeanors. Measures are also proposed regulating legacies made for religious purposes.
At Chelmsford a man and woman were hung for murder, attended by the usual disgraceful accompaniments of a public execution. Crowds gathered from all the surrounding country; at the moment of execution 40,000 or 50,000 persons are said to have been present. Venders of edibles plied their vocation in the most gross and revolting manner; pickpockets, as usual, were in attendance, and the general deportment of the spectators, men, women, and children, was disgusting and brutal. The man confessed his guilt. The woman, whose crime was poisoning with arsenic, died protesting her innocence.
"A monster address" signed by 61 noblemen, 110 members of the House of Commons, and 321,240 other persons, lay members of the church of England, has been presented by Lord Ashley to the Queen. It beseeches her Majesty to resist the Papal aggression; and goes on to speak of that act having been occasioned and invited by the conduct of many of the clergy of the church of England, who have shown a desire to assimilate the doctrines of their church to those of Rome. After specifying the sacramental system and "histrionic arrangements" in the churches, it says that "by the constitution and existing laws, there is vested in your Majesty as the earthly head of our Church, a wholesome power of interposition, which power we entreat your Majesty now to exercise."
Charges have been made in the House of Commons against Lord Torrington, late Governor of Ceylon. He is accused of gross misgovernment, wanton cruelty in suppressing native insurrection, and the production of false evidence. Lord John Russell announced that he should postpone the Budget and the Income Tax, until this charge, which was in effect one against Government, had been disposed of. Upon which the mover announced that he should postpone his motion until after the introduction of these measures. Lord Torrington, in the House of Lords, came forward and challenged the prosecution of these charges.
A coal-pit disaster occurred near Glasgow, involving a terrible loss of life. While 63 men and boys were at work in the mine, an explosion of fire-damp occurred. Of those in the mine all but two perished.
A searching investigation is going on into the adulterations of articles of food. It is asserted that there is scarcely an article which is in any way susceptible of mixture, that is not mingled with others not merely of inferior value, but in many cases of the most loathsome and disgusting nature. Ground coffee is specified as particularly subject to adulteration.
A somewhat singular controversy has arisen in reference to a body of refugees from Hungary, who have recently arrived at Liverpool. They number 262, of whom the majority are Poles, the remnant of the Polish legion in Hungary. Government wishes to send them to America, and offers a bounty of £8, to each man who will go. They wish to remain in England, evidently anticipating an uprising in some part of Europe, where their services may be called into requisition. They are entirely destitute of means of support, and in England can only maintain themselves by begging.
The frigate St. Lawrence, having on board the contributions to the Exhibition from the United States, arrived at Portsmouth on the 13th of March. A meeting of the American exhibitors has been held at London, at which great dissatisfaction was expressed with many of the arrangements. They object in particular to the appointment of jurors to decide upon the merits of foreign productions; to bronze medals being awarded as prizes, when more valuable ones had been promised; to the high price of season tickets; to contributors being compelled to pay for admission, and be at the expense of their own fittings; and to the delay in affording protection to the articles which require a patent. Some leakage has occurred in the roof of the Exhibition Building; but it is hoped that it may be obviated. All opinion adverse to the suitability of the painting of the interior has passed away. The theoretical views of the decorator have been abundantly justified by the practical effect.
Another expedition in search of Sir John Franklin is to be fitted out this season. The little "Prince Albert" is to be sent out, it is hoped, under happier auspices than attended her former voyage. It is expected to reach Lancaster Sound, by the middle of June. The vessel will be laid up for wintering in Prince Regent's Inlet. The party will then proceed in boats as far as practicable. When these can no longer be worked, native "kyacks" will be used, which will enable the explorers to reach a point some one or two hundred miles further than boats could carry them, as the kyacks can be hauled up and dragged over the ice. The expedition will remain out for at least one season; and a very extensive search to the westward of Boothia is proposed. It will be under the command of Capt. W. Kennedy, who has had no small experience in these icy regions. We do not learn whether Mr. Snow, from whose interesting book we copied so largely last month, is to be attached to this new expedition.
FRANCE.
The most striking incident which has occurred since our last has been a debate on a proposition to repeal the law exiling the Bourbon family. M. Berryer, acting in the name of the Legitimists, opposed the motion on the ground that the Count of Chambord is not an exiled Frenchman, but an extruded king, who could not stoop to accept a permission to re-enter his own hereditary dominions. M. Thiers, as the organ of the Orleanists, advocated the proposition. The Minister of Justice, in the name of Government, was favorable to the principle of the bill, but was opposed to pressing it at present. The Assembly was thrown into violent agitation by a speech from M. Dufraisse, one of the most able and earnest of the Montagnards, who delivered a speech which would not have been misplaced in the mouth of Robespierre or Danton. "The pale head, compressed lips, and intense expression of the young lawyer of the Mountain," says an eyewitness, "reminded the auditors, not without a shudder, of such a thoroughbred Jacobin as St. Just." He declared that the laws of proscription were just, and ought to be maintained. "The Revolution can not ask pardon of the dynasties it has justly upset. Have the family of Orleans laid aside the claims of their birth? Have they rendered homage to the sovereignty of the nation? Do not the descendants of St. Louis continually dispute the independence and the conquests of the people? You tell us that royalty never dies; we reply, Nor does its punishment. If the principle of sovereignty is eternal, so shall its punishment be eternal. The law ought to chastise the voluntary representatives, the willing heirs of a principle which the people have abolished." He went on to vindicate the execution of Louis XVI., and declared that those who voted against the death of that monarch, meditated a return to royalty, and reminded the Assembly that among those who voted for the execution, was the grandfather of the princes whose banishment was sought to be repealed. The speech caused a perfect storm of passion in the Assembly. Members rushed to the tribune, and shook their fists in the speaker's face. M. Berryer proposed the adjournment of the question for six months, as he could not vote on the same side with those who advocated such doctrines. This, which is looked upon as equivalent to a rejection of the proposition, was carried by acclamation.
Rumors have for some time been rife of an intended fusion between the Bourbon and Orleans interests, with a view to a speedy restoration of the monarchy. These would seem to be put to rest by a letter from the Orleans princes in England to the Orleans Committee in Paris, in which they declare that they will negotiate only on the soil of France, and while out of their country will take no part in political questions. The prolongation of the term of the President is urged in many quarters as the only practicable safeguard against socialism and anarchy. The present aspect of affairs seems to indicate that he will be continued in office in some shape or other.
The Bishop of Chartres, in a pastoral letter, attacks a late circular of the Archbishop of Paris, recommending the clergy to abstain from politics, and to yield obedience to the laws of their country. The bishop considers that when destructive principles are advanced, the clergy should be found ready to oppose their progress; and he sees no reason why the ecclesiastical body should be enjoined to take no part in public affairs. The archbishop, in reply, denounces the conduct of the bishop, as an unwarrantable interference with his jurisdiction, and as a breach of the respect due to him as metropolitan: and refers the bishop's letter to the provincial council to be held during the present year at Paris.
The Professors of the College of France held a meeting at the Sorbonne to take into consideration the tendency of the lectures of M. Michelet, which were considered prejudicial, in a moral and political point of view to the students. He himself declined to attend, but defended himself in a letter stating that his lectures were blamed only by the Jesuits and the enemies of French nationality. His colleagues, by a vote of 17 out of 21 decided upon a vote of censure against him, and that the minutes of their proceedings should be transmitted to the Minister for approval. It is said that M. Michelet his resigned his chair.
GERMANY.
The German mists grow thicker. All that can now be affirmed with certainty is, that the Dresden Conference has been no more able to improvise a German Empire than was the Frankfort Parliament. A month ago, and it seemed that Austria had outgeneraled Prussia, and made herself absolute mistress of Germany, and was in a fair way to become ruler from the Rhine to the Alps. The petty states of Germany were in alarm; the kingdoms of the second rank began to see themselves in danger, and to talk of a central power, from which the constitutional element was not altogether excluded. It is now said that the King of Prussia is again ambitious of playing the first part on the German stage, and has refused to sanction the concessions made by his minister. It seems probable that Germany will fall back upon the old Frankfort Confederation. In the mean time, we present the following, as what seems to us the condition and designs of the principal parties; premising that the very next intelligence may present them under an altogether new aspect:—Austria wishes to enter the Germanic Confederation with all her vast and heterogeneous population; thus binding all Germany to assist her, in the event of any new Hungarian or Italian outbreak. She also wishes to secure the Federal Executive. If she succeeds in these projects, the weight of her foreign possessions gives her the preponderance in Germany, while Germany secures to her the control of her foreign territories. The interests of the people and princes of Germany for once coincide in opposing this claim. The vacillating policy of Prussia has arisen from doubt, whether more could be made out of Austria by putting herself at the head of the German States, or out of these States, by joining with Austria. The ultimate decision of this question is more likely to be effected by accident than by settled policy.
ITALY.
The feelings of uneasiness, and vague apprehension of insurrection throughout the Italian Peninsula are nowise abated. Austrian troops are concentrating within her Italian territories. The railroad across the Milan Alps, from Cilly to Trieste, is advancing with great rapidity. The completion of this road will enable Austrian troops to be sent from Vienna to Milan in twenty-four hours.
The Austrian Government has issued an ordonnance directing that in those parts of Italy which are still considered in a state of siege, no journal shall mention in any way, directly or indirectly, the titles of the prohibited revolutionary books and pamphlets which are in circulation among the people.
Radetzky has issued a proclamation, under date of Feb. 21, from Verona, directed against revolutionary proclamations and pamphlets, threatening death against all who are engaged in circulating them. Every one into whose hands such a pamphlet may fall is directed to deliver it to the nearest person in office, though but a gendarme, and at the same time to declare how it came into his possession; the punishment for failure to do this is imprisonment in irons for a period of from one to five years.
Washington's Birthday was celebrated at Rome with great enthusiasm. At a public dinner, Mr. Cass, our Chargé, presided and made a speech. Two odes, by Mrs. Stephens, were sung. Among the guests were Archbishop Hughes, and Mr. Hastings, the American Protestant Chaplain. The report that the American Protestant chapel at Rome had been closed is authoritatively contradicted by Mr. Hastings, who speaks in terms of high praise of the liberality which has been manifested toward him by the papal authorities.