The Express.
London, England, 1861-10-15 00:00:00

THE YOUNG PRINCES OF ORLEANS AND THE

FEDERAL ARMY.

The following letter has been written by the
Duke D'Aumale to one of his friends in France, announc-
ing to him the resolution adopted by his nephews :
"Twickenham, Oct. 7, 1861.

" My &sr Friend,—My two nephews are 'ideal's-camp
of General Ml'lelLin. the commander- in-chief of the
Federal army. I have this moment received the news. I
am moved and delighted therewith. These young people
are acting like persona of their age, their race, and their
country. The emelt of powder attracts and draws them to
the right side. They are fine young fellows. May God
guide and guard them. " Hz.nal D'OaLuss."

CORONATION OF THE KING OF PRUSSIA.

(nom ova SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT.)
BERLIN, (LT. 11.

It is usual, on the approach of great eveuts, to
perceive symptoms of the coining excitement a
long way off, and to find them simmering more and
more vigorously as you approach the actual scene
of action. I have now " done " about two-third*
of my distance between London and Konigsberg,
and am actually writing " Unter der Linden,"
and within sight of the Royal Palace of Berlin ;
and as yet I find everything remarkably quiet—
not even in the shop windows, ordinarily the most
correct barometers of public excitement, can I see
any symptoms that we are on the eve
of the second Prussian coronation which
has taken place since Prussia became a kingdom.
This being my first visit to Berlip, I cannot tell
whether the extraordinary tranquillity that pre-
vails is normal or exceptional, but it is certainly
most remarkable ; so much PO that I have ventured
to remark upon it to one or two of its intelligent
inhabitants. They tell me that there are political
considerations to account for the stagnation ; that
it is not, in fact, apathy, but the collision of
two powerful parties, which has stopped the
progress (towards Konigsberg) of either. There is
the party which would like to see the King of Prus-
sia at the head of a great German realm, and there is
the party which would rather have things remain as
they are ; and each Las contrived to make
the other so thoroughly discontented and ill-
humoured that neither has any desire for sight-
seeing or loyal enthusiasm, and so the onus of
enthusiasm is left upon the ancient capital Konigs-
berg itself, where I understand it is already being
exhibited in some remarkable varieties of develop-
ment, especially amongst the great lodging-house
interest, who have fixed their tariffs in the firm con-
viction that every visitor will bring a portable Cali-
fonda in bis ooat pocket. Knowing how thesedemands
work, and how greedy landlords and landladies
are disappointed on these occasions, and how they
defeat their own object by frightening people from
coming, I have determined to make no arrangement
until I arrive on the ground, but I have not the
slightest fear that I shall be obliged to bivouac in the
streets, a thing which I should not like certainly to do
until the Prussian sanitary commission has got its
machinery into better working order, for I under-
stand that the ancient home of the Teutonic Knights
is net exactly in that state which would make one
of its narrow " strassea" the most agreeable couch
in the world for a modern special correspondent.
Travelling towards Berlin through Rhenish
Prussia, 1 was pleased to look upon a country
which the King who is so soon to be crowned
ought to be proud and happy to reign over. Land
all well cultivated, although as fiat as if it had
been smoothed with a flat-iron, the vast plain
studded with snug red villages, the plough going
steadily everywhere, and the people decently
clothed and apparently in good physical condition.
The same remark applies to the little intervening
kingdom of Hanover, where the progress of bricks
and mortar is absolutely surprising ; factories,
mulls, villas, streets, are rising up everywhere. I
could not help thinking of what war would Millet
ou these smiling scenes, and how little evidence
they gave of the existence of any warlike feeling
ou the continent. Neither could I help contrast-
ing the appearance which this part of Germany
presented, all new, improved, and progressive, with
the dilapidated, dreary interior of France, where the
towns all look as if they hail been built five hun-
dred years ago, and none of them on a repairing
lease. In France it is Paris and the army, and
nothing else ; in Belgium and North Germany it is
peace and progress, and industry, and the works of
peace. The comfort and cultivation of the whole
valley of the Weser wore quite refreshing ; but
I have found it everywhere the same, every-
thing to show that the luau who should let
loose "the dogs of war" in such Roemer would deserve
the anathemas of the world. I was also very
much struck with the freedom of political dis-
cussion as compared to six years ago when I tra-
velled the same road. The claims of the King of
Prussia to a German lead wereargued pro and con with
great vigour, the balance of opinion being, however,
strongly in his Majesty's favour ; and the condition
of Austria was painted by free, though anything
but friendly. hands. There were Viennese who
said that their beautiful city was bankrupt from end
to end; that a piece of silver money was a curiosity
for a museum ' • and that the old were dying of dee-
pair whilst the young wore fleeing to foreign
lauds. They all agreed iu thinking that the
only hope fur their Emperor is to give
up Venice and to conciliate Hungary, although
they did not speak very favourably of the
latter, and seemed to think the demands of the
people unreasonable. As for the poor Poles,
nobody cried " God bless 'em ;" every one was
down uu them, and pronounced all the stories about
Russian tyranny to be mere fiction. I give these
opinions as I gather them, and as part of the current
history of the period when the King of Prussia was
about to be solemnly crowned at Konigsberg, and
probably about to play a great and leading part in
the now inevitable re-organisation of Europe. At
Brunswick I saw our special ambassador, Lord Cla-
rendon, with the countess leaning ou his arm enter
one of the carriages and listen to a set of instructions
with which the oonductorwas favouring his lordship
in a moat patient and deferential manner. His lord-
ship paid Ins respecta to the Crowu Prince and Princess
at the Berlin Palace this morning, their royal high-
nesses having arrived from Potsdam. I was happy
to learn that her royal highness was in good
health and spirits, and gave an early audience to
Mr. Haucock, our great London jeweller, the tree-
acres of whose Bruton-street Golconda seem quite
as indispensable at continental coronations as even
the abundance of special ambassadors or great mi-
nisters of state.

I took a drive through the city this morning to
see what was doing in the way of preparation foe
the public eutry, which will no doubt, if the weather
should prove as fine as it is at present, be a magnifi-
cent sight. I need not dilate on the capabilities of
the well-known "Unterder Linden," of which all Ber-
liners speak with such warm affection, and I found
that wooden gallerite were al ready begun at both sides
through its whole extent. The streets are aleo being
broken in various places, and complicated arrange-
ments of gas pipes show how much is intended to be
done iu the way of illumination. Berlin says, in
fact, that all the fun will be here, but ever and
anon a far cry comes from Konigsberg, saying
" Wait until next week, and you shall see what you
shall see."

I cannot close my letter without noticing in a
few lines the perfect giddiness that has seized every
one here about a German navy. lam informed
that there is not a farmer's boy in the coun-
try who does not rush in with his six-
pence, in the firm belief that by his pa-
triotic sacrifice he has secured at least one
gunboat for fatherland, little dreaming what the
real cost of these expensive toys will be. Of
course English enterprise has scented the specula-
tion afar off, and several representatives of the
English iron shipbuilding interest have been offer-
ing their services. Their estimates have, however,
considerably cooled the zeal of the successors of
the sea kings. The figure of 80,000'. for a decent
gunboat was bad enough, but when the probable
cost of a fleet of " Warriors" and " Black
Priners " was asked, and half a million sterling
a-piece was the reply, there wax, I am told, au in-
stantaneous collapse in the excitement of Gentian
patriotism.
The Earl of Clarendon and Countess, Lady Emily
Villiers, and a numerous suite, are at the Hotel
Royal, and will start for Konigsberg on Tuesday.

When the Altato, which has jnat arrived with
the West India Mal, left St. Thomas, yellow fever wa
making its appearance in several of the West India islands.