Volume 5 / Book 8 — Historical Review of the Month.

In Great Britain through November, and in all the last month in the United States, Louis Kossuth has been the object of principal interest to every class of persons. Arriving in New-York on the 5th of December, he has delivered a series of brilliant orations, probably unexampled in all history by any one man, in so short a period, for displays of various knowledge, effective method, and popular eloquence; and, whatever his subject or occasion, the central point of every one was the deliverance of Hungary. The most important result thus far is the organization of a Finance Committee, consisting of a number of the most eminent citizens of New-York, to collect voluntary contributions of money, for the purpose of carrying on a projected resistance to Austria and Russia by the Hungarians. Of the Government of this country, it is understood, Kossuth asks no active intervention, but that England and America shall unite in affirming the policy, that "every nation shall have the right to make and alter its political institutions to suit its own condition and convenience," and that the two nations (England and America) shall not only respect but cause to be respected this doctrine, so as to prevent Russia from again marching her armies into Hungary. By a large majority of both Houses of Congress, Governor Kossuth has been invited to Washington, and it is probable that he will soon disclose in a speech before the representatives of the nation, more fully than he has yet done, his plans, his hopes, and his expectations.

The first session of the thirty-second Congress assembled in Washington on the 1st of December. In both houses there is a strong majority for the Democratic party. Of the Senators, twenty-four are Whigs, two (Hale and Sumner) distinctive Free Soilers, thirty-four Democrats including Mr. Chase of Ohio, an avowed Abolitionist, and Messrs. Rhett and Butler of South Carolina, Secessionists. There are now three vacancies in the Senate, the last occasioned by the resignation of Mr. Clay, on account of ill-health and his great age. This illustrious orator and statesman may now be regarded as having closed his public career. The present House consists of 233 Members, besides four Delegates from Territories, who can speak but not vote. Of the Members, the Tribune reckons, eighty-six Whigs, five distinctive Free Soilers (besides several attached to one or the other of the great parties); the remaining one hundred and forty-two are of the Democratic party, including all the Southern Rights men and such Union men as were not previously Whigs. The House was organized on the first day of the session by the election of Linn Boyd, of Kentucky, as Speaker, by a considerable majority.

The annual Message of the President was delivered on the 2nd. It is a long document, of much value as a survey of the progress of the nation in the past year, and of considerable importance for its intimations of the policy of the administration. The President strongly condemns the recent invasion of Cuba, and in connection with a history of that affair states, that after the execution of fifty of the associates of Lopez, Commodore Parker was sent to Havana to inquire respecting them. They all acknowledged themselves guilty of the offence charged against them. At the time of their execution, the main body of invaders was still in the field, making war upon Spain. Though the invaders had forfeited the protection of their country, no proper effort has been spared to obtain the release of those now in confinement in Spanish prisons. The President advocates adherence to our neutrality and non-intervention policy. "Our true mission," he says, "is not to propagate our opinions, or impose upon other countries our form of government, by artifice or force; but to teach by example and show by our success, moderation, and justice, the blessings of self-government, and the advantages of free institutions." The correspondence with England and France respecting the invasion of Cuba, maintains the principle, on the part of the United States, that "in every regularly-documented merchant-vessel, the crew who navigate it and those on board of it will find their protection in the flag that is over them." The right of Consuls to security in the country where they reside, is maintained, and mortification is expressed at the attack on the Spanish Consul at New Orleans, and the insult to the Spanish flag. The aggregate receipts for the last fiscal year were $52,312,979.87, with the balance on hand at the commencement, making the means of the treasury for the year $58,917,524.36, against $48,005,878.66. The imports of the year ending June 30, 1851, were $215,725 995, of which $4,967,901 were in specie. The exports were $217,517,130, of which $178,546,555 were domestic, and $9,738,695 foreign products. Specie exported, $29,231,880. Since December 1850, the payments of principal of the debt were $7,501,456.56, which is inclusive of $3,242,400 paid under the 12th article of the treaty with Mexico, and $2,591,213.45 awards under the late treaty with Mexico. The public debt, exclusive of stock, authorized to be issued to Texas, was $62,560,395.26. The receipts for the next fiscal year, are estimated at $51,800,000, making, with the balance on hand, the available means of the year $63,258,743.09. The expenditures are estimated at $42,892,299.19, of which $33,343,198 are for ordinary purposes of government, and $9,549,101.11 for purposes consequent upon the acquisition of territory from Mexico. It is estimated that there will be an unappropriated balance of $20,366,443.90 in the Treasury on the 30th of June, 1853, to meet $6,237,931.35 of public debt due on the 1st of July following. The value of the domestic exports for the year ending June 30, 1851, show an increase of $43,646,322, which is owing to the high price of cotton during the first half of the year, and the price of which has since declined one-half. The value of the exports of breadstuffs is only $21,948,653 against $26,051,373 in 1850, and $68,701,921 in 1847—our largest year of export in that department of trade. In rice the decrease this as compared with last year in the export, is $460,917, which with the decrease in the value of tobacco exported, makes an aggregate decrease in the two articles of $1,156,751. From these premises the President draws the conclusion, that the favorable results anticipated by the advocates of free trade from the adoption of that policy have not been realized.

The case of Mr. Thrasher, alluded to in our last, is the subject of a letter from the Secretary of State to our Minister in Madrid, under date of December 13. Mr. Webster directs efforts to secure Mr. Thrasher's release from imprisonment Mr. Thrasher was sent to Spain on the 24th November.

An important violation of the stipulations of our last treaty with Great Britain occurred in the harbor of San Juan on the —— of November. The steamship Prometheus, an American merchant vessel, plying between New York and San Juan de Nicaragua in the California trade, was levied on by the municipal authorities of San Juan or Greytown, for certain port charges established by direction of British agents, as under the government of the Indian or negro king of Mosquito. These charges the Captain of the Prometheus refused to pay. A British vessel of war, however fired on her twice, and after, under the peremptory orders of the Captain of the brig, the Prometheus had returned to her anchorage, he compelled her, under threats, to extinguish her fires, and place herself at his mercy. The pretended dues were at length paid under protest, and the facts in the case were communicated to Congress in a Message from the President on the 17th. Commodore Parker has been ordered to repair at once to the harbor of San Juan, with directions to protect all merchant vessels from such surveilance in future, of which he is to notify the British officers on his arrival.

The trial of the persons arrested for taking part in the outrages at Christiana, in Pennsylvania, was commenced in Philadelphia on the 24th of November, before Judges Grier and Kane, in the United States Circuit Court, and on the 12th of December it was brought to a close by the acquittal of the prisoners.

Information has been received at the State Department of the loss of the whale ships Arabella and America, of New Bedford; the Henry Thompson and Armada, of New London; the Mary Mitchell, of San Francisco, and the Sol Sollares, of Fall River.

From California we have news of continued prosperity in mining, and in agriculture and general interests. The project for dividing the State into North and South California appears to have been urged with determination and hopes of success in the recent convention held to consider the subject. It is stated also that a large company of emigrants recently left San Francisco for the Sandwich Islands, to establish a Republican State there. To this end a Constitution had been formed in San Francisco prior to their departure. There are many circumstances which render this statement probable.

A Governor, Lieut. Governor, Attorney General, and members of the Legislature were elected in Virginia on the 8th of December, under the new constitution. The democrats elected their ticket by a large majority. The Legislature of Indiana convened at Indianapolis on the 1st December. Lieutenant Governor James H. Lane took the chair of the Senate, and John D. Dunn was chosen Secretary. In the House, John W. Davis (formerly Speaker at Washington, and since Commissioner to China) was chosen Speaker by a unanimous vote. The Senate of South Carolina has refused an application from the Federal Government for the sale of the lighthouse at Bell's Bay. The House of Representatives has again refused to allow the people to choose Electors of President and Vice President. The vote was 66 to 48. The Legislature have passed a bill to provide for the holding of a Secession Convention. The Texas Legislature assembled at Austin on the 3d. Advices from Galveston state that Colonel Rogers has succeeded in effecting a treaty with the Camanche Indians, and recovered twenty-seven white captives from the Camanches, who had been in bondage among them.

Of accidents and disasters, there have not been so many as in some previous months. On the morning of November 27, about two o'clock, a frightful collision took place between the steamers Die Vernon and Archer, resulting in the loss of the latter vessel, with serious loss of life. The accident occurred at Enterprise Island, about five miles above the mouth of Illinois River. The whole number of lives lost by this catastrophe was thirty-four, of whom ten were deck hands or firemen engaged on the boat. On Sunday, December 7, the city of Portland was visited by one of the most destructive conflagrations that ever occurred in that place. The extent of the conflagration was owing mainly to the want of water, the tide being down. There were twenty-seven stores burnt, nine vessels damaged, and over one hundred thousand dollars worth of merchandise destroyed.

Public Thanksgiving was held this year on the same day in Maine, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Florida, Mississippi, Louisiana, Arkansas, Tennessee, Kentucky, Missouri, Wisconsin, Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio, and Texas.

From British America there is not much intelligence of importance. The recent elections have resulted favorably for the liberal party. A few days ago the first vessel passed through the new channel of Lake St. Peter, which has been constructed at a cost of $320,000. The dredging is to be continued next season; and it is expected that by July the channel will be 150 feet wide, and of adequate depth. By a new regulation of the Post Office Department, all newspapers pass free between Canada and the adjoining lower Provinces. The seat of Government has been changed four times in 11 years. In 1840 it was at Toronto; next year the union of the Provinces having been effected, it was at Kingston. From 1843 to 1849 it was at Montreal. Toronto then became the capital; and now it has moved to Quebec, under a pledge to come back at the expiration of four years. Respecting the final result of the late movements of Carvajal in Mexico it is not easy to form a conclusion, as the accounts are very contradictory. Notwithstanding his recent discomfiture, it seems to be believed that in the present distracted and impoverished condition of Mexico, he may succeed. General Aragua had arrived at Matamoras with 80 men, with several pieces of artillery and one mortar, to reinforce General Avalos. General Carvajal had not more than five or six hundred men. The Mexican troops in Matamoras number 2,000.

From Nicaragua we learn, that on the 19th of November General Munoz, his officers, and twenty-seven Americans, were captured by General Chamorro, and committed to prison. If this intelligence is true, there is an end of the war in that quarter.

From South America intelligence is as usual confused and unsatisfactory. By way of England we have dates from Montevideo to the 12th Oct. The war in the Banda Oriental was terminated. Oribe had retreated to his country house at Rinton. The Argentine forces were reported to have joined Urquiza. The Orientals had joined Gen. Garzon. A Provisional Government was talked of. The chief results had been effected without bloodshed.

In Chili, the rebel army of 13,000 men, commanded by Carrera and Arteaga, was met by 850 Government troops at Petorca, about forty leagues from Santiago, on the 14th of October. They fought three hours, and the result was the total defeat of the former, with a loss of 70 killed, 200 wounded, and 400 prisoners, including 36 officers. Carrera and Arteaga have not been taken. The Government army, under Colonel Vidaure, lost 15 killed and 15 wounded. 400 of the Government troops had gone by sea to join Bulnes's army; the remainder had sailed for Coquimbo, so that the affair in the North may be considered quelled. In the South, General Cruz had an army of 400 regulars, and 2,500 militia, the latter badly armed and clothed. He had not left the Province of Conception. Bulnes was expected on the frontier of that province with 1,000 troops of the line and 300 militiamen, all well armed, clothed, and paid. He appeared determined to run no risks, and it was generally supposed he would soon restore order and quietness. In Ecuador, the Presidency of General Urbina has been acceptable, and it is probable that peace will be maintained for some time. Peru is in perfect tranquillity, and this peaceable state is greatly contributing to its advancement. Bolivia is also in peace, although the Congress has not fulfilled the promises with which it began its meetings. At first, some of the members dared to claim reforms in the Government, but they were silenced, and that body will close its session without having done any thing except abolishing Quina Bank, a measure which Government had resolved.

Throughout all parts of Europe there seems to be a well grounded apprehension of an extraordinary effort to put down every species of despotism during the coming year. An impression prevails that the occasion of the presidential election in France will be seized on for a general rising, not only in that country, but in Italy, Germany, and Hungary, and the Revolutionary Congress, in London, of which the presiding genius is Mazzini, will predetermine affairs for all the States, so that each shall have the greatest possible advantage. Governor Kossuth will be back in time to assume the general leadership in northern and eastern Europe.

From England we have intelligence of no important movement since the departure of Kossuth. No subject attracts more attention than that of the extensive and systematic emigration which is taking place to America and Australia. We learn from the report of the Registrar-General, for the three months ended 30th September last, that during those months 85,603 emigrants sailed from the several ports at which government emigration agents are stationed. This is at the rate of nearly 1,000 persons a day. It is probable that one-half of the total number were Irish. Of the 85,603, 68,960 sailed for the Atlantic ports of the Union; and the remaining 16,643 were distributed in the proportions of 9,268 to British North America, 6,097 to the Australian colonies, and 1,278 to other places. So far, the total emigration of 1851 exceeded that of the corresponding period of 1850, and the emigration of 1850 exceeded that of any former year. The Ecclesiastical Titles Bill remains a dead letter. The Roman Catholic prelates assume and are called by the prohibited titles, and no steps are taken to enforce the law. The attendance of Roman Catholics on the "Godless Colleges" does not appear to have abated, and the Roman Catholic journals complain of the extent of proselytism from their Church. The Submarine telegraph between England and France has been completed, and messages between Paris and London have been transmitted in half an hour. The event was celebrated by the firing of cannon alternately at Calais and Dover, the fire for each explosion being communicated by the electric current from the side of the channel opposite the gun. An announcement is made by the Times of the intended creation of a fourth Presidency in India, and a proposal to remove the seat of government from Calcutta to Lahore. The new province is to be constituted by the spacious province of the Punjab, to which, on the east, it will annex the broad districts of Agra and Bengal, up to the banks of the Sone, embracing the populous and important cities of Allahabad and Benares, To the southwest it will include our anomalous appendage of Scinde, and will thus extend itself from the Hindoo Kosh to the mouths of the Indus, and from the mountains of Beloochistan to the plains of the Ganges.

On the 24th November, about seventy of the principal merchants and gentlemen in Liverpool, and the members of the American Chamber of Commerce, entertained R. J. Walker, late Secretary to the Treasury of the United States, at dinner at the Adelphi Hotel.

The French Legislative Assembly was opened on the 4th of November with a long message from President Bonaparte. A disorderly and excited discussion took place on the 18th, on the proposition of the Questors of the Assembly to put the army in Paris directly under the orders of that body, thereby removing it from the control of the Minister of War and the President. The final vote was 300 for the proposition to 408 against it. The mass of the Republicans opposed it, though General Cavaignac and some of his immediate friends voted in the affirmative. The principal topic of discussion in the Assembly has been the Communal Electoral law. After long discussion, a clause has been adopted, making the time of residence necessary to qualify a citizen to vote in the communal or township elections, only two years instead of three as in the general electoral law. This is regarded as a departure from the rigor of that law and a step toward universal suffrage. It is thus a triumph for the President, who seems, on the whole, decidedly to have gained ground lately. Yet no real progress appears to have been yet made to a settlement of French difficulties, except in so far as every month added to the existence of a new government, the result of a revolution, consolidates it, and enlists in its favor the conservative sentiment.

The prizes of the lottery of L'Ingots d'Or were drawn in the Champs Elysées on the 16th. An immense crowd attended. A journeyman hair-dresser obtained the prize of 200,000 francs, and an engine-driver on a railway the first prize of 400,000 francs.

General Narvaez has returned to Spain, and is again in favor with the queen.

The new King of Hanover, George the Fifth, has published a proclamation, in which he pledges his royal word for "the inviolable maintenance of the constitution of the country." Yet he has abandoned the policy of the late king by appointing a reactionist ministry.

The Austrian currency appears to be in a worse condition than even our own "continental" at the close of the Revolution. The proprietors of houses have again raised their rents 20 and 25 per cent, and the seniors begin to talk of the Bancozettel period, when 100 florins in silver sold for 700 florins in paper, and a pair of boots cost 75 paper florins. Government itself has indirectly countenanced the depreciation of the currency: the Finance Minister by the conditions of the loan, and the Director of the Imperial theatre by raising the price of admittance from 1fl. 24k. to 1fl. 48k., although the salaries of the actors are less than formerly, as they have to pay the income tax.

The Russians have discovered four important veins of silver ore in the Caucasus—one in the defile of Sadon, another in that of Ordona, a third in that of Degorsk, and the fourth near Paltchick. The veins are rich in the yield of silver. The working of them has already been commenced.

The Emperor of Russia has just ordered 6000 carriages to be built for the different railways in his empire, in order to facilitate the conveyance of troops.