selves, in conjunction indissoluble with our sacred Russia, defend the honour of the Russian name, and the inviolability of our frontiers. "The commotions and rebellions of the west have not since then ceased. Guilty delusion, enticing the thoughtless crowd with visionary dreams of that prosperity which can never be the fruit of wilfulness and obstinacy, has entered the east and the dominions contiguous to us, subjects of the Turkish empire, viz.: Moldavia and Wallachia. Only by the presence of our troops, together with those of Turkey, has order been restored and maintained; but in Hungary and Transylvania the efforts of the Austrian Government, distracted already by another war with foreign and domestic enemies in Italy, have not yet been able to triumph over rebellion. On the contrary, strengthening itself by hordes of our Polish traitors of 1831, and of others, foreigners, outcasts, runaways, and vagrants, the rebellion has developed itself there to a most threatening degree. "In midst of these unfortunate events the Emperor of Austria has addressed himself to us with the wish for our assistance against our common enemies. We shall not refuse him. "Having called to the assistance of this righteous enterprise, the Almighty Leader of battles and Lord of victories, we have commanded our armies to move forward for the extinction of rebellion, and the destruction of the audacious and evil-intentioned men, who endeavour to disturb the peace of our dominions also. "Let God be with us, and who shall be against us? "So-we are convinced of it-so feels, so hopes, so aspires our God-preserved nation; every Russian, every true subject of ours, and Russia will fulfil her mission. "Given at St. Petersburgh, the 26th day of April, in the year from the birth of Christ, 1849, and the 24th of our reign." (Signed) "NICHOLAS I." SPEECH OF THE QUEEN OF GREAT BRITAIN. The following is the speech of the Queen at the close of the last session of Parliament. It was read by the Marquis of Lansdowne:— My Lords and Gentlemen: We have it in command from her Majesty to inform you that the state of the public business enables her to dispense with your attendance in Parliament, and to close the present session. Her Majesty has directed us to express her satisfaction with the zeal and assiduity with which you have discharged the laborious and anxious duties, in the performance of which you have been occupied. Her Majesty has given her assent to the important measure you have passed to amend the Navigation Laws, in full confidence that the enterprise, skill, and hardihood of her people will assure to them a full share of the commerce of the world, and maintain upon the seas the ancient renown of this nation. Her Majesty has commanded us to acquaint you that the friendly character of her relations with foreign powers affords her a just confidence in the continuance of peace. The preliminaries of peace between Prussia and Denmark have been signed, under the mediation of her Majesty; and her Majesty trusts that the convention may prove the forerunner of a definitive and permanent treaty. Her Majesty's efforts will continue to be directed to promote the restoration of peace in those parts of Europe in which it has been interrupted. Gentlemen of the House of Commons: We are commanded by her Majesty to return you her thanks for the provision which you have made for the public service. The public expenditure has undergone considerable reduction within the present year, and her Majesty will continue to apply a watchful economy in every branch of the public service. My Lords and Gentlemen: We are commanded by her Majesty to congratulate you on the happy termination of the war in the Punjaub. The exertions made by the Government of India, and the valour displayed by the army in the field, demand her Majesty's warmest acknowledgments. Her Majesty has observed with gratification the spirit of obedience to the laws which has been manifested by her subjects during the period which has elapsed since her majesty last addressed her Parliament. It is the characteristic of our constitution that it renders the maintenance of order compatible with the fullest enjoyment of political and civil liberty. The satisfaction with which her Majesty has viewed the peaceful progress of her people in arts and industry has been greatly alloyed by the continuance of severe distress in one part of the United Kingdom.-Her Majesty has observed with pleasure your liberal exertions to mitigate the pressure of this calamity; and her Majesty commands us to thank you for your unremitting attention to measures calculated to improve the general condition of Ireland. It is her Majesty's fervent hope that it may please the Almighty Disposer of events to favour the operation of those laws which have been sanctioned by Parliament, and to grant to her Irish people, as the reward of that patience and resignation with which they have borne their protracted sufferings, the blessings of an abundant harvest and of internal peace. OFFICIAL. By the President of the United States. PROCLAMATION. WASHINGTON, Aug. 11, 1849. THERE is reason to believe that an armed expedition is about to be fitted out in the United States, with the intention to invade the Island of Cuba, or some of the provinces of Mexico. The best information which the Executive has been able to obtain, points to the Island of Cuba as the object of this expedition. It is a duty of this Government to observe the faith of treaties, and to prevent any aggression by our citizens upon the territories of friendly nations, I have therefore thought it necessary and proper to issue this proclamation, to warn all citizens of the United States, who shall connect themselves with an enterprise so grossly in violation of our laws and our treaty obligations, that they will thereby subject themselves to the heavy penalty denounced against them by our acts of Congress, and will forfeit their claims to the protection of their country. No such persons must expect the interference of this government in any form on their behalf, no matter to what extremities they may be reduced, in consequence of their conduct. An enterprise to invade the territories of a friendly nation, set on foot and prosecuted within the limits of the United States, is, in the highest degree, criminal, as tending to endanger the peace, and compromise the honour, of this nation; and, therefore, I expect all good citizens, as they regard our national reputation as they respect their own laws and the laws of nations as they value the blessings of peace and the welfare of their country, to discourage and prevent, by all lawful means, any such enterprise. And I call upon every officer of this government, civil or military, to use all efforts in his power to arrest, for trial and punishment, every such offender against the laws providing for the performance of our sacred obligations to friendly powers. Given under my hand, the eleventh day of August, in the year of our Lord, one thousand eight hundred and forty-nine, and the 74th of the Independence of the United States. By the President, J. M. CLAYTON, Secretary of State. Z. TAYLOR. DIPLOMATIC DIFFICULTY BETWEEN THE FRENCH MINISTER AND THE U. STATES GOVERNMENT. The following documents will explain the matter. The whole correspondence is voluminous. Mr. Clayton's letter to Mr. Rush, the American Ambassador at Paris, is first given-then an extract from a note of M. Poussin to Mr. Clayton, and a letter from the same to the same, in which communications are found the offensive expressions complained of The Secretary of State to the Minister of the United States at Paris. SIR: You will receive with this despatch a copy of a correspondence that has recently passed between this Department and M. Poussin, the tone of which, on the Minister's part, is regarded as offensive to the American government, and cannot, it is presumed, meet the approbation of the government of the Republic which he represents. From these papers you will learn that, in October of last year, Commander Carpender, of the United States Navy, commanding the United States warsteamer "Iris," had the good fortune to rescue the French barque “Eugenie,” of Havre, which had struck on the bank of Riso, near the anchorage of Anton Lizardo, on the coast of Mexico. Under the belief that the case was one which justly entitled his officers and men to salvage, the commander caused the rescued vessel to be moored in safety near the "Iris" until he could communicate with the consignee, Señor Gomez, at Vera Cruz; but after waiting thirty hours, and receiving no answer from the consignee, he determined to deliver, and did deliver, the barque over to the charge of her captain. In the opinion he entertained respecting the right to salvage, Conimander Carpender was supported by Mr. Clifford, our Minister in Mexico, and his whole conduct was approved by that Minister. On the 12th ultimo, M. Poussin, under instructions from his government, addressed a representation of this subject in a note to this Department, complaining, in strong terms, of what he considers to be arbitrary and illegal con. duct on the part of the commander of the Iris; suggesting that that officer should be severely blamed, and asking that speedy satisfaction should be given to the just complaints of the French Republic. The Department lost no time in placing in M. Poussin's possession the explanations of Commander Carpender, which had been obtained from the Navy Department; and, in communicating them, the hope was expressed that they would remove all misapprehension on the part of the French government in regard to the conduct of the American officer. Commander Carpender and his crew had actually saved the French barque and her crew from imminent peril, if not certain destruction; and for this signal service Commander Carpender has received, not merited thanks, but censure and indignant animadversion from the Minister of the nation to which the vessel belongs. But M. Poussin himself was not satisfied with the explanations furnished, and without condescending to refer the matter to his government, and await their instructions, he declared the explanations to be not of a nature calculated to dispel the discontent of his government. Having also failed to bring upon Commander Carpender the severe reproof of this government for an alleged error "committed," as M. Poussin rashly asserts, "on a point involving the dignity of your [our] national marine," the Minister taunts the government of the United States with subscribing to the erroneous "doctrines" of the commander, against which doctrines he therefore proceeds to protest in the name of his government. The attention of this government would not, perhaps, have been so strongly attracted to the tone and temper of M. Poussin, exceptionable as they are, had not that Minister, on a previous occasion, and that quite recently, made use of highly insulting language, in a note he addressed to this government under date of the 18th April last, the offensive portions of which he was afterwards indulgently suffered to withdraw. In resolving to overlook this mark of disrespect, the Department was guided by a sincere desire to omit nothing which would tend to promote the friendly and harmonious relations of the two governments. But, at the same time, not feeling disposed to countenance communications from any quarter which question or impugn the honour and dignity of the American government, the President has deemed it proper to direct me to transmit to you the accompanying correspondence, which he wishes you to submit to the French government. You will readily perceive that the language objected to, and the temper which M. Poussin has not been able to conceal, must necessarily tend to obstruct diplomatic intercourse, and are essentially calculated to embarrass rather than to promote a friendly discussion of questions that concern the honour and interests of the two Republics, JOHN M. CLAYTON. I am, sir, respectfully, your obedient servant, RICHARD RUSH, Esq., &c. Extract of a letter addressed to the Secretary of State by M. Poussin, under date of April 1849. Finally, Mr. Secretary of State, I said, in my note of the 30th, that M. Port quitted Puebla on the 10th of September, and did not return until the 15th of October, 1847. You answer, that this assertion of mine is not supported by any evidence, and you therefore consider yourself justified in rejecting it entirely. I shall therefore annex to this letter some documents, the mere reading of which should convince you of the reality of the statement made by me; and you will also see that the Legation of France, which would never consent to become the organ of a criminal accusation without proofs, does not venture, without proofs, to advance an assertion of a fact of the most innocent nature. Allow me to hope, Mr. Secretary of State, that this letter may be the last of a correspondence which has been already too long, on an affair so clear. [The government of the United States must be convinced that it is more honourable to acquit fairly a debt contracted during war, under the pressure of necessity, than to avoid its payment by endeavouring to brand the character of an honest man.*] Accept, I pray you, sir, the assurance of my high consideration. GUILLAUME TELL POUSSIN. Translation of a note from the Minister Plenipotentiary of France. LEGATION OF FRANCE, WASHINGTON, May 30, 1849. SIR: I received on the 28th of May the note which you did me the honour to address to me on the same day, in answer to mine calling upon the government of the United States to disavow the conduct of Commander Carpender, of the American war steamer Iris, towards the French ship Eugenie, of Havre, which had run upon the bank of Riso, near the anchorage of Anton Lizardo. The explanations given by Commander Carpender are not of a nature, Mr. [The passage in the above letter included within brackets is that which was subsequently withdrawn by M. Poussin.] Secretary of State, such as to dispel the discontent which his proceedings have caused to my government. He considers, as he says, and he still considers, that the case was one of salvage; that the rights acquired by him as the saver of the vessel saved empowered him to keep possession of her until his extravagant pretensions were fully satisfied; but his opinions have little interest in our eyes when we have to condemn his conduct. I called on the Cabinet of Washington, Mr. Secretary of State, in the name of the French government, to address a severe reproof to that officer of the American navy, in order that the error which he has committed on a point involving the dignity of your national marine might not be repeated hereafter. From your answer, Mr. Secretary of State, I am unfortunately induced to believe that your government subscribes to the strange doctrines professed by Commander Carpender, of the war-steamer Iris; and I have only to protest, in the name of my government, against those doctrines. I have the honour to be, with distinguished consideration, your most obedient servant. To the Hon. J. M. CLAYTON, Secretary of State. GUILLAUME TELL POUSSIN. SIR: I have received with the letter, which you did me the honour to write to me on the 7th of last month, the copy of the correspondence which has taken place between the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs of the United States and the Minister of France at Washington, upon the subject of two claims, which the latter had been charged to present to the Federal Government: one against the irregular detention of the French ship l'Eugenie, by Commander Carpender, off Vera Cruz; and the other for the purpose of asking for an indemnification in favour of M. Port, a French merchant, for the abrogation of the sale of a certain quantity of tobacco struck off to him by the commander of the American forces at Puebla. These two affairs, having hitherto been discussed at Washington, where they are to be concluded, it is not my province to examine their merits. Besides, 1 am too certain of the integrity of the Government of the Union to doubt that it will ultimately acknowledge every claim founded in right; and, on its part, it cannot think that the French Government allows itself to be drawn by the desire of protecting its subjects to support pretensions the justice of which has not been demonstrated to it. These sentiments of reciprocal confidence being of a nature to avert and prevent, in the discussions of private interests, those susceptibilities and misunderstandings which cannot fail to complicate them, we have seen with as much astonishment as regret the turn which the communications exchanged between our Envoy and Mr. Clayton have taken. Even before I had received the letter which you have written me to call my attention to them, M. Poussin had transmitted copies of them to me. I have been painfully impressed to find in that correspondence a tone of acerbity and harshness very little conformable to the friendly relations between the two countries; but I ought to say, without entering into useless recriminations, without seeking for the side whence the first injuries proceeded, it had appeared to me that this observation was not alone applicable to the letters written by the Minister of France. M. Poussin, doubtless misconstruing some expressions in those which have been addressed to him by the Secretary of State, believed he saw in them a want of respect, for which he may have manifested his resentment with too much spirit; but if a passage of his letter of the of April may have hurt Mr. Clayton, it |