The Principality

FRANCE. the Paris papers and our private letters of Friday an- nounce the continuance of tranquil lif y but the Government had not yet deemed it expedient to raise the state of siege. The prohibited journals, it seems, will not be allowed to appear before Wednesday or Thursday. Every moment new arrests took place, and private letters assure us, that, on Thursday week, the bodies of two Moveable Guards were found in a well at Belleville. All the wells were, in conse- quence, undergoing examination. A schism is reported to have arisen between MM. Thiers and Ihifaure, the effect of which will for the present neutra- lise the influence which the party of the Rue de Poictiers would naturally exercise in the Assembly. The first effect of this was to secure the election of M. Marrast to the presidency of the National Assembly on Wednesday. It is admitted in the Constitutionnel, one "of the chief organs of that party, that some of its members voted against their own candidate, M. Lacrosse, and thus secured the election of M. -Marrast, the candidate of the government. There were two divisions, in the first of which, upon a total number of 781 votes, the following was the result :M, Marrast, 386; M. Lacrosse, 341; Bac, 37 lost votes, 17. On the second, the total number of votes being 765, the following was the distribution M. Marrast, 411 M. Lacrosse, 334; M. Bac, 20. M. Armand Marrast was accordingly declared Presi- dent. The Union says of another schism, which has occurred in the meeting of the Palais National, that it has arisen from t, a desire to exclude eighty-two Members of the Republique Rouge, who assemble privately in the Rue Castiglione, and appear but very rarely in the Palais National. General Cavaignac himelf declared, that he desired to see M. Marrast at the Presidency, and he persuaded several members of the meeting of the Rue de Poictiers to give their votes to M. Armand Marrast, who was named yesterday after two ballots. General Cavaignac had several motives to desire this nomination. He had decided to replace M. Armand Marrast as mayor of Paris, and to restore to the mayoralty the ancient name of Prefecture of the Seine. But then Armand Marrast would have remained out of the government, and his election as President of the National Assembly saved him the appearance of disgrace. It had been announced that the total number of prisoners as accessory to the insurrection of June exceeded 14,000 and even 17,000. But an official account, published in the papers, declares that their number amounts only to 6,226. It seems that 1,500 or 2,000 will be set at liberty, as there are no proofs of their culpability; and they have been claimed by persons of high respectability. 2,500 will be tried by martial courts, and will be condemned to transpor- tation if the accusation be admitted by the court; the other prisoners will be condemned administratively—that is, without being defended by counsel or appearing before a court of justice-to transportation. The committee charged with investigation of the insurrec- tions of June and the 15th of May has made considerable progress; but its report, which will be a document of con- siderable extent, will not be ready for eight or ten days to come. It is understood in Paris that the committee has succeeded in developing the causes of these two insurrec- tions in a satisfactory manner. The reporter of this com- mittee will be M. Bouchard. The Committee of Finances has decided upon proposing some modification of an income-tax. The four Military Commissions have convicted and sen- fenced to transportation a vast number of the accused, but have also ordered the immediate liberation of very many prisoners, against whom the evidence was not conclusive. It was rumoured in Paris that M. Marrast would be named Ambassador of the Republic in London. ON Thursday, the 13th of July, the anniversary of the Duke of Orleans' death, all the wine in wood that in that quarter escaped the devastators of the 24th of February was sold at Neuilly. It brought better prices than did the wines found in the Royal cellars of Paris lately sold at the Palais Royal. Altogether the wines, horses, and carriages belong- ing to the ex-King and his family, already sold, have not produced a sum sufficiently large to relieve the Treasury in any sensible degree. The sale of the carriages and horses belonging to the Dutchess of Orleans and the Count de Paris took place in Paris on Wednesday. A good deal of compe- tition arose for the pony of the Count de Paris, which was knocked down for about twenty-five guineas to an American gentleman. A good deal of sympathy was elicited by the Mie of certain articles, among others a child's caleche, with a hood, and an infant's chariot, to be drawn by the hand. Just as the auctioneer was setting up the four-wheeled cab- riolet from which the Duke of Orleans was thrown when he was killed on the road to Neuillv, a letter of the Dutchess was handed to him protesting against the sale of that car- riage, and ordering it to be repurchased for her account, at any price, should it have been already sold, and then burned. A splendid berline and two fine English horses were likewise withdrawn from the sale by order of the Dutchess, to be offered, in her name, to the person who lent her her carriage p 0 to quit Paris and France on the 24th of February. The Spanish Government asks for the restitution of the thirty millions of reals (not francs, as was at first errone- ously stated) which constituted the dower of the Dutchess of Mon tpensier, and which was said to be a principal object with Louis Philippe. To this demand the Republic is reported to reply-first, that the money brought to her husband by the Infanta was—as was his custom .-encaissed by Louis Philippe," and that "consequently the claim of Spain was good against his Majesty only;" secondly, that if the French nation be responsible, it (the nation) has a little unsettled account of ninety or one hundred millions of francs to set off against the demand in question, being the cost of the far-famed expedition of 1823 under the command of the late Due d'Angoulcme." An insurrection amongst the women employed in the washing establishments in Neuilly took place on Tuesday. The pretext was that their employers endeavoured to compel them to work twelve hours a day in place of eleven. It required the presence of a considerable military force to restore order amongst them. A few of the most violent having been arrested, the remainder fled in various direc- tions. The second permanent court martial sitting at Verdun has condemned a sergeant and four fusiliers of the 48th regiment of the line to be shot for having joined in a serious disturb- ance which took place at Rethel. The tailors of Paris (says the Co-urrier Francois) have received orders to make 100,000 great coats and frock coats for the troops of King Charles Albert, who has sent the necessary quantity of cloth from the manufactories of Turin. They are to be paid for at the rates of 7fr. a tunic, and 4fr. 75c. the over coat. The contract for the re-purchase of the Lyons railway was sdgned on Wednesday. It appears that the damage caused to ,property in Paris bv the collision between the troops and the people on the -23rd, 24th, and 2511-1 of February last was not so great as had been calculated. A grant of 250,000f. ( £ 8,000) was mnde by the Provisional Government to indemnify the fferers;of which only 167,000f. ( £ 6,080) has been d;mned. The Councils of War will commence to pass their judg- ments to-(Iav. The Union says, the Committee of Foreign Allan's was yesterday occupied with the Affairs of Italy. There was a question of imprinting on French policy in Italy a different direction from that followed since the 24th of February. All the speakers who have been heard thus far combatted M. de Lamartinc's manifesto to Europe. M.,de Lamartine having demanded to reply to the different attacks on his policy, it was arranged that he should address the Committee -at its next sitting. All the detached forts in the neighbourhood of Paris,, in which State prisoners arc at present confined, are being placed in a condition to sustain a siege. The embrasures are mounted with cannon. The gunpowder magazine of le Bouchet, in the depart- ment of Seine-et-Oise, containing 3,0001b. of fulminating cotton, lately received, ft-om Vincennes, was blown up on Monday last with' a dreadful shock, which destroyed the building to tlie foundation. Four young men who were in the house perished.

SPAIN. The Madrid Gazette publishes a Royal decree, glinting; an amnesty to all persons implicated in the revolt of Ali- cant and Valenfia, excepting .only the leaders. The appli- cation of the Infanta Dona Josefa to have her marriage an- nulled had not been acceded to by the Queen. The Infante Don Francisco de Paula had been ordered to travel abroad with his daughter the Infanta Josefa.

ITALY. Charles Albert having signed the last papers completing the fusion of Lombardy and Piedmont, the new kingdom of Upper Italy now extends to the Mincio. It is once more bdid that the Austrians have again offered the Provisional Government of Milan to give up Lombardy, but that the Milanese have for the second time refused to accept any- thing short of the Lombard and Venetian territory, as it was lately held by the empire. A private letter from Cosenza, of the 8th inst., contains the followingAfter the defeat of the insurgents by Ge- neral Nunziante, one of the most atrocious deeds was perpe- trated by the insurgents in their escape. At the country house of Signor Ciocci a tragical scene was discovered; the unfortunate father and mother were found killed on the dead bodies of their daughters, the eldest daughter upon her children. This noble Roman family left Rome for Cosenza in order to escape some outbreak that was expected to occur at Rome. The only remaining member of this family is the youngest son, who is in England, exiled. The Paris papers of Saturday contain the following tele- graphic despatch, received on Friday:—" The Austrians en- tered Ferrara on the 14th of July, to the number of 5,000. They occupied the principal posts of the town, and levied a war contribution on the inhabitants. The Pope protested against the occupation, and the Chamber of Deputies unani- mously voted the project of a league of all the States of Italy against Austria." The Austrian forces were still con- centrated at Verona, evidently waiting the operations of Charles Albert.

SICILY. The Chamber had been discussing the choice of a King for several days without coming to any decision. Wearied of this delay, the National Guard surrounded the Chamber on Monday (July 10), declaring that until a decision was come to no Qne should be permitted to leave. About mid- night of Monday the bells announced that a decision had been come to, and it was known that the Duke of Genoa had been elected King. On Tuesday morning there was a continual firing from all the forts. The Bulldog (English) was the Ifirst foreign vessel to hoist the Sicilian flag, and salute it with 21 guns. The French followed soon after. The following is the proclamation of the Sicilian Parlia- ment, announcing their choice of a King:— Sicilians,—Our vows are accomplished—our Constitu- tion avenged—an abominated dynasty expelled—and a King elected by the unanimous voice of the people. The warrior of Peschiera and of Goito, the son and companion of the Prince faithful to the eause of Italy, the Duke of Genoa, Al- berto Amedeo, shall be the constitutional King of the Sici- lians. In the vigour of life, a tried friend of the people and of proved valour, he. is a King worthy of a nation of war- riors; and a lover of well regulated but not in the least li- centious liberty."

GERMANY. FRANKFORT, 17TH of JULY.—The central provisional power has made known to all the governments of Germany that the Vicar of the Empire had named his responsible ministers, and that the exercise of the rights attributed to the central provisional power had commenced. It has further, in its communication, stated that it counted upon the active concurrence of all the governments of Germany, which desire to procure for the people the blessings of liberty, independence, and peace. The central provisional power has expressed a wish that the several Governments should, in conformity with the law of the 28th of June, 1848, name as soon as possible their plenipotentiaries, with whom it may commence relations. It also put forward its desire to know, as accurately as possible, the wants of the governments and people of Germany; and hoped that frank communications to that effect would be made to the demands contained, in which every satisfaction would be given. With regard to the new Cabinet, it appears probable that if the following nominations are as good as those already made, it may reckon on a working majority of between 360 and 400, out of 550 usually present. Grave complications. however, arc apprehended on the Hanoverian question, and what effect they may produce on the King it is impossible to say. FRANKFORT, JULY 18.—The King of Bavaria is to meet the Archduke Regent at Ilatisbon, where great festivities are in preparation to receive the Imperial guest. The suppression throughout Germany of such democratic clubs as prove openly dangerous proceeds rapidly. COPENHAGEN, JULY 17.-—A number of troops have just left, partly by sea and partly by land, to join the army, and 10,000 men, whose service had expired, are to be called out. The armistice is reported to be broken off. We hope to have the assistance of England and Sweden, as we had consented to abide by the armistice proposed by those countries. The Lubeck paper adds a further communication from Copenha- gen of the same date The settlement of the armistice is broken off. Mr. Riedtz. returned from head quarters yester- day with this intelligence." The Prussian Envoy, Count Portales, urged General Wrangel to adopt, unconditionally, the terms of the armistice agreed at Malmo, and in vain reminded the General of his duties to Prussia but Wrangel was firm, declaring that he owed his obedience to the Regent e 0 of Germany, and would only give his consent on the following conditionsThat the armistice be agreed to by the Central Goyernment; that the actual position of the two armies be maintained during its observance and that the authority of the Provisional Government of the Dutchies be recognised until peace might be concluded. The struggle will therefore be recommenced as a warlike feeling, pervades the Frankfort Assembly, and Denmark cannot honourably consent to far- ther concession." Russia has placed its fleet lying at Moen at the disposal, of King Osar.

THE CONFEDERATE LEADERS. DUBLIN, JULY 23.—In reply to very partioular inquiries for Mr. W. Smith O'Brien, M.P., at his residence last even- ing, it was stated that the hon. and gallant gentleman had left town rather suddenly, without mentioning whither he was bound Several other leaders have likewise left town, on business connected with the threatened "rising," Mr. O'Gorman arrived in Limerick yesterday, on atourot. inspection among the clubs in that county and Clare He visits, Killaloe this day, says the Examiner, where he is p omised a warm reception. Mr. Doheny is runningriot through Tipperary, and Magee is revelling amid the would-be rebels of the county of Dub- is revelling amid the would-be rebels of the county of Dub- lin. Meagher is preparing high-flown appeals: to the God of Battles, and vowing that he will not register that- celebrated sword of his, which, by the way, is not yet forged. Subjoined are some extracts from the provincial repeal journals, which must be calculating on the impunity with which the Felonious" papers in Dublin have been per- mitted to circulate their treason :—• (From the Water:ford Chronicle. Verily, the crisis has at length arrived, and indications of a bloody struggle are almost daily supplied now in our populous cities, and anon in -sequestered districts. To-day, on the very apex of a lofty mountain, ten thousand voices shout out for repeal; and the next day are assembled at a moment's notice, in a small ill-garrisoned town, one thousand hale de- termined men armed with pikes, and athirst for vengeance. What will the time-serving, vacillating, double-dealing, cow- ardly Minister say to this state of things ? Forewarned by the Liberal papers of the provinces of the consequences that would inevitably result from his treatment of the remonstrances of the people, he still blindly and obdurately clung to his course, and another of the many curses of-his rule has fallen on us in the determination of the people to appeal to the sword, and glut their enchafed wrath in the life-blood of their oppressors. Oh! sad, bitter, withering day for this country that witnessed Lord John Russell's election to the Premiership. His was not the policy of a humane ruler; for thousands of her Majesty's faithful Irish subjects starved, died, rotted away, unpitied by the Premier, and unheeded by his parasites. On the head, then, of Lord John Russell will rest the consequences of this menaced and imminent outbreak; and children yet unborn will employ his hated name as the foulest known to the people in damn- ing execrations of the folly, the madness, and the tyranny of our rulers." (From the Limerick Examiner.) In short, terror is nowhere. The devil is raised. The people are at bay. Persecution, proceeding step by step from the day of John Mitchel's condemnation, succeeded in awakening resistance alone; and now coercion is carried from city to city, to inflame detestation and communicate and spread it, pretty much in the manner of the red cross of old." The Limerick Examiner announces the formation of clubs at Kilmallock, Charleville, and other parts of the county.

STATE OF WATERFORD. The Rhadamanthus steamer is lying in the river at Water- ford. On Friclay morning the Duchess of Kent steamer arrived at Waterford, from Belfast, with a large detachment of four hundred of the 3rd (Buffs). The 71st Regiment is now on its way from Dublin to that city, and one is to be stationed in Besborough demesne for the summer, where a camp will be formed. LIMERICK.—Among the rifle shooters at Lahinch, two ladies are said to be the most expert. A few days since a young gentleman placed his hat on a wall at a reasonable distance, telling one of the ladies to hit the former if she could. She at once raised the rifle, took aim steadily, and struck the gentleman's hat with such effect as to spoil it for ever, to his particular chagrin and distinct disappointment. The Limerick Chronicle says All the military recruit- ing parties in this garrison have been withdrawn, the first station in Ireland to pick up active lads for the army. Government must have received some information respecting impending insurrectionary movements, as the military in several stations in Ireland are confined to barracks, and kept under arms, while all officers on leave of absence are required to join their corps. The army in Ireland this month, including enrolled pensioners and police, amounts to 45,000 men." # The potato disease is rapidly spreading1. The Limerick Heporter announces the arrival of Mr. Richard O'Gorman, jun., the member of the Irish deputa- tion, who remained in Paris to acquire knowledge in the erection of barricades. Mr. O'Gorman has been deputed frem head-quarters to inspect the clubs in the counties of Limerick and Clare. The Limerick Chronicle of Saturday says :—" Yesterday evening two police-constables demanded admittance into the Felon Club-rooms, Newcastle, when they were refused by the porters at the door unless they paid one shilling each and became members, which they refused to do. There are now two hundred and twenty members in the club." Mr. Butt, Q.C., who addressed the juries on behalf of Mr. Smith O'Brien and Mr. Meagher, in the recent -State trials, has been retained for the defence of Mr. Duffy, at the approaching commission.

A-NNTTAL PR.IRNDRN or THE SOCIETY OF FltlV,DS. We have, in usual.course, received accounts of the sufferings of our mem- bers iu GrreatJBritain and Ireland, in maintenance of our testi- mony against all.ecclesiastical claims. The amount thus re- ported, including the, costs and charges of distraint, is upwards of nine thousand, one hundred pounds. We would again com- mend this our Christum testimony to the continued faithful support of all our friends, under whatever circumstances they maybe plaeed, whether as owners or as occupiers. -Yea)-ly Epistle.

CHEMISTRY AND AGRICULTURE. The greater part of practical knowledge being derived from observation and experience, the scientific principles on which the facts are founded are always learned last, and no person is capable of taking a comprehensive grasp of these principles and of their application, unless the mind be stored with a most intimate knowledge of the practice in every detail. This observation is applied to every practical art, and to none more strictly than to agriculture. The science of the art is only now being learned, and chemists are busied in discover- ing in what the effects consist that have been long esta- blished by experience. All chemical action is combination or union, and decomposition or separation; light and heat often appear as the new arrangements take place, heat is disengaged and often absorbed, and a change of temperature happens. Bodies that have little or no affinity, and do not enter into combinations, are made to do so by the addition of one or more substances and this principle'shows the ne- cessity cf applying a number of substances at one time, and of bringing them into contact with each other in a state of minute adherence. Many kinds of chemical action are effected by heat, electricity, and other agencies over which any control is impossible, and which do not take place from any comminution and mixture; yet by that process a ready accession of means will be afforded of producing combina- tions, which in another state of existence of the substances would not have happened. Chemical affinity is reckoned a case of electrical attraction,, and that bodies combine from being in opposite electrical states. A decomposition consequently proceeds from the same electrical condition. Though usually reckoned the same, electric attraction may be termed the principle in action, and chemical affinity the power by which bodies I unite—the one being in this sense a measure of the other. All chemical forces are subordinate to the cause of life, and to heat and electricity, and to mechanical friction and motion. The latter power is able to change their direction, increase ot diminish tendency, and also completely to stop and reverse their action. But causes must exist to produce chemical affinity, or the cycle of life would stand still; and from our ignorance of these causes, and of the application, it is pro- bable that in many cases their action is arrested and stopped, and often rendered useless, not produced at all, or at best but accidentally, arising from our proceedings not being yet based on definite or measured causes. I have ever been of opinion that the want of practical knowledge effectually prevents the professors of chemistry from rendering any tangible assistance to, the performance of agriculture, lo teach an art simply by itself, and to state and explain the science, or the systematised experience of it, is a simple process but to use it in relation with another that is either allied or remote is a widely different subject, and requires a thorough and most intimate knowledge of the nature and properties of both objects which are sought to be connected. And the want of practical knowledge will ever disable the cbei-iiigtfrom being useful to agriculture Chemists expect that their art wiII effect in agriculture the same results as in medicine, where the inert ligneous matter, formerly so hurtful to living organs by its decompo- sition, has been separated in vegetable products, and the active prin-clple has been presented in a pure crystalline form. But the circumstances are wholly different; no living body will suffer without harm the contact of decaying matter- but the earth is a dead receptacle, and can sustain no ininry from that process. On the contrary, the inert ligneous mat- ter affords by its decomposition the materials or body on which the refined manure must act in the soil. A medicine supplies no food to the body, but modifies the action of the functions of its organs and food must be provided in order to develop its effects. The most concentrated and powerful manure would produce no effect on pure earths or oxides- nor could medicine exert any influence on the original constitu- ents of an animated body without the living mechanism of muscular fibre and functional organs. Now, instead of informing us of what elements the sub. stances of crops and manures are formed, it would be much I. more likely to forward the art of cultivation if the time Was spent in bringing different bodies into contact, observing the affinity, marking, the effects of the reciprocal action, and con- verting into use the new combinations that are known to re- sult from chemical action. It would even- be useful to know where an affinity existed, or where a repulsive quality was inherent between what bodies an easy union is effected, and in what cases a peculiar quality is required, and a certain quantity of materials is necessary. We yet know very, little of the power of acids in dissolving bodies, and in renderino- them minutely transmissible; the application to bones is only a beginning. And we are only beginning to think of the benefits that may happen from mixing manures with the soil. It is the business of Government, or some powerfiil society to employ scientific men on such pointsbut, unless they b<? also practical men, the labour would be useless, for the rea- sons now mentioned. J. D. 10th May, 1848.

SPADE HUSBANDRY. After all manures have been considered, the spade is; per- haps, the greatest of all fertilizers. A great mass of informa- tion on this head was collected by Dr. Yelloby, not, however, with the view of showing the increased fertility of the soil by deep stirring, as with the intention of demonstrating the im- mense field which is thus opened for the profitable use of the spade husbandry. He remarked—The farm where the system is pursued, which: forms the subject of this letter, is situated at Wattlefield, in the pansh of Wymondham in Suffolk. It is in the occupation of John Mitchell, Esq. The farm consists of 317 acres, of which 207 acres are arable, and 110 in pasture and plantations. It it a mixed soil but is rather disposed to be heavy. The country is flat, and the land requires draining, which is effected by bushes and straw. 3 As soon as it was known that Mr. Mitchell meant to adopt the spade culture extensively and permanently, and not merely as an experiment or a temporary means of increasing employ- ment, the early prejudices against it subsided and as the la- bourers found that the remuneration was fully equal to piece- work, and imidi more than the usual daily wages, and that 77an' ?rhcthcr1 marned OT smgle, was paid according to U in + °ne' 1 so1on1 became very popular, and he was speedily ableto command the seryices of the most steady and expert men m his neighbourhood. Though the process was began with the spade, a strong three- pronged fork, of 14 inches deep and 1 inches wide, which was found to be more manageable and less expensive than the spade, was soon allowed to be substituted for it, on the appli- cation of the workmen. It costs 4s.. 6d, instead of 6s. 6d. weighed 8 lbs.; and when worked down, could be relaid at a trifling expense. The digging is effected by taking in about four inches at a time, pressing perpendicularly, and getting to a proper depth at two thrusts, The earth is not, however, turned out of the trench to a greater depth than ten inches, though the fork may get down as far as thirteen or fourteen; but that which re- mains at the bottom, in the state of what is called U crumbs," answers the purpose equally with the earth which is thrown out, ot terming a permeable medium for the roots of the plant which is to grow in it. The men prefer working together, in order that ■_ their labour may be as nearly as possible on the same description of goil but each takes about nine feet in width,' so that his work can be easily measured. The plan is to have a breathing about every half hour and the men never work more than ten hours p d'ay. Digging-however, is much more laborious than the usual operations of agriculture, though it is much less so under the use of the fork than t,spade. They work the land in ridges of about nine feet in width, and the furrows dividing them are sometimes made by the pldugh, previously to the digging, and sometimes by the management of the labourers, during the work, assisted by the eye only. The men receive for ordinary digging after a white crop, from 2d. to 2!tl.; per rod of 30 square yards; the price varying 2 I according to the tenacity of the soil, and whether manure is to be dug in. This expense, then, amounts to jEt 13s. 4d. per acre; and in many situations this digging to the depth of fourteen or sixteen inches would be fully equal in effect to a summer fallow of several ploaghings on the mere score, there- fore, of economy, the field-digging is, under certain circum- stances, to be preferred. Where the land is to have a fallow crop, that is, turnips, mangel wurzel, or Cabbages (for no part of the fahn, or the land in the immedinte heighbourhood, has ever a naked fal- low), there is a first ploughing, which is done at a seat On when the horses can be best spared, and afterward a