Jump out Culauial.

FRANCE.—The pressing question in the French metropolis this week has been the supply of food. An Imperial decree authorizes the forma- tion, under the guarantee of the city of Paris, and under the authority of the Prefect of the Seine, of a bank for the use of the bakers of Paris. It is to be charged to pay for them the amount of their purchases of corn and flour, and to that effect a credit will be opened to each baker on the deposit of proper securities. Every baker is bound to send to the bank, within three days after each purchase, a declaration of the corn or flour purchased by him ; and these declarations will serve as elements to make out the official prices for the month. The bank is authorized to advance to the bakers the amount of the deficiency which may exist between the price of bread as fixed by the Municipal Council and the price resulting from the official returns of corn and flour for the month. In order to receive back such advances, the bank, when abundance shall have returned, is to take as a compensation an additional price which the bakers aro to bo authorized to impose upon each loaf. if advisable, the operations of the bank are to be extended to the bakers in the other communes of the Seine. The bakers' bank can, with the authorization of the Municipal Council, borrow the funds necessary for the service with which it is charged, and the expense of its administration is to be borne by the city of Paris. In an article commenting on this decree, the Monde:4r, while applauding the measures taken by the Municipality of Paris, distinctly hints that the best mode of alleviating suffering and preventing distress, is to increase the resources of employment. The quantity of corn im- ported into France during the last five months, 5,200,000 hectolitres, is double that entered in the last five months of 1846. The lioniteur of Thursday published a decree abolishing the restric- tions imposed by the rescript of the 8th of February 1826, on raw cotton imported into France from Great Britain and the British possessions in Europe. According to the said rescript the produce of Asia, Africa, and America, sent from England and her European possessions into French ports was to be admitted for reiSxportation only.

A commission has been appointed to superintend the universal exposi- tion of the products of agriculture, of industry, and of the fine arts, to open in Paris on the 1st of May 1855. The President is Prince Napo- leon ; the number of members thirty-seven, among whom are MM. Ba- roche, Blanqui, Delacroix, Charles Dupin, Dumas, Dollfus, Ingres, Michel Chevalier, Count de Morny, Sallandrouze, Duke de Muuchy, and Visconti. The commission is divided into two sections—one of in- dustry, the other of the fine arts. A special degree appoints Lord Cowley a member of the commission. The Emperor of the French had conferred the Grand Cordon of the Le- gion of Honour on Count de San Luis, and that of Grand Officer of the same order on M. Calderon de la Bares, on the occasion of the conclu- sion of the literary treaty with France. The Queen of Spain, on her side, had sent the Grand Cross of Charles III. to the Ministers of Foreign Affairs and of the Interior of France.

General Leto, late questor of the Legislative Assembly, and at present a refugee in Jersey, has received a retiring pension of 4000 francs.

SPAIN.—The recent duels at Madrid have attracted a good deal of no- tice and much speculation, both on account of the principals and seconds, and the conflicting accounts which have been published. The most cir-

cumstantial story is one given by the Jfessager de Bayonne, derived from parties "who write on facts in which they played a part." According to that journal, the Duke of Alba, at a ball given by M. de Turgot, on the 15th November, made some remark on the eccentric dress of Mrs. Soule, the wife of the American Minister. [The remark is said to have been " There goes Mary of Burgundy "—or " Margaret of Burgundy," for the

reports vary as to which.] Overhearing this, Mr. Soule junior sent, next day, Mr. Perry, Secretary of the American Legation, and Colonel

Milans de Bosch, with a letter to the Duke of Alba. The Duke threw the letter unopened on his desk, and assured the gentlemen that what had passed at the ball was only a joke, exchanged in private conversation, which could only apply to Mrs. Soule's dressmaker : he also, it is stated, wrote a kind letter to Mr. Soule junior. But next day he read the letter brought by the seconds, and found it so insolent that he felt bound to take notice of it. Mr. Soule junior is represented as disavowing the offensive expressions, and asking to be allowed to keep a copy of the letter ad- dressed to him by the Duke of Alba, giving his word not to use it. This request was granted. But some account of the affair, " caricaturing the Duke of Alba," says the Bayonne journal, was published in the English papers; and, irritated by these attacks, the Duke of Alba sent Don Jose de la Concha to Mr. Soule junior to demand satisfaction. Satisfaction

-was accorded, and small swords were chosen. Mr. Soule asked for a de- lay of forty-eight hours : it was granted. On the day fixed for the duel,

he kept the Duke waiting for him ; and when he arrived, brought with him " six carriages full of his countrymen who live at Madrid " ; which " made the duel a cock-fight." " The two adversaries take their ground ; the swords are crossed ; Mr. Soule, fils, breaks continually ; he several times demands truces; which are granted to him. But at length the seconds declare that the duel must terminate, and that they will only grant five minutes more to arrive at the denouement. By that time, Mr. Soule, fils, was slightly wounded; and promised on his word of honour to contradict the facts given by the English press, by inserting a letter in the English and American journals. lie also bound himself to burn the letter which the Duke of Alba had written to him, before witnesses. Thus terminated this combat."

Mr. Alfred Mercier, brother of Mrs. Soule, gives a different account of the affair, in correcting the Sieele. He says that the meeting took place on the 14th December ; "and, after a contest of half an hour without re- sult, the seconds interfered, and declared that honour was satisfied. The combat then ceased, and the adversaries shook hands." A letter, signed by all the second; and addressed to the editor of the Morning Chronicle, supports the account of Mr. Mercier. They say that no personal insults or offensive words were exchanged between Mr. Soule and the Duke of Alba ; and that ample explanations were given of the ball-room affair. The duel was the result of subsequent incidents; and they distinctly assert that the rencontre passed "in the most chivalric fashion," and terminated in a frank and loyal rapprochement, equally -honourable to both combatants.

But here the story does not end. On the morning of the 14th De- cember, Mr. Soule senior sent a cartel to M. de 'rurgot, as the real source of the quarrel, as it was at a ball in his house where the offensive words were spoken. M. Turgot declared on his honour that he did not use the words imputed to him ; but refused to give satisfaction. The parties, however, met on the 18th instant. Lord Ilowden and General Genie were the seconds for M. de Turgot ; General Valdes and M. de Piton, editor of the Clamor Public°, seconds for Mr. Soule. The weapons used were pistols. Mr. Soule shot his antagonist in the thigh. M. de Turgot is still suffering from the wound. -,;Lt is rumoured that a third duel would arise out of this ridiculous affair—between Mr, Perry and the French Consul at Santander.

Tmatorr.—The latest accounts from Constantinople extend to the 19th instant. On the preceding day, a Divan, originally fixed for the 20th, was held to discuss the collective note of the Four Powers. After a full diseussion, it was resolved to accept the note and renew negotiations, sub- ject to certain conditions. The Porte will agree to a conference, and name a plenipotentiary, to meet the representatives of the Four Powers and Russia, provided that Vienna be not the neutral city fixed on for the conference. The Porte considers all treaties existing between it and Russia before the war at an end, and declines to renew them ; and it in- sists that the evacuation of the Principalities, guaranteed by the Four Powers, shall be a sine qua non immediately on the conclusion of the treaty. Such is the most authentic statement of this important intelli- gence. Doubts have been cast on the sincerity of Austrian policy, through an ar- tielein a semi-official journal at Vienna. The journal laments the interpre- tation put upon the collective note in other places, and insists that "the maintenance of the old treaties between Russia and the Sublime Porte, especially those of Kainardji and Adrianople, has been adopted by the Four Powers as the main condition or basis of the future instrument of peace." The journal denies that Austria has assumed a threatening position towards Russia by signing the collective note, but avers that she continues on the footing of friendship with the Emperor of Russia.

It is stated that the French and English Admirals have now been in- structed to enter the Black Sea, not only to prevent the Russians from disembarking troops on the coast of the Black Sea, but also that it shall be signified to the Russian Admiral, through the medium of an envoy with a flag of truce, who will be sent to Sebastopol, that he is interdicted from putting to sea. Another report says that the Admirals are not to allow any ships of war, whether Russian or Turkish, to navigate that sea ; and they are directed to send back all Russian ships into Sebastopol, and all Turkish ships into the ports on the South side of the Euxine ; and, in case of a refusal on the part of either, in case of necessity to use force. The Black Sea is to be declared " uric mer neutre" during the continu- ance of the war.

The combined fleets still remained at Beicos—they had not entered the Black Sea. The two vessels sent to Sinopo had returned. They had been of great assistance to the wounded, of whom they brought to Con- stantinople upwards of two hundred. In the battle of Sinope the Turks lost 3000 men. The Turkish portion of the town was burnt ; the Greek portion spared. The accounts of last week are fully confirmed. The Turks fought with the most resolute bravery, and preferred to blow up their ships rather than surrender. An English brig, in the harbour at the time, with her ensign flying, was fired into by the Russians ; and, being fouled by a drifting Turkish ship, was burned. Admiral Nachimoff ad- dressed a letter to the Austrian Consul at Sinope, stating that he was in-

structed solely to act against the Turkish ships of war, which had been attempting to raise the populations on the Black Sea under Russian cse, trol, and that he had " no hostile intention either against the town or the port of Sinope " !

The Turkish communications having been cut off by this disaster, we have no military news from the further East. The Russians publish a circumstantial account of the victory gained by Beboutoff; but the reader calls to mind the Russian claim to the victory at Oltenitza. All accounts from Constantinople confirm the report that Persia has broken alike with Turkey and England, declaring war against the former. It is even stated that General Yermeloff will command the Persians. The name of Count Simonich, long Ambassador of Russia at Teheran, is men- tioned as the real director of Persian politics. It was by his means that the difference was created between the British Minister and the Persian Government, although to the last the Russian Minister professed the greatest friendship for the Government of Great Britain.

The Czas, a Polish journal, noting the vast preparations for war made by Russia in Asia, says— "Russia has prepared a great expedition, the pretext of which is to elms. tise the Khan of Khiva, but which is only a mask for vast projects. For fif- teen years Russia has been working towards the possession of Mongolia and of the Kingisen : she has organized their hordes by providing them with officers, arms, and money ; and at this present moment an army of 200,000 horsemen, consisting of the Tartar and Mongolian tribes of Central Asia, well armed, hardened to fatigue, and accustomed to traverse the greatest distances, has taken the field under the orders of Russia. At the same time Russia is doing all she can to excite the Persians and the Affghana to a war against England, and to join their armies to the Tartar hordes she is urging towards India. If she succeeds—if the independent and hostile tribes to England beyond the Ganges are gained over—it is doubtful whether Eng. land will be able to maintain her dominion in the East Indies. Incalculable changes may, therefore, be expected in India as well as in Central Asia. Perhaps the days of Gengis Khan may be renewed, and India once more be- come the prey of the Tartars."

From the seat of war on the Danube we have no news, although we have some information. The only novelty announced is questionable: namely, that " the Russian steamer Pruth has fired red-hot shot into two Turkish villages and set them on fire." The information relates to Kale- fat ; the works of which are described by the Times correspondent them as amazing in their extent and strength.

"These works bear no resemblance to the inartificial Turkish intreneh- meuts such as one has frequently seen elsewhere. All are constructed on the most modern principles of engineering science; their wide extent, and the extraordinary activity displayed in so short a time, have struck me with astonishment. I believe that since Torres Tedras, no lines of so striking a character have risen, as if by magic in execution, but clearly showing no hurry in plan or selection. This revolt of the Turks against their own ha- bitually sluggish nature, this union of a burst of Asiatic energy with the science of Europe, compels my mind frequently to recur to the similar phe- nomena of the Hungarian war. I certainly do not think that it would be safe for Russia to pay a visit to Kalafat with less than 50,000 men. • * * * The scientific General at Kalafat is Ahmed Pacha : the lighting General is Ismael Paella, a man of the most determined bravery and great natural sagacity in military matters, having made successively the campaigns of 1828-'9, those of Mehemet All in Syria from Nezib to Acre, of Kurdistan, of the revolts in Albania and Bosnia, and lastly of Montenegro. He looks every inch a soldier ; nor must we forget to mention, in concluding our no- tice on Kalafat, the valuable assistance which the army there has received from the order add fertility of resource Sami Pacha [Governor of Widin] has shown in bringing up and getting over the materials requisite for these hn- portant works. ' The latest accounts state that the Russians were, apparently, about to test the strength of these works: but it is doubtful.

In the Black Sea there had been terrible tempests. Up to the 15th eighty merchant-ships had been lost.

DENMARK AND SwEnms.—Reports have been current, this week, that an alliance offensive and defensive has been concluded between these Northern Courts ; and that preparations are going on to strengthen the defences of Denmark. From Stockholm conies a report that a courier re- cently arrived from St. Petersburg with a letter from the Emperor Nicholas, "commanding" the King of Sweden to close his ports against France and England. Another version of the story was, that the Russian emis- sary was instructed to persuade the Government of Sweden to adopt the desired measures. It was added, that although the nation, to a teen, is hostile to Russia, King Oscar looks upon her with favour. This assertion is vehemently denied on the faith of letters from Stockholm : the Ring and the nation are equally hostile to Russia.

Paussia.—General Joseph von Radowitz died on Christmas Day, after a lingering illness, but without pain. Joseph von Radowitz was born on the Gth February 1797, at Blandenberg, in the Harz Mountains. His mother was a Protestant, his father a Roman Catholic. Up to his fourteenth year the mother was allowed to educate her son in her owa faith ; but at that time his father sent him to a Roman Catholic schooL Entering the army at an early age in the service of Jerome King of West- phalia, the young Radowitz commanded a battery at Leipsic; was wounded in the battle, and taken prisoner. On the return of the Elector of Hesse Cassel to his dominions, Radowitz entered his service, and made the ensuing campaign against France with the Hessian artillery. He re- mained in the service of Hesse until 1821, when, taking the part of the ill-used wife of the Elector, who was sister of the King of Prussia, Ra- dowitz was disgraced ; and quitting Cassel, he went to Berlin, carrying a letter of recommendation from the King's sister. He speedily was ap- pointed tutor to Prince Albrecht. Here an acquaintance made with the Crown Prince, now King of Prussia, rapidly ripened into a friendship, although Radowitz was a Roman Catholic and the Prince a Protestant. . In 1828 Radowitz married the Countess Maria Voss, the daughter of the Ambassador. From 1831 to the year 1848, Radowitz was engaged in literature, and in endeavouring to effect reforms in Prussia and in the Bund. In 1847, at the King's request, he drew up a memorial for the reconstruction of the Bund. In the March of 1848 he

was at Vienna engaged in impressing his views on Prince Metternich, when the revolution broke out, and all hopes of gradual reform were dashed for

a time. In the Frankfort Parliament, Radowitz sat for Arnsberg in Westphalia, and voted with the Right. Meissner the poet has de- scribed him as sitting in the Church of St. Paul, " a dark, severe-looking man, never speaking to his neighbour, but brooding over the cause in hand until the division, when his powerful voice would be heard crying F Sitzenblieben ' or Aufstehen; according as he wished his party to Tote. Radowitz desired to see German unity brought about by a voluntary ar- Tangecrient between governments and peoples. When the Frankfort Par- liament disappeared, he returned to Berlin ; and the King, at his sugges- tion, called the abortive assembly known as the Erfurt Parliament. Austria opposed this scheme. In 1850 Radowitz was called to office, to carry out his views. At this crisis the dispute between the Elector of Hesse and his subjects occurred. Austria intervened in Hesse. Ra- dowitz mobilized the army ; the Landwehr was called out ; the military roads were occupied; the two armies came face to face, and even ex- changed shots. But at this juncture the King of Prussia gave way, and Badowitz resigned. From that time he took no ostensible part in po- litics.

HUNGARY.—It would seem that the despotism of Austria has not taken root in Hungary. The Vienna correspondent of the Times shows that the system of taxation, for instance, is not adapted to the circumstances of the people. "Let us take the land-tax for example. An acre of land in Austria Proper may be worth 701. or 80/. ; but, although the same quantity of land rarely fetches more than W. in Hungary, the tax levied is as heavy in one province as in the other. The Hungarian landed proprietor reasons thus—' As long as the means of communication are so imperfect, there is no chance of our being able to discharge our obligations to the state. If we grow corn, we have no means of sending it to market; and if we fell our timber, it must rot where it falls.' A person of rank, whopossesses vast forests in Hungary, has assured me that it is impossible to make both ends meet. As the assertion excited some slight symptoms of incredulity, the following expla- nation was given—' The tax is levied on the soil, and not on what it pro- duces. The superfieies of an estate is taken, and no regard is had to its capabilities. Now, I possess some square miles of ground, covered with splendid timber, for which the tax must be paid, although I cannot sell a single tree. If Government would accept payment in kind, or issue the promised bonds of indemnification, we might manage to keep our heads above water; but as it is, we are daily getting more and more into the clutches of the usurers.' As to the peasant nobles or gentry who cultivate their own little bit of land, they are either already ruined or in a fair way to be so. The peasants, who it might reasonably be supposed would be grateful to Government for their emancipation, grumble as much as their betters. Another evil is that the new institutions require such a host of employes that the net revenue is far less than it might be if the thing were better managed. The country swarms with employes who are in general discontented, because, being for the most part Bohemians and Germans, they cannot converse with the majority of the persons with whom they are brought in contact. An estate, the juridical and political business of which was in olden times ma- naged by two persons, has now thirteen employes. Of course, the excise- man, supervisor, &c., are included."

Boncompagni, the Ministerial candidate, was on Monday elected President of the Piedmontese Chamber of Deputies, by a majority of 74 to 20. This result was expected.

Disturbances, arising out of the scarcity, took place at Barge, in Pied- mont, on the.19th. For some time the rioters, demanding maize at a cheap rate, held possession of the market-place. At the time only a few carbineers were on the spot ; but prompt reinforcements arrived from Saluzzo, and on their approach the rioters fled. Forty were seized.

PORTUGAL.—The Portuguese Cortes was opened on the 19th December, by the King Regent in person. In his speech, the Regent alluded to the heavy blow inflicted on his heart by the loss of his virtuous Queen; and declared his determination to adhere religiously to the sacred oath he had taken to the Constitutional Charter. He also stated, that during the short time that would elapse before his son attained his majority, ho would exert himself to make the Prince worthy of his ancestor, and to deliver the kingdom to him in the enjoyment of perfect peace and in the possession of its precious liberties.

II/IA.—The fuller despatches by the overland mail add little to the brief sentences of the telegraph. The most important information is from Peshawur, now under Major Edwardes; whence, on the 9th No- vember, a force marched to occupy the Kohat Pass, and build a fort there, with the object of overawing the Afredees. The force was under the command of Lieutenant-Colonel Cotton.

It is stated in the Indian newspapers, that the Shah of Persia has marched from Teheran with 30,000 men, 1000 pieces of cannon, and 3000 camels loaded with ammunition, and that they were last seen passing Tabreez ; that the Shah had sent an envoy to Dost Mabomed; and that the Russian army, having captured Ahmetzee, was marching on Khiva. From Bombay we learn that Lord Falkland was expected to depart for Europe in January. "Khutput" (illicit practices) had been the subject of an investigation in the Bombay Secretariat. It is stated that a set of documents on the subject were drawn up and recently forwarded to Lord Falkland, then at Mahabuleshwar ; but that by some means the agents of the Baroda people, presumed to be guilty of " khutput," actually bribed the Post-office people and possessed themselves of the documents, between the post-office and the steamer. A servant has confessed that he was offered a bribe to give up the packets.

The Friend of India draws attention to the fact that the deliberate murder of female infanta has been found to prevail extensively in the F'unjaub; and states that the Government has taken measures to suppress it. The people are to be distinctly informed that infanticide is a crime ; a census, distinguishing male and female children, is to be drawn up; and a great meeting of the chiefs of the criminal districts was to be held, un- der the presidency of the Chief Commissioner of the Punjaub, to obtain from them, if possible, a declaration against the practice. The Governor- General takes a deep interest in the matter. It appears that the destruc- tion of female infants is general among the Rajpoots, common to the Mus- sulmans and the Bedees. In hundreds of families of the Punjaub, no daughter seems to have been born for generations : they have all been destroyed. The reason fur this is, that pride of race and public opinion compel a Rajpoot who marries his daughter to give her an extravagant dower ; and thus a contest arises between the wealth of the parent and his natural affections, which ends in the victory of the former. The Bedees are a priestly caste who tolerate none but male offspring. The Bombay Times of the 13th November reports the first annual meeting of the Native Association of Bombay ; which event took place on the 9th, and was attended by nearly all the Natives on the island. Jug- gernath Sunkersett presided, and succinctly stated the object of the ga- thering, in the Guzerattee language. The Association had been formed on the 26th August 1852; it now made its first annual report. Its pro- ceedings had cleared their ideas ; and for the future they would be able to act with much better effect. The great mass of their countrymen had

sympathized with them, and it was hoped the Association would bo kept up while there was any good to be done. The report read to the meet- ing mainly recounts what has been done in the past year : the presenta- tion of the Bombay petition in both Houses; the debates on the India Bill ; the Bill itself, which undergoes some criticism ; and the opera- tions of the Association in England with the, view of enlight-

ening public opinion. Warm thanks are given to the press both British and Indian, and the Times is especially thanked for its support. The Association is congratulated on the success of its efforts hitherto in dispelling the apathy of the British public, securing able supporters in Parliament, and in obtaining certain reforms in the India Act, especially the absence of a limit to its duration. The finances of the Association are flourishing : it has a balance of upwards of 17,000 rupees in hand. Dr. Bhawoo Dajee exhorted the meeting, in English, to persevere and ob- tain the admission of Natives to public employments. The report was received and ordered to be printed ; and the thanks of the Association were voted to the chairman.

Uxersn STATES.—The Europa arrived at Liverpool on Monday, bring- ing intelligence from New York to the 14th instant.

It seems that a band of " Flibusteros" have set up a republic in Lower California. On the 17th October, "the first Independence battalion," consisting of forty-five men, sailed from San Francisco under " Colonel Walker," captured the city of La Paz, took down the Mexican flag, seized the Governor, and hoisted a flag bearing red stripes and two stars— Lower California and Sonora. Colonel Walker was proclaimed " Pre- sident of the Republic of Lower California." From La Paz they deter- mined to go to St. Lucas. They had embarked when a Mexican vessel entered, bringing Colonel Rebollero, a new Governor ; and the Flibus- teros resolved to seize him also. They sent a party on shore; the citi- zens resisted by force; but, after a sharp battle, the Mexicans were de- feated, losing "six or seven killed and wounded." A regular Govern- ment, composed of a President, Secretary of State, Secretary at War, and Secretary of the Navy, has been organized. "The civil code and prac- tice of Louisiana," says the proclamation of ,the Flibusteros, " has been adopted for the rule of decision in our courts, and as the civil law of the land."

Sonora, the the next object of the expedition, was but weakly gar- risoned.

Emigrant-ships crossing the Atlantic from Liverpool to New York, during the month of November, suffered severely from some malignant disease, supposed to be cholera. All the ships did not suffer alike : some, indeed, escaped altogether; but in twenty-eight vessels, carrying 13,762 emigrants, 1141 died.