Harper's New Monthly Magazine, No. XI.—April, 1851—Vol. II.

"I have to lament, however, the difficulties which are still felt by that important body among my people who are owners and occupiers of land. But it is my confident hope, that the prosperous condition of other classes of my subjects will have a favorable effect in diminishing those difficulties, and promoting the interests of agriculture.

"The recent assumption of certain ecclesiastical titles, conferred by a Foreign Power, has excited strong feelings in this country; and large bodies of my subjects have presented addresses to me, expressing attachment to the throne, and praying that such assumptions should be resisted. I have assured them of my resolution to maintain the rights of my crown, and the independence of the nation, against all encroachment, from whatever quarter it may proceed. I have, at the same time, expressed my earnest desire and firm determination, under God's blessing, to maintain unimpaired the religous liberty which is so justly prized by the people of this country. It will be for you to consider the measure which will be laid before you on this subject."

There was no actual debate on the Address to the Queen. It consisted of a mere echo and amplification of the Royal Speech; and was still further amplified and diluted in the speeches of the movers and seconders. The Opposition were evidently taken by surprise at the moderation with which the Catholic question was referred to. They had expected something answering to the famous Durham letter of the Premier. Lord John Russell took occasion to explain that certain phrases in that letter, which Catholics had assumed to be insult to their religion, were, in fact, applied to a portion of his own communion. Lord Camoys, in the Upper, and Mr. Anstey, in the Lower House, both Catholics, most emphatically repudiated any idea of the supremacy of the Pope in temporal matters; and deprecated the establishment of the Catholic sees in England as ill-advised in the extreme. This would seem to be the general tone of feeling among the nobility and gentry of England. In Ireland, however, the action of the Pope meets with warm approbation.

The campaign was fairly opened on Friday, the 7th, when Lord John Russell asked leave to bring in the Government bill, "to prevent the assumption of certain ecclesiastical titles in respect of places in the United Kingdom." He admitted that no violation of any existing law was committed by the assumption as it had been made; and though the introduction of bulls from Rome was illegal, and liable to punishment, the statute had been so long in disuse, that a prosecution would undoubtedly fail. The measure which he finally proposed seems almost ludicrous when looked upon as the sequel to the fierce controversy which has convulsed the kingdom, and caused the effusion of such torrents of ink. It contains two provisions. By the first, the provision of the Catholic Act, which imposes a penalty of £100 upon the assumption by Roman Catholic prelates of any title of existing sees in the United Kingdom, is to be extended, so as to include titles belonging to any city, district, or place in Great Britain. By the second provision, any act done by or for any prelate under such title, is absolutely null and void; so that any bequest or endowment made to him under such title falls to the Crown. Leave to bring in the bill was granted, by an overwhelming majority, after four nights of debate. Although the bill falls so far short of what was demanded in one direction, it goes no less beyond what will be submitted to in another. The Catholic prelates denounce it as persecution, and declare that they will disobey it, if passed; and defy the Government to place the religious teachers of a third of the nation in a posture of conscientious opposition to the law. All the indications are, that the bill will be carried triumphantly through Parliament; or if at all modified, will be rendered more stringent. This will be but the commencement of the difficulty.

Pending the ecclesiastical question, the Ministers "lost a victory" on that of Free-trade. On Tuesday, the 11th, Mr. Disraeli, taking advantage of that paragraph in the Royal Speech which admits the existence of distress among the owners and occupiers of land, moved a resolution to the effect that it was the duty of Ministers to take effectual measures for the relief of this distress. This was, in effect, a covert and dexterous attack upon the principle of free-trade in corn, and as such was met by the Ministers. The leading speech, in reply, was made by Sir James Graham, endorsed by Lord John Russell. He declared that the abolition of protection upon corn had been of incalculable benefit to the people at large, and that any attempt to raise again the price of bread-stuffs by artificial protection must be a failure. The Corn-law Rhymer could not have taken higher ground than did the Minister. He declared, that in consequence of the removal of duty, millions of quarters of grain had been introduced, and had been consumed by those who otherwise would never have tasted of wheaten bread. There was not a plowman, nor a weaver, nor a shepherd, whose condition was not made more tolerable by the repeal of the Corn-law, and they knew it. The condition of the mass of the people was the true test of national prosperity. The resolution of Mr. Disraeli was made a test-question by Government, and was lost by 267 to 281, showing a ministerial majority of only 14. If this were to be accepted as a true indication of the state of parties in Parliament on the vital question of Protection, the Ministers could not carry on government, and must either resign or dissolve Parliament, and trust to the chances of a new election. But it is said that many members voted for Mr. Disraeli's resolution out of pique at the action of the Ministers upon the ecclesiastical question, and that the true strength of the Free-trade and Protection parties is yet to be tested. At all events, the Whigs are irretrievably committed against any attempt to enhance the price of bread by any artificial protection.

On Monday, the 17th, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Sir Charles Wood, presented the Budget. The main difficulty here was to decide what to do with the surplus revenue. It is so long a time since any European government has had a question of this nature to deal with, that it is not to be wondered at that it caused embarrassment. Official ingenuity has been well-trained to devise ways and means to supply deficiencies in revenue, by inventing new taxes, or by borrowing; but it has had no experience in dealing with an actual surplus. Where every interest is burdened to the utmost, each feels itself to be the most oppressed, and demands to be first relieved. There were claims to ten times the amount to be taken off. The Chancellor kept his project a profound secret from all men; no deputation could worm out of him whether he favored their own special views; when the proper time came, they should see what they should see. They did all see; and not a soul was satisfied. The surplus was estimated to be about £1,900,000; one million was to be devoted to the payment of the National Debt – a rate which, if kept up, would extinguish the whole debt in somewhat less than four thousand years; the remainder was proposed to be so apportioned that no interest will find itself specially benefited. For instance, the window-tax was to be nominally abolished; but a large proportion of it was to be re-imposed in the shape of a duty upon houses; – and all these proposed reductions were based upon the condition that the income-tax, which has some features making it particularly odious, involving as it does an almost inquisitorial prying into private affairs, should be continued for another three years. The debate upon the Budget was fixed for Friday, the 21st.

In the mean time, however, it became apparent that the Budget could not be carried. A circumstance unimportant in itself sufficiently evinced this. Mr. King moved for leave to bring in a bill giving the right of voting in the counties, as well as in the boroughs, to all occupiers of tenements of the value of £10. Though this was nowise a test question, Lord John Russell opposed it, and when the vote was taken only 52 votes were found for the Ministers, while for the motion there were 100. The apathy of their own party showed the Ministers that they could not sustain themselves. Lord John Russell moved that the debate on the Budget should be adjourned to Monday, the 24th. In the mean while, on Saturday the 22d, the Ministry tendered their resignations.

The defeat on the Franchise was only "the last feather that broke the camel's back." The Ministry fell, at the first attack, from inherent weakness. For a week the Government literally went a-begging, no statesman daring to undertake the task of conducting it. The Queen, as the most natural recourse, applied in the first place, to Lord Stanley, the recognized leader of the Opposition, and head of the Protectionist party. But he declined to attempt the formation of a Ministry. She then fell back upon Lord John Russell, who endeavored in vain to reconstruct a Cabinet which should secure a Parliamentary majority. An unsuccessful application was then made to Lord Aberdeen. Lord Stanley was again applied to, who made an attempt to form a Conservative Ministry, leaving the subject of Protection in abeyance; but he failed to gain the acquiescence of the leading men of his party upon other grounds, and abandoned the task. Thus matters remained up to March 1st, the date of our latest intelligence. It is worthy of remark, how completely the existence of the House of Peers has been ignored throughout the whole of these proceedings; the only point aimed at having been to secure a majority in the Commons.

A cool attempt to swindle the treasury out of £20,000 has been made in behalf of the estate of the late Queen Dowager. Her comfortable annuity of £100,000 was made payable at regular quarter-days, commencing after the death of William IV. As it happened, he died ten days before the quarter-day, so that the queen received pay for a whole quarter for those ten days. She died 63 days after the last quarterly payment; and a claim was made for payment for that time; although blending the two periods together she would have received a quarter's payment for 19 days less than a quarter's time. The court, however, refused to grant the privilege of burning the candle at both ends; and the beggarly German heirs of the late queen fail in gaining the sum.

Petitions have been presented to Parliament from the bishop, commissioners of parishes, and householders of Capetown, stating that the Legislative Assembly of the colony has lost the confidence of the colonists, and presenting the details of a constitution which they pray may be granted them.

Certain Protestants of Dublin addressed a letter to the Duke of Wellington urging him to fulfill a pledge which they infer him to have made many years ago, when he was Premier, to move the repeal of the Catholic Relief Bill, if it should, on trial, be found not to work satisfactorily. The Duke replies in one of the curtest letters in all his curt correspondence; and in terms which the liveliest imagination can not interpret as complimentary, refuses to have any thing to do with them or their request.

The Commissioners of the Exhibition have decided upon the following rates for admission: Season tickets for a gentleman will cost three guineas, for a lady, two guineas. These tickets are not transferrable, and will admit the owner at all times to the Exhibition. On the day of opening those only are to be admitted who have season tickets. On the two subsequent days, the price of admittance will be twenty shillings. On the fourth day, it will be reduced to five shillings, at which sum it will continue till the 22d day, when it will be lowered to one shilling. After that period, the rate will be one shilling, except on Fridays, when it will be two shillings and sixpence, and Saturdays, when it will be five shillings. The severest tests have demonstrated the stability of the building.

The proposed abolition of the Vice-royalty in Ireland, excites great opposition, especially in Dublin. A large meeting has been held, at which the Lord Mayor presided, for the purpose of petitioning against the intended abolition, and protesting against the system of centralization which, it is alleged, has been so destructive of the best interests of Ireland.

FRANCE

The main features of interest are confined to the quarrel between the President and the Assembly. Bonaparte is gaining ground. The Minister of Finance presented the bill asking for a dotation for the President. The question was an embarrassing one for the Assembly. If they granted it, it would be giving additional power to him. If they refused, he would become an object of sympathy, and still gain power. The amount asked was 1,800,000 francs, in addition to his salary of 600,000. M. de Montalembert was the principal speaker in favor of the bill. He declared that the President had fulfilled his mission in restoring society and reestablishing order, and warned the majority not to persist in their course of hostility, or they would repent it in 1852. Upon taking the question, there were 294 for the bill, and 396 against it; so that it was lost by a majority of 102. In anticipation of this rejection, subscriptions were set on foot throughout the country in aid of the President; but Bonaparte, by an official notice in the Moniteur declined to receive any such contributions, choosing, as he said, to make any personal sacrifices rather than endanger the peace of the country. He made immediate preparation to live according to his means: stopped his expensive receptions, and announced a sale of his horses. He is playing a subtle and well-considered game for re-election to the Presidency; and if the constitutional prohibition can be repealed or overridden, there seems little question that he will succeed. His popularity among the middle classes is great and increasing. When the question of the revision of the Constitution comes up, the great contest of parties will begin, which will decide the fate of the Republic. It is almost impossible that the incongruous combination which now constitutes the formidable majority against him can hold together, against his cool and cautious policy, and with so many elements of disunion among themselves.

GERMANY

The doings of the Dresden Conference have not officially transpired. But enough is known to make it evident that our previous accounts are correct. In addition it is now said, and with probable truth, that Austria and Prussia have determined to share the executive power of the Diet between them, to the absolute exclusion of the minor Powers. Austria brings into the Confederacy the whole of her Sclavic and Italian possessions. This will call forth the vehement remonstrances of the other European states, who look upon it as undoing the work of the Holy Alliance, and disturbing the balance of power. In consideration of granting this real advantage to Austria, Prussia gains the empty honor of sharing the Presidency in the Diet, which was formerly held by Austria exclusively. The pacification of Schleswig-Holstein and Hesse is complete. In the latter the malcontents are undergoing the penalties of Bavarian courts-martial. Hamburg is occupied by Austrian troops. Well authenticated accounts of a conspiracy at Vienna have been received, but the particulars are not given. The 150th anniversary of the erection of Prussia into a kingdom was celebrated at Berlin on the 17th of January, with great pomp.

ITALY

There can be little doubt that an insurrection, of which Mazzini is the soul and centre is in course of organization. Funds to a considerable amount have been provided. The overthrow of the democratic cause throughout Europe has disbanded an immense number of soldiers, who will be ready for any enterprise, and will be especially glad to fight for the old cause, against the old enemy, upon Italian ground. Various parts of the country are terribly infested with brigands, whose enterprises are carried on with an audacity which reminds one of the middle ages. There are reports of an approaching Austrian interference in Piedmont and Switzerland. The Pope is said to be desirous of the withdrawal of the French troops from Rome, that he may place himself under the more immediate protection of Austria and Naples. The Austrian army in Italy has been considerably reinforced, to provide against the action of Mazzini and the growing discontent in Lombardy. Archbishop Hughes of this city is preaching at Rome to increasing audiences. He predicts, there as well as here, the speedy downfall of Protestantism, and prophesies that ere long it will have disappeared from the world as completely as the heretical sects of the Arians and the Manichæans. There is apparently no doubt that the Archbishop will be raised to the rank of Cardinal. At the sitting of the Piedmontese Chamber of Deputies, in Turin, the Minister of Foreign Affairs delivered a speech on occasion of presenting the Budget, marked by a liberality for which we are not accustomed to look to statesmen of Italy.

THE EAST

In India, on the whole, tolerable tranquillity was prevalent. Sir Charles Napier, in taking leave of the army of India, of which he was commander-in-chief, addressed a most ultra-Naperian epistle to the officers. Instead of reminding them of the laurels they have won, and the territories they have overrun, he berates them for their habits of lavish expenditure, and for contracting debts which they have no means or expectation of paying. An interview has been held between Gholab Singh, the ruler of Cashmere, and the Governor-general, in which the usual protestations of eternal friendship were interchanged. These interviews, since the days of Hastings and Clive, have betokened fresh accessions to the territories of the Company.

An insurrection of a formidable character which had been raging in some of the provinces of China, the object of which was the overthrow of the Tartar dynasty, was, at the latest dates, entirely suppressed. The famous Commissioner Lin, whose energetic proceedings gave rise to the opium war, is dead. From the un-oriental energy of his character, and the salutary dread with which he had inspired his countryman, his death is a loss to the Empire.

Difficulties are apprehended in Egypt. The Porte demands certain reforms of the Viceroy; among which are the abatement of taxes and the reduction of the army. The Viceroy refuses to comply, and is determined to offer forcible resistance, in case of an attempt to enforce the demands.

The hostilities at Bagdad between the Turks and Arabs have been renewed since the death of Bem. Vigorous measures, are to be taken to reduce the insurgent Arabs to subjection.

From Southern Africa, under date of Sept. 6, we have authentic intelligence of terrible atrocities committed by the Namquas upon the Danish missionary station. Numbers were killed; and women and children cruelly tortured.

LITERATURE, SCIENCE, ART, PERSONAL MOVEMENTS, ETC

UNITED STATES

It is seed-time rather than harvest in the world of Literature and Art, as well as in that of matter. Publishers are in deep consultation over projected works. The still labor of brain, eye, and hand goes on in the library of the author and the studio of the artist, the results of which, when ready for the public eye, we shall chronicle. The series of lectures before the Artists' Association has been brought to a very appropriate close by a lecture from Huntington, the painter. His subject was "Christian Art." He claimed, in theory, for his Art that lofty and sublime mission which he has attempted to exemplify in practice. – The most attractive series of lectures delivered in this city during the last season has undoubtedly been that of Mr. Lord, on the "Heroes and Martyrs of Protestantism." Those who might feel inclined to dissent from several of his views and conclusions, could not be other than pleased by the earnestness and zeal with which they were set forth and advocated. As literary productions, these lectures are deserving of high praise. – Banvard's three-mile Panorama of the Mississippi has been the fruitful parent of a multitude of staring and impudent productions, which it were almost a libel upon Art to call pictures. The "cheap side" of Broadway is lined with these monstrosities, which for the most part have met with the very moderate patronage which they deserve.

Martin Farquuhart Tupper, has arrived in this country. We copy from the Evening Post the following graceful lines, written in the harbor on the morning of his arrival:

Not with cold scorn or ill-dissembled sneer,Ungraciously your kindly looks to greet,By God's good favor safely landed here.Oh friends and brothers, face to face we meet.Now for a little space my willing feet,After long hope and promise many a year,Shall tread your happy shores; my heart and voiceYour kindred love shall quicken and shall cheer,While in your greatness shall my soul rejoice —For you are England's nearest and most dear!Suffer my simple fervors to do good,As one poor pilgrim haply may and can,Who, knit to heaven and earth by gratitude,Speaks from his heart, to touch his fellow man.

Washington's Birth-day was celebrated with unusual splendor in this city. An oration was delivered by Hon. H. M. Foote, of Mississippi. At the public dinner letters were read from President Fillmore, and Messrs. Webster, Clay, and Cass. The principal speech of the evening was made by Hon. Edward Everett, in reply to the toast of "the Constitution."

Washington Irving has written a pleasant and characteristic letter, which has been going the rounds of the papers, to Jesse Merwin, of Kinderhook, the original Ichabod Crane, of the far-renowned "Legend of Sleepy Hollow."

EUROPEAN

Among the recent issues of the London press we notice "The Mirror for Maidens," by Mrs. Sherwood and her daughter, Mrs. Streeten. The well-won reputation of the mother, acquired so many years ago, will not be enhanced by her share in this tale. – A volume of Poems, by W. C. Bennett, is made up of pieces of very unequal merit. Some portions are extremely beautiful, while others are utterly devoid of expression or character. The readers of Mrs. Marsh's tales will remember many mottoes taken from Mr. Bennett, giving promise of no common degree of poetic talent. – Sheridan Knowles, the dramatist, has taken the field as a religious controversialist in a volume upon Transubstantiation, in reply to the lectures of Cardinal Wiseman. He shows more familiarity with the principles and details of the controversy than could have been anticipated from his former avocations. —England as it Is, by Wm. Johnston, is an attempt to point out the political, social, and industrial state of the kingdom in the middle of the nineteenth century. The author is of the opinion that, on the whole, the mechanical inventions and money-making spirit of the last fifty years have lessened the comforts and deteriorated the character of the poorer classes. The book does not seem to be written with sufficient ability to make any decided impression.

Revelations of Hungary, by the Baron Prochazka, presents the Austrian view of the question with more zeal than ability. The author details with the utmost complacency the fearful atrocities of the campaign, wondering all the while that the Austrians were hated by the oppressed population. Appended to the Revelations is a "Memoir of Kossuth," designed to instruct the world as to the true character of the illustrious Magyar. Every good quality which has been attributed to him, from genius down to personal beauty, is vehemently disputed. The world is assured that "Kossuth is by no means the handsome man his partisans represent him to be; he is of middle stature; his figure is insignificant; his hair was brown, but being bald, he wears a wig of that color." This last allegation, we fear is too true; for Kossuth lost not only his hair, but his health and every thing but life, hope, and honor during his imprisonment in Austrian dungeons.

The Correspondence of Sir Isaac Newton and Professor Cotes, edited by J. Eddleston, M.A., presents a view of all the ascertained facts in the personal and intellectual history of the great mathematician. When he was engaged in elaborating his theory respecting light and color, in order "to quicken his faculties, and fix his attention, he confined himself to a small quantity of bread during all the time, with a little sack and water, of which, without any regulation, he took as he found a craving or failure of spirits."