BLACKWOOD'S EDINBURGH MAGAZINE. NO. CCCXCVII. NOVEMBER, 1848. VOL. LXIV. CONTENTS. A GLIMPSE AT GERMANY AND ITS PARLIAMENT, 515 SATIRES AND CARICATURES OF THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY, 543 A PARCEL FROM PARIS, 557 LIFE IN THE "FAR WEST." PART THE LAST, 573 THE LATE GEORGE FREDERICK RUXTON, 591 THE NAVAL WAR OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION, 595 DANUBE AND THE EUXINE, 608 THE MEMOIRS OF LORD CASTLEREAGH, 610 A CALL, 625 WHAT IS SPAIN ABOUT? 627 CONSERVATIVE UNION, 632 EDINBURGH: WILLIAM BLACKWOOD AND SONS, 45, GEORGE STREET; AND 37, PATERNOSTER ROW, LONDON. _To whom all Communications (post paid) must be addressed._ SOLD BY ALL THE BOOKSELLERS IN THE UNITED KINGDOM. PRINTED BY WILLIAM BLACKWOOD AND SONS, EDINBURGH. BLACKWOOD'S EDINBURGH MAGAZINE. NO. CCCXCVII. NOVEMBER, 1848. VOL. LXIV. A GLIMPSE AT GERMANY AND ITS PARLIAMENT. We are not old enough to have been politically detained at Verdun. Our impressions of Napoleon are soured by no recollections of personal tyranny; and though a near relative wasted the better portion of his life in the dreary enjoyments of that conventional fortress, we do not carry the spirit of clanship so far as to entertain on that account a revengeful hatred towards the memory of the Corsican. At the same time, it must be confessed that, towards the latter part of this past August, the idea of Verdun more than once recurred unpleasantly to our mind. It became clear to us that, for this year at least, there was little probability of our realising certain visions of Highland sport which had been called up by a perusal of the exciting work of the Stuarts. Her Majesty was coming down to Balmoral, and, in consequence, the red deer of Aberdeenshire were safe, at least from a private rifle. The grouse, with a degree of obstinacy truly irritating, had again failed, and we were little disposed to levy war against the few and feeble remaining broods of the cheepers. The Duke of Sutherland, with a just economy, had shut up his rivers, and given the salmon a jubilee; so that there was no hope of throwing a fly on the surface of the Shin or the Laxford. On the other hand, there seemed to be plenty of sport, and no want of shooting on the Continent. Licences were not required, and restrictive seasons unknown. The odour of gunpowder was distinct in Paris as early as the month of February; and ever since then there had been occasional explosions and discharges all over the face of Europe. True, a _garde mobile_, or a gentleman in a blouse, especially when provided with a rusty detonator and bayonet, is an