fortigu au k c frour.—Having returned to Paris and celebrated the fete

Napo- leon on the 15th, the Emperor, with the Empress and the infant " Child of France," left Paris on the 19th, for Biarritz, and arrived there at noon next day. At Biarritz the Emperor has met M. Turgot, his Am- bassador to the Court of Spain.

On the clay of the Napoleonic festivities, the Minister of State ordered the distribution of 1,300,000 francs from the funds appropriated for the execution of the will of the Emperor Napoleon I among the twenty-six departments designated by the testator. The amount for each will be 50,000 francs. The Minister also placed at the disposal of the Grand Chancellor of the Legion of Honour a part of the fun& destined for old soldiers. They were to be distributed among four or five thousand of the oldest and most necessitous.

.1155j f.—The journals are now filling their columns with gossip about the approaching coronation at Moscow. From far and near, and not a few from England, eager sight-seers, official persons and their suites, are ednverging upon St. Petersburg, some by knd, but moat by water. Large masses of troops have recently also arrived there, drawn from the Baltic provinces, Finland, and Archangel, en route for Mos- cow; where it is said by some sanguine persons 360,000, and by the more sober 80,000 troops, will be concentrated. Moscow is not a small city, but fears are expressed lest it should not afford accommodation for the tens of thousands flocking into it ; and rueful stories are told of the , poor places already said to have been assigned to princes of high degree. 'Besides the representatives of Europe and America, official and unoffi- cial, there are to be representatives of all the countries under the sway of the Czar from the Amoor to Finmark, and from the frontiers of Persia to the White Sea. Lists of the foreigners of eminence who will be pre- tsent have found their way into print, and the bare enumeration gives some idea of the magnitude and splendour of the assemblage. According to a French journal, the following Princes will be present at the coronation ceremony—Frederick William of Prussia, Frederick of the Netherlands, Nicholas Augustus of Sweden, Christian of Denmark, Fre- derick of Wurtemburg, Charles of Bavaria, 'Alexander and Louis of Hesse, William of Baden, Nicholas of Nassau. The Extraordinary Ambassadors are—from Austria, Prince Paul Ester- hazy ; France, Count de Morny ; England, Earl Granville ; Sardinia, the Count de Broglie; Naples, Chevalier Galeota, Duke of Regina; Belgium, the Prince de Ligne ; America, Mr. Seymour ; Sweden, Count d'Essen ; Saxony, Baron Seebaeh ; Mecklenburg, Baron de Zell ; Greece, M. de Bentz(); Turkey, Kupresli Pasha ; Persia, Factip-Kappin Shah and Nazar Aga -, Poland, the Noble Marshals of the Five Governments of the Kingdom and Five Commercial Delegates. The "special correspondent" also begins to figure on the scene ; jot- ting down by the way observations and descriptions bad and good. The Daily News correspondent says- " Even on the passage from London to Hamburg I found many persons bound for Moscow ; and every one had sonic anecdote to tell of the new Emperor's enlightened views and amiable disposition. Amongst other pil- grims to the holy city, were two English clergymen, with their canonicals in their portmanteaua, attracted by a formal intimation that, in the sacer- dotal portion of the Imperial procession room would be found for the re- cognized priests of every Christian denomination. It will be somewhat of a novelty in Russian ceremonial to see two clergymen of the Church of England assisting' the Greek Patriarch in one of the most important du- ties of his sacred office In due time we arrived at St. Petersburg, and had a foretaste of the improved regime which every one here hopes for, in the great courtesy and forbearance of the Custotahouse-officers ; who, to my great surprise, were perfect lambs in comparison with the stern func- tionaries of Dover or Folkestone. They did not even open the books in my portmanteau, although the word ' Russia' appeared conspicuously on the back of every one of them. It is generally understood that this is only part of the new system, and that the new Emperor contemplates even more start- ling innovations than this satisfactory relaxation of the rules of the douane. One little instance I may mention, as the straw showing the way,.the wind blows. In the late Emperor's time, smoking in the streets was stnetly.pro- hibited ; but shortly after the accession of the present, his Imperial Majesty was himself seen smoking along the quays —a quiet hint that the coun- terblast' had been allowed to die out of itself."

The Morning Poses correspondent remarks that St. Petersburg seems empty of soldiers. "To a person who had never been here before, it would still certainly ap- pear mere replete with them than any capital in Europe. But there is a great contrast with 1850, when I was last here. Then, the army of Russia was as conspicuous as the church of Russia. The military state of the country was as obvious to the glance as its devotional .peculiarities. You could not walk five hundred yards without seeing a prodigious number of religious orisons and martial salutes. Mujiks stopped and uncovered before the doors of churches ere passing on ; soldiers stopped and uncovered to let officers pass them, facing sideways towards these. If you closed your eyes, you still felt the circumambient ubiquity of church and army. The bell tolled for prayers, and the peasant muttered ; the drum beat to arms, and the captain bawled. Open your eyes again, and you were bewildered by the rapid succession of unnumbered varieties of uniform and warlike costume fleeting by you in a phantasmagoria yet more complicated by the rival frequency of sacerdotal robes, monastic habits, and the dress of licensed beggars, who extended for your small change a worsted-covered plate of pasteboard signed with a violet-coloured silken cross. Now, on the other hand, the church beats the army hollow in these palladian streets. The long purple robe of the bearded secular priest, whose hair has never been out, and hangs gauzy, fuzzy, and semi-transparent to the shoulders from beneath his low-crowned and broad-brimmed hat, brushes you at every turn. The equally long black robe of the monk relieves your eye. The brim- less, tall, funnel hat of the .A.rmenia' n, rakishly stepped, mingles frequent and conspicuous among the other head-gears ; and, all together, these ecclesiastical garments have become for the moment a more prominent and distinguishing street feature than even the various regimentals." Count de Meru was presented to the Emperor, at St. Petersburg, on the 7th. On Tuesday last he placed in the hands of the Emperor Alex- ander II the grand cross of the Legion of Honour, which the Emperor Napoleon has conferred on his Majesty. The Daily News correspondent describes the presentation of Lord Granville and his suite, on the 14th- " They went down to Peterhoff in the Princess Alice, and were received at the debarcadere by some of the high officers of the Court. Imperial car- riages were in attendance to convey them in the first instance to the English Palace ; where they found an elegant dejeuner prepared for them, and every convenience for making their court toilettes. They were then con- veyed to the Imperial Palace; where, in the first instance, Lord Granville was presented to the Emperor at a private audience of some dura- tion aftsr which his Lordship presented in succession all the members of his Embassy. The Emperor was, I understand, all cordiality and condescension, frequently_ addressing the persons present in the English and French languages. His Imperial Majesty's deportment is spoken of in terms of high admiration by every, one who had the honour of a presenta- tion. Subsequently, Lady Granville was presented to the Empress ; and in her turn presented the ladies of her suite, the Marchioness of Stafford, Lady Emily Peel, and Lady Margaret Leveson Gower. Char-a-banes were in waiting, into which the whole party got at the termination of the cere- monial; and a drive round the beautiful grounds of Peterhoff filled up the time until dinner, which, like the breakfast, was prepared at the English Palace. At this banquet several of the high officers of the Court were pre- sent; amongst whom the son of Count Nesselrode was active in discharging the duties of hospitality to the distinguished guests. At eleven o'clock the whole party were safely conveyed to town in the Princess Alice; being the first time that the voyage has been performed at that late hour by a vessel of her tonnage." The Journal des Dihate publishes a letter from St. Petersburg, stating that M. de Moray had an interview with Prince Gortsehakoff, Minister for Foreign Affairs, respecting the evacuation of Kars and the Russian occupation of the Isle of Serpents. The upshot was, that the ex- planations given by the Russian • MinistOr completely terminate the questions that have been mooted on these matters. "As regards the Serpents Island, I am assured that the Russian Cabinet had not the slightest intention of infringing the treaty of the 30th of March. It is also in my power to contradict the statement that Russia has the in- tention of constructing a fortress in the Gulf of Bothnia, destined to replace Zonsarsund." The Swedes show considerable anxiety, and point out how the Russian General de Berg has minutely inspected the island of Kasko, where there is a fine port and deep water close in-shore. "By means of a flying bridge," says a letter from Stockholm, "Kasko has a communication with the coast of Finland_ This harbour remains open to navigation for a month or six weeks later in the season than any of the other ports, and sailing vessels can leave it with the wind from any quarter so long as the sea remains open. It may be readily conceived what importance the Russian Government attaches to this port ; and no doubt is felt here of its intention to convert it into a second Sweaborg, and there form a third naval establishment for its Baltic fleet."

*IMES la.—The King of Prussia accompanied his sister, the dowager Empress of Russia, as far as Stettin, on her way back to Moscow. During her stay in Berlin, the King of Prussia officially appointed his sister chief of the Sixth Regiment of Carbineers, commanded since 1817 by her husband, and known as the Kaiser Nicolaus I von Russland Regiment. The document conveying the appointment is addressed by the King, and begins thus—" Most Serene and Puissant Princess ! par- ticularly kindly-beloved sister!" S /814.—A " synopsis " of the note of the King of Naples in reply to the complaints of France and England, described by the Itionileur as "negative in substance and offensive in form," has found its way into the Cologne Gazette. "King Ferdinand formally declines all interference of the Western Powers in the internal affairs of hie kingdom. He rejects it as contrary to all the rules of international law, as an attack upon the independence and dignity of his crown. Belying upon the principles of eternal justice, which prescribe that thou shalt not do unto thy neighbour what thou wouldat not have done unto thee,' he puts the following questions to the London Ca- binet, whose representations were made in much stronger language than those of France—What would Lord Palmerston say if the Neapolitan Go- vernment was to presume to describe the management of the English Ca- binet, and to propose a modification in its internal policy, or the adoption of more liberal views towards Ireland, or to recommend more humane conduct towards Indian subjects? What would he say—what would he reply to the representatives of that power which interfered in such guise with the Government of her Majesty F He would reply, as the Court of Naples now replies, that he does not recognize in any one the right or the power to• dic- tate a line of conduct or to address reproaches. Or rather, be would not do this—Lord Palmerston would not even give himself the trouble to re- ply at all; he would most probably send the meddling representative his passports. And has not the King of Naples, as well as Great Bri- tain, the right to look after his own honour and that of his people'?

He may, as a proof of his good-will, listen to mmunications

made with a view to the consolidation of public order; in Europe but then, such communications must be made with thiC moderation and deference which is due to a free and independent sovereign ; and he alone must be allowed to form his judgment upon the propriety of the proposed measures and of the moment for carrying them out..i No one ex- cept the King himself can form a correct judgment upon what enremstances may require. It is asserted that the present state of things requiires certain alterations and improvements. It is stated that the armed attacks of the revolution against the Government of the Two Sicilies have ceased._ This is prima facie evidence that the system opposed to them, and which fir*. object of such violent attacks, is not so useless or so baneful as some persons wish it to be believed. But, it is added, the necessity for such a system no longer exists. The King is not of this opinion, and his will cannot be op- posed unless the exercise of a superior force can be asserted as a right. But what will then become of the principle of royal authority ; and what value will be attached to the acts of a government which have • ema- nated under the pressure of a foreign power ? Under such circum- stances, any concession, however justifiable, would lose all effect. His Majesty King Ferdinand therefore regards himself as perfectly justi- fied in maintaining his prerogative, and of notifying his intention to decide himself alone upon what ought to be done, and the proper time for doing it. He ardently desires that that time may speedily be at hand ; but it cannot be denied that the violent and systematical attacks of the English press and the demands thundered forth in the English Parlia- ment are of a nature to adjourn that time for the present. Is it supposed that such means are calculated to calm the evil passions in a country still a prey to the revolutionary, doctrines of 1848 ? It cannot surely have been already forgotten that the Central Committee of Italy only recently esta- blished the principle 'that political eeee.a-narion was not a crime, especially when its object was to get rid of a powerful enemy' ;_ and that this same Committee put a price upon the head of the King of Naples, and promised a reward of 100,000 ducats 'to the man who rid Italy of, this monster.' Considering such recent facts, it is not only the right, it is the duty of his Majesty the King of the Two Sicilies, to act with the greatest caution, and not to relinquish carelessly a system of government which he thought fit to adopt as much in the interest of his subjects as for his own safety. "It has been asserted, and attempts have been made to establish the as- sertion, that the constitution of 1848, under which the above execrable prin- ciples were openly promulgated, is the fundamental law of the kingdom of Naples. But it is overlooked that when that constitution was proposed to the Sicilian Parliament, they rejected it with contempt, and asked for the constitution of 1812. The concessions then made by King Ferdinand II. had no other effect than to increase the demands of the Revolutionary faction throughout the whole of Italy; and the risings which took place at Naples and at Palermo werethe signals for risings in Sardinia, Rome, and Lombardy. Is it desired to see a renewal of those dreadful crimes and catastrophes of which unhappy Italy was then the theatre ? The constitution of 1848 would be wonderfully adapted to bring forward a repetition of them. " But, on mature reflection, that cannot be the idea of the Cabinets of London and Paris, whose object must be the maintenance of the peace of Europe, so dearly bought. FApecially it cannot be the view of the French Cabinet. After having taken such energetic measures at home to put down revolution, France surely cannot seek to create it in Italy. This would be in direct opposition to that wise and clever policy Which hai been so suc- cessfully carried out. France and England should also remember, that the war in the East was undertaken precisely to prevent a foreign power from interfering in the affairs of Turkey. Any similar interference in the king- dom of the Two Sicilies would be a curious anomaly, not to give it amore precise qualification. King Ferdinand cannot, and will not, believe in anything of the sort. He places full confidence 'in the acknowledged prin- ciple so gloriously established by the Courts of Paris and London, according to which every independent state, although much weaker than the power which wishes to force its counsels upon it, has the incontestable right to re- ject those counsels if they contain a menace or an attack upon its inde- pendence. " The King is firmly resolved to adhere to what helms said. If however, an attempt should be made—which is scarcely possible—to go further, his Majesty, relying on the justice of his cause, would appeal to the patriotism of his people, and, trusting to his brave and faithful army, would repel. force by force." M. Farini has just published at Turin a letter to Mr. Gladstone. It is of interest as showing the views of a consistent member of the majority in the. Piedmontese Parliament, and a firm adherent of moderate consti- tutional government. "Judging bythe past," says M. Farini, "and from the declarations made by Count Buol at the Congress of Pans, Austria means to maintain the prerogative of armed intervention in each Italian state, whenever she may be invited so to do by the legitimate princes, in other words, by her own very near relatives, or by her most devoted prefects. She has no right to act in this way; and it is quite clear that she does not so act for the purpose of securing the existence of the thrones or altars, but of strengthening her own governmental influence and her own usurpation. It is consequently ' evident that Piedmont, in her capacity as an Italian state equal to the state possessed in Italy by Austria, and in her capacity as an European .power, can also intervene. I say that she ought to do so, and that in forming her resolutions she ought to take counsel of her interests and dignity. If Eu- rope is apprehensive that a Piedmontese intervention in the other states of Italy may disturb the peace, she must put an end to -the Austrian occupa- tion, and find the means of not seeing it_renewed." A letter from Garibaldi to a lady in this country, dated the 15th instant, gives some details of the murder of Ciceroacchio and other Roman fugi- tives by the Austrians in 1849.

"I have just learned from Colonel Sacchi, one of the sixty-three patriots

who sailed with me from Video to Italy in 1848, the sad fate of Cieero- acchio and his two sons. They followedme in my retreat from Rome in 1849, and on the 3d of August embarked atCesenatico with my wife and Ugo Bassi, in one of the thirteen fishing-boats, in which it was our intention to land at Venice. But when I reached Ravenna with my dying wife, I insisted on all my followers dispelling, the Austrians having issued a proclamation that whoever should guide or give us fire, food, or shelter,.should be put to death. "Of the fate of many of those brave ones I am still in ignorance. Ugo Bassi, after having had the skin stripped from his fingers and the crown of his head, was shot at Bologna. I flattered myself that Ciceroacchio and his children had gained the Appenines, and had been sheltered by the moun- taineers. But Sacchi tells me, that while commanding a steamer on the river Po, he landed at one of the towns on the banks of the river; and that there the peasants gave him the names of seven individuals shot at Con- tarina by the Austrians, under the orders of ars offieer belonging to the Im- perial family. Among them was• a Roman, Angelo Brunette C Cicero- acchio ' was the name given to him by the Romans,) his two sons, one aged nineteen the other thirteen, a youth named Stefano Itamorino, Lorenzo Parodi, Captain of the Italian_Legum. in.Monte Video, end two others, whose names I do not know. After the first volley was disohamed, Ciceroaccbixea youngest son and the boy Ramorino struggled so long, that their mur- derers had great difficulty to despatch them with kicks d with the butt- end of their guns. Hence the, peasants of the district venerate their memo- ries as saints.

" Colonel Saechi has made every effort to establish, beyond a doubt, these facts, which Austria and the priests have been at so much pains to conceal. Observe also, that Ckeroacchio, his young son, and Ramorino, although they accompanied me in the retreat, never carried arms.

' Entreat the English press, my dear friend, from me, to use their influ- ence in bringing Austria and the priests to account for these atrocities. I have written myself to the leading Italian papers, and also to the United States."

nrIttgal.—There have been some serious bread-riots at Lisbon. Mobs have assembled in the streets and pillaged the bakers' shops. Corn-dealers have come in for a good share of popular odium. But the chief object of vengeance was M. Almeida, a great tobacco-contractor and gram-dealer. On Sunday week, his house was surrounded " by a band of some three hundred of the greatest blackguards in Lisbon." They broke into his court-yard, smashed his windows and a carriage, robbed his stables, and tried to set his house on fire. But some horse and foot coming up, the incendiaries ran away. On the 11th, the work- men turned out in considerable numbers. The public places were occu- pied by soldiers and artillery ; nevertheless the mob stopped the carriage of the Minister of Justice, and handed in a memorial. In this alarming state of things, the King came from Cintra to Lisbon ; the troops were ordered to clear the sheets ; and at the latest dates the tumult seems to have died away. It is remarked that the troops of the Line only were employed, and it is assumed that the Municipal Guard sympathized with the rioters.

flit kelt—According to the latest intelligence, Admiral Stewart was still in the Black Sea. He had visited Odessa, and was latest heard of at Trebizond. No certain news of the departure of the Russians from the Isle of Serpents has been received. Quarantine has been ree:sta- blished on the coasts of the Black Sea and the Sea of Azoff. The last of the French troops quitted Constantinople on the 18th. It is stated that the Russians make a demand upon the French for 400,000 francs for damages done to the Russian Embassy at Constantinople, it having been converted into a French hospital during the war. Instead of announcing the approaching arrival of M. de Boutenieff to the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Prince Gortschakoff chose to make the notification to the Grand "Vizier. This produced a considerable sensation.

"mien $)] //W.—The Alps arrived at Liverpool on Thursday, with advice., from New York to the 8th.

The President had communicated to the Senate information on the state of California. The Governor of California had applied to the Fede- ral authorities for 3000 stand of muskets, two mortars, 300 shells, and two guns of large calibre, with their ammunition and appliances ; promis- ing they shall be paid for or returned. He likewise asks the use of the military and naval forces to suppress the insurrection. The President referred the subject to Attorney-General Cushing; who decided, that as there was no evidence of resistance to the authority of the United States, and as the Legislature of the State of California had not called for intervention, the President could not comply with the Governor's request. Mr. Cushing reflects on the Governor for not convening the Legislature.

Mr. John Mitchell has published a circular to the Irish in the United States urging them to vote for Mr. Buchanan. The chief reasons on which he founds his advice are that Mr. Buchanan rests on the broad constitution, and will resist factions from within and the common enemy without—" I mean of course the British Government, any enemy, thy enemy, his enemy, our enemy, your enemy, their enemy, and the enemy of mankind."

The " declaration concerning maritime law " adopted at the Paris Conference has been laid before the United States Government by the Count de Sartiges, Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary of France at Washington ; and the last post from the United States brings over the reply of Mr. Marcy, addressed to the Count de Sartiges. The four propositions adopted at the Paris Conference were the follow- 1. is, and remains, abolished. 2. The neutral flag covers enemy's goods, with the exception of contraband of war. 3. Neutral goods, with the exception of contraband of war, are not liable to capture under enemy's flag. 4. Blockades, in order to be'binding, must be effective, that is to say, maintained by a force sufficient really to prevent access to the coast of the enemy." In order to render Mr. Marcy's reply intelligible, we should also quote the following extract from the Protocol number 24, sitting of April. 16, 1856, given in a note to Mr. Marcry's letter- " On the proposition of Count Walewski, and recognizing that it is for the general interest to maintain the indivisibility of the four principles in the declaration' signed this day, the Plenipotentiaries agree that the Powers which shall have required, or which shall have acceded to it, cannot hereafter enter into any arrangement in regard to the application of the right of neutrals in time of war, which does not at the same time rest on the four principles which are the object of the said declaration. "Upon an observation made by the Plenipotentiaries of Russia, the Con- gress admits, that as the present resolution cannot have any retroactive ef- fect, it cannot invalidate antecedent conventions."

Nearly two years since the President of the United States submitted to the Powers represented at the late Paris Conference, and to all other Powers, the following propositions-

" 1. That free ships make free goods ; that is to say, that the effects or goedi belonging to subjects or citizens of a power or state at war are free

from capture and confiscation when found on board of neutral vessels, with the exception of articles contraband of war. 2. That the property of neu- trals on board an enemy's vessel is not subject to confiscation unless the same be contraband of war."

To the second and third propositions of the Paris declaration, therefore the American Government cannot refuse its assent. With regard to ta fourth, Mr. Marcy observes, that there never has been any doubt as to the law, though there has been some doubt as to the facts in cases of blockade ; but in modern times at least the principle has always been recognized. The acceptance of the condition laid down by Count Wa- lewski at the sitting of April 16, however, will tend to defeat the accept- since of the propositions on the rights of neutrals, since it binds with them and with the truism respecting blockade, as one indivisible project, the proposal on privateering. On this point Mr. Marcy makes a determined stand ; and he brings for- ward a long argument to 'show that the right of employing privateers is not abolishes], and ought not to be abolished. "The right to resort to privateers is as clear as the right to use public armed ships, and is as in- contestable as any other rights appertaining to belligerents." The policy has been sometimes questioned, but not the right. The suspension of the right has only been proposed in two treaties ; one between Sweden and the States-General of the United Province in 1675,—a stipulation en- tirely disregarded in the war which speedily ensued between the two par- ties; the second between the United States and the King of Prussia in 1785,—the clause about privateering, however, being omitted when the treaty was renewed in 1799. Authorities on the subject will be regarded with profound respect, particularly in France. " In a commentary on the French ordonnance of 1681, Valin says- ' However lawful and time-honoured this mode of warfare may be, it is nevertheless disapproved of by some pretended philosophers. According to their notions, such is not the way in which the state and the sovereign are to be served ; whilst the profits which individuals may derive from the pur- suit are illicit, or at least disgraceful. But this is the language of bad citi- zens, who, under the stately mask of spurious wisdom and of a craftily sen- sitive conscience, seek to mislead the judgment by a concealment of the secret motive which gives birth to their indifference for the welfare and ad- vantage of the state. Such are as worthy of blame as are those entitled to praise who generously expose their property and their lives to the dangers of privateermg.'

" In a work of much repute, published in France almost simultaneously with the proceedings of the Congress at Paris, it is declared that The issu- ing of letters of marque, therefore, is a constantly customary belligerent act. Privateers are bout fide war-vessels, manned by volunteers, to whom, by way of reward, the sovereign resigns such prizes as they make, in the same manner as he sometimes assigns to the land forces a portion of the war con- tributions levied on the conquered enemy.'—(Pistooe et Durerdy, des Prises Maritimes.)"

The prevalence of Christianity and civilization have mitigated the severity of ancient warfare ; and the declaration of privateering is of course intended to carry out the same principle by sparing private property : but it does not go far enough, since to attain that object it should place the individual effects of belligerent states beyond the reach of public armed ships as well as of privateers. The distinction between privateers and public ships cannot indeed be maintained. Even the moral distinction, of the cupidity which prize-captures may excite in private persons, is neutralized by the distribution of prize-money among the officers and crews of public war-ships. Moreover, no such discrimina- tion could restrain the inherent right of every nation to declare what vessels shall constitute its navy, with the full character of public armed ships. Mr. Marcy, however, contends on special grounds against the policy' of the proposal.

"The United States consider powerful navies and large standing armies, as permanent establishments, to be detrimental to national prosperity and dangerous to civil liberty. The expense of keeping then up rs burdensome to the people ; they are, in the opinion of this Government, in some degree a menace to peace among nations. A large force ever ready to be devoted to the purposes of war is a temptation to rush into it. The policy of the United States has ever been, and never more than now, adverse to such establishments ; and they can never be brought to acquiesce in any change in international law which may render it necessary for them to maintain a powerful navy or large regular army in time of peace. If forced to vindicate their rights by arm, they are content, in the present aspect of international res lations, to rely in military operations on land mainly upon volunteer troops, and for the protection of their commmerce in no inconsiderable degree upon their mercantile marine. If this country were deprived of these resources, it would be obliged to change its policy and assume a military attitude before the world."

The interest of the United States is the same as that with all such na- tions as are not likely to be dominant naval powers, whether in Europe or in America. In the treatises on Maritime Prizes by Messrs. Pistcrye and Duverdy it is remarked—" Privateers are especially useful to those powers whose navy is inferior to that of their enemies." And Louis the Fourteenth sometimes lent out his ships to privateer enterprisers, re- serving for himself a share in the prizes. The application of the proposed restriction, and of Mr. Marcy'.,

arement, is carried direct to Great Britain and the United States— In discussing the effect of the proposed measure, the abolition of pri- vateering, a reference to the existing condition of nations is almost un- avoidable. An instance will at once present itself in regard to two nations where the commerce of each is about equal, and about equally wide-spread over the world. As commercial powers there is great disparity between them. The regular navy of one vastly exceeds that of the other. In case of war between them, only an inconsiderable part of the navy of the one would be required to prevent that of the other from being used for defence or a"gression, while the remainder would be devoted to the unembarrassed employment of destroying the commerce of the weaker in naval strength. The fatal consequences of this great inequality of naval force between two such belligerents would be in part remedied by the use of privateers : in that case, while either might assail the commerce of the other in every .sea, they -old be obliged to distribute and employ their respective navies in the work of protection. This statement only illustrates what would be the case, with some modification, in every war where there may be considerable disparity in the naval strength of the belligerents."

If the object be to spare all private property, the proposition might be entertained, but with an addition- " The President proposes to add to the first proposition in the declaration of the Congress at Paris the following words—' And that the private property of the subjects or citizens of a belligerent on the high seas shall be exempted from seizure by public armed vessels of the other belligerent, except it be. contraband.' Thus amended, the Government of the United States will adopt it, together with the other three principles contained in that declara- tion."

Before closing his despatch, Mr. Marcy suggests that the law respect- ing contraband of war requires some modification in favour of neutrals- ' The laws of siege and blockade, it is believed, affbrd all the remedies against neutrals that the parties to the war canjustly claim. Those laws interdict all trade with the besieged or blockaded places. A further inter- ference with the ordinary pursuits of neutrals, in no wise to blame for an existing state of hostilities, is contrary to the obvious dictates of justice. If this view of the subject could be adopted, and practically observed by all civilized nations, the right of search, which has been the source of so much annoyance and of so many injuries to neutral commerce, would be restricted to such cases only as justified asuspicion of an attempt to trade with places actually in a state of siege or blockade."