independence, caused a restoration of some of her considerable colonies at the peace of Versailles in 1783. Considering these acquisitions on the general grounds of domestic and foreign policy, they by no means can be regarded as a compensation for the share France took in this war. The restored possessions were those on the river Senegal, the island of Goree, the Newfoundland fisheries, with the islands of St. Pierre and Miguelon. The little island of Tobago was regained, but on the other hand, St. Barthelemy was sold by the crown to Sweden: some possessions of the African company in the predatory States of North Africa, considered as transitory acquisitions, must not be taken into account. The total extent of the colonies, at the breaking out of the French revolution, was, therefore, again increased to 30,784 square miles. The acquisitions of the French Republic during its twelve years' existence (21st Sept., 1792-18th May, 1804), and of the French empire during its ten years restless career of conquests,* belong exclusively to the history of this period, inasmuch as the kingdom of France at the restoration of the Bourbons, by the first treaty of Paris, on 30th May, 1814, received its ancient boundaries of 1st Jan., 1792, with regard to its European territory; and, therefore, only gained the once papal territory of Avignon, with some enclaves, in what were formerly the circles of the German empire, beyond the status quo at the beginning of the reign of Louis XVI. Of the foreign possessions, as compared with those of 1792, a considerable loss was experienced by St. Domingo having, in the mean time, erected itself into the independent kingdom of Hayti. The islands of Tobago and St. Lucie, besides those of the Sechelles and Mauritius, were likewise given up to England. Louis XVIII., the brother of Louis XVI., who, immediately on the decease of his nephew, Louis XVII., whilst a prisoner in the Temple at Paris, on the 8th June, 1795, received the title of King, and who had rejected the repeated offers of Napoleon to induce him to renounce his pretensions to the throne, assumed the government in 1814-16th Sept., 1824. In the interval, in consequence of the return of Napoleon from Elba, and the necessarily renewed exertions of the united powers of Europe, France lost by the second peace of Paris, on 20th Nov., 1815, to Prussia, the territories of Saarlouis and Saarbrück; to the Netherlands, Marienburg, Philippeville and its dependencies; to Bavaria, Landau and its territory, as a protection to the German Confederation; and finally to Sardinia, French Savoy, as well as dominion over the petty principality of Monaco. Thus the extent of the French territory in Europe, according to a careful measurement and strict demarcation of its boundaries, was fixed at 161,376 square miles, and the possessious out of Europe at 10,512. The European population of France, according to an official statement in 1815, was 29,400,000.. The extent of the French State now remained unaltered during the reign of Louis XVIII., as well as that of his brother and successor *At the period of its greatest extension, the territory of the French empireafter the incorporation of Holland (224,000 square miles, with 42,500,000 souls), adding thereto Italy (18,400 square miles with 6,800,000 souls), the Confederation of the Rhine (85,600 square miles, with 13,600,000 souls), Switzerland (11,488 square miles, with 1,700,000 souls), Naples (22,992 square miles, with 5,000,000 souls), and the Duchy of Warsaw with Danzig (45,920 square miles, with 3,900,000 souls) -amounted to upwards of 421,200 square miles, with a population of more than 73,500,000, over whom Napoleon held absolute rule. VOL. I. NO. I. E (16th Sept., 1824), whose male descendants were to continue the elder branch of the dynasty of Bourbon, but on the 1st August, 1830, by a declaration of the assembled Deputies, in conjunction with the municipality of Paris, and subsequent vote of the Chamber of Paris, Charles X. was divested of his right to the French throne. He, therefore, and his eldest son, the Duke d'Angoulême, who had no children, gave in their resignation on the 2nd of August, 1830, but only in favour of their nephew and grandson, Henry of Bordeaux, the posthumous and only son of the Duke of Berri, who was murdered in 1820. This youth, at ten years of age, they then proclaimed as Henry V., King of the French. Meanwhile the French throne having been declared vacant on the 7th August, a new dynasty was elected. The Chamber of Deputies having assumed the exclusive rights of popular representatives, and altered the fundamental law of the constitution of 1814, conferred the crown on Louis Philippe I., Duke of Orleans, and his male lineage. This was afterwards, but on the same day, confirmed by a majority of French peers. Louis Philip I. having accepted and sworn to the altered constitution, ascended the throne on the 9th August, in consequence of this election, but not on account of his relationship to the deposed family, which arose from the founder of his dynasty, Duke Philip I., a younger son of Louis XIII. and brother of Louis XIV. Thus all dispute was removed regarding the prior claims of the Bourbon branches of Spain, Naples, and Lucca, who were all descended in a direct line from Louis XIV., through his grandson, Philip V., King of Spain. The French territorial possessions in Europe under the new dynasty, which in a few months was acknowledged by every European power, have hitherto remained unchanged, and the population alone has increased, as we shall hereafter show. Among the foreign possessions we may notice the extension of those in Africa, which was caused by the campaign undertaken during the two last months of the former government against the piratical State of Algiers. After having stationed garrisons therein, on the 5th July, the present government sought to secure the provisional possession of it by fresh expeditions against Constantine, Oran, and Tittery, and commenced appropriating the land to itself by European colonization. Meanwhile none of the powers interested have hitherto acknowledged, either by negotiation or treaty, the right of France to these possessions.* SUMMARY CONVICTIONS.-The summary convictions filed with clerks of the peace in England and Wales, in the year ending Michaelmas, 1835, amounted to 16,506; of these the largest number occurred in Hampshire (1402); and the smallest in Radnorshire (2). The sums insured on farming stock exempt from duty, in the year 1836, for England, Scotland, and Ireland respectively, were as follow: -England, 43,095,2287.; Scotland, 2,777,693l.; Ireland, 179,8327.; total, 46,052,7531. * According to a statistical table published in the Moniteur Algérien, of the 27th of August last, the European population in the French colonies in Africa amounts to 16,244 souls; of which Algiers reckons 9822; Oran, 3325; Bona, 2609; Bougie, 406; and Mostaganem, 82. During the first half of the year 1837 the population was increased by 1683. NEW SOUTH WALES. The following article, for which we are indebted to the Colonist, a paper published in Sydney, will be perused with great interest by our readers generally, but more particularly by such as may happen to be connected with the important colony to which it refers. We have taken the liberty of striking out some passages, which seem to have been written under the influence of a local, if not a political feeling; and others of a complimentary character to individuals, of the propriety of which we have no means of judging. PROGRESS OF THE REVENUE. Prior to the administration of Sir Ralph Darling, the public accounts of this colony were kept in a loose and slovenly manner; were subject to no well-defined system of audit; and were published at irregular intervals, and in the most vulgar form. The appointment of Mr. Lithgow to the office of Auditor-General was an auspicious era in the history of colonial finance, as has been amply proved by the manner in which he has discharged its duties during the long period of more than eleven years. The form in which the quarterly and yearly abstracts are now published, is a fac-simile of that employed in the national revenue accounts, and was introduced at an early stage of the government of Sir Richard Bourke. For this improvement we have already given to his Excellency the humble meed of our praise. With a view to the forming of a comprehensive estimate of the financial growth of the colony, we propose to go back to the first year of Sir Ralph Darling's administration, 1826, and thence to come down to the 31st of December, 1836, a period of eleven complete years. The plan we shall pursue is, first, to take the heads of revenue, seriatim, and then the gross amount, and trace the augmentations they respectively exhibit. 1. Customs.-By the returns under this head, we shall of course be enabled to appreciate the colonial commerce inwards, the revenue being derived principally, if not exclusively, from goods and produce imported for internal consumption. The customs yielded, The small increase from 1829 to 1830 is accounted for by the fact, that the colony was at that time suffering the severest depression in all the branches of its industry, caused by a succession of droughty seasons. The last year of Sir Ralph Darling's government, compared with the first, gives an increase under the head of customs, of no less a sum than 40,4527. We now enter upon the present administration, Sir Richard Bourke having taken charge in the last month of 1831. The receipts from customs were, Thus, during the administration of Sir Richard Bourke, that is, from 1832 to 1836, the customs revenue has advanced from 96,2627. to 156,9137., being an increase of 60,65-17.; whilst, from the first year of Sir Ralph Darling's administration to the end of last year, it has advanced from 49,353/. to 156,913, being an increase (in eleven years) to the goodly extent of 107,560%., having in that period more than trebled gross income. its 2. Duties on Spirits distilled in the Colony.-This item has been singularly fluctuating. It gave, The gross produce of this head of revenue during the last five years of Sir Ralph Darling was 51147.; during the first five of Sir Richard Bourke it was 60647.; being an increase of only 950l. This arises from the little encouragement given to local distillation by the government and the public. 3. Licenses to Retail Spirits.-This head of revenue will afford a melancholy index to colonial morals. It yielded In 1826.... 1827... 4025 6550} Ditto ditto...... 1450 The influence of the great embarrassments of 1829 is again apparent, for even this source of revenue declined at that period of general distress. The great increase in the year 1830 must be attributed to the change introduced about that time into the licensing system, the number of licenses to be issued being no longer limited by government, but left to the discretion of the Petty Sessions. The increase from spirit licenses in the last year of Sir Ralph Darling, as compared with that of the first, shows an increase of no less than 3487., the gross amount having more than doubled itself! During the time of Sir Richard Bourke, it has been, The last of these five years shows an increase on the first of 17721. The last year under Sir Richard Bourke, as compared with the first under Sir Ralph Darling, shows an increase of 6444l., the gross income having more than trebled itself. The total revenue derived from spirit licenses during the last five years of Sir Ralph Darling, was 23,8257.; during the first five of Sir Richard Bourke, it was 46,3167.; being an increase to the enormous amount of 22,4917.; the gross receipts having nearly doubled themselves. 4. The next head, Licenses to Hawkers and Pedlars, is too insignificant for further notice. 5. Auction Duty and Licenses to Auctioneers.-During Sir Ralph Darling's government, the revenue from this source was, In 1826... £576} Increase on the year .. £106 1827.... 682 64 1831.... 1399} Decrease ditto The last of these six years shows an increase on the first of 8231. Under Sir Richard Bourke the produce has been, £1455} Increase on the year In 1832.... 1833... 1586 1835.. 3219 1836.... 4777} Ditto ditto...... 1558 The last of these five years shows an increase on the first of 33221.; the gross income having more than trebled itself. The last year under Sir Richard Bourke, as compared with the first under Sir Ralph Darling, shows an increase of 42017.; the gross income of the one being |