The Sun.
London, England, 1863-04-10 00:00:00

tion, decided upon communicating the infor-
mation they had acquired to Mr. DUDLEY, the
United States Consul. We may fancy the horror
of poor Mr. DUDLEY on learning that another
Alabama was to take her destructive course
within a few days with the intention of
destroying every Federal ship she met with. His
consternation was, indeed, so great as to produce
some remarkable effects. Instantly the telegraph
went to work, filshing the disastrous news to
Mr. ADAMS, who forthwith hurried to the Foreign
Secretary to invoke his aid. Lord RUSSELL,
always kind and complaisant to his Northern
friends, at once transmitted orders to the collec-
tor of Customs at Liverpool to stop the ship. Mr.
EDWARDS, the gentleman in question, immediately
summoned the Custom surveyors. In vain was the
bill of entry searched, in vain were four revenue gigs
sent up and down the river, the Japan was nowhere
to be found. There was nothing to be done but to
telegraph to Earl RUSSELL that the dreaded Japan
was a phantom ship. A further delay was of course
occasioned by Lord RUSSELL'S reference to Mr.
ADAMS, and Mr. ADAMS' inquiry of Mr. DUDLEY.
The truth was learned too late for the unfortunate
Northerners. By a slight oversight, in his haste
to give the direful news, Mr. DUDLEY had forgotten
to add the information that the Japan was at
Greenock, not at Liverpool. So, while minister,
consuls, and collectors were telegraphing and
searching, the Japan, transformed into the Virginia,
had completed her preparations and had taken
flight, to prove, we may anticipate, a veritable Phan-
tom Ship of Capt. MARRYAT'S order. The Federals
certainly deserve our commiseration in spite of
their general insolence, for it is doubly mortifying
to meet with a misfortune which has such a large
share of the ridiculous, that it is certain to excite
a laugh at the expense of the sufferers.

LATEST INTELLIGENCE,

(REUTER'S TELEGRAMS.)

THE BARS OF FRANCE.

PARIS, APRIL 10.

The Moniteurjof this morning publishes the usual
monthly return of the Bank of France, which
shows the following results, as compared with the
March account !

INCREASE.

Francs.

Cash in hand
Bank-notes
Current accounts
Advances . ,

• 32 2 3 millions.
• 103 millions.
.. 221 millions.
.. 231 millions.

DECREASE.

Bills discounted, not yet due 181;
Treasury balance.. .. 1 1.9 million.

7THE SUN, LONDON, FRIDAY EVI?,NING, APRIL 10, 13G3

HER MAJESTY.

LITERATURE,

giarrt tv„
•

Heroes, Philosophers, and Courtiers of tke lime
of Louis XVI. 2 vols. Hurst and Blaekett.
Quoting in the first sentence of the first page
of this very readable work the witty remarks of
M. Rollin, that " History is the Book of Kings,"
the anonymous writer, already favourably known
as the Author of " The Secret History of the
Court of France under Louis XV," adds, on his
own part, that it ought surely not less to be re-
garded as the Book of Peoples. So, evidently,
thought Mr. Charles Knight when he undertook
(what he has recently been bringing to a noble
close) his truly Nattonal History of England. So,
as evidently, thinks Mr. William Longman, ano-
ther of our eminent publishers, and another also
among the ablest living collators of our English
History, as may be recognised by any one on turn-
ing to an examination of his lectures upon the
reigns of the Plantagenets. The purpose of the
writer, whose historical researches have led to the
compilation of the exceedingly interesting work
here brought under our consideration, he himself at
once clearly explains in a few most acceptable and
enticing words in his Preface. He is desirous, through
the medium of this work, of filling up what has
hitherto been really and truly a gap in the annals
of two Peoples. Upon this, however, we will let
him speak for himself—
A complete narative of the intervention of France in the
American rebellion has never yet been written from French
contemporary sources. Little has been remembered, little
is generally known, but the names of some of those brave
Frenchmen by whose aid it was that America achieved her
liberty. France herself, too soon interested and absorbed in
the events of her own momentous revolution—which was
precipitated by French sympathy with American rebellion—
appears well-nigh to have forgotten these men. It was no
part of England's duty to immortalise the actions of her too
successful enemies. America was too much occupied in
her cities and fields, repairing the wastes of the recent war,
to analyse the sources of French sympathy to which she
mainly owed her independence.
Fillirg up this instantly recognisable htatus, and
one so obvious by the way that the marvel is, it has
remained until now to be recognised and filled up.—
the author has thrown a flood of light upon that ever-
memorable period of transition for so many of the
great races in the old world and the new, but above
all a period of transition for French society in every
particular. The plan of the work would be incohe-
rent in its discursiveness to a most confusing extent
but that the treasure trove, the heretofore neglected
waifs and strays of anecdote littered about, and many
of them never before now brought together, the
hitherto forgotten flotsam and jetsam of history, un-
cared for till this day seemingly by any one, have
been strung together upon one coherent and con-
necting thread, as one may say, to wit, the thread
of time. As valueless intrinsically, some of them
are, as glass beads, but others are little less worth
than pearls of price. For such as they are—here
at any rate they are, at last for the first time
brought together and viewed connectively. Be-
ginning his discourse with the death of Louis XV.,
the writer takes from the lips of the Duc d'Aumont,
the first gentleman of the chamber to that profli-
gate monarch, this terrible picture of—
LOUIS THE BELOVED—TOWARDS THE CLOSE OP HIS LIFE
" I was awakened by the noise of a door opening. I
raised my head and saw Louis XV. At first he looked
round the ante-chamber, here and there. The lights in the
chandeliers were burning low. ' There is nobody here,'
said the king; and then he began to walk up and down,
sighing and murmuring, in the tone of a man who has
drunk himself sad. Presently he paused before a large
mirror, and, after having considered himself a long time in
it, he pressed his hand on his forehead, his cheeks, his chin,
and thus apostrophised himself: 'Miserable wretch that
thou art I Murderer of thine own soul and body I' Then
his pacing up and down, his groan his sad monologue re-
commenced.. At last he stopped again before the glass.
' Thou wilt net die old,' said he to his own image reflected
there ; 'not threescore years and ten I—And hell
Five minutes passed whilst he stood looking at himself with
horror. And then he muttered, France! How is she
governed ?' Afterwards : But this supper to-night they
say will be delicious-.though all is weary—weary, Why
cannot they give me something new ?' "
Passed from the scene this worn-out and despairing
voluptuary—enters next King Louis XVI., "Louis
the Desired," too good and too gentle a King for his
epoch—a Hero at last when, with a serene brow
and a dauntless bearing, and a pure heart and a sin-
less conscience, the " Son of St. Louis ascended to
Heaven" from the guillotine. With what cry does
the young Dauphin learn that he isKing LeuisX VI ?
"Oh ! my. God ! what a misfortune for me!' And
how comes the news to the heart of his fair young
wife, the beautiful Marie Antoinette ? "Wd are
too young to reign !" she calls out in anguish : and
then, covering her face with her hands, weeps bit-
terly ! What prophetic tears ! What ominous
ejaculations! These are the kind of notes struck,
here, by way of prelude to what swelled at last into
a stormy and tragic symphony such as the
world had never before listened to—that of the
great French Revolution. The period, however,
which is depicted in these pages is not the period of
the Revolation, but the period immediately before
the Revolution ! Across the scene flit all kinds
of strange and motley forms—imposters, mounte-
banks, men of genius, adventurers, charlatans, cour-
tiers. Of Benjamin Franklin we see a good deal.
Here, by the way, is an admirable letter of his that
we never remember to hive met with before, one
aptly beaded by our author when giving it as a
footnote—
Model of a Letter of Recommendation of a Person you are
unacquainted with. •
" Paris, April 2, 1777.
Sir,—The bearer of this, who is going to America, presses
me to give him a letter of recommendation, though I know
nothing of him, not even his name. This may seem extra-
,rdinary, but I assut e you it is not uncommon here, Some-
times, indeed, one unknown person brings another, equally
unknown, to recommend him; and sometimes they recom-
mend one another. As to this gentleman, I must refer
you to himself for his character and merits, with which he
is certainly better acquainted than I can possibly be, I re-
commend him to those civilities which every stranger of
whom one knows no harm has a right to; and I request
you will do him all the good offices, and show him all the
favour that, on further acquaintance, you shall find him to
deserve, I have the honour to be, your obedient servant,
—BENJAMIN FRANKLIN."
Side by side with Franklin, while he is yet there in
Paris, we catch glimpses of Voltaire! Of Voltaire
when eighty-four years old—Voltaire just before
his death ! We read his solemn declaration of faith

WINDSOR CASTLE, April 9.
The Queen, accompanied by her Royal High-
ness the Princess Helena, and attended by Lady
Augusta Bruce, drove out this morning in a carriage
and four. Colonel the lion. A. Hard inge attended
on horseback.

His Royal Highness Prince Arthur, attended by
Major Elphinstone, left the Castle this morning for
Greenwich-park.

Eirl Granville arrived at the Castle yesterday,
and had an audience of the Queen.

Ball at the British Embassy at Paris,

Earl Cowley gave a grand State dinner of sixty
covers on Wednesday, at the British Embassy, in
honour of the Prince of Wales and the Princess
Alexandra of Denmark. His Excellency was pre-
vented by his absence in England at the nuptial
ceremony from testifying at the time his satisfac-
tion at that auspicious event by some official mani-
festation. The Embassy was splendidly lit up for
the occasion, and masses of beautiful flowers orna-
mented not only the various rooms, but the corri-
dors and passages. The band of the Municipal
Guard was in attendance, and played overtures and
symphonies during the evening. A little after
seven the following distinguished persons, in addi-
tion to his lordship's family, sat down to table :
Count Wa'ewski, Minister of Sta'e ; M. Drouyn de
Lhuys, Foreign Affairs; Count de Persigny, Interior; M.
Fould, Finance ; Count de Chasseloup •Laubat, Marine ;
M. Rouher, Commerce ; M. Rouland, Public Instruction ;
Delangle, Justice; M. Troplong, President of the Senate;
Duke de Morny, President of the Legislative Body; M.
Billault, Minister without portfolio; Count de Bourqueney,
Marshal Regnault de St. Jean d'Angely ; Marshal Mag-
nan ; General the Mar pis de Lawcestine ; Baron James de
Rothschild; Baron Haussmann, Prefect of the Seine;
Duke de Bassano, Duke de Cambaceres, Duke d'Hautpoul,
the Minister of Denmark, Prince de la Moskowa, M. Boit-
telle, Prefect ©f Police; M. Barbier, Directeur-General des
Douanes ; the Marquis of Hertford, Viscount Sydney, Lord
Norreys, Lord Morley, Lord Gray of Gray, Hon. Spencer
Cowper, Hon. F. Baring, Hon. 11. Howard, Captain Lynch,
C. 8., Colonel Wean, Colonel Talbot, Mr. Layard, M.P.,
Mr. Beaumont, M.P., Mr. Pope Hennessy, M.P., Mr. Tito
M.P., Mr. Laing, M.P., Mr. Pickford, Sir Joseph 011iffe,
Hon. William Grey, Colonel Claremont, Captain Hore,
R,N., Mr. Williams, Hon. J. Ellis, Mr. Atlee, Mr. Antro-
bus, Mr. Hildyard, Mr. Egerton, and the Rev. Mr. Swale.
Later in the evening, Lady Cowley held a grand re-
ception of the official and fashionable society of
Paris. The toilettes of the ladies were magnificent,
and the gentlemen were either in uniform or court-
dress. Not fewer than 1,500 invitations had been
issued, and the whole of the state apartments were
thrown open to receive the guests, But none at-
tracted so much admiration as the throne-room,
most artistically fitted up on the ground floor with
the combined flags and arms of England and Den-
mark. The principal attraction of the night-fete
was a grand illumination in the garden. A vast
structure had been erected half way down the centre
and exactly opposite the hotel. The rain in the
afternoon somewhat interfered with the prepara-
tions, but towards nine o'clock the sky became serene
and the gas being then in abundance, the whole
ornamentation was fully lit up. The following is a
description of the general design

The centre device represented the arms of the Prince of
Wales, with a garter bearing the words " Albert and
Alexandra" in blue and wkite crystal letters, and sur-
mounted by laurel leaves, supported on either side by the
flags of England and Denmark joined together by a true
lover's knot. On the right and left were two monograms,
A.A., encircled with a bard of prismatic coloured glass, and
surmounted by the Royal Crown of England in various
colours. Above, at the corners, were two large Brunswick
stars, having in the centre the cross of St. George, with the
motto, " Honi sok qui mal y pense." Those stars were
formed of the purest cut crystal, and contained upwards of
3,000 pieces. Under the central crown were the initials
N. E. for she Emperor and Empress, supported on either
side by the flag of France, of the regular colours in cut
glass. Beneath were six beautiful stars of crystal, grace-
fully connected together by gold. coloured cords and tassels
likewise in glass, the whole range being fifty feet in length.
Immediately over the centre was the inscription "Long
live the Prince and Princess of Wales I" Above was a
magnificent Prince's plume, nine feet high, over which
were the words " God save the Queen I" The Royal arms
of England stood out prominently aloft, supported at the
sides by the English and Danish flags. Every part of this
most elaborate ornamentation was in the purest cut crystal,
and in colours which a painter would employ if required to
represent it on canvas. The effect was splendid, re-
sembling the most sparkling jewellery more than anything
else, and does great credit to Messrs. Defries and Sons, who,
as wo mentioned a few days back, were employed to prepare
the entire illumination.

About eleven o'clock nearly the whole of the com-
pany had arrived, and the rooms presented a most
brilliant appearance. Nothing could exceed the
attention of Lord and Lady Cowley, and the fete
may be pronounced one of the most successful of
the season.

TEE PRINCE OF WALES.—A deputation of the
county of Norfolk public meeting, headed by the
lord-lieutenant and the high sheriff, have had the honour
of presenting an address to his Royal Highness the Prince
of Wales and her Royal Highness the Princess of Wales,
their royal highnesses receiving the address of congratula-
tion in person. His Royal highness graciously accepted
the address, and the Prince read the following reply :
" Gentlemen,—l most sincerely thank you for your con-
gratulations to myself and the Princess on the occasion of
our marriage. The hearty welcome I have received from
all classes of the coantry has been very gratifying to me,
and your earnest prayer in behalf of the Princess and my-
self will, I. trust, ever be gratefully remembered by us
both. The deputation had the honour of lunching at the
Hall, after the above proceedings had terminated.
The Duke and Duchess of Northumberland leave
Alnwick Castle on Tuesday next for Northumberland
House, for the season.
The Duke of Somerset and Captain the Hon. J.
11. Drummond, C. 8., returned to the Admiralty last even-
ing, from Yorkshire.
The Duke of Beaufort, accompanied by the
Marquis of Worcester, Mr. Reginald Graham, and a large
party of French noblemen, were to commence hunting the
wolves in the neighbourhood of Poictiers on Tuesday last.
The weather was very hot, but it was hoped that the scent
would lay, and that a good account would be given of the
farmers' enemies,

The Marquis and Marchioness Cholmondeley
arrived in town yesterday from gholniondeley Castle,
Cheshire.
The Earl and Countess Spencer have been among
the visitors to the Duke and Duchess of Manchester at
Kimbolton Castle during the present week.
The Countess (Franeet) Waldegrave" and Mr.
Chichester Fortescue, M.P., left town yesterday for
Ireland.
The Countess of Tyrconnel has arrived at
Thomas's Hotel, Berkeley-square, trom Kiplin Hall,
Catterick.
The Marquis and Marchioness de Gibacon and
family have arrived at the Brunswick Hotel, Jermyn-
street, from Spain.
Lady Frances Gordon and Miss Gordon have
returned to town from the Marquis of Huntly's seat at
Orton Longueville, Peterborough.
Lord and Lady Clart nce Paget arrived yesterday
at the noble lord's official residence at the Admiralty from
the family teat in Wales.

or in two words-
-641. the undersigned, declare, that being atfackcd four
lays since by a vomiting of blood, at the age eighty...our
,years, and not having been able to drag himself to church,
M. le Curd de St. Sulpice having added to his good works
that of sending to me M. the Abbie Gauthier, priest, I have
confessed myself to him ; and if God so dispose of me, I die
in the holy Catholic religion, in which I was born, hoping
that divine mercy will deign to pardon all my faults; and
if, having scandalized the Church, I ask pardon for the
same of God, and of her. Signed, Voltaire, the second of
March 1778, in the house of M. le Marquis de Villette, in
presence of M, l'Abbe Mignot, ray nephew, and of M le
Marquis de Vilieveille, my friend."
We have seen him there again shortly afterwards
—risen for awhile from his death bed to be crowned
with laurel in the theatre ! It was the fira of
April (not inappropriately) in that same year 1778,
and Voltaire (tat 84 !)—" With the black Louis
Quatorze wig, and a scarlet cap, upon his head,
and enveloped in a large pelisse trimmed with

- ur,
Lady Louisa Agnew gave birth to a daughter mounted his carriage, which was
fiorfs
ts ktyo- btl
hu
ee
yesterday at the house of her father, the Earl of Gains-
ycolour, colour, studded with stars, and drove throw h
borough, in Portman-square. the streets of Paris, on his wa g
y,
French Academy, and afterwards to the theatre."
Mr. and Lady Charlotte Lyster have left
Thomas's Hotel, Berkeley-scivare, for Rowton Castle,
At the academy he is received with acclamations.
At the theatre he is crowned, as
Shrewsbury.
laurel--and while still wearing the crown
The Right Hon. Benjamin Disraeli, M.P., and we have said be-
ore, with laurel
Mrs. Disraeli return to town on Monday from their seat in 1
Buckinghamshire. there are sung these words of love and homage to
The anxiety entertained for the safety of Sir the old man trembling then on the very edge of
Tatton Sykes has been hapi ily relieved, intelligence having his grave—
been received that he had reached Jerusalem after his tour
in Egypt. " Voltaire, regois la couronne,
Qui l'on vient do to pr6senter ;
The Gazette de France states that the Emperor Ii est beau de la master
addressed the following words to MM. Vitet, Villemain, Quand c'est la France qui la donne I"
and Octave Feuillet, at the official presentation of the new Voltaire passed away, there are still strange and
academician at the Tuileries :—" Gentlemen—l am endea• wonderful events to note, here, vividly depicted in
vouring to render myself worthy of you." The same jour- the
nal adds, that the conversation having fallen on Caosar and ' se animated pages. The Chevalier D'Eon it is
on the excavations which the Emperor has caused to be 1 at one moment still miserably flaunting before us in
made in different places marked by the victories of the Ro• 1 his woman's petticoat. Now it is Beaumsrehais
man General, "It is more easy," said M. Villemain, with twith his opera comique! Now Cagliostro with the
a smile, "and less afflicting to try and discover old battle• splendour of a Prince and the pomp of a Magician !
fields than to open new ones." "That is true," the Ern- One while we catch a glimpse of Mirabeau and
1
peror is said to have replied, "I know nothing more fright- at another are brought face to face with the lovely
ful than the sight of a field of battle after the engagement.
It is horrible I" Princess de Lamballe—doomed to E 0 awful a death
Cockchafers have already made their appearance
in that historic nightmare that was to come so soon,
in the Bois de Boulogne. This is much earlier than usual, not as a dream but as a reality ! If a wider popu-
and, accoi ding to the dictumof Mathieu Lszonsberg, is it larity had been sought after by the writer of these
sign of a het summer and an abundant harvest., pages, a shorter title ought to have been selected