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of the kingdom . They exhibit the integrity of the Danish monarchy under one Sovereign , and -with one diplomatic representation , army and fleet . Holstein and Lauenburg remain part of the German Confederation . Schleswig will have its separate Diet and Administration ; and both th « Duchies of Schleswig and Holstein will enjoy some peculiar and exceptional institutions . In the-expectation of such a new order of things as may be looked for from a restoration of the old Diet ,
the German sovereigns are fast completing their reactionary work . The King of Wurtemburg , who only a few weeks ago was standing up for the con vocation of a German Parliament , is now on the point of abrogating the constitution of his little kingdom , and summoning the States according to the law of 1819 ; and the Elector of Hesse is daily instituting fresh prosecutions against even the most inoffensive public functionaries who were guilty of the great crime of continuing in the discharge of their duties , at the time that the prince himself basely deserted his post .
The failures of Louis Napoleon in forming a new Ministry , recorded by us week after week , have not , it seems , as yet completely discouraged him . The greatest activity has , on the contrary , been displayed at theElysee , and more than once have the Parisians gone to their night-rest with a conviction that a list of parliamentary Ministers should stare at them from the Moniteur on their breakfast-table on the morning . The members of the present Cabinet have kept themselves in readiness for an immediate retreat . They have countermanded soirees , removed their own furniture from their official residences , and to all intents and purposes " shut up shop . "
The Ministry , however , had not been formed , up to our time of going to press , and we deem it useless to trouble our readers with the names of Fould , Baroche , Rouher , Benoist d'Azy , Crouzeille , and the others who were expected to take the helm of French Government to the exclusion of the impracticable Odilon Barrot . Some of our daily contemporaries would lead _ us to believe in a reconciliation between the President of the French Republic and Genera ] Changarnier . This news , if confirmed , would go far towards establishing a possibility of a full success of
Louis Napoleon's scheme for the prolongation of his powers . Some of his staunch partizans , the Decembrists , have been collecting signatures to a petition either for a revision of the constitution , with a view to legalize a reelection of Louis Napoleon , or otherwise for a postponement of the Presidential election . The Parisian shopkeepers , however , have shown no great eagerness to put their names to paper ; t"hey all would be most happy to continue under the rule of a man who has done so much for the cause of order ; but evince a proper dread of too barefaced a violation of the laws of the country .
Meanwhile , the Government cannot be said to slacken in its efforts for the maintenance of that order for the sake of which the French have already made Such awful sacrifices .. The printer and publisher of the speeches and toasts of the French refugees at the banquet of the 24 th of February , in London , have been found guilty of sedition by a Paris jury , and condemned , the former to one year , the second to six months' imprisonment , each of them to a fine of one thousand francs . General Castellano is literally
terrorising Lyons . No man is allowed to purchaso firearms in that city without a certificate of good conduct from the police . The armourers are obliged to remove the locks from the guns and other firearms in their shops . The general givea us , by these precautions , a much clearer insight into the real state of men ' s minds in that second city of France , than wo could find in the most exaggerating newspapers of any party . In fact , news of some terriiic emeute at Lyons may startle us at any moment .
The Moniteur announces numerous changes in the judicial functionaries throughout the departments . Judges , prefects , priests , or gensdarmes ; no one can keep his place in France unless he is a Bonnpartist . He who is not with me , says the President , is against XXI 6 The news from Itftly is of little interest . The dead body of the Pussutore has been paraded triumphantly throughout the towns of Rmnagmi . Tlio mother and , brothers of the Bri « und Chiof , however , according to a letter from B <> loH nu , huvu declured themselves uniiWc to identify the person or recognize the features of their relative . Several men , convicted of having given shelter to him or other bandita , have been shot at Faonzu , Imolu , and Lugo . Public
security in not , for all these executions , restored in the Papal Stai « w . The diligence from Rome was stopped and plundered in the neighbourhood of Vilorbo on the 27 th , find the mail mot with a similar accident in Koinngnii on the 23 rd . Paper money to the amount of 190 , 000 acucli hus again bfen pul ) lu : ly burnt at Rome : letters from that city ure full of new political arrests . The Prime Minister of Tuscany , BaldasHiuoiii , in Htill in deep consultation witli the members <> 1 " tlio l ' apal . Government . The Tuscans HurmiKo that ho in them for no other purpose th : » n o do uway with tho provident and libem ! lawn l > y which tlio great Tuhoiui Reformer , Grand l ) uk < - Peter Leopold , put some limits to priestly auhority iu Xuueany towards the clone of tho hint
eentufy , and placed the clergy under the control of the laws of the country . The funeral honours paid at Florence and Pisa to the memory of the brave men who fell at Norara for the cause of Italian independence have equally been celebrated at Siena , Lucca— -throughout Tuscany . The expulsion of many students from Pisa , and the arrest of others in Florence- and elsewhere , have been the immediate consequence . We do not know . what penalty the Tuscan laws can award to persons convicted of having sung a Deprofundis .
The state prisoners of Naples have been removed from Nisida to the fortress of Pescara , in the midst of murderous swamps on the Adriatic shore . They have been marched all across the kingdom , on foot , handcuffed , loaded with heavy chains , and lodged in the most horrid gaols throughout the journey . As they passed through Naples some of their parents and relations were so ill-advised as to accompany them , as far as Sessa . Here they were all arrested , and only released alter several days' confinenment .
By the side of so much that is tragic in that unhappy country , we are happy to register a somewhat comical anecdote . A poor fellow who had bad luck at ecarte at Caltanisetta , laid a violent hand on a luckless King of Spades , which was always turning up against him , and tore it to pieces . The Neapolitan authorities found him guilty of leze-majeste , and threw him into prison accordingly . The King of Naples has treated the little Bourbon , of Parma , to a grand review . More than 40 , 000 were drawn up on the Parade ground . Naples is choked with soldiers , the drumming and tramping is as incessant as in the most stupid Prussian garrison .
The Chamber of Deputies at Turin has been almost exclusively occupied with financial discussions—according to some late accounts , it would seem that the differences between Rome and Sardinia are about to be amicably arranged . Alas ! the wolf and the lamb shall lie down together ! The French refugees in Switzerland have taken up their residence in Geneva , where they show some disposition to set the Federal Government at defiance . They seem to act from a profound conviction of the imminence of revolutionary outbreaks atLyons s and in the south-eastern departments of France , and deem it their duty to be at hand in case of emergency . The Swiss Government offers to convey them safely along the Rhine and through Belgium , where they mav embark for England or the United States .
The Ex-President of the Venetian Republic , M Manin , has been offered a pension by the French Government ; he has , however , firmly but modestly declined it . He is poor , but can work for his bread ; and requests the French Minister to turn his benevolent cares on such of his fellow-sufferers as cannot help themselves . The Turkish Government is hard up for money . Paper money has again been issued by the Porte to a great amount , and the great public functionaries have declined to receive their salaries . Omer Pasha is following up his advantage against the Bosnian insurgents . Tlie latter have now no chance of resistance , and are fast withdrawing to the mountains .
The earthquake at Rhodes and on the Asiatic coast continues its ravageB . Private letters from those countries give the m ost appalling description of the scourge . The last accounts from S wedon tell of new disturbances at Drontheim , in Norway . The peasantry of that neighbourhood are inclined to dispute the monopoly of the licensed fishmongers of the town . A decree of the Bailiwick prohibiting the sale of fish by any but the privileged tradesmen has given rise to a riot and a collision with the military , attended with loss of life .
The Chamber of the Nobles , in Sweden , hus gone through a discussion on the subject of Jewish disabilities . It was proposed to place the Juwh on the footing of equal rights with the diusenting denomination of Christiana . With the exception of one orator there seemed to be but one opinion as to tho justice and expediency of the measure . It has , however , been negatived by seventy-eight against eighteen votes . last to discus
The Hpuninh Cortes have at come a - sion respecting tho arrangement of the debt , on tho 3 rd . The result has hitherto only been a wet of violont and intemperate upeeclie * , angry wordw , and a duel , lly the last tidings from Madrid , in date of the 7 th , tlu » Ministers have dissolved tho Cortes ; and thcHO will only be ; m leeted alter throe montliH . Bertram dc l . ys , tho Min inter for Foreign A flairs , will be charged with the portfolio of the Interior ad interim . the of
The cau « e . s of this sudden resolution on part the Spanish Government are not known , an w <* havo uu yet only u telegraphic despatch . ft is evident , however , that they met too strong on opposition against their Hcheme for the settlement of tho debt . JMy a royal decree of . the 127 th ultimo commissioners have been appointed to examine and report on the Htato of railways iu France , Germany , Helgiuin , and Kngland , with a view to apply the results of their investigation to tins construction of similar
works in the peninsula . M . Ricquelme in daily expected from Rome , with tho concordat duly ratified by the Pope .
The late diplomatic appointment to Paris and Lisbon , and the removal of the Duke of Sotomayor from the French embassy , have been severely commented upon by some of the members of the Opposition .
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THE GERMAN CHAOS . The following letter from our Bonn correspondent shows what difficulties the German people have to contend with before they can get a constitution that will work : — Bonn , March 25 , 1851 . The winter is over . The waters of the Rhine , lately so low as almost to endanger the safety of the Nibelungen Hart , are replenished by the melting snow of the Alps , and carry the newly painted steamers with new vigour and speed . The lark rises merrily over the green seedfields . The patient vintner prunes his vines whilst his
wife turns the sou about the roots . The poor cottager sows his spring corn into the brown furrow of his little plot . By the hillside resounds the echo of falling trees , where ancient woodlands are to come under the discipline of the plough . Pious Catholics flock by thousands' to hear Lent sermons ( preached this time by Jesuit missionaries ) and to pray to the Queen of Heaven for forgiveness of sins and a prosperous season . Innkeepers cleanse and whitewash their hospitable establishments , and loiter smiling in the gateway . The winter is over ; spring has come . Once again nature looks hopeful , and man is expectant . Yet from one quarter there proceeds
neither hope nor expectancy : the high Olympians at Dresden , busy at the forge of destiny all through the long ¦ winter , have produced nothing wherewith to greet the young spring but chills and black frost . Confusion reigns in Briihl Palace ; mortification at Berlin ; self-stultifying intrigue at Vienna ; dissatisfaction everywhere . Austria and Prussia are once more at variance , and all the little kinglets , improving the occasion ( of there being no " King " in Israel ) , swell the chorus of discord ; some even with patriotic motives . You have read the King of "Wurtemberg ' s letter , full of good intentions and wise warnings . It is very characteristic of a paternal German
King of our day . Kind-hearted , well-intentioned , tinged with liberalism too , and with modern ideas , he wishes , with a certain degree of sincerity , for a great , strong , prosperous , and even free Germany , only he expects some one else—Schwarzenberg , Van der Pfordten , Pro vidence , " Die Natur der Dinge "—to bring it about for him without inconvenience or unaccustomed change , not to say trouble and anxiety , to his own good easy self . And when , in spite of his good intentions , the thing is still not brought about , he is very indignant , protests before " God and the people " ( Ivlazzini has not the monopoly of these ) that it is not his fault , washes his hands of it , —and goes to dinner and the play !
But , having had the new settlement of the affairs of Germany in their own hands for nearly two years now without arriving at any result , one might candidly ask them why , with their good intentions , they do not altogether withdraw and make room for better men ? Were it not , that they , on their part , might turn round and say : — " Better men , where are they ? Let us see them . Have we not still , at least , old authority and the people ' s habit of obedience on our side , so that , if things go not well , they at least keep together , and your daily business proceeds undisturbed and still goes on improving a little year by year ? Where are your men that will substitute this by their own strength and wisdom if we go ? " Simt lacrimee rcnim . And that , at bottom , is the reason why , here as elsewhere , they will have to continue yet for a while .
With regard to the Dresden conferences , it was but natural , and indeed to be desired , that each of the conferring parties should make his own weight to be felt , and cuuHe it to prevail as far as it would carry . Arrangements based upon necessity are more likely to be healthy and lasting than when brought about for the moment , by mere facile yielding and easy going generosities . One likes too , amidst so much pitiable ¦ weakness and helplessness , to see the heterogenous and dispersed elements of a power like Austria concentrated and wielded by an energetic and commanding mind . But , unfortunately , Schwarzenberg ' s energies are all spent ( as Kadctzky reproached him with last autumn ) upon diplomacy iiintead of politics . Not satinned with the natural and permanent weiirht of Austria , he is bent upon iming to the utmost
those merely temporary advantage which the faultn of others , and his own bullying , bucked by a reckless soldiery , have procured him . He got PrunHin ro Dresden by the promise , or prouppet , of u dualism ; lie now claims supremacy for Austria , and a coimtilulioii of the directing council of the Diet , which would put Prussia and l ^ er friends into a permanent minority 1 ' rusnin cannot consent to this , and prefers K »'" K l " t () "" ' (> 1 ( 1 I ) iH ' tluit ia , to a provisional state , lVubinia in supported by the . smaller I ' rinccs , whose existence de | M-ndn upon a strong central power and rcunoimblw nettleim-iit ; Home of theae , like , the Dukes of C ' oburg , of Oldenburg , of ltrunswiok , ar « really patriotic men , ready to maku Baerifiees for a real German unity . Austria , on the other hand , pluys
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April 12 , 1851 . ] S £ |) $ & £ && £ * + 337
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), April 12, 1851, page 337, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1878/page/5/
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