on the great questions which interested mankind; it is not strange, that his death should be regarded with indifference; and we shall err widely, if we take that indifference as a proof, that his great ness was accidental-a mere whim of fortune-and did not arise from any intrinsic superio rity of mind. No human being ever gave more unequivocal proofs of commanding genius. During every part of his career, all who approached him seem to have felt, that they were in the presence of one born to command. He availed himself of the events of the times, in which his lot was cast, to place himself at the head of the armies of a people among whom he was a stranger; thence to exalt himself into their acknowledged sovereign; to put an end to the anarchy, whose long continuance had wearied them out; to restore internal tranquillity to the nation, while he placed it in a state of permanent war with the whole world; to destroy the armies, and overturn the thrones of the surrounding princes; and to make his will the law of the continent of Europe. If to perform such exploits, and to acquire such influence over the minds of men, be not incontrovertible proofs of superior genius, we know not to what evidences of genius or talent we can give faith.

In the end of July, the divisions, which distracted the French ministry, rose to a greater height. The accession of Villèle and Corbieres, we have seen, did not procure to the duke of Richelieu the support of the violent ultra royalists and even the more mo derate of that party were not satisfied with the share of power

which their friends possessed. To gratify them, the duke of Richelieu consented, it is said, to place Villèle at the head of the marine. This, however, was not enough. M. Corbières insisted, that the direction of the public worship, which had hitherto been dependent on the ministry of the interior, should be transferred to him. M. Simeon, minister of the interior, would not accede to this proposition, and declared, that, if it should be carried into effect, he would immediately resign. MM. Pasquier and Roi did the same. The duke of Richelieu was afraid to yield: and MM. Villèle and Corbieres gave in their resignation and quitted Paris. Two days afterwards, M de Chateaubriand gave in his resignation, both as ambassador and minister of state.

The ultra-royalists did not look upon this temporary secession of their friends from power, as of bad omen. On the contrary, they regarded it as a prelude to a more vigorous assault upon the ministers, which would probably end in procuring for themselves a greater share in the adminis tration.

On the 7th of September, two royal ordinances were promul gated; one fixing the 1st of Oc tober for the convocation of the electoral colleges, to renew the out-going fifth series of deputies; the other, nominating, the presidents of these colleges. The elections did not turn out favourably for the ministers. It was calculated (but such calculations are always of dubious authority), that they lost twenty votes, of which fifteen were gained by the ultra-royalists, and five by the

Liberals.

The chambers met on the fifth of November.

A most pestilent fever, which in Autumn broke out in Barcelona, forced the French government to take strict measures of precaution for the safety of its Southern provinces. All communication with Spain, except by the road of Perthus, was forbidden. Reinforcements of troops were sent to the passes of the Pyrenees, and a cordon of health was maintained along the whole frontier. Every traveller coming from Spain was subjected to quarantine, and all animals and goods, supposed to be capable of conveying the contagion, were placed under the most peremptory and vigilant superintendence. Men, women, and children, attempting to enter France in breach of any of the prescribed rules, were to be indiscriminately repelled by the soldiers; and death was to be the penalty of a successful violation of the cordon.

During this year, there seems to have been a considerable improvement in the state of the manufactures of France. The artisans at Lyons, in Normandy, and towards the Flemish frontier, had more abundant employment, and were better paid, than they had been for some time. The whole kingdom, indeed, was evidently in a state of progressive prosperity; yet the public mind was far from being tranquil; and the administration far from being popular.

Some very extraordinary trials took place at Paris towards the end of the year, the result of which gave a strong indication of the state of popular feeling. M. Barginet was indicted for a libel VOL. LXIII.

on the king, in a pamphlet, of which he avowed himself the author, entitled, "The Queen of England and Napoleon, who both died of cancer," and which manifestly ascribed to poison the death of the two individuals mentioned in the title. The following expressions may serve as a specimen of the whole :

"But our young hands will not carry the censer before the idols to whom human blood is sacrificed-before we were subjects of kings we were citizens of a country; we will speak for it, and we will wait for the future. Caroline was sacrificed to private interest, and Napoleon to policy. I hesitate not to repeat, that both died of the same distemper! Where will that cruel delirium end, which has taken possession of European cabinets? Weary of treachery and perfidy, have they resolved henceforward to employ only poison and the steel?" The jury, after some deliberation, acquitted the author of this production; probably upon the ground, though not expressed, that it was a libel rather on the king of England than the king of France. This was followed by the trial of M. Flocon, who avowed himself the author of a pamphlet addressed to "Francis Charles Joseph Buonaparte, born at the Castle of the Tuilleries, March 20, 1811." He was charged with

an attack upon the order of the succession to the throne, an offence against the person of the king, and an offence against the members of the royal family." The passage, on which the charge principally rested, was the fol. lowing, "Twice have I seen the soil of France polluted by the steps of foreigners, whose arms [L]

have twice imposed upon us shame and slavery; and being then too young, I could not enjoy the glorious right of dying by the hands of the enemy. Time rolls on, things change, men pass away, sovereigns are alarmed, yes, for the sad offspring of a degenerate race!" M. Flocon, who defended himself, contended, that he had not transgressed the boundaries of free discussion allowed by the charter; and the jury agreed with him. The circulation of such wretched productions, and their acquittal, are equally melancholy proofs of the perverted state of public opinion.

Another political trial deserves to be mentioned for the curious ground on which the acquittal proceeded.

A man of the name of Desjardins was tried on his own confession, for having admitted that he was an accomplice of Louvel, the assassin of the Duke de Berri. The case was clearly proved. Desjardins set up, as his defence, that he was so notorious for his falsehood, that nobody could give credit to a word he said, and produced a whole host of witnesses, his friends and relatives, who all swore to the fact with such effect, that he was declared Not Guilty.

other European settlements which still maintained that traffic with Africa.

The king opened the meeting of the estates, at the Hague, on the 15th of October. In his speech he adverted principally to the rising state of the manufactures, and to the improvements which he had in view in various branches of the administration; but the measure, which excited the greatest interest, was the new law regulating the finances. This measure appears to have been all along a greater favourite of the government, than of the country. In the preceding year, an obstinate and vehement opposition had been able to retard, but not to prevent, its progress through the upper chamber; and the opening of the present session, seemed to threaten a still more determined resistance. in the lower. The deputies, who were adverse to the measure, and particularly those of the Southern provinces, absented themselves from the estates; so that the assembly was below the number required by the constitution, to the enactment of such a law. The embarrassment, however, in which the government thus found itself, was but temporary; for such a mode of opposition is always too desperate to be long or steadily followed. A sufficient number of deputies was brought together, and the proposed law was carried. Much less difficulty was found in passing another bill, which had for its object to increase the commerce of Holland, by diminishing the transit duty on foreign productions, from four to one quarter per cent. The party opposed to the government, exulted in the acquittal of some persons

accused of sedition, for having published a pastoral letter of the bishop of Ghent; and the government, on the other hand, showed its strength in the conviction of more than one journal, that had spoken of the interference of Austria in the Neapolitan revolution, in a way which was thought to be subversive of public order.

In Denmark, the police still followed, with a watchful eye, the remnant of a sect, whose religious fanaticism was believed to be connected with political extravagance; and the financial arrangements were completed by an English loan. The government of Sweden found itself involved in a very grave dispute with the legislature of Norway. In the latter kingdom, public opinion, as well as the legislative body, had, for a long time, pronounced itself decidedly against the exclusive privileges, and the feudal rights of the Norwegian nobility. Even when the constitution was framed, which secured the independence of Norway, after it had been ceded to Sweden by the treaty of Kiel, the popular party had endeavoured to procure the curtailment of these privileges and rights; but had only succeeded in gaining a provision, that no new privileges should be granted to the nobility reserving to a more favourable opportunity the propriety of abolishing those which already existed. The Norwegian Storthinglost no time in bringing this most delicate topic into discussion, and in their session of 1816, passed an act, which, not satisfied with curtailing the rights, struck at the very existence of an hereditary nobility. It was not to be expected, that any thing