18 NOVEMBER 1843, Page 4

ifortign anb erolonial.

sp.uN—A Parliamentary sanction has been given to the majority of Queen Isabella the Second, which may now be concidered as law. The discussion was terminated on the 7th ; when General Narvaez delivered in the Senate a short and temperate speech, that -obtained much atten-

tion. He urged the assemblage to consider that the throne was the sole ,

institution which remained untouched in the conflict of parties, and therefore to strengthen that. On the 8th, the two Chambers met to vote jointly ; when the bill was carried by 193 to 16. It is remarked, however, that there was not a sufficient number of Deputies to form a working quorum : the Chamber should contain 241 Deputies ; one-half of that number (122) is necessary to make a quorum, whereas only Ha were present : the vote therefore is pronounced to be " unconstitulionaL" Another account makes 133 Deputies present. However, the law was proclaimed, amid cries of " Long live the Constitution, the Queen, the Union, and General Narvaez ! " and the result was made known to the Queen by a Committee of Deputies. On the 10th, Queen Isabella the Second took the oath, in the presence of the two Chambers, assembled in the Hall of the Senate.

A fierce attempt to assassinate General Narvaez was made on the evening of the 6th. The General was on his way, at eight o'clock, from his lodging in the Calle de la Luna to the Theatre del Circo, where Gay Stephan was to perform before the Queen, in the Gisela- " On arriving at the Church of Porta-celi," says the Madrid correspondent of the Times, " the coach was &eclat by two men; whose balls took effect upon two Ayudautes, who accompanied the General. One, Commandants Baseti, who sat nearest the assassins, was mortally wounded in the forehead; the other, Don Salvador de Castro, was also wounded, though slightly, in the forehead: Baseti fell on the breast of Narvaez, exclaiming, ' They have killed me 1 The General immediately shouted to his frightened coachman ' Correa ! ' (Drive on rapidly.) The man lashed his horses, and proceeded in safety through a continuous fire, until he came in front of the guard posted in the convent of the Dasilios; where Narvaez and his Ayudante alighted and took refuge, bearing with them the wounded Commandante; who was immediately sent to the nearest hospital He received speedy medical aid, and during the night an operation was performed with the trephine ; bat the ball had deeply entered the brain, and he died this morning [the 7th.] At the guard-house, Narvaez prudently abandoned the coach, (which, on examination this morning, was found pierced by twenty bullets, independent of those which entered by the windows,) and sent word of what had happened to the Queen and her Ministers, who had attended her to the Circo ; and in con,tinuatiun visited the barrack of the Princess Regiment, and afterwards others' putting the whole garrison under arms, and marching strong patrols through the streets. However, no further attempt was made against Narvaez or any individual. The assassins having failed in their grand object, immediately dispersed ; and no one presumed to question, stop, or follow them. They all were disguised, wrapped up in cloaks, to conceal their blunderbusses, and wore the ordinary velvet sugar. loaf hats, as if desirous to avoid exhibiting any signs which might betray them as military men or disbanded National Guards; among both or either of whom, Narvaez knows he has quite sufficient enemies to count upon, without being deceived into a search for the assassins among the class of quiet paisanos or civilians of Madrid.

"At nine o'clock the General went to the theatre and showed himself, alive and unhurt, to the Queen and her Ministers; still wearing the coat, shirt, and gloves, stained with the blood of the slaughtered Commandante Baseti I" Several writers in the Espectador and Eco del Comercio have been seized, under a charge of inciting to the assassination of Narvaez.

In the provinces the insurrection loses ground, and yet the progress of the Government is slow and uncertain. Ametler has evacuated Gerona, about which he and Prim have been dodging each other. The leaders of the revolt at Barcelona have been negotiating to be received on board some foreign ships in the port. Vigo capitulated on the 11th instant, and the Revolutionary leader Yriarte, with 1,000 men, escaped into Portugal. There have been new though unsuccessful disturbances at Tarifa and Algesiras ; the result, it is presumed, of intrigues carried on by Nogueras at Gibraltar, aided by Llanos, the recently-superseded Spanish Consul there.

Imix.—The reports from Bologna are characteristically contradic- tory. An account in the Paris Gazette des Tribunaus represents the tumult as originating in the indignation of Dr. Muratori at some out- rage offered to his grandmother ; and states that several prisoners have been examined before a military commission on written evidence, and that five have been condemned to death, and others sentenced to twenty years' imprisonment. The court continued to sit ; as many as a hundred persons being implicated in the " conspiracy." Letters from Bologna of the 4th have been received in Paris, which state that no military commission had sat at all, but fifty prisoners had been examined at Pesaro ; and that armed bands still in resistance to the Papal authority were not political conspirators, but merely brigands. The letters add, that "the Grand Duke of Tuscany had disgraced himself by surren- dering into the hands of the Papal authorities a M. Viola, a respect- able landed proprietor, who, although not committed in the conspiracy, had nevertheless deemed it prudent, because of the notorious Libe- ralism of his opinions, to seek shelter in the dominions of the Grand Duke."

The Prince of Aquila, brother of the new Empress of Brazils, has officially demanded the hand of Princess Jannaria, eldest sister of the Emperor and of the Princess de Joinville.

GREECE.—Letters from Athens, of the 21st October, state that the Russian Minister had left the Grecian capital for the frontier, and that the Emperor Nicholas had declared that Greece should be "put under surveillance." Authorized persons were engaged in drawing up a constitution ; copies of the French, English, Belgian, and America' constitutions, lying before them for models. The country was quite tranquil. BELGIUM.—King Leopold opened the Belgian Chambers on the 14th instant. His speech alluded with satisfaction to Queen Victoria's recent visit, and the manner of her reception by the people; • reported the con- solidation of friendly relations with Holland and Luxembourg; and announced a satisfactory progress of internal improvements, to be con, tinned by new measures.

FRANCE.—The Moniteur announces that the King, by an ordinanee of the 6th instant, had appointed Count Bresson, late Envoy Extraor- dinary and Minister Plenipotentiary in Prussia, Ambassador to the Court of the Queen of Spain ; Count de Salvandy, former Ambassador in Spain, Ambassador to the King of Sardinia; and the Marquis de Dalmatia, late Ambassador in Sardinia, Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary to the King of Prussia. The brig La Fleche arrived at Toulon on the 9th instant, having left Tunis on the 2d, with despatches which were hastily forwarded to Paris. It is understood that the differences between France and Tunis have taken a serious aspect. The Paine of Paris mentions a rumour that there is soon to be a creation of French Peers ; and that Victor Hugo is to be one. Government have been defeated in a newspaper-prosecution. The managing editor of La France was prosecuted for two articles, compar- ing the circumstances under which the Duke of Nemours and the Duke of Bordeaux came to this country : on Thursday, the defendant took his trial at the Paris Court of Assizes, and was acquitted.

NORTH AMERICA.—The mail-steamer Hibernia arrived at Liverpool at four o'clock on Tuesday morning ; having left Boston on the 1st in- stant, and Halifax on the 3d. The latest date from New York is thd 31st October. The political intelligence relates almost exclusively to the elections for the new Congress ; in which the Democrats will after all have an overwhelming majority— "The elections in the several States which first took place," says the Gene- vese Traveller who corresponds with the Times, "all resulted in the triumph of the Locofoco or Democratic party ; while those in September and October, with the exception of New Jersey, were all favourable to the Whig cause. Of the 201 elected, the Locofocos claim 138, and allow the Whigs 63. Of the 22 to be elected, they claim 14, and allow the Whigs 8. According to this state- ment, the next House of Representatives would consist of

Locofoco or Democratic members 152

Whig 71

Democratic majority RI

From this estimate the Whigs deduct some 8 or 10, thus admitting a majority of about 70. With this clear and undisputed majority of 70, or two-thirds of the whole House, the Democratic party in Congress, so far as the House is concerned, can decide all the great and important questions that are to come before it, as well in three as in six months; for they will generally be decided on party grounds and as party questions, whatever professions to the contrary may be heard. I speak not of one, but of both parties."

In matters of public credit the intelligence is satisfactory. The Nash- ville Banner reports that an important measure had been "introduced into the Senate for securing the punctual payment of the interest on the public debt of Tennessee "; and there are rumours that Philadelphia meant to "lead off" in resuming payment of dividends, to be followed in that exhilarating and healthful dance by the other Repudiating States! At New York, stocks were rising in value; money was plen- tiful; and the rate of exchange on England was 8 to 81 per cent pre- mium, on Paris 5.20.

Our Quebec papers come down to the 27th October. The Canadian Parliament had not made very great progress with business, but had spent much time in contention ; a principal source of discussion being the seat of government The Legislative Council had passed resolu- tions referring the matter back to the Crown to select some place "within the former limits of Upper Canada." The resolutions were carried by 9 to 6. Mr. Jamieson, the Speaker, who voted against Go- vernment, had felt it incumbent on him to resign; which he did. The Assembly had agreed to a call of the House for the 2d instant, when the subject would be discussed. A bill to secure the independence of Parliament, by excluding placeholders under the Crown, (excepting those who may be termed Ministers,) had passed in the Assembly ; but was expected to encounter some opposition in the Legislative Council. The placeholders are said to constitute half the number of the Assembly, and to receive among them 23,000/. in emoluments. Mr Christie had given notice of resolutions, of which the effect would be to reduce the Civil List by 15,000/.

The revenue of the colony is estimated at 396,847/. currency ; the expenditure at 393,022/. currency.

A despatch from Lord Stanley had been published, directing certain changes in the letter-postage system within the colony ; and promising further alterations on maturer deliberation. The charge is to be made by weight, and not by the number of enclosures ; the rate payable within the colony on letters transmitted to this country by the Halifax mails is to be 2d. per half-ounce; the transmission of newspapers is no longer to be an official perquisite, but a postage charge (probably id.) is to be made; and penny-posts are to be established in some places. There had been some disturbance on the quondam disputed territory. The report on the subject is thus stated by a correspondent of the New York Express-- "The American Indians in the American village' had declared that the whole village of St. Regis was ceded to the United States by the Ashburton treaty; and, set on by certain designing men, they had gone on staking out and leasing the lands to White men. The British Indians, in their perplexity, Were at a loss to determine what course to take, and sent to the agent for in- structions. The agent, acting on the advice of Sir Charles Metcalfe, directed the British Indians to use whatever force was necessary to drive the intruders from their part of the village, to arrest all engaged in this business and seed them to Montreal Gaol; and if they are not strong enough of themselves, the aid of her Majesty's forces will be promptly furnished them. So that there is now a fine chance for ' disturbances on the frontier,' and a glorious opportunity for some fine paragraphs. The whole business is, undoubtedly, the getting-up of some designing White men, who are prowling about that peaceful Indian village, and who think they will be the gainers by getting np a disturbance. 'Collins and Valentine's line,' which is the boundary according to the Ash- burton treaty, is distinctly marked through the village, and is the line that always separated the two divisions of the tribe—the British and American Indians."