The greit quarrel iii the East is burlesqued by a
paltry diplo-
matic quarrel in the West—between the United States and France. The origin of the affair is variously ascribed to the manner in which M. Guillaume Tell Poussin enforced certain French claims to reparation for injuries committed at the assault of Vera Cruz, and to certain purely critical remarks by the same gentleman in a private letter : but whatever the actual occasion, he seems to have been very cavalier in his demeanour, and the Washington Government demanded his recall. President Bonaparte sup- ported his Ambassador ; and the Washington Government ended the matter by handing him his passport. The French are said to be very unpopular in the Union ; and certainly American citizens are free enough to express contempt for the French as being "unfit for freedom,"—though the European cannot, like the Transatlantic Republic, be reproached with maintaining the insti- tution of slavery. Some grudges are at the bottom of the squab- ble, which is too paltry to lead to any serious consequences at once ; but it betokens ill blood and bad management on both sides.
