"For my own part, I have deliberately determined that I shall approve no Bill which I have not examined, and it will be a case of extreme and most urgent necessity which shall ever induce me to depart from this rule. I therefore respectfully, but earnestly, recommend that the two Houses would allow the President at least two days previous to the adjournment of each session within which no new Bill shall be presented to him for approval. Under the existing ioint rule one day is allowed; but this rule has been hitherto so constantly suspended in practice, that important Bills continue to be presented to him up till the very last moments of the session. In a large majority of cases no great public inconvenience can arise from the want of time to examine their provisions, because the constitution has declared that if a Bill

be presented to the President within the last ten days of the

session he is not required to return it, either with an approval or with a veto, in which case it shall not be a law.' It may then lie over and be taken up and passed at the next session. Great inconvenience would only be experienced in regard to Appropriation Bills; but, fortunately, under the late excellent law allowing a salary, instead of a per diem, to members of Congress, the expense and inconvenience of a called session will bo greatly reduced.

"I cannot conclude without commending to your favourable consideration the interests of the people of this District. Without a representative on the floor of Congress, they have for this very reason peculiar claims upon our just regard. To this I know, from my long acquaintance with them, they are eminently entitled.

'JAMES BUCHANAN.

"Washington, Dec. 8th."

VIOLENT STORMS.

The new year was most unpropitiously ushered in with a succession of heavy gales, which caused a serious sacrifice of life and property on all the coasts of the kingdom. The gales commenced from the S.W., on the 1st of the month, and gradually increased in intensity until the night of the 4th, when the wind suddenly veered round to the N.E., from which quarter it continued to blow with as much force as before. As was to be expected from this sudden shifting of the wind, the greatest disasters occurred on the eastern shores of the island; but the western coasts did not wholly escape.

On the Welsh coast the storm raged with so much fury that six wrecks were visible from one spot near Rhyl, and the Point of Ayr lifeboat, manned with thirteen practised boatmen, was lost, with all her crew, in a gallant endea vour to give assistance to a vessel in distress on the morning of the 4th. Further south, on the same side of the island, the boisterous weather was severely felt, and at Bristol and Clifton considerable damage was done on shore. Near Penzance a screw steamer is said to have foundered with all hands, and the storm raged with more or VOL. XCIX.

less violence throughout the whole length of the Channel.

The disasters on the eastern coast were by far the most numerous and appalling. On the rocks at Catcraig, near Dundee, a vessel was observed to break up without the possibility of the spectators affording any aid to those on board. At Hartlepool four vessels were said to have gone down with all their crews; and similar calamities were reported from Shields. Near Whitby five vessels were cast ashore, and Robin Hood Bay wit nessed the destruction of three others, in one instance with all her crew.

At Scarborough five more were driven ashore. In short, it was said, that, at the smallest computation, 60 vessels were on shore between Shields and Yarmouth, and that more than fifteen foundered with all on board.

Nor was the Kentish coast more fortunate. In addition to other casualties, two large American ships were stranded in the vicinity of the Downs. The crew of one was rescued without much difficulty; but the circumstances attending the loss of the other, and the preservation of her crew, created such general interest as to appear deserving of particular record. On Monday, the 5th, the Northern B

Belle, a vessel of 1100 tons, came to an anchor about three quarters of a mile off Kingsgate. Shortly afterwards, fears being entertained by the spectators on shore that she would part from her anchors, a message was sent for the Broadstairs lifeboats. The boatmen, with their usual alacrity, hastened to the spot, having dragged their boats over two miles of a rough, hilly country; but it was found utterly impossible to launch the boat, and thus for the rest of that day they were compelled to remain passive spectators of the distressing scene. The hopes of rescue, however, were not entirely confined to such assistance as the lifeboats could afford, for two Margate luggers were seen to bear down upon the fated vessel. One of them, the Victory, on nearing the Northern Belle, was struck by a heavy sea, and disappeared immediately, with all her crew. The other, the Ocean, was more fortunate, and succeeded in placing five men on board the ship. During the night the ship parted from her anchors, and drove on shore, and the dawning light disclosed all her crew lashed to the rigging of the only mast left standing. These, 23 in number, were brought ashore by the two Broadstairs lifeboats in three perilous trips. The admiration of the country was greatly at tracted by the cool daring displayed by the crews of the lugger and lifeboats, and the appropriate gift of a medal to each man, from the American Ambassador, testified the gratitude of those who were rescued; and a very handsome subscription was raised for the families of the Margate men who had perished.

On the same evening, and in spite of the fearful weather, the

Violet, one of the best and strongest mail packets on the Ostend station, put to sea from Ostend Harbour for Dover. She had a crew of seventeen, and but one passenger, three others having been alarmed at the weather, and landed previous to her sailing. She never arrived at Dover, but her wreck was found the next day, on the outer part of the Goodwin, all buried in the sand, with nothing visible at low water except the tops of the wheels and the steam-chest. Her mail bags were recovered, and from the care with which provision had been made to ensure their floating, it appeared that the last thought of Mr. Mortleman, the mail agent, must have been the performance of his duty. The loss of the steamer was attributed to a mistake of the lights, caused by the blinding nature of the snowstorm.

In the same gales the cables of the Submarine Telegraph, both to Ostend and Calais, were broken near the South Foreland, by the anchor of a driving vessel.

THE WEATHER. The winter of 1856-7 presented no phenomena deserving of especial remark. The temperature was much about the average-on some days considerably in excess, and on others somewhat in defect; indeed, the chief feature was the rapid alternation of heat and cold. The same remark applies to the rain. In January the amount which fell was considerable; in February an unusually small quantity fell-less than in any corresponding month since 1851. In March, also, the quantity was somewhat in defect; and on the whole quarter the deficiency from the average was 1 inch. March was remarkable for storms of snow and hail: the

hailstones were of large size, and pyramidal. The pressure of the atmosphere was not otherwise remarkable than that the barometer ranged much higher in February than in either of the adjoining months. On the whole, the winter was rather protracted than severe, and the month of March very uncomfortable.

In regard to food-a consideration so important in estimating the pressure of the season on the poor a singular anomaly in the prices is noticeable; for whereas wheat was at 72s. 4d. a quarter in 1856, it had now fallen to 56s. 10d.; while potatoes, last year 868. a ton, had now risen to 110s. Beef had risen ten per cent., and mutton sixteen per cent.

2. CHINA.-News was received of a serious misunderstanding with the Chinese authorities. On the 8th of October the Arrow, a small vessel, with a British colonial register, lying in the Canton River a little below the foreign factories, was boarded, without any reference having been made to the British Consul, by a party of the local marine, who tore down her flag and carried away her whole Chinese crew on charge of piracy. The Imperial Commissioner, Yeh, paying little attention to the remonstrances of the British Consul, Mr. Parkes, and as little to those of the Plenipotentiary, it was left to the naval Commanderin-Chief, Sir Michael Seymour, to exact satisfaction for the past and security for the future. Menaces being found of no avail, and one term of grace after another having expired, the Admiral was at last compelled to act. Fort after fort along the river was reduced with little or no loss on either side; the public buildings within the city were then shelled; a formidable

fleet of war junks, after a fierce but resultless fire, was destroyed, and when the mail left the Bogue was in our hands, the city of Canton lay under our guns, and the foreign factories were guarded by a strong body of seamen and marines, reinforced by a party of French and Americans, not joining in our quarrel, but simply protecting the interests of their countrymen. Such was the sudden and unexpected commencement of an affair which has since upset a Ministry, put Canton in the hands of the "barbarians," and may possibly end in the subversion of the ancient Chinese polity.

3. ASSASSINATION OF THE ARCHBISHOP OF PARIS.-Monseigneur Sibour was promoted to the Archbishopric of Paris by the Government of General Cavaignac in 1848, on the death of Monseigneur Affré, who was killed in a vain attempt to put an end to the conflict, then at its height, between the insurgents and the soldiers. Monseigneur Sibour found the archiepiscopal chair as fatal a seat as it proved to his predecessor, although in his case the arm of violence was nerved by private hatred, instead of public discord. He fell by the hand of one of his own clergy, under the following circumstances:-Louis Jean Verger was born at Neuilly-sur-Seine, in the year 1826. Placed at school by the charity of the Sisters of Neuilly, it was found necessary to expel him for dishonesty. In spite of this he contrived to find friends and education, and at 23 became a priest. Returning to Paris, he found employment with the Curé of St. Germain l'Auxerrois, who paid his debts, and was repaid with calumnies. Deprived in consequence, Verger wearied the Arch

bishop with prayers for employment; and the Archbishop procured him an appointment from the Bishop of Meux. Here Verger's violence, and the sermons he preached against the dogma of the Immaculate Conception, again caused him to be suspended. He then came to Paris; and, unable to obtain a removal of the interdict, he, on the 26th of December -so he admitted-conceived the idea of murdering the Archbishop. On the 3rd of January, the Archbishop was to take part in a procession at the Church of St. Etienne du Mont, in honour of St. Geneviève. Thither Verger betook himself, carrying with him a large Catalan knife. He arrived about 2 P.M. Having consulted the list of the ceremonies, he first placed himself near a bench with the intention of striking the Archbishop when he should enter to hear the sermon; but afterwards, when he reflected that many of the priests had been his fellowstudents, and might, on recognising him, prevent the execution of his plan, he quitted the bench and placed himself in the nave, where he remained during the entire ceremony. After the procession was over, and when, previous to entering the vestry, the Archbishop had turned round to bless the people, the assassin rushed forward and plunged his knife into the prelate's breast, exclaiming as he delivered the blow, "No Goddess." The Archbishop fell with a cry of "Le malheureux," and being carried into the vestry, expired immediately that absolution had been given to him. The murderer was at once arrested, and being questioned as to the meaning of his words, replied that he wished to protest against so im

pious a doctrine as that of the Immaculate Conception. He was subsequently brought to trial, and, after a display of great violence, in consequence of which he was several times removed from the Court, convicted of the crime of murder without extenuating circumstances. The defence set up by his counsel was lunacy. He was executed on the 30th of January, in the Place de la Roquette. The funeral of the Archbishop was attended by an immense crowd of people, who evidently sought by their presence and demeanour, to testify the respect they bore to their murdered prelate. It took place on the 10th of January, when the body of the venerable ecclesiastic was consigned, with all the solemnities of Romish pomp, and amidst the gloom of a winter day, to the vault set apart for the interment of the Archbishops of Paris. unfortunate prelate, Marie Dominique Auguste Sibour, was born in 1792; he was consequently in his 65th year, though he looked several years younger. He was named Bishop of Digne in 1839: and was promoted to the Archdiocese of Paris in August, 1848, by the Government of General Cavaignac. He is said to have exhibited much talent in the administration of the diocese of Paris: and was respected for the purity of his life and his eminently Christian virtues.—Cardinal Morlot, Archbishop of Tours, has been selected to receive the vacant mitre.

The

THE "RESOLUTE." The formal surrender of the Arctic ship Resolute to the British Government took place on the 30th of December last at Portsmouth. This ship, which formed one of the