penal code shall be drawn up, which will afterwards acquire authority from him, according to the forms of the constitution, the accomplishment of this undertaking will anticipate the wishes of the chamber, and satisfy a want which has long existed. But a work of this extent and importance necessarily requires much time in order to be carried to the desired point of perfection. The chamber, therefore, begs his majesty to cause one branch of the penal code, which seems to call for a prompt correction, to be treated separately. The law of Charles V., relative to thefts, is no longer effectual. The punishments inflicted by that law, are not of a nature to deter hardened men, who hold labour in horror, from committing new thefts, after they have once given themselves up to crime, and violated that respect which ought to be felt for the property of others. Men of this description easily accommodate themselves to a temporary confinement: their class is very numerous, and it appears to be always increasing; and this places the property of the public in very great hazard, especially in places which do not possess the advantages of walled towns. In consequence, the chamber entreats his majesty to cause to be presented, as soon as possible, and even be. fore the introduction of the new penal code, a projet of law which shall fix a punishment appropriate to the crime of theft in general; which shall aggravate the punishments in cases of repetition, and against habitual thieves; and which shall contain regulations of a nature calculated to render the incorrigible incapable of doing farther mischief, and in particular

to deprive them of the means of corrupting others."

In Bavaria the public curiosity was attracted, and the public credulity allowed itself to be abused, by a pretended worker of miraculous cures, who appeared in the person of prince Hohenlohe, a branch of an ancient sovereign family of the empire. He had early devoted himself to the church; and, having hitherto laboured in vain after a bishopric, he began to be conscious of a decided vocation to perform miracles. The principal scene of his performances was Bamberg, a con. siderable town in the northern part of the kingdom. Dupes were not wanting; in a short time there were hundreds who could attest his efficiency in their own persons, and thousands who were willing to attest it in the persons of others. Crowds flocked to Bamberg from distant parts of the kingdom, and from the neighbouring states; even the daughters of princely houses repaired to him from Vienna, to recover health and beauty through the word of his power; for prayer and exhortation were the sole and simple means by which he made the blind to see and the lame to walk. Unfortunately for his progress, the Bavarian police were seized with sceptical doubts. They informed him officially, that as it was defrauding mankind to exercise only in private, the powers with which he had been vested for the good of humanity, they were determined to yield him all the assistance they could, in giving his miraculous gifts the greatest possible publicity; that in future, therefore, he must do no good work in private; and moreover, that to furnish him with

the means of putting to silence all the doubts of incredulity, they had given orders, that a commis. sary of police, and a commission from the medical faculty, should be present at all his cures. The prince very naturally held it unworthy the high powers with which heaven had clothed him, that he should expose his holy influences to the profane gaze of official eyes. The police, like all heretics, was stubborn. They expressly prohibited him from working any more miracles, and inserted a notice in the newspapers, warning all against wasting their time and money on a journey to Bamberg, as in the present unfortunate schism between church and state, the performances of his highness were, in the mean while, suspended. His highness shook off the dust of his feet against the town of Bamberg, and repaired to seek new dupes, and less prying inquisitors, in the capital of Austria. It was only in the foreign relations of Austria, that any thing occurred particularly deserving of notice. Some riotous proceedings, which took place in Moravia, were speedily crushed, though not without the interference of the military; and neither their origin nor their extent was communicated to the public. The threatening aspect of affairs in Italy seemed to the Austrian government to call for increased vigilance in defending its German dominions against the political infection, and for exemplary rigour against those who might be already tainted. While a special commission, which sat at Venice, traced out the plots of alleged Carbonari, and condemned numbers of them to the last punish

ment of the law, which in the sequel, was uniformly mitigated; the police of Vienna watched over the tranquillity of the capital, by measures of a still less ordinary nature. A printed circular was sent to every householder in the capital, containing the received legal definition of a Carbonaro, and stating, on the authority of the government, that the designs of such men were in every case treasonable, so that no one could in future justify any share he might take in their machinations, by pretending that he had believed their designs to be more innocent than he had ultimately found them. Each householder had to subscribe the circular thus addressed to him, and return it to the police, in whose archives it remained, to be used in case of his falling into political errors, as a proof that he had erred from wilfulness, not from ignorance. The same diligence was not evinced against the progress of superstition. A newly founded monastic order waxed strong in proselytes and influence. Although originally intended as a refuge for a portion of the Jesuits expelled from Russia in the preceding year, and denominated the order of Redemptionists, because it was held prudent to abandon the name which had rendered them suspected in every corner of Europe, these refugees formed by no means the majority of its members. The emperor presented them with one of the churches of Vienna for divine service; but as they had no regular funds of any amount, and were not in possession of any real property, they saw the necessity of founding their prosperity on the devotion of the people, and the

liberality of proselytes. At their head, though not nominally, yet in real influence, was an apostate from the Protestant faith; owing to the pretended sanctity of his life, the less experienced looked to him with veneration; and he brought with him to the pulpit a style of preaching, whose vulgarity was adapted to catch the crowd, while its eccentricity furnished amusement even to the more sensible. The spirit of proselytism did not labour in vain; and Vienna again beheld men forsake active life, where they were advancing rapidly, with no less reputation to themselves than advantage to society, to wrap themselves up in the sanctity and seclusion of this new order.

The foreign relations of Austria during the year, her share in the negotiations that went on at Constantinople, her military ope

rations against the revolutionists of Naples and Piedmont, were of the first importance to herself, and affected deeply the whole state of Europe; but they seem to belong more properly to those parts of our history which are devoted to the affairs of Italy, and the differences between Rus. sia and the Porte. Her finances were by no means in so flourishing a state, that the prospect of a war should not affect materially the credit of her government and the value of its obligations; but the unexpected termination of the Italian campaign, the rigorous measures adopted to ensure repayment of the expenses it had occasioned, and the quartering of a large portion of the Austrian army on the revenues of Naples, removed every apprehension of new financial embarrassments for the year.

enough to give firmness and durability to the new system, and to prevent the late changes from becoming merely the first in a long series of revolutions. Unfortunately for the cause of rational freedom, this was not done. The new constitution was full of the maddest extremes of a hypocritical democracy; and the executive power was left by it in a state of helpless imbecility, which rendered it altogether unequal to the task of administering the affairs of the country, or of keeping in due check the unruly spirits, who sought through public disorders the advancement of their own interest and power.

Though the revolution had been accomplished by the army, yet, as the leaders of it had been men not even of high military rank, they had not presumed to place themselves at the head of public affairs; and the reins of government had fallen into the hands of the Liberals of 1814. We have seen with what ardour this party proceeded in subverting ancient establishments; but they took no successful steps for bring ing the country into a settled state. The old order of things had many zealous partizans; and their number was increased, and their zeal exasperated by the extremes to which the revolutionists went. The unmitigated confiscation of the property of the church drove the ecclesiastics to despair; for, though they received in pensions a pretended compensation, the poor alms of a scanty and precarious payment by a revolutionary administration out of a bankrupt treasury, did not constitute a fund which could be looked to either with complacence or with confidence. The

nobility, too, with a few exceptions, of whom perhaps the duke del Parque was the most eminent, were adverse to the late changes; and the peasants in many places shared in the same sentiments. No pains were taken to conciliate these opposing interests and passions; from which, as we have seen in recording the events of 1820, disturbances soon arose in different parts of the kingdom.

The confusion and embarrassment was increased by the schism which took place among the revolutionists themselves; many of whom thought the conduct of the administration much too moderate, and called for more decisive counsels. Change was to be pushed still farther; revolution was to be succeeded by revolution; the voice of the mob was to dictate more authoritatively to the rulers of the state; and, above all, the present possessors of power were to be driven from office, and to be succeeded by others more worthy of presiding over the destinies of the most magnanimous of nations. Most of the military men, dissatisfied with the share of power which had fallen to their lot, participated in these sentiments; and they were supported by the populace in many of the great towns, and particularly by the political clubs which had been established. The Cortes had passed laws to check the excesses of these clubs, and in December, 1820, a royal decree was issued to enforce the execution of the laws against them. But the spirit of the times and of the people, prevailed over laws and decrees; and the clubs still continued to proclaim and disseminate the most extravagant opinions.