passed to Cherbourg, have not shown symptoms of greater favour to the candidate for empire. At Cherbourg
itself he had a reception of marked coldness; and the folk who went to enjoy the holiday and increase the
noise, had to exhaust their stock of enthusiasm on the ships and the fortifications. The enormous six-deckers
and eighty-four-pounders carried off, accordingly, an amount of loose admiration which has quite startled
good people on the opposite coast. The effect has been but transient, however. France makes only a holiday
show in these matters after all. The statistics of maritime development and progress are against her; and it
is but to contrast any one of our naval ports with what has been going on at Cherbourg since the days of
Louis Quatorze, to see that nature is more than a match for art in this respect. It is not ships and
fortifications that make a maritime country, nor even the advantages of natural ports and harbours. When
France can send to Portsmouth or Plymouth such a fleet of pleasure yachts as were sporting the other day
round her war-leviathans at Cherbourg, it will be time for England to look about her. Not till she begins to
take to the sea as the duck to the water, need her maritime supremacy be feared. Never yet, with all her big
equipment and endless braggadocio, has she really shown the natural taste for it.

A new element of discord, which seems to promise new and important combinations, has been flung into
the endless German dispute. The entire population of the State of Hesse Cassel, including parliament, army,
and state functionaries, as well as common people, have risen against their Elector and his minister, and
incontinently bundled them out. This revolution differs from those which have been general in that
neighbourhood of late, in the circumstance that it is strictly a vindication of order. The Hessians had been
perfectly quiet in '48, content with the constitution they obtained in '30; and it has been simply the gross
violation of the latter by their prince which they have thus summarily punished. The incident, though not
unimportant in itself, derives a still greater importance from its probable influence on the dispute between
North and South Germany, and the aid it is likely to give Prussia in her present attitude of resistance. The
activity of the Holsteiners, and their still resolute and indomitable front, is another turn in events which falls
out opportunely; and it is not by any means impossible, if the right courage and a proper understanding of
the constitutional cause be now stedfastly shown, that Prussia may redeem her mistakes, obtain a triumph
over Austrian imbecility and intrigue, and finally assert her own position at the head of public opinion in
Germany.

In our Narrative of May we said that the pinch of the Slavery Compromise in America, would be felt
when the law compelling the surrender of fugitive slaves came to be discussed. The bill has passed the
senate amid extraordinaiy excitement, and is now under debate in the lower house, the excitement by no
means diminishmg. The provisions of this bill, already passed through a house where the democrats have
a majority, is scarcely credible even of a country debased as America is by her "domestic institutions."
Commissioners are appointed to determine claims, with a direct pecuniary interest if they determine for the
master, with none if they pronounce for the slave! Heavy fines and penalties are imposed on refusals to
take part in arrests, on whatever groundless suspicious; and on attempts at rescue, on whatever ground of
justice! The arrests may be made with or without warrant, and neither the declaration nor the oath of the
fugitive is admissible in his own defence! All the processes are summary, all the powers irresponsible, and
the entire forces of the state are lent for the oppression of the poor hapless coloured wretch, whom any
reckless trafficker in human flesh may, with or without a claim, resolve to drag to slavery! The proposal of
such a measure is a scandal to civilisation, and its enactment will be another item in the heavy claim which
is silently mounting up for sure and not tardy retribution.

"There is a strong blind Samson in that land!"

President Louis Napoleon's Journey in the French
Provinces was partly noticed in our last Number. He returned
by Strasbourg, Metz, and Rheims, to Paris, where
he arrived on the 28th of August. We extract from the
French papers a few characteristic traits of his reception.
At Mulhausen, where he stopped before he arrived at
Strasbourg, the zeal of a functionary in endeavouring to
force the National Guard to cry "Vive le Président!"
is said to have so irritated them that they assembled in
masses, and shouted " Vive la République" under the
President's window. Offended at this, he left the place
instantly, refusing to visit the factories. When he
came to Colmar, the authorities were unprepared to
receive him with due honours, and he expressed his discontent
by refusing to go to a ball offered to him. In
the capital of Alsace, however, his reception was splendid.
His cavalcade, as he entered the town amid the shouts
of the assembled thousands, had a truly imperial aspect;
"His guard was composed of the Cavalry of the national
Guards of Strasbourg and the Gendarmerie; after
whom came about a dozen Lancers; and then between
the Minister of War and the Minister of Foreign Affairs
rode the President, as usual wearing the uniform of a
general officer of the National Guard, with the grand
cordon of the Legion of Honour. He rode a most beautiful
horse, which had been presented by the authorities.
It was most brilliantly caparisoned; the housings wanted
only the crown to complete the imperial effect. As the
President came opposite to the Hôtel de Paris, he looked
up to the balcony of the first floor, and taking off his
plumed hat, bowed to the very saddle-bow to the Grand
Duchess of Baden, who had arrived in order to witness
her nephew's entiy into Strasbourg. A lively description
is given of the presentation of addresses by the corporations
of the small towns and villages in the neighbourhood.
"The most interesting sight of all was that of the rural
mayors in their old quaint costume; simple peasants, who
had probably never heard of the Republic, but came to see
'Luig Bompar,' the nephew of the Emperor. The peasantry
are much attached to Louis Napoleon, and the
present journey proves it. These village functionaries,
each wearing his scarf of office, were in number nearly
two hundred, and they were from those places the President
had been unable to visit. They felt rather awkward
in finding themselves in these splendid saloons;
but they were soon placed quite at their ease by the
good-natured and familiar manners of the President,
who had a kind word, a ready smile, and a grasp of the
hand for each. Before a quarter of an hour had elapsed,
there they were in a group, with the President in the
midst of them, and chatting away in German or Alsacian
patois, which he spoke with them very fluently. They
looked quite pleased at finding that 'Luig' spoke in
their native tongue as well as themselves. This interview
lasted some time, for all parties seemed to like the
conversation. In the mean time, crowds of visitors
were thronging the court of the Prefecture, and an immense
crowd blocked up the streets. The cries of 'Vive
Napoléon!' 'Vive le Président!' and 'Vive la République!'
scarcely ceased the whole of the morning."

At Metz there was a grand review of 15,000 regular
troops and National Guards. The President's reception
at the Arsenal was most enthusiastic. He has, it seems,
made artillery a subject of special study. He conversed