until its cement is hardened by time; but the time and character of the change, we believe, no human foresight can scan. The frightful ex cesses in Paris in June last, and the delirious theories which caused them, has so weakened the cause of republicanism in France, or more properly speaking, has so checked its progress, that the chances at present seem to be greatly in favour of monarchy; which, however, while it is distasteful to so many of the most intelligent and efficient of the population, who no longer believe it to be a necessity of civil society, gives no better assurance of permanency or peace than a republic. The prospect is clouded with uncertainty, whichever way we look.

On the 13th of August the national assembly adjourned to the 1st of October, and its last sitting exhibited one of those scenes which had too often disgraced legislative bodies, and which is thus stated in the journals. On the evening before the adjournment, one of the Mountain party, M. Gastier, had used some disrespectful expression towards the chief magistrate, when M. Pierre Bonaparte, who sat near Gastier, and who is as remarkable for his attachment to his cousin as for his devotion to republicanism, observed, "If you knew the President, you would not thus speak of him;" to which the other replied, "Hold your tongue, you are an imbecile." "You called me an imbecile," he said, and at the same moment he gave Gastier a blow on the cheek. The tumult that ensued induced the president of the assembly to suspend its proceedings; but as soon as order was restored, M. Bonaparte asked pardon of the assembly for the act to which he had been suddenly provoked. The assembly, after some angry discussion, decided to leave M. Gastier at liberty, and to hold M. Bonaparte bound to appear before the tribunal of police. This affair, as some of the journalists remark, made but a sorry close to the labours of the session, and they add, with a sarcasm, that this species of rencounter seems to be the only thing that the democrats of France have borrowed of the Americans in general, and of the congress at Washington in particular.

M. Bonaparte's offence was the greater, as M. Gastier is an old man of seventy. He was, three days afterwards, made to expiate the wrong, by a fine of two hundred francs,-the highest pecuniary penalty allowed in such cases, without, however, the addition of imprisonment.

In the mean time, General Oudinot had been suspended in the command at Rome, and ordered to Paris. After his recall, the command devolved for a while on Gen. Rostolan, who has also been displaced, and Gen. Randon, a cavalry officer who served in Algeria, sent to occupy that difficult and important position. His instructions, it is said, are to carry out the line of conduct prescribed in a letter transmitted on the 18th of August, by the President of the Republic to Col. Edgar Ney, his orderly officer at Rome. This letter has excited much attention-is generally admitted to be the official expression of the sentiment of the cabinet, and therefore has produced a profound sensation both in Europe and America. President Bonaparte writes as follows to Col. Ney:

"The French Republic has not sent an army to Rome to put down Italian liberty, but, on the contrary, to regulate it by preserving it against its own excesses, and to give it a solid basis, by replacing on the pontifical throne the prince who (the first,) had boldly taken the lead in all useful reforms. I learn with pain that the benevolent intentions of the Holy Father, as well as our own action, remain sterile in the presence of hostile passions and influences. The desire of certain persons appears to be to make proscription and tyranny the bases of the Pope's return. Say to General Rostolan from me, that he is not to permit that, under the shadow of the tri-coloured flag, any act be committed that can lower the character of our intervention.

"I thus sum up the restoration of the Pope's temporal power:-a general amnesty, the secularization of the administration, the code Napoleon, and a liberal government."

The President then complains that the cardinals, in their proclamation, had made no mention of the sacrifices of the French soldiers, nor even adverted to France, which silence he regards as an insult. He declares that France will be respected, and thus continues:

"When our armies made the round of Europe, they left every where, as the mark of their passage, the destruction of the abuses of feudality, and the germs of liberty. It shall not be said that in 1849 a French army can have acted in a different sense, and brought about different results."

He directs that the army be thanked in his name " for its noble conduct," and that every thing be suitably provided for its accommoda

tion.

It is stated in the London Chronicle that when this letter, which was published at Rome, was received at Gaeta, and laid before the Pope by Cardinal Antonelli, "His Holiness merely folded his arms, raised his eyes to heaven for a few moments, then handed back the letter to the cardinal without uttering a word." It is also reported that on consultation with the cardinals, he ordered that no notice whatever should be taken of the letter, and that his ministers should act as if unconscious of its existence. On the other hand, the French troops at Rome are said to have received the letter with strong expressions of satisfaction and joy-the Romans fraternized warmly with the inhabitants and hoped that their day of deliverance was at hand. Gen. Rostolan, it is understood, was recalled because he refused to communicate the letter formally to the army.

The cardinals at first granted permission to have the letter published in the official journal, but subsequently withdrew it, and threatened to leave the city. They, however, remained, notwithstanding the French officers, in obedience to the last instructions from Paris, were interfering to prevent the re-actionary and despotic measures of the cardinal-government.

Thus the extraordinary relation of the French and Roman people

still continues, and the former have learned that it is a difficult task to meddle with the internal quarrels of a foreign state. By this seizure and possession of Rome, France stands, too, in a delicate and anxious position before the world, and presents the anomalous case of a republic having been made, seemingly against its will, to uphold a despotic government, and having forced the people of Rome to receive assistance which they did not ask or desire. What will be the ultimate effect of this recent demonstration on the part of the French president and his cabinet, we will not venture to predict. It may be approved by England and Russia, and cause the speedy return of the Pope to Rome.

GREAT BRITAIN.

THE new Navigation law, abrogating a policy of two hundred years' standing, having passed both houses of Parliament, and received the royal assent, the subject next in national importance which engaged the attention of the British legislature was that of the affairs of Canada. It soon appeared, as might have been expected, that the ministry decided on supporting the course of Lord Elgin, the Governor General; and on this question, as well as every other in which ministers were opposed, they had a majority in both houses of Parliament. The act of the Canadian legislature, for the indemnity of the sufferers in the insurrection, therefore, received the royal sanction. In fact the disorderly and rebellious spirit exhibited by the opponents of that law in Canada cooled and alienated many of those members of the British Parliament whom their former loyalty would have most recommended.

Finding their opposition to be as fruitless in England as it had been in Canada, the malcontents became the open advocates for separation from the mother country-some proposing annexation to the United States, but the greater number, an independent government. In this state of things, the former colonial parties seemed to be transposedthe people of Lower Canada, who had been the most disaffected portion of the colony, were now the cordial supporters of the British government, while those who had been previously deemed the most loyal subjects of the British dominions, were in almost open revolt.* These

There has recently been another riot at Bytown with loss of life on both sides. In consequence of the confused and excited condition of the public mind, nothing very satisfactory can be gathered respecting the real state of parties in Canada, and their respective influence upon the destiny of the Province,

The French Canadians, a vast majority of whom support the present executive government, are divided into those who follow the leadership of Lafontaine and those who follow Papineau; the latter are ultra-republicans, almost of the "red" school; the former include almost all the French members of the house of Assembly.

The great body of the British population take ground against the present executive, and are denominated tories, conservatives, &c. At page 165 will be found an article on Canada, containing the views on both sides of this really important question.

discontents have not yet subsided; and a home league, the avowed purpose of whose principal movers was, at first, separation from Great Britain, has been organized, and is industriously seeking support. Originating, however, as it did, in a single act, whose consequences are neither serious nor permanent, its influence is likely to lose strength rather than to gain it by time; and thus the loss to Great Britain of her North American provinces, which must one day certainly take place, is likely to be postponed to some future conflict of local interests or feelings.

In the latter part of July, a convention of the malcontents, styling themselves "the British American league," assembled at Kingston, in Canada West, and, after a deliberation of three days, issued an address to the inhabitants of Canada, dated the 21st July. They complain of the free trade principles adopted by Great Britain, by which the interests of her Colonies, which are such large consumers of her manufactures, and whose products are now virtually excluded from her markets, have been sacrificed. They further complain that the Colonial legislature has recently been ruled by a faction, whereby those concerned in the late rebellion have been rewarded, and the public debt increased. After setting forth these grievances in detail, three subjects are recommended to their earnest attention,-1st. A union of all the British American provinces, for the furtherance of which, a conference with the other provinces, by delegates, is proposed. 2d. Retrenchment and economy in the public expenditure. 3d. Protection to home industry. Urging the Canadians to the steady and warm support of these three objects, they add, "So shall you elevate this your country into a great nation of freemen, fostered by and in amity and connexion with Great Britain, preserving her time-hallowed institutions, adopting her old trade principles, under which she has flourished for centuries, and under which her people have grown to be the richest on the face of the globe -those great trade principles which, in the neighbouring Union, have also been adopted, and have established that mighty and prosperous nation." Annexation to the United States, though occasionally mentioned by some of the speakers in terms of favour, is never once hinted at in the address.

The bill for removal of the disabilities of Jews from sitting in the British parliament, after passing the House of Commons, was rejected in the House of Peers by a majority of twenty-five. As the ministry seem to have had this bill much at heart, it may be regarded as one of the few questions in which they were defeated during the late session of parliament. It will probably be renewed at the next session, by the re-election of Baron Rothschilds in London.

Though the British government did not interpose in behalf of the Hungarians, and although Lord Palmerston, in a public speech on the 21st of July concerning continental affairs, declared that he considered the union of Hungary with Austria essential to the peace and safety of

Europe, yet the favourable terms in which he spoke of the Hungarians, and the strong hopes he expressed for the preservation of their national rights, are not likely to be without their effect on the political destinies of that brave and gallant people, in their final adjustment with Austria.

The Queen of Great Britain, accompanied by Prince Albert, their children, and a retinue of lords and ladies, during the month of August, paid a visit to Ireland. As this visit was intended, no doubt, to have a political effect-to reconcile the differences between the English and the Irish, we note its progress and result. The Queen embarked in the Victoria and Albert yatch, commanded by Lord Adolphus Fitzclarence, attended by a fleet of smaller vesssls. The reception in Ireland was exceedingly gratifying—the hearty and affectionate manner of the Irish-the entire unanimity of all classes in giving to the royal party a joyous and triumphant welcome produced a strong effect upon the mind of the Queen; and the visit seems to have terminated with the same enthusiasm with which it commenced. At Dublin, Cork and Belfast, the multitudes who poured out to receive her manifested, up to the hour of departure, the same joyous delight which marked her arrival. This memorable visit, it is believed, has removed a world of prejudice and dissatisfaction, and has proved that the Irish people are as sincerely attached to royalty and to the present sovereign as the English are. To express the unmixed gratification of the Queen at the exhibitions of Irish loyalty, the young Prince of Wales has been created Earl of Dublin.

After leaving Ireland, the Queen proceeded to her residence at Balmoral in the Highlands of Scotland, where she was to remain until the 20th of September. It seems that the Scotch show almost as much enthusiasm as the Irish on the occasions of the Queen's visit; and it is very apparent that, whatever changes the future may have in reserve, at the present time, this royal lady has a deeper hold upon the affections of her people, than any other monarch in Europe. To add to the joy which such an assurance must create, the harvest throughout the whole of Britain has been abundant, and even Ireland is beginning to revive under the prospect of a better supply of the aliment of life.

But as a check upon the exuberant feelings which we have described, the cholera has committed, during the months of August and September, fearful ravages in England and Scotland. In London, four or five hundred died in a single day; and elsewhere the mortality has been very great, so that the devastations of the pestilence have shrouded the metropolis and other cities in gloom.

Peace once more reigns throughout the whole British domain in India, and the only annoyance which the government now meets in all Asia is the refusal which China is said to make to the admission of English subjects into Canton, as it had agreed to do by treaty.

The mediation of Great Britain between Prussia and Denmark has