The _Gotha Almanac_ is an indispensable book for those who follow the

history and look after the statistics of the royal families and

governments of Europe. It contains perfect genealogical lists of the

former, and tables of the diplomatic corps, the debt, the revenues, the

expenses, the commercial system, the military and naval forces, the

population, ecclesiastical organization, &c., of the latter. In no other

manual is so much information of the sort condensed into so brief and

convenient a form. The governments and statistics of the new world are

also included. The portraits given for 1852, are Prince Adalbert of

Prussia, Crown Prince Charles of Sweden, Count Leo Thun, Lord

Palmerston, Prince Wolkonski, and Cardinal Schwarzenberg. This is the

eighty-ninth year of the publication.

* * * * *

One of the best evidences of the value of Humboldt's _Kosmos_, is the

vast number of popular treatises on various branches of science to which

it has given rise in Germany, and which must exert a powerful influence

in the formation of the growing age. A more solid and extensive

undertaking is an _Atlas_ intended to illustrate the entire original

work. It is by TRAUGOTT BROUVE, and will contain forty-two plates with

explanatory text. The cost will be $4,50 in Germany. The first part has

appeared at Stuttgardt, and is praised as worthy of the great work it

illustrates.

* * * * *

Of AUERBACH's _Dorfgeschichten_ (Village Stories), 25,000 copies have

been sold in Germany. He has just published a three-volume novel called

_Neues Leben_ (New Life).

* * * * *

A new religious and philosophical novel is _Das Pfarrhaus zu Hallungen_

(The Parsonage at Hallungen), by LUDWIG STORCH. It is said to be full of

exciting interest, but we confess that we have not read it, and do not

mean to. Our taste is for novels of less elaborate purpose.

* * * * *

We give our tribute of commendation to the _Haus-Chronik_ (House

Chronicles), which CASPAR BRAUN and FREDERICK SCHNEIDER are now

publishing at Munich. These gentlemen are well known to all readers of

that excellent comic paper, the _Fliegende Blätter_, and here appeal to

all who can enjoy humor and have a taste for studies in the history of

German life in the middle ages.

* * * * *

MUGGE, whose romance on _Toussaint L'Ouverture_ was translated by the

Rev. Dr. Furness, of Philadelphia, has published at Leipzig the third

volume of his annual _Vielliebchen_ (My Darling). It contains two tales

and several poems, and is illustrated with seven steel engravings. It is

worthy of notice that this word _Vielliebchen_ is the original of our

mysterious _Filopine_.

* * * * *

M. PULSZKY, who is now in this country in the suite of KOSSUTH, has just

published a historical romance at Berlin called _Die Jakobiner in

Ungarn_ (The Jacobines in Hungary). It is in two volumes, and meets a

favorable reception from the critics, and we doubt not, from the public

also. It fared equally well when it was published in English at London

some time since.

* * * * *

The _Middle Kingdom_, of our countryman, Mr. S. WELLS WILLIAMS, is the

subject of a most favorable notice in the Augsburg _Allgemeine Zeitung_.

Of this careful and very comprehensive work--the most elaborate and

reliable that has ever appeared in the English language respecting China

and the Chinese--Mr. Wiley has just published a new edition.

* * * * *

The public are solemnly warned in a number of the Leipzig _Central

Blatt_, against a lately published work, entitled _Tabula Geographica

Italiæ Antiquæ_, as swarming with errors. Divers towns are cited

therein, at different times under different names, and as standing in

different places, while the names themselves are declared to be sadly

corrupted.

* * * * *

PROF. NEUMANN, of Munich, will publish in the course of a year, a

_History of the British Empire in India_, on which he has been long

engaged. It will be as thorough and able as it is impartial, and in

Germany is expected with great interest. The author proposes also to

write the History of Russian domination in Asia.

* * * * *

In noticing the poems lately published by GOETHE's nephew (mentioned in

the last _International_), a German reviewer remarks, that the reverence

which he (the reviewer), bears for the name of the uncle, "forbids any

illusion to the book in question."

* * * * *

ADOLF STAHR is publishing at Berlin a second edition of his _History of

the Russian Revolution_; it is dedicated to Macauley.

* * * * *

The celebrated Countess IDA HAHN-HAHN who was formerly as thorough an

infidel as any member of the Worcester Women's Rights Convention, and as

indecently licentious in her novels as the author of _Alban_, is thus

described in a late number of the _Weser Zeitung_:

"Daily, about noon, the loungers under the Linden at Berlin are

startled by the extraordinary appearance of a tall, lanky

woman, whose thin limbs are wrapped up in a long black robe of

coarse cloth. An old crumpled bonnet covers her head, which

continually moving turns restlessly in all directions. Her

hollow cheeks are flushed with a morbid coppery glow; one of

her eyes is immovable, for it is of glass, but her other eye

shines with a feverish brilliancy, and a strange and almost

awful smile hovers constantly about her thin lips. This woman

moves with an unsteady quick step, and whenever her black

mantilla is flung back by the violence of her movements, a

small rope of hair with a crucifix at the end is plainly seen

to bind her waist. This ungainly woman is the _quondam_

authoress, Countess Ida Hahn-Hahn, who has turned a Catholic,

and is now preparing for a pilgrimage to Rome to crave the

Pope's absolution for her literary trespasses."

* * * * *

PRINCE WINDISCHGRATZ has issued his long promised narrative of the

Hungarian winter campaign in 1848-49. In the preface, he says he has

been induced to depart from a resolution not to publish until a much

later period, by numerous calumnies and misrepresentations which have

been circulated. The book is dedicated to the army.

* * * * *

MENZEL, whose work on German Literature had the honor of appearing in

Ripley's excellent series of foreign books, published at Boston some ten

years since, has just published a novel at Leipzig, with the title of

_Farore_. It is the history of a monk and a nun during the thirty years

war.

* * * * *

FREDERIKA BREMER has in press a book upon the World's Fair. It is

announced in Germany, but we presume will appear at the same time in

England. Whether it will be historical, philosophical, sentimental, or

mystical, we are not informed, but suppose it will have a touch of all

these qualities.

* * * * *

FREDERICK THE GREAT (so-called), is not yet exhausted as a topic for

book-makers, if we may judge by the _Anekdoten und Charakterzüge_

(Anecdotes and Traits of Character), drawn from his life, and just

published at Berlin. The author is an adorer of the selfish old

martinet.

* * * * *

KOHL, the indefatigable traveller, has just published, at Dresden, his

_Reise nach Istrien Dalmatien und Montenegro_. A book of travels in

those countries is a novelty, and no explorer could give his reader a

more vivid picture of the peculiarities of a nation and its country than

Kohl. The book is in two volumes.

* * * * *

The Shakspeare Society in London, at a recent sitting, received as a

present a translation of Shakspeare, in twelve volumes, into Swedish

verse. This laborious work has been accomplished by Professor HAGBERG,

of the University of Lund, and it was transmitted through the Swedish

Minister to England.

* * * * *

A new history of German literature from the most ancient to the most

recent times has just been published at Stuttgart by Dr. EUGEN HAHN. It

is particularly valuable in respect of biography and the history of

mental culture in general.

* * * * *

A new work, called _Bilder aus Spainen_ (Pictures from Spain), is among

the recent productions of the German press. Its author, HERR A. LONING,

has already published several works on the Peninsula, where he resided

several years.

* * * * *

LISZT, the eminent pianist, has published in French a book on Richard

Wagner's two operas, _Lohengrin_ and _Tannhäuser_. He praises them most

enthusiastically; possibly he may succeed in having Wagner's pieces

produced at Paris.

* * * * *

DR. J. W. HADDOCK's work upon _Somnolism and Psycheism_, after having

gone through a second edition in England, has just made its appearance

at Leipzig in a German translation, made by Dr. C. L. Merkel.

* * * * *

A new edition of that excellent work, _The History of the Poetic

National Literature of the Germans_, by Gerbinus, has just made its

appearance at Leipzig.

* * * * *

SILVIO PELLICO is passing the present winter in Rome.

* * * * *

In Tuscany, a periodical similar to the _International_ has been

established under the title of _Rivista Britannica_. The main purpose is

to select articles from English periodicals, and offer them in good

Italian versions. French newspapers, novels, and magazines come in

freely, too freely in Italy. The good ones will sometimes be seized at

the frontier, or at the post-office, by the jealous police of Rome,

Naples, and Tuscany: but against any thing that is corrupt and debauched

no Italian despot, prince, or priest, was ever known to shut his door.

French literature, such as it is under most circumstances, can have only

a bad influence in that enslaved country, and scarcely an Italian is to

be found able to read, who has any difficulty in understanding the

French language. As an antidote to this poison, the editors of the

_Rivista Britannica_ have thought of ministering copious draughts of

healthful English. We wish they might quote English and American

journals with perfect independence of all censorship.

* * * * *

GIOBERTI, whose attack upon the Jesuits is fresh in the minds of all

students of European literature, has lately published at Turin an

elaborate work entitled _Del Rinovamento Civile d' Italia_ (Of the Civil

Regeneration of Italy). It is in two parts, the first treating of the

errors and misfortunes that have marked the past, the second of the

remedies practicable in the present, and the hopes existing for the

future. So large is the circle of readers who look with interest for

every one of Gioberti's productions, that two simultaneous editions have

been issued; one in two volumes 8vo. each of eight hundred pages, and

the other in two volumes, 16mo. each of six hundred.

* * * * *

The _Israel of the Alps, a History of the Vaudois of Piedmont and of

their Colonies_, is the title of a work, by ALEXIS MUSTON, fulfilling a

promise made by the author in 1834, in a volume on the same subject. It

consists of an account of the martyrdoms of Calabria and Provence, and

embraces a period from the origin of those colonies to the end of the

sixteenth century. In the second part are described the extraordinary

sufferings and deliverances of the Piedmontese--the massacre of

1658--the dispersion of the Vaudois into foreign lands--the return to

their own, under the orders of Colonel Arnaud--and an entirely new

exposition is given of the negotiations which led to the official

re-establishment of the Vaudois in their native valleys. The author has

filled up the gaps of the Vaudois historians, Gilles, Leger, and Arnaud,

and, by the aid of numerous inedited documents, has established a

succession of facts in relation to the history of the churches of the

Piedmontese, and those of the colonies, to which Wirtemberg,

Brandenburg, and Switzerland are indebted for their evangelical faith.

M. Muston, contrary to the opinions of Gieseler, Neander, and Schmidt,

agrees with that school of writers--from Perrin to Monastier--who

suppose that the evangelical churches of Piedmont existed before the

reformer Pierre Waldo, and trace their origin to the apostolic ages.

This opinion has much to support it--in the authority of many centuries,

in the unanimous convictions of the Vaudois historians, and in evidences

given by the most ancient monuments of their language, particularly the

poem entitled the _Noble Lesson_, which bears inscribed its own date

(1100), and the literary perfection of which certainly suggests an

anterior literature. J. Bonnett (_Archives du Christianisme_, for

October 16) notices the work very favorably, but considers it imperfect

in many particulars, and the author is charged especially with omissions

in the catalogue of the defenders of the faith, whose blood was so

profusely spilled in their beautiful valleys, and

"Whose bones

Lie bleaching on the Alpine mountains cold."

"Surely," says M. Bonnett, "the author ought to have given us some

notice of the imposing characters who were early laboring for the

defence of the Vaudois churches, from the episcopate of Maximus (that

intrepid missionary of the Alps whose thundering voice against abuses

recalls the eloquent accents of Luther) to the controversy of Vigilance

and Jerome, and the iconoclastic propositions of Claude de Turin. There

is something inspiring in the remembrance of that prelate, now an

evangelist, and now a warrior, combating with one hand the enemies of

truth, and with the other those of the empire. 'I make,' says he, in one

of his letters, 'continual voyages to the court during the winter. In

the spring, with my arms and my books, I go as a sentinel to watch the

coasts of the sea, and to fight against the Saracen and the Moor. I use

my sword during the night, and my pen by day, to accomplish the works

which I have commenced in solitude.' The military and ecclesiastical

character of Claude de Turin was deserving a remembrance, and in

describing him M. Muston could not have fulfilled better the

expectations of the public. There is another instance of omission--that

of Pierre Waldo. Concerning him all opinions agree. It is just where he

stands that all contradictory systems upon the origin of the Vaudois

meet. Whether he was the father or the son of the churches of the

Valleys his history ought not to be forgotten. With what interest would

not the pen of Muston have clothed the recital! what attraction! what

novelty! How the reformation, which originated in the cell of an obscure

cloister, had already germinated in the mind of Waldo; how the rich

merchant of Lyons, in search of the treasures of the age, was suddenly

changed into a bumble disciple, voluntarily poor; and what were the

principal traits of his ministry, his voyages, his relations, his life,

his death! Concerning such men, we cannot regret too deeply the almost

utter silence of this historian of the Vaudois."

The following interesting fragment is translated from the history of the

Vaudois de Calabre: "One day two young men were at a tavern in Turin,

when a Calabrian lord came in to lodge for the night. The companions, in

talking over their affairs, happened to express a desire to establish

themselves somewhere away from home; for the lands of their own country

were becoming so sterile, that they would soon cease to yield a

sufficient support for the population. The stranger said, 'My friends,

if you come with me, I will give you fruitful plains in exchange for

your rocky wastes.' They accepted the proposal with a condition that

they should gain the consent of their families, and with the hope that

they would be accompanied by others. The inhabitants of the Valleys did

not wish to make any determination before knowing to what kind of

country they were invited, and commissioners were therefore sent to

Calabria, with the youths to whom the lands had been offered.

"In this country," says Gilles, "there are beautiful ranges of fertile

soil, clothed with every kind of fruit trees, such as the olive and

orange; in the plains, vines, and chestnut trees; along the shore, the

hazel and the oak; upon the sides and summits of the mountains, the

larch and the fir tree, as in the Alps--every where were signs both of a

land promising rich rewards to the laborer, and but few inhabitants. The

expatriation was decided on; the young, ready to depart, married;

proprietors sold their farms; some member of every family prepared for

the journey." The joys of the nuptial ceremony mingled with the sorrow of

departure from home, and more than one marriage cortege took its place

in the caravan of exile. But they could say, as the Hebrews going forth

to the promised land, _The tabernacle of the Lord is with us_, for the

travellers took with them an ancestral Bible, the source of all

consolation and courage. At the foot of the mountains, father and son,

and mother and daughter embraced, weeping and praying together, that the

God of their fathers would bless them. And the blessing of heaven was

not wanting to this colony. The industrious cities of Saint-Sixte, la

Quardia, and Montolieu, arose as by magic amid this land of ignorance,

and presented the spectacle of a praying and working Christian people,

refusing homage to the superstitions of the age. The reformation in the

West brought many fears, and the wrath of the Roman pontiffs was not

stayed; the emissaries of the inquisition hunted these faithful people

through their peaceful valleys; they were destined to perish; and the

massacre of the Vaudois of Provence was a mournful pendant to the

extermination of the Vaudois of Calabria. The historian weeps that he

cannot cast a veil over this picture; yet the mind, agonized with scenes

so atrocious, finds repose in the contemplation of such an admirable

character as that of the martyr-pastor, Louis Pascal, exhaling all his

soul in his last letter to his affianced Camilla Guarina: 'The love

which I bear you is increased by that which I bear to God, and as much

as I have been refined by the Christian religion, so much the more have

I been enabled to love you. Adieu. Console yourself in Jesus, and may

you be a pattern of his doctrines.' "There are few subjects," says the

reviewer, "more worthy the ambition of a writer, or that are more

inspiring, than the history of the martyred Vaudois, in the inaccessible

solitudes of the Alps, for some time protected by their obscurity, but

at last devoted for ages to the most cruel persecutions." The mystery of

the origin of this people, the drama of their destiny, the melancholy

interest which attaches itself to the different phases of their

existence, command in their favor the attention of the world, and

suffuse the pages of the historian with that sympathetic emotion so

easily communicated to the reader, and which is the very soul of

departed times.

* * * * *

AS WE learn from a recent number of the _Journal des Missions

Evangeliques_, a new work appeared in China toward the end of 1849,

under the title _Of the Geography and History of Foreign Nations_, by

SEU-KE-JU, the viceroy of the important province of Foh-kien. It is in

ten volumes, though the whole of them do not contain more matter than

one of our common school text books, and is accompanied by a map of the

world and several other maps. It has a preface by the Governor-General

of the province, in which he declares that it is better than all

previous geographical works in China, and recommends it to his

countrymen as perfectly worthy of confidence. The two first volumes are

occupied by a general introduction, in which Seu-ke-ju speaks of the

sources from which he has derived information, and of the many

difficulties he has had to contend with; he explains the use of maps,

gives the simplest ideas concerning the spherical form of the earth, and

expatiates on the difference of climates. Nothing can give a better idea

of the profound ignorance of the Chinese upon these subjects, and

nothing prove more decisively that they never can have possessed great

mathematicians and astronomers than such passages as the following:

"Formerly we were aware of the existence of an icy sea at the north

only, but had never heard that there was another at the south. And when

men from the west showed us maps on which such a sea was put down, we

thought they had made a mistake from ignorance of the Chinese language,

and had transferred to the south what ought to be in the north. But when

we inquired about this subject of an American named Abeel (a missionary

at Amoy), he said that the fact was certain, and now it indeed appears

to us undeniable. The provinces of Kwang-tong and Foh-kien are mostly

situated under the Kwang-tau (tropic) of the north, and when we compare

them with the northern provinces in respect of heat, the temperature is

found to be very different. At the time when we did not know that the

sun passed over the middle of the globe, this fact caused us to believe

that the farther one went to the south, the greater was the heat, and

that at the south pole the stones ran in a melted state like a stream of

gold. But this is not so; persons who go from Kwang-tong or Foh-kien,

will find at the distance of five or six thousand _li_ the island of

Borneo, which lies exactly under the Shih-tau (equator), and where the

winter is like our summer. Going thence to the south-west the voyager

reaches the south of Africa, where hail and snow are known; still

farther on is Patagonia or the southern point of South America, near to

the Hih-tau (polar circle) of the south, where ice is continual. Thus

these warm and cold regions are successive, and therefore the region of

the south pole is spoken of as a sea of ice. And why should the Chinese

doubt this, because their ships have never gone so far and the province

of Kwang-tong lies at the frontier of their country? In truth, we must

listen to and accept this explanation."

From this simple piece of instruction, the author of the new Geography

proceeds to describe the regions to the west. We give a specimen from

his account of Europe: "Europe lies at the north-west of Asia, from

which it is separated by the Ural mountains, but is only one quarter as

large. Before the dynasty Hia (2469 B.C.), the inhabitants lived by

hunting, and were clothed in the skins of the animals they killed, as is

the way of the Mongols. But toward the middle of that dynasty (2000

B.C.), civilization, agriculture and the arts began in the states of

Greece, situated at the eastern end of the continent." This is followed

by a very brief review of the rise and decay of the Roman Empire, of the

rise of Moslemism and of the conquests of Tamerlane; next comes a

description of the individual countries, with their resources, military

and naval forces, "all things about which writers give very different

reports, so that it is not possible to be exact, for errors must needs

be many where proofs are wanting." How well Seu-ke-ju understands the

machinery of European states is apparent from what he says about public

debts: "Thus the interest of the borrowed money is paid yearly, while

the debt continually increases, inasmuch as the income of the year

suffices not for the wants of the Government. Then are new taxes laid

upon the people which embitters and makes them rebellious, while the

governments grow weaker and fall into decay. The half of Europe is now

in this condition." To the mental superiority of the western nations,

and especially to the talent and energy of the Americans, Seu-ke-ju

renders full justice. On the whole this book is an indication of real

progress among the Chinese, much as it militates against the old notion

which ascribed to them a considerable degree of scientific knowledge.

There can be no doubt that when the prejudice among them, according to

which the Celestial Empire is the greatest country, and its inhabitants

the most wonderful people of the world, is dissipated, their native

thirst for knowledge will urge them forward with rapidity. The habit of

visiting foreign lands which is springing up among them, will also do

its part, in breaking up the monotony and stagnation into which they

have grown. In addition to this book by Seu-ke-ju, a number of other

geographical works, drawn from English, German, and French sources, have

appeared in Chinese, at the instance mainly of high officers of state.

* * * * *

The Society of Horticulture, for Paris and Central France, is about to

issue a large work, entitled _Pomologie Française, ou Monographie

Generale des Arbres Fruitiers_. This will be one of the best works on

fruit trees ever published, and our gardeners will do well to look after

it.

* * * * *

The most elaborate and erudite modern work on international law is the

_Histoire du Droit des Gens et des Relations Internationales_, by Prof.

G. LAURENT, of Ghent, of which three volumes were published, in 1850, in

that city. The first volume treats of international law in Hindostan,

Egypt, Judea, Assyria, Media and Persia, Phoenicia, and Carthage; the

second is devoted to Greece, and the third to Rome. The mass of learning

exhibited is astonishing. The idea of the author is that through the

great course of history, humanity is ripening to a state of universal

peace and fraternity. It is unnecessary to say that from this

stand-point, international law becomes a subject of the grandest

proportions and significance. Prof. Laurent treats it with as much

ability as erudition.

ALEXANDRE DUMAS is the subject of a masterly criticism in the

_Grenzboten_, in which justice is done him with that impartiality and

moderation in respect to which a competent German is unequalled among

critics. Among Dumas's dramas, the writer regards _Caligula_ as the best

in spite of its grossness. In all the excesses, indecencies,

improbabilities, and lawlessness of his romances, there is the trace of

splendid talent. It is doubtful whether this talent could have been

developed by industry and an earnest love of art into a higher sphere of

power. Finally, the writer concludes that Dumas is doing more to corrupt

the taste of France and Germany than any other romancer, except,

perhaps, Eugene Sue.

* * * * *

Among the French socialists there has recently been considerable

discussion on the principles of Government--discussion which has

resulted in angry separation of the republican party into opposite

camps; Rittinghausen, Considerant, Ledru Rollin, and Girardin having

been severally aiming at the destruction of representative government,

and the erection of _Direct Legislation_--a scheme which LOUIS BLANC, in

his _Plus de Girondins_ and _La Republique Une et Indivisible_, has

opposed with a degree of ability which promised to restore him to a

respectable reputation. But PRUDHON, in his last book, not only

denounces Rollin, Girardin, Blanc, and all the rest, with a school-boy

vehemence, which _The Leader_ says is "pitiless," but he attacks without

disguise _all government_, no matter what its form, as false in

principle and vicious in effect. He believes neither in absolute

monarchy, in constitutional monarchy, nor in democracy; he admits no

divine right, no legal right, no right of majorities. He only believes

in the right of justice in the empire of reason. The principle of

authority he rejects in politics as in religion: he will admit only

liberty--reason. Prudhon has won a name for talents, and has frequently

written with real force--but such propositions are a disgrace to any man

who has ever possessed a good reputation.

* * * * *

The _Republique_, a new book just published By Paris, by M. LEFRANC, a

member of the Assembly, treats of the events which have filled up the

time since the revolution of 1848. M. Lefranc is an ardent republican,

and his exhibition of this momentous period is not favorable to the

party which hitherto, at least, has managed to gain the victory, if not

to assure itself the possession of its traits. His style is singularly

animated and impassioned, and it is not without justice that a prominent

Parisian critic (Eugene Pelletan) calls him the most direct inheritor of

that light-armed yet potent style of polemical writing, of which the

famous Camille Desmoulins was so great a master.

* * * * *

The popularity of SCOTT, in France, is shown by the appearance of the

_twentieth_ edition of Defauconpret's translation of his novels; and the

announcement of an entirely new translation of them by another hand. If

Defauconpret had been the only translator, _twenty_ editions would have

been an immense success; but there are besides, at the very least,

_twenty_ different translations of the complete works (many of which

have had two, three, or four editions), and innumerable translations of

particular novels, especially of _Quentin Durward_.

* * * * *

M. BLANQUART EVRARD, has commenced at Paris what he calls _D'Album

Photographique de l'Artiste et de l'Amateur_. It is a pictorial work,

containing reproductions by photography on paper of well-known works of

art by ancient and modern masters. We have not seen it, but hear it

spoken of as successful.

* * * * *

M. GUIZOT has now published under the title of _Méditations et Etudes

Morales_, a collection of essays that had previously appeared on the

immortality of the soul, and kindred topics. To them he has added a new

preface, in which he discusses the question of liberty and authority in

religion.

* * * * *

On the night of the 13th of November, FRANCOIS ARAGO, the great

astronomer, was brought from his sick bed to the French Assembly, and

walked up the chamber, supported by the arms of two of his colleagues,

to give his vote in favor of Universal Suffrage.

* * * * *

M. OTT has just published at Paris a _Traité d'Economie Sociale_, which

has the merit of giving a careful statement of the doctrines of the

various schools of Economists and Socialists. It makes a good-sized

octavo volume.

* * * * *

LOUIS FASQEULLE, professor of modern languages in the University of

Michigan, has published (Mark H. Newman) a _New Method of Learning the

French Language_, embracing the analytic and synthetic modes of

instruction, on the plan of Woodbury's method with the German.

* * * * *

M. LOUIS REYBAUD has published at Paris a new work under the title of

_Athanase Robichon Candidat Perpetuel à la Présidence de la Republique_.

M. Reybaud is one of the keenest of political satirists.

* * * * *

The French papers state that Lord Brougham, in his retreat at Cannes, is

preparing a work to be entitled _France and England before Europe in

1851_.

* * * * *

DON JUAN HARTZENBUSCH has commenced, in Madrid, a reprint of the works

of her most distinguished authors of Spain. From the earliest ages to

the present time. It is entitled _Biblioteca de Autores Espanoles_, and

it is a more difficult undertaking than things of the kind in western

and northern Europe. Since many works of the principal authors never

having been printed at all, the compiler has to hunt after them in

libraries, in convents, and in out of the way places--whilst others,

having been negligently printed, have to be revised line by line.

Hartzenbusch has brought to light _fourteen_ comedies of Calderon de la

Barca, which previous editors were unable to discover. The total number

of Calderon's pieces the world now possesses is therefore 122; and there

is reason to believe that they are all he wrote, with the exception of

two or three, which there is no hope of recovering.

* * * * *

The first and second volumes of the _Grenville Papers_--being the

correspondence of Richard, Earl Temple, and George Grenville, their

friends and contemporaries, including Mr. Grenville's Political

Diary--were published in London on the 18th of December. We have before

alluded to this work, as one likely to illustrate some points in

American history, and possibly to furnish new means for determining the

vexed question of the authorship of Junius. Among the contents will be

found letters from George the Third, the Dukes of Cumberland, Newcastle,

Devonshire, Grafton, and Bedford; Marquess Granby; Earls Bute, Temple,

Sandwich, Egremont, Halifax, Hardwicke, Chatham, Mansfield, Northington,

Suffolk, Hillsborough, and Hertford; Lords Lyttleton, Camden, Holland,

Olive, and George Sackville; Marshal Conway, Horace Walpole, Edmund

Burke, George Grenville, John Wilkes, William Gerard Hamilton, Augustus

Hervey, Mr. Jenkinson (first Earl of Liverpool), Mr. Wedderburn, Charles

Yorke, Charles Townsend, Mr. Charles Lloyd, and the author of the

Letters of Junius.

The fifth and sixth volumes of Lord MAHON's _History of England_,

embracing the first years of the American war, 1763-80, were also nearly

ready. We regret that the earlier volumes of this important history,

edited by Professor Reed, of Philadelphia, and published by the

Appletons, have not been so well received as to warrant an expectation

that the continuation will be reprinted.

* * * * *

SIR JAMES STEPHEN'S _Lectures on the History of France_, is an

exceedingly interesting work, of which we hope to see an American

edition. The author is well known in this country, by the largely

circulated volume of his _Miscellanies_, published in Philadelphia, a

few years ago. The present work consists of discourses delivered by him

as professor of History in the University of Cambridge, and though not

of the highest rank among systematic histories, it is inferior to very

few in occasional grouping and character painting.

* * * * *

The third volume of Mr. MERRIVALE's _History of the Romans under the

Empire_; the ninth and tenth volumes of Mr. GROTE'S _History of Greece_;

and a seventh edition of SHARON TURNER'S _History of the Anglo-Saxons_,

are among the most interesting English announcements in historical

literature.

* * * * *

The _Life of Dr. Chalmers_, by Dr. Hanna, will extend to four volumes;

the third, just re-published by the Harpers, is the most interesting yet

issued. We observe that a volume of _Reminiscences of Chalmers_ has been

published in London, by Mr. JOHN ANDERSON.

* * * * *

ALICE CAREY'S _Clovernook, or Recollections of our Neighborhood in the

West_, has just been published by Mr. Redfield, in one volume,

illustrated by Darley. To those who have read one of the introductory

chapters of this work which we copied into the _International_ for

November, it seems quite unnecessary to say any thing in illustration or

commendation of the author's genius; they will be likely to purchase

_Clovernook_ as soon as they are advised of its appearance. We have

nothing in our literature, descriptive of country life, to be compared

with it, for effective painting or for truthfulness. The scene is laid

in Ohio--near Cincinnati--while a suburban village is gradually growing

up from the simple cottage in the wilderness till it becomes a favorite

resort of patrician families; and few novelists have been more happy in

describing the "progress of society," or exhibited, in such

performances, more humor, tenderness, or pathos.

We have from Ticknor & Co., of Boston, a second series of _Greenwood

Leaves_, by the public's old favorite, GRACE GREENWOOD. The tales which

it embraces are in the author's happiest vein, and the letters are

dashing and piquant, but liable to some objections which we might make

in a longer notice. The same publishers have issued a capital book for

children, entitled _Recollections of My Childhood_, by the same author.

CAROLINE CHEESEBRO is another young magazinist, whose productions have

been very popular. Her _Dreamland by Daylight_ (published by Redfield),

a collection of tales and sketches, contains much fine sentiment and

displays a ready fancy and a just appreciation of social life, but she

has a little less individuality than Miss Carey or Grace Greenwood.

* * * * *

It will gratify every reader of American history to learn that we are

soon to have three phases of the character of Washington, presented by

men so eminent as DANIEL WEBSTER, Mr. IRVING, and Mr. BANCROFT. Mr.

Webster, we have reason to believe, has nearly completed his Memoir of

the Political Life of the great Chief; Mr. Irving's work, which has been

some time announced, will make us familiar with his personal qualities,

and Mr. Bancroft's History of the Revolution will display his military

career as it has never before been exhibited, as it can be presented by

none but our greatest historian. The first volume of Mr. Bancroft's work

on the Revolution is passing rapidly through the press, and it will

doubtless be published early in the spring. It has been kept back by the

author's failure to obtain, until within a few weeks past, certain

important documents necessary to its completion.

* * * * *

Mr. HART of Philadelphia, has just published _A Method of Horsemanship,

founded on new Principles, and including the Breaking and Training of

Horses, with Instructions for obtaining a good Seat; illustrated with

Engravings_: by F. BAUCHER. It is translated from the ninth Paris

edition, and makes a handsome duodecimo. Among the many systems of

horsemanship which have appeared none has fallen under our notice so

valuable as this. The chief defect of previous publications has been

that they were mere collections of rules, applicable to particular cases

only, based on no established principles, and therefore as impracticable

for general purposes as crude and unphilosophical in design. Ignorance

was at the root of this. The authors did not understand the nature of

the animal about which they professed to teach so much, and their rules

were quite as applicable to the bear or the hyena. The agent employed by

the old masters was force--severe bitting, hard whipping, and deep

spurring. Some went so far as to recommend the use of fire, in extreme

cases--thus establishing a kind of equine martyrdom, in which the poor

brute suffered indeed, but without any advantage to the faith of his

more brutal persecutors. These various punishments were prescribed with

the utmost coolness, often with jocularity, as if the horse under the

worst tortures were only getting his deserts, and as if the amount and

importance of his laborious services by no means entitled him to any

forbearance. Human ingenuity is capable of absolute development in the

direction of cruelty; it seems to be the most visible and satisfying

side of our capabilities; no man who commits a slow murder, whether on

one animal or another, can doubt that he has done _something_--the proof

stares him in the face. Then again, murder is adapted to the lowest

capacities; there is not a groom in the land less capable of taking life

than the finest gentleman. The issue of all this has been--if the horse

were not killed at once--to shorten his days, to lessen his

intelligence, to injure his form, and to degrade and dwindle his race,

from generation to generation.

Who, after following the old course of training, has a right to complain

of the degeneracy which he sees in the broken-hearted drudges around

him, or, having any feeling, will hesitate in adopting a more humane

course, if one be offered? Such a course is submitted to English readers

for the first time in this translation of M. Baucher. The harsh bit is

entirely cast aside, and the whip and spur are used very sparingly--as

means of persuasion only, never as instruments of punishment. Baucher's

system is intended to develope the better instincts of the animal, not

to punish the vices which we have taught him, in vain efforts to subdue

a strength incalculably greater than ours--which by resolute cruelty we

have forced him to employ in resisting our unjust demands. Baucher lays

it down as an axiom that no horse is naturally vicious, but that his

vices are acquired through bad management. One may possess a higher

temper than another, to be sure, but spirited horses are those which

turn out best under his method of training. The more intelligent the

animal, the more capable of instruction--the more frolicksome but the

more tractable is his disposition. We all remember "Mayfly," a trick

horse at Welch's circus, that could perform anything possible to a

horse: he was a pupil of Baucher. But before falling into his skilful

hands, this animal was so vicious, that on the race course it was

thought necessary to start him from a box, in order to prevent his

injuring himself and the other horses. Here there is an instance in

which confirmed ill habits were completely eradicated by proper

discipline; and how much easier must it be to establish good ones, where

we have nothing but pliant ignorance with which to contend. It is not

within our limits to enter fully into the different merits of Baucher's

treatise. It is sufficient to say that it has been tested, approved and

adopted by the most skilful riders of Europe--the late Duc d'Orleans, a

more than graceful horseman, having been Baucher's patron until the day

of his unfortunate death. The most vigorous and searching inquiries of

the government failed to overthrow the system in a single particular;

and wherever Baucher was led into argument with his opponents, the mere

force of his philosophical reasonings was sufficient to put them down.

His book has gone through nine editions in France, and as many in

Russia, Germany, Belgium and Holland. The present translation is well

executed, in clear comprehensible English; its only defect, if that can

be considered one, is, that it is somewhat too idiomatically precise. So

little does it smell of the usual vulgarity of the stable, that we are

led to believe Baucher has fallen into the hands of a translator of

taste and refinement, who not only admires the system for its practical

uses, but also for its logical exactness and genial humanity. The work

is copiously illustrated with explanatory engravings, and is well

printed on good thick paper, as a manual should be. Nothing is wanting,

but the extensive circulation which it deserves, to make it useful to

equestrians, and beneficial to that much abused animal to which it is

devoted.

* * * * *

The _Heroes and Martyrs of the Modern Missionary Enterprise, with some

Sketches of the Earlier Missionaries_, edited by L. E. SMITH, with an

introduction by Rev. Dr. SPRAGUE, will soon be published by P. Brockett

& Co., of Hartford. It will be an octavo of about six hundred pages,

with portraits.

The Fine Arts.

KAULBACH's picture of the Destruction of Jerusalem is at last finished,

in fresco, upon the walls of the New Museum in Berlin. It is worth a

journey thither to see it. Nor is it alone. The other parts of the

series of pictures which adorn the great stairway of that edifice, are

rapidly advancing to completion. The five broad pilasters, which

separate the main pictures, are nearly done, many of the chief figures

being finished in color, while others are drawn in their places. They

will exhaust the history of the early religious and intellectual

development of humanity. The Egyptian, Indian, Persian, Greek, Hebrew,

and Roman religions, are all illustrated with that masterly genius,

comprehensiveness and fertility of imagination, for which Kaulbach is

without a peer among the artists of the age. Each religion is depicted

in the persons of its divinities and early teachers and heroes.

Thoroughly to understand the whole scope of these pictures, requires as

much learning in the theology and mythology of these antique races as

the artist has employed in painting them, not to speak of skill in

deciphering allegories; but to be impressed with their wonderful

richness, grandeur, and beauty, requires no learning, beyond a true eye

and a mind capable of feeling. Besides, these mythological pictures, the

symbolical men of history are introduced, such as Moses and Solon. The

Grecian mythological part is not yet completed, the artist having

reserved that to be done next summer; in it he intends to lay himself

out as on a favorite and congenial subject.

* * * * *

The works of INGRES, the eminent French painter, have been published in

splendid style by the great house of Didot at Paris.

Noctes Amicæ.

There are being born into this great city a vast number of young

people--enough babies indeed, every day, to make a great noise in the

world sometime, if every one should turn out to be a Demosthenes or

Cicero, an Alexander, a Cæsar, or a Napoleon. But though every dame may

think her own the prettiest child alive, it seems to us not altogether

agreeable to good taste for her to anticipate the judgment of the future

in naming it after that celebrity that he or she is destined to rival or

eclipse. In seriousness, the habit which prevails so generally of

bestowing illustrious names in baptism, is ridiculous and disgraceful,

and is continually productive of misfortunes to the victims, if they

happen to be possessed of parts to elevate them from a vulgar condition.

In the south they manage these things better; the Cæsars, Hannibals,

Napoleons, Le Grands, Rexes, &c., are all to be found in the negro

yards; but almost every public occasion in the north, affords an

instance by which a "man of the people," hearing his name called in an

assembly, or seeing it printed in a journal, is compelled to feel shame

for the weakness of his parents, by which he is burthened with a name

that belittles the greatest actions of which he is capable.

* * * * *

In illustration of the passport system, a good story is told of the

recent arrest of a Turk on the frontier of the Herzegowina. For some

time past, the Turkish Government has allowed its authorities to wring

something out of the people by means of passports and the devices

thereunto belonging, but it chances that a great many persons in power

can neither read nor write, and therefore a shrewd fellow may palm any

species of official-looking paper he thinks proper as his regular pass

on the officials; thus it was that a Turk who had travelled some time in

peace with a document of imposing appearance, which he had picked up in

the streets at Constantinople, at last found one who could read it, and

it was discovered to be one of Jean Maria Farina's Eau de Cologne

labels!

* * * * *

A Mayor of the department of the Haute-Saône, France, has had the

following decision placarded on the church door:--

"Whereas, at all times, there have been disorders, and always

will be; and whereas, at all times, there have been laws to

repress them, and always will be; and whereas magistrates are

appointed to have them properly executed, I ask, ought we, or

ought we not, to do our duty? If we do our duty, we are

calumniated. Well, then, taking these things into

consideration, I declare that if that horde of

good-for-nothings who are in the habit of frequenting the

churchyard during Divine service, shall continue to do so, they

will have to come into collision with me."

* * * * *

M. MICHAUD, of the French Academy, is pleased to express literary malice

against those whom he loves and esteems the most. A political man came

one day to confide a secret to him, and recommended to him the strictest

discretion. "_Do not be uneasy_," replied M. Michaud, "_your secret

shall be well kept; I will hide it in the complete works of my friend

Lacretelle_." We think we know of an American author whose "various

writings" would serve the same purpose.

* * * * *

In the last _International_ we mentioned the death of the well-known

ballad composer ALEXANDER LEE. Some painfully interesting circumstances

of his last days have since appeared in the journals:

"About a week before his death, he called on a friend and

brother pianist, Thirlwall, stated his extreme destitution, and

asked that a concert might be got up for his relief. This was

done, generously and promptly. The concert was advertised, Lee

and Thirlwall to preside at the piano. The other performances

were to be by Mr. Thirlwall's four daughters, and by half a

dozen other friends and pupils of Lee, who had offered their

gratuitous services. On the day of the proposed concert, he for

whose benefit it was to be given, died. It was thought best to

perform the concert, however, and to devote the proceeds to

paying the proper honors to his memory. They did so, but most

of those who tried their voices were too much affected to sing,

and the performance was at last brought to an abrupt

termination by one of his pupils, who burst into a passion of

tears while endeavoring to sing _The Spirit of Good_, an air by

the departed master."

* * * * *

STORIES of the sagacity of elephants are endless; here are two which

imply complicated processes of thought:

"Another elephant that was exhibited in London was made to go

through a variety of tricks, and among them that of picking up

a sixpence with its trunk; but on one occasion the coin rolled

near a wall beyond its reach. As the animal was still ordered

to get it, it paused for a moment as if for consideration, and

then, stretching forth its trunk to its greatest extent, blew

with such force on the money that it was driven against the

wall, and was brought within reach by the recoil. An officer in

the Bengal army had a very fine and favorite elephant, which

was supplied daily in his presence with a certain allowance of

food, but being compelled to absent himself on a journey, the

keeper of the beast diminished the ration of food, and the

animal became daily thinner and weaker. When its master

returned, the elephant exhibited the greatest signs of

pleasure; the feeding time came, and the keeper laid before it

the former full allowance of food, which it divided into two

parts, consuming one immediately, and leaving the other

untouched. The officer, knowing the sagacity of his favorite,

saw immediately the fraud that had been practised, and made the

man confess his crime."

* * * * *

A delegation of those disgusting creatures of the feminine or neuter

gender, who hold conventions for the discussion of "Women's Rights,"

obtruded into the presence of the wife of Kossuth, just before the

Hungarian left England, with an address, which, in addition to

expressions of sympathy, contained an intimation that a statement of

opinions was desired respecting their efforts to achieve the "freedom of

their sex." The lady replied that she thanked them for their attentions,

and that, with respect to her views on the emancipation of woman, she

had in earlier years confined herself to the circle of her domestic

duties, and had never been tempted to look beyond it; that latterly the

overwhelming course of events had left her, as might be well supposed,

still less leisure for any speculations of this kind; it would, moreover

(such was the conclusion of her little speech), be forgiven in her, the

wife of Kossuth--a man whom the general voice, not more than her own

heart, pronounced distinguished--if she submitted herself entirely to

his guidance, and never thought of emancipation! Probably this admirable

answer has saved her the annoyance of receiving any such visitors in

this country.

* * * * *

We find the following in the _Gazette des Tribunaux_:

"In 1814, Lord W---- was colonel of an English regiment, and

joined the allied army which invaded France. Shortly before his

departure from Dover, where he was in garrison, the Colonel

married a rich heiress, but he left her with her family whilst

he went to encounter the risk of combats. The campaign of

France being terminated, nothing further was heard of the

colonel; it was known, however, that his regiment had been

almost entirely destroyed in a combat with the French in the

south of France, but his death not having been regularly

proved, some law proceedings took place between the different

members of his family respecting property to a very large

amount. These proceedings, which are not yet terminated, will,

no doubt, receive a solution from the following singular

circumstances:--Some time ago an old soldier, M. R----,

residing in the environs of Marseilles, came to Paris on family

affairs, and took up his residence in a hotel in the quarter of

the Chaussée d' Antin. Having run short of money, he begged the

hotel-keeper, M. D----, to advance him 100f., and as a

guarantee he left him provisionally a superb gold watch,

ornamented with diamonds, and on the back of which was the

miniature of a lady, with the initials 'E. W----.' M. R----

told the hotel-keeper that in a combat in 1814, in the south of

France, he had wounded and taken prisoner an English colonel;

that the colonel dying almost immediately after of his wounds,

his watch had remained in his hands. He recommended M. D----to

take particular care of the watch, and he went away, some days

ago, announcing that he would soon send by the messageries the

sum lent, and demand restitution of the watch. Two days back

there was such a numerous gathering of travellers in the hotel

of M. D----, that he was obliged to give up his own room to an

Englishman. On seeing the watch hanging over the chimney the

Englishman uttered a cry of surprise, and examined it closely.

From the miniature on the back, and the replies of the hotel

keeper to his questions, he recognized it as the property of

his brother, Colonel W----. With an obstinacy peculiarly

English, the Englishman would not give up the watch, and

offered to pay 100,000f. for it if required; for it was, with

the testimony of R----, the proof of the decease of his

brother, and the termination of the law proceedings, which had

been pending thirty years; but in the absence of the proprietor

of the watch, the hotel-keeper could not dispose of it. To

satisfy, however, the obstinacy of the Englishman he called in

the commissary of police, who consented to take it as a

deposit. The same day the Englishman set out for Marseilles to

seek for Mr. R----."

* * * * *

The London _Spectator_ has the following just observations on a

scandalous exhibition in the theatres:

"There is a certain degree of elevation, especially in the

course of human events, which foretells a speedy downfall.

Tyrannies, before their decline, become more and more

abominable; and probably the last tyrant is the one who deems

his position most secure and his impunity best established. We

are forced to this reflection by a burlesque on Auber's _Enfant

Prodigue_, brought out this week at the Olympic. Here we have

the most affecting story of sin and repentance, derived

moreover from the lips of One whom almost every inhabitant of

this island esteems as sacred, made the peg whereon to hang the

ordinary jokes which we hear _usque ad nauseam_, every

Christmas and Easter. There must be an overweening confidence

in the safety of burlesque to make such an experiment possible.

We are by no means anxious to assume the Puritanical tone, or

to lay down the doctrine that certain subjects are to be

excluded from any department of art. The most sacred themes are

worked into oratorio-books, and the most straitlaced portion of

the community applauds their combination with music. But when a

subject is in itself solemn, let it be solemnly treated.

Opinions may be divided as to whether the story of the Prodigal

Son can with propriety be represented in the form of serious

opera or spectacle, but that it is an improper theme for

burlesque there cannot be the shadow of a doubt. Our dramatic

authors have too long been in the habit of trying to raise a

laugh about every thing, and we have too long been inundated

with a species of drama in which the chief wit is anachronism

and the chief wisdom a Cockney familiarity with the

disreputable works of the Metropolis. We trust that the _début_

of the _Prodigal Son_ at Vauxhall and the Casinos is that

crisis of a disease which precedes a return to health, and that

henceforth we shall hear less about Haroun Alraschid's views of

the polka, and Julius Cæesar's estimate of cider cellars and

cigars. As for the Olympic burlesque itself, it is by no means

void of humor; nor is it unsuccessful. We only stigmatize it as

the perfection of a bad genus."

Some time ago when a comic opera founded on the history of Joseph was

produced in England the people refused to hear it.

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.

Scientific Discoveries and Proceedings of Learned Societies

Ten pages of the last Compte Rendu of the _Paris Academy of Sciences_,

Mr. Walsh says, in a letter to the _Journal of Commerce_, are allotted

to an elaborate report from an able committee, on Mr. Gratiolet's Memoir

concerning the cerebral protuberances and furrows of man and the

_Primates_, the first order of animals in the class Mammalia, which

include the Ape. The inequalities on the brain of man and most

of the mammifers were denominated by the celebrated Willis,

_gyri_,--_convolutiones_,--_plicæ_; the French use the phrase--_plis

cerebraux_. The theories of Willis gave birth to the whole system of Dr.

Gall: the _plicæ_ are found in the class of mammifers alone; they are

rarer and less marked in the lower than in the higher species of the

great family of monkeys and baboons. They have been regarded as

_indicia_ or exponents of more or less perfection in the organ of

intelligence, by their number, their projection, and their measure of

separation by the furrows. The Report puts these two questions--among

the numerous differences of the cerebral _plicæ_, in number, disposition

and proportion. Is it possible to discriminate, in man, and among the

mammifers that have them, constant characters of particular types, of

families, genera, and even of species? 2d. Do some of those types

exclusively distinguish such or such a family, and are they more or less

marked or impaired, but still recognizable, according to the genera? The

Report adds--These questions are solved in the affirmative by the

results of Mr. Gratiolet's researches relatively to the great family of

_Apes_. The importance of these results for the zoologist and the

phrenologist is then signalized, and the insertion of the Memoir in the

volume of Transactions emphatically recommended. According to the

author, it is with the brain of the _Orang-Outang_ that the brain of man

has the most points of resemblance. The distinguishing points in regard

to all the Apes of the superior class are designated, and they

correspond to the physical indications which denote a higher

intellectual power.

* * * * *

Respecting the _African Exploring Expeditions_, Miss Overweg (daughter

of one of the travellers) and the Chevalier Bunson, have received in

London interesting letters, stating the continued success of the

adventurous scholars. Previous to the 6th of August Dr. Overweg had

safely joined his companion, Dr. Barth, at Kuka. The latter started on a

highly interesting excursion to the kingdom of Adamowa, while the former

was exploring Lake Tsad. The boat, which had been taken to pieces in

Tripoli, and during a journey of twelve months had with immense trouble

been carried on camels across the burning sands of the Sahrá, had been

put together and launched on the lake; and the English colors were

hoisted in the presence, and to the great delight, of numerous natives.

Dr. Overweg, in exploring the islands of Lake Tsad, had been every where

received with kindness by their Pagan inhabitants.

* * * * *

The _Courrier de la Gironde_ states that a civil engineer of Bordeaux,

named De Vignernon, has discovered the perpetual motion. His theory is

said to be to find in a mass of water, at rest, and contained within a

certain space, a continual force able to replace all other moving

powers. The above journal declares that this has been effected, and that

the machine invented by M. de Vignernon works admirably. A model of the

machine was to be exposed at Bordeaux for three days, before the

inventor's departure with it for London.

* * * * *

The British Government has granted 1500_l._ to Colonel Rawlinson, to

assist him in his researches among the Assyrian antiquities; and

1200_l._ for the publication of the zoology and botany collected during

the Australian expedition of H.M.S. _Rattlesnake_, commanded by the late

Captain Stanley, son of the late Bishop of Norwich.

* * * * *

The _Museum_ of Berlin says that a Prussian has discovered in the ruins

of Nineveh, a basso-relievo, representing a fleet of balloons--another

proof that "there is nothing new under the sun."

An invention by Captain Groetaers of the Belgian engineers has been

lately tested at Woolwich. It is a simple means of ascertaining the

distance of any object against which operations may have to be directed,

and is composed of a staff about an inch square and three feet in

length, with a brass scale on the upper side, and a slide, to which is

attached a plate of tin six inches long and three wide, painted red,

with a white stripe across its centre. A similar plate is held by an

assistant, and is connected with the instrument by a fine wire. When an

observation is to be taken, the observer looks at the distant object

through a glass fixed on the left of the scale, and adjusts the striped

plate by means of the slide; the assistant also looks through his glass,

standing a few feet in advance of his principal at the end of the wire,

and as soon as the two adjustments are effected and declared, the

distance is read off on the scale. In the three trials made at Woolwich,

the distance in one case, although more than 1000 yards, was determined

within two inches; and in two other attempts, within a foot. It is

obvious that such an instrument, if to be depended on, will admit of

being applied to other than military surveys and operations, and may be

made useful in the civil service.

* * * * *

SIGNOR GORINI, of the University of Lodi, has recently made some

important discoveries which have been much discussed in the scientific

journals. His experiments to illustrate the origin of mountains are most

interesting. He melts some substances, known only to himself, in a

vessel, and allows the liquid to cool. At first it presents an even

surface, but a portion continues to ooze up from beneath, and gradually

elevations are formed, until at length ranges and chains of hills are

formed, exactly corresponding in shape with those which are found on the

earth. Even to the stratification the resemblance is complete, and M.

Gorini can produce on a small scale the phenomena of volcanoes and

earthquakes. He contends, therefore, "that the inequalities on the face

of the globe are the result of certain materials, first reduced by the

application of heat to a liquid state and then allowed gradually to

consolidate." The professor, has also, it is said, succeeded, to a

surprising extent, in preserving animal matter from decay without

resorting to any known process for that purpose. Specimens are shown by

him of portions of the human body which, without any alteration in their

natural appearance, have been exposed to the action of the atmosphere

for six and seven years; and he states that, at a trifling cost, he can

keep meat for any length of time in such a way that it can be eaten

quite fresh.

* * * * *

COUNT CASTELNAU, a French Savant who is well known in the United States,

has lately communicated to the _Geographical Society of Paris_ the

result of some personal inquiries at Bahia, in South America, respecting

a race of human beings with tails. We suppose there is not a particle of

truth in the information he received, but he is so respectable a person

that his report deserves some notice. "I found myself in Bahia," he

says, "in the midst of a host of negro slaves, and thought it possible

to obtain from them information of the unknown parts of the African

continent. I soon discovered that the Mohammedan natives of Soudan were

much farther advanced in mind, than the idolatrous inhabitants of the

coast.--Several blacks of Haoussa and Adamawah related to me that they

had taken part in expeditions against a nation called _Niam Niams_, who

had _tails_. They traced their route, on which they encountered tigers,

giraffes, elephants, and _wild camels_. Nine days were consumed in

traversing an immense forest. They reached at length a numerous people

of the same complexion and frame as themselves, but with tails from

twelve to fifteen inches long, &c., &c."

* * * * *

The Paris journals announce that M. Vallée, one of the officials of the

Jardin des Plantes, has succeeded in hatching a turtle by artificial

means. On the 14th of July last, he found some turtles' eggs on the sand

in the inclosure reserved for the turtles, and placed three of them

under his apparatus in the reptile department. On the 14th of this month

he examined the eggs, and found a turtle, about as big as a walnut, in

full life. He hopes to be able to rear it. This is the first case on

record of one of these creatures having been produced artificially.

Recent Deaths.

The _Brussels Herald_ announces that the aged naturalist, Savigny, has

lately died in Paris. Little has been heard of him for some time in the

scientific world. He was for thirty years a member of the Academy of

Sciences, and was among the _savants_ who accompanied Bonaparte to

Egypt.

* * * * *

We noticed in the last _International_, the decease of Professor

Pattison and Dr. Kearney Rodgers, two of the most eminent physicians and

surgeons of New-York. Their deaths were succeeded in a few days by those

of Dr. J. E. DE KAY (a brother of the late Commodore De Kay), and Dr.

MANLEY. Dr. De Kay was eminent as a naturalist and as an author. He

wrote a brace of volumes about Turkey, many years ago, which were

published by the Harpers, and two of the quarto volumes of the Natural

History of the State of New-York, published by the Government. He was

intimate with Cooper, Irving, Halleck, Paulding, Dr. Francis, and all

the old set of _litterateurs_ in the city. Dr. Manley (father of the

distinguished authoress, Mrs. Emma C. Embury), was known at the

beginning of this century, for certain political relations, for his

connection with Thomas Paine in the last days of that famous infidel,

and ever since as a conspicuous physician and high-toned

gentleman--foremost especially in all proceedings which had the special

stamp of _New-York_ upon them, but not at all inclined to second any

movement originating in New England. He had lately accompanied his

accomplished and distinguished daughter to Paris, for the benefit of her

health, which has suffered for three or four years.

Ernest, King of Hanover, died at his palace at Herrenhausen, on the 11th

of November. The deceased prince--the fifth and last surviving son of

George the Third, was born at Kew, on the 5th of June, 1771. In 1786, he

accompanied his brothers, the Dukes of Sussex and Cambridge, to the

University of Gottingen. In 1790, he entered the army, and served in the

9th Hanoverian Light Dragoons from that period until 1793, when he

obtained the command of the Regiment. During the following year he took

an active part in the war which raged on the continent, and in a

rencontre near Toumay lost an eye, and was wounded in the arm. In 1799,

he was created Duke of Cumberland, Earl of Armagh, and Duke of

Teviotdale, with a Parliamentary grant of £12,000 per annum. In the

latter part of 1807, he joined the Prussian army, engaged in the

struggle against the encroaching power of Napoleon. On the defeat of the

French by the allied forces, he proceeded to Hanover, and took

possession of that kingdom on behalf of the English crown. In 1810, when

the Regency question formed the subject of much public excitement, he

entered into its discussion, and vehemently opposed the government on

every point, as he opposed the claims of the Roman Catholics, the repeal

of the Test and Corporation Acts, and the Reform Bill. He uniformly

supported in Parliament the opinions which guided the Pitt, Perceval,

and Liverpool Administrations; while he was a warm patron of the

Brunswick Clubs, and also held the office of Grand Master of the

Orangemen of Ireland. In reference to his transactions with this body,

many reports were circulated, imputing to him political designs and

objects of personal ambition connected with the succession to the crown.

On the night of the 31st of May, 1810, an extraordinary attempt was made

on his life. While asleep, he was attacked by a man armed with a sabre,

who inflicted several wounds on his head. He sprang out of bed to give

an alarm, but was followed in the dark by his assailant, and cut across

the thighs. On assistance arriving, Sellis, an Italian valet, who--it is

alleged--had thus attacked the Duke, was found locked in his own room

with his throat cut; and spots of blood were found on the floor of the

passage leading to the apartment which Sellis occupied. The next day a

coroner's inquest was held, and returned a verdict of _felo de se_. The

Duke of Cumberland soon recovered from his wounds, but this event gave

rise to much suspicion. In May, 1815, he was married to the third

daughter of the late reigning Duke of Mecklenburgh-Strelitz, a lady who

had been married twice previously, first to Prince Frederick Louis

Charles of Prussia; and secondly, to Prince Frederick William of

Solms-Braunfels The issue of this union was a prince, born at Berlin

(where the Duke resided from 1818 to 1828), May 27, 1817--the present

King of Hanover, known in England as Prince George of Cumberland. The

Duke continued to reside in England from 1828 until the death of William

IV., by which the Salique Law alienated the Crown of Hanover from that

of Great Britain--bestowing it on the Duke at the same time. At the time

of the suicide of Sellis, a statement was circulated to the effect that

the Duke had murdered his valet; that, in order to conceal this crime,

he had invented the story of a suicide, preceded by an attempt at

assassination, and that the wounds which the Duke received were

inflicted by himself. These accusations were negatived by evidence

produced at the inquest; still the force of that evidence, and even the

lapse of three-and-twenty years, did not prevent a revival of the

imputation, and the Duke in 1833 thought it necessary to institute a

prosecution in the Court of King's Bench, where the defendants were

found guilty. On that occasion he himself was examined as a witness, and

exhibited to the whole court, the marks of the wounds which he had

received in the head, from the inspection of which it was inferred that

they could never have been inflicted by his own hand. His titles were:

Prince Ernest Augustus, Duke of Cumberland, and Teviotdale in Great

Britain, and Earl of Armagh in Ireland, and King of Hanover. He was a

Knight of the Garter, a Knight of St. Patrick, G.C.B.; and G.C.H. He was

also a Knight of the Prussian orders of the Black and Red Eagle, a

Field-Marshal in the British army, Chancellor and Visitor of the

University of Dublin, a Commissioner of the Royal Military College and

Asylum, a Fellow of the Royal Society and of the Society of Arts.

George Frederick, his only son, and only surviving child, succeeds to

the throne of Hanover, but his blindness has suggested the precaution of

swearing in twelve councillors, who, to attend in rotation, two at a

time, will witness and verify all state documents to be signed by the

king. "The new king," says the _Morning Post_, "entirely lacks the

Parliamentary experience by which his father so largely profited; and we

greatly fear that his education in the strictest school of English High

Churchmanship is more calculated to insure his blameless life in a

private station, than to fit him for the arduous career of a king in the

nineteenth century."

The _Times_ sketches the character of the deceased in dark colors,

declaring that he "never concerned himself to disguise his sentiments,

to restrain his passions, or to conciliate the affections of those who

might possibly have been one day his subjects. Relying on the victory

which had been apparently declared for absolutism, inflexible in his

persuasions, and unbending in his demeanor, the Duke treated popular

opinion with a ferocity of contempt which could scarcely be surpassed at

St. Petersburgh or Warsaw. In his pleasures he asserted the license of

an Orleans or a Stuart, and although in this respect he wanted not for

patterns, yet rumor persisted in attaching to his excesses a certain

criminal blackness below the standard dye of aristocratic debauchery. It

is but reasonable to presume, that a man so universally obnoxious should

have suffered, to some extent, from that calumny which the best find it

difficult to repel, and practical evidence was furnished in certain

public suits, that the probabilities against him fell short of legal

proof. The impartial historian, however, will be likely to decide, that

there was little in the known character of Prince Ernest to exempt him

from sure suspicions touching what remained concealed."

* * * * *

The Chevalier LAVY, Member of the Council of Mines in Sardinia and of

the Academy of Sciences in Turin, and described as being one of the most

learned of Italian numismatists, died early in November. He had created

at great cost a Museum of Medals, which he presented to his country, and

which bears his name.

THE HON. AUGUSTA MARY BYRON, better known as the Hon. Augusta Leigh,

died near the end of October, at her apartments in St. James's Palace,

in the sixty-eighth year of her age. She was the half-sister of the

author of _Childe Harold_. Her mother was Amelia Darcy, Baroness

Conyers, the divorced Duchess of Leeds, whose future happiness was

thought to be foretold in some homely rhymes which Dr. Johnson loved to

repeat:

"When the Duke of Leeds shall married be

To a fine young lady of high quality,

How happy will that gentlewoman be

In his Grace of Leeds' good company.

She shall have all that's fine and fair,

And the best of silk and satin shall wear;

And ride in a coach to take the air,

And have a horse in St. James's-square."

The poet was not, in this instance, a prophet; for the young lady proved

any thing but happy in his Grace of Leeds's good company. She was

divorced in 1779, and married immediately to Captain John Byron, by whom

she had one child, the subject of the present notice. She survived the

birth a year, dying 26th January, 1784. Her son by her former marriage

became the sixth Duke of Leeds. On the 17th August, 1807, the Hon.

Augusta Byron was married at St. George's, Hanover-square, to her

cousin, Lieut.-Colonel George Leigh, of the 10th, or Prince of Wales's

Light Dragoons, son of General Charles Leigh, by Frances, daughter of

Admiral Lord Byron and aunt of Augusta. By this marriage Augusta had

several children, some of whom survive her. She had been a widow for

some time. Lord Byron is known to have entertained for his sister a

higher and sincerer affection than for any other person. His best

friends in his worst moments fell under the vindictive stroke of his

pen, or the bitter denunciation of his tongue. His sister escaped at all

times. "No one," he writes, "except Augusta, cares for me. Augusta wants

me to make it up to Carlisle: I have refused every body else, but can't

deny her any thing." One of the first presentation copies of _Childe

Harold_ was sent to his sister with this inscription:--"To Augusta, my

dearest sister, and my best friend, who has ever loved me much better

than I deserved, this volume is presented by her father's son, and her

most affectionate brother." This attachment he has himself chosen to

account for, but wholly without reason. "My sister is in town," he

writes, "which is a great comfort; for, never having been much together,

we are naturally more attached to each other." One of the last evenings

of Byron's English life was spent with his sister, and to her his heart

turned when, in the midst of his domestic afflictions, it sought for

refuge in song. Those tender, beautiful verses, "Though the day of my

destiny's over," were his parting tribute to her, and were followed by a

poem in the Spenserian stanza, of equal beauty, beginning--

"My sister, my sweet sister! If a name

Dearer and purer were, it should be thine."

His will evinces in another way his affection for his sister. Nor was

Augusta forgetful of her brother. She remembered him with that tender

warmth of affection which women only feel, and publicly evinced her

regard for him, by the monument which she erected over his remains in

the little church of Hucknall. She bore, it may be added, no personal

resemblance to her illustrious kinsman.

* * * * *

LIEUTENANT-GENERAL COUNT JEAN GABRIEL MARCHANT, grand Cross of the

Legion of Honor, Chevalier of St. Louis, &c., &c., was born at Solbene,

in the department of the Isere, in 1764, and in 1789 became an advocate

at Grenoble. In 1791, he entered the army as commander of a company in

the fourth battalion of his district, and in the long and illustrious

period of the wars of the empire he served with eminent distinction. He

was made a colonel on the 14th June, 1797, general of brigade in 1804,

and general of division on the 31st December, 1805, after a series of

brilliant services under Marshal Ney. He was in the battles of Jena,

Magdeburg, Friedland, &c., and after the latter received the title of

Count, and a dotation of 80,000f. He won new honors in Russia and Spain,

but after the overthrow of his master, so commended himself to Louis

XVIII., as to be confirmed by him in the command of the 7th military

division. After abandoning Grenoble to Napoleon, he was tried by a

council of war for unfaithfulness to the royal authority, but acquitted,

and from 1816 he lived principally in retirement at his chateau of St.

Ismier, near Grenoble, where he died the 12th of November, in the 86th

year of his age.

* * * * *

MATTHIAS ATTWOOD, long well known in Parliament, died at his house, in

Dulwich-park, on the 11th of November. He was in his seventy-second

year, and had for some time been in feeble health, which induced him to

retire from Parliament at the last general election, but he still

occasionally attended to business in London till within a short period

of his decease. Mr. Attwood entered Parliament in 1819, and from that

time till 1847, continued to have a seat in the House of Commons. Mr.

Attwood was one of the bankers of London, of the firm of Spooners and

Atwood, and the founder of several successful joint-stock companies.

* * * * *

CARDINAL D'ASTRS, Archbishop of Toulouse, died near the end of

September, at an advanced age. He was, it is said, the person who caused

the bull of excommunication, pronounced by Pius VII. against Napoleon,

in 1809, to be posted up on the walls of Paris. The bull was issued in

consequence of the seizure by Napoleon of the States of the Pope, and

their annexation to the French empire. The act of excommunication was

followed by the arrest of Pius VII. through the instrumentality of

General Radet.

* * * * *

THE SERASKIER EMIR PASHA, commanding the Turkish army in Syria, has just

died, and his death has caused a great sensation at Constantinople. He

was highly esteemed for his prudence, energy, and incorruptibility. The

rapidity with which he succeeded, in October, 1850, in suppressing the

revolution created by the Emir of Balbek, the care and skill with which

he introduced the Tanzimaut and the Conscription into the Syrian

provinces, had procured him great credit with the government. No

successor has been appointed.

* * * * *

The French papers report the death, at Moscow, of M. ALEXIS DE SAINT

PRIEST, a member of the French Academy, formerly a Peer of France, and

the author of several historical works,--of which the most celebrated

are his History of the Fall of the Jesuits, first published in 1844, and

_Histoire de la Royauté_, 1846.

Ladies fashions for January.

[Illustration: I.]

From the journals of fashion in London and Paris it appears that furs

are very much worn abroad this winter, but hitherto we have not marked

their very general adoption in New-York. The sable, ermine, and

chinchilla are, as in previous years, most fashionable. Sable harmonizes

well with every color of silk or velvet, and it is especially beautiful

when worn with the latter material. Cloaks, when trimmed with fur,

should not be either so large or so full as when ornamented with other

kinds of trimming. Many are of the paletot form, and have sleeves. They

are edged with a narrow fur border, the collar being entirely of fur.

For trimming mantles Canada sable is much employed. This fur is neither

so beautifully soft and glossy, nor so rich in color as the Russian

sable; but the difference in price is very considerable. In tone of

color minx comes next to Canada sable. Squirrel will not be among the

favorite furs this winter; it will be chiefly used for lining cloaks and

mantles. Muffs are of the medium size adopted during previous winters.

We may add that fur is not excluded from mourning costume.

_Bonnets_, although fanciful in their appearance, have a warm effect,

being composed of plush, velvet, and terry velvet. Felt and beaver

bonnets are also much in vogue, trimmed simply, but richly, generally

with colors to match, and with drooping feathers. Genin has reproduced

the latest London and continental modes. Bonnets of violet velvet are

also trimmed with a black lace, upon which are sprinkled, here and

there, jet beads; this lace is passed over the bonnet and fixed upon one

of the sides by a noeud of ribbon velvet of different widths; two wide

ends, which droop over the shoulder, serve to attach a quantity of

coques or ends, also of different widths. The interior is decorated with

hearts-ease of velvet and yellow hearts, and is fixed by several ends of

velours opinglé ribbon, the same shade and color as the centre of the

hearts-ease.

_Mantelets_ of all sorts of shapes are worn: the most striking are very

full, and have a hood. It requires great dexterity in cutting out the

mantelet to give a graceful appearance to this innovation. The shape

adopted is that called _capuchin bonne femme_ (or old woman's hood); it

is very comfortable, and the least apt to spoil the flowers or feathers

of the head-dress. There are also mantelets like the above, made of

lace, lined with colored silk, which sets off the pattern; and this is

most in favor. Every thing in preparation for this winter is far from

plain, being trimmed with embroidery, &c., or jet, lace, ribbons,

velvet, blond, braid, half-twisted silk, gold beads, colored embroidery,

in short, all the array of rich ornaments possible will be the order of

the ensuing season.

I. _The Waistcoat Fashion_, of which we have heretofore given an

illustration, is said to increase, and as it is graceful and convenient

it would be more popular but for the ridicule cast on all innovations by

the vulgar or profligate women who expose their natural shamelessness

and ambition of notoriety by appearing in what is called the Bloomer

costume--a costume which, it is scarcely necessary to say, has never yet

been assumed by a really respectable woman.

[Illustration: II.]

II. _Girls Dress._--White satin capote black velvet dress with berthe;

and sleeves trimmed with slight silk fringe. Trousers of English

embroidered work. The Genin hat, of felt or beaver.

[Illustration: III. IV.]

III. _Walking Dress._--Bonnet of purple velvet with black feather; full

mantelet of black velvet, trimmed with lace and buttons; dress of dark

valencias, very full, and plain. Another walking dress consists of

pelisse and paletot of Nankin cachmere, the former beautifully

embroidered.

IV. _Evening Costume._--Dress of Brussels net, worn over a jupon of

white satin; the body is made en stomacher: the waist and point not very

long; two small capes, one of delicately worked net, the other of plain

net, meet, in a point in front en demi-coeur; the short sleeve is

formed by four frills, two of worked net, and two of plain net, placed

alternately; the skirt is long, and extremely full; it has eight

flounces, reaching nearly to the waist, and graduating in width towards

the top; they are placed alternately, of worked and plain net.