SUMMARY OF FOREIGN EVENTS. 



THE affairs of the continent are still marked with the character of uncer- 

 tainty and complication. A provisional convention has at length been 

 signed between Great Britain, France, and Holland. This treaty is, without 

 contradiction, one of the most extraordinary mystifications which diplomacy 

 ever made use of to hoodwink nation's. Three years of protocols, two cam- 

 paigns of the French armies, a months cruise of the combined squadrons 

 have produced what ? A peace, if it may so be called, based, not on the exe- 

 cution of the famous convention of London, but upon the "status ante bel- 

 lum." Not a single interest is conciliated, not a difficulty levelled ; William 

 Van Nassau has sported with our boasted diplomacy, has laughed at our 

 threats, and has at length signed a conventional treaty, in which the independ- 

 ence of Belgium is not acknowledged by the very power whose recognition it 

 was her interest, above all others, to have obtained. It is true we have ob- 

 tained the provisional navigation of the Scheldt, but the right of Holland to 

 close it at her pleasure has been, at the same time, clearly established. 



In France, in spite of the fierce contention of party spirit, constitutional 

 liberty is making rapid progress. The last act of the Carlist drama is closed 

 by the departure of the Duchess de Berri. The marriage of this princess is 

 involved in as much mystery as the history of the celebrated masque de fer. 

 The attention of the French Chambers has been principally occupied with 

 the question of the fortification of Paris. Three opinions exist upon this 

 subject. One party sees no necessity at all for the measure these are the 

 republicans ; the two others agree as to its necessity, based upon the politi- 

 cal axiom, that the independence of nations is in inverse ratio to the vul- 

 nerability of their capitals ; but they differ as to the mode, one advocating an 

 enciente " continue!," and the other a chain of detached forts, that would act 

 equally against an enemy in the field, or the revolted population of the 

 capital. The earnestness with which the subject has been debated shews 

 that even on the military soil of France, a feeling of jealousy towards stand- 

 ing armies is fast disseminating itself among the mass of the French people. 

 La Vendee, that hotbed of Carlism is to be pierced in every direction with 

 strategic roads. 



In Spain great preparations were making for the meeting of the cortes on 

 the 20th ; and as the moment approached, the contending parties were 

 marshalling their forces. Zea Bermudez is playing a deep game, and evidently 

 wishes to insure the throne to Don Carlos. His accession to power nipped 

 liberty in the bud. General Sarsfield has already refused to take the com- 

 mand of one of the divisions of troops destined to entertain the people 

 with the exibition of a sham fight on the day of the fete. The high clergy 

 are preparing to protest against the recognition of Ferdinand's daughter, in 

 favour of the rights of her uncle, Don Carlos. In the mean time, with their 

 consummate skill and their usual success, they are exciting the population 

 of the provinces. In Gallicia violent symptoms of fermentation and dis- 

 content have already manifested themselves. In short every thing indicates 

 that Spain is again on the eve of a civil war. 



The ex-emperor, Don Pedro remains shut up in Oporto, famine and 

 disease sweeping off his old soldiers as fast as he receives recruits. Of the 

 non-existence of a strong party in the country in favour of the young queen, 

 Donna Maria de Gloria, the experience of the last twelve months must have 

 convinced every unprejudiced mind. The question is therefore purely a 

 M.M. No. 90. P 



