Volume 3 / Book 4 — Historical Review of the Month.

THE UNITED STATES.

The Thirty-first American Congress, after a session of a little more than three months, closed on the 4th of March. The conclusion of the session was much more interesting and important than its commencement. Our record of the previous month closed with the passage by the Senate, on the 13th of February, of the joint resolution authorizing the President to confer the brevet rank of Lieutenant-General on General Scott. Mr. Benton, on the following day, attempted to revive his bill paying to Missouri two per cent. on her sales of public lands, but was unsuccessful. The River and Harbor Bill was taken up in the House on the 13th, and debated for several days; it finally passed on the 18th, by a vote of 114 to 75. During the debate an altercation took place between Mr. Inge of Alabama and Mr. Stanley of North Carolina, which resulted in a duel. The parties met in Maryland, beyond the jurisdiction of the District of Columbia, and after an ineffectual exchange of shots, agreed to a reconciliation.

Several exciting debates arose in the Senate, in relation to the Fugitive Slave Law, growing out of the following circumstances: On Saturday, February 21st, an alleged fugitive slave, named Shadrach, was arrested in Boston by the U.S. Marshal, and taken before the U.S. Commissioner for examination. The counsel for defence asked for a postponement of the case for two days, which was granted, Shadrach remaining in the U. S. Court Room, in custody of the U. S. Deputy Marshal, since, by a law of the state, the use of the jail is forbidden for the confinement of a fugitive slave. Soon after the adjournment of the Court the doors were suddenly burst open by a mob of negroes, the officers overpowered, and the prisoner carried off. After being hurried rapidly through the streets, he was secreted in a remote part of the city, and in the evening made his escape to Canada. The announcement of this case produced much excitement in Washington. A conference of the Cabinet was immediately called, and on the following Tuesday the President issued a proclamation calling on the commanders of the U. S. military and naval forces at Boston to aid the government officers with their troops, if need be, in the discharge of their duty. In reply to a resolution offered by Mr. Clay, and unanimously adopted by the Senate, the President addressed to that body a special message on the subject. He regards the rescue of the slave as an act of sudden violence, unexpected by the authorities, and not as proceeding from or sanctioned by the general feeling of the citizens of Boston. He quotes the laws of Congress, of 1789 and 1799, in relation to the safe-keeping of prisoners committed under the authority of the United States, and the Massachusetts state law of 1843, making it a penal offence for any officer of the commonwealth to aid in the arrest or detention of a fugitive slave: considering that, though such state legislation may create embarrassment, it cannot impair the constitutional provision for the delivery of fugitives bound to labor in another state. He recommends a modification of the general law, enabling the President to call upon the militia, and place them under the control of any civil officer of the government, without requiring any previous proclamation, in cases where the civil authority is menaced.

The California Duties Bill, giving the new state $300,000 out of the duties collected while she was a territory, to defray the expenses of the state government up to the time of her admission, passed the Senate February 25th. The Cheap Postage Bill, as amended, passed the following day, by a vote of 39 to 15. This bill provides a rate of three cents when pre-paid, five cents when not pre-paid, on letters less than half an ounce, and for any distance exceeding three thousand miles double these rates. Instead of a uniform rate of one cent on newspapers, it provides a tariff postage from five to twenty-five cents per quarter for weekly papers, according to distances; semi-weeklies to pay double, tri-weeklies triple, and dailies five times these rates. The House afterwards added an amendment providing for the coinage of three-cent pieces, which was concurred in by the Senate. The law will take effect on the 1st of July next.

On Saturday, February 22d, Mr. Rantoul, of Massachusetts, appeared and took his seat for the remaining ten days of his term. The bill abolishing constructive mileage on the part of the Senate passed both houses. The River and Harbor Bill, appropriating between two and three millions of dollars for the improvement of the harbors of the coast and the lakes, and the river navigation of the interior, was taken up in the Senate, on Saturday, March 1st, by a vote of 31 to 25. The debate continued until past midnight, when the Senate adjourned. The subject was resumed on Monday morning, the opponents of the bill, who were in the minority, exercising their ingenuity in order to prevent a vote. There being now but a few hours of the session remaining, the utmost activity and excitement prevailed in both houses. The indispensable Appropriation Bills were yet to be passed, the Postage Bill was waiting its final vote, and a number of important measures, disposed of by one house, were waiting the action of the other. The discussion in the Senate was continued through the whole of Monday night, until four o'clock on Tuesday morning, when the majority yielded to a motion postponing its consideration for four hours, in order to allow the necessary Appropriation Bills to be acted on.

In the House, on Monday, the Senate's Joint Resolution requesting the President to authorize one of our vessels in the Mediterranean to bring Kossuth and his companions to this country, was passed by a large majority. The resolution relieving Mr. Ritchie from the terms of his printing contract, and giving him one-half the proceeds fixed by the law of 1819, passed the House by a majority of five, and was taken up in the Senate about half an hour before the close of the session, but was lost for want of time. Among the last acts of the house were, the passage of the Senate bill paying $40,000 to the American Colonization Society for expenses incurred in supporting the Africans recaptured from the bark Pons; the defeat of the resolution creating the rank of Lieutenant-General; and the act founding a Military Asylum for the relief of disabled soldiers. The French Spoliation Bill, the bill making Land Warrants Assignable, the bill granting ten million acres of the public lands to the states for the relief of the indigent insane, and all the proposals for new steamship lines, as well as Mr. Collins's application for an additional appropriation to his Liverpool line, were lost for want of time. In the Senate, after the River and Harbor Bill was dropped, the Army and Navy and Civil and Diplomatic Appropriation Bills, the Post Route Bill, and the Light House Bill, were all passed. Both houses adjourned at noon, on Tuesday, March 4th.

After an interval of twenty minutes, the Senate was again called to order, a Special Session having been ordered by the President to consider Executive business. Messrs. Bright, Bayard, Cass, Jefferson Davis, Hamilton, Mason, Pratt, Rusk, and Dodge of Wisconsin, Senators elect, appeared and were qualified. Mr. Foote, of Vermont, appeared on the 8th and was sworn in. Mr. Yulee presented a communication, claiming to have been elected by the Legislature of Florida, he having received 29 votes when the remainder were blank. The Judiciary Committee reported against allowing the California Senators mileage by the Panama route, but the discussion of the subject was postponed till the next session.

On Friday, the 7th, the Senate ratified the treaties lately negotiated with Portugal, with Switzerland, and the treaty with Mexico respecting the Tehuantepec route from the Gulf to the Pacific. The treaty of extradition with Mexico was rejected. The treaty with Switzerland was amended in some particulars.

A message was received in reply to a resolution calling on the State Department to furnish copies of the correspondence with Turkey regarding Kossuth. In addition to the correspondence which has already appeared, Mr. Webster in February, addressed a letter to J. P. Brown, Dragoman of the Legation at Constantinople, concerning the probable intentions of Turkey; to which Mr. Brown replied that in May, 1851, the year for which the Sultan promised Austria to retain the Hungarians will expire. Mr. Webster thereupon addressed a letter to Mr. Marsh, U. S. minister to Constantinople, in relation to the approaching release of Kossuth and his companions, and the offer to be made to them and to the Sublime Porte, in accordance with the joint resolution of Congress. Mr. Webster requests our minister to state that though the United States has no intention to interfere in any manner with the international relations of other Governments, yet, in this case, it hopes that suggestions proceeding from no other motives than friendship and respect for the Porte, and sympathy for the unhappy exiles, may be received as a proof of national good-will. He alludes in terms of high commendation to the course of the Porte in refusing to deliver the exiles into the hands of their pursuers, and while acknowledging the force of the considerations through which they have been detained up to the present time, urges that their transportation to this country cannot longer be reasonably opposed. The tone of Mr. Webster's letter is humane, eloquent and dignified; it will be read with earnest satisfaction by the friends of Liberty throughout the Globe.

The action of the Executive Session of the Senate was chiefly upon nominations made by the President. These having been completed and some resolutions adopted, calling for information on various subjects, to be communicated to the next session, the Senate adjourned on the 13th of March. The following are the principal nominations: Hon. Robert F. Schenck, of Ohio, Minister to Brazil; John B. Kerr, of Maryland, Chargé to Nicaragua; John S. Pendleton, of Virginia, Chargé to the Argentine Republic; Mr. Markoe, of the State Department, Chargé to Denmark; Y. P. King, of Georgia, Chargé to New-Granada; Samuel G. Goodrich, of Massachusetts, Consul at Paris; John Howard Payne, Consul to Tunis; Mr. Easby, of Washington, Commissioner of Public Buildings; Grafton Baker, of Mississippi, Chief Justice of New-Mexico; Ogden Hoffman, Jr., of San Francisco, District Judge for California; George G. Baker, of Ohio, Consul to Genoa; Henry A. Homer, of Massachusetts, Dragoman to the Turkish Legation; H. Jones Brooke, of Penn., Consul at Belfast; and Charles Russell, Collector at Santa Barbara, California. Jacob B. Moore, of New-York, was confirmed as Post-Master, and T. Butler King, of Georgia, as Collector, at San Francisco.

M. Marcoleta, Minister Plenipotentiary of the Republic of Nicaragua, arrived in this country from Europe, and was officially presented to the President on Saturday, Feb. 22. The addresses on both sides were of the most cordial character. Commodore Jones, whose trial by Court Martial has been going on at Washington for some time past, has been found guilty of speculating in gold dust with the public funds, and is suspended from his command for five years, half of the time without pay.

The Superintendent of the Census has published a table, compiled from the returns of the Marshals, which are complete in all the principal States. From this it appears that the entire population of the United States will be about 23,200,000, of which 8,070,734 are slaves. The entire representative population will be 21,710,000, and the ratio of representation 93,170, the law of May, 22, 1850, determining the number of representatives at 233. The States which gain, in all, are as follows: Arkansas 1, Indiana 1, Illinois 2, Massachusetts 1, Mississippi 1, Michigan 1, Missouri 2, Pennsylvania 1—10. The following States lose, viz; Maine 1, New Hampshire 1, New-York 1, North Carolina 2, South Carolina 2, Vermont 1, Virginia 2. The free States gain six members and lose four; the slave States gain four and lose six.

No Senator has yet been elected in the State of Massachusetts. On the eighteenth ballot, Mr. Sumner lacked nine votes of an election, after which the matter was postponed to the 2d of April. In the New-York Legislature, a joint resolution providing for the election of a U. S. Senator finally passed at 2 a. m. on the 19th, and the Hon. Hamilton Fish, ex-Governor of the State, was then elected. In the Ohio Legislature, an election was finally reached on the 15th of March, Benjamin F. Wade, the Whig candidate, receiving a majority of three. The New Jersey Legislature has chosen Commodore Robert F. Stockton, on the 27th ballot, by a majority of one, three of the members being absent. Commodore Stockton resigned his place in the Navy last year.

The one hundred and nineteenth anniversary of Washington's birthday was celebrated throughout the United States with more than the usual honors. In New-York City, a large military and civic procession was arranged, under the direction of the Common Council, succeeded by a brilliant illumination in the evening. An oration was delivered at the celebration instituted by the Union Committee, by the Hon. Mr. Foote, of Mississippi. At the dinner which succeeded, the Hon. Edward Everett made an eloquent speech on the American Constitution.

Considerable excitement has arisen in different localities of the Free States, on account of the seizure of colored persons claimed as fugitive slaves. The Boston case has become exceedingly complicated, through a series of counter-arrests, on the parts of State and U. S. officers. Mr. Elizur Wright, editor of the Boston Commonwealth, and six other persons, mostly negroes, are held for trial on a charge of aiding in the escape of the slave Shadrach. On the other hand, the U. S. District Attorney, Commissioner and Deputy Marshal, were arrested and held to bail in the sum of $10,000 each, on charge of arresting the fugitive, the suits being brought on the ground that the Fugitive Slave law is unconstitutional, and that the officers acted without authority. Several arrests of fugitive slaves have been made in various parts of Pennsylvania, but there has been no violent resistance to the law. The Governor of Pennsylvania lately made a requisition on the Governor of Maryland, for the delivery of a man charged with kidnapping a free black child five years old, born in Pennsylvania of a fugitive slave, and reclaimed with her. The Governor of Maryland refused to surrender the accused, and replied in a long letter sustaining his course by the authority of the Attorney General.

Few measures of interest have been passed by the several State Legislatures, during the past month. The State of New Jersey has abolished the freehold qualification. In the Legislature of Wisconsin a land limitation bill, fixing the limit at 640 acres, passed the Senate, but was defeated in the House. The Maryland Convention for the revision of the State Constitution, has adopted a clause abolishing imprisonment for debt, by a vote of 60 to 5. The Indiana Convention has completed a revised Constitution for that State, which will be submitted to the votes of the people. The Legislature of Pennsylvania has passed a joint resolution of thanks to the Hon. Daniel Webster, for his letter to Hülsemann, the Austrian Chargé d'Affaires.

Several severe storms have been experienced in the Western States. The town of Fayetteville, Tenn., was nearly destroyed by a tornado, on the 24th of February. The place was enveloped in impenetrable darkness, and many lives were lost in the crash of the falling buildings. Forty-two houses were blown down. A terrific gale passed over Pittsburg, tearing the steamers from their moorings, and injuring a great number of buildings.

The family of Mr. William Cosden, in Kent Co., Md.,—including himself, his wife, sister, sister-in-law, and a black servant, were murdered on the 25th of February. A small boy made his escape and gave the alarm. The murderers have not yet been taken.

The trials of the Cuban invaders at New Orleans have at last been brought to an end. After three unsuccessful attempts to procure a verdict in the case of Gen. Henderson, the jury in each instance being unable to agree, the prosecution was withdrawn. The trial of Gen. Quitman and the other persons who had been arraigned, was also relinquished, and the matter will be suffered to drop.

Jenny Lind has reached St. Louis, on her tour of triumph in the West. The proceeds of her thirteen concerts in New Orleans amounted to $200,000. On the 13th of March, she gave a concert at Natchez which produced $6,600, $1,000 of which was devoted to charitable objects.—A great meeting in favor of railroads in the Mississippi Valley, was held in New Orleans on the 24th of February.—The cholera has appeared in a mild form on some of the Western rivers. In the town of Franklin, Tenn., there have been already fourteen deaths from it.

Henry Clay sailed from New-York for Havana, on the 11th of March. He intends remaining a few weeks in that city to rest from the fatigues of the late session. He was received in New-York with great enthusiasm; thousands of persons crowded the docks to witness his departure.

The steamer Oregon, while on her passage from Louisville to New Orleans, burst her boiler near Vicksburg, killing and wounding about seventy persons. The boat afterwards took fire and burned to the water's edge. The surviving passengers were taken off by the steamer Iroquois, which fortunately happened to be in the vicinity. A steam-ferry boat at St. Louis burst her boiler on the 23d of February, killing about twenty persons. Several other slight explosions and collisions have occurred on the Western rivers.

A notorious person, named Wm. H. Thompson, (better known as "One-Eyed Thompson,") who was supposed to have been a confederate of various gangs of counterfeiters and burglars, was arrested on the 1st of March, on a charge of counterfeiting, and committed suicide the next day in his cell. He left a letter addressed to the Coroner and another to his wife, written in a style which shows him to have been a man of more than ordinary intellect. He stated that, being of no farther use to his family, he felt it his duty to die. He had always cherished a disposition to commit suicide, as he had no means of solving the mystery of life, and desired death, either as an explanation or as an eternal sleep.

The latest accounts from Texas, represent that State as being in a most flourishing condition. Emigrants are continually arriving from all quarters, and especially from Germany. The subject of Popular Education is beginning to attract attention, and the agricultural interest is receiving the support of many gentlemen of wealth and intelligence. The Indians still continue their depredations in the neighborhood of Rio Grande City, and all along the Mexican frontier. Several engagements between them and the U. S. troops, have taken place in the vicinity of Laredo. Gen. Brooke is organizing an expedition against the Camanches, and as soon as the spring opens, a campaign will be made directly into their hunting grounds. A singular being, known as the Wild Woman of Navidad, who has baffled the search of the hunters for several years, has lately been caught by a party who were out after deer. It appears that she was a negress who fled to the wilderness after Fannin's defeat, fifteen years ago, since which time she has lived in the woods, subsisting on acorns and other wild fruits.

News from El Paso to the 31st of December, state that the Boundary Commissioners have fixed the initial point of their survey at the parallel of 32° 22' N., on the Rio Grande, a point conjectured to be about 20 miles north of El Paso. The line will run thence 3° westward, and then due north, to the Gila River. From two to three years will be required to complete the survey. The American Commission, numbering more than one hundred persons, is divided into three companies, and located at El Paso, Socorro, and the Mission of San Elizario.

The last mail from the Salt Lake, Utah Territory, reaches to the beginning of December. The settlement was then in a very prosperous condition, the weather being remarkably mild. Grain and vegetables of all kinds were very abundant, 200,000 bushels of wheat having been gathered the past season. Several saw and grist mills were in active operation, and a woollen factory and brewery were in course of erection. Large supplies of coal and iron have been discovered in the Valley of the Little Salt Lake, about 350 miles to the south-west of the Mormon settlement, and a colony has been sent there. The snows in the Timpanozu and Bear River Mountains have greatly retarded the mails between the Salt Lake and Missouri.

We have news from California to the 1st of February. The amount of gold dust shipped from San Francisco on that day and the 15th of January, was about $3,500,000. The Legislature of California convened on the 6th of January. Gov. Burnett's Message, which was transmitted on the following day, gives a general review of State affairs. A reduction of fees and salaries is recommended, and an increase of the tax on real and personal estate, in order to keep up the financial credit of the State, without recourse to foreign loans. The Governor also favors the passage of laws excluding negroes from the State, and extending the punishment of death to the crime of grand larceny. A few days subsequent to the meeting of the Legislature, Gov. Burnett tendered his resignation, and Lieut. Gov. McDougal was inaugurated as Governor the following day. A bill to remove to capital of the State from San José to Vallejo, has passed the Senate, and will probably pass the House. A bill appointing the 3d of February for the election of a U. S. Senator, has passed the House. The total debt of the State on the 15th of December last, was $485,460. If the proposed reductions in the expenses are made, the estimated balance in the Treasury at the end of June, will be $220,346, nearly half the total debt.

California has again been excited with the rumored discovery of a gold placer, far surpassing any previous account. The steamer Chesapeake, it appears, sailed from San Francisco for the Klamath River with a company of adventurers, and after an absence of two weeks, returned with news of the discovery of a beach of golden sand, on the coast, twenty-seven miles north of the mouth of Trinity River. From the fact of this beach being bounded by a bluff from one to four hundred feet in height, the name of "Gold Bluff" was given to the locality. The beach extends for a distance of six miles and is from twenty to fifty yards in width. It is a mixture of gray and black sand, through which the gold is disseminated in particles so fine that it cannot be separated with ordinary washing. This sand is constantly shifting, under the action of the waves, and at times the ocean covers the entire beach, breaking against the bluffs. The amount of gold in the sand is variously represented, at from ten cents to ten dollars. A constant surf breaks along the shore, rendering the landing in the boats impracticable except in very calm weather, while it is almost equally difficult to reach the spot by land.

An Association called the "Pacific Mining Company" was immediately formed, with a stock of 12,000 shares at $100 each. One thousand shares were sold immediately, and several vessels were put up at once for the Gold Bluff, the miners flocking from all parts of the diggings, to join in the adventure. The original stockholders, however,—about thirty in number—lay claim to the best parts of the beach, and have erected log cabins and laid in a large store of provisions, preparatory to washing the sand on an extensive scale. The reports of the richness of this locality are doubtless very greatly exaggerated.

Business in San Francisco and the inland towns and trading communities of the mountains, was remarkably dull. Goods had been sold at very low rates, in some instances lower than the first cost. The winter has been so remarkably clear and fine, that the miners—who had removed to the dry diggings, in anticipation of rain—have been greatly embarrassed in their operations. They have occupied themselves in throwing up dirt, and only await a week's rain to wash out sufficient gold to restore the trade of the country. New discoveries of gold in quartz rock continue to be made, and some of the specimens, which have been assayed, are of almost incredible richness. The mining region in the north, on the Klamath, Shaste, and Umpqua Rivers, is yielding a rich return. The agricultural capacities of this region are also highly commended.

The difficulties between the miners and the Indians continue to increase, and a general war with all the tribes of the Sierra Nevada, is threatened. The principal depredations have been committed on the Mariposa and the American Fork. The Indians are supposed to be leagued together, and to have their head-quarters near the source of the Cattee river. In consequence of a murder on Fresno Creek, a company of seventy-five Americans, under the command of Capt. Barney, attacked one of their strongholds. It was a fortified village, built on the summit of a mountain, and accessible only at one point. The battle lasted three hours, the Indians being finally driven off with the loss of sixty men. It was reported in San José that the Indians had surprised a company of seventy-two men, on Rattlesnake Creek, and murdered them all. In consequence of these occurrences, the Governor dispatched Col. Johnson to the scene of disturbance, ordered out 200 men, and applied to Gen. Smith for the assistance of the United States troops.

A large business is now done in bringing droves of sheep from New Mexico and Sonora into California. The expedition dispatched for the purpose of exploring the Colorado River has reached a point thirty miles from its mouth. Several meetings have been held in favor of constructing a railroad between San Francisco and San José, and half the stock was subscribed at the last accounts.

We have dates from Oregon to Jan. 25th. The papers speak with enthusiasm of the climate and agricultural capacities of the country. On the coldest day of January, at Portland, Oregon, the thermometer only fell to 23°. A large steamer, named the "Lot Whitcomb," has been built at Milwaukie, and was launched on Christmas Day with great ceremony, Gov. Gaines giving her the christening. She is 160 feet in length, and is to run on the Willamette River.

EUROPE.

England presents a history of more than usual interest for the past month. Parliament was opened on the 3d of February. The Queen's speech contained no decided feature beyond recommending a reform in the administration of the Courts of Equity. An excited address arose on the Parliamentary address in reply to the speech. Lord John Russell took strong grounds against the acts of the Pope, and proposed that the most stringent measures, regulating the conduct of all Catholic functionaries, should be adopted. On the 17th of February, the Chancellor of the Exchequer laid before the Commons the budget for the current year. It appears that the surplus of last year was £2,500,000, half of which the Chancellor proposed to apply to the national debt. He also proposed to abolish the window-tax, but to introduce a house-tax in its stead. Several other modifications were made, but unfavorably received; and on the 20th, on the question of a bill giving the franchise to every householder paying £10 taxes, the Ministry was left in a minority of 48 votes. After this reverse, the Cabinet, which for some time previous had been rapidly losing ground, had no alternative but to resign. It entered upon office in July, 1846, and consequently ruled for nearly five years. The resignation took effect on Saturday, Feb. 22d. The Queen at once accepted it, and sent for Lord Stanley, who declined undertaking the construction of a new Government. Her Majesty then returned to Lord John Russell, who tried unsuccessfully to induce Sir James Graham to enter the Ministry. Lord Aberdeen was then summoned and Lord Stanley a second time, but no arrangement could be made. Finally, a meeting of the resigned Ministry was held on the 28th, and it was rumored that a new Cabinet would be formed from the old one, substituting Sir James Graham in the place of Lord John Russell. Another report is, that the Queen intends to advise with the Duke of Wellington, in relation to the crisis.

During this interregnum, very little has been done in Parliament. On a motion of D'Israeli, involving the principle of free trade, the Government only carried its point by a majority of 14 in a full House. The House of Lords has rejected the bill allowing marriage with a deceased wife's sister, its principal opponents being the Bishops, who resisted it on religious grounds. The anti-papal agitation is still kept up, but in a less violent form. The great Crystal Palace in Hyde Park is now completed, and the throng of visitors is very great. Contributions are continually arriving from all quarters of the world.

In France the President's influence appears to be on the decline. Having sent into the National Assembly his demand for a donation of $360,000 in addition to the salary provided for him in the Constitution, it was lost after a sharp debate, by a majority of 102. A national subscription to relieve the President from his pecuniary embarrassments, was proposed, but this he declined, preferring to reduce his private expenses. A sale of his horses, however, did not bring more than half their cost.

A number of Diplomatic changes have been made. Among the appointments are: Gen. Aupick, Ambassador to England; Lavalette, to Constantinople; M. de Sartiges, to the United States; M. Bourboulon, to China; M. de Saint-Georges, to Brazil, &c. The National Assembly has accomplished nothing of importance. The subjects of Labor and Agriculture have been discussed, but without reaching any conclusion. The third anniversary of the Republic was celebrated throughout all parts of France, with the greatest enthusiasm. The manifestations of republican sentiment were so sincere and so universal, that the Orleanists and Legitimists were struck dumb. At the latest dates, it was rumored that they were about forming a union, on the basis of the restoration of Henry V., acknowledging the Count de Paris as his successor. The Ex-Queen is said to have joined this movement, though the Duchess of Orleans will not consent to postpone the claims of her son.

Germany is still in a fog. The Dresden Conference has not yet been able to bring order out of the chaos. The reconstitution of the Central German Power was partly agreed on, each Government taking the Presidency by turns. Austria, however, claimed the Presidency without alternation. Prussia thereupon refused to sanction the installation of a Central Power until all the German Governments have stated their views concerning the revision of the Constitution of the Diet. A return to the old form of the Diet is recommended in many quarters, as the sole means of restoring harmony; but the prospect of a settlement which shall be generally acceptable, is as far off as ever. The Prussian Assembly was, at the last accounts, engaged in discussing a new law for the censorship of the Press.

Switzerland is menaced with a war on the part of the German Powers, for the purpose of recovering for Prussia the Canton of Neufchatel. It is stated that the Confederation will shortly march an army to the Swiss frontier: they have been restrained, up to the present time, by the fear of exposing themselves to revolution at home. England it is rumored will strongly oppose such a movement. The Federal Council of Switzerland has issued a decree, prohibiting French refugees from residing in the cantons on the French frontiers. The number of political refugees in the country amounts to about 500, large numbers having been sent to England and the United States, at the expense of the Federal Government.

Italy is in a state of great alarm, in relation to Mazzini and his revolutionary designs. It is stated that he has raised a loan of more than two millions of francs, and is maturing his plan for an outbreak which shall sweep the whole Italian peninsula. Garibaldi (who is at present on Staten Island, near New-York) is reported to be on the coast with a large naval force. These rumors are made the pretext of an increase of the Austrian force in Italy. The forces of Piedmont are being put upon a war footing, in order to be ready for any emergency. It was stated, in Turin, on the 24th of February, that the German Powers have demanded of the Piedmontese government, the suppression of the liberty of the press, and reconciliation of the Court of Rome.

The bands of robbers which infest the mountains, in the Papal States, have been dislodged from some of their strongholds, by the united Austrian and Roman forces. A party of thirty of these brigands took possession of the town of Forlini-Popoli, and plundered the inhabitants, who were at the time congregated in the theatre of the place. In the island of Corsica, a robber named Mazoni has, for 18 months past, held possession of a fortified town called Ile-Rousse, with a population of 1,000 inhabitants. He communicates with the agents of the Government, his dispatches being drawn up in regular style, and signed "Mazoni, Bandit." Archbishop Hughes is still preaching in Rome, and it is said that he either has been or shortly will be made Cardinal.

The Government of Naples has completed its work of persecution. From twenty to thirty men, some of noble rank, some formerly Ministers of State, have been condemned to the prison or the galley. Of 140 Deputies, eighty-five are in various ways victims: twenty-four have been shut up in prison, unheard of for two years; and sixty-one are refugees.

The thirteenth Storthing (National Congress) of Norway, was opened on the 11th of February by King Oscar in person. Among other things, he recommended the construction of a railroad from the City of Christiana to Lake Miösen.

From Turkey we learn that Gen. Dembinski has reached Constantinople. All the refugees have left Shumla, and 240 persons, chiefly Poles, had sailed from Constantinople on their way to America. Kossuth, with 300 Hungarians, still remains at Kutahya, where a very strict guard is maintained over all his movements. He is not allowed to communicate with his friends. A sale of Gen. Bem's effects was held at Aleppo on the 23d of January, and enormous prices were paid for trifles of all kinds, as relics. The troubles at Bagdad and Aleppo have been subdued. A difficulty arose between the Porte and Abbas Pacha, Viceroy of Egypt, in relation to a retrenchment of the expenditures of the latter. At one time a war was anticipated, but our latest dates announce that the difference has been adjusted.

BRITISH AMERICA.

Mr. Howe, the Commissioner dispatched to England from Nova Scotia, writes from London that his mission on behalf of the Portland and Halifax Railroad will prove successful. A serious disturbance has taken place on the Great Western Railroad, near Hamilton, Canada West, 900 laborers having made a strike for higher wages. As they menaced the peace of the neighborhood, the inhabitants called on the executive for the aid of the troops to assist the civil authorities.

A large anti-slavery meeting was held at Toronto, on the 28th of February. Its avowed object is to furnish sympathy and aid to the American fugitives. A large class of persons, however, including the Government officials, are opposed to the movement. The Free School system is becoming popular in Canada, and is already partially adopted in the District of Toronto.

MEXICO.

We have news from the Mexican capital to the 15th of February. The country was remarkably quiet, the revolts in Chiapas and Guanajuato having been completely quelled. Congress has done nothing of importance. Señor Lacunza has declined the post of Minister to England, which has been given to Señor Payno, who has resigned the office of Minister of Justice. Munguia, the refractory Bishop of Michoacan, has given in his submission to the Government. President Arista is engaged in arranging an active plan of operations with his Cabinet, and favorable predictions are made in regard to the effects of his administration.

On the 16th of February, the City of Chihuahua was thrown into great alarm by the rumor that thirty American adventurers, leagued with a large body of Indians, armed with two field-pieces, were encamped at a short distance. The troops were ordered out, but could not find such a force, though the existence of a company of robbers among the mountains, headed by an American, was well ascertained. Great depredations are committed in the City of Mexico. On the 3d of February, eight armed men appeared on the public promenade, and plundered a large number of persons. The affairs of Yucatan are in a desperate condition. The treasury is exhausted, and the army called out against the Indians is without money or means to carry on the war.

CENTRAL AMERICA.

A war between the Central Government of Guatemala on one side, and the allied States of Honduras and San Salvador, has broken out. This rupture was occasioned by the British blockade of the Pacific ports of the latter States, which they attribute to the instigation of Guatemala. A joint army of 6000 men was raised for the protection of the frontier. The inhabitants of the mountain provinces of Guatemala, who are nearly all in favor of the Federal Union of the Central American States, sympathized with this movement, and large bodies of deserters from Carrera's forces joined the allied army. A plot of Carrera to excite a revolt in San Salvador was completely defeated. At the last accounts, the two armies had met near Chiquimula. One statement announces the total defeat of the allied forces by Carrera, while another says the former obtained possession of Chiquimula; and that the only victory gained by Carrera was over a company of deserters from his own ranks, near the village of San Geronimo.

In the State of Nicaragua, the chain of communication from the Atlantic to the Pacific, is nearly completed. The engineers have nearly finished the survey of a road from Rio Lagæ, on the western shore of the Lake, to the port of San Juan del Sur on the Pacific, a distance of twelve miles. Small boats are now building to run on the San Juan River, and it is expected that the transit from sea to sea will be made in twenty-four hours, and the journey from New-York to San Francisco in twenty-four days.

THE WEST INDIES.

On the 3d of March, Havana was in the midst of the Carnival, and given up to gayety of all kinds. The Captain General, Concha, has made himself exceedingly popular by his liberal measures, and it was rumored that he intended visiting Spain for the purpose of procuring further reforms in the government of the Island. Miss Fredrika Bremer was on a visit to Matanzas. The cholera has broken out at Cardenas, and there have been many fatal cases among the crews in the harbor and the negroes on shore.

This scourge is still prevailing in many parts of Jamaica, having made its appearance in some districts a second time with increased malignity.

In Hayti, the threatened war on the Dominicans has not been undertaken. The United States Government is interfering actively in the alleged imprisonment, without cause, of Captain Mayo, of the American brig Leander. The evidence in the case has been transmitted to the Emperor.

The inhabitants of Georgetown, Grand Caymanas, are digging up the beach around a certain inlet of the island, in search of a treasure supposed to have been buried by the pirate Gibbs. Several flat stones, marked with cabalistic letters, have been discovered, but no gold.

SOUTH AMERICA.

The workmen on the Panama Railroad are now engaged in laying the rails from Navy Bay to Gatun, a distance of three and a half miles. The first locomotive was landed on the 22d of February. A new steamer has been placed on the Chagres River, to run between Chagres and Gorgona, and another is building at Navy Bay for the same purpose, to form a daily line. The attention of Americans on the Isthmus is at present attracted towards the auriferous region of New Grenada, in the provinces of Choco and Antioquia, lying between the Pacific and the Magdalena River. About three hundred and fifty persons, principally Frenchmen, are engaged in working the Buenaventura mines, which yield from two to three ounces per day to each man. A severe shock of an earthquake was felt at Carthagena on the 7th of February.

In Venezuela, the new President, Monagas, has been inaugurated; the country is quiet and prosperous.

The Presidential Election in Peru has terminated in favor of Echinique. Congress was to meet on the 20th of March.

One or two partial insurrections have occurred in Bolivia, and a decree has been issued for the banishment of all Buenos Ayreans, who were not married to Bolivian females. It is believed that the difficulty between Brazil and the Argentine Republic will be settled without war.

ASIA.

Late news from Canton announce the death of Commissioner Lin, who seized the English opium in 1839. Murders and piracy are on the increase in the Indian seas, notwithstanding the alleged severity of the Chinese authorities.

The British surveying ship Herald has arrived at Singapore, from the Arctic regions, bringing a rumor of news in relation to Sir John Franklin. Near the extreme station of the Russian Fur Company, the officers of the Herald learned from the natives that a party of white men had been encamped three or four hundred miles inland, that the Russians had made an attempt to supply them with provisions and necessaries, but had been prevented by the natives. No communication could be opened with the spot where they were said to be, as a hostile tribe intervened. The Esquimaux confirmed this rumor, with the addition that the whites had been murdered in a quarrel with the natives.

MISCELLANEOUS.

M. Xavier Raymond, a practised and accredited author, has begun a series of essays in the Paris Journal des Debats, on the British and American Steam Navigation Companies: historical details, statistics, modes of forming, organization—comparison. He agrees with our Secretary of the Navy, that it is better for government to subsidize companies, and partly or mainly rely upon them for war-steamers, than to build and maintain a steam-fleet for itself, at greater cost, and with no superiority of adaptation for belligerent service. He admits that this plan would not find grace with the European Ministers of Marine; but, for them, circumstances are different. The report of the Secretary has been received here as able and satisfactory. M. Raymond observes that, notwithstanding the amount of subsidies granted in England and America, to various Companies of Steam Navigation, he knows but one among those which operate on a line of more than five hundred leagues that is in a prosperous condition. This may be a mistake.

The Paris Moniteur contains a very curious and interesting biography, by an able hand, Dr. Parise, of Dr. Joseph Ignatius Guillotin, the inventor of the famous instrument of decapitation called after him. His character was benevolent, and his design humane. This is now realized. He proposed his machine (not altogether original, but improved laboriously) in 1789: a report was ordered on it, by the Legislative Assembly in 1792; and on the 21st August of that year, it was first used for a political execution. It gave occasion for numberless effusions of verse at his expense. No one experienced more horror at the abuse of it, than he uniformly testified. Seventy-six physicians and surgeons perished under its slider. He rescued as many intended victims as he possibly could. He was finally arrested himself, for execution; by some chance he escaped, and then withdrew, in despair, from the political theatre.

We noticed lately the death of the Italian Professor Sarti, whose anatomical museum was exhibited last year in Broadway. The library of the deceased professor was being sold at Rome, when the police came in and stopped the sale. Among his books were twenty-one volumes of manuscript correspondence between the governments of Rome and Venice, from the time of Pope Paul Caraffa downwards. Monsignor Molsa, a great friend of the late professor, knowing of these volumes, which were in cipher, with their interpretations, hastened to tell Cardinal Antonelli, who dispatched orders just in time to save the secrets of the state from further exposure. Sarti died in Liverpool.