president of the council, on the 19th of September. The list of names which the minister of the interior was required to produce, embraced some flagrant violators of the law-even assassins and galley convicts. It appeared that General Cavaignac did not, in fact, know what names were on the list, and was exonerated by the assembly from all blame; yet the explanation came too late to reach all parts of the country before the day of the election. With the loss of popularity on the part of General Cavaignac, the chances of his most favoured rival, Prince Louis, were greatly increased. Of the requisite qualifications of the latter, but little was known. His principal support was expected from those classes with whom the prestige of his name and family would have weight. He would also combine in his favour all those, who favoured the old regime, but who having no present hope of putting at the head of the nation a Bourbon prince, in their hostility to republicanism, preferred the elevation of the descendant and heir of an emperor.

The success of Louis Napoleon was greater than was expected. He received nearly four-fifths of all the votes polled.

The results of the election of the 10th of December, were as follows:

Number of votes in the 86 departments, not in

cluding Algeria,

7,449,471

Number of votes expressed,

7,426,252

Universal suffrage was deemed a bold experiment for such a country as France, but the election passed without any disturbance of the public tranquillity; and on the 20th December, the ceremony of the proclamation took place in the national assembly. M. Marrast, the President of that body, in a loud voice declared Louis Napoleon Bonaparte President of the French Republic from that day to the second Sunday in May, 1852. After he had taken the oath required by the constitution, the new President in a firm voice read the following address:

"Citizens-Republicans-The suffrages of the nation, and the oath I have just taken, trace out to me my future conduct. I shall follow it as a man of honour. I shall regard as the enemies of our country all those who shall attempt to change by illegal means what all France has established. Between you and me, citizen representatives, there cannot be any real difference of opinion: our wishes and desires are the

same.

"I wish, like you, to place society on a true basis, to strengthen democratic institutions, and to alleviate the miseries of that generous and intelligent people which has just given me such striking proofs of its confidence. The majority I have obtained not only penetrates me with gratitude, but will give to the new government that moral force without which there is no authority.

"With peace and order, our country can again improve, can cure its wounds, and bring back the men that have been misled, and calm down every passion. Animated by a sincere spirit of conciliation, I have called around me capable and patriotic men, who, in spite of the diversity of their political origin, are ready to devote themselves with you to the application, the improvement of the laws, and the glory of the republic.

"As a republican government coming into power, we owe a debt of thanks to its predecessors, where the deposite of its authority is handed over to it intact; and, in particular, I owe it to Gen. Cavaignac to say, that his conduct has been worthy of the generosity of his character, and that sentiment of duty which is the first quality of a statesman. (Hear! hear!)

"We have, citizen representatives, a grand mission to fulfil. We have to found a republic in which the interests of all shall be guarded by a just and firm government, which shall be animated by a sincere desire to progress without being either reactionary or utopian. Let us be the men of the country, not the men of a party, and with the aid of God, we will at least do good, if we cannot achieve great things."

At the head of the ministry chosen by President Bonaparte, was placed M. Odillon Barrot; who, on the 26th December, ascended the tribune in the national assembly, and said that the new cabinet perfectly concurred in the declaration of principles made by the President of the republic, and that he came forward to repeat the same engagements in the presence of France and of Europe. The country, he said, wished for material and moral order; for order in the streets, as well as in the administration of the government. In strongly constituting the national force, the government had given the best guarantee of its determination to maintain order. Security was the first want of all. It was indispensable that calmness and confidence in the future be restored, as otherwise, manufactures and trade would not revive. The cabinet would exert itself to introduce the severest economy in the public expenditure, and to impart a salutary impulse to public works. He

would not enter upon any expose of the foreign affairs of France. Negotiations were pending which imposed great reserve on the government. All he could say was, that the cabinet would not rashly engage the word of France, and that it would exert itself to preserve peace as the interest of France and Europe. He pledged the efforts of himself and his colleagues to consolidate the republic, and promote the development of the political education of the country.

Gen. Changarnier was appointed commander-in-chief of the national guards; Gen. Bugeaud to the command of the army of the Alps, and the prince of Montfort, (Jerome Bonaparte,) Governor of the Invalides. On the 24th, the new President made his first appearance at a grand review of the troops. He was received with enthusiastic cheering by the national guards and the people generally. The cries were principally, "Vive Napoleon!" "Vive Louis Napoleon!" His own bearing on the occasion is said to have been "graceful, engaging, and dignified."

Many approve or disapprove of the election of Louis Napoleon for no better reason than that they approve or disapprove of every thing done in France; but others looking to it only as an index of public sentiment in France, think it affords conclusive evidence that republicanism is not in high estimation in that country, since it has elected as its chief magistrate one, whose great recommendation was his relationship to a former emperor, and has thus shown its favour to that principle of hereditary sovereignty, which is most fundamental in monarchies, and most repugnant to popular government; while others, again, find in the fact that the imperial conqueror, to whose memory homage is thus paid, sprung from the body of the people, the extinction of the principle of legitimacy, and, therefore, in the elevation of his nephew and appointed heir, they see the vindication of popular rights.

When it is recollected that M. Lamartine, who was the lowest on the list, would have once stood the highest; that a few months later, General Cavaignac, now so far behind, would have been the popular favourite, it leads us to inquire whether this tide of unbought popularity is likely to last, and whether the wheel of fortune, which has whirled so rapidly with others, will stand still with Napoleon. His character as a ruler is to be developed, and it remains to be seen how far he is competent to guide the helm of state of a people so impulsive, and placed in circumstances, both at home and abroad, so likely to agitate them: and whether, after the example of his far-famed relative, he will use his great popularity to convert the present government into one of more pomp and energy, or whether, abiding by the promise made at his installation into office, he will maintain the ascendency of the republic; and lastly, whether his administration will be able to raise the requisite revenue without calling forth discontents dangerous to the public tranquillity, and perhaps fatal to his power, or will seek to prevent them by engaging in war.

These are questions which time will solve; for the present, however, his popularity has experienced no decline, and he is firm in his govern

ment.

GREAT BRITAIN.

In June, the subject of the repeal of the navigation laws was discussed in the British parliament. The advocates for the repeal maintained in the House of Commons, that all the arguments in favour of free-trade in corn applied to free-trade in shipping; and that if the nation had been benefited by removing the restrictions on the importation of foreign corn, it would be similarly benefited by removing the restrictions on transportation in foreign ships. That the English shipowner and sailor are better able than the English agriculturist to meet foreign competition, because they are not, like the last, subject to peculiar taxes, as poor rates, highway rates, and church rates. That ships can be built as cheaply as elsewhere, if regard be had to their quality. It was admitted in the discussion, that American shipwrights were superior to the English, and that American captains and their crews also had some superiority: the former, because they commonly had an interest in the cargo, and consequently in the shortness of the voyage; the latter, because more sober and better educated. It was, however, insisted that the English sailor had natural advantages superior to the sailor of any other country.

It was further urged, that English ships had no protection in the export trade, which was extensive and flourishing; why, then, it was asked, should they have protection in the import trade?

The opponents of the repeal relied on the past benefits of the navigation laws, as was shown by the steady increase and vast amount of British shipping; on the greater cost of English ships, from the workmanship being higher than in most countries, and the timber being higher than in any, and from the rapid increase of American shipping, notwithstanding the preference given to English ships by the navigation laws; all of which arguments were elaborately supported by statistics. On the question of going into committee on the subject, the ministry prevailed by a vote of 294 against 177. The subject was, however, subsequently postponed to the next session. It seems probable that in ship-building the respective advantages of Great Britain and the United States are nearly equal. Timber, masts, and spars, tar, pitch, and turpentine, are much cheaper in the United States. Iron, copper sheathing, carpenter's work, and sails are cheaper in Great Britain. But in navigation the United States have the advantage—their ships are generally better constructed for speed-they crowd more sail, and, though wages are somewhat higher, they navigate with fewer men: provisions are also much lower. The difference, however, is not so great but that the shipping of both nations will continue to increase with the increase of population and wealth.

Ireland continues to afford a subject of undiminished anxiety to the British statesman; for, although all attempts at rebellion are effectually put down, yet the deep-rooted discontent of its people still continues ready to break out whenever a favourable occasion is presented. The sufferings of the peasantry, too, in three-fourths of the island, from scarcity, though far less than they lately were, are still very great, and neither humanity nor policy permit the administration to look on them with indifference. Yet as the immediate cause of the distress in Ireland is in her over-crowded population, it is not seen that the evil admits of any speedy remedy, or how the government can greatly meliorate her condition. In the mean time, its power has been chiefly exercised in its harsher attributes of restraint and punishment. Besides acts of parliament for the suspension of the habeas corpus, and to confine all suspected persons until March, 1849, a force of from 40,000 to 45,000 men were sent over to suppress insurrection the moment it should break out, and prosecutions were commenced against the most conspicuous and efficient leaders of the malcontents. Some of these being men of family, fortune, and great private respectability, their conviction, which has always followed prosecutions, powerfully appealed to the feelings of the Irish, and met with no little sympathy both in foreign countries and other parts of the British dominions. Among these, Mr. Smith O'Brien has been the most distinguished. He was on the 9th October sentenced to undergo the punishment which a barbarous age had affixed to treason, but which the administration wisely commuted for transportation. He would deserve a statue of gold who would devise a plan of securing an average of national comfort permanently to the Irish people; but so long as between eight and nine millions are crowded on a territory of no greater extent than the state of Maine or South Carolina, and who, for the most part, are wanting in capital, skill, and industry, it would seem that such a result must be the slow work of time, even if they were left to the sole management of their own affairs.

It appeared by the budget of the minister that the deficit of the year was about £2,000,000. After some hesitation on the part of Lord John Russell, and an apparent disposition to increase the income tax, it was decided to be the safer course to supply the deficiency by exchequer bills, and of course by an addition to the public debt. Probably but for the revolution in France, and its consequences, certain and uncertain, which caused the conservative party to support the whig ministry, a change of administration would have been the result of this financial difficulty in a time of peace.

The session was protracted to the 5th of September, when it was prorogued by the Queen, who embarked the same day with Prince Albert in a steamer for Scotland. Parliament, thus prorogued, was not to meet till January.

The relief granted to the West Indies gave satisfaction neither at home nor in the colonies. In the latter it was considered to be alto