The Ministry under the new Premier, besides including, with a very few exceptions, the same individuals which composed the Canning Administration, received some valuable accessions from the ranks of the Opposition. The office of Commander-in-chief, too, which had remained vacant since the resignation of the Duke of Wellington, was again, on the reconstruction of the Ministry, accepted by his Grace. To no man in the country, could the command of the army have been with more propriety intrusted; and, as his Grace no longer held a seat in the Cabinet, all objection to the appointment, on that ground, was completely obviated.

In a short time, a slight misunderstanding arose among Ministers, which appeared to indicate a want of stability in the Administration, and indeed, almost threatened its dissolution. Lord Goderich, without consulting his colleagues, had requested Mr Herries to accept the vacant office of Chancellor of the Exchequer; and, on his declining it, procured a letter from his Majesty, urging him to accept of it. The rest of the Ministers refused to recognise the nomination of Mr Herries as valid, on the ground that it bore the appearance of an appointment on the part of the King, without the sanction of his legal advisers. It was suspected besides, that Mr Herries was opposed to the liberal system of policy adopted by Mr Canning. On both these grounds, the Marquis of Lansdowne judged it due to the friends who had joined the Government along with him, to lay the seals of office at his Majesty's feet. The Sovereign, however, declined to accept the resignation of his Minister, expressing his earnest desire that the noble Mar

quis would remain in office. This unpleasant disagreement among the Members of the Cabinet, though it excited for a time considerable alarm in the country, had the effect of making the public acquainted with the views of the Sovereign in regard to the administration; for, in requesting the noble Marquis to resume the seals of the Home Department, his Majesty gave him his Royal authority to state, that his continuance in office, was an act of duty, consented to at the express desire of the King himself, and to prevent the dissolution of a Government, which on public and private grounds, his Majesty was anxious to preserve. These were considered important expressions, as indicative of the Royal mind, and as a pledge that the principles on which the Canning Administration had begun to act, would, if persevered in by their successors, meet with his Majesty's constant approbation and support.

In the close of the year, a speedy dissolution of the Cabinet appeared almost certain. The Premier had already expressed a wish to retire from office, and it was only by the importunity of his colleagues that he was prevailed upon to remain. Whether naturally of a weak constitution, or from want of that decision of character which is absolutely necessary in such a situation, and especially at such a crisis, Lord Goderich seemed anxious to escape from the harassing cares and perplexities of public life, into the calm enjoyment of domestic happiness. It was fully expected, therefore, that he would take the earliest opportunity of resigning his office; and thus would terminate a Ministry, formed on the most enlightened prin

ciples, and likely to pursue that liberal line of policy, of which Mr Canning had given a most brilliant example.

It is scarcely possible to find in British history, a year more fruitful of interesting and important changes in the internal affairs of the nation, than 1827. The revolution which took place in the spirit and measures of the Government, by the elevation of Mr Canning to the Premiership, appeared to open up the brightest prospects of future improvement for Britain, for Europe, and the world. The political horizon may again be overclouded, but there will still shoot across the darkness, a bright gleam of hope that the principles of Canning will not be abandoned, that the impulse which has been imparted to the progress of society, will at length eradicate from the Government every trace of that narrow and shortsighted policy, which is only worthy of the Court of Ferdinand. In the present state of the country, a Government proceeding on the principles which some years ago disgraced the British Cabinet, would not be tolerated. The voice of public opinion must be heard, and respectfully attended to. It would require even the unprincipled fearlessness of a Londonderry to bring back the old illiberal system, and again to arm the Government against an enlightened, a free, a high-minded people.

EUROPE IN 1827.

II.

FRANCE.

ON the accession of Charles X. to the throne, it was expected, and indeed had been promised, that a more liberal system of government would be followed, than had hitherto characterized the reign of the Bourbons. The liberty of the press, was accordingly maintained, and several other improvements introduced; but the Ministry was not changed, and no confidence could therefore be placed in the sovereign, while he continued to be surrounded by advisers, so unprincipled as were Villèle and Corbière. Even the most violent Liberals appeared to expect, that the favourable presages of the new reign would be realized, and men of all parties, were disposed to a reconciliation with the Crown, at the expense of the Ministry.

In this divided state of public opinion, the King, besides still maintaining his unpopular counsellors, acted on the same principles with his late predecessor. One of the first acts of his reign, was a wanton invasion of Spain, in defence of a Monarch, who had betrayed the sacred trust reposed in him by his people, and had therefore forfeited all title to respect or confidence. The power of

the Jesuits, which had been evidently increasing in the latter days of Louis XVIII., was now more than ever encouraged by Villèle and Corbière. Respect was paid to superstitious ignorance, to an extent altogether incompatible with civil liberty. In proof of this, might be adduced, that disgraceful law of sacrilege, which passed the Chambers in 1825, annexing the penalty of death to offences against the holy wafer. The vague and undefined nature of this capital crime, must render the law a dangerous tool in the hands of the priest. One act, however, of the government, merits approbation from every liberal mind,-the recognition of the independence of Hayti, and also, though reluctantly, that of the South American States.

With such violence and recklessness did Villèle, for some time, pursue his unpopular measures, that the public mind was in a state approaching to rebellion. This was peculiarly the case, when, in the beginning of the past year, the ministerial project was published, for establishing the censorship of the press. A cry of alarm and indignation resounded from one end of France to the other. This Vandal Law, as it was appropriately termed by M. de Chateaubriand, was firmly resisted by all who were capable of appreciating liberty of thought, the inalienable birthright of man. It was considered by writers of all political opinions, by citizens of all classes, and by the greater part of the Journals, as a public insult to an enlightened nation, an evident declaration of war against intelligence, and a disgraceful attempt to arrest the progress of knowledge, and cover the human understanding with a melancholy gloom, allied to the darkness of the middle ages. In setting forth