Star.
London, England, 1830-12-29 00:00:00

SPIRIT OF THE JOURNALS.

inaostro.x.—ln the Correspondence of Mr. Pinkerton, there is a
Letter from Mr. Dempster, who represented the Aberdeen Districts of
Burghs in four Parliaments, dated 1789 ; he says, speaking of the
manner of living in London :—" I remember the present Professor Fa-
gown boarding and lodging most comfortably on a first door, at 18s.
per week. His victuals were sent up to hint, or the family table open, just
as he pleased. Our friend Thorkelin, I presume, lives on very easy terms
M London ; and to a man so spiritually employed as you (Pinkerton)
tardily considerations are not of much consequence. The Spectator and
Tatter, and 1 believe half the Members of Parliament in Queen Anne's
'hoe Bud so. Dr. Samuel Johnson lived many years in London for
:rOl. a year. I once heard him detail the system and style of life. I
knew David Hume when he had not above thirty pounds a year to spend.
it is pretty clear that the English of those days, and the English of the
present have little in common besides the language. People then stu-
e.ied their circumstances more, and appearances lea. The rage, ever
•i^ee we became so prodigiously rich, is to have what no man else has—
to be admitted to parties from which others are excluded—to avoid en.
tertainments to which all are admitted. The agitation of the coun-
try has roused us out of our trance. People begin to have
a sort of vague idea, that the laws will only be obeyed when the majo-
rity have an interest in obeying them, anti that it is dangerous to press
heavily on those who are on the ground. Many persons now be.
.hitik them that we have all a common nature, and that as in society we
arc all beholden to each other, no class ought to be treated with con.
tempt. The Revolution of July has led to a variety of comparisons,
which would not have been made even a year ago. We have -heard
lotely of instances of Clergymen repairing with their wives in person to
cottages of distressed parishioners with soups ; and even meat, and
traleavouring to renew the old feelings, which the war for our holy reli-
gion and its consequences extinguished among us. Misfortune makes
teen acquainted with strange bedfellows. The apprehension of cals.
softens the hearts of the proud. We will answer for it, that
t•snte Laws, and the other delights of our Aristocracy, have seen their
i,tv. days.

Porr.—The authentic intelligence from France Is not important, but
t reports are highly interesting. According to these, although the
rtropolis for the moment is in a state of tranquillity, every appear.
4:,ce forbodes the approach of another convulsion. In fact, as we have
a:l along considered, nothing short of the revival of the reign of Terror'
will srttisly the ferocious spirit of the Parisian mob. All the ultra Re-
utd,liranism of Lafayette, all the professions of the banker Minister of
i'iPance, all the degrading conduct of the mock King and his bumf.
hating demeanour wherever he publicly appears—all these, dis-
gruefully conceding u they arc to the vulgar feelings
and the basest passions of the multitude, have not been
sufficient to propitiate them, or permanently to ensure the
tranquillity of the State. Lafayette, in honest disgust, has resigned
the command of the National Guards : even the interested
Witte is said to have tendered the resignation of his high office; and
4Heti is the growing prevalence of the advocates of Terrorism, that it
will require the most vigorous exertions on the part of the Government
to save the country front the endurance of scenes of terror and bloodshed
more frightful, if possible, than any with which France has hitherto
!lien accursed. The insolent youngsters of the Polytechnic and other
Schools are said to have been dispersed into their respective provinces.
We hope this report may prove correct cor.vinced as we are that unless
ere Government is capable of prompt and energetic measures ofthis de.
rzription, it is irrecoverably lost.

Tixas.—The
whiptation occasio;ed in Paris by t of the en.
Ministers is pily terminated, but has beenfollowed by a dis.
itlay of those angry dissensions in political parties, and a development
4 those plans of opposing faction, which probably created the whole of
;he danger in the late disturbances, though they did not appear on the
smart of die tuonilt• The arena of contest and alarm has been trans.
hoed from the mtreets and public places to the legislative chambers
and the council of the King ; and the parties are not the National

Guard and the tabble, but the Ministers and the Deputies of France,
—the supporters of the system intended to check the progress en
the revolution, and the partisans of that which desires to
see it proceed with its present momentum, till it has
realized all the consequences of its principle—the sovereignty of the
people. These parties during the late troubles were pressed into one
mass by the fear of a common danger, for they all felt that anarchy was
a common enemy, that order was as necessary as liberty, and that en
' infuriated mob, yelling for blood, was a disgraceful and perilous instru-
ment of reform in any hands. But the formidable character of the late
tumults, and the means taken to quell them, have widened their previous
differences, and rendered a crisis in the Cabinet or Chamber almost
inevitable. The ministry belongs to the left or extreme kit, tied arc
favourable to the more extended basis of popular rights claimed by the
mass of the people. They are, therefore, opposed by the majority, and
would be outvoted but for fear of a dissolution. The majority exists in
the centres, and has hitherto resisted violent charges. Should they
succeed in their motion for an enquiry into the state of the coun-
ty, and pass a censure on the lilinistry, or should they
resist the democratic tendency of the law of election about to be intro-
duced, the Cabinet will have no alternative but to resign, or to owlet a
dissolution without having obtained a budget or settled the necessary
forms and conditions under which the new Chamber is to be chosen.
Such is the presen, state of parties in France,—such is the unstable
tenure of power and popularity among public men after a revolution.
About six months ago, the majority of the present Chamber were con-
sidered the champions of liberty, and almost the idols of the tieciple.
They made a citizen King, whom General Lafayette called his " best of
republics," and liberalized the charter beyond even the fondest hopes of
the Liberals under the Bourbon dynasty. Now they arc so discredital
with the multitude, that the lads of the Polytecimic School
protest against the imputation of their thanks, " because they speak
not the voice of France." Within the last five months, the King has
had two Cabinets,--the flret, very liberal, has been displaced by one
still more liberal ; and complaints are made against the second for
not being liberal enough. The tumults of 18th October terminated
the existence of the former, and the disturbances of last week threaten
the stability of the present. Let us hope that the Sllinistera will show
more firmness than they have done of late ; that, secure now by glorious
experience of the faithful support of the National Guard, they will re-
ply in s firmer tone to the clamours of faction, and that the majority of
the Chamber of Deputies, seeing at once the necessity and the dangers
of an appeal to the country in its present excited state, it' they throw
obstacles in the way of reasonable measures, will co-operate with the
Administration, rather titan encounter such an alternative by oppos-
ing it.

CITY OF LONDON LITERARY AND SCIENTIFIC
INSTITUTION.

Mr. Buckingham last evening delivered, at this Institution, a Lec-
ture upon France. The company assembled in the Theatre of the In-
stitution, and amounted to about three hundred in number. Mr. Buck-
ingham said his object was to describe France as he found it; and as to
his mode of doing that, he should consider the voiceof the meeting at the
Institution a good censor. He descanted upon the inutility of passports,
which checked the free intercourse of natives of different countries. 1116
object in going to that country was to obtain aid for accomplishing his
proposed Voyage round the World. He took the road through Rouen,
and stated, that during his journey be saw Charles X. caricatured
in every shop ; and he remarked that, particularly near Rouen, the ope-
rative classes appeared to be living very comfortably. He observed that
the chief marks of the existence of what we call piety were to be found
in the female sex, and one of them, a female sexton, expressed her re-
gret at the revolution, as she feared it would put an tad to religion.
He referred to the institution, and spoke of the support given to men of
learning and science by the government; and mentioned, in high terms
of praise, the manners of the various members of that learned body. He
visited the dinner of the Masonic Institution, and remarked with
pleasure the fervour of the popular feeling. At this dinner
some of the wounded masons of the three days of July were
introduced, and received the eager respect which their pa-
triotie gallantry had merited. He had the honour of paying
a visit, at eight o'clock in the morning, to General Sebastian', whom he
found to have been occupied in business for more than two hours be-
fore. He referred to the freedom of access given to the public, who are
allowed to witness the discussions of the Chamber of Deputies, without
being obliged to have recourse to payment of money or individual favour
for their scats in the gallery. During his stay in Paris he was intro-
duced at Lafayette's Soirees, which he described &seven more nume-
rous than those of Lafitte and the King—so great is the respect paid
to honourable consistency in patriotism. He compared the public
institutions for the exhibition of pictures in Paris, with similar exhi-
bitions in this country, and strongly insisted on the important ad-
vantage possessed by the former. He referred to our Courts of
Justice, and then compared them with the French, especially
with regard to the costume of the lawyers, and very properly ridiculed
the wigs of our barristers and judges. He referred to the Literary Re-
unions in Paris, and spoke with pleasure of the monthly assemblages
of the contributors and editors of the" Revue Encyclopellique.'"the
medical schools were the subject of his praise—those schools which
enabled young men to attain a good practical knowledge of surgery
before they assumed to exercise their professional abilities on their
living fellow.men. These schools, it appeared, had been, to a consider-
able extent, discountenanced by the Bourbons, but were now flourishing
in full vigour. In the course of his lecture, Mr. Buckingham described
the various towns he passed through ; and his lecture, delivered with
his usual ease and fluency, was well received by a very respectable
auditory.