The Sun.
London, England, 1844-12-28 00:00:00

SPEECH OF THE KING OF THE

FItEN CH.

On Thursday the French Chambers were opened
with the usual ceremonies. At one o'clock his
Majesty left the Tuileries, and upon arriving a
the Chamber of Deppties ascended the Throne, ac-
companied by their Royal Highnesses the Duc de Ne-
mours, Prince de Joinville, Due d'Aumale, and Due
de Montpensier. The Queen and Princesses occupied
the usual places. His Majesty having taken his seat,
delivered the following most gracious speech :
" Gentlemen, Peers, and Deputies,

" At the moment your last session closed, compli-
cations, which might have become serious, were the
object of my solicitude.
" The necessity for protecting our possessions in
Africa from reiterated and hostile incursions had
obliged U 3 to carry the war into the empire of Mo-
rocco. Our brave land and sea armies, worthily com-
manded, have attained with glory, and in a few days,
the object designat,,d to their courage. Peace has
been as prompt as victory, and Algeira, where three
of my sons have this year had the honour of serving
their country, has received a double pledge of secu-
rity, for we at the same time proved our power
and our moderation.

" My Government was engaged with that of the
Queen of Great Britain in discussions which might
have given rise to apprehensions of the relations be-
tween the two States being weakened. A mutual
spirit of goodwill and equity has, however, maintained
between France and England that happy accord which
guarantees the repose of the world.
" In the visit I have paid to the Queen of Great
Britain, in order to testify to her the value which I
set upon the intimacy which unites us, and of the
reciprocal friendship of which she has given me so
many marks, I have been surrounded with manifes-
tations the most satisfactory to France and to me.
I have gathered in the feelings which have been ex-
pressed to me fresh pledges for the long duration of
that general peace which secures to our country
abroad a position dignified and strong, and at home a
prosperity ever increasing and the quiet enjoyment of
its constitutional liberties.

"My relations with all the foreign powers con-
tinue pacific and amicable.
" You are, Gentlemen, witnesses of the prosperous
state of France. You see our national activity pro-
tected by wise laws display itself over every part of
our territory and reaping by the protection of order
the fruits of its labours. The improvement in na-
tional credit and the equilibrium established between
our annual receipts and our expenses bear testimony
to the happy influence of this situation over the
general affairs of the State, as well as over the wel-
fare of all.

" The financial laws will shortly be presented to
you. Bills for the improvement of our roads, of our
ports, of our internal navigation, for the finishing of
our railroads, and for various objects of general utility,
will also be submitted to your deliberations.
" Amidst the prosperity of the country, Heaven
has blessed the interior of my family ; it has increased
the number of my children, and the marriage of my
beloved son (the Duke d'Aumale), with a Princess
already connected with us by so many ties, has been
to me and to all mine a source of lively satisfaction.
" Gentlemen,—Providence has imposed upon me
great labours and sorrowful trials. I have accepted
the burden, I have devoted myself—l have devoted
my family—to the service of my country. To found,
for a long time to come, their union and their happi-
ness, such has been for fourteen years past the aim of
my constant efforts. I have the confidence that, with
your loyal co• operation, the Almighty will enable me
to att:iin it, and that the gratitude of free and happy
France will be the reward of our mutual devotedness,
and the glory of my reign."
The fog was so dense, and the distance at which
the public was kept by the troops was so great, that it
was impossible to catch a glimpse of the royal corage
as it passed along the quays, from the Tuilleries to
the Palace of the Chamber of Deputies. A consider-
able military force had been called out on the occasion,
aid twelve battalions of National Guards, with an
equal number of troops, lined the quays on the
passage of their Majesties.

IMPORTANT FROM THE RIVER
PLATE.

SEIZURE OF THE ARGENTINE SQUADRON
BY THE AMERICAN COMMODORE.

The following letter was posted in the Liverpoo:
Underwriters' Room this day, Dee. 26 :
"Buallos ATRES, OCT. 2, 1844.

" Circumstances of an extraordinary nature took
place at Monte Video on Sunday, the 29th ult., being
nothing less than the seizure by the American Com-
modore, commanding the United States frigate Con-
gress, of the whole of the Argentine squadron.
" We recal to your recollection the fact that since
the departure of Commodore Purvis, the fishing
boats of Monte Video are seized by the Argentines
whenever they can catch thorn. On Sunday, one of
these boats was pursued by an armed schooner,
having the Buenos Ayrean flag, and the latter
having the best of the race, the boat ran under
the lee of an American barque for security,
upon which the armed schooner, without hailing or
other usual notice, fired shotted guns into the barque,
doing some damage; being at the same time, too,
within the range of the Congress's guns. The Ame-
rican commodore immediately sent an armed boat to
take possession of the aggressive schooner, and then
of the whole Argentine squadron in detail, lowering
the flag of each vessel in succession. Commodore
Grenfell, commanding the Brazilian force at Monte
Video, sent a message to Captain Phippin, stating
that he considered the blockade to be void, as the
blockading naval force had ceased to exist. Her Bri-
tannic Majesty's brig Philomel arrived here to-day,
dispatched by Mr. Turner with letters to Mr. Man-
deville—and there the affair stands at present.
"We may add, that the armed schooner did not
strictly belong to the squadron, but is one of the
small craft fitted out by Oribe, and manned by the
lowest class of foreigners, chiefly Italians, who re-
ceive no fixed pay, but remunerate themselves by
prize-money. She carried no papers of any kind, and
the American Commodore retains her as a piratical
craft.'

" I have detailed this affair to you because the con-
sequences are likely to be serious.
" On the same day a sortie was made from Monte
Video, under the command of Flores, who succeeded
in surprising a party of Oribe's men, slew about 60
of them, and carried off a quantity of cattle and horses,
whichovere driven into the town."

A ROMANTIC STORT.—A Swiss journal furnishes
us with the following romantic tale of real life:—A
married couple, who had for several years lived in a
state of anti•conjugal-harmony, determined to part,
and made an appointment with each other to meet
at a not,ry's to sign the deed of separation. To
arrive at the office of the man of law they had to
cross a lake, and, as it happened, they both em-
barked in the same boat. On their passage a storm
arose, and the boat was upset. The husband, being
a good swimmer, soon reached the shore in safety; on
looking around him to see the fate of his fellow-pas-
sengers, he discovered his wife still struggling for her
life, but in imminent danger. A feeling of his early af-
fection returned to him, and, plunging again into the
water, he swam to her, and succeeded in rescuing her.
When she recovered her bellies, and learnt to whom she
owed her life, she threw herself into his arms. He em-
braced her with equal cordiality, and they vowed an
oblivion of all their differences, and that they would live
and die together.
AWFUL COLLIERY ACCIDENT.—EIQHT LIVES LOST.
—One 9f the most alarming accidents, and attended, we
are sorry to say, with serious loss of life, occurred on
Monday last, at the colliery of Messrs. Mathews and
Dudley, at Corbyn's Hall, near Dudley. The circum-
stances are briefly these :—About six o'clock on Monday
last, as six boys and two men were descending the Shaft
of the pit in a skip, when a few yards from the top, the
chain to which the skip was attached broke, and preci-
pitated them into the " sump," and they were all killed.
The " aump" is a kind of reservoir, sunk some feet
below the level of the pit, immediately under the shaft,
to receive the water in the pit, In the present instance
there were about seven feet of water in the " sump,"
so that if they had escaped being crushed to death in
their fall they would most likely have been drowned.
Tho two men were married, but we have not been able
to ascertain whether or not they have left any family.
An inquest was to be held yesterday (Thursday) before
the coroner, T. M. Phillips. Esq., the result of which
will be given in our next week's paper.—Tan Towns'
4-44445 gt: •-
Whilst the railroad from Vienna to Trieste is ad•
vancing in completion nearer the sea, the new Custom-
house at Vienna also draws towards completion. The
Customs' duty at Vienna, already amounts to '
slflaudliy. 4 million ond a Lail quintals enter that
capital by waggons and bores, MIA will all come by
the railroad IMG---.4144ri0n