seems doubtful, but there is no reason for thinking that, in general, Constantine escaped any of the calamities incidental to such occasions. As soon as the horrors of the storm had subsided, General Vallée proceeded to establish comparative order to examine the public stores, and to re-assure such of the inhabitants as remained alive.

This conquest cost the French 19 officers and 86 rank and file killed, and 38 officers and 468 rank and file wounded; besides 43 deaths from disease; the horses had suffered exceedingly from the weather, and no less than 237 perished. General Vallée lost no time in taking measures for the return of the main body of the army and the battering train. The garrison he proposed to leave, was to consist of 2,500 men of all

arms.

General Vallée, in a dispatch to the president of the council, estimates the advantages to be derived to the French from the occupation of Constantine, in the following terms:-"You are aware of the influence which Constantine has always exercised in this country; situated at the distance of 40 leagues from the sea, in the midst of a populous country, this city has become, at once, the market and the military centre of the province and, although, at present, in the power of Christians, the Arabs cannot resolve to abandon all connexion with it. They can look upon no other city in the light of Constantine. The tribes in the neighbourhood, are less warlike and more agricultural than those of the rest of the regency; the country supplies abundance of corn."

In reward of this success, General Vallée was raised to the rank

Shortly

of Marshal of France. after the reduction of Constantine he returned, without interruption to Bona, bringing with him the sick and wounded, and the battering train. He left in Constantine, six months provision for the garrison, having connected the place with Bona, by three intermediate posts. For the present all promised tranquillity. Achmet Bey himself was a fugitive in the desert with no more than 200 horse.

While these events were taking place in Africa, the French at home were occupied with the approaching elections. All parties made great efforts. The legiti matists issued a circular, which contained instructions for the candidates of their faction, while on the other hand, the ultra liberals and republicans formed an electoral coalition. This step on the part of the latter, was much disapproved of by some of the most credit among them; and it was remarked, that the name of M. Odilon Barrot was not to be found in their committee. M. de Chateaubriand assigned, as a reason for not appearing as a candidate, the scruples he entertained against taking the oath of allegiance to the present dynasty. The struggle between the government and opposition condidates in Paris was very severe, and the administration considered that the defeat of of M. Laffitte by M. Jaques Lefevre was a very satisfactory

indication of public opinion. And, in fact, the result of the general election was favourable to Ministers, who, it was clear, had secured a considerable majority in the new chamber. On the other hand the extreme left or ultra liberal party, received an accession of force, attributable, it is said, to the support their candidates received in many instances at the hands of the legitimatists. These last as well as the Doctrinaires were considered to be the losers by the dissolution.

The manufacturing and agricultural interests of France suffered severely during the greater part of the year. At Lyons, and other manufacturing towns, the distress was deplorable, and was evinced, among other forms, by the run upon the savings banks, which prevailed for some time.

A considerable misunderstanding existed between the Archbishop of Paris and the legislature, occasioned by the conversion of the site of the late archiepiscopal residence to a public promenade. This the Archbishop resisted, though ineffectually, in a somewhat angry protest. The same dignitary had again occasion to complain of a violation of the sanctity of consecrated things, by reason of the secularization of the Pantheon. It was, however, contended, that the Pantheon never properly belonged to the Church, that the Jesuits, indeed, had gained possession of it at the Restoration; but that this was an usurpation, and that it was proper to restore it to its original purpose, as a mausoleum for illustrious men.

A riot took place at Angoulême, in September, which was also connected with religion, It appears, that, at the Restoration, the Jesuits had erected a large cross in

this town, which was removed in 1830. On the night of the 13th of September, the Bishop, and certain devotees of the city, ventured to restore this sacred emblem; which so incensed the populace, that it became necessary for the magistrates to order it to be taken down. But not content with this, the mob insisted upon its being delivered up to them, and the Mayor was obliged to surrender it into their hands; whereupon the cross was broken into pieces, and committed to the flames; while the Marsellaise hymn accompanied this horrible outrage, in full chorus.

The prosecutions of the press continued, from time to time, to occupy the courts of justice, but certainly it would appear, that in most instances the unpopularity, attendant upon this repressive policy, is hardly compensated by the occasional suppression of a journal, or the imprisonment of a nominal editor. In fact it often happens, that in accordance with the licence assumed by the French bar, the controversy is [transferred from the columns of a newspaper to the courts of justice, and the obnoxious matter reproduced by the real editor himself, in the capacity of counsel for the responsible manager. The doubtful disposition of the soldiery, and particularly the supposed discontent of the non-commissioned officers, seem to have been a great, and very natural source of uneasiness to the government. The explosion at Strasburgh, occasioned by the mere appearance of one of the Bonaparte family, an absurd young man, was an alarming indication of the precarious hold maintained by the present dynasty upon the fidelity of the military. A calm observer of events would

hardly see anything unreasonable in the "disjunction bill," which is at least sanctioned by the analogy of universal practice. In all countries, excepting those in which a lawless soldiery has been allowed to predominate, it has been considered proper, that the military code should differ in principle, and in procedure from the civil. The greatest, and perhaps the only considerable danger, with which France is menaced, arises from her immense and turbulent army. The good spirit that generally pervades the ranks of the national guards,

and the sober resolution to be, in future, free from political convulsion, which is so remarkably manifested by the middle classes, afford the only human guarantee against the sovreignty of the barrack; a guarantee, the efficiency of which, however, is seriously impaired by the licentiousness of the literature, the influence of the democratic press, and the great want of religious sentiment, sound principle, and practical sense, observable in the younger part of the community.

They scale heaven and realise the fable of the Titans. An inaccessible aureola of glory will play on the front of these brave warriors, and follow them to the grave, on which the monument of immortality will ever rest." It was determined by the Cortes, that a stone should be placed in their saloon, with an inscription in gold letters, to the honour of Bilboa. The Queen Regent on her part decreed, that the town of Bilboa should add to the titles of " very noble and very loyal," which it already possessed, that of "unconquerable and unconquered." Titles were by the same decree showered on the municipality of the town, and decorations on the military, and inhabitants, distinguished in the defence and the relief, and Espartero was created Count de Luchana. It was decreed, that such private buildings, as had been destroyed during the siege, should be restored at the public expense, and a monument erected in Bilboa; pensions were also assigned to the widows and orphans of its defenders and liberators. To the Carlists on the other hand, the event was completely disheartening. They had not only suffered a total defeat, with all its moral as well as material results, but a very severe disappointment. The possession of Bilboa was an object of great importance to them, as being a city of sufficient consideration to give dignity to the court of Carlos, and an appearance of permanence to its establishment. It was besides the capital of Biscay, and inseparably connected, in the eyes of the Basques, with their fueros and local parliament. But the Christino commanders did not follow up their success. The Carlists were suffered to remain unmolested

in the occupation of the neighbouring heights of St. Domingo, of the road to Orduna, and the bridge of Castejana. Espartero did not move out of Bilboa; Sarsfield was contented to continue in Pampeluna; Narvaez and Ribiera, with their respective divisions, did not advance beyond Burgos; while Alaix remained at Vittoria.

The reverse, which the Carlist generals had experienced at Bilboa, gave rise to great dissensions among them. Eguia engaged in violent recriminations with Villareal, while Moreno, and Gomez, and the other subordinate chiefs, were free in their blame of both. In this state of things, Don Carlos was advised to re-appoint his nephew Don Sebastian to the titular command of the Army. Soon afterwards M. Erro, who acted in the capacity of principal Minister to Don Carlos, resigned his functions, and was succeeded by the Bishop of Leon.

Many weeks were spent by the Christino commanders, after the relief of Bilboa, in concerting a combined movement upon the Carlist lines in Guipuscoa. These lines, strengthened by entrenchments and redoubts, stretched along a chain of hills from Irun through Oyarzun, Astigarraga, Hernani, Tolosa, and Villafranca, into the heart of Biscay, and passed within a very short distance of St. Sebastian. Early in February, a re-inforcement of about 7000 Spaniards was detached to St. Sebastian, and placed at the disposal of General Evans. The effective force of the British Legion amounted at this time to between 4000 and 5000 men; so that Evans had a respectable corps d'armée under his com mand. It was proposed, that with this force he should make an attack upon the Carlist lines in his front,