much the dignity of France is dear to the heart of the king. The French would rise at "your voice, and be ready to make every sacrifice, sooner than consent to the degradation of their country;" but the time and tendency of the whole were obviously pacific. M. Guizot himself made an eloquent appeal in favour of the continuance of peace. In the Chamber of Deputies the Address prepared by the committee was very long, and excited violent opposition. Loud murmurs at

tended the reading of it, and some portions were greeted with shouts of ironical laughter. In that part where the address seemed to put the casus belli upon the possibility of an invasion of the French soil, the uproar from the left and leftcentre was so great, that for a long time the president was unable to obtain a hearing, and loud laughter not undeservedly followed the reading of the sentence, "confide sire, in your star, as we confide ourselves in the perpetuity of your dynasty." But the Address was equally pacific in its tone, with that which had been adopted in the Chamber of Peers, and said, "peace if possible, an honourable and certain peace, which will leave unimpaired the balance of power in Europe, such is our first wish."

The discussion was commenced on the 25th of November, by marshal Soult, (our readers are aware that in France, the king's ministers have the right to take part in the debates in either chamber, though they can only vote in that to which they respectively belong). He alluded to his own friendly reception in England in the year 1838, on the occasion of the coronation of queen Victoria, which he attributed to the amicable feeling of England towards France.

He denied that France had been insulted. Her concurrence had been asked for, and she had refused of her own free will.

M. Thiers followed in a long and vehement speech, in the course of which he said, "France has been grossly duped, a pretext has been sought and found to break off her alliance. A treaty was made without her knowledge and consent. I do not accuse the English people, I do not accuse the English cabinet, but I do accuse one man, and that man is Lord Palmerston."

who set no

We ought to have mentioned that it was at this juncture that the news of the capture of St. Jean d' Acre, by the fleet under the command of the English admiral, sir R. Stopford, had been received in Paris, and this event gave new impulse to the violence of the war-party, bounds to their fury against England, and exerted every effort to provoke that country to recriminate and so bring on a war. Thiers at the conclusion of his harangue said, "Yes, gentlemen, whenever Europe, the whole of Europe should say to us, if you do not choose such and such a thing we will do it without you, and in spite of you,' I would cry

M.

war,' let us be what our fathers were, and let us never descend from the rank to which they raised us."

M. Guizot followed, and defended England from the charge of bad faith, although he admitted that her conduct had shown a want of courtesy.

With regard to the affairs of the east, he said, that Egypt being now secured to Mehemet Ali, and Syria de facto lost to the Pasha, the cabinet was bound to accept les faits accomplis

and recommend the pasha to submit.

The debate lasted for several days, and all the leading speakers in the Chamber took part in it. Amongst others were M. Odillon Barrot, M. de Tocqueville, M. Berryer, M. de Lamartine, and M. Maguin. The three first vehemently opposed the Address as deficient in spirit and inadequate to the crisis. Their "voice was open war." We quote one passage from the eloquent harangue of M. Berryer to show the state of excited feeling under which the deputies were now discussing the gravest question which can occupy the attention of a public assembly. "I hear," exclaimed the orator, "I hear the cannon of St. Jean d' Acre I hear the cannon, the English cannon, beating down the walls of that town before which Napoleon was checked; but I also hear the cannon which announces the arrival of the mortal remains, which have so long been held captive by the English. Will you allow these remains to descend into the tomb, without making a protest which shall fill with joy the manes of that enemy of England?" M. de Lamartine on the contrary made a most able and temperate speech, recommending a conciliatory policy, and denying that any insult had been committed or intended against France. He urged the Chamber to disregard the violence of an incendiary press, and not to credit the existence of any hatred towards France on the part of the other European Powers. M. Maguin spoke furiously against England, and recommended France to give up her alliance with that country for one with Russia. Towards the conclusion of the debate a scandalous scene occurred, in

consequence of a charge made by M. Demousseaux de Givre against M. Thiers, of having made use of the war-cry in France for private speculations in the funds. The most violent tumult followed, and the confusion became so great that the president being unable to obtain silence, at last put on his hat and the sitting was suspended for half an hour. M. Thiers at some length indignantly repelled the accusation of M de Givre, and said that he was the first to direct the attention of the minister of justice to the gambling that was going on at the Bourse. Notwithstanding the tirade of the opposition, the good sense of the Chamber ultimately prevailed, and ministers obtained a triumphant majority in favour of the address.

The numbers were, for the address 247; Against it 161: Majority 86.

The chief subject of discussion during the remainder of the year, was the question of the fortifications of Paris, but this we reserve for our next volume.

The incident alluded to by M. Berryer in his speech, was the arrival from St. Helena, of the Belle Poule frigate commanded by the prince de Joinville, which came to anchor at Cherbourg on the 30th of November, with the mortal remains of the emperor Napoleon on board. From thence they were conveyed in a steam-boat up the Seine to Paris, and on the 15th of December were interred in the Hotel des Invalides, on the right bank of the Seine. The pageant was of the most gorgeous character and was attended by the royal family, ministers, and all the great functionaries of the kingdom. It seemed hardly to excite any political feeling whatever, and the

Parisians looked upon the cortège as they would upon any other magnificent spectacle, amusing them for the hour and then for gotten.

ALGIERS. In our last volume we briefly mentioned that a renewal of hostilities had taken place in Africa at the close of the year, between the French army there, and the Emir Abd el Kader. The facts are shortly as follows. By the treaty of the Tafna in 1837, peace had been concluded between this warlike Arab chieftain and general Bugeaud, on the part of the French, whereby, the former acknowledged the sovereignty of France over the possessions which she had acquired by right of conquest in Africa. These possessions were divided into three districts or provinces, Algiers, Oran, and Constantine. Of the two latter, Oran lay to the east and Constantine to the west of the principal province of Algiers. One of the chief points in the treaty of peace, was the establishment of commercial intercourse, between the colonists and inhabitants within the pale of the French possessions, and the Arabs of the desert. The consequence was, that the markets in the plain of the Metidja were frequented by the Arabs, who soon evinced eagerness to exchange their products and horses and camels, for the cotton, silk, iron, steel, and other commodities, offered to them by their more civilized neighbours.

Abd el Kader, however, seems to have looked upon the French in no other light than as hostile invaders of the soil, and to have cherished throughout feelings of hatred, which he concealed only until the time came, when he conceived he might strike a blow with effect. He established a strict mo

nopoly of all the articles of merchandise, and employed for this purpose the Jew, Ben Durand and his consul at Oran. The Arabs were obliged to place their corn and other commodities in the hands of these agents, and receive through them whatever was obtained in exchange. This system, however, was odious to all parties, and was interrupted by the sudden death of Ben Durand, who was supposed to have been poisoned. Not long afterwards Abd el Kader issued a prohibition, strictly forbidding all intercourse between the Arabs and the Infidels. The former were not allowed to frequent the markets in the province of Algiers or Oran, and fifteen days only were given them to wind up any commercial transactions in which they might be engaged, at the end of which period they incurred the penalty of death, if they attempted any intercourse within the French lines.

In the meantime every expedient was resorted to by the Emir, to excite the hostility of the Mussulmen tribes against the Christians, and urged them to engage in a sacred war to extirpate the invaders from the African soil. For this purpose emissaries were sent amongst the different tribes, by Abd el Kader, and he himself moved from place to place busily employed in preparing for the outbreak which he meditated, while he was in the neighbourhood of Oran and Mostaganem, the markets were deserted by the Arabs who trembled at the terrible effects of his displeasure, at Hemsem he drove away and dispersed the inhabitants congregated that town, and endeavoured without success, to bring over to his views the tribes who acknow

in

ledged Mustapha Ben Ismael as their chief.

At last Abd el Kader thought the time favourable for declaring war. The number of French troops in Africa did not amount to more than 40,000 men, who had to occupy a territory extending 250 leagues along the coast, and penetrating far into the interior, where thirty or forty garrisons had to be maintained, in the midst of a hostile population. These troops also were suffering severely from the unhealthiness of the climate, and the whole effective force ready for service did not exceed 25,000 men.

On the 18th of November, 1839, Abd el Kader addressed a letter to marshal Valée, who commanded the French army in Africa, in which he stated that all the faithful Mussulmen had determined on a sacred war against the Christians, that he had used all his efforts to prevent them, but that no alternative was now left him, but to side with him and obey the law of his religion, which commanded war against the Infidels.

On the 20th of November, the Emir crossed the Chiffa with his Arabs, and began the work of devastation and massacre in the great plain of the Metidja. Clouds of Bedouin Arabs, surrounded the French posts which were attacked and driven in, and half of a battalion was cut off and destroyed.

The farms and villages of the colonists were set on fire, and they fled for refuge to the camps. The suddenness of the attack had taken the French by surprise, who at first suffered considerable loss. The fiercest of the Arab hordes consisted of the tribe of the Hadjoutes, who are described by marshal Valée in his despatch to the government as the most warlike and violent of the enemy.

On the 2nd of December it was officially announced in the Moniteur, that war had again broken out in Africa, and that vigorous measures would be taken to maintain the dignity of France, and that a large reinforcement would be immediately sent to the army in Algiers. It would be tedious and uninteresting to our readers, to give anything like a detailed account of the actions and skirmishes which took place this year, between the troops of marshal Valée and the Arabs of Abd el Kader. It will be sufficient to state, that the French army there was reinforced, until it amounted to upwards of 50,000 men, and many brilliant exploits were performed. The war, however, was not brought to a close, and it will, therefore, be better to defer an account of it until our next volume.*

In the APPENDIX, however, will be found a despatch from marshal Vallée, giving an account of the operations of the French armies during the campaign.