Foreign matters may be described in a few words.
Belgium is undergoing a " Ministerial crisis," which has lasted *some ten or fourteen days. M. Nothomb, whose difficulties and perplexities the Morning Chronicle briefly characterizes by calling him the Peel of Belgium, has resigned his post. The King has adopted a strange course : he accepts M. Nothomb's resignation as a Minister, but appoints that gentleman to a seat in his Coun- cil—to be a kind of Minister unattached ; so that the old Ministry goes on in a provisional way, and so does the " crisis." Spain is still in fear of a Carlist insurrection ; and a London journal puts forth some awful insinuations respecting the nubile Queen, as though she were going astray. In Switzerland, the escape of the last noted invader from the prison of Lucerne puts an end to many embarrassments hanging on hand since the late civil war.
From America we hear of dreadful fires, sacking towns in time 'of peace. Some short time ago, there was the devastating fire at Pittsburg hi the United States, and a terrible one at London in Canada ; now, great part of Quebec has been destroyed, and a hundred houses have been burned in New York. The uncom- mon dryness of the season may have contributed to turn towns into fuel; but an astounding degree of carelessness is implied in these sweeping conflagrations.
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