30 SEPTEMBER 1848, Page 6

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FILANCE.—The event of the week had been the appearance of Louis Napoleon Bonaparte in the National Assembly, on Tuesday.

During several preceding days, Paris was in a feverishly excited state on the subject, and the Government seemed to be in doubt how to deal with the elections by which the Bonaparte had been returned. Ultimately it was resolved to "accept the situation "—admit the validity of the elec- tions, with their consequence, the appearance of Louis Napoleon in the Assembly. It was determined, however, to watch and suppress with irre- sistible energy the least overt manifestations of Imperialism; and some suspected regiments were moved from Paris and replaced by others more reliable. The regiment of the Garde Mobile, commanded by Colonel .Aladaveze, who was compromised in the attempt of Louis Napoleon at Boulogne and imprisoned until the Revolution of February, has been hitherto quartered in the barrack of the Rue de Rivoli, close to the route which the new Representative would follow in going to the Assembly. On Sunday at midnight, when it was expected that Louis Napoleon might arrive the next morning, this regiment received orders to leave Paris, and at one o'clock it set out on the march to Rue. Soon after the President was seated, Louis Napoleon, unobserved, en- tered by one of the side-doors placed behind the highest benches on the

Left, and took his seat between his former tutor, M. Veillard, and the other Member for the department of La Manche. He was dressed in black, and manifested much calmness of deportment. In delivering the following speech, he hesitated a little in the first sentences, but immediately recover- ed himself, and spoke the remainder with dignity.

" Citizen Representatives—It is impossible that I can keep silence after the calumnies of which I have been the object. I must express frankly, and at the earliest moment of my taking my seat amongst you, the real sentiments which

animate and which have ever animated me. After thirty-three years of proscrip_ tion and exile, I am at last entitled to resume my sights as a citizen. The Re.

public has bestowed on me happiness; to the Republic I tender my oath of grati-

tude, my oath of devotion; and my generous countrymen, who have returned me to this place, may be assured that I will endeavour to justify their choice by exert-

ing myself with von to maintain tranquillity, the first necessity of the country, and the developient of Democratic institutions, which the people have the right to demand. For a long time I have been unable to consecrate to France anything but the meditations of exile and captivity. At last the career which you pursue is open to me. Receive me, then, my dear colleagues, into your ranks, with the same sense of affectionate confidence which I bring there. My conduct—always

inspired by duty, always animated by respect for the law—my conduct will prove the falsehood of those who have attemped to blacken me for the purpose of* still keeping me proscribed, and will demonstrate that no one is more firmly resolved than myself to establish and defend the Republic."

The speech was received by the Assembly with approbation. When Louis Napoleon descended from the tribune, several members of the As- sembly surrounded him, offering him their felicitations. In the Salle des Pas Perdus the observation was made, " C'est un discours de in couronne !" An address signed by M. Raspail was placarded throughout Paris on Monday, and crowds collected round it at all the corners. In it M. Raspail says—" Seventy-two thousand voices protested in June against my impri- sonment- Sixty-seven thousand voices declare my innocence in September, and invest me with the inviolability of your representation. I wait the opening of my eachot to take the place you assign me." He exhorts the citizens not to attempt a combat; since, as their numbers are nine to one, they have no need to fight if they are united. He tells them to multiply their fraternal meetings throughout all France, not by the name of clubs, but by that of electoral meetings. "Soon," he says, "everything will be done by election." On Wednesday, the Assembly discussed the validity of M. Respell's re- turn for the department of the Seine, he being still in prison. It was re- solved almost unanimously, that the election was valid; but it was also resolved unanimously, to authorize the continuance of the State prosecu- tion against M. Raspail, and the continuance of his imprisonment.

On Saturday and Monday, a debate of some interest arose on an amendment proposed by M. Servieres to the 15th article of the Con- stitution. •A contest is waged among the French economists as to whe- ther taxation should be proportional to a man's income or progressive with it. [A. defective terminology, failing to convey the intended meaning: the contest really is, whether taxation should increase at the seine rate with or at a more rapid rate than the income of the tax-payer.] The Red Re- publicans advocate the "progressive" doctrine; the majority support the "proportionate" doctrine. The Constitution Committee timidly refused to adjudge the point, and evaded the question, by laying down in the draft of the Constitution that each citizen should contribute to the taxes "en raison de ses facultes et fortune." M. Servieres proposed to substitute the words found in all the previous constitutions—" en proportion de as fortune." The debate on this question lasted for two days. In Monday's discussion, some remarks from M. Lherbette called M. Goudchaux to the tribune; and that gentleman at once declared that the Government was altogether op- posed to the progressive system; and that the whole tendency of the fi- nancial efforts of the Republic should be to establish, as speedily and com- pletely as possible, a proportional system of taxation, as being the only one consistent with equality. Before M. Goudchaux began to speak, General Cavaignac rose in consequence of some interruptions, and declared that, without knowing in what terms the Minister of Finance was about to ex- press himself, he could say in advance, that so united was the Ministry, that the Assembly might look on the language of M. Goudchaux as that of the whole Government. Afterwards, in another short address, General Cavaignac again spoke of the unanimity of the Government, and of its anxiety to satisfy on every point the Assembly, as representing the country. Ultimately the amendment was carried by an immense majority; and the partisans of progressive taxation are consequently beaten.

On Tuesday, the debate on the 20th article commenced- " The French People delegates the Legislative power to one Assembly."

M. Duvergier D'Hauranne proposed an amendment, delegating the power to two Assemblies-

" One of which shall assume the name of Chamber of Representatives, and the other that of Council of the Ancients."

M. D'Hauranne and M. Odillon Barrot have spoken in favour of the amendment; M. de Lamartine for the original article. M. de Lamartine replied to the analogies of the House of Peers in England and of Senators in America—.

In England, the institution is a suitable representation of the aristocratic ele- ment which exists there, but which no longer is tolerated in France: in America, the Senate represents the Federal principle, which is the base of the union of the independent States. M. Dupin also has spoken for the original article; and stated that it was adopted by a majority of 14 to 1 in the Committee. The Assembly on Wednesday rejected M. Duvergier de Hauranne's amendment, and affirmed the principle of a single Chamber, by 530 votes to 289.

M. Lamartine, addressing himself to the members of the Democratic Club of Nismes, in reply to some comments made on a late speech of his in the Assembly, says- " I am not a Socialist, and never have been. Read my writings and speeches on this question from 1836 to 1848. Property, under all its forms, is sacred us my eyes. I have always said that I only knew one Communism—the commumem of sentiment; that is to say, the religious love of the people, the progressive series of institutions of labour, assistance, and practical fraternity, calculated to ennoble, dignify, and improve the condition of all our brethren. In proclaiming the Re- public, we restored their sovereignity to the people. To be sovereign, they moat be reasonable; otherwise they will soon lose the title and exercise of sovereignty. It is, therefore, for them now to govern themselves by their legitimate representa- tion. If they do not respect themselves in their elected, in what will they do so? and if they do not respect themselves, who will respect them in the world? * * *

The Republic, such as they desired it in February, March, and April, was the sovereignty of public reason not the wildness of impracticable sects and suicidal passions; and such is the Republic which will instruct, moralize, and enrich the people. If of a sect or violent, the Republic would give the victory of the lendemain to tie enemies of human reason and progressive institutions. I could desire to make this conviction pass into your hearts with the same strength that it exists in mine. That is henceforth the only service that I can endeavour to render to our country. Set aside after the storm by the impatience of some, the resentment of others, I have no other ambition than that of seeing the Republicans of all dates and all theories unite in the idea common to all, of causing the Republican form to be accepted as the regular instrument of perfectioned civilization."

Bawirrat.—A Congress convened by the English Peace Society com- menced its sittings at Brussels on the 20th instant. There were present about a hundred and fifty gentlemen from England; including Mr. Ewart, M.P., Mr. Joseph Sturge, Mr. Scoble and Mr. Silk Buckingham; from the United States, Mr. Elihu Burritt and Mr. Henry Clapp junior; a number of Quakers, a number of ladies, several gentlemen from foreign countries, and many Belgians of distinction. Mr. Cobden sent a letter of apology and adhesion. M. Vischerrs, who is described. as "representing the Belgian Minister of the Interior," was elected President. He opened the business with a general statement, comprising a review of the transactions of the Peace Society. On that and the subsequent days, resolutions were adopted in favour of abolishing war, of inserting a clause in treaties between na- tions, undertaking to submit differences to arbitration, and of procuring a congress of nations to construct an international code. These resolutions were adopted almost unanimously; but not quite, for they met with some resistance from M. Ramon de la Sagas, a delegate from Madrid; whose arguments form the remarkable feature in the proceedings. On the general,peace resolution, he declared that the force of arms had been the guarantee for social order since the commencement of humanity. The proposed congress of nations he pronounced to be impracticable and absurd: either the delegates to it must be appointed by the governments, and then a con- gress at Vienna would merely reestablish despotism • or they must be appointed by the peoples, and then how could delegates elected by universal suffrage act with those nominated by the Emperor of Russia? A congress of the kind would be impossible until all nations should have adopted universal suffrage. And how could a congress of several nations agree, when the nations are not agreed in themselves?

These views, however, though very ably argued, found little favour; and they were especially controverted by Mr. Ewart, Mr. Silk Buckingham, and M. Alvin; most effectively by the last, who showed that the Society did not demand sudden changes. The Abbe Louis made a violent speech on the same side. M. Suringar' Professor at Amsterdam, was the sole sup- porter of M. de la Sagra. The Congress closed with a soirée on the 22d.

GERMANY.—Frankfort was tranquil on the 25th instant; but the state of siege had not been removed.

"It is now positively ascertained," says the Times correspondent, "that the Republican Members and their party intended no less than to murder the leading Conservative Members of the Parliament, and to establish a reign of terror. Lists of proscription were already made; and Messrs. Gagern, Sehmerling, Ifeckscher, Penker, Soiron, Stedmann Bassermann2 Mathy, Anerawald, Lych- nowski, Schwerin, Radowitz, and Jahn, were to be the first victims. The ma- jority of the rebels belong to the various gymnastic clubs of the towns in the vi- cinity of Frankfort. These dabs were at all times the hotbeds of the fiercest Radicalism. They were therefore suppressed in 1820. It seems hard that Mr. Jahn, the originator and promoter of gymnastic clubs' and whom the gymnasts or 'Turners' were wont to call Vater Jahn, should have been marked out for slaughter by the very men whose pursuits and tendencies he had at one time sup- ported with so much zeal, but with little discretion."

The Regent issued this proclamation on the 19th.

"TO THE GERMAN PEOPLE.

"The criminal excesses at Frankfort, the intended attack on the Parliament, the street riots, for the suppression of which an armed f,ree was required, the shocking assassination, and the menaces and violence which some Members of the Parliament have suffered, have plainly exposed the views and means of action of a party who desire to involve their country in the horrors of anarchy and of a civil war.

" Germans ! Year liberty is sacred to me. It shall be established on a durable and firm basis by the Constitution which your Representatives are now framing. But you would be deprived of liberty if lawlessness and anarchy were to get the upper hand in Germany.

" Germans I The law of the 28th of June 1848 places in my hands executive powers in affairs which regard the general safety and welfare of Germany. It is my duty to protect the country as well against domestic crime as against foreign enemies. I know my duty, and I mean to fulfil it; and you, German men, lovers of your country and of liberty, from you I expect that you will stand by me."

In the Assembly, votes of confidence and thanks to the Ministry, and to the Federal troops for their signal "devotion and moderation," have been moved by Mr. Zachariae, and adopted. It is said that immediate steps will be taken for the prosecution of certain Members of the Left, implicated in the late riots.

The movement lately put down in Frankfort has been the signal for oommotions elsewhere. A letter from Karlsruhe, of the 23d, in the %bluer Zeitung, confirms statements of the Swiss papers of another invasion of the Grand Dutchy of Baden by the German anarchists and Republican fugi- tives in Switzerland and France. It appears that Mr. Struve crossed the frontier of the Grand Dutchy at the head of 2,000 men, with two field- pieces; marching in the direction of the Lerrach district, in which at the Present moment there are no means to defend the country. His troop is composed of Italisine, Poles, French, and Germans. The Chief Magistrate of Lorrach was imprisoned by Mr. Struve; who, after seizing the contents of the parish-chest and of the poor-box, marched upon Schliengen' the terminus of the Baden Railway, where he seized the money in the parish- boxes. He proclaimed martial law against all able-bodied men under the age of forty who should not join his party. Some battalions of rifles and artillery were immediately sent off from Karlsruhe to suppress the riot, and a courier sent to Frankfort to ask for the assistance of other troops. Troops also left Frankfort for Baden on the 23d, and found the railway broken up from Erminendingen to Friburg,.

.A. correspondent of the Aforning Post has pictured, from official informa- tion, most horrifying details of the assassination of Major Auerswaldt and Prince Lychnowski. "Both gentlemen, it seems, had, upon leaving the National Assembly, rode out of the town for an airing; at a short distance from the Bockenheimer gate several shots were fired at them- they turned their horses immediately to ride back to the town, but found that they were surrounded on all sides. They separated, for the purpose of making their escape by some footpaths across the fields; but General Auerswaldt was stopped and dragged from his horse before he could reach the field he intended. The a.o.s,in., after having thrown him WI the ground, coolly deliberated where wounds would cause the greatest pain, and then deliberately fired into different parts of his body. Observing that life was not quite extinct, they jeeringly said, it was all the better, because he would have to suffer the more; and upon leaving the spot a wretched old woman called after them that she would finish their work, and battered the unhappy gentle- man's brains out with a stone she picked up from the road. This relation is confirmed upon oath by two respectable eye- witnesses. Prince Lychnowski got into the field he intended, and, after in vain gallopping about to find an outlet, he returned to a part of the beautiful public promenade. lie was immediately sur- rounded by a number of men armed with scithes, pitchforks, &c., who pulled him from his horse: the Prince, being a powerful and strong man, and seeing that his life was at stake, attempted to resist, but of course only to prolong his tortures. They literally slashed, slit, and scraped the flesh from his arms and parts of his legs; and then coolly declared that this was enough for the present, and that he might afford them more sport when he had recovered a little.' They then left him; and the Prince with the utmost difficulty crawled to a neigh- bouring cottage, where he was kindly received. He had scarcely been there an hour, when the same men, but considerably increased in numbers, and armed with fire-arms, made their appearance, and demanded his immediate surrender; which the hospitable people of the cottage refused. The wretches then made preparations to set fire to the home; and as soon as the Prince heard this, no persuasion,. no force could detain him; he boldly stepped out to meet his fate. He was received with shouts of derision and laughter; and one of the lead- ers, dressed as a common labourer, declared, that as the Prince had been a kind of Don Quizote he ought to die so; and they immediately pulled off his clothes, and bedecked him with some sort of drapery to imitate the engravings of Cer vantes's beautiful tale in one of the night-scenes. They then formed a circle round him, and, by constantly pricking him with bayonets and knives, compelled the unhappy man to be in constant motion. At last, tired of this sport, they fastened him to a wall, and at a distance of only ten yards fired more than twenty balls in the direction, most of them intentionally missing, in order to protract his pains; but after three had mortally wounded him, they laughingly declared it was enough, but he might suffer a little longer; and left him. In this state the Prince was soon afterwards found by a patrol of Hessian cavalry, who took him with all possible care to the villa of Baron Bethmati; but as soon as he recovered his speech he insisted upon being taken to the hospital of All Saints, where the other wounded in the streets had been received. After the surgeons had examined the sufferer, he asked them firmly, whether any hope was left? They declared that amputation of both arms and the right leg might possibly prolong his life but that the operation itself might result in death. The Prince then declined to 'sub- mit to the operation; sent for two magistrates, and dictated a minute relation of these horrid scenes, of which document the above is an abridgment, giving at the same time a fall description of his assassins. After this, he dictated his last will, and signed both documents with his shattered arm in a firm and legible handwriting. Notwithstanding the unexampled agonies which, according to the opinion of the surgeons, he must have suffered, not a sigh, not a groan escaped him, till he expired, about an hour after midnight."

Parrsera.—The list of the new Ministry has arrived; but the Cabinet is still incomplete. General Pfuel is President and Minister of War; Count Donhoff, Foreign, ad interim; M. Eichmann, Interior; M. Von Bonin, Finance; M. Muller Justice, ad interim: the Ministries of Com- merce and Public Works and of Agriculture are confided, pro tempore, to the Ministers of the Interior and Finance respectively; and the Ministry of Ecclesiastical Affairs will continue, as heretofore, in the hands of the Under-Secretary of State of that department. This Ministry, although composed of men of indisputable honour, great experience, excellent abilities, and liberal principles, is considered reactionary, or at all events as tainted with the old-school principles.

The situation of the Ministry has been additionally embarrassed by the blunt oratory of General Wrangel, the Schleswig hero; who on his return to Berlin instantly received from the King the general command of the troops of the Brandenburg Marches. At a review held at Potsdam on the 20th, he addressed the people and the troops in these terms- " My entry into the town was like a triumph. I know well this compliment was not intended for me, but for the troops whom I had the honour to command and lead to victory in Schleswig. I will lead these troops hare also in due time. Not jest yet, but they will come, gentlemen. The King has conferred upon ma the utmost proof of his confidence, in honouring me with the command of all the troops in the Marches. I shall reestablish order when it is disturbed, and sup- port the laws when they are infringed. Not at once, but when I find t,he Burgher Guard fall in so doing. Then only will we enter; and we shall succeed. The troops are stanch. Their swords are sharpened, their arms loaded. But not against you, men of Berlin; but to protect yon—to protect liberty given to us by the King, and to defend the laws. Does that please you, Berliners? I am glad to see that it does. For you and with you will we act. No reaction. But pro- tection for order—for the laws and for freedom. How melancholy does Berlin now appear to me ! grass is growing in your streets. Your houses are empty; year shops are fall of goods—but there are no purchasers! Your industrious citizens are without work—without wages, without profits ! This must be changed; and it shall be changed. I bring you benefit with order. Anarchy must cease, and it shall cease. I swear this to you, and a Wrangel never belied hie word." (Tumultuous applause.) This language was held in Berlin to indicate a desire by the King and his party to court and anticipate a crisis.

Letters from Cologne, of the 25th instant, state that a popular assembly was held there on that day, notwithstanding it had been forbidden by the authorities. The National Guards fraternized with the people. M. Wack her, a Captain of the National Guard, and M. Well, who had been arrested by the police, were rescued by the people.

Cologne papers of the 27th report, that on the evening of the 25th, after the troops had carried about thirty of the barricades, and occupied the gates of the city, the commandant ineffectually called on the Burgher Guard to reestablish order, and then declared the city to be in a state of siege. The Radical papers were suppressed, and the military power re- stored order.

AUSTRIA.—The National Assembly at Vienna have refused to receive the deputation of 150 members of the Hungarian Diet, who arrived at Vienna with a mission "not to the Emperor but to the People "—that is to say, the Assembly. Intelligence had reached Vienna on the 22d, that General Messaros, the Hungarian Minister of War, had suffered a fearful defeat by the Croatians at St. Thomas. The Second Infantry Regiment (Emperor Alexander's) alone numbered 1,500 dead and wounded, and was almost entirely cut up. On the other hand, it is stated that the Ban himself has suffered a total defeat, at Szala-Czerszegh.

Irar.v.—Letters from Rome of the 17th instant, give a list of a new Ministry: Cardinal Soglio, President, with Foreign Affairs; Count Rossi, Interior, and ad interim Finances; Cardinal Vizardelli, Public Instruction; Advocate Cicognani, Grace and Justice; Professor Montanan, Commerce; the Duke Rignano, Public Works, and ad interim War; Count Guarini, Minister without portfolio; M. Righetti, Substitute for the Finances.

The Dowager Queen of Naples, mother of the retning Monarch, died at Naples on the 11th instant.

Sraiw.—The Dutchess de Montpensier has given birth to a daughter, at Seville.

The Heraldo of Madrid, of the 22d, states that on the 17th a severe engagement, of some hours' duration, took place near Labagol in Cata- lonia, between Cabrera, at the head of a numerous band, and two detach- ments of the Queen's troops; and that eventually the insurgents were rout- ed, and Cabrera himself compelled to fly into France. The provinces of Ciudad Real and Toledo had been proclaimed in a state of siege.

Rossra.—A letter in the Gazette des Tribunaux, dated St. Petersburg, 10th instant, gives an account of a disturbance excited in that city by the increased severity of the cholera. A report was circulated amongst the poorer people, that the aristocracy had employed poison to cut them off. They constructed barricades; and the troops were about to attack them, when the Emperor arrived on horseback, attended by a single aide-de-camp. The Emperor ordered the troops to fall back, and, ascending the bassi, cade, addressed the insurgents as follows-

" The cholera, my children, is a chastisement which God inflicts on men, and to which they must submit with resignation. All the reports of poisonings are pure falsehoods, invented by evil-minded persons, who are the enemies of the people." The insurgents, who had cast themselves on their knees, and raised their hands, as in the attitude of prayer, when they perceived their Czar, re- mained silent, with the: exception of two who commenced a reply. The Czar ordered the insurgents to arrest those two men, and then commanded the troops to return to their barracks. The insurgents immediately seized their comrades and delivered them up to the police. They demolished the barricades, and separated peaceably.

INDIA AND Cama.—The overland mail has arrived with dates from Calcutta of the 7th, and Madras to the 12th August, and from Bombay to the 5th. No incidents of importance had occurred. The authorities at Lahore had despatched aid to Lieutenant Edwardes; and there is every prospect that he will by its means reduce Moulton speedily. The last news left him and his handful of men intrenched amid the ruins which lie scattered for miles around the modern walls of Moulton, and within two coss (a variable Hindoo measure which may mean anything between a mile and a quarter and three or four miles) of the city-gates. The force which is moving to his help consists of a siege-train, 1,500 cavalry, and 1,500 European and 3,000 Native infantry; and is commanded by Major- General Whish.

Letters from Bombay announce the deaths of Sir R. Oliver, Commander- in-chief and Superintendent of the Indian Navy, and of Commodore John Pepper, acting Naval Storekeeper and senior officer of the Indian Navy. Intelligence from Ceylon to the 16th August, describes a serious insur- rection in the Kandian par; of that island—in the coffee districts of Kor- negalle and Matelle. The dissatisfaction felt at the imposition of fresh taxes, consisting of 28. 6d on fire-arms, Is. on dogs, 1/. on shops, and 38. or six days' labour, per year, for internal improvements, gave rise to the movement. Advantage was taken of the outbreak; and an attempt was made to set up a Native, "a fat, half-stupid lad, about twenty years of age," a descendant of one of the old rulers, as King of Kandy. Four thousand refractory Kandians entered Kornegalle. Some of the public buildings were de- molished, and the civil prisoners were released from confinement. A de- tachment of Ceylon Rifles was fired on ; the fire was returned, and eight or nine of the insurgents were killed. Martial law was proclaimed. The disloyal marched on to Matelle; whence the inhabitants fled, and left the town to be sacked. Troops having arrived, they made sad havoc with the rebels; who dispersed in all directions. The would-be King had a narrow escape. The insurgents reentered Komegalle, and committed all sorts of depredations. They were repulsed by the Malay troops, and lost sixteen of their band. All the villages and houses for miles round the scenes of action were abandoned. The works on the estate of Sir Herbert Maddock (late Deputy Governor of Bengal now on a visit to Ceylon) were so much damaged by the rebels, that considerable expense will be incurred in preparing for the coming crop.

On the 6th August, an individual was apprehended at Komegalle, who, it was reported, was the Pretender: it turned out, however, that it was his brother, and a rebel leader. He was tried before the military tribunal, found guilty, sentenced to death, and immediately shot; and his body was ordered to be suspended as a spectacle for four days. Though the dis- satisfaction at the Government measures was universal, rebellion had not manifested itself in any other coffee districts than those of Kornegalle and Matelle. When these accounts came away, the insurrection was considered to be effectually suppressed.

The news from Hong-kong is to the 25th July. General quiet prevails at Canton and the other Chinese ports. A prevailing sickness had been general amongst the garrison of the Ninety-fifth Regiment in particular; arising, probably, from the early and unusual heat: otherwise the colony was generally healthy.

WEST INharts.—The West India steam-ship Teviot arrived at South- ampton on Sunday; bringing dates from Jamaica to the 21st August, and Bermuda to the 5th instant. The Teviot ran 3,116 miles from Bermuda in eighteen days, with but one engine!

The news from Jamaica is important. The Assembly has taken the first step in stopping the supplies; refusing to make good the ways and means, by Treasury certificates, as the Governor recommended.

THE JAMAICA ASSEMBLY'S ADDRESS.

"May it please your Excellency—We, her Majesty's dutiful and loyal subjects, the Assembly of Jamaica, thank year Exeellency for your speech at the opening of the session.

"Whilst we appreciate the motives which have induced your Excellency to call us together at this unusual period, we regret the circumstance, because we fear the opportunity, so anxiously sought by the inhabitants at their many public meetings, for devising measures to avert the abandonment of properties now too far gone for beneficial support, has passed by; and because we cannot see the pro- priety of issuing Treasury certificates, at present, to meet the deficiency in the ways and means of the year. "It may not be wise legislation to vote a certain amount of expenditure with- out the means of defraying it; but, relying on relief and assistance from the Im- perial Parliament, (a reliance encouraged by your Excellency's assurances, con- tained in your opening speech to us in the last session,) we did not disturb the existing institutions of the country at that period; though we then felt assured of the utter impossibility of raising sufficient means to uphold the present outlay, unless the system of British legislation, which has brought frightful misery and desolation to the door of every inhabitant of the colony, was materially and bene- ficially altered.

" Seeing now no chance of the fulfilment of those hopes, on which we were induced to rely, we feel that it were better to suffer the imputation of unwise than oppressive legislation. With every desire, therefore, to support institutions so necessary to our social existence, we deem it our bounden duty to abstain from

increasing taxation on a people no longer able to endure it. ass 1, "We agree with your Excellency, that, under usual circumstances, it would be a pity, having bad the trouble of assembling, to separate, even by adjournment, for any considerable period, without doing something for the general and perma- nent benefit of the colony: but, under existing circumstances, wholly destitute as we are of the means, we feel our powerless position, and our utter inability te enter upon improvement of any kind. It were needless therefore to dwell at length on the various suggestions which your Excellency has made to us, doubtless with a sincere desire for our ultimate advantage. " Your Excellency has informed us, that it is your sincere conviction that the destinies of Jamaica, for many years to come, may be said to be in our hands; and that there is nothing likely to be done by the Mother-country that need prevent us with God's blessing and our united exertions, from making the inhabitants of this island one of the happiest of the communities of men, and an example to the Western world of all that is good in the various conditions of human society. We should indeed be happy if we could join your Excellency in this delightful anticipa- tion; but our present gloomy position presents far different prospects, which are not brightened by the assurance of your Excellency, that we are standing in dan- gerous and critical circumstances, which, by wilful and desperate courses, and the erroneous management of public affairs, might lead to great and signal calamity. "We feel bound to express how deeply we deplore that your Excellency should have found it necessary, m drawing our attention to these circumstances and the proximity of neighbouring countries, to infer that there is one man in this island, or a British subject anywhere, so insane or so divested of just and moral feeling as to wish to retrace those steps which have led to the banishment of slavery for ever from British soil. We one and all repudiate even the thought, and, on be- half of our constituents, declare unequivocally our belief that no such senti- ment, even by stealth, has penetrated the heart of any single inhabitant of Ja- maica."

SIR CHART IN GREY'S REPLY.

"Mr. Speaker, and Gentlemen of the Assembly—I am happy in knowing that I have never given you any assurances which I was not justified in giving; or on which any reliance, on your part, would have been misplaced.

"I observe with great if not with an unqualified satisfaction, that you charac- terize the idea of any return towards slavery, by. the names of immorality, injus- tice and insanity; and I hope that there is no individual amongst you who will not himself carefully abstain from any language which might create an impression of his entertaining such ideas; and that you will inculcate a like caution on those who may be in your employment, or over whom you may possess any influence."

A most disastrous hurricane occurred in the middle of August, and devastated Antigua, St. Kitts, Nevis, and St. Thomas. At Antigua and St. Kitts there has been no such loss of life and property for nearly twenty years; neither the hurricane of 1835 nor the earthquake of 1843 having been attended with such deplorable results.

During the latter part of the 21st August, clouds weie seen at -Antigua gathering from all directions, and hanging motionless: the heat was ter- ribly oppressive; but, as the barometer did not indicate anything parti- cular, a little rain and thunder only were expected. The redness of the sky and eddies of wind at sunset occasioned anxiety. In the night the wind increased, and a storm was then anticipated. Every preparation was rapidly made to mitigate its dire effects. At eleven p. m. the darkness was impenetrable, and the tempest was approaching: up to this period, however, the mercury had only fallen one-tenth of an inch. At midnight the wind raged furiously; lightning and thunder were incessant, accompanied by floods of rain. At this time a severe shock of earthquake was felt, attended by very heavy gusts. The gale continued to increase, until its force was perfectly terrific. By half-past one the mercury had fallen four-tenths of an inch, and the storm at this time was dreadful. By two a. to. it had abated; and towards morning the day dawned as calmly as if the elements had been at peace; but on looking abroad on the 22d, the island, which had been studded with neat structures and populous villages, appeared as a waste of rubbish and ruin. It is believed that the South and West part of the island experienced the wind much more than the North side. In the old road division the devastation was immense. The villages of Dalzell's and Johnson's Point were destroyed. The churches of St. Mary, St. Luke, and St. Philip, were more or less damaged; some of the rectory-houses were destroyed. The Moravian mission establishment at St. John's, Grace Bay, and Cedar Hall, more or less suffered. Some of the villages were completely destroyed. At this part of the island they had early notice of the hurricane by an extraordinary swell of the sea. The injury to plan- tation property has been extremely serious, particularly at Thebou works. In English Harbour the injury to public and private property was very se- rious. The Governor has suffered a great loss of property. In the dockyard all the buildings were destroyed: soldiers' barracks were ruined, the Middle Ground Buildings thrown into the sea. Government loss in English Har- bour alone is 25,0001. Wesleyan Chapel and Lady Grey's School were levelled, and Monk's Hill Barracks destroyed. Throughout the island 2,000 buildings are unroofed and 700 totally destroyed. By far the greater portion of these are the cottages of the labouring classes. The hurricane did not extend to Barbuda. The number of lives lost is said to be thirty authentic accounts of eighteen have been received. Immense numbers of cattle and stock of all kinds have been destroyed. The largest trees were torn up by the roots, and houses were lifted twenty-five yards from their foundation.

Nearly similar scenes occurred at St. Kitts and Nevis. At St. Thomas the storm was less terrible. The West India Company's steamers Medway and Eagle rode out the hurricane, with the assistance of the moorings and by dropping two anchors. At Havana, a report was in circulation, that several merchants had been arrested and sent to the Bastile, for a conspiracy against the Queen of Spain; having visited the United States and offered to throw themselves and Cuba under the dominion of America.

UNITED STATES.—The Niagara arrived at Liverpool on Monday, with papers from New York to the 13th and Halifax to the 16th instant. There is no news of political interest, except the notices in the papers of a great invasion of Mexico by bands of private American citizens, who propose to seize and revolutionize a part of the country, and erect a new State like Texas. "Preparations," says the Times correspondent, "were advancing with all the spirit and determination which the incendiary journalists of the United States can desire." More great fires have occurred. An American correspondent of the Morning Chronicle wrote, on the 16th instant— "Never within the brief period of a week do I remember so many and such extensive losses by fire, in the United States. In the Atlantic States, we have bad a two-months drought, which has rendered timber buildings and many kinds of merchandise unusually inflammable. Hence, probably, the fre- quency of conflagrations. By far the most destructive was the awful fire at Brooklyn, on Saturday night last; which was only arrested by the marines from the Navy-yard blowing up three houses. Nearly fifteen acres in the very centre of Brooklyn are desolated, involving the following loss- 250 houses and stores, 3 churches, and a post-office; fear lives lost, and nine persons wounded; property destroyed worth 1,050,000 dollars. On Sunday night, thirty-five of the best houses in Potsville, Pennsylvania, were destroyed by fire.— loss 100,000 dollars. The Catholic church at Boston, under the care of the Reverend Mr. Fitzsimmons, has been accidentally burnt—loss 75,000 dollars. There have been other fires at New York, Albany, Boston, St. Louis, Newburg,

&c.; while fires in the woods are raging in many regions to a great extent, both in the United States and the British provinces. Butter Hill, and several moun- tains on the North River, are pyramids of flame; presenting a sublime spectacle to the night passengers between Albany and New York."