The Sun.
London, England, 1864-05-24 00:00:00

" personal union'' because they are currently etn- Mr.
ployed by the Hungarians, Croatians, and Sclato,
nians) the nationalities which in Austria lay claim
to special rights and privilege&
In one of my former letters it was stated that
Prince Metternich had complained to the Emperor

of the French of the reply given by Prince Napoleon
to the " Venetian Committee," and that his Ma-

jesty, after having expressed regret that his cousin
had spoken so openly, had said, "he was also of
opinion that sooner or later Italy would be free
from the Alps to the Adriatic." The whole story
was forgotten, but the General Correspondence
has recalled it to the memory of the lieges by
declaring that Prince Metternich never complained
to the Emperor of the French of the conduct of
Prince Napolean. "M. Drouyn do Lhuys," says
the Ministerial paper, " voluntarily expressed his
regret at what had happened, and at the same
time observed, that the independent ideas enter-
tained by the prince made any remonstrances on
the part of the Government useless. The General
Correspondence accuses M 2 of having put into the
mouth of the Emperor Napoleon the words above
quoted, and I therefore deem it necessary to state
that they first appeared in the Deutsche Allgemeine
Zettung of the 6th inst., and were immediately re-
produced in the Austrian papers. The Vienna press
Bureau did not express a doubt of the correctness of
the news contained in the Leipsic newspaper. I,
therefore, on the 10th inst., forwarded it to you.
The Imperial Government is making strenuous
efforts in order to keep the secondary German
States from acceding to the GalloaPrussian treaty
of commerce, but is doubtful whether it will be
able to attain its aim. There is now in Germany
a very strong bias in favour of free trade, and I
remark that the Austrian Protectionists are be-
ginning to feel that the present system, by means
of which the few thrive at the expense of the many,
cannot long be upheld. The secondary German
States have profited much by their Customs-union
e ith Pruseia, and it cannot reasonably be expected
that they should turn their backs on an ally of 30
years' standing in order to please a Power which
not only takes delight in monopolies, but is out at
elbows in financial matters. The New Frankfort
Gazette, which is good authority in financial mat-
ters, gives the Austrians to understand that M.
von Plener has managed matters so very badly that
they will have to pay absent 11 per cent. for the
last loan. The Os,-Deutsche Post, which rarely
censures the measures of the members of the Cabi-
❑et, expresses its conviction that the Minister of
Finances will not be able to get rid of the remain-
ing two-thirds of the loan at 77.10, the price
which was paid for the 20,500,000 of silver florins
which wt re taken on the 11th inst.
At noon on Thursday, the 12th inst., the work of
destruction ceased at Fredericia, but there is good
reason for believing that the more important parts
of the works had been destroyed before the news of
the suspension of hostilities reached the commander
of the allied forces. The bomb proof cesemates are
in ruins, but the walls of the fortress are still stand-
ing. The contributions due are still levied in
Jutland by Field-Marshal Count Wrangel, and that
in spite of the urgent remonstrances of the neutral
Powers represented in the Conference. A letter re•
ceived by the Trieste Zeitung from a peraon on
board the Elizabeth (the ship in which is Rear Ad-
miral Baron Wullerstorff,—explains, though by no
means satisfactorily,how it happened that the Kaiser
and her consorts were so long on their way to the
North Sea. When in the Adriatic the whole crew of
the Kaiser, with the exception of about 100 men,
were sea-sick. " The engineers and stokers,"
says the correspondent, " were also sick and
unable to perform their ditty." The vessels
soon lost sight of each other, and when
the ship of the line was off Algiers the
frigate Elizabeth was at Gibraltar. The armour-
plated frigate Don Juan and the Kaiser suf-
fered much, and the former was left at Lisbon
to be repaired. Up to the 2d of May, on which day
the letter in question was posted at Vigo, the crews
of the Kaiser, Don Juan, and Elizabeth had had no
practice with their guns. "Does the Austrian Go-
vernment," says the indignant correspondent, " sup-
pose that in one short month raw recruits can be
transformed into sailors ?"
On the 11th instant ell the soldiers who were
recruited in Russian-Poland in the year 1859, and
had obtained temporary leave of absence, received
orders to join their respective regiments without
the least delay. The reason why the order was
issued is neither known to the inhabitants of War-
saw nor to the Viennese.
There is no truth in the current report that
Prince Couza is going to Constantinople to snake
his peace with the Sultan.