him the proceedings, when he by himself pronounced sentence of exile or imprisonment for longer or shorter terms upon thirty-two persons, who had been the most distinguished deputies to the Cortes, or promoters of liberal principles. Of the nature of these sentences a specimen may be given in that of the celebrated Arguelles, to serve ten years as a common soldier in the regiment stationed at Ceuta; and in that of Garcia Herreros, former minister of grace and justice, to serve eight years in chains in the garrison of Gomera. Such is the prospect afforded of the reign of the beloved Ferdinand!

Of the occurrences in Italy during this year, the most important have been related in the chapter concerning Murat and the revolution at Naples; some circumstances however remain to be noticed with respect to that country. The Roman Pontiff continued to pursue the plan of restoring to his see all the authority belonging to the head of the Catholic church, and of renovating the impaired dignity of religious institutions. On the first day of the year he issued a bull against ecclesiastical abuses, which contained various injunctions for rendering more sacred and respectable the characters of persons in holy orders. His expulsion from Rome consequence of the advance of King Joachim's troops, and his subsequent restoration after the fall of that temporary sovereign, were mentioned among the incidents of the Neapolitan war.

in

That important change in the affairs of Italy was followed by

an event of which notice was given by a proclamation published at Bologna on July 18th, by Cardinal Gonsalvi, secretary of state to the pope, and addressed to the legations of Bologna,, Ferrara, and Ravenna. The people of these districts are informed that by the unanimous will of the allies they are restored to the Holy See. The sentiments of his Holiness on the occasion are then communicated to them, which are, that every display of political conduct and opinion which had taken place in these provinces is banished from his mind, and that it is his desire that all shall look forward to the future with equal confidence and security; further, he expects that all the citizens shall imitate his example, and forgetting every thing past, shall regard each other as brothers, being all equally his sons. Moreover, his Holiness engages, that purchasers of property from the preceding governments, who have made their purchases according to the laws then subsisting, shall not be disturbed in their possession; and he also guarantees the public debt of the provinces, and the civil and military pensions, reserving only his claims on foreign countries in respect of them. The reduction of the taxes is then declared, and assurance is given that his Holiness will immediately employ himself on a new_system of administration conformable to the welfare of his people.

A particular account of the circumstances connected with the restoration of the Papal territory was the subject of an allocution of the Pope in the Secret Consis

tory, held on Sept. 4th. His Holiness begins this address with informing his "venerable brothers" that he could have wished to apprise them earlier of the restitution of several of their provinces, but that he waited for its completion. He acquaints them that Cardinal Gonsalvi, after fulfilling the commission with which he was charged to his most Christian Majesty, proceeded to London, where were assembled the allied sovereigns, with the exception of the Emperor Francis, and renewed a spectacle which had not been seen for two centuries, that of the public appearance of a Cardinal Legate, decorated with the distinguishing marks of his dignity. He was received (the Pope says) at the court of the Prince Regent, with such marks of kindness and attachment to our person, that it was impossible to manifest more. The legate then delivered a brief to each of the sovereigns, soliciting the restitution of the provinces of which the Holy See had been deprived, and stating its rights to them. The departure of the legate to the congress at Vienna is then mentioned, and his conduct there, the result of which was the restoration of the three Legations.. For this event acknowledgments are made to those Princes who do not belong to the Romish church, and particular gratitude is expressed to the Prince Regent of England for his earnestness in their behalf, which was of great advantage to their cause at the congress. The Pope then confesses that his joy at this restitution is somewhat abated by the still continued retention of the

province of Avignon and the county of Venaissin within France, and the province of Ferrara on the left bank of the Po, belonging to the Holy See as much as the restored parts, and of which he does not despair the restitution, or at least an equivalent compensation. Proceeding to spiritual concerns, he mentions that the legate had been instructed to seize the opportunity presented by the projected establishment of the affairs of Germany, to secure upon their ancient footing the interests of the Catholic church in that country: but that his labours had not hitherto produced any effects, the congress having been dissolved without any definitive arrangement.

The attempts of the papal court to restore the ancient order of things even in Italy were not every where alike successful. At Florence the re-introduction of Mortmain, and the re-establishment of the religious orders, met with difficulties from the government; and in the Austrian dominions of Italy little regard was paid to the wishes of the Pope. The King of Sardinia, on the other hand, showed himself an obedient son of the church; and some useful public establishments were obliged to give way to the return of monks and nuns. That Sovereign, and those of Sicily and Spain, appear to have been the only Catholic monarchs who yielded to the application for restoring the order of Jesuits in their do minions.

The occupation of Elba by the Grand Duke of Florence, though an event of no considerable im

portance, may deserve recording, on account of the interest attached to that island when the residence of Buonaparte. A body of Tuscan troops landed upon it on July 30th, and invested Porto Ferrajo, the commandant of which

at first asked for a suspension of arms in order to treat of a surrender, but this not being granted, a convention was entered into, in consequence of which the Tuscans took possession of all the military posts of the island.

THE

HE signature of peace between Great Britain and the United States of America at the end of the last year could not operate to put a period to hostilities till it had been made known and ratified beyond the Atlantic: and several actions remain to be related as the conclusion of a destructive war, which wisdom and temper might have entirely prevented.

On January 15th a British squadron, consisting of the Majestic, Capt. Hayes, and three frigates, being stationed off the coast of New York, in order to prevent the escape of the United State's ship President, Commodore Decatur, and other vessels, from Staten Island, descried the President attempting to get to sea, and commenced a general chase. After a run of many hours, the Endymion frigate got along side the President, and a warm action ensued, which was maintained with great gallantry on both sides for two hours and a

half, when the Endymion's sails, being cut from the yards, the American got a-head. At length, the Pomone coming up, and firing a few shots, Commodore Decatur hailed to say he had surrendered. The loss was considerable in both the ships, but much the greatest on board the President. She was a frigate of the largest rate, and had onboard about 490 persons.

A series of operations of the British army in the neighbourhood of New Orleans occupied the last week of December and a part of January. An army had been collected for an attack on that town under the command of Major-Gen. Keane, which, with the assistance of Admiral Sir Alexander Cochrane, was disembarked without resistance on the 23rd. During the following night the troops were assaulted with vigour by a considerable body of Americans, who, after repeated efforts, were repulsed with loss. On the 25th Major-General Sir

Edward Pakenham arrived, and took the command of the army. In the morning of the 27th the troops moved forward in two columns, and drove in the enemy's picquets to a situation within six miles of the town, where their main body was discovered strongly posted behind a canal, with a breast-work in front, their right resting on the Mississipi, in which an armed ship was moored, so as to enfilade any advancing assail ants, and their left touching a thick wood. From that time to the 8th of January the interval was occupied in preparations on both sides for attack and defence. On the 8th the British army was formed for a general assault upon the enemy's line, to be preceded by an attempt with a detached force under Col. Thornton to cross the river during the night, and proceeding along the right bank, to carry the flanking battery of the Americans on that side. Various unforeseen difficulties retarded the execution of this part of the plan till the co-operation lost its intended effect, though, in the end, the battery was taken; and the main attack did not take place till there was light enough for the enemy to descry the assailants at more than 200 yards distance. A galling fire was immediately opened from every part of the American line, and in the midst of it, General Pakenham, riding forwards to animate his men received two shots, one of which was almost instantly fatal. He fell into the arms of his aidede-camp, and at the same time, Generals Keane and Gibbs were carried off wounded in sight of the troops, who were so much dis

heartened that they began to wa❤ ver. Major General Lambert then bringing up the reserve, met the whole falling back in the greatest confusion; and though he restored order so far as to maintain the ground he occupied, it was not thought advisable to renew the attempt. On learning the success of Col. Thornton's attack, General Lambert sent an artillery officer over the river to examine whether the post was tenable, and from his report he was induced to order it to be relinquished. Such was the unfortunate termination of an enterprise which appears to have been undertaken with more courage than judgment. The loss on this day was very serious, including that of the General-in-chief killed, General Gibbs wounded so severely as to die on the next day, General Keane wounded, 1 lieut.colonel killed and 8 wounded, and of the rest, officers and men, about 2,000 killed, wounded, and prisoners. The final result was, that the whole army was reembarked, leaving a few of the most dangerously wounded, and carrying off its field artillery, ammunition, and stores.

The concluding operation of the war was the capture of fort Mobille, planned by Admiral Cochrane and General Lambert. The entrance into its bay being so well guarded by a fort that it was thought unsafe to attempt forcing a passage by the smaller ships of war; a body of troops was landed on February 7th, about three miles from the fort, which was immediately invested, and the trenches were pushed to within pistol-shot of the works.