Sortign anti Tolortial.
FRANCE.—In the Chamber of Peers, on Monday, the Due de Broglie read the draft of an addess in answer to the King's speech ; of which it was an echo. It contained what appears to be a remote allusion to the Duke of Bordeaux and the schemes of his adherents- " God has blessed you, Sire, by giving to you children worthy of their father and of the nation of which they are the noblest supporters. Thus dy- nasties are consolidated, and bonds of affection are formed between royal races and nations. Pledged faith and a mutual attachment render the tie indissolu- ble. The King, on ascending the throne, promised to devote to us his entire existence, to do every thing to promote the glory and welfare of France : France promised to be faithful to him. The King has observed his oath: where is the Frenchman who could forget or betray his allegiance?"
The Due de Richelieu entered into some explanation of his late visit to the Duke of Bordeaux. He was, he said, a Peer in 1830; he took the oath at that time to the new Government, and had never violated it. If he had gone to London to pay his respects to an unfortunate prince, he merely considered that he was accomplishing a duty of honour, and rejected with indignation all idea of having been influenced by any criminal intention. N. de Boissy, condemning the domestic and foreign policy of Ministers, asked for explanations respecting collision between British cruisers and French fishermen in Newfoundland. M. Guizot replied, that a French fisherman had been actually killed at Newfound- land by a shot fired by an English officer ; that this unfortunate occur- rence had given rise to a long negotiation; and that the English Govern- ment, on inquiring into the circumstances which had occasioned that deplorable event, had found that the officer was to blame, and had granted a pension to the family of the deceased. That disposed of, the Duke of Bordeaux again became the subject of discussion ; and M. de Veyrac offered 'the vindication of two or three thousand Frenchmen who had visited the Duke." 31. Guizot replied that Government had kept a watchful eye on the movements of the Duke of Bordeaux— When the young Prince had repaired to Vienna, Dresden, and Berlin, where France had Ambassadors, remonstrances had been made against his presence there; which were immediately attended to by the Governments of Austria, Saxony, and Prussia. When the Duke proceeded to England, M. Guizot was aware that in a country enjoying liberty and publicity to such an extent the Government had not the same means of repression as elsewhere : he, never- theless, had addressed a note to the English Government; by whom it was re- ceived in a manner that responded to his expectation. The Queen of England refused to receive the Duke, and thus gave him a signal mark of her disappro- bation of his visit and sojourn in her dominions. Encouraged, however, by the toleration they experienced in that free country, the Legitimists bad indulged in scandalous scenes, which excited the attention of the French Government. It again applied to the British Cabinet; who protested its regret at not being armed with sufficient legal means of repression ; but at the same time it mani- fested its displeasure in unequivocal terms to the authors of those scenes, and left nothing undone to convince them of its dissatisfaction at their criminal proceedings. The general discussion having closed, the Chamber proceeded to dis- cuss the several paragraphs of the address. The third paragraph was altered by an amendment in favour of Polish nationality. M. Guizot stated that the British Government had been induced to reexamine the right of search treaties of 1831 and 1833, and he had every hope of bringing the matter to a satisfactory conclusion. Finally, the whole Address was carried, by 115 to 14.
On Friday, the Minister of Finance informed the Address Committee of the Deputies, that he should present the budget in the course of the present month ; adding, that there would not only be a surplus of re- venue to the amount of 800,000 francs over the expenditure for the last year, but that the various deficiencies for the years 1840, 1841, 1842, and 1843, would be reduced to a sum of 350,000,000 francs.
The students of Paris created a disturbance on Saturday. A body of them, reckoned at 300 by the Ministerial Journal des Debats, and at 1,000 or 1,200 by the Republican National, went to present to M. Laffitte a written address, approving of his speech on leaving the chair in the Chamber of Deputies. M. Laffitte came into the courtyard of his house, and returned thanks. The students then set out for Passy, to see M. Beranger. Passing the Foreign Office, they shouted, "A bas Gnizot I" on which the Police arrested some, and ordered others to disperse. They did so, but reassembled, and went to Passy. M. Be- ranger was absent; which vexed the students, who vented their dis- pleasure on the Police, crying "A bas lea mouchards!" some even brandishing their sticks. The Police arrested a few more, making in all eight or ten ; and the rest went home.
The trials of the Gazette de France and the Quotidienne, for political libels, took place on Wednesday. The libels consisted in advocacy of the Duke of Bordeaux's pretensions, or "adhesion to another form of Government than that established in France," with attacks on the King and Ministers. M. Mery, responsible editor of the Gazette, suffered judgment to go by default, and was sentenced to two years' imprison- ment, with a fine of 6,000 francs. N. Vaugrinense, of the Quotidienne, was found guilty, and sentenced to be imprisoned for one year, and to pay a fine of 8,000 francs.
The French Government are said to be punishing those who made the pilgrimage to Belgrave Square; and among the martyrs is a snuff- dealer of Fletres, who has been deprived of his licence !
PORTUGA.L.—Advices from Lisbon, of the 3d instant, announce the opening of the Cortes by the Queen in person, on the 2d. Senhor Costa Cabral, the now unpopular Minister, had been elevated to the dignity of Councillor of State for life ; which had caused the dislike of him to extend to the Queen. Senhor Olozaga was staying with Mr. Southern, the Secretary to the British Embassy at Lisbon, whose wife is a Spaniard.
SPAIN.—Affairs remained with little alteration in Madrid to the 4th instant. The Anti-Ministerial majority of the Cortes had strongly pro- tested against the " suspension" of their sittings. In reply to a com- mittee of the protesters, S. Gonzalez Bravo declared that he never entertained the project of dissolving the Chambers. Meanwhile, Government had promulgated a decree, regulating and reorganizing the untamientos, or Corporations, throughout the kingdom, and trans- ferring the appointment of Mayors and Alcaldes to the Crown. This is the same law which, in 1840, drove Queen Christina from Spain, and against which 15,000 petitions were then presented ! Sixteen members of the existing Corporation of Madrid had resigned, to avoid the opera- tion of the new law ; and it is expected that other Corporations will
follow their example. There is a rumour that Gonzalez Bravo will be compelled to retire, and that he may be succeeded by S. Isturitz or the Marquis de Miraflores. It is asserted positively that Queen Isabella is to marry the Count of Trapani, youngest brother to the King of Naples. The Count is six- teen years old, and has not yet left school. Mr. Henry Lytton Bulwer, the new British Ambassador, had arrived, and been presented to the Queen. S. Martinez de la Rosa had accepted the post of Spanish Ambassador at Paris. The Baron de Meer and A metier are said to have agreed to the terms of the capitulation of Figueras, on the 30th December.
Garzca.—Letters from Athens to the 21st December state that the National Assembly had voted an address in answer to the speech from the Throne, couched In moderate terms. The Athens papers say that M. Guizot and Lord Aberdeen had communicated to the Grecian Go- vernment a programme of the principles which they wished to be ob- served in framing the new constitution : among other recommendations are these-
" That the Royal person be inviolate ; that the King have the nomination of all civic and military employes; that he should propose laws and aid in drawing them up; and that the Government alone should propose expenses; that property alone should be the basis of electoral rights; that there should be two Chambers—one elective, and one named by the King for life or here- ditary; that the Chamber should vote expenses and taxes; and that its session should be annual."
The German papers mention disturbances in Athens on the 11th and 19th; but letters direct, to the 19th, represent the capital as quite tran- quil; and a fire which destroyed the hotel of the Foreign Minister, and which was at first reported to be malicious, appears to have been acci- dental.
WEST INDIES.—The Clyde mail-steamer brings intelligence from Jamaica to the 9th December, and from the other colonies of corre- sponding dates. The several islands were tranquil, but in general not very healthy ; and shocks of earthquake had been felt, at the end of November and beginning of December, at Souffriere, Dominica, and Antigua. Jamaica was healthier. Its Legislature was busy; and among the questions which had arisen was, apropos to some money-grants for ecclesiastical purposes, that of Nonintrusion ! The Earl of Elgin continued his patronage of agriculture, and the use of the plough in- creased ; but bitter complaints are made of the want of labour, and of the restrictive policy of the Mother-country in obstructing the supply of free labour, and confining the colony to the home market for its ex- ports and for the purchase of manufactures. In Trinidad, a bill had passed to substitute the British law of inheritance for the Spanish.
Noarst AMERICA.—The packet-ship Liverpool, which left New York on the 21st December' arrived at the port after which it is named on Wednesday. In the American House of Representatives, a motion to repeal the present Tariff had been lost by 77 to 107. But in the Senate, Mr. M`Duffie, of South Carolina, had obtained leave to introduce a bill to revise the Tariff Act of 1833, commonly called the Compromise Ast. The bill provides, first, for striking out the minimum valuation assumed by the Compromise Act, and substituting the actual value; secondly, that no duty shall exceed 30 per cent; thirdly, that after the 31st December, no duty shall exceed 25 per cent ad valorem ; fourthly, that after the 31st December 1844, no duty shall exceed 20 per cent ad valorem. It was referred to the Finance Committee.
The latest date from Kingston, in Canada, is December the 15th, four days later than the previous advices. Arrangements had been corn- plated for transferring the official papers of the late Ministers to a new Government, which is spoken of as temporary or provisional; including, besides Mr. Daly and Mr. Viger, Mr. Draper.
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