joreign ant Colonial. FRANCE.—The King of the French opened the

session of the Cham- bers on Thursday. His Majesty left the Tuileries at one o'clock, ac- companied by the Duc De Nemours, the Prince De Joinville, the Due D'Aumale, and the Due De Montpensier ; and followed by the Queen and Princesses. The procession went its way in unusual obscurity ; for the fog in Paris was so dense at the time, and the distance at which the- public was kept by the troops was so great, that it was impossible to catch a glimpse of the Royal cortege as it passed along the quays from the Tuileries to the Palace of the Chamber of Deputies. A consider- able military force had been called out on the occasion, and twelve bat- talions of National Guards, with an equal number of troops, lined the quays. Arrived at the Chamber of Deputies, the King ascended the throne ; his sons taking their accustomed stations near him, and the Royal ladies viewing the ceremony from their usual seat. His Majesty delivered the following speech- " Messieurs the Peers and Deputies—At the close of last session, complica- tions which might have become grave were the objects of my aalicitude. The necessity of securing our possessions in Africa against hostile and repeated in- cursions, obliged us to carry war into the empire of Morocco. Our brave armies by land and sea, worthily commanded, attained with glory and in a short time the object marked out to their valour. Peace promptly followed victory ; and Algiers, where three of my sons had this year the honour to serve their coun- try, has recorded a double pledge of security, for we have proved at once our power and our moderation. "My Government was engaged with that of the Queen of Great Britain in discussions which might have given reasan to fear that the relations of the two states might have been affected : a mutual spirit of goodwill and equity has maintained between France and England this happy accord, which guarantees the peace of the world.

"During the visit which I paid to the Queen of Great Britain, to testify to her the price that I attach to the amity which unites us, and to that reciprocal friendship of which she has given toe so many marks, I have been surrounded by manifestations the most satisfactory for France and for myself. I have gathered, in the sentiments that have been expressed to me, additional guaran- tees for the long duration of that generous peace which assures to our country abroad a dignified and strong position, and at home an eternally increasing prosperity, with the enjoyment of her constitutional liberties.

"My relations with all Foreign Powers continue to be friendly and amicable.

" You are, Messieurs, yourselves witness of the prosperous state of France. You see manifested upon all parts of our territory our national activity, pro- tected by wise laws, and reaping in the bosom of order the fruits of its labours. The rise of public credit, and the equilibrium established between our annual receipts and expenditure, attest the happy influence of this situation upon the general affairs of the state for the wellbeing of all. " Financial laws will be immediately presented to you. Projects of laws for the amelioration of our roads, of our ports, and of our internal navigation, for the completion of our railways, and for different objects of general utility, will be equally submitted to your deliberations.

"In the midst of the general prosperity of the country, Heaven has blessed my family. It has increased the number of my children ; and the marriage of one of my well. beloved sons' the Due D'Autnale, with a Princess alr..ady re- lated to us by so many ties, has been for me and mine a lively satisfaction.

" Messieurs, Providence has imposed upon me many labours and painful trials. I have accepted the burden. I have devoted myself, 1 have devoted my family, to the service of my country. To lay a lasting foundation of union and happiness, has for fourteen years been the object of our constant efforts. I feel confident that with your loyal aid you will enable me to attain it ; and that the gratitude of France, free and happy, will be the reward of our mutua devotedness, and be, too, the honour of my reign."

Public persons can never move about without raising a world of con- jectural rumours ; and King Leopold's visit to Paris, ostensibly to meet the Due D'Aumale and his Neapolitan bride, is said to have given occa- sion to renewed negotiations for a commercial treaty between France and Belgium.

According to the National, Marshal Bugeaud has declined to take out the patent of his new title as "Duke of Isly " ; as he thinks that 18,000 francs, the sum demanded for fees, would be much better laid out on improvements in the neighbourhood of Excideuil. It is said, too, that M. De Salvandy has never taken out his patent as Count, be- cause he disliked paying the fee of 8,000 francs. M. Pasquier, recently made a Duke, promptly paid the sum demanded by the Office of the Great SeaL

A letter has been received in Paris from Admiral Dupetit-Thouars, written at Rio de Janeiro, acknowledging intelligence that his assumption of Tahiti had been disavowed. He writes in very moderate terms of the disavowal ; declaring that he had only done what he considered his duty, but that the Government was the best and only judge as to whether the sovereignty should be received or not. He declares that he will not receive the sword of state for which La Jenne France has subscribed in his favour, as he considers it a slur upon the act of the Government ; and he expresses his regret that the subject should have given rise to such strong party-feeling at home. It is remarked that the regulations of the service would have prevented his acceptance.

Courts of Arbitration (" Conseils de Prudhommes ") are about to be established in Paris, to which all commercial differences, that do not in- volve legal technical difficulties, are to be referred, at the least possible expense to the litigants. This will be a great boon to the middle

classes ; although justice, as administered by the ordinary tribunals of France, is far less costly than it is in England. Such societies already exist in several of the departments, and have been much approved of by the mercantile community.

The paper-manufactory belonging to Messrs. Brice and Co., situate at La Villette, near Paris, was reduced to ashes on Monday night. A young woman, through whose imprudence the fire originated, perished in the flames ; and a corporal and a soldier of the 74th Regiment died victims of their zeal whilst endeavouring to extinguish the fire. They fell into the canal, and were drowned.

The frost has this week returned suddenly and with much intensity in Paris.

SWITZERLAI,M.—The excitement occasioned by the late conflicts in the Canton of Lucerne has by no means subsided ; but it seems to spread rather than otherwise. A popular assembly of about 3,000 persons chiefly composed of citizens of Berne, Soleure, and Argau, and refugees from Lucerne, was held in the Church of Fanbrunnen on the 16th in- stant; a plan for an association against the Jesuits was organized, and a petition to the Government of Berne finally agreed upon, calling upon it to place itself at the head of the Cantons opposed to the establishment of the Jesuits in Switzerland. Hostile resolutions were also passed in a meeting at Zofingue. The Canton of Schwytz marched troops to the frontier of Lucerne on the 16th. Meanwhile, the Executive Council of Lucerne addressed to all the Cantons a federal resolution' accord- ing to which the formation of volunteer corps is prohibited. And the Helvetie, of the 20th instant, announces that the same Government, on hearing of the resolutions adopted by the popular assemblies at Frau- brunnen and Zofingue, had ordered the Military Commission to call out the Landwehr.

The irritation is displayed in the most violent language. A Radical journal printed at Argau offered a premium of 75 Swiss francs to whomsoever shall kill a Jesuit or one of their adherents. M. Walcer, a member of the Grand Council of Argau, bad tendered the resignation of his seat in that assembly- ' Having participated in the expedition against Lucerne," he says in his letter, [he marched at the head of the Argovian Volunteers,] "1 cannot re- main any longer a member of the Councils of the Republic. It is with their carbines that the Swiss people must in future dictate their wishes; for the federal compact no longer exists. It has been long since torn, and replaced by the Golden Lesgue—the league of the Borromeans [Catholic party.] Not a vestige of that compact is now entire." The Grand Council refused to accept this resignation !

The Grand Council of Zurich assembled on the 16th for the purpose of appointing a Burgomaster. The election, under existing circum- stances was considered of the highest importance. After five ballots, l. Zelider, the Liberal candidate, obtained two votes more than his competitor, M. Bluntschi, the Conservative candidate, and was declared dilly returned.

&Au-T.—The intelligence from Madrid, to the 20th instant, is not of much interest. Some curiosity had been occasioned by the resignation of S. Donozo Cortes, the Queen's Private Secretary. It is understood that he had contended for the commutation of Colonel Rengifo's sen- tence with so much energy that Narvaez replied with rudeness, and S. Donozo Cortes resigned. Colonel Rengifo's sentence actually was com- muted to transportation, and the Secretary was eventually induced to withdraw his resignation. The accuser of Prim has been rewarded with a lucrative post in the Colonies ; Sergeant Rico, who accused Rengifo, and nine other non-commissioned officers who were witnesses against him, received Lieutenants' commissions. The number of per- sons who have been executed since the removal of Espartero amounts to 214; of whom 12 had a trial! No news yet of Zurbano.

Galignani's Messenger tells a tale of Spanish justice— "A curious fact is mentioned in a letter from Vittoria of the 16th. Among the grounds assigned by the partisans of the Spanish Ministry for the execu- tion of the two sons of Zurbano, it was stated that they had addressed letters to various wealthy persons demanding money, and threatening death in the event of a refusal. Three innkeepers of the environs of Salvatierra have been arrested en various charges of robbery in the province of Alava ; and it appears from what has already transpired, that they were the authors of the letters bearing the forged signatures of the two Zurbanos. This is another strong illustration of the atrocity of executing any man without trial."

From Vittoria we learn the recent death of General Jauregny-

General Jaureguy, or El Pastor," says the Paris Presse, " who lately died at Vittoria, was, after Mina and L'Empecinado, the most renowned of those guerilleros who by their existence, so full of incredible and almost fabulo us ad- ventures, have become in their own lifetime heroes of romances and melodra- mas. Taureguy distinguished himself particularly during the war in the Basque Provinces, from the death of Ferdinand the Seventh, in 1833, to the 31st August 1839, the date of the Convention of Sergara. He was, like Mina, Merino, and .Zurbano, one of those men of iron who neither require sleep nor food, and who, a ciyaretta in their mouth for their sole food, and the water of the torrents for their drink, walk twenty leagues a day with a musket on their shoulder. Taureguy enjoyed the esteem of all parties. He was a man of undoubted ho- aour, intrepidity, and disinterestedness; and his death is a severe loss to the Spanish Government."

PonTunan.—Advices from Lisbon of the 17th instant state that the queen prorogued the Cortes on the 14th, in person. The speech composed by her Ministers praised the Cortes for what they had done ; which was only natural, as the Chambers had dutifully registered the edicts of the Ministers.

Before the close of the session, Ministers had introduced the project of a law for abolishing the conservatorial privileges of foreigners in Portugal, having especial reference to the privileges hitherto enjoyed by English residents. By the last treaty it was agreed that these pri- vileges should be suspended so long as the Constitutional system ex- isted, and Englishmen in Portugal enjoyed the same protection as Por- tuguese in England from trial by jury and other legal institutions. The abolition of a law thus in abeyance seems to imply that it will not be long sow ; hich must mean that Portugal is not to retain its "con- stitution."

ITenv.—The Times reports a troublesome question between France and Sardinia.

"Our correspondence from Turin states, that considerable sensation had been produced in that city early in the present month, by the violation of the Sardinian territory by a body of French Gendarmes, Douaniers, and other armed soldiers, who, .under pretext or real authority of certain French Magis- trates, arrested six (one account says seven) Sardinian subjects, and carried them prisoners to Grenoble, to answer for alleged thefts committed in a forest on the French side of the frontier. Our correspondent states that the prisoners had been treated with the most brutal severity on their forced journey, and thrown into prison at Grenoble. Be adds, that immediately on becoming acquainted with this outrage, the Sardinian Government made the necessury representations to that of France ; by whom, no doubt, full satisfaction would be given. Still, he adds that the affair was deemed serious."

TURKEY.—Letters from Constantinople, of the 4th instant, state that Sir Stratford Canning returned from his cruise in the Dardanelles and the Troad on the 28th November. The negotiations were renewed, but not in a very happy temper.

Anoxank.—The Afrigue, a French journal published in Algeria, announces a curious complication of affairs in Morocco-

" 1 have just learned a very important fact—Abd-el-Kader has not left Morocco, as stated some days ago; and all the tribes residing between Fez and our frontier are in open insurrection against the Emperor. This news is given to me as official. Thus, if, as is highly probable, Abd-el-Kader be the author ot that insurrectionary movement, our battle of lsly will have had for its result to weaken the Emperor and facilitate the task of the Emir, if lie really wish to supplant nluley Alid-er-Rahman."

PEEIL—Advices from Arica, of September the 4th, announce some "unpleasant occurrences" between the British and the authorities on the coast of Peru. The Queen's steamer Cormorant arrived at Arica on the 2d September, and was refused permission to take in water; in consequence of which, the steamer fired several shots, and threw some shells into the town, with such an effect that the desired permission was given. The dispute, the particulars of which are not given, was thug "settled." The British war-ship Dublin, Admiral Thomas, had re- leased the British barque Horsburgh at Islay, and placed the Peruvian squadron that had detained her under embargo.: WEST Isimes.—The Thames mail-steamer arrived at Southampton on Saturday ; having left St. Thomas's on the 1st instant. The islands are reported to be generally healthy. and the prospects for the crops good ; but sad complaints are made in Jamaica, that the very plentiful- ness of the season causes the labourers to be more independent of work for hire and abridges the amount of labour available for the planters. The Jamaica Times mentions the sale of an estate to pay the wages and expenses; and states that the only singularity in this case as distin- guished from others is, that circumstances caused a public disclosure of the facts. The Governors of the Trinidad and the Windward Islands were about to proceed to Jamaica, to consult with Lord Elgin on the expediency of forming a penal settlement for the West India Colonies; the gaols being crowded by prisoners under sentence of transportation, without any place to transport them to.