Chapter XIV (4)

The annual Message of the President was delivered on the 2nd. It is a long document, of much value as a survey of the progress of the nation in the past year, and of considerable importance for its intimations of the policy of the administration. The President strongly condemns the recent invasion of Cuba, and in connection with a history of that affair states, that after the execution of fifty of the associates of Lopez, Commodore Parker was sent to Havana to inquire respecting them. They all acknowledged themselves guilty of the offence charged against them. At the time of their execution, the main body of invaders was still in the field, making war upon Spain. Though the invaders had forfeited the protection of their country, no proper effort has been spared to obtain the release of those now in confinement in Spanish prisons. The President advocates adherence to our neutrality and non-intervention policy. "Our true mission," he says, "is not to propagate our opinions, or impose upon other countries our form of government, by artifice or force; but to teach by example and show by our success, moderation, and justice, the blessings of self-government, and the advantages of free institutions." The correspondence with England and France respecting the invasion of Cuba, maintains the principle, on the part of the United States, that "in every regularly-documented merchant-vessel, the crew who navigate it and those on board of it will find their protection in the flag that is over them." The right of Consuls to security in the country where they reside, is maintained, and mortification is expressed at the attack on the Spanish Consul at New Orleans, and the insult to the Spanish flag. The aggregate receipts for the last fiscal year were $52,312,979.87, with the balance on hand at the commencement, making the means of the treasury for the year $58,917,524.36, against $48,005,878.66. The imports of the year ending June 30, 1851, were $215,725 995, of which $4,967,901 were in specie. The exports were $217,517,130, of which $178,546,555 were domestic, and $9,738,695 foreign products. Specie exported, $29,231,880. Since December 1850, the payments of principal of the debt were $7,501,456.56, which is inclusive of $3,242,400 paid under the 12th article of the treaty with Mexico, and $2,591,213.45 awards under the late treaty with Mexico. The public debt, exclusive of stock, authorized to be issued to Texas, was $62,560,395.26. The receipts for the next fiscal year, are estimated at $51,800,000, making, with the balance on hand, the available means of the year $63,258,743.09. The expenditures are estimated at $42,892,299.19, of which $33,343,198 are for ordinary purposes of government, and $9,549,101.11 for purposes consequent upon the acquisition of territory from Mexico. It is estimated that there will be an unappropriated balance of $20,366,443.90 in the Treasury on the 30th of June, 1853, to meet $6,237,931.35 of public debt due on the 1st of July following. The value of the domestic exports for the year ending June 30, 1851, show an increase of $43,646,322, which is owing to the high price of cotton during the first half of the year, and the price of which has since declined one-half. The value of the exports of breadstuffs is only $21,948,653 against $26,051,373 in 1850, and $68,701,921 in 1847--our largest year of export in that department of trade. In rice the decrease this as compared with last year in the export, is $460,917, which with the decrease in the value of tobacco exported, makes an aggregate decrease in the two articles of $1,156,751. From these premises the President draws the conclusion, that the favorable results anticipated by the advocates of free trade from the adoption of that policy have not been realized.

The case of Mr. Thrasher, alluded to in our last, is the subject of a letter from the Secretary of State to our Minister in Madrid, under date of December 13. Mr. Webster directs efforts to secure Mr. Thrasher's release from imprisonment Mr. Thrasher was sent to Spain on the 24th November.

An important violation of the stipulations of our last treaty with Great Britain occurred in the harbor of San Juan on the ---- of November. The steamship Prometheus, an American merchant vessel, plying between New York and San Juan de Nicaragua in the California trade, was levied on by the municipal authorities of San Juan or Greytown, for certain port charges established by direction of British agents, as under the government of the Indian or negro king of Mosquito. These charges the Captain of the Prometheus refused to pay. A British vessel of war, however fired on her twice, and after, under the peremptory orders of the Captain of the brig, the Prometheus had returned to her anchorage, he compelled her, under threats, to extinguish her fires, and place herself at his mercy. The pretended dues were at length paid under protest, and the facts in the case were communicated to Congress in a Message from the President on the 17th. Commodore Parker has been ordered to repair at once to the harbor of San Juan, with directions to protect all merchant vessels from such surveilance in future, of which he is to notify the British officers on his arrival.

The trial of the persons arrested for taking part in the outrages at Christiana, in Pennsylvania, was commenced in Philadelphia on the 24th of November, before Judges Grier and Kane, in the United States Circuit Court, and on the 12th of December it was brought to a close by the acquittal of the prisoners.

Information has been received at the State Department of the loss of the whale ships Arabella and America, of New Bedford; the Henry Thompson and Armada, of New London; the Mary Mitchell, of San Francisco, and the Sol Sollares, of Fall River.

From California we have news of continued prosperity in mining, and in agriculture and general interests. The project for dividing the State into North and South California appears to have been urged with determination and hopes of success in the recent convention held to consider the subject. It is stated also that a large company of emigrants recently left San Francisco for the Sandwich Islands, to establish a Republican State there. To this end a Constitution had been formed in San Francisco prior to their departure. There are many circumstances which render this statement probable.

A Governor, Lieut. Governor, Attorney General, and members of the Legislature were elected in Virginia on the 8th of December, under the new constitution. The democrats elected their ticket by a large majority. The Legislature of Indiana convened at Indianapolis on the 1st December. Lieutenant Governor James H. Lane took the chair of the Senate, and John D. Dunn was chosen Secretary. In the House, John W. Davis (formerly Speaker at Washington, and since Commissioner to China) was chosen Speaker by a unanimous vote. The Senate of South Carolina has refused an application from the Federal Government for the sale of the lighthouse at Bell's Bay. The House of Representatives has again refused to allow the people to choose Electors of President and Vice President. The vote was 66 to 48. The Legislature have passed a bill to provide for the holding of a Secession Convention. The Texas Legislature assembled at Austin on the 3d. Advices from Galveston state that Colonel Rogers has succeeded in effecting a treaty with the Camanche Indians, and recovered twenty-seven white captives from the Camanches, who had been in bondage among them.

Of accidents and disasters, there have not been so many as in some previous months. On the morning of November 27, about two o'clock, a frightful collision took place between the steamers Die Vernon and Archer, resulting in the loss of the latter vessel, with serious loss of life. The accident occurred at Enterprise Island, about five miles above the mouth of Illinois River. The whole number of lives lost by this catastrophe was thirty-four, of whom ten were deck hands or firemen engaged on the boat. On Sunday, December 7, the city of Portland was visited by one of the most destructive conflagrations that ever occurred in that place. The extent of the conflagration was owing mainly to the want of water, the tide being down. There were twenty-seven stores burnt, nine vessels damaged, and over one hundred thousand dollars worth of merchandise destroyed.

Public Thanksgiving was held this year on the same day in Maine, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Florida, Mississippi, Louisiana, Arkansas, Tennessee, Kentucky, Missouri, Wisconsin, Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio, and Texas.

From British America there is not much intelligence of importance. The recent elections have resulted favorably for the liberal party. A few days ago the first vessel passed through the new channel of Lake St. Peter, which has been constructed at a cost of $320,000. The dredging is to be continued next season; and it is expected that by July the channel will be 150 feet wide, and of adequate depth. By a new regulation of the Post Office Department, all newspapers pass free between Canada and the adjoining lower Provinces. The seat of Government has been changed four times in 11 years. In 1840 it was at Toronto; next year the union of the Provinces having been effected, it was at Kingston. From 1843 to 1849 it was at Montreal. Toronto then became the capital; and now it has moved to Quebec, under a pledge to come back at the expiration of four years. Respecting the final result of the late movements of Carvajal in Mexico it is not easy to form a conclusion, as the accounts are very contradictory. Notwithstanding his recent discomfiture, it seems to be believed that in the present distracted and impoverished condition of Mexico, he may succeed. General Aragua had arrived at Matamoras with 80 men, with several pieces of artillery and one mortar, to reinforce General Avalos. General Carvajal had not more than five or six hundred men. The Mexican troops in Matamoras number 2,000.

From Nicaragua we learn, that on the 19th of November General Munoz, his officers, and twenty-seven Americans, were captured by General Chamorro, and committed to prison. If this intelligence is true, there is an end of the war in that quarter.

From South America intelligence is as usual confused and unsatisfactory. By way of England we have dates from Montevideo to the 12th Oct. The war in the Banda Oriental was terminated. Oribe had retreated to his country house at Rinton. The Argentine forces were reported to have joined Urquiza. The Orientals had joined Gen. Garzon. A Provisional Government was talked of. The chief results had been effected without bloodshed.

In Chili, the rebel army of 13,000 men, commanded by Carrera and Arteaga, was met by 850 Government troops at Petorca, about forty leagues from Santiago, on the 14th of October. They fought three hours, and the result was the total defeat of the former, with a loss of 70 killed, 200 wounded, and 400 prisoners, including 36 officers. Carrera and Arteaga have not been taken. The Government army, under Colonel Vidaure, lost 15 killed and 15 wounded. 400 of the Government troops had gone by sea to join Bulnes's army; the remainder had sailed for Coquimbo, so that the affair in the North may be considered quelled. In the South, General Cruz had an army of 400 regulars, and 2,500 militia, the latter badly armed and clothed. He had not left the Province of Conception. Bulnes was expected on the frontier of that province with 1,000 troops of the line and 300 militiamen, all well armed, clothed, and paid. He appeared determined to run no risks, and it was generally supposed he would soon restore order and quietness. In Ecuador, the Presidency of General Urbina has been acceptable, and it is probable that peace will be maintained for some time. Peru is in perfect tranquillity, and this peaceable state is greatly contributing to its advancement. Bolivia is also in peace, although the Congress has not fulfilled the promises with which it began its meetings. At first, some of the members dared to claim reforms in the Government, but they were silenced, and that body will close its session without having done any thing except abolishing Quina Bank, a measure which Government had resolved.

Throughout all parts of Europe there seems to be a well grounded apprehension of an extraordinary effort to put down every species of despotism during the coming year. An impression prevails that the occasion of the presidential election in France will be seized on for a general rising, not only in that country, but in Italy, Germany, and Hungary, and the Revolutionary Congress, in London, of which the presiding genius is Mazzini, will predetermine affairs for all the States, so that each shall have the greatest possible advantage. Governor Kossuth will be back in time to assume the general leadership in northern and eastern Europe.

From England we have intelligence of no important movement since the departure of Kossuth. No subject attracts more attention than that of the extensive and systematic emigration which is taking place to America and Australia. We learn from the report of the Registrar-General, for the three months ended 30th September last, that during those months 85,603 emigrants sailed from the several ports at which government emigration agents are stationed. This is at the rate of nearly 1,000 persons a day. It is probable that one-half of the total number were Irish. Of the 85,603, 68,960 sailed for the Atlantic ports of the Union; and the remaining 16,643 were distributed in the proportions of 9,268 to British North America, 6,097 to the Australian colonies, and 1,278 to other places. So far, the total emigration of 1851 exceeded that of the corresponding period of 1850, and the emigration of 1850 exceeded that of any former year. The Ecclesiastical Titles Bill remains a dead letter. The Roman Catholic prelates assume and are called by the prohibited titles, and no steps are taken to enforce the law. The attendance of Roman Catholics on the "Godless Colleges" does not appear to have abated, and the Roman Catholic journals complain of the extent of proselytism from their Church. The Submarine telegraph between England and France has been completed, and messages between Paris and London have been transmitted in half an hour. The event was celebrated by the firing of cannon alternately at Calais and Dover, the fire for each explosion being communicated by the electric current from the side of the channel opposite the gun. An announcement is made by the _Times_ of the intended creation of a fourth Presidency in India, and a proposal to remove the seat of government from Calcutta to Lahore. The new province is to be constituted by the spacious province of the Punjab, to which, on the east, it will annex the broad districts of Agra and Bengal, up to the banks of the Sone, embracing the populous and important cities of Allahabad and Benares, To the southwest it will include our anomalous appendage of Scinde, and will thus extend itself from the Hindoo Kosh to the mouths of the Indus, and from the mountains of Beloochistan to the plains of the Ganges.

On the 24th November, about seventy of the principal merchants and gentlemen in Liverpool, and the members of the American Chamber of Commerce, entertained R. J. Walker, late Secretary to the Treasury of the United States, at dinner at the Adelphi Hotel.

The French Legislative Assembly was opened on the 4th of November with a long message from President Bonaparte. A disorderly and excited discussion took place on the 18th, on the proposition of the Questors of the Assembly to put the army in Paris directly under the orders of that body, thereby removing it from the control of the Minister of War and the President. The final vote was 300 for the proposition to 408 against it. The mass of the Republicans opposed it, though General Cavaignac and some of his immediate friends voted in the affirmative. The principal topic of discussion in the Assembly has been the Communal Electoral law. After long discussion, a clause has been adopted, making the time of residence necessary to qualify a citizen to vote in the communal or township elections, only two years instead of three as in the general electoral law. This is regarded as a departure from the rigor of that law and a step toward universal suffrage. It is thus a triumph for the President, who seems, on the whole, decidedly to have gained ground lately. Yet no real progress appears to have been yet made to a settlement of French difficulties, except in so far as every month added to the existence of a new government, the result of a revolution, consolidates it, and enlists in its favor the conservative sentiment.

The prizes of the lottery of L'Ingots d'Or were drawn in the Champs Elysées on the 16th. An immense crowd attended. A journeyman hair-dresser obtained the prize of 200,000 francs, and an engine-driver on a railway the first prize of 400,000 francs.

General Narvaez has returned to Spain, and is again in favor with the queen.

The new King of Hanover, George the Fifth, has published a proclamation, in which he pledges his royal word for "the inviolable maintenance of the constitution of the country." Yet he has abandoned the policy of the late king by appointing a reactionist ministry.

The Austrian currency appears to be in a worse condition than even our own "continental" at the close of the Revolution. The proprietors of houses have again raised their rents 20 and 25 per cent, and the seniors begin to talk of the _Bancozettel_ period, when 100 florins in silver sold for 700 florins in paper, and a pair of boots cost 75 paper florins. Government itself has indirectly countenanced the depreciation of the currency: the Finance Minister by the conditions of the loan, and the Director of the Imperial theatre by raising the price of admittance from 1fl. 24k. to 1fl. 48k., although the salaries of the actors are less than formerly, as they have to pay the income tax.

The Russians have discovered four important veins of silver ore in the Caucasus--one in the defile of Sadon, another in that of Ordona, a third in that of Degorsk, and the fourth near Paltchick. The veins are rich in the yield of silver. The working of them has already been commenced.

The Emperor of Russia has just ordered 6000 carriages to be built for the different railways in his empire, in order to facilitate the conveyance of troops.

Scientific Discoveries and Proceedings of Learned Societies

Ten pages of the last Compte Rendu of the _Paris Academy of Sciences_, Mr. Walsh says, in a letter to the _Journal of Commerce_, are allotted to an elaborate report from an able committee, on Mr. Gratiolet's Memoir concerning the cerebral protuberances and furrows of man and the _Primates_, the first order of animals in the class Mammalia, which include the Ape. The inequalities on the brain of man and most of the mammifers were denominated by the celebrated Willis, _gyri_,--_convolutiones_,--_plicæ_; the French use the phrase--_plis cerebraux_. The theories of Willis gave birth to the whole system of Dr. Gall: the _plicæ_ are found in the class of mammifers alone; they are rarer and less marked in the lower than in the higher species of the great family of monkeys and baboons. They have been regarded as _indicia_ or exponents of more or less perfection in the organ of intelligence, by their number, their projection, and their measure of separation by the furrows. The Report puts these two questions--among the numerous differences of the cerebral _plicæ_, in number, disposition and proportion. Is it possible to discriminate, in man, and among the mammifers that have them, constant characters of particular types, of families, genera, and even of species? 2d. Do some of those types exclusively distinguish such or such a family, and are they more or less marked or impaired, but still recognizable, according to the genera? The Report adds--These questions are solved in the affirmative by the results of Mr. Gratiolet's researches relatively to the great family of _Apes_. The importance of these results for the zoologist and the phrenologist is then signalized, and the insertion of the Memoir in the volume of Transactions emphatically recommended. According to the author, it is with the brain of the _Orang-Outang_ that the brain of man has the most points of resemblance. The distinguishing points in regard to all the Apes of the superior class are designated, and they correspond to the physical indications which denote a higher intellectual power.

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Respecting the _African Exploring Expeditions_, Miss Overweg (daughter of one of the travellers) and the Chevalier Bunson, have received in London interesting letters, stating the continued success of the adventurous scholars. Previous to the 6th of August Dr. Overweg had safely joined his companion, Dr. Barth, at Kuka. The latter started on a highly interesting excursion to the kingdom of Adamowa, while the former was exploring Lake Tsad. The boat, which had been taken to pieces in Tripoli, and during a journey of twelve months had with immense trouble been carried on camels across the burning sands of the Sahrá, had been put together and launched on the lake; and the English colors were hoisted in the presence, and to the great delight, of numerous natives. Dr. Overweg, in exploring the islands of Lake Tsad, had been every where received with kindness by their Pagan inhabitants.

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The _Courrier de la Gironde_ states that a civil engineer of Bordeaux, named De Vignernon, has discovered the perpetual motion. His theory is said to be to find in a mass of water, at rest, and contained within a certain space, a continual force able to replace all other moving powers. The above journal declares that this has been effected, and that the machine invented by M. de Vignernon works admirably. A model of the machine was to be exposed at Bordeaux for three days, before the inventor's departure with it for London.

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The British Government has granted 1500_l._ to Colonel Rawlinson, to assist him in his researches among the Assyrian antiquities; and 1200_l._ for the publication of the zoology and botany collected during the Australian expedition of H.M.S. _Rattlesnake_, commanded by the late Captain Stanley, son of the late Bishop of Norwich.

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The _Museum_ of Berlin says that a Prussian has discovered in the ruins of Nineveh, a basso-relievo, representing a fleet of balloons--another proof that "there is nothing new under the sun."

An invention by Captain Groetaers of the Belgian engineers has been lately tested at Woolwich. It is a simple means of ascertaining the distance of any object against which operations may have to be directed, and is composed of a staff about an inch square and three feet in length, with a brass scale on the upper side, and a slide, to which is attached a plate of tin six inches long and three wide, painted red, with a white stripe across its centre. A similar plate is held by an assistant, and is connected with the instrument by a fine wire. When an observation is to be taken, the observer looks at the distant object through a glass fixed on the left of the scale, and adjusts the striped plate by means of the slide; the assistant also looks through his glass, standing a few feet in advance of his principal at the end of the wire, and as soon as the two adjustments are effected and declared, the distance is read off on the scale. In the three trials made at Woolwich, the distance in one case, although more than 1000 yards, was determined within two inches; and in two other attempts, within a foot. It is obvious that such an instrument, if to be depended on, will admit of being applied to other than military surveys and operations, and may be made useful in the civil service.

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SIGNOR GORINI, of the University of Lodi, has recently made some important discoveries which have been much discussed in the scientific journals. His experiments to illustrate the origin of mountains are most interesting. He melts some substances, known only to himself, in a vessel, and allows the liquid to cool. At first it presents an even surface, but a portion continues to ooze up from beneath, and gradually elevations are formed, until at length ranges and chains of hills are formed, exactly corresponding in shape with those which are found on the earth. Even to the stratification the resemblance is complete, and M. Gorini can produce on a small scale the phenomena of volcanoes and earthquakes. He contends, therefore, "that the inequalities on the face of the globe are the result of certain materials, first reduced by the application of heat to a liquid state and then allowed gradually to consolidate." The professor, has also, it is said, succeeded, to a surprising extent, in preserving animal matter from decay without resorting to any known process for that purpose. Specimens are shown by him of portions of the human body which, without any alteration in their natural appearance, have been exposed to the action of the atmosphere for six and seven years; and he states that, at a trifling cost, he can keep meat for any length of time in such a way that it can be eaten quite fresh.

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COUNT CASTELNAU, a French Savant who is well known in the United States, has lately communicated to the _Geographical Society of Paris_ the result of some personal inquiries at Bahia, in South America, respecting a race of human beings with tails. We suppose there is not a particle of truth in the information he received, but he is so respectable a person that his report deserves some notice. "I found myself in Bahia," he says, "in the midst of a host of negro slaves, and thought it possible to obtain from them information of the unknown parts of the African continent. I soon discovered that the Mohammedan natives of Soudan were much farther advanced in mind, than the idolatrous inhabitants of the coast.--Several blacks of Haoussa and Adamawah related to me that they had taken part in expeditions against a nation called _Niam Niams_, who had _tails_. They traced their route, on which they encountered tigers, giraffes, elephants, and _wild camels_. Nine days were consumed in traversing an immense forest. They reached at length a numerous people of the same complexion and frame as themselves, but with tails from twelve to fifteen inches long, &c., &c."

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The Paris journals announce that M. Vallée, one of the officials of the Jardin des Plantes, has succeeded in hatching a turtle by artificial means. On the 14th of July last, he found some turtles' eggs on the sand in the inclosure reserved for the turtles, and placed three of them under his apparatus in the reptile department. On the 14th of this month he examined the eggs, and found a turtle, about as big as a walnut, in full life. He hopes to be able to rear it. This is the first case on record of one of these creatures having been produced artificially.

Recent Deaths.

The _Brussels Herald_ announces that the aged naturalist, Savigny, has lately died in Paris. Little has been heard of him for some time in the scientific world. He was for thirty years a member of the Academy of Sciences, and was among the _savants_ who accompanied Bonaparte to Egypt.

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We noticed in the last _International_, the decease of Professor Pattison and Dr. Kearney Rodgers, two of the most eminent physicians and surgeons of New-York. Their deaths were succeeded in a few days by those of Dr. J. E. DE KAY (a brother of the late Commodore De Kay), and Dr. MANLEY. Dr. De Kay was eminent as a naturalist and as an author. He wrote a brace of volumes about Turkey, many years ago, which were published by the Harpers, and two of the quarto volumes of the Natural History of the State of New-York, published by the Government. He was intimate with Cooper, Irving, Halleck, Paulding, Dr. Francis, and all the old set of _litterateurs_ in the city. Dr. Manley (father of the distinguished authoress, Mrs. Emma C. Embury), was known at the beginning of this century, for certain political relations, for his connection with Thomas Paine in the last days of that famous infidel, and ever since as a conspicuous physician and high-toned gentleman--foremost especially in all proceedings which had the special stamp of _New-York_ upon them, but not at all inclined to second any movement originating in New England. He had lately accompanied his accomplished and distinguished daughter to Paris, for the benefit of her health, which has suffered for three or four years.

Ernest, King of Hanover, died at his palace at Herrenhausen, on the 11th of November. The deceased prince--the fifth and last surviving son of George the Third, was born at Kew, on the 5th of June, 1771. In 1786, he accompanied his brothers, the Dukes of Sussex and Cambridge, to the University of Gottingen. In 1790, he entered the army, and served in the 9th Hanoverian Light Dragoons from that period until 1793, when he obtained the command of the Regiment. During the following year he took an active part in the war which raged on the continent, and in a rencontre near Toumay lost an eye, and was wounded in the arm. In 1799, he was created Duke of Cumberland, Earl of Armagh, and Duke of Teviotdale, with a Parliamentary grant of £12,000 per annum. In the latter part of 1807, he joined the Prussian army, engaged in the struggle against the encroaching power of Napoleon. On the defeat of the French by the allied forces, he proceeded to Hanover, and took possession of that kingdom on behalf of the English crown. In 1810, when the Regency question formed the subject of much public excitement, he entered into its discussion, and vehemently opposed the government on every point, as he opposed the claims of the Roman Catholics, the repeal of the Test and Corporation Acts, and the Reform Bill. He uniformly supported in Parliament the opinions which guided the Pitt, Perceval, and Liverpool Administrations; while he was a warm patron of the Brunswick Clubs, and also held the office of Grand Master of the Orangemen of Ireland. In reference to his transactions with this body, many reports were circulated, imputing to him political designs and objects of personal ambition connected with the succession to the crown. On the night of the 31st of May, 1810, an extraordinary attempt was made on his life. While asleep, he was attacked by a man armed with a sabre, who inflicted several wounds on his head. He sprang out of bed to give an alarm, but was followed in the dark by his assailant, and cut across the thighs. On assistance arriving, Sellis, an Italian valet, who--it is alleged--had thus attacked the Duke, was found locked in his own room with his throat cut; and spots of blood were found on the floor of the passage leading to the apartment which Sellis occupied. The next day a coroner's inquest was held, and returned a verdict of _felo de se_. The Duke of Cumberland soon recovered from his wounds, but this event gave rise to much suspicion. In May, 1815, he was married to the third daughter of the late reigning Duke of Mecklenburgh-Strelitz, a lady who had been married twice previously, first to Prince Frederick Louis Charles of Prussia; and secondly, to Prince Frederick William of Solms-Braunfels The issue of this union was a prince, born at Berlin (where the Duke resided from 1818 to 1828), May 27, 1817--the present King of Hanover, known in England as Prince George of Cumberland. The Duke continued to reside in England from 1828 until the death of William IV., by which the Salique Law alienated the Crown of Hanover from that of Great Britain--bestowing it on the Duke at the same time. At the time of the suicide of Sellis, a statement was circulated to the effect that the Duke had murdered his valet; that, in order to conceal this crime, he had invented the story of a suicide, preceded by an attempt at assassination, and that the wounds which the Duke received were inflicted by himself. These accusations were negatived by evidence produced at the inquest; still the force of that evidence, and even the lapse of three-and-twenty years, did not prevent a revival of the imputation, and the Duke in 1833 thought it necessary to institute a prosecution in the Court of King's Bench, where the defendants were found guilty. On that occasion he himself was examined as a witness, and exhibited to the whole court, the marks of the wounds which he had received in the head, from the inspection of which it was inferred that they could never have been inflicted by his own hand. His titles were: Prince Ernest Augustus, Duke of Cumberland, and Teviotdale in Great Britain, and Earl of Armagh in Ireland, and King of Hanover. He was a Knight of the Garter, a Knight of St. Patrick, G.C.B.; and G.C.H. He was also a Knight of the Prussian orders of the Black and Red Eagle, a Field-Marshal in the British army, Chancellor and Visitor of the University of Dublin, a Commissioner of the Royal Military College and Asylum, a Fellow of the Royal Society and of the Society of Arts.

George Frederick, his only son, and only surviving child, succeeds to the throne of Hanover, but his blindness has suggested the precaution of swearing in twelve councillors, who, to attend in rotation, two at a time, will witness and verify all state documents to be signed by the king. "The new king," says the _Morning Post_, "entirely lacks the Parliamentary experience by which his father so largely profited; and we greatly fear that his education in the strictest school of English High Churchmanship is more calculated to insure his blameless life in a private station, than to fit him for the arduous career of a king in the nineteenth century."

The _Times_ sketches the character of the deceased in dark colors, declaring that he "never concerned himself to disguise his sentiments, to restrain his passions, or to conciliate the affections of those who might possibly have been one day his subjects. Relying on the victory which had been apparently declared for absolutism, inflexible in his persuasions, and unbending in his demeanor, the Duke treated popular opinion with a ferocity of contempt which could scarcely be surpassed at St. Petersburgh or Warsaw. In his pleasures he asserted the license of an Orleans or a Stuart, and although in this respect he wanted not for patterns, yet rumor persisted in attaching to his excesses a certain criminal blackness below the standard dye of aristocratic debauchery. It is but reasonable to presume, that a man so universally obnoxious should have suffered, to some extent, from that calumny which the best find it difficult to repel, and practical evidence was furnished in certain public suits, that the probabilities against him fell short of legal proof. The impartial historian, however, will be likely to decide, that there was little in the known character of Prince Ernest to exempt him from sure suspicions touching what remained concealed."

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The Chevalier LAVY, Member of the Council of Mines in Sardinia and of the Academy of Sciences in Turin, and described as being one of the most learned of Italian numismatists, died early in November. He had created at great cost a Museum of Medals, which he presented to his country, and which bears his name.

THE HON. AUGUSTA MARY BYRON, better known as the Hon. Augusta Leigh, died near the end of October, at her apartments in St. James's Palace, in the sixty-eighth year of her age. She was the half-sister of the author of _Childe Harold_. Her mother was Amelia Darcy, Baroness Conyers, the divorced Duchess of Leeds, whose future happiness was thought to be foretold in some homely rhymes which Dr. Johnson loved to repeat:

"When the Duke of Leeds shall married be
To a fine young lady of high quality,
How happy will that gentlewoman be
In his Grace of Leeds' good company.
She shall have all that's fine and fair,
And the best of silk and satin shall wear;
And ride in a coach to take the air,
And have a horse in St. James's-square."

The poet was not, in this instance, a prophet; for the young lady proved any thing but happy in his Grace of Leeds's good company. She was divorced in 1779, and married immediately to Captain John Byron, by whom she had one child, the subject of the present notice. She survived the birth a year, dying 26th January, 1784. Her son by her former marriage became the sixth Duke of Leeds. On the 17th August, 1807, the Hon. Augusta Byron was married at St. George's, Hanover-square, to her cousin, Lieut.-Colonel George Leigh, of the 10th, or Prince of Wales's Light Dragoons, son of General Charles Leigh, by Frances, daughter of Admiral Lord Byron and aunt of Augusta. By this marriage Augusta had several children, some of whom survive her. She had been a widow for some time. Lord Byron is known to have entertained for his sister a higher and sincerer affection than for any other person. His best friends in his worst moments fell under the vindictive stroke of his pen, or the bitter denunciation of his tongue. His sister escaped at all times. "No one," he writes, "except Augusta, cares for me. Augusta wants me to make it up to Carlisle: I have refused every body else, but can't deny her any thing." One of the first presentation copies of _Childe Harold_ was sent to his sister with this inscription:--"To Augusta, my dearest sister, and my best friend, who has ever loved me much better than I deserved, this volume is presented by her father's son, and her most affectionate brother." This attachment he has himself chosen to account for, but wholly without reason. "My sister is in town," he writes, "which is a great comfort; for, never having been much together, we are naturally more attached to each other." One of the last evenings of Byron's English life was spent with his sister, and to her his heart turned when, in the midst of his domestic afflictions, it sought for refuge in song. Those tender, beautiful verses, "Though the day of my destiny's over," were his parting tribute to her, and were followed by a poem in the Spenserian stanza, of equal beauty, beginning--

"My sister, my sweet sister! If a name
Dearer and purer were, it should be thine."

His will evinces in another way his affection for his sister. Nor was Augusta forgetful of her brother. She remembered him with that tender warmth of affection which women only feel, and publicly evinced her regard for him, by the monument which she erected over his remains in the little church of Hucknall. She bore, it may be added, no personal resemblance to her illustrious kinsman.

* * * * *

LIEUTENANT-GENERAL COUNT JEAN GABRIEL MARCHANT, grand Cross of the Legion of Honor, Chevalier of St. Louis, &c., &c., was born at Solbene, in the department of the Isere, in 1764, and in 1789 became an advocate at Grenoble. In 1791, he entered the army as commander of a company in the fourth battalion of his district, and in the long and illustrious period of the wars of the empire he served with eminent distinction. He was made a colonel on the 14th June, 1797, general of brigade in 1804, and general of division on the 31st December, 1805, after a series of brilliant services under Marshal Ney. He was in the battles of Jena, Magdeburg, Friedland, &c., and after the latter received the title of Count, and a dotation of 80,000f. He won new honors in Russia and Spain, but after the overthrow of his master, so commended himself to Louis XVIII., as to be confirmed by him in the command of the 7th military division. After abandoning Grenoble to Napoleon, he was tried by a council of war for unfaithfulness to the royal authority, but acquitted, and from 1816 he lived principally in retirement at his chateau of St. Ismier, near Grenoble, where he died the 12th of November, in the 86th year of his age.

* * * * *

MATTHIAS ATTWOOD, long well known in Parliament, died at his house, in Dulwich-park, on the 11th of November. He was in his seventy-second year, and had for some time been in feeble health, which induced him to retire from Parliament at the last general election, but he still occasionally attended to business in London till within a short period of his decease. Mr. Attwood entered Parliament in 1819, and from that time till 1847, continued to have a seat in the House of Commons. Mr. Attwood was one of the bankers of London, of the firm of Spooners and Atwood, and the founder of several successful joint-stock companies.

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CARDINAL D'ASTRS, Archbishop of Toulouse, died near the end of September, at an advanced age. He was, it is said, the person who caused the bull of excommunication, pronounced by Pius VII. against Napoleon, in 1809, to be posted up on the walls of Paris. The bull was issued in consequence of the seizure by Napoleon of the States of the Pope, and their annexation to the French empire. The act of excommunication was followed by the arrest of Pius VII. through the instrumentality of General Radet.

* * * * *

THE SERASKIER EMIR PASHA, commanding the Turkish army in Syria, has just died, and his death has caused a great sensation at Constantinople. He was highly esteemed for his prudence, energy, and incorruptibility. The rapidity with which he succeeded, in October, 1850, in suppressing the revolution created by the Emir of Balbek, the care and skill with which he introduced the Tanzimaut and the Conscription into the Syrian provinces, had procured him great credit with the government. No successor has been appointed.

* * * * *

The French papers report the death, at Moscow, of M. ALEXIS DE SAINT PRIEST, a member of the French Academy, formerly a Peer of France, and the author of several historical works,--of which the most celebrated are his History of the Fall of the Jesuits, first published in 1844, and _Histoire de la Royauté_, 1846.

Ladies fashions for January.

From the journals of fashion in London and Paris it appears that furs are very much worn abroad this winter, but hitherto we have not marked their very general adoption in New-York. The sable, ermine, and chinchilla are, as in previous years, most fashionable. Sable harmonizes well with every color of silk or velvet, and it is especially beautiful when worn with the latter material. Cloaks, when trimmed with fur, should not be either so large or so full as when ornamented with other kinds of trimming. Many are of the paletot form, and have sleeves. They are edged with a narrow fur border, the collar being entirely of fur. For trimming mantles Canada sable is much employed. This fur is neither so beautifully soft and glossy, nor so rich in color as the Russian sable; but the difference in price is very considerable. In tone of color minx comes next to Canada sable. Squirrel will not be among the favorite furs this winter; it will be chiefly used for lining cloaks and mantles. Muffs are of the medium size adopted during previous winters. We may add that fur is not excluded from mourning costume.

_Bonnets_, although fanciful in their appearance, have a warm effect, being composed of plush, velvet, and terry velvet. Felt and beaver bonnets are also much in vogue, trimmed simply, but richly, generally with colors to match, and with drooping feathers. Genin has reproduced the latest London and continental modes. Bonnets of violet velvet are also trimmed with a black lace, upon which are sprinkled, here and there, jet beads; this lace is passed over the bonnet and fixed upon one of the sides by a noeud of ribbon velvet of different widths; two wide ends, which droop over the shoulder, serve to attach a quantity of coques or ends, also of different widths. The interior is decorated with hearts-ease of velvet and yellow hearts, and is fixed by several ends of velours opinglé ribbon, the same shade and color as the centre of the hearts-ease.

_Mantelets_ of all sorts of shapes are worn: the most striking are very full, and have a hood. It requires great dexterity in cutting out the mantelet to give a graceful appearance to this innovation. The shape adopted is that called _capuchin bonne femme_ (or old woman's hood); it is very comfortable, and the least apt to spoil the flowers or feathers of the head-dress. There are also mantelets like the above, made of lace, lined with colored silk, which sets off the pattern; and this is most in favor. Every thing in preparation for this winter is far from plain, being trimmed with embroidery, &c., or jet, lace, ribbons, velvet, blond, braid, half-twisted silk, gold beads, colored embroidery, in short, all the array of rich ornaments possible will be the order of the ensuing season.

I. _The Waistcoat Fashion_, of which we have heretofore given an illustration, is said to increase, and as it is graceful and convenient it would be more popular but for the ridicule cast on all innovations by the vulgar or profligate women who expose their natural shamelessness and ambition of notoriety by appearing in what is called the Bloomer costume--a costume which, it is scarcely necessary to say, has never yet been assumed by a really respectable woman.

II. _Girls Dress._--White satin capote black velvet dress with berthe; and sleeves trimmed with slight silk fringe. Trousers of English embroidered work. The Genin hat, of felt or beaver.

III. _Walking Dress._--Bonnet of purple velvet with black feather; full mantelet of black velvet, trimmed with lace and buttons; dress of dark valencias, very full, and plain. Another walking dress consists of pelisse and paletot of Nankin cachmere, the former beautifully embroidered.

IV. _Evening Costume._--Dress of Brussels net, worn over a jupon of white satin; the body is made en stomacher: the waist and point not very long; two small capes, one of delicately worked net, the other of plain net, meet, in a point in front en demi-coeur; the short sleeve is formed by four frills, two of worked net, and two of plain net, placed alternately; the skirt is long, and extremely full; it has eight flounces, reaching nearly to the waist, and graduating in width towards the top; they are placed alternately, of worked and plain net.