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shall have received from their courts. For your part, M. le Comte, in giving these explanations to the cabinet of Madrid, you will declare to it, that his Majesty's Government is intimately united with its allies in the firm resolution to repel by every means revolutionary principles and movements; that it equally concurs with its allies in the wishes which they form, that a remedy may be found by the noble Spanish nation itself for these evils-evils which are of a nature to disturb the governments of Europe, and to impose on them precautions which always must be painful. You will, in particular, take care to make known, that the people of the Pe. ninsula, restored to tranquillity, will find in their neighbours faithful and sincere friends. You will, therefore, give to the cabinet of Madrid the assurance, that the saccours of every kind which France can dispose of in favour of Spain, will always be offered to her, for the purpose of assuring her happiness, and increasing her prosperity; but you will at the same time declare, that France will in no respect relax the preservatory measures which she has adopted, while Spain continues to be torn by factions. His Majesty's Government will not even hesitate to recal you from Madrid, and to seek guarantees in more efficacious measures, if its essential interests continue to be compromised, and if it lose the hope of an amelioration, which it takes a pleasure in 'expecting, from the sentiments which have so long united Spaniards and Frenchmen in love for their kings, and for a wise liberty. Such are, M. le Comte, the instructions which the King has ordered me to submit to you, at the moment in which the notes of the cabinets of Vienna, Berlin, and St Petersburgh, are about to be presented to the cabinet of Madrid. These instructions will serve to make known to you the views and the determination of the French Government on this momentous occurrence. You are authorised to communicate this dispatch, and to furnish a copy of it, if it be demanded.

"Paris, Dec. 25, 1822."

When the determination of the King was declared, preferring the above letter to that of the Duke of Montmorency, the latter took from his pocket a paper containing his resignation, and the reasons why he could no longer remain in the ministry. He stated, that, in compliance with his Majesty's commands, he had attended the Congress at Verona; that, after having obtained the consent of the continental part of the Holy Alliance, he returned to Paris, not only as the Minister of the King, but, in a certain sense, as the representative of that alliance; that

VOL. XII.

His

the note which had been rejected, contain. ed the view which he had engaged at Verona to support; and that having thus failed in convincing his Majesty of its wisdom, he would be betraying the confidence reposed in him by his Majesty's august allies, if he continued in a sitnation where he could not fulfil the understanding to which they had mutually come. Majesty received this paper, and in the course of the evening sent a message to the Minister, accepting his resignation; and an ordinance to that effect was signed by the King on the same night, and published in the Moniteur of the 27th. It charges M. de Villele, ad interim, with the office of Foreign Affairs. On the 28th, another ordinance received the royal signature, and was published in the Moniteur of the following day, constituting the Viscount Chateaubriand, late ambassador to the Court of London, and also one of the French Ministers to the Congress of Verona, to the vacant office. M. de Chateaubriand, the personal friend of the Duke of Wellington, it is understood, entertained sentiments, with regard to Spanish affairs, coincident with those of his Grace, and did not strongly second the warlike views of his colleague, at the Congress. M. de Montmorency, on his retirement, has been graced with the nominal title of Minister of State and Member of the Privy Council, to which effect an ordinance was published at the same time as that announcing the appointment of his successor. The ambassadors of Russia, Austria, and Prussia, dispatched extraordinary couriers to Madrid, at the same time the above French note was sent off; and it was understood that these couriers were the bearers of the separate declarations of the above-named three powers resolved upon in Congress.

Here the question at present rests, but, in the meantime, both parties are preparing for a trial of strength; and the French papers inform us, that the continuance of peace will still depend on the answer returned by the Spanish Government to the representations made to it by France.

PORTUGAL. The ordinary Cortes of Portugal assembled on the 1st December. The King made an effort to attend in person, but an indisposition, by which he had been for some days oppressed, became so severe as to compel his Majesty to absent himself, and to commit the perusal of his speech to a Minister. The speech contains no distinct allusion whatever to the state of foreign affairs. The answer of the President is equally vague on this point. The omission, however, is compensated by the article, professing to be official; in a Madrid paper, which

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states, that an alliance, offensive and defensive, has been actually settled between Spain and Portugal, under which Portugal is to dispatch immediately a corps of 8000 picked troops to the assistance of the Spaniards this force to be increased as occasion may require.

In the sitting of the Cortes of the 4th, a report was made on a dispatch from the Minister for the Home Department, in which the Congress was informed, that the Queen, having refused to take the oath to the Constitution of the Monarchy, the King had resolved on carrying into execution the decree of the Cortes, or daining that whoever shall refuse to swear to the Constitution, shall quit the king dom, and renounce the rights of a Por tuguese citizen. But that the Queen hav ing represented that her delicate health would not permit her to travel without endangering her life, and the physicians of her household having consulted together, and unanimously declared that her life would actually be endangered if she were compelled, in her present state, to undertake a journey either by sea or by land his Majesty issued a decree, commanding the Queen to retire to the Quin. ta de Ramalhao with the necessary attendants, but refusing her request to be allowed to take along with her the Infantas, the daughters: adding, that this retirement in the Quinta de Ramalhao should continue until the state of her health might permit her to travel beyond the kingdom.

ITALY.-Eruption of Mount Vesuvius. -A dreadful eruption of Vesuvius took place on the 21st of October last, and continued with little intermission till the 30th. In the course of that time, the greatest terror prevailed among the inha bitants in the vicinity. Torrents of lava flowed down the mountain in various directions, in several places more than a mile broad. The showers of ashes darkened the sky, and fell even in the streets of Naples. The eruption of stones was frequent; and the sounds which issued from the mountain were frightful. The damage, however, done by the eruption, was not so considerable as the dreadful and menacing appearances of the mountain gave cause to apprehend. Portici and the Torre del Greco suffered no other inconvenience than that arising from some sharp showers of lapillo and ashes. Rosina had about twenty moggia of land covered. A moggia is a Neapolitan measure, equivalent to about four-fifths of an English acre. From the Torre del Greco, to the Torre del Annunziata, the road was covered to the depth of two feet, with lapillo and fine ashes. The Torre del An

nunziata suffered most; all its finely-cul tivated lands were covered with a very thick stratum of lapillo and ashes. Near Ottalano, about forty or fifty moggia of wood were consumed. The eruption, on the whole, is considered by people who have been eye-witnesses to all three, as superior in grandeur to that of 1794, and almost equal to that of 1779, which Sir William Hamilton described so particu. larly.

GREECE AND TURKEY.-Recent advices state, that the Greeks have again succeeded in setting fire to a Turkish fleet at Tenedos. It appears that the Capitaine Pacha's ship, of 84 guns, was attacked on the evening of the 10th November, by three ships belonging to Ipsara, by whom a fire-vessel was drifted against their opponent, which was completely successful; and the result was the blowing up of the Turkish Admiral's ship, and the destruction of the whole of her crew. Two Ottoman frigates were also driven on shore, but their crews were saved, and one brig was captured. But this brilliant action is not the only success of the Greeks.

Omer Vrioni has experienced a signal defeat at Missolonghi, the consequence of which, it is said, will be the liberation of Western Greece from all hostile attack, till the expiration of the winter.

Letters from Trieste, dated the 6th ultimo, speak of the altered tone of the British Government towards the Greeks, as shewn in the conduct of the British officers. An English frigate had arrived near the castle of the Morea, and the cap. tain, after giving a superb entertainment to the public authorities, assured thern, that, in future, the Greeks would not be molested by the English in their efforts to effect the liberation of their country, Advices had likewise been received from the Ionian Islands, stating that the exportation of every description of warlike stores was permitted to all parts of Greece.

At Constantinople, there has been a complete change of Ministry. The Grand Vizier and the Mufti have been deposed, and Haleb Effendi, long the Sultan's favourite, has been exiled. These changes originated in a mutiny of the Janissaries, who, discontented at the reduction of the current coin, ran tumultuously through the streets, and surrounded the Seraglio, where they uttered menaces against the object of their hatred, Haleb Effendi, and against the Sultan himself. The Sultan would have appeased the tumult by pro fusely distributing money amongst them: and Haleb Effendi would even have given up his treasures under these circum stances. The Grand Vizier, whose head

the revolters demanded, as well as that of Haleb Effendi, was for calling into Constantinople the Asiatic troops, en camped at Budjuck-dere, and commanded by Ibrahim Pacha. Sultan Mahmoud was resolved to convince himself, with his own eyes, of the truth or falsehood of the complaints. He traversed the streets of Constantinople on the 9th, in the strictest incognito. He spoke with several persons who met him; the information which he obtained on this occasion, de cided his purpose. In the same night, the Grand Vizier, Salih Pacha, and the Mufti, both creatures of Haleb Effendi, were deposed, and the seals of the empire given to Abdallah Pacha, who latterly commanded the army stationed at Scuta

The vacant place of Mufti was given to Sidke Sadi, a member of the body of Ulemas, who, as President of the confer ences, was present at all the negociations of Lord Strangford with the Turkish Ministry. Haleb Effendi himself received orders on the 10th, in the afternoon, to leave the capital. Capidgi Buschi accompanied him to Brussa, where he is to dwait his further destiny.

ASIA.

EARTHQUAKE IN SYRIA. The following account of the dreadful earthquakes which desolated some of the finest cities in Syria, is written by Mr Barker, the British Consul at Aleppo :—

“Near the ruins of Antioch, Sept.13,1822.

It has fallen to my lot to relate the particulars of an event that has thrown most of the families of this part of Syria into sorrow and mourning, and all into the greatest difficulty and distress. Ôn the 13th August, at half-past nine o'clock in the evening, Aleppo, Antioch, Idlit, Ritro, Giperstrogr, Darcourh, Armenos;

every village, and every detached cottage in this Pachalic, and some towns in the adjoining ones, were, in ten or twelve seconds, entirely ruined by an earthquake, and are become heaps of stones and rubbish, in which, at the lowest computation, 20,000 human beings, about a tenth of the population, were destroyed, and an equal number maimed or wounded. The extreme points where this terrible phenomenon was violent enough to destroy the edifices, seem to be Diabekir and Marhah, (twelve leagues south of Latachin,) Aleppo and Scanderoon, Killis and Khan Shekoon. All within those points have suffered so nearly equal, except Orfa and Latachin, which have not suffered much, that is impossible to fix a central point. The shock was sensibly felt at Damascus, Adena, and Cyprus. To the east of Diabekir and north

of Killis, I am not well informed how far the effect extended in these radii of the circle,

"The shock was felt so violently at sea, within two leagues of Cyprus, that it was thought the ship had grounded. Flashes of fire were perceived at various times throughout the night, resembling the light of the full moon; but at no place, to my knowledge, has it left a chasm to any extent, although, in the low grounds, slight crevices are every where to be seen, and out of many of them water issued, but soon subsided. There was nothing remarkable in the weather, or state of the atmosphere. Edifices on the summits of the highest mountains, were not safer than those on the banks of the rivers, of on the beach of the sea. It is impossi ble to convey any adequate idea of the scenes of horror that were simultaneously passing on the dreadful night of August 13. The awful darkness-the continuance of the most violent shocks at short intervals the crash of falling walls -the shrieks, the groans, the accents of agony and despair of that long night, cannot be described. When at length the morning dawned, and the return of light permitted the people to quit the spot on which they had been providentially saved, a most affecting scene ensued. You might have seen many unaccustomed to pray, some prostrate, some on their knees adoring their Maker, others running into each other's arms, rejoicing in their existence. An air of cheerfulness and brotherly love animated every countenance.

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"In a public calamity, in which the Turk, the Jew, the Christian, the Idolator were indiscriminate victims or objects of the care of an impartial Providence, every one forgot for a time his religious animosities, and what was a still more universal feeling in that joyful moment, every one looked upon the heaviest losses with the greatest indifference. But as the sun's rays increased in intensity, they were gradually reminded of the wants of shelter and or food, and became at length alive, to the full extent, of the dreary prospect before them, for a greater mass of human misery has not been often produced by any of the awful convulsions of nature. A month has now elapsed, and the shocks continue to be felt, and to strike terror into every breast night and day. The fear that they may not cease before the rainy season commences, has induced those whose business cannot allow of their quitting the ruins of their towns, instead of rebuilding their houses, to construct temporary hovels of wood without the walls; and many families, who thought

themselves, before this calamity, straitly lodged in a dozen of apartments, now exult in the prospect of passing the winter in a single room twenty feet square. The spacious mansion that has been the residence, of the British Consul at Aleppo for two hundred and thirty years, is completely ruined. The houses of all the other public agents, and private European inhabitants, at Aleppo, have been entirely ruined. At Aleppo the Jews suffered the most, on account of their quarter being badly built, with narrow lanes; of a po pulation of less than three thousand souls, six hundred were lost. Of the Europeans, only one person of note, Signor Esdra di Picciotto, the Austrian Consul-General, and ten or twelve women and children, perished. But the greater part are now suffering from ophthalmia and dysentery, occasioned by exposure to the excessive heats by day and to the cold dews of night. When it is considered that two-thirds of the families in Aleppo have neither the means of making a long journey to remove to a town out of the effect of the earthquake, nor of building a shed to keep off the rain, it is impossible to conceive all the misery to which they are doomed the ensuing winter, "or ever to find more deserving objects of the compassion and charity of the opulent," who it has "pleas ed God to place in happier regions of the globe." Here planks and fuel are cheap, and the people have the resource of tiles, which they were taught to make during their long residence at Antioch; but at Aleppo, where wood is very dear, they have no contrivance to keep out the rain, but freestone walls and flat roofs, made of a very expensive cement."

"September 20.

"I am sorry to say, that shocks of the earthquake continue to be felt to this day, the 30th after the principal shock; and no change has taken place in the state of desolation which that dreadful catastrophe has produced.

"October 18.

"Until the 9th inst. slight shocks of earthquakes continued to be felt; since that day, they have entirely ceased, but confidence in a continuance of safety from that dreadful calamity is not restored."

"Levant Co.'s Office, Dec. 19, 1822. "Sir-In addition to the communication which I made to you yesterday regarding the earthquakes in Syria, I beg to aquaint you farther, that Mr Consul, Barker reports, under the date of the 19th October, (being the day after the date of the latest extract published) as follows:

"At half-past five, P. M., a violent shock of an earthquake has destroyed all our hopes of its being terminated. "I am, Sir, your most obedient servant, "G. LIDDLE."

AMERICA.

UNITED STATES.-The Congress of the United States assembled on the 3d of December, on which occasion, the customary message from the President was read. A great part of this message is occupied with the internal condition of the United States, of which the President gives the most satisfactory account. The public revenue is said to be flourishing,

as also the trade and manufactures of the country. Great progress has been made in the fortifications along the coast, and

in the establishment of national armories

and arsenals, it being laid down as a principle, that, in order to avoid war, they. ought to be prepared for it.

The most important part of the message is that which relates generally to the unsettled state of the world, and to the policy which, in their circumstances, it most befits America to pursue. With regard to the independent states of South America, a hope is expressed that the mother country will open her eyes to the folly of protracting an unavailing struggle in that quarter, and will enter into the views of the United States in recognising the independence of those colonies.. But whatever may be her views on this point, no change, it is intimated, will be made in the policy adopted by America

to these states.

The war between the Greeks and Turks is mentioned. The highest sympathy is expressed for the suffering Greeks, and an earnest hope that they will succeed in recovering their independence. With regard, also, to Spain and Portugal, the President assumes a decided tone. He speaks. of the revolution in those countries as a great effort for the improvement of the people; he also commends the moderation with which it has been conducted. On the whole, he concludes, from the present aspect of things in Europe and elsewhere, that the United States ought to be on their guard, lest, with every disposition to preserve peace, war may overtake them, as it did before, in an unprepared state.

The late commercial arrangements which have been made with this country are also adverted to. It is well known, that, by our navigation laws, the vessels of the United States were most unwisely excluded from the trade of our colonies: to this America replied by a similar pro

vision, that from whatever part of our colonies American vessels were excluded, British vessels from the same port should be excluded from the United States that if we relaxed these provisions, they would relax also and that it was in our own power either to have a free trade or a restricted trade-or to have our trade restricted to any extent we choose. The American law was strictly retaliatory; it reflected back upon us the exact image of our own policy: and its effect has happily been to shew us the extreme folly of two great commercial states contending with each other in these petty restrictions. Great Britain, by her late acts, has wisely relaxed the rigour of her navigation laws, and America has consequently taken off the corresponding restrictions she had laid on British navigation and commerce. It is grateful to see the progress of this liberal policy between two enlightened nations, who may be the cause either of much mischief or of much good to each other; but who, we hope, warned by past experience, will hereafter exist, not for animosity and strife, but for the more amiable purposes of mutual benevolence and peace.

MEXICO. By recent accounts from Havannah, it appears that Mexico is still in a disturbed state. Addresses had been presented to the Emperor Iturbide from various public bodies in Mexico, complaining violently of the oppressions experienced by the people under his Government, and upbraiding him with having violated his oaths made in the most solemn manner in the presence of the Congress of the empire. They represent the country as sinking fast into ruin, and express their determination to restore it to liberty, or perish in the attempt.

Acounts from Vera Cruz, dated the 11th of the preceding month, state, that

the Imperial troops which were sent to Guatamela had been completely routed, and that, in consequence, another army, composed of 2000 men, under the command of General Rencon, was to march in that direction. It was, however, thought they would experience the same fate, as the Guatamelians appeared determined not to be imperialists, but republicans.

SOUTH AMERICA. Lima Gazettes have arrived to the 3d of July. Besides the details of the occupation of the city and kingdom of Quito by the united forces of Peru and of Columbia, which success was already known to the public by advices by way of the West Indies, they mention, that disputes had again arisen among the commanders of the Spanish forces, and that Generals Canterac and Valdes, with their partizans, who were principally active in deposing the late Viceroy, Pezuela, had attempted to remove from his command Generel Ramirez, the Governor of the province of Arequipa, an officer much looked up to and respected among the Spaniards. General San Martin had taken advantage of these circumstances to address a proclamation to the soldiers of the Spanish army, pointing out the hopelessness of the cause they were engaged in, and promising those who should abandon the Royalist standard, if natives of Old Spain, a safe conveyance thither, and, if Americans, permission to retire to their homes, or to join, if they so chose, the army of the Independents. The proclamation was to be followed directly by an expedition intended to land near Arequipa, in the heart of the enemy's country, composed of the troops returned from Quito, assisted by their Columbian allies. It was expected that the Congress would be opened on the 28th of July.

DECEMBER.

BRITISH CHRONICLE.

2-Salisbury Craggs. Last week the Lords of the Second Division of the Court of Session pronounced judgment in the process of declarator, at the instance of the Officers of State, for the interest of the Crown, against the Earl of Haddington. In this process, the pursuers maintained, that the defender was not entitled, by virtue of the rights he had to the Royal domains surrounding the Palace of Holyrood, to sell, quarry, or take away stones from Salisbury Craggs. The Earl contended that he and his predecessors had

used that right for a hundred years, and he was doing nothing illegal in continuing these operations. The Lord Ordinary refused to grant the interdict, and the' Officers of State petitioned the Inner House, who advised the petition with answers, and adhered to the Lord Ordinary's interlocutor, and, in hoc statu, refused the petition for the Officers of State. The Lord Advocate pled for the Crown, and Mr Clerk and Mr Hope for the Earl of Haddington.

5.-Accident.-On Thursday forenoon, a lamentable and fatal accident occurred

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