restored to the Roman Catholic worship; and the
building is to be consecrated by the Archbishop of Paris.

The corps diplomatique have all presented themselves
at Louis Napoleon's receptions, with only one exception:
Mr. Rives, the American minister, holds aloof, until he
receive instructions from Washington. M. Kisseleff,
the Russian minister, did not postpone his congratulations
till the ordinary reception-day, but went at once,
and stated that he was sure he would be warranted in
stating that the coup d'état would delight the Czar.

The Queen of Spain was delivered of a princess on
the 20th inst.—The American prisoners, belonging to
Lopez's expedition, and taken in Cuba, have been set
at liberty.

It appears by the accounts from Vienna and Berlin,
that all political interest is absorbed in the intelligence
from Paris. A special mission had arrived at Berlin
from Louis Napoleon to the Prussian court.

Intelligence from Malta, dated the 8th instant, states
that the island of Sicily has been swept by two enormous
water-spouts, accompanied by a terrific hurricane.
Those who witnessed the phenomena describe the water-
spouts as two immense spherical bodies of water
reaching from the clouds, their cones nearly touching the
earth, at a quarter of a mile apart, travelling with
immense velocity. They passed over the island near
Marsala. In their progress, houses were unroofed,
trees uprooted, men and women, horses, cattle, and
sheep, were raised up into the vortex, and borne on to
destruction; during their passage rain descended in
cataracts, accompanied with hailstones of enormous
size, and masses of ice. Going over Castellamare, near
Stabia, they destroyed half the town, and washed 200
of the inhabitants into the sea, who all perished.
Upwards of 500 persons had been destroyed by the
terrible visitation, and an immense amount of property;
the country being laid waste for miles. The shipping
in the harbour suffered severely, many vessels being
destroyed and their crews drowned. After the
occurrence, numbers of dead bodies were picked up, all
frightfully mutilated and swollen.

The American Congress assembled at Washington on
the 1st inst., and the President delivered his message
on the 2nd; a document, as usual, of great length,
which enters minutely into the foreign relations and
domestic affairs of the United States.

Kossuth arrived at New York on the 5th, and has
been received with all the enthusiasm which was
anticipated. His speeches, reported at great length in the
New York papers, display the same ability and eloquence
which were so remarkable in England.

Some sensation has been created by one of Her
Majesty's ships, the "Express," having fired over the
American steam-ship, "Prometheus," in the harbour
of Greystown, the capital of Mosquitia, and compelling
her to return to her anchorage and pay certain harbour
dues demanded by the port authorities. The British
Government has been called upon for an explanation.

NARRATIVE OF LITERATURE AND ART.

A RECENT report of the Synodicate of Cambridge, which shows how little the most advanced of these great
institutions is disposed to move of its own accord in the direction of improvement, and a recent and
very marked decline in the Class Lists of Oxford, have had the effect of reviving public interest in the
discussion of University Reform, and in the announced publication of the first Report of the Commission of
Inquiry, which may now (we believe) be daily expected.

Making exception of the picture and gift-books, the
pocket-books and almanacks, peculiar to this season of
the year and not calling for mention in our list, the
publications of the past month have not been remarkable
either for number or importance. They are soon
recounted.

Lord Mahon has continued his History of England
in two goodly volumes, which carry the narrative
through those seventeen of the earliest years of George
the Third's reign which embrace the agitation of
Wilkes, the letters of Junius, and the commencement
of the War of American Independence. In a History of
Sir Charles Napier's Administration of Scinde, Sir
William Napier has given the world another striking
evidence of the way in which the members of this
remarkable family find pleasure in talking of each
other. To Mr. Colquhoun we are indebted for a History
of Magic, Witchcraft, and Magnetism, of which the
object is to reconcile the doctrines and discoveries of
Mesmer to the objections of science.

Mr. M'Gillivray, the naturalist to the expedition sent
out to facilitate what is called "the outer passage" for
ships sailing between New South Wales and the Eastern
Seas, has published an intelligent and valuable
Narrative of the Voyage of H.M.S. Rattlesnake, communicating
many curious particulars of the aborgines of our
Australian settlements. Sir Francis Head has put
together some sketches of the out-door surface of French
life and manners, taken a few months ago, under
the title of a Faggot of French Sticks. Several novels
have been published, of which the most noticeable are
the Head of the Family and Jacob Bendixen the Jew,
the latter a singular picture by a foreign writer of the
internal life of Judaism, for which we have to thank
Mrs. Howitt. One or two books on Physical Geography,
a science making evident progress in our place of education,
has also appeared; and some few German translations.

Finally we have to mention one or two interesting
additions to the department of biography. Mr. Disraeli
has written a bulky volume on the brief political career
of his friend Lord George Bentinck. Miss Kavanagh
has given us a volume on Women of Christianity
Exemplary for Acts of Piety and Charity. Mrs. Bray
has written a Life of Stothard, which the care and taste
of Mr. Murray, the publisher, has made also a pleasing
pictorial record of the beauties and graces of that
delightful artist. And a good translation has been
issued of Count Cesare Balbo's valuable Life and Times
of Dante Alighieri.

The following gentlemen have been elected officers of
the Royal Academy for the ensuing year:—Sir C. L.
Eastlake, President; Council:—T. Creswick, R.
Redgrave, F. Grant, and C. R. Leslie, Esqrs. Visitors in
the Life Academy: C. W. Cope, W. Dyce, S. A. Hart,
P. M'Dowell, and R. Redgrave, Esqrs. Visitors in the
School of Painting: G. Jones, C. Landseer, W.
Mulready, and C. Stanfield, Esqrs. Auditors re-
elected: W. Mulready, Esq., Sir P. Westmacott, and
C. Barry, Esq.

Mr. Bunn, once more lessee of Drury Lane, has
opened the theatre with a company, as he has announced,
embracing every branch of the drama. He has produced
Fazio, and The Belle's Stratagem; in the former play
Miss Glyn, and in the latter Miss Fitzpatrick, both
from Sadler's Wells, have appeared with success. No
dramatic piece of any note has been brought out during
the month, the theatres being occupied with their
Christmas pantomimes.

Haydn's celebrated cantata, the Seasons, has been
performed at Exeter Hall; the Sacred Harmonic Society
having, in this instance, relaxed their rule of confining
themselves to subjects essentially sacred.