The Sun.
London, England, 1864-11-29 00:00:00

French. Diplomacy at Tunis.

Our ( Times) Malta cc-rreepondent has received
the following letter from an authentic source in
Tunis, dated the 17:h of November
A singular incident has just occurred here. From time
immemorial it has been customary for the Sultans to send
Commissioners to Tunis, and for the Beys to depute Envoys
to Constantinople either to compliment the Sultans on their
accession to the throne, cr to solicit their own firman of in-
vestiture, or on other matters connected with the affairs of
the two citintries.

At the breaking out of the revolt the Sultan despatched
an Imperial Commissioner to Tunis to report on the state of
affairs; and, in return, the Bey had formed a resolution of
sending an Envoy to thank his Imperial Majesty for the
interest he had evinced in passing events, According to
custom, he announced his intention to the foreign repre-
sentatives, in order to introduce tro►n thew letters of intro-
duction for his Envoy to the Ambassador at Constantinople ;
but the French Consul, upon being made aware of the Bey's
intention, proceeded immediately to bis Highness and re-
monstrated in the strongest possible terms against an Envoy
being sent to the Sultan without the previous sanction of the
French Government. He insisted that it was an Anglo-
Turkish intrigue, which he would not tolerate• In vain did
the Bey endeavour to explain that it was customary both to
receive and to send Envoys, and that in the present instance
it was an act of courtesy towards the Sultan, who was the
head of all Mussulman nations, anu that nothing more was
either meant or intended. The Consul would expect no ex-
plantion, said that the Envoy could not leave without his
permission, bat that he would dispatch an arise to Cagliaro
with a telegram to Paris, and that until he received a

hiatiress having, however, repliea to his peremptorylanT.
gunge that ho was at libertyto send for instructions,but that
he did not intend to alter his resolution of showing respect
to the Sultan by deputing General Khaireddin to convey to
him his grateful thanks, the French Consul rose, evinced
much impatience, and left the room, after crying out " No
no I no:1" when he refused to take the hand which the Bey
had offered to him. This unfortunate incident, coupled
with a previous throat of sinking the Sultan's Commis..
sioner when he arrived in May last, in case ho should at-
tempt to land, determined the Bey, with a view to
avoid further embarrassments, to hasten the departure of
his Envoy, who was therefore directed to proceed en his
journey on the 14th instead of the 17th instant. General
Khaireddiu consequently embarked on baard the Tunisian
steamer Bechir about half-past Gin the evening, but a
French officer was sent to him on the part of the com-
mandant of the ironclad Invincible, stationed at the Goletta,
to dissuade him from proceeding on his journey; and when
he was told that he was bound to execute his orders the
officer announced to him that, in that case, he would be
prevented. General Khaireddin then said that he should
follows instructions, and would only yield to superior force,
as he was not authorised to lose the steamer and sacrifice
the lives of the crew. He gave the officer sufficient time to
carry his answer to tho captain of the Invincible, which was
all this time firing rockets and burning blue lights, when he
weighed anchor and at half steam passed the ironclad. When
about 1,000 yards ahead of her the Invincible chased the
Tunisian steamer, which put on full steam, and kept ahead
of her pursuer until they both neared the island of Zembri,
at the entrance of the bay, when the ,Tunisian steamer
boldly passed through the straits between the island and the
mainland. It being perilous for a large vessel to attempt
the passage at night, the Invincible had n 3 other alterna-
tive but either to make the circuit of the island or return to
her anchorage. She preferred the latter course, and the
Tunisian steamer and Envoy thus escaped being captured
in Tunisian waters by the vessel of a foreign and a friendly
Power.

This affair, which is attributed to the political intempe-
rance of the French representative, has created a very pain-
ful sensation in Tunis. It has utterly disgusted the Tuni•
sian authorities, and it has humbled the Europeans to think
that so open a violation of every principle of public right
and international law should be perpetrated by the agent of
a great and powerful nation against a weak Government
which it pretends to protect against the encroachments of
others.