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It is so far a begging letter that it seems to be | the insouciant being spurred to his utmost by a

soliciting a favorable answer, with no great hopes of obtaining it. Queen Victoria replied:

"TO HER MAJESTY THE QUEEN OF THE FRENCH.

"Osborne, Sept. 10, 1846. "Madam, - I have just received your Majesty's letter, of the 8th of this month, and I hasten to thank you for it. You will remember, perhaps, what happened at Eu between the King and me. You know the importance which I have always attached to the maintenance of our cordial understanding, and the zeal with which I have laboured in it. You have learned without doubt that we refused to arrange the marriage between the Queen of Spain and our cousin Leopold (which the two Queens were very anxious for), with the sole object of not departing from a course which might be more agree agreeable to the King, although we could not consider that course as the best. You can then easily comprehend that the sudden announcement of the double marriage could cause us nothing but surprise and very deep regret. I ask pardon, Madam, for speaking to you at the present moment about politics, but I am glad to be able to say to myself that I have been always sincere with you. Begging you to present my respects to the King, I am, Madam, your Majesty's very devoted sister and friend,

"VICTORIA R."

It will be at once seen what words we commended at the outset: - "I am glad to be able to say to myself that I have been always sincere with you." What a rebuke! Not to Marie Amelie, but to Louis Philippe, callous as he may be or may have been: "I have been always sincere with you." He could not reciprocate.

FERTILITY OF MUSICAL COMPOSERS.

"Facility" - doomed by the epithet fatal has been too largely confounded with "feebleness." Now, in music at least, this is a huge and untenable fallacy. Dangerous though it seem to afford encouragement to idleness, to presumption, to invention by chance, to a spirit of money-making cupidity, the perpetuation of falsehood is yet more dangerous; and there are few falsehoods more complete than the reproach conveyed in the above assertions. With very few exceptions, all the great musical composers have been fertile when once taught, and capable of writing with as much rapidity as ease. Bach, Handel (whose 'Israel' was completed in three weeks), Haydn (more of whose compositions are lost than live), Mozart - all men remarkable as discoverers and renowned as classics - held the pens of ready writers. Rossini's 'Il Barbiere,' again, which has now kept the stage for two-andthirty years, was the work of thirteen days

disparaging letter from Paisiello, who had already set Beaumarchais' comedy. It was the empty connoisseur, who thought to gain reputation by declaring that "the picture would have been better painted if the painter had taken more trouble." Nor will it ever be forgotten that the Bride of Lammermoor,' the masterpiece of Walter Scott (whose defence of fertility, apropos of Dryden, might have been quoted as germane to the matter), was thrown off when the novelist was hardly conscious of what he wrote, owing to racking bodily pain. Those, we believe, on whom the gift of fertility has been bestowed, run some danger of becoming "nothing if not fertile." Their minds are impulsive rather than thoughtful - their fancies strengthened by the very process and passion of pouring them forth. In the case of Donizetti, at least, it is obvious that his invention was, year by year, becoming fresher with incessant use and practice.— Bentley's Miscellany.

THE PARADE AT VIENNA DURING THE CON-
GRESS.

servers.

So long as the weather was fine the Bastion was the favorite haunt: there were to be seen the Emperor Alexander and Prince Eugene Beauharnais walking arm in arm; Prince Metternich and the Duke of Coburg, the handsomest men of their day; while Lord and Lady Castlereagh walked about in the bright sunshine, dressed as if for a masquerade, and utterly unconscious that they were the observed of all obOn the Bastion were likewise to be seen the Archduke Charles, who, although he did not command in the last war, was still covered with glory; the brave, chivalrous, liberal-minded Prince William of Prussia; the Crown Prince of Würtemberg, distinguished by his military achievements, generally walking with Stein; the Crown Prince of Bavaria - too early snatched from this world - with Field Marshal von Wrede, the victor at Hanau; the Grand Duke of Baden, young, pale, ill-looked upon, and marked out, as it were, for sacrifice; the Duchess de Sagan with her sisters; the Count and Countess Bernstorff, the latter one of the first beauties of the Congress; Counts Capo d'Istrias and Pozzo di Borgo; Cardinal Consalvi walking with Bartholdy, who pointed out to him the various personages and their business; the young Marquis de Custine and the Count de Noailles; the Grand Duke of Weimar, even there the most affable of princes, full of intellectual activity and kindly feeling:- but any attempt at further description were vain. To sum up in a few words, all Vienna and the whole | three inches below the surface, and there they

Congress were to be seen pushing their way through the crowd. The Bastion might be called a diplomatic Bourse; and indeed affairs were there much discussed: it was observed, however, that neither Gentz nor Humboldt were ever seen there. - Varnhagen Von Ense.

LITERARY AND SCIENTIFIC INTELLIGENCE.

SNAIL GARDENS.

On this curious subject the following paper has been translated for us from the "Leipsic Illustrated Newspaper":

In Vorarlberg, the collecting and rearing of the large garden snails, which are so injurious to vegetation, forms a peculiar branch of agricultural industry, and amounts even to no inconsiderable trade. Whole cargoes of these snails are sent from Arlberg to the South Tyrol, where they are consumed as dainties. The mode of procedure in collecting and feeding them is as follows:- In various parts of Vorarlberg, from the beginning of June till the middle of August, the snails, which, as is well known, seek their nourishment at this season in damp places, and creep about gardens, hedges, coppices, and woods, are collected by boys and girls, and carried to the feeding-places, which are commonly in the neighbourhood of the dwellings of the owners. These snail gardens have usually an extent of from one to three hundred square fathoms of dry garden ground, are quite divested of trees and shrubs, and are surrounded on all sides by a stream of running water. The stream, at its exit, is made to pass through a wooden grating, in order to prevent such of the snails as happen to fall into the water from being washed away. The grating is examined once or twice a-day, generally morning and evening, and the snails found there are replaced in the interior of the garden; this is necessary, as they would otherwise collect into too large quantities, and would become weak and sickly by remaining long in the water. In the interior of the garden, little heaps of pine twigs, generally of the mountain pine, mixed loosely with wood moss, are placed on every two or three square fathoms, for the purpose of protecting the snails from cold, and especially from the scorching rays of the sun. When the pine twigs become dry, and lose their leaves, they are replaced by fresh ones.

Every day, and particularly in damp weather, the snails are fed with the kinds of grass found most suitable for them, and with cabbage leaves. In harvest, at the return of cold weather, they go under cover - that is, they collect under the heaps of twigs, and bury themselves, if the ground under these has been previously dried, two or

seal themselves up for the winter: when this is completely accomplished, they are collected, packed in suitably perforated boxes lined with straw, and sent off.

Careful foddering, and a good harvest season, are essential to the thriving of the snails; and even in spite of this a great many are lost. Wood snails are larger and more savoury, but are more subject to casualties. In each garden there are generally fed from 15,000 to 40,000, and these are sold at about three florins per 1000. This manner of making use of the snails is of double advantage - freeing, on the one hand, fields and gardens from burdensome guests; and affording on the other, to those so employing themselves, a considerable source of profit. - Chambers' Miscellany.

DIALOGUES OF THE LIVING.

Under this head has appeared a series of able papers in the Ballinasloc Western Star. We give the following clever allegorical sketch from the last number: - "Phelim O'Tool was going to market one day with oysters, and he thought to himself 'sitting's as cheap as standing;' so up he gets on the car, and lies on his back till he falls asleep; presently up goes the car against a big stone lying in the centre of the road knocks off the wheel, and tumbles out the poor man and his oysters into the muddy road. Who should come by, and Phelim picking up the oysters, but Mr. Bull, and he began to pity the poor man; and says he, 'Mr. O'Tool, you should exert yourself, and walk by the side of your car, instead of going to sleep on it, and then that wouldn't happen to you.' 'That's true,' says Phelim, and I'll mind myself for the future.' With that Mr. Bull helps him to pick up the oysters, and pities him very much for losing the market; so he hands him over a sack of meal to assist him, and after advising him for his good trots on away before him. Well, in about another half hour up comes Mr. O'Dun, of Scrape Hall, and says he, 'Hallo, Mr. O'Tool, what has happened to you?' So Phelim tells him all the story. Well, Mr. O'Dun gets up in a mighty passion, and says he, Are you such an omadhaun, Mr. O'Tool, as to be humbugged in this kind of way? Sure it's Mr. Bull that ought to be driving you about, and selling your oysters for you,' says he, 'and not your father's son - a descendant of the great O'Tools.' 'Faith, so I think myself,' says Phelim; 'but then Mr. Bull was so kind - I thought his advice was the best.' 'You'll drive me mad, O'Tool,' says he, talking about his kindness - didn't I see him myself come quietly and take the linch-pin out of the car while you were asleep, and then he

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pretends to pity you.' 'But here's the meal,' ❘ court, and translated by Mr. Manning; the origi

says Phelim. Throw his meal to the pigs, the dirty scoundrel,' says Mr. O'Dun, 'and let's drive after him, and pelt him well with oyster shells,' says he. But sure there's oysters in them,' says Phelim. Never mind,' says O'Dun, 'I'll eat the oysters while you throw the shells at him. And so the poor man pelted away all his shells, while Mr. O'Dun was opening them and eating the oysters."

SHORT REVIEWS AND NOTICES.

TREATISE ON THE FALSIFICATIONS OF FOOD, and the Chemical Means employed to Detect them, &c. By JOHN MITCHELL, М. С. S., Author of "Manual of Practical Assaying."

It is nearly thirty years since Mr. Accum alarmed the timid by exhibiting how much of poison lurks in the pot. Since that time chemistry has made great advances in detecting adulteration by tests; but, unhappily, the other side has been equally active, and the rogues have been as successful as the honest men in the pursuit of science - sometimes a shade more. Hence, Mr. Mitchell thinks the time has come when there is rooin for a fresher view of the various adulterations practised in corrupting our food, with the tests to detect them. The Treatise on the Falsifications of Food carries out this object; and in a startling way. The elements of death and disorder enter our mouths do what we will. Wine, spirits, beer, cider, are all corrupted; and many unlucky mortals have the discredit of "a drop too much last night," when the disorder is owing, not to wine, but to the "compound" of the wine-merchant. Yet "taking the pledge" is no escape. Tea, coffee, chocolate, sugar, milk, are ali adulterated; even total abstinence is not safe with water. The rain is corrupted by being conveyed along leaden gutters and pipes, or received into leaden cisterns; and a terrible story is told of leaden pumps, operating upon those "whose drink was water from the spring." The condiments and pickles with which we tempt our palates, the very soap with which we clean our skin, are not what they seem. How these | things are done, and the public with them, may be read in Mr. Mitchell's treatise, as well as the modes by which such roguery may be detected, by those who like to question the pedigree of a dish.

POLITICAL APHORISMS, MORAL AND PHILOSOPHICAL THOUGHTS OF THE EMPEROR NAPOLEON. Collected from upwards of eighty original works, by CTE. ATE. G. DE LIANCOURT. Edited by JAMES ALEXANDER MANNING, Esq., of the Inner Temple.

nal being printed on an opposite page. The translation occasionally generalizes the point of the original into an equivocal meaning or a very safe truism; but the collection in the French is not so striking as might have been expected from the reputation of Napoleon, and the force and point of some of his sayings. Part of this may arise from the remark being separated from the occasion; but something is to be allowed for the fact that a man succeeds best in his own business. Whatever may be the case with " political aphorisms," "moral and philosophical thoughts" are turned out in the best style by moral philosophers.

RECENT PUBLICATIONS.

ENGLAND.

Catlin's Notes of Eight Years' Travels and Residence in Europe with his North American Indian Collection. With Anecdotes and Incidents of the Travels and Adventures of three different parties of American Indians whom he introduced to the Courts of England, France, and Belgium. In two volumes. With numerous illustrations.

Egypt's Place in Universal History: an Historical Investigation, in Five Books. By Christian C. J. Bunsen, D. Ph. and D. C. L. Translated from the German, by Charles H. Cottrell, Esq., M. A. Volume I.

King René's Daughter: a Danish Lyric Drama. By Henrik Herz. Rendered into English Verse, and illustrated by an Historical Sketch of the Fortunes and Misfortunes of Good King René. By the Honourable Edmund Phipps.

A Rational Illustration of the Book of Common Prayer of the Church of England: being the Substance of everything Liturgical in Bishop Sparrow, Mr. L'Estrange, Dr. Comber, Dr. Nichols, and all former Ritualists, Commentators, and others, upon the same subject. By Charles Wheatly, M. A., Vicar of Brent and Furneux Pelham, in Hertfordshire. (Bohn's Standard Library.)

History of Europe, from the Commencement of the French Revolution in 1789 to the Restoration of the Bourbons in 1815. By Archibald Alison, F. R. S. E., Advocate. Volume the seventeenth. Seventh edition.

Suggestive Hints towards Improved Secular Instruction, making it bear upon Practical Life. By the Reverend Richard Dawes, A. M., Vicar of King's Somborne, Hants. Second edition.

Every Lady her own Flower-Gardener. Addressed to the Industrious and Economical only. By Louisa Johnson. Ninth edition.

Letters addressed to the Countess of Ossory, from the year 1769 to 1797. By Horace Walpole, Lord Orford. Now first printed from Original MSS. Edited, with Notes, by the Right Honourable R. Vernon Smith, M. P. In two volumes.

A selection of the remarks of Napoleon on all Personal Recollections of the late Daniel sorts of subjects, made by the Count De Lian- | O'Connell, M. P. By William J. O'N. Daunt,

Esq., of Kilcascan, County Cork. In two vol

umes.

Analogies and Contracts; or Comparative Sketches of France and England. By the author of "Revelations of Russia," &c. In two volumes.

Three Years' Cruise in the Mozambique Channel, for the Suppression of the Slave-trade. By Lieutenant Barnard, R. N.

The Practical Sugar Planter; a complete Account of the Cultivation and Manufacture of the Sugar-cane, according to the latest and most improved processes, &c. By Leonard Wray, Esq With numerous Illustrations.

Speculum Episcopi. The Mirror of a Bishop.

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Indische Sagen von Ado Holtzmann. 3. Thl. Karlsruhe, $2.75.

Die Politik auf den Grund u. das Mass der gegebenen Zustände zurückgeführt von F. C. Dahlmann. Leipzig, $1.75.

Was ist jetzt zu thun? Ein Memoire an die kleinen konstitutionellen Staatsregierungen Deutschlands üb. den Vorschlag, eine Schutz - u. Trutz-Union d. kleinen freien geg. d. grossen absolutist. Staaten zu stiften. Bern.

Lehrbuch der politischen Oekonomie von Dr. K. H. Rau, Geh. Rath u. Prof. Heidelberg, $2.65.

Vorlesungen über Sozialismus u. soziale Fragen von K. Biedermann. Leipzig, $1.

Der Pauperismus u. die Volksschule. Ein ernstes Wort üb. eine der wichtigsten Fragen unserer Zeit. Leipzig, 50c.

Geschichte der Feldzüge u. des Kriegsdienstes der Schweizer im Auslande von J. M. Rudolf, Major. Baden, $2.25.

Die Feldzüge Friedrichs des Grossen im $1 siebenjähr. Kriege von Fd. Gottschalk. Zerbst,

Der Feldzug von 1796 in Italien. Nach d. besten Quellen bearb. von G. A. v. Erdmannsdorff, Prem.-Lieut. Magdeburg, $2.50.

Aus dem Tagebuche eines Richters. Kriminalgeschichten zur Belehrung u. Unterhaltung f. d. Bürger u. Landmann. Leipzig, 85c.

Poetischer Hausschatz des Auslandes. Uebersetzungen in den Versmaassen der Originale. Von O. L. B. Wolff, Prof. Leipzig, $1.37. Asträa, ein Gedicht in 12 Gesängen v. K. Reyher. Berlin, $1.50.

Reisen um die Welt. Ein Familienbuch von Fr. Gerstäcker. 4. u. 5. Bd. Leipzig, $3. Menschen u. Priester. Eine Geschichte von Geo. Hesekiel. 2 Bde. Leipzig, $2.

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THE FERMENTATION OF EUROPE.

I.

WHY WE HAVE NO HOPES FOR FRANCE. - WHY WE HAVE MUCH HOPE FOR ITALY AND GERMANY. - WHY WE HAVE NO FEARS FOR ENGLAND.

The spring of 1848 will be memorable through all time, both for the magnitude of the political events which it has witnessed, and for the unexampled rapidity with which they have succeeded each other. Demands - concessions - constitutions revolutions abdications have trod upon the heels of one another, with a speed which takes away the breath of the beholder. The quiet of last year has been followed by a series of explosions, almost, if not altogether, without precedent; and the hopes and fears of all who are interested in the progress and amelioration of humanity are excited to the highest point. For ourselves, our hopes greatly predominate over our fears; not, perhaps, for the immediate present, but for the not very remote future; not, perhaps, for France, but for Europe, and the world.

Of the present and the immediate future of France, the aspect seems very gloomy. We have no hopes, either from the present movement or the present men. The day for the regeneration of that unlearning and impure country has not yet dawned. "Oh! that she had known, in this her day of opportunity, the things which belong unto her peace; but alas! they are hidden from her eyes." Upon her alone, of all the nations of Europe, the experience of the past, in which she was the greatest sharer and sufferer, seems to have been thrown away. She alone like her old incubi, the Bourbons, seems to have learnt nothing, and forgotten ❘ nothing; to have forgotten no old watchwords, and learnt no new wisdom.

The popular outbreak, and the overthrow of the late government, caused us little surprise, and no regret. For that unwise monarch, who, for the last seventeen years, has been laboring with patient and unresting industry to destroy the freedom and complete the demoralization of his country, we can feel little compassion. It is just that he, whose whole regal career has been a series of pertinacious treasons against that popular spirit which placed him on the throne, should be at last ejected with ludicrous ignominy in the extremity of age. It is just that he, who has so unceasingly plotted for the aggrandisement of his family and the augmentation of his

enormous wealth, and has not scrupled at means which would have soiled the hands of a notary or a huckster, should in the end be flung upon a foreign shore, stripped of his vast possessions, and almost dependent upon eleemosynary aid. It is just that he, who was prepared to entangle his country in a war with England, for the sake of gaining a royal position for his son, should be reduced, with that son, to find himself in England, a fugitive, and a petitioner for shelter. He has sown the wind, and it was just that he should reap the whirlwind.

"La charte sera desormais une vérité," exclaimed Louis Philippe, when he ascended the throne in 1830; but instead of a truth, he has made it a nullity. Step by step he augmented the power of the crown, and restricted the privileges of the people; be curtailed the liberty of the press, and the security for fair trial to political offenders, while he used the machinery of corruption, (always too mighty and well organized in France,) with unparalleled and unsparing profusion; till every vestige of individual liberty had been swept away. So completely had this work been accomplished, that men might be, and were, imprisoned without warrant, and kept in prison without either themselves or any one else knowing what was the charge against them: and whatever wrong or outrage might be committed against a citizen by an authorized agent of the "citizen king," the former had no refuge or redress; he could not apply for protection or amends from a court of law, without first asking permission from the king in council, the very notion of which was scouted as an absurdity; so that unless he had a friend in the Chamber of Deputies, to interrogate the minister in his behalf, his demand for justice was as echoless and ineffectual as that of one crying in the wilder

ness.

Therefore, we did not wonder that the French people, who seem to be as impatient of oppression as they are unfit for freedom, arose in a phrenzy to reconquer their rights. Nor did we wonder that when Louis Philippe abdicated, they at once, and, as it were, instinctively, declared for a republic. Every branch of the Bourbons had been tried in turn; and every branch had

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