_foreign anb

Srerx.—There have been serious disturbances at Madrid. The Finance Minister's new plan of distributing the taxes over the several towns and provinces had caused the utmost dissatisfaction; both the mercantile and landed interests declaring that it would materially increase the weight of taxation on them; and in the capital the tradesmen held frequent meet- ings to arrange their plans of action; and committees were appointed. It was resolved to meet the tax-collectors with passive resistance, and to close all the shops on the first day of collection, the 19th instant. Great mem- bers of the tradespeople dismissed their clerks and workmen for a week, paying them their salary for that time.

Many shops were closed on the 18th; and on that day, at noon, a large meeting, attended by more than five hundred persons, was held in the Bar- ren de San Pablo, for the purpose of reading an exposition, addressed to the Queen, praying her to modify, or order to be suspended till the meeting of the Cortes, the new law of contributions. A vote of thanks to the drawer- up of the address was carried unanimously. Meanwhile, the authorities were not idle ; troops were collected in Madrid, the guards at the public offices were doubled, and so forth. As the day went on, the aspect of the people became more threatening: hostile cries were uttered, by Ex-Royal- ists and by members of the disbanded National Guard; the police interfered, there was a struggle, and a few persons were arrested.

The 19th opened with gloomier signs. The Ministers met in council at an early hour, and remained sitting. Strong.bodies of police and soldiery took possession of every part of the capital; none of the shops opened, and the hostile cries—" Viva la Reins," " Viva la Constitution," , Mueran los Tiranos," and the like, were multiplied; and occasionally was heard " Viva Espartero." The Political Chief issued a proclamation, ordering all the shops, especially those for the sale of provisions, to be opened; but it was very slowly and partially obeyed. Both troops and people congregated thickly about the Puerta del Sol: the cries became loud and irritating; the troops charged; and General Cordova, the commander, so far lost his temper as to cut at the citizens with his own sword, right and left. A great num- ber of persons were arrested, and night closed in on a scene of disorder.

On the 20th, the Ministers held another council, and orders were sent off immediately afterwards to the Captains-General of the provinces, giving them power to use every means to prevent outbreaks in their several commands. Meanwhile, a large portion of the Madrid shopkeepers recalled their servants and reopened their shutters; but not until a great many had been arrested, and several shops had been forcibly opened by the soldiers. There were still, however, formidable crowds of idle persona in the streets; and the jewellers, drapers, and other tradesmen of that class, still kept their shops closed, or merely so far opened them as to enable the owners to avoid the violent measures adopted by the authorities against the more contumacious. A Court-martial was sitting, on the 21st, upon those who were arrested, seventy-eight in number; and two persons, who were accused of assassinating an officer with a poniard, had been sentenced to death. It was expected that several more would meet with a similar fate. A number were sentenced to the hulks for various terms, varying from eight to twelve years. The Herald° announces that General Concha's resignation of the Captain-Generalship of Catalonia has been accepted, and that he will be succeeded by General Breton. The Dukes of Nemours and Mcmtpensier were expected at Pampelume on the 4th September, and were to remain there till the 7th or 8th. The Infant Don Francisco de Paulo was to set off in a few days for the Basque Provinces to meet the French Princes.

The day before the Queen left San Sebastian, on the 15th instant, there was an annual dance, which invites comparison with the fete at Coburg. It was viewed by the Queen and an audience of some twelve thousand persons, in the Plaza Mayor ; the young Queen and her companions seated on a platform. "A procession entered through a door opposite the Queen's balcony. First came the musicians in rows, with black hats, long white feathers, pink velvet bands, red cravats, black velvet jackets, red sashes, and white trousers. Then came sixteen little boys carrying four flower-beds made of wicker; then twenty-eight men with larger flower-beds; then the queen or virgin of the day, dressed in white net with long ringlets, and a pink wreath in her hair, and large bouquet of flowers in her hand, in a car drawn by two oxen. Then followed the dancers, carrying fancy

flower-beds, two ladies and two gentlemen to each bed— i

sixteen couples in all Eight of the ladies wore white shirts, with fiverows of blue riband, muslin aprons trimmed with blue, pink velvet bodies edged with black, and laced with black in the front, white chemisette, blue long sash behind, black satin shoes; their hair braided in two long plaits, hanging down their backs, the plaits tied with red r:band; a round hat with wreaths of flowers and pink ribands outside, a rose on the left side underneath, and tied with pink on one side of the head. The other eight were dressed in contrast to the preceding, with blue bodies, pink petti- coats, &c. ; all the ornaments being reversed, to give more variety to the dance. The cavaliers wore white trousers, with blue and white striped bands down the sides, eight with pink velvet short jackets without sleeves, blue cravats, long white shirt-sleeves trimmed with the same colours as their partners, blue crape sashes, and white round caps ornamented with flowers and pink nbands. The other eight wore blue jackets, pink ribands, red sashes, and caps trimmed with blue. The men and boys were in white trousers, dark blue velvet jackets, red sashes, and caps trimmed with dark blue. The master of the ceremonies likewise wore a fancy dress. The effect of the whole was singularly pleasing. The procession having made the tour of the Plaza, the flower-pots were placed round the outside of the platform; and the whole party advanced in rows, first the virgin, then the boys, en the men, lastly the dancers, to salute the Queen. The boys and men then ranged themselves on the sides of the platform, and the dance began; each cavalier having a half-circle co - vered with crape and bunches of flowers, and the ladies yellow, blue, pink and white crape scarves, looped with artificial flowers, carried in front with an end in each hand. It would be impossible to give you an idea of the variety of figures formed by those circles and scarves; sometimes all the ladies in the mWe, at other times the gentlemen, then all the scarves were fastened in the middle of the platform, forming a star, and the ladies dancing round with their partners. After this, the dancers, still keeping time, passed first one, then the other, all the pieces which were round the platform; and these being fixed together, formed a Chinese pagoda in the middle; then the ladies danced in the corners and between the steps, The cave berg place I all the beds round the pagoda to form a garden; and the whale set began watering the flowers, digging, sowing, &c. Four couples now left to present a basket of flowers to the Queen; who received the present very graciously. The young people returned, and the garden and paeoda were undone as they had been made, while the party was dancing; then they took long wands adorned with flowers, and form.d devices with them. The tour pavilions at the corners had been decorated with the circles; and at a given word, when the dancers were near them, pigeons flew out of the middle pillar. A flag, m the shape of a fan, with the inscription Isabel the Second,' was likewise placed in the middle, and the scarves fixed to it to form a circle. This exhibition lasted for some consider- able time: at last the dancers left the platform, holding the scarves by the long ornamented wanis. The Queen expressed a wish to pass through the Plaza; the dancers accordingly waited, while the Queen, her mother, and the Infanta, de- scended and passed through the arch of crape, leaving by the opposite side; bow- ing to the public, who cheered with much animation. The Duke de la Roca carried the basket of flowers. Several songs written for the occasion were sung by the young people in the intervals of the dance. The Queen has expressed a wish that the dancers should go to Pampeluna, to perform the same comparsa before the Duke and Datchess de Nemours; but it is uncertain if the parents will allow their daughters to go. She has also sent for the director of the comparsa, Don Joaquim Echagas, the postmaster, who lost a leg in the wars, at which time he held the rank of Major: her Majesty has promoted him to the rank of PORTUGAL.—Letters from Lisbon, of the 20th instant, report the result of the elections for the next Cortes, so far as accounts had reached the capital. In the metropolis, the province of Minho, and most others, the Government had been completely successful; in Alemtejo, where the Oppo- sition interest was very strong, that party had gained a total victory, every Ministerial candidate being excluded. The rejected candidates complained loudly of illegal conduct at the elections—the rejection of qualified voters, presence of the military, and so forth. It is asserted that the present general elections are the most stormy that have ever taken place in the country. There have been numerous assassinations, and much de- struction of property in different places, committed by each party upon its political opponents, and in many cases repaid with interest. A.Within the week before the mail departed, for instance, the Ministerialists murdered an Opposition elector at Aldegaleza; and the Oppositionists burned down the house of a Ministerialist at Santarem.

A Company has been formed at Oporto, with a capital of 400,000 mil- reis, for the purpose of setting up an extensive cotton-spinning establish- ment in that city. This is expected to injure the importation of cotton- yarn from England.

SWITZERLAND.—The Diet closed on the 22d. In his parting address, the President stated that the Diet had done all that was possible under existing circumstances, but that much still remained for another Diet. In the mean time, he recommended harmony and good-will among the States of the Confederation.

GERMANY.—An investigation into the disturbances at Leipzig is in progress; and meanwhile the local Saxon journals are forbidden to publish any further accounts of the events.

A letter from Dresden talks of " Jesuitical intrigue " as being at work; and gives this fact to prove that the suspicion is not unfounded. " Yester- day [the 18th instant] a journeyman baker, who was arrested by the police on account of suspicious language about heretics, &c., confessed that he be- longed to the Society a the Jesuits; the certificate of his admission, signed by Reothan, the General of the Order himself, being found upon him."

The " Synod of the Deputies of the Christian Catholic communities of Silesia" met at Breslau on the 15th instant, and proceeded, at that and subsequent sittings, to discuss several questions of organization and disci- pline; Ronge being present and active.

Rusete.—Accounts of the 12th instant from the Polish frontier mention a strange attempt at conversion in religion, with an appropriate result. The Russian Government had despatched to a village in Lithuania several ministers of the Greek Church, in order to convert the peasantry, supported by a detachment consisting of an officer and forty soldiers. The peasantry, however, inveigled the priests into a neighbouring forest, and murdered them. They likewise set fire to the barn in which the soldiers were quartered, and threw into the flames all those who attempted to escape.

Genzcz.—The Athens papers of the 10th instant confirm the news which previously reached us by way of Trieste, that Coletti had appointed sixteen new Senators, all chosen from the most violent section of the Anti- Constitutional party, and that Metaxa, disgusted with the proceeding, had resigned his place in the Cabinet. Admiral Canaris, the Minister of the Marine, had also expressed his intention of resigning, because he did not approve of the system pursued by Coletti; but after sending in his letter of resignation, he was induced to recall it. Riga Palamides is spoken of as the probable successor of Metaxa. The Athens Courier imputes the whole proceeding to the advice given to the King by the French and Austrian Ministers in Athens; and thus describes the way in which the rupture occurred- " The alliance between Coletti and Metaxa, monstrous from its origin, and which WAS maintained to the present time by the cunningness of the one and the weak- ness of the other, is at length dissolved for ever. As long as M. Coletti did not give any evidence of his hostility to the Charter, M. Metaxa, the principal pro- moter of the revolution of September, accommodated himself as he best could to the system of his colleague; but as soon as Coletti began to proscribe the men of September, that union necessarily came to a conclusion. While Metaxa always asserted that the nomination of new Senators was a measure which he could not approve, M. Coletti persisted in presenting a list of sixteen candidates, and de- clared that his resolution on the point was irrevocable. Metaxa protested strongly against the trick, and reproached his colleague with his insidious conduct and black ingratitude. He quitted the Council, and immediately sent the King his resignation; which was accepted. At the King's request, however, he acts provisionally as Minister of Finance until his successor shall be appointed." TIIEEEY.—Letters front Constantinople to the 10th instant announce a change of great importance in the Turkish Ministry. The Seraskier Riza Pach. a, who had for five.years borne an almost unlimited sway in the Cabinet, and to whom the reactionary spirit displayed by that Government has been attributed, has been dismissed. On the morning of the 8th, the Grand Vizier went to him in the name of the Sultan, and withdrew all insignia of his authority. He has been replaced by Suleiman Pacha, who was President of the Council of Justice, and whose name is associated with the measures relative to public instruction, and the recent convocation of the delegates of the provinces at Constantinople.

These advises give hopes that the Syrian disturbances will be at length put down. The Porte has sent to the representatives of the Five Powers a Imy note, of which the substance may be thus summed up-

-.AU. expressing the anxiety the Government feel for the reestablishment upon a permanent basis of tranquillity in the Mountain, and of their deter- mination to take the most efficient measures to prevent such disorders as have recently occurred, in consequence of the disputes between the Druses and Mare- nites, the note informs the powers that Chekib Effendi, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, is to be sent into Syria to arrange the disputes. In order that Chekib Effendi may be supported in his mission by a sufficient force, Namik Pacha, the Commander-in-Chief of the army in Arabia, is to leave his cantonment in the neighbourhood of Aleppo, and to proceed towards the Lebanon, with a number of troops sufficient to awe the inhabitants; which, however, are not to be called into use until the last extremity. The independence of both Druses and Marmites is to be maintained; and vakeels of the two religions are to be appointed to the mixed districts, who in case of need may appeal to the Caimakans, while the Mon, katedji, which is more especially. to represent the interests of the Government, will be the medium of communication between the district and the Porte.

The Echo de (Orient says that " this document hasgiven great satisfaction to all the representatives of the European Powers. On the lit August, the repre- sentatives of the Five Powers met at the house of the Austrian Minister, to ar- range what answer was to be made to the note. Some difference existed between them as to the exact terms in which the answer should be drawn up; but there was no material difference as to the main points, for they all expressed them- selves satisfied with the measures proposed by the Porte." Chekib Effendi was to leave Constantinople on his mission about the 20th August. Several provinces of the empire were still in a very disturbed state. In Upper Albania, the insurrection had been in some measure checked; but in the province of Van, and in the neighbourhood of Bagdad, serious disturbances had taken place. A new poll-tax imposed on the Chafais, or Kurds, was the principal cause of the

outbreak inVan. Pacha had been sent with troops to reduce the insurgent* to obedience.

NEW ZEALAND.—The Morning Chronicle publishes the subjoined ex- tract of a private letter dated at Auckland on the 22d March 1845. It is not so recent by eight days as the intelligence previously received; but it may be taken for what it is worth.

" I have just had additional news from the Bay of Islands, which is worths communicating, as the mail is now closed, and the vessel sails for Sydney at day- break. The chiefs Nene, (or Thomas Walker.) Rips, and many others, hare already marched over from Hokianga (two days journey) to the Bay of Islands, with 800 men, cut down a flag-staff Heki had erected, and are going to set to work with cudgels for us. Napua (or Noble) joins them in a few days with 1,200 or 2,000 more, and Heki will be shot or taken prisoner. All this is done not only without application from the Governor, but even after having, in reply to various offers of service, been told to remain quiet, as the Governor would settle his own quarrel with Heki This is most gratifying, as proving the dependence to be placed on the good feeling of the Natives, of which no stronger proof can be given."' The Morning Post has intelligence from Van Diemen's Land to the end. of April, which is of a very opposite complexion. " A vessel had arrived at Hobart Town bearing an application for military rein- forcements; failing which, it was said that the New Zealanders would completely overpower the colonists. To this application Sir Eardley Wilmot had been com- pelled to reply by a refusal ; the peculiar population of Van Diemen's Land re- quiring all the military force in the island. Sir Eardley 's son, Lieutenant Wil- mot, of the Royal Artillery, had, however, sailed to Auckland to command some troops of artillery, who had gone from Sydney to that place. Mr. Tuckett, one of the surveyors sent out by the New Zealand Company, and other persons, had arrived at Hobart Town, glad to escape with their lives."

RIO DE LA PLArk.—Reports of a termination to the protracted war ht Rio de la Plata have reached both Liverpool (by way of Cadiz) and Havre, mutually confirming each other. The following is the Liverpool version, said to have been conveyed by a ship which left the river on the 15th June- " The substance of the report is, that General Roses had yielded to the demand of the English and French Ministers, and had agreed to withdraw the Buenos Ayman troops from the territory of Monte Video. The terms of this cessation Of hostilities are said to be, that the rival candidates for the Presidency of the Re- public—Generals Oribe and Rivera—should be put aside, and that a new election for President should take place. " Since writing the above, we have been informed that it is also reported, that on the 5th June, the Government of Monte Video issued a general amnesty to all parties who would come in and submit themselves within twenty days. Govern- ment paper, which had been so much depressed, was said to be rapidly rising in value."

Mextco.—The mail-steamer Cambria, which left Boston on the 16th instant and Halifax on the 18th, arrived at Liverpool on Thursday, and brings important news from Mexico. According to accounts which appear trustworthy, the Government of that country had declared war against the United States. Seiler Arrangoiz, the Mexican Consul at New Orleans, was known to have received instructions to terminate his official intercourse with the United States authorities. And the New Orleans Republican pub- lishes three circulars said to have been issued by the Mexican Government, and to have been received from Vera Cruz by way of Belize. They are all dated on the 16th July. The following is the most important of this three documents.

" Office of the War Marine--Section of Operations.

" Circular—The United States have consummated the perfidy against Mexico, by sanctioning the decree which declares the annexation of the department of Texas to that republic. The injustice of that usurpation is apparent; and Mexico cannot tolerate such a grave injury without making an effort to prove to the United States the possibility of her ability to cause her rights to be respected, With this object, the Supreme Government has resolved upon a declaration of war against thatwer, seeing that our forbearance, instead of being received as proof of our friendly disposition, has been interpreted into an acknowledged bit- possibility on our part to carry on a successful war. " Such an error on the part of the United States will be advantageous to Mexico, because, suddenly abandoning its pacific attitude, it will tomorrow com- municate to Congress the declaration of war, and excite the patriotism of its citizens to sustain the dignity of the nation and the integrity of its territory, now treacherously attacked, m utter disregard of all guarantees recognized in this enlightened age.

" You will readily appretiate the importance of this subject, and the necessity of preparing the troops under your command to march towards any point which may require protection against these most unjust aggressions. I am directed by the Provincial President to enjoin upon you, as General-in-Chief of your division and as a citizen of this republic, to hold yourself in readiness to repel those who seek the ruin of Mexico.

" The Government is occupied in covering the different points on the frontier, and in collecting the necessary means, so that nothing may be wanting to than whose glory it will be to defend the sacred rights of their country. " I have the honour to communicate for your intelligence, and to direct your

conduct. GARCIA. Canna" " God and Liberty.—Mexico, 16th July 1845. " This circular to the authorities subordinate to this office."

The other two documents are circulars relating to the necessity of dill genre in raising troops. It was reported at Vera Cruz that the Mexicali

Government were seeking to raise a loan of 12,000,000 dollars, to prosecute the intended hostilities with vigour.

On the 18th July, there was a counter-revolution in favour of the Go- vernment in the revolted department of Tobasco. The new movement was headed by Commodore Thomas Marin; who, with only eighty troops, succeeded in deposing General lgnatio Martinez, the leader of the insur- gents. The ports of Tobasco, which bad been closed by the Mexican Go- vernment during the time the province was in the hands of the insurgents, bad been since declared open. UNITED STATES.—Whatever the authenticity of the accounts from Mexico, the Government at Washington were not unprepared for action. A general movement of troops from all parts of the Union was taking place towards Texas. The ship Kilmanzoo, well-known in the Liverpool trade, had been chartered by the Government to take troops off Governor's Island, in New York harbour, call at Pensacola to take on board Ge- neral Worth and other troops, and proceed to Texas; four or five ships and a steamer were also transporting troops from New Orleans to Galveston. A considerable squadron was already kept cruising in the Gulf of Mexico ; it being avowedly the intention of the United States Government to crush immediately any opposition to their taking possession of the newly-acquired territory.

The whole of the Mexican vessels at New Orleans, with one exception, destined to convey away the Mexican Consul at that city, had obtained their clearances; and the aspect of affairs was viewed as extremely threat- ening.

The negotiations about Oregon were still in progress; but that territory having disappointed the expectations of many emigrants, attention had been turned to California, a land "flowing with milk and honey."

"That .paradise," says the New York Herald, "will soon be more inhabited by Americans than any other section on the Continent out of the twenty-six United States, and must, of course, be shortly annexed. The impetuosity of the people of the Great West for the acquisition of all the territory to the Pacific is irresistible. * • • Indeed, California may be the test question at the Pre- sidential election of 1848, as Texas was in 1844." The papers continue to crow over the punctuality with which Pennsylvania had come forward to pay the dividend due on her public debt. All the States were not so honest: the Legislature of Florida had passed a resolution confirm- ing their former repudiation of the territorial bonds by a majority of twenty-one to fifteen.

A riot, attended with loss of life, had occurred at Andes, in the Western part of New York State; where the Under-Sheriff, who went to levy for rent amounting to sixty-four dollars, was shot by an assemblage of ruffians disguised as Indians. The ruins of the late fire at New York were cleared away with surprising rapidity; and it was expected that in a few months no trace of the fire would be observed among the handsome uniform streets which were already laid out. The destruction of an inn at Newport, in Rhode Island—the Ocean House— by fire, is mentioned as a matter of great importance. The house was valued at 36,000 dollars, the furniture at 25,000 dollars: the insurance on the house was 18,000 dollars, on the furniture 9,000 dollars; but two-thirds of the furniture was saved. The house contained 208 rooms, and there were in it 350 boarders. The confusion, of course, was extreme, and some lives were lost: among those killed were Mr. Samuel Fowler Gardiner, one of the wealthiest citizens of New port, and Mr. Thomas R. Hazard. Mr. Weaver, the lessee of the inn, had en- gaged another house capable of containing fifty bOarders, and was to open it the day after his own was destroyed. Another fearful steam-boat accident had occurred on the Missouri, at Herman, one hundred miles from St. Louis. The steamer Big liatchee was just leaving the wharf full of passengers, when the boiler exploded; carrying away both upper and lower cabins, sweeping the decks, and spreading death and destruction among the passengers. Seven were picked up dead, and ten more lay in a hopeless state. The accident is said to have occurred from the inexperience of the engineer. This was the second accident on that river within two months.

The steamer Great Britain arrived at New York on the 10th instant, having made the passage from Liverpool in fourteen days and twenty-one hours. An immense concourse of spectators witnessed its entrance into harbour, and greeted the huge vessel with a storm of cheers.

Fataccn.—The Paris correspondent of the Times has repaired to and has cleaned an interesting budget of "further particulars" about the tecent visitatioth " Those of youe readers," he says, " who have passed from Rouen to Dieppe, will remember that before arriving at the first relay, or place for changing horses,

going from Rouen to Dieppe, at a distance of three or four leagues from the former town, and of course before ascending the hill over it, the road takes an abrupt turn to the left, and crosses a little bridge. At the same spot (the place is, called Malaunay) a branch road to the right ascends and continues midway along a range of hills somewhat precipitous, covered with forest and other trees for a mile or two. A beautiful valley lies beneath it, on which there existed on Tues- day last half-a-dozen cotton factories, with as many comfortable dwelling-houses of the proprietors. A small river runs through the valley, nearer, however, to the hills, which rise on the Western side, and the waters of which served to turn the wheels and machinery in those factories. About a quarter of a mile from Ilalaunay the heights to the right are divided by a sort of ravine, which runs (at that point at least) North and South."

[The writer then gives the details of the destruction as indicated in our last Postscript; but the most striking portions of his account are those which describe what remained for more deliberate observation—the effects of the visitation.] " The time occupied by the devastation I have so faintly depicted was, from its reaching the top of the ravine on the Eastern side of the valley (at St. Maurice) until the completion of its disastrous mission, a minute and a quarter. The dis tance through which I have followed it is somewhat more than a mile.

" Leaving out of view the aspect of the valley after the departure of the whirl- wind, the scene of desolation it had produced was almost indescribable. Three immense buildings, crowded from the ground to the roof with machinery, mate- rials, and hundreds of human beings, reduced to one confused mass of wreck. The sight was horrifying." The people employed in the neighbouring factories were at first struck with horror, but at the next moment ran to assist. " The masses of brick-work, beams, sonic of them fifty feet long and sixteen or eighteen inches square, bags of cotton, iron bars, portions of steam-engines, weighing many hundreds of pounds, were instantaneously caught up and removed. Beneath them were found, as well as I can learn, nearly two hundred and fifty human beings, of all ages and both sexes. A few, a very few, already dead. The rest were bruised, wounded, crushed, disfigured, mutilated. Either the storm that con- tinued to rage, and the rain that now began to pour, drowned the groans and moans of the victims, or they were unable to utter a cry; but true it is that few cries were heard, although the labours of those who toiled to relieve them were carried on in almost death-like silence. The description of their appearance, which I had from many, of those engaged in rescuing them, is too horrible to re- peat. Nearly two hundred of the wounded were removed in carriages to the hos- pital of Rouen. A few still remain in the cottages in the neighbourhood of the disaster, some of them mortally wounded. Already sixty-five are dead—sixty-one positively, and four still missing, supposed to be buried under masses of wall thrown into the river.

" On reaching the road below the gap, as it may be termed, in the hill, through which the whirlwind, after rising from the ravine, rushed down upon the valley, the first thing that strikes the observer is the appearance of the hedges clothed in straw—the thatch of the cottages unroofed or totally destroyed by the passage of the wind. Beyond the factories it is different, for there the trees are covered with cotton.

" The manner in which the trees suffered from the whirlwind was in most places different. On the top of the ravine dozens of trees were snapped across about ten or twelve feet from the ground. Lower down the side of the bill, huge forest-trees were torn up by the roots as completely as I have seen a plant raised from a flower-pot, with a round compact mass of earth adhering to it. An or- chard just within the road is prostrated, most of the fruit still on the branches.

Cabins and hovels close to it are buried beneath the wreck of the trees on the heights blown down upon them. An immense poplar near to the factory of M.

Picquot, at the point where the whirlwind made the turn to the right, (to gather strength, it may be said,) is a curious object. The stem still stands ten or twelve feet high. The under-spreading branches had been seized by a giant hand, which essayed to tear it from the earth; but failing in that, and still bent upon its de- struction, yet too much hurried to repeat the effort, twisted it until the trunk resembled a rope of many threads, and dashed the head upon the ground. " Only one figure can, I am told, be used in describing the scene of desolation— namely, the aspect of a group of houses on which a battery of a dozen twenty-fonr- pounders has been playing for a day. The whole valley looks, in fact, like a field of battle after the removal of the dead and wounded.

"This visitation was attended by some interesting and extraordinary episodes. M. Marc, a young man, the proprietor of the first factory attacked, was alarmed by the supernatural noise in the air that preceded the blow, and, imagining that

fire had occurred, ran out of the building, and thus escaped death; but his health is visibly impaired by the shock. Several men who followed or were thrown out

of the factory were killed by the mass of matter that fell or was blown upon them. In the factory of M. Picquot, eight or ten men were, with the walls of the building, blown many yards off, and escaped with only some bruises. Twenty- four hours after the disaster, a little girl of eleven years was found in a basket under the ruins, fast asleep, and almost unhurt; the poor child having, from the fatigue of crying possibly, fallen asleep.

" That the disaster was caused by a whirlwind, is deemed too apparent. I say too apparent for the interest of the proprietors, who were well covered by as- surance. There were two flashes of hglitning. The proprietors claim that the havoc made was the work of the electric fluid. They even point out a discoloura- tion of the brick-work on one or two places in support of this hypothesis, and then. refer to the fact that the front of a hedge and some shrubs have the appearance of having been scorched. Thus, for them fire would not have been more than a comparative calamity; for it is feared that the insurance-companies, governed by the letter of their policies, may resist the claims for compensation of the insurers. Thus will this misfortune entail on the sufferers, possibly, losses by a lawsuit; and the question whether the whirlwind may not have been an agent of the electric fluid or lightning, will be argued in a court of law,—unless the com- panies generously and wisely commiserate the proprietors of the buildings de- stroyed, and gain popularity and increase of business by paying the various amounts insured. Half-a-dozen business-looking men, and a dozen pompiers (firemen) in plain clothes, were engaged today in inspecting the ruins; and (I thought I could perceive) with a charitable leaning to the opinion that fire was partly at least the cause of the visitation."

Public subscriptions for the sufferers have been opened in Paris, at Rouen, and by divers ecclesiastics among the visiters who thronged to view the scene of the disaster. It was finally ascertained that the number of dead removed from the ruins was seventy-five; the number of wounded was 150 or 170.