proportion to their numbers, and not in the ratio of their voluntary contributions to religious instruction. The legislative council passed this bill, with the above amendments, by a large majority; and on the 10th of February the Upper Canada parliament was dissolved by the governor, who congratulated it on having passed the clergy reserves bill, and thereby set at rest a question which had for years past convulsed the province.

MEXICO. In the early part of the month of July in this year, a revolution broke out in the city of Mexico, which was forcibly taken possession of by the federalists. General Urrea had been imprisoned by the government, but his adherents and followers among the troops released him by a coup de main, and having surprised the palace and overcome the guard there, they seized the president and incarcerated him. Urrea immediately raised the standard of revolt, and put himself at the head of the federalists. After twelve days fighting in the streets, during which about 300 were killed and wounded, the federalists were obliged to yield to governor-general Valencia, who arrived with a reinforcement of troops, and they evacuated the city on the 27th of July, after capitulating on honourable conditions, one of which was, that Valencia should employ his influence with the government in bringing about a reform of the constitution; and another, that all acts committed during the late attempt at revolution should be buried in oblivion. This outbreak was not attended with any excesses, and private property was respected on both sides. General Bustamente again assumed the direction of affairs; and Santa Anna, who on VOL. LXXXII.

first hearing of the revolution, had left Vera Cruz with a body of troops to support the government, when he reached the capital and found that the disturbance had terminated, returned at once with his forces to the castle of Perote.

TEXAS.-On the 16th of November a commercial treaty between Great Britain and the republic of Texas was signed in London by lord Palmerston and general James Hamilton, the envoy from the republic to England. By this treaty the independence of the infant state was recognized, and the basis of the commercial stipulations was perfect reciprocity. It was hoped that this would tend to bring about a reconciliation between Mexico and the Texas, and cause a settlement of the boundaries of the last-mentioned republic in which the former would acquiesce.

BRAZIL. On the 23d of July the emperor, although still legally a minor, was by a coup d'état declared of age, and assumed the reins of government. The discussions on this question in the senate had been most violent and disorderly, but the declaration of the emperor's majority was carried. On the same day his imperial majesty arrived in state at the senate house and took the requisite oaths, after which he reviewed the troops. The city of Rio de Janeiro was illuminated at night, and rejoicings took place. A new ministry was immediately appointed.

NOVA SCOTIA.-The house of assembly this year voted resolutions declaring the necessity of remodelling the executive council on the principle of lord John Russell's despatch of the 16th of October, 1839, so as to produce harmony between the colonial government and [Q]

the house of assembly. Sir Colin Campbell, however, the governor, replied, that he had no reason to believe any alteration in the sentiments of the queen's ministers had occurred, and that he was in every way satisfied with the assistance he had received from his council. The assembly then remonstrated, and called upon the governor to carry into effect the principle laid down by the head of the colonial secretary in England. Sir Colin answered that he could not put the same construction on the despatch as the assembly, but promised to refer the resolutions of the house of assembly to the government at home. Upon which the house of assembly adopted a petition to the queen to remove sir Colin Campbell, and he immediately prorogued the parliament.

NEW BRUNSWICK.-This year a colonial despatch was received from England regarding the selection of

public functionaries and the tenure of offices; and after it had been published by governor Harvey, a resolution was moved in the house of assembly by the reform liberal party, expressing great satisfaction at the announcement of her majesty's intention "to infuse principles into the administration of colonial affairs strictly analogous to the principles of the British constitution." The government party moved as an amendment, stating that there was nothing in the despatch "to call forth any expression from the house on the subject of colonial government." This produced a still stronger amendment on the part of the reformers, which was negatived by 15 to 13. On the first amendment the num bers were equal, 14 to 14, when the chairman (the house being in committee) gave his casting vote in favour of it and the government.

Bolan Pass, and then through Scinde. The forces left in the Affghan territory were placed under the command of general Nott and colonel Sale, of whom the former had to direct his attention to Candahar and Quetta, and the latter to Cabul, Jellalabad, and Ghuznee. Dost Mahomed, at this time, had ceased to excite much alarm. His power seemed to be completely broken, and the impression made upon the minds of the chieftains of India by the exploits of British arms in the late campaign deterred them from rallying round his standard. He had retired across the Hindoo Koosh, the passes of which were guarded, and the chiefs of Balkh and Bokhara refused to join him.

When that portion of the army of the Indus which was under the immediate command of Sir J. Keane arrived within the Peshawer's territory, the governor-general (lord Auckland) issued a geneal order, dated, "Camp, Pamput, November 18," in which he "offered publicly his warmest thanks to the commander-in-chief, and to the officers and men who had served under his command, for the soldierlike spirit and conduct of all ranks throughout the late campaign;" and he congratulated them on attaining the great objects of national security and honour for which the expedition was undertaken: "The plans of aggression by which the British Empire in India was dangerously threatened, have, under Providence, been arrested. The chiefs of Cabul and Candahar, who had joined in hostile designs against us, have been deprived of power, and the territories which they ruled have been restored to the government of a friendly monarch, The Ameers of Scinde have

acknowledged the supremacy of the British government, and ranged themselves under its protection. Their country will now be an outwork of defence, and the navigation of the Indus within their dominions, exempt from all duties, has been opened to commercial enterprise. With the allied governments of the Sikhs the closest harmony has been maintained; and on the side of Herat the British alliance has been courted, and a good understanding, with a view to common safety, has been established with that power." The governorgeneral then went on to express, in the warmest terms, his sense of the valour, discipline, and cheerfulness under hardships and privations of the army of the Indus, and its conciliatory conduct to the inhabitants of the countries through which it passed, whereby it had earned respect for the British name; and he stated the gratifying_fact, that the native Sepoy and European soldier had vied with each other in effort and endurance.

In testimony of the services of the army of the Indus, the governor-general resolved that all the corps, European and native, in the service of the East India Company, which proceeded beyond the Bolan Pass, should have on their regimental colours the word "Affghanistan," and such of them as were employed in the reduction of the fortress of that name the word "Ghuznee" in addition; and in behalf of the queen's regiments he, in the same general order, stated, that he would recommend to her majesty that the same distinction should be granted to them. Besides this complimentary notice, lord Auckland ordered that a donation of six months, full or field batta, should be given to the officers

and fighting men of every rank attached to the army who advanced beyond the Bolan Pass.

But, although the prowess of British arms and the terror of the British name had wrested from the hands of Dost Mahomed the throne in Affghanistan, and seated Shah Soojah on it in his stead, the latter was by no means secure of retaining it a moment longer than he was supported by European aid. All accounts concur in describing the feeling of his subjects at this time towards him as that of perfect detestation, and even the people of his own particular tribe were said to entertain such bitter animosity against him, that his life would not have been safe with them had it not been for British protection. The Affghans openly declared, as the army of the Indus was returning through their country, that they would rather be under the rule of the British than that of Shah Soojah, whom they abhorred as the man who had sold their country to the Feringees. It was not long before a specimen was given of the precarious nature of the tranquillity which was supposed to have been established in the north-west of India, and of the general outbreak that might be anticipated so soon as the British forces had evacuated the countries where they had so signally triumphed. At the beginning of the present year the chief of Koona, Syed Hoshein, who had already signed the treaty of allegiance to Shah Soojah, sent a letter to his majesty, couched in the most insulting terms, and stating, that as he heard the Russians were advancing, it was his intention to join them. On receiving news of this, sir Willoughby Cotton, who commanded one division of the

force which was returning under sir John Keane, despatched colonel Orchard from Jellalabad, with a body of European and native troops, to attack the fort of Pooshut (forty or fifty miles from Jellalabad), where the Koona chief had taken up his residence. The weather was dreadful; the rain fell in tor rents, and the cold was so intense that the men were benumbed by it, the snow lying around them in great depth on the neighbouring hills. The gate of the fortress was battered down by cannon, and the troops were on the point of rushing in, when it was discovered that there was a second wall and a second gate. A murderous fire now opened from the fort upon the attacking column, and as the powder as well as muskets of the men had become wet from the rain, not one of them would go off twice, and they were obliged to retire and shelter themselves from the guns of the fort. An attempt was then made to blow up the inner gate with powder, which was laid in great quantities for the purpose, but this, too, was so damp that it would not explode. The troops then retreated, in the midst of heavy rain, expecting to renew the assault on the morrow, but, during the night, Syed Hoshien evacuated the place, which was taken possession of by our troops on the next day, the 18th of January in this year. It was found to be a fortress of considerable strength, and, like Ghuznee and Khelat, much more capable of a desperate defence than had been anticipated. An attempt was made to follow and capture the fugitive chief, but the guns of the attacking party got so firmly fixed in the mud that they could not be moved. The troops on this occa sion behaved with great fortitude