wreck, exclaimed against more being received!

"We kept close to the wreck till day light next morning, in the hope that any vessel which might be passing would see the immense body of fire, which continued raging till about three o'clock in the morning, when every thing disappeared. A little before daybreak the carpenter discovered a vessel close to us. We seized our oars, and were on board of her in a few minutes. She proved to be the Condeca da Ponte Portugese merchant ship, from Bahia, bound to Lisbon.

"This dreadful accident was occasioned by Mr. Duff, the first mate, forgetting his wonted prudence in taking the candle out of his lantern, to see something more clearly with, when a spark from it, or the candle itself, fell on some of the combustible matter around. His grief at having been the cause of such destruction, made him when solicited to save his life, decline it. "No," he said, "I pity those in the boats the most; for with us it will soon be over; but they will be eating each other in a few days."

"Parental affection never shone with greater lustre than on this occasion; mothers and fathers, apparently regardless of themselves, caught up their young children, and threw them into the boats; and in one family (Barrie's) the eight juniors are preserved-one a child of fifteen months old-while the noble parents, with their eldest son and daughter, are numbered with the dead. Another circumstance of a great soul deserves to be reeorded. A Mrs. M'Laren, with her husband and four children,

upon the flames advancing, retreated into the fore channels, when recollecting that her husband was a good swimmer, she implored him to save his own life, and leave her and their children to the fate that awaited them, as he could not avert it; and her wishes were attended to." 30. The Caxton Printing Office, Liverpool, situate on Copperashill, has been completely destroyed by fire, with nearly the whole of the stock which it contained.

Between one and two o'clock in the morning, as the captain of the watch was going his round, he discovered fire to issue from a window in the north-end of the building. He immediately gave an alarm, and a crowd soon collected on the spot. From the first, the destruction of the premises appeared inevitable. The fire raged with extraordinary violence, and spread with amazing rapidity through the whole range of the building. The paper in the different rooms fed the flames, and, in a little more than half an hour after the discovery of the accident, the three upper stories were in a perfect blaze. The devouring element soon worked its way downwards to the third story, and about three o'clock the whole of this immense pile of buildings presented one sheet of flame. The roof fell in soon afterwards. Very little of the immense stock on these extensive premises has been saved. The conflagration was too rapid to allow time or opportunity for saving any considerable part of it. Copper-plates to a considerable amount, have, however, been saved, as well as most of the account books, bills of pareels, &c. Some paper was also

saved, but in so damaged a state as to be unfit for use. All the types and presses are destroyed. We have not heard how this awful calamity originated. The son of Mr. Fisher went, as usual, through the different rooms, between eight and nine a'clock, and at that time all was safe. The building was heated by steam, and the man who attended the engine also went round the rooms without a candle, and he too found all safe. It is supposed the calamity was caused by the snuff from a candle, which, being thrown carelessly on the floor, or left burning in the snuffers, after smouldering for several hours, set fire to some paper near to it, and eventually involved the premises in flames. The establishment thus unfortunately destroyed was the most extensive periodical publication warehouse in the United Kingdom. The stock and premises were insured for 36,0001. but we know not whether this sum will cover the actual loss. By the calamity, nearly one hundred individuals are deprived of the means of gaining a livelihood by their industry.

FRANCE.

The Annuaire for the year 1821, presented to the king by the board of longitude, has just been published; it contains several calculations relative to the population of France, which according to the last census, and the documents furnished by the board of statistics of the ministry of the interior, is 22,217,465 souls. The bills of mortality, &c. of the city of Paris, for the year 1819, give the following data. Births 24,344, of which 8,641 were natural children. (Surely, an enor

mous proportion, being above onethird, and presenting a frightful picture of the extensive corruption of morals in that great city.) Deaths 22,072, including 351 children who died of the small pox. Still born children, 1,352. Marriages, 6,236. The population of Paris amounts to 713,765 souls. The consumption of the year 1819, offers the following data.

Liquors.-Wines, 805,499; hectolitres. Brandy 43,849; cyder and perry 15,929; beer 71,896; vinegar 20,966.

Eatables,-Oxen 70,829; cows 3,561; milk cows 2,918; calves 67,719; sheep 320,370; hogs wild boars 64,822; meat by retail 944,223 kilogrammes. Dry cheeses 1,267,564 kilog. Amount of the sale of sea-fish in the mar→ kets 8,166,520 francs; oysters 821,618 francs; fresh water fish 502,780 francs; poultry and game 7,161,402 francs; butter 7,105, 533 francs; eggs 3,676,502 francs.

Forage,&c. Hay 7,822,640 trusses; straw 11,054,371 trusses; oats 923,022 hectolitres.

Within three months of the last year (1820) there have been in Paris, and its environs, 146 actual suicides and 53 attempts. Of the parties guilty of this crime, 137 were men and 62 women; 102 married, and 97 single. The motives to which they are attributed, are as follows: the lottery and gaming 28; fear of reproach 6; chagrin 65; love 17; poverty 47; unknown causes 36.

A violent debate took place on the 9th, in the chamber of deputies, not on the demand of 6-12th. of the revenue for the year, which was fixed for the subject of discussion, but on a charge brought by General Donadieu against one

of

of the ministers for offering a bribe of 100,000 francs to a deputy for the purchase of his vote. The keeper of the seals demanded an explanation, and declared the charge a calumny. The General persisted that a bribe had been offered that the honour of a member of the chamber had been out-raged by an attempt upon his independence, and that he was ready to name the parties at the pleasure of the assembly. A secret committee was demanded by the Prince de Broglie to investigate the circumstances. The motion was over-ruled, and the member's name to whom the bribe was tendered was not given; but it was evident from the exclamations, "Such are the French sentiments imported from the crimea," that the Duke of Richelieu was the Minister against whom the charge was directed.

On the 10th, before mass, the bureau of the chamber of deputies was introduced to the king by the minister of the interior, when Mr. Ravez, the president, had the honour of presenting to his majesty the project of law on the provisional sixths-twelfths adopted by the chamber on the previous day.

The following is an extract of a letter from Trieste, dated the 20th ult.: "M. Fouche, the Duke of Otranto, died here to-day in the hotel de cavanna. His fune ral will take place on the day after

to-morrow.

The chamber of deputies, summoned specially by private letters, for three o'clock in the afternoon, met first according to the former notice in their respective committees. The notice which had been distributed, and the order of the

day fixed on the door of the hall, were headed thus" communication from the government." At a quarter past three o'clock the president took the chair. The keeper of the seals and his majesty's ministers, MM. Pasquier, Simeon, Roy, Corbiere, and De Villele took their seats on the ministerial bench. The President announced that the keeper of the seals requested to deliver a communication. The keeper of the seals then ascended the tribune, while the most profound silence prevailed.

The keeper of the seals.-Gentlemen, the king has ordered me to make the following communication to you:

"On Saturday last, the 27th instant, at a quarter before five o'clock in the afternoon, a loud explosion was heard in the interior of the Chateau des Tuileries. It proceeded from a barrel of powder, which has since been ascertained to have contained about six pounds. It had been placed between the wall and a wooden box, upon a landing-place of the staircase, commonly called the wooden stair case, which leads to the apart ments of madame and his majesty, and also to the upper floor, and to the roof of the palace; it is frequented by persons having bu siness with the servants employed in his majesty's household, and who lodge in this part of the Tui leries. The landing on which the barrel was placed is about 90 feet from the cabinet which his majesty usually occupies; it is separated from this cabinet by several rooms, and is also on the floor above the apartments of madame. The greatest force of the explosion was on the side that offered the least opposition,

oppositon, which was the space occupied by the staircase. Many squares of glass were broken, and several doors were torn from their fastenings. It had no other effect; and fortunately, from the direction it took, it reached neither the sacred person of his majesty, nor the august one of madame. Nevertheless, such an attempt commit ted in the very palace of our king, in the midst of the faithful servants by whom his majesty is constantly surrounded, evinces an excess of malignity and audacity which strikes at all that France holds most dear and most sacred, and would keep alive that anxiety and alarm which the dreadful catastrophe of not quite a year ago shows to be too well justified.

"His majesty, convinced that every thing which relates to the safety of his person, and those of his family, as well as to the respect which ought to protect his dwelling, must strongly interest the chambers and the nation at large; and, desiring to calm those apprehensions which this event has naturally excited, has ordered us to lay these circumstances before you, The most careful and active search is making for the authors of this attempt; and as to the perturbed spirit which excites such crimes, it will be best subdued by the conviction that all its efforts will be frustrated by the unalterable fidelity of the nation and all the chambers, and by the lasting union which is established between them and the king."

The keeper of the seals de scended from the tribune amidst the expression of general applause.

NETHERLANDS:

Dec. 29.-At five o'clock, a

dreadful fire broke out at Brussels, in the palace of the Prince of Orange, which entirely consumed that fine building, in spite of the most prompt assistance of every kind, and the extraordinary zeal and courage of the citizens, who were eager to shew their affection to the prince and princess, by the most extraordinary efforts to stop the progress of the flames.

His royal highness the prince of Orange directed the workmen, and encouraged their zeal with the coolness and intrepidity which so eminently characterize him. Meantime the archives were removed from the palace of the states-general (which joins that of the prince,) as well as the most valuable furniture which could be rescued from the flames, and carried into the park and the neigh- · bouring houses. The fire seems to have begun in the chapel of the princess, at the upper story. The prince immediately directed all the assistance which could be given by the persons of his household, but in vain. At seven o'clock the princess and her three sons left the palace, which began to be a prey to the flames, and which soon spread further with amazing violence. They communicated to the noble hall of the states-general, decorated with so much taste and elegance by M. Vander Stracten, the king's architect. Only the bare walls of that magnificent building remain, but its fine frontispiece, which we owe to the skilful hand of the sculptor, M. Godecharles, is happily uninjured. The fire was not got under till five p. m. but at ten there was a fresh alarm, which, however, was soon removed. Many persons

have received serious bodily injuries, but it is not yet known whether any one has perished.

GERMANY.

The allied powers have removed the seat of their conference from Troppau to Laybach, a town in Austrian Germany, the capital of Carniola. The summons to the king of Naples to attend them has been obeyed, though not without strong remonstrances from the Neapolitan parliament, who declare their resolution to resist foreign interference with their government.

Accounts from Magdeburg mention a singular suicide that has been committed there.-M. Fabricius, director of the theatre, has shot himself through the heart with a pistol, during the representation of Schiller's Don Car-los.

He chose the moment when the Marquis Posa is killed on the stage by a shot through the grate of the prison. He had taken upon himself to discharge the pistol, and fell, according to the directions in the part of Posa, without uttering a syllable.

The custom which has hitherto prevailed, of separate burial grounds for each christian profession, has been abolished in the Prussian dominions, as contrary to the spirit of general christian toleration.

The university of Göttingen, which at the beginning of the last half year had 1118 students, has now received a considerable addition, so that the whole number amounts to 1254, which is more than it ever had before at any time since its foundation. The laudable example of public lectures has met with several imitators, and apparently the moment

is not remote when the will of the law will be fully carried into effect in this respect also. The want of a public place of worship for the university, which has long been felt, will now be shortly remedied. The church of St. Nicholas is designed for this purpose; and his majesty the king of Great Britain and Hanover has, with truly royal munificence, made a present of 10,000 rix dollars for the purpose of repairing and fitting up that church, which will be ready, at the latest, by Michaelmas, 1821.

27.--Last week, in a village about two leagues from Manheim, a Jew died in the 108th year of his age, who during so long a life had never been engaged in a law suit, but enjoyed the esteem of all his neighbours. When his brethren were preparing to render him the last duties, the mayor and pastor of the place, with many of the inhabitants, accompanied his body to the grave, and each pronounced an eulogy on the deceased.

SPAIN.

On the 27th of December, the public tranquillity was disturbed at Orense (Gallicia) by the discovery of a new conspiracy. The conspirators were chiefly peasants and disbanded soldiers. An action took place--they were defeated and their chief, baron Santi Joannis, made a prisoner. Quiet was soon restored.

The pope's nuncio has officially received, under date of the 30th September, a rescript from his holiness, authorising the secularization of the monks.

PORTUGAL.

4. A tremendous storm occurred at Santaren, a town, forty