petition from the county of Middlesex, praying for retrenchment, economy, general reform, and vote by ballot.-Mr. Hobhouse expressed his opinion, that let the present Government do what they would, the people would be satisfied with nothing short of vote by ballot.

December 24. Mr. Trevor moved a resolution to the effect that a publication, entitled Cobbett's Register, of the 11th December, contained a scandalous and malicious libel on the authorities of the state; but after a few observations from Mr. Bulwer and the Chancellor of the Exchequer, the motion was withdrawn.

The House was adjourned to Thursday, the 3rd February.

LIST OF THE NEW MINISTRY.
THE CABINET.

First Lord of the Treasury, Earl Grey.
President of the Council, Marquis of Lansdowne.
Lord Chancellor, Lord Brougham.
Lord Privy Seal, Lord Durham.

Chancellor of the Exchequer, Viscount Althorp. Secretary of State for the Home Department, Viscount Melbourne.

Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, Viscount

Lord Steward, Marquis Wellesley. Master of the Horse, Earl of Albemarle. Commander in Chief, Lord Hill.

Secs. of the Treasury, E. Ellice and T. S. Rice.
Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, Lord Holland.
Paymaster of the Forces, Lord J. Russell.

Treasurer of Navy, and Vice-President of Board
of Trade, C. P. Thompson.
Comptroller of Ditto, Sir T. B. Martin, Bt.
Chief Commissioner of Land Revenue, Hon. G. A.

Ellis.

Judge Martial of his Majesty's Forces, Rt. Hon.
Sir J. Becket

Surveyor Gen. of the Ordnance,
Judge Advocate-General, Sir R. Grant.
Attorney-General, Sir T. Denman.
Solicitor-General, Sir W. Horne.

IRELAND.

Lord Lieutenant, Marquis of Anglesey.
Lord Chancellor, Lord Plunkett.
Commander of the Forces, Sir J. Byng.
Chief Secretary, Hon. E. G. S. Stanley.
Vice-Treasurer. Rt. Hon. M. Fitzgerald
Attorney-General,

Solicitor-General, P. Crampton.

The Home Secretary has addressed an energetic letter to the county magistracy, on the impropriety, impolicy, and illegality of concessions made through fear of consequences to the demands of tumultuous assemblages. He states that the magistrates have no legal right to settle the amount of wages; that machinery is as much to be protected as any other property, and that the consequences to be apprehended from yielding to such demands, are much more fearful than any that could occur from resisting them. The right hon. secretary concludes by urging on the magistracy the necessity of resisting illegal demands, and of fearlessly defending property.

His Majesty's yacht Herald arrived at Montreal, after a passage of forty-three days, from Cowes, having on board the GovernorGeneral of the province, Lord Aylmer, lady and suite. The Provincial Parliament of Lower Canada, which was called together for the 26th of October, had been prorogued to the 14th of December.

CAPE OF GOOD HOPE.

Accounts have been received at Lloyd's from Penzance, by the ship Albion, which has arrived off that place, that a Spanish slave ship of 1800 tons, having on board 1000 slaves, had been captured off Cape Coast Castle, by his Majesty's sloop Primrose, Captain Griffinhoole, mounting only eighteen guns, after a very severe action, during which the slave ship had eighty men killed and wounded, and the Primrose four.

Cape of Good Hope papers to the 16th of October, state that considerable ferment had been caused at the Mauritius, by a report that instructions had been received from his Majesty's Government at home, directing

that all slaves imported since 1814 should be manumitted. It is added, that several of the capitalists had, in consequence, refused to advance money to the planters. It is said that the French embassy sent to the Queen of Madagascar had failed in its object, the Queen having resolved not to cede any portion of her territory.

EAST INDIES.

Calcutta papers, to the 25th of August, contain accounts from Ava, announcing the arrival of Major Burney, the British envoy, and suite, on the 24th of April. The court does not, it appears, make any obj ction to the permanent residence of a British envoy at Ava, but, on the contrary, expressed an idea of sending a Burmese ambassador to Calcutta, in fulfilment of the seventh article of the Yandaboo treaty. Major Burney, however, did not obtain an audience until the 17th of June, chiefly in consequence of his illness, and his repeated refusals to remove his shoes when introduced to the King. He was at last obliged to consent, when an audience was granted, and a number of elephants were sent for his use. At nine o'clock in the morning the procession commenced. Major Burney was carried in his ton-john, preceded by four silver-stick bearers, with the portrait of the King of England: his suite followed on elephants with the presents. The spectators amounted to twenty thousand persons. The Major was obliged to wait at the Royal Court House till the princes and great officers had entered the palace in state, during which time refreshments were served up in gold utensils. The shoes were discarded at the steps of the hall of audience, and the envoy and suite were seated immediately in front of the throne. After a few moments, a rumbling sound like distant thunder was heard, when a folding gilt door was thrown open, and the King, most richly attired, made his appearance. He had on a gold crown, and a gold-flowered gown, richly beset with jewels. All the courtiers prostrated themselves, and the Embassy took off their hats and bowed. The appointed Burmese officer then read, in a loud voice, the letter from the GovernorGeneral, and also a list of the presents. The King inquired after the health of the Governor-General; if the seasons were favourable; and if there were refreshing rains at Calcutta;-to which suitable answers were returned. Shortly after his Majesty retired, and the folding-doors were closed. Major Burney was on good terms with the Ministers, and had been promised a private audience. The correspondence with Rangoon was uninterrupted. All power is exclusively in the King, not in the Ministers; but his Majesty, and the people generally, notwithstanding the late war, have no correct notion of the relative power of the two nations.

We observe with satisfaction, from the Bombay papers, that the Government of that Presidency has made it culpable homicide to aid a Hindoo widow in immolating herself after the death of her husband. It seems probable that this enactment will be sufficient to prevent the practice; and as the Madras Government had previously followed the example of Bengal, there is now no part of British India where this crime can be again perpetrated with impunity.

SWAN RIVER.

Unfavourable accounts have been received

BELGIUM.

from this colony. Out of the 1500 persons who had arrived there, 400 are stated to have left it; the remainder are said to be divided nearly as follows:-At Perth, the capital, 300; at Freemantle, 400; and at Clarence (Mr. Peel's place) about 400. Perth stands about eleven miles from the mouth of the Swan, and Freemantle is situated at the mouth, and overlooks the sea. Clarence is to the south of Freemantle about twelve miles, and also overlooks the sea. Thus the new Colony occupied land between its three establishments of about twentyeight miles by water, or twenty by land in width, and about twelve miles in depth. Sickness, it is asserted, was making rapid strides, owing to the settlers living on salted provisions and vegetables, and also in consequence of the badness of the water. The cattle had also died in great numbers, and those living were unhealthy and lean.

By accounts in the Indian papers, we learn that there has been a battle royal between the settlers and the natives at the new establishment. The quarrel commenced in an attempt at theft by the natives at Perth. The aborigines made a great show of courage they dared the settlers to fight; and one of them advanced and quietly knocked down a corporal with his waddie, a stick about two feet and a half long, and an inch in diameter. The chiefs ascended the trees like monkeys, and chattered to their tribes from the tops of the branches. In such situations they were shot at with facility: but they feared not the thunder and lightning of the Europeans; and seven of their number were killed.

WEST INDIES.

A journal, entitled the "Watchman and Jamaica Free Press," is established in Jamaica. It is conducted by free men of colour; and its object is to maintain the right to all the civil and political privileges of English subjects. This journal is the organ of the blacks, and when we consider that the population of Jamaica comprises, besides 300,000 slaves, 40,000 free negroes, most of them capable of reading and writing, and whose property is at least as considerable as that of the 13,000 resident whites, we may form an idea of the importance which this publication is calculated to obtain.

Belgium is finally declared independent. The House of Nassau.is for ever excluded from the throne. The Congress has rejected the proposition of a republic, and decided upon a limited monarchy as the form of a future government.

BRAZIL.

Accounts have been received from Rio de Janeiro to the 11th of October. News of

the Revolution in France had just reached the Brazilian capital, and the Emperor had made an extensive change in the Administration.

BUENOS AYRES.

The letters from Buenos Ayres reach down to the end of September, they are of the most unsatisfactory description. An internal war is again on the point of breaking out; a great number of merchants have requested passports to leave the country; they had not been granted at the date of these letters.

FRANCE.

M. Kergorlay, whose trial in the Chamber of Peers for refusing to take the oath of allegiance to Louis-Philippe I., so much occupied the attention of the Parisians, has been sentenced to six months' imprisonment, and a fine of 500f. His speech in his own defence was energetic, honourable, and consistent.

In the Chamber of Deputies, on the 24th of November, M. Dupin proposed a resolution equivalent to a total abolition of ecclesiastical peerages! It found some support, but was ultimately withdrawn.

In the Chamber of Deputies, on the 1st instant, M. Lafitte proposed to restore to the state the amount of the indemnities granted by the late government to the emigrants. He assured the Chamber that the warlike preparations so insisted on of late, had nothing in them to alarm the country, but that peace would survive the crisis caused by the affairs of Belgium-that France would, negotiate in a strong attitude, and her reasonings for peace would be backed by the powerful argument of 500,000 men, and 1,000,000 of national guards ready to resent a provocation to war. How then could war be anticipated? Marshal Soult asked for 80,000 men of the conscripts of 1830, to be made ready for active service. He had no fear of war.

The trial of the French ex-Ministers commenced on Wednesday the 15th. The morning was cold and snowy, but numbers assembled before eight o'clock in the neighbourhood of the Odeon and the Luxembourg. National guards of all legions and grades lined every avenue; their bayonets glittered among the gardens of the Luxembourg, and the whole palace was in a state of siege. The court-yard was occupied by the civil and military authorities, securing prompt ingress for the privileged few who had obtained tickets of admission.

The

gloom of this beautiful chamber corresponded with the solemn business of which it was to be the theatre. A few minutes after ten o'clock, and before the President took his seat, the prisoners were conducted into their chamber by four soldiers of the municipal guards, preceded by Colonel Festamel, the commandant of the prison of the Luxembourg; they immediately sat upon the chairs provided for them. Two were dressed in black; Polignac and Peyronnet wore brown coats and coloured waistcoats. They entered the court uncovered, and bowed upon entering. The prisoners, with the exception of Peyronnet (who maintained a firm and cheerful demeanour) were very pale and wan. Chantelauze appeared like a man on the threshold of the tomb. The fortune which had conducted Polignac to

his elevation, appeared now to have entirely deserted him; he looked round with evident anxiety, but his eye seemed not to meet a sympathizing glance. He is a man of very gentlemanly appearance, and his silvery hair gave a sorrowful hue to his aspect. They were now followed by the whole corps of their counsel; of the latter, Martignac took the lead. He did not wear the professional costume of the defenders of the other prisoners, but wore his court-dress as deputy. As soon as the prisoners were seated, a number of witnesses were introduced on the floor at the right of the court. The President then entered, and all the Peers took their seats in great pomp and order. The prisoners looked steadfastly at their judges, as they passed. Peyronnet, who is a tall figure, stood with his arms crossed, and apparently at perfect ease. Polignac followed them attentively with his eye, but no familiar recognition on the part of the Peers to the prisoners was observed. The Court of Peers was then called over, and the Peers answered to their names. The Commissioners of the Chamber of Deputies, charged with the impeachment of the Ministers of Charles X. were in full court-dresses. As the business commenced, all the prisoners were furnished with papers, pens, and ink, of which they commenced to make immediate use, with the exception of Chantelauze, who was evidently too weak for any personal exertion.On the 18th, the several witnesses having been examined, M. Martignac delivered his address in defence of Prince Polignac.

On the 21st, the several prisoners having been heard in their defence, and also by their counsel, sentences were pronounced by the Court of Peers.

The Prince de Polignac, the Count de Peyronnet, Victor Chantelauze, and the Count Guernon de Ranville, were declared guilty of High Treason, and the Court

"Condemned le Prince de Polignac to be imprisoned for life in the continental dominions of the kingdom; declared him deprived of his titles, rank, and orders; declared him civilly dead; all the other consequences of transportation remaining in force.

"Condemned le Comte de Peyronnet, Victor Chantelauze, and le Comte de Guernon Ranville, to imprisonment for life; directed them to be placed in a state of interdiction, and declared them equally deprived of their titles, rank, and orders.

"Condemned all the accused, individually and collectively, to pay the expenses of the proceedings."

The prisoners had been removed to the castle of Vincennes.

MEXICO.

The Mexicans have ordered public mourning for the death of George the Fourth, who first recognized their independence.

POLAND.

On Monday, the 29th of November, about seven in the evening, an insurrection broke out in Warsaw. It began, it appears, in the military school of ensigns. The young men, to the number of 500 to 600, took up arms, and spreading themselves through the town, called the citizens to arms. A multi tude of students and inhabitants soon joined them; they proceeded to the barracks of the infantry and the arsenal, which was taken by ten o'clock. The immense quantity of muskets and sabres it contained were distributed to the people. The insurrection had previously gained the barracks of the infantry. The engineer regiment was the first that rose, and several other regiments soon followed it. The Grand Duke Constantine, on the point of being attacked or surrounded in his palace, effected his retreat upon Praga, with his guard, two Russian regiments, and a regiment of Polish cavalry. The exasperation, for a long time smothered, was so very considerable at the moment of the insurrection, that some Polish detachments, who at the commencement refused to give up their arms to the people, were massacred as traitors. Forty-one colonels or majors were killed in endeavouring to keep the troops in obedience. The Chief of the Municipal Police and two Russian Generals were killed. The German General Hauch and Count Stanislaus Potosky were also killed in seeking to rally the troops. The military chest and the house of the Paymaster-General were plundered. The slaughter on both sides was great. Many armed females were seen bearing their share in the dangers of the day. The shops were still closed on the 1st inst.; but the new President of Police, Hegrzeiki, had issued orders that they should be opened. In addition to the Polish troops, 30,000 of the inhabitants were under arms. On the next day tranquillity was restored. The Russian families residing at Warsaw have been placed under the protection of national honour. Such of the members of the Cham ber of Deputies as happened to be at Warsaw had allowed themselves to be made the organs of the popular voice.

The Council of Administration established by the Emperor of Russia, in conjunction with Prince Lubeski, Minister of Finance, Prince Adam Czartorinski, and Prince Michael Radzivil, form the Provisional Government, and have issued a proclamation, in which they acknowledge the rights of sovereignty of the Emperor Nicholas, but on condition that the separation of the two States shall be complete, and that no Russian corps shall keep garrison in Poland.

PORTUGAL.

Attempt to assassinate Don Miguel. By accounts received from Lisbon, it appears that this precious specimen of legitimate

royalty had a narrow escape of being assassinated on the 15th of last month, as he was about to leave the palace of Ajuda, by a well-dressed man, who was arrested; a poignard was found in the sleeve of his coat.

PRUSSIA.

The Prussian government, which is constantly directing its exertions to the improvement of commerce and industry, has lately commenced extensive works, the object of which is to remove the rocks of Bingerloch, the hole of Bingen. The execution of this project will ensure the gratitude of all the inhabitants of the Rhine.

RUSSIA.

The cholera rages. The Don Cossacks have lost 1,334 persons by it. Magnesia and a cataplasm of hay seeds have been found efficacious in its cure at Smolensk. In Wallachia, a disease resembling the plague has broken out. At Moscow, on the 1st of November, there were ill of cholera 1,357 persons; 1,771 had already fallen victims to this disorder. Six additional corps have been placed on the war establishment.

The Emperor of Russia has addressed a circular to the different courts of Europe, in which he states that no Russian soldier shall pass the frontier except with the concurrence of the five great powers.

SWITZERLAND.

The news from Switzerland speaks of nothing but commotion. The Swiss have a tri-coloured flag, red, green, and yellow, which has been restored by the agitators. A revolutionary council has been formed at Soleure.

TURKEY.

The accounts received by the Russian Government from Constantinople show that the Grand Seignior was exerting himself with no common assiduity to place his army on a more respectable footing than it has hitherto borne, and there were many who held the opinion that the Sultan only wanted a fair opportunity to attempt to wipe off the disgrace he is at present suffering under, owing to the issue of the last war. opinion it was considered was a main cause of the increase of the Russian army-the Emperor not wishing to be taken by surprise by any warlike demonstrations from the East, should he have any business on hand demanding the attention of a portion of his troops in the direction of Belgium.

VENEZUELA.

This

The Congress of Venezuela has declared that Valencia shall in future be the capital of Venezuela; and orders had, in consequence, reached Caraccas for the removal of the High Court of Justice and other public offices to Valentia. The Congress had been engaged in some revisions of the Customhouse regulations, which had given satisfaction to the merchants.

The History of Modern Greece, from its Conquest by the Romans to the Present Time. By James Emerson, Esq. of Trinity College, Dublin. 2 vols.

Mr. Emerson commences his present volumes with a history of the late Greek Revolution, and when he has discussed this, from the year 1820 to 1829, in the form of a preface, he enters upon the hody of his work from the year 146 B.C. and carries it down to 1819 A.D. We confess we can perceive no reason for this inversion, or for sketching in a prefatory manner the recent events in Greece. We should have greatly preferred a regular consecutive account, of which the Revolution formed the conclusion, and that it was so embodied with the work as it deserved to be. It is by far the most striking and interesting event since the battles of Marathon and Salamis; for we consider that the efforts of the modern Greeks to liberate themselves from the yoke of the Turks a more bold and desperate enterprise, even than that of their ancestors against the power of the Persians. The ancient Greeks were a free and warlike people, and were at the time an independent state, with all the resources of a well-governed and independent country. Their adversaries were a degenerate and effeminated people, and though they possessed great advantages, these were confined to Asia alone. The modern Greeks, however, were a weak and impoverished people, depressed by long servitude, and having no resources of a regular Government, but every man furnishing himself with the weapons that came first to his hand, acting nearly without concert or communion, and relying almost on his own individual energy and exertions-while the enemy they had to contend with was powerful and warlike, and possessed vast resources, not only in Asia, like the Persians, but also in Europe and Africa, where the Persians had none. Yet with this fearful odds against them did the modern Greeks encounter their enemies, and with an ardent love of liberty, equal to that of their forefathers, and a disinterestedness and persever ance far superior, did they persist in the unequal contest, exhibiting traits of valour, both by sea and land, which rivalled any similar exploits of their ancestors; and with an unyielding perseverance which never would submit, would have continued the contest to the last man, had not the nations of Europe interfered to save them froin utter extermination. We have been led into this brief sketch of a gallant people struggling for liberty, because it is the fashion to decry their exertions, to dwell upon their petty faults and occasional excesses, and to overlook the generous perseverance and intrepid patriotism which first undertook so hazardous an enterprise, and then so nobly achieved it. The world now, for the first time, has seen Greece in dependent, after a servitude to other nations for nearly two thousand years. Her history therefore ought to conclude with this most important event as its acmé, and by far more striking than any other which has occurred since the sacking of Corinth by Mummius.

While we thus express our opinions, and regret that our author does not seem to give the Greeks the meed of valour which they deserve, we cannot withhold our praise from the manner in which he has elucidated an obscure and little attended-to Jan.-VOL. XXXIII. NO. CXXI.

period of Greek history. He has read extensively and quoted his authorities largely, and we are well pleased to see that he has taken the accounts that are most authentic. He details Ali Pasha's death, and other events, as they are related by the sober evidence of those who had the best means of knowing; and not on the suspicious, because inflated, accounts of enthusiastic writers. The early part of the history, after the Greeks fell under the dominion of the Romans, is judiciously passed over cursorily, as having been treated more copiously by former historians; but from the time of Justinian-that is, from about the sixth century-little has been said of Greece proper, except some occasional notices in the Byzantine writers, and from that till the twelfth its history is very obscure, as being a trifling dependency only of the Lower Empire. When the mania of crusading seized western Europe, a new era commences; and since the Venetians took possession of part of the country, their annalists furnish abundant matter for history, so that down to the conquest by the Turks, the events which occurred in Greece are abundantly detailed. After that period, those barbarians threw their veil of ignorance and obscurity across the country, till the energy of the Northern people gloriously tore it to pieces.

Among the anecdotes told of the last dynasty of Constantinople is a curious one relating to this country, viz. that one of the family of the Pelæologi is buried in a church-yard in Cornwall. When the country fell under the dominion of the Turks, some of the family fled to Italy, and one of them, Theodore Palæologus, a lineal descendant of the gallant Constantine, emigrated some time after from Pessaro to England, where he married the daughter of Mr. Balls, of Hadley, in Suffolk, by whom he had several children, whose descendants are now somewhere in England. It is extraordinary what a number of kings, and descendants of kings, have sought refuge among us. Among the anecdotes of modern Greek princes of Constantinople, the origin of the Mavrocordato family is curious. The first of any eminence was a Sciote physician, who had studied at Padua and Bologna; he brought over with him the new-discovered theory of the circulation of the blood, and the Turks supposed him endued with magical intelligence because he could tell the degree of their distemper by only touching the wrist and counting the pulsations. He was made Hospodar of Wallachia.

Our limits will not permit us to particularise the contents of this book of Mr. Emerson. The public are indebted to him for collecting together in a condensed form the scattered notices of many writers. We trust, in the next edition, he will embody the recent Revolution with the rest, and then the public will have a consecutive detail of Greek affairs from the time when she was blotted out of the map of Europe as an independent people, down to a period when she was again restored to her rank as a nation.