two parties were so exasperated, that bloodshed would inevitably ensue. The king signified his acquiescence.
The animosity, revived by the representation of the play of Germanicus, betwixt the Royalists and Bonapartists, has found another subject of contention—the Gardes du Corps. This body, composed of persons of respectability, has always been an eye-sore to the party styled Libéraux, who contend, that it is highly improper that the sovereign should have a guard unconnected with the army. The infringement of certain privileges, to which this corps had considered themselves entitled, seems to have excited considerable disgust among them, and some disorders.—Of the Duke D'Havré's company nearly the whole have sent in their resignation, and by a royal ordonnance of 10th April, that of Noailles has been disbanded.
It will be seen from the following article, that arrests for criminal designs against the government of the Bourbons have not yet entirely ceased. On the 29th March, the Count de Croquembourg, a Belgian officer, formerly in the French service, and M. Arnoud de Briqueville, were apprehended at Paris, and their papers secured, on a charge of carrying on a treasonable correspondence with the French exiles in Belgium; and, more recently, the wife of M. Regnauld de St Jean D'Angely was apprehended on a charge of a similar correspondence with her husband, now an exile in the United States of America. A copy of a curious letter, said to have been intercepted, is given in the London papers, but it is evidently of English manufacture.
The French police has not permitted the journals to take any notice of the motion of Lord Holland with respect to the situation of Bonaparte, nor of the answer of Lord Bathurst.
Late accounts give the following state of the present military force of France:—The Garde Royale, 20,000 of all arms. Infantry, 81 departmental legions, consisting each of from 300 to 500 men. The regiments of cavalry are each from 200 to 300 strong. The corps of artillery and sappers complete, as fixed by ordonnance of the peace establishment. Besides these, France has in its service seven regiments of Swiss, and two regiments of Germans,—the latter under the command of Prince Hohenloe.
Died at Paris, on the 4th April, in the 59th year of his age, Marshal Massena, Prince of Essling. He was one of the ablest and most successful of those great officers whom the French revolution raised to distinction,—the great blemish in his character, as in that of the English Marlborough, was avarice.
The state of the weather during the month of April seems to have been particularly unfavourable in France, and great public anxiety prevails respecting the vintage and harvest. At Toulouse, and other places in the south, daily prayers have been offered up during some weeks for rain.—From Sancerre, department of the Cher and Loire, on the contrary, we learn, that for three days preceding the 5th April, hail and snow had fallen without interruption; that the fruits in general had been blasted, and the vineyards threatened with a total destruction of this year's crop.—The distress in the provinces is excessive. Bread is every where 7 sols (3½d.), in many 9 (4½d.), and in some 10 and 11 sols a-pound.
By a late ordonnance of the king, the standards of the ancient company of horse-grenadiers of his guard are to be deposited in the hands of the family of La Rochejaquelin. His Majesty has given permission to that family to make these ensigns the supporters of their arms, and to unite them by the following device: "Vendée, Bordeaux, Vendée," as a perpetual memorial of the faithful and devoted services rendered to the crown by that illustrious family.
NETHERLANDS.
Two ships, under the flag of the Netherlands, which were captured by a Moorish vessel in October last, have been restored.
The king has done ample justice to the inhabitants of the city of Antwerp, for in a formal decree he declares the toll of Flushing to be abolished, and that the sums which have been levied upon the merchants shall be restored.
On the 11th April, a dreadful storm, accompanied with lightning, assailed the town of Ath. A thunderbolt fell upon the steeple of the cathedral church, which it also set on fire, and in less than eight hours the whole edifice was reduced to ashes.
A most horrible catastrophe is detailed in a recent Ghent journal. A poor peasant and his three children had applied to his brother, who was in easier circumstances, for relief: he met his brother on the road, who desired him to go to his house and ask his wife for bread and potatoes, which she inhumanely denied. The poor wretch, afflicted at the situation of his starving children, resolved to kill them; and for that purpose tied them all together with a string, and threw them into a deep well, and immediately leapt in after them. His brother, on his return, finding what had been done, blew out his wife's brains with a pistol, and immediately delivered himself up to justice. The public feeling is strong in his favour.
The baptism of the Duke of Brabant, son of the Prince of Orange, took place on the 29th March, at Brussels, in the presence of their Majesties, the Princess Dowager of Orange and Brunswic, the Princes William and Frederic, the Grand Duke Nicholas of Russia, &c. The young prince received the names William-Alexander-Paul-Frederic-Louis. The Queen of Great Britain and the Prince Regent were the sponsors by proxy.
