The French Chamber of Deputies has had, not a debate,
but "interpellations " on the subject of the Portuguese interven- tion. The discussion was meagre, flat, and pointless. There is more interest in the further evidence of the official corruption_ the untoward production of a private letter, which, if it is not a forgery, establishes the most lavish and unblushing use of honours as bribes. But a deeper interest attaches to the petition of Jerome i Bonaparte for permission to return to France as a peaceful ci- tizen, and to enjoy the repose of his declining years n that land which is associated with the memories of his life. His prayer is received with a strange hesitation. To reject it, would be deroga- tory to the existing dynasty of France—would be to confess that the power of that dynasty is so little consolidated as to dread the very ghost of a name, and to perpetuate by all the force of per- secution any adverse influence which still clings to that mum.
