The Sun.
London, England, 1862-05-07 00:00:00

FRENCH EXPEDITION 70 MEXICO.

When General Prim, Count de Reus, and Mar-
quis de Castillago went over to Mexico, the printing
press, with all its accessories, formed an important
portion of his baggage, not merely with a view to
publish his general orders to the army, but a news-
paper under the title of Eco de Europa. The first
number appeared at Vera Cruz on the 4th of Feb.
According as General Prim moves into the country,
the Eco de Europa shifts its quarters, and the last
number which I have now before me is dated
" Orizaba, March 19." The ??co de Europa, as a
matter of course, supports the views of the Spanish.
Government, though what these particular views
are is not very clearly stated. On one topic, how-
ever, the Eco de Europa is both explicit and elo-
quent, and that is General Prim himself. One can
fancy the feeling with which he must contemplate
the following sketch of himself in that paper :
" One word more, and we have done. There are
persons whose very names are a programme ; there
are individuals who are the symbol of a great en-
terprise; and the person and the name of General
Prim are the symbol and the programme of this
expedition. Mexico and the whole world know
him and admire him, and more than one
Mezican heart beats this day with enthusiastic
violence at the bare recollection of his marvel-
lous deeds. Well, then, here we have this noble chief-
tain, whom Greece and Rome world have enrolled
among their gods, who in the middle ages would
have been the founder of a dyne.sty of kings, and
who has in one day revived the terrible poetry of
the Homeric combats—we have this glorious Pala-
din, who as a soldier is the thunderbolt of war and
the thunderbolt of glory, and as a statesman the
most upright friend of all the political reforms
which make up the happiness of nations. On
whatever side his sword flashes victory is certain.
Wherever his voice is raised the triumph of the
liberty and the progress of the age is assured. Were
it possible to add anthing to the confidence inspired.
by the greatness of the allied Powers, Mexico would
find a fresh guarantee in the Count de Reus. The
hero of Castillagos landed on the morning of the
following day (the Bth of February). Ite mounted
his horse on the quay; and, escorted by the lofty
military chiefs and a brilliant staff, lie proceeded to
his quarters, admired by the multitude that thronged
in groups to gaze upon iim with rapture. With
the arrival of Genera! Prim the aspect of the town
was changed, and it assumed an air of festivity and
joy such as was never seen before. His very pre-
sence began to produce this effect, it continued
after his energetic address, and it was completed by
his prompt and skilful measures. To condense our
remarks so as to be well understood, we personify
the thought of the expedition in one only of its re-
presentatives, the Count de Reus. And well may
we do so without the appearance of national vanity,
for the Spanish Plenipotentiary, though always.
acting in accord with the Plenipotentiaries a
the other two nations, has been the ori::inator
ich hove
been the adviser of all the measures '7O
been adopted. In a word, he has ben the soul of
the enterprise. It was natural h.e should be so, as
he springs from the same rP.ce as the people by
whom the action of EuroPJ was to be felt, as well
as for other reasons whir,h are exclusively personal.
Those who know the history of Spain know the
Count de Reus, and those who know the Count de
Reus will understand the magnitude of the sacri-
fices which the fulfilment of his glorious mission
must have cost him. Let us picture to ourselves
the conqueror of Africa amid his shining pleiad of
warriors eager for danger and for glory, and at the
head of a phalanx of veterans who look upon him
almost as a god. Let us contemplate him before a
people who invite him to war and provoke him to
measure swords, and we can form a notion of what
it must cost him to remain quiet and pacific with
fields of battle before him, and to sacrifice his in-
sti-acts and his habits on the altars of peace, j us-
tice, humanity, and the generous anxiety to save
Mexico from bloodshed. This conduct is not only
worthy of admiration, but it will cause astonish-
ment throughout Europe, where the Count of Reus
is better known than here for his romantic prowess
and his chivalrous valour. Europe will with diffi-
culty recognise the hero of Reus and of Tetuan in
the calm and prudent plenipotentiary of Vera. Cruz,
&c. If General Prim had allowed himself to be
carried away by his warlike instincts, the world
would have seen nothing strange in it,for he would
have done no more than furnish a fresh subject
for the gallery of heroic pictures. and to this the
world is a. euewrueu. vV rat dove& beein a novelty
in his life is the heroism of his patience ;
and this is fortunate. The conduct of the Count of
Reus has not only dissipated othe doubts of the
Mexican Government, but it exercises everywhere
a magic influence over the minds of the people, &c.
In Mexico his friends say he is the exterminating
angel—the angel of consolation—the lion of battle
—the demi-god of War—and in describing hint
Homer would have compared him to mars.' "
General Prim, perhaps, aims at playing the part of
Hernan Cortes, and conquering the whole of
Mexico.
On the other hand the Paris journals, without,
of course, displaying such extravagance as in the
foregoing, contend that the admiration of the
Mexicans is entirely concentrated on the French
army. The French are regarded as their only de-
liverers from the calamities accumulated upon
them, while the Spaniards are utterly disregarded.
The truth, perhaps, is that did they dare to speak
the unfortunate Mexicans would declare for any
one likely to rescue them from the miserable
tyranny of their own rulers. They dare not speak,
however, for their country is under a rule of terror.

PRINCE NAPOLEON'S VISIT TO ITALY.

A Paris letter, in the journal de Rouen, gives
the following as what is likely to take place on
Prince Napoleon's visit to Italy. The writer de-
clares that the account which he sends was current
in generally well-informed circles in Paris, but we
cannot confirm the statement, and consider part of
the information as not by any means probable:—
" Accordin g to certain reports, the mission of the
Prince will not be limited to a simple visit to King
Victor Emmanuel, and to the delivery of a letter
from the Emperor ; he will, it is said, perform the
first act of the policy adopted towards Rome. The
letter of the Emperor, it is affirmed, will first of all
contain an invitation to the King to visit Paris, and
the Prince is to verbally add the proposal to pro-
ceed with him to Rome under the protection of the
French flag, and with the character of the greatest
neutrality, to present to the Pope the propositions
of the French
Govprnm.yit ..,.aieuee would.
be solicited of the. Pope, and the Holy Father
would learn at if the Prince was the bearer of an
order for the commander of the French army of
occupation to cause a division to fall back upon
Civita Vecchia. King Victor Emmanuel would
then issue an order to replace that division by an
Italian one. According to the reply of the Pope,
Prince Napoleon and King Victor Emmanuel would.
act in the sense of the first instructions given to
the Pope, and the Emperor would be advised of
the determination of the Pontifical Government.
King Victor Emmanuel would then repair imme-
diately to Paris, and in the interview between the
two Sovereigns the final resolutions would be
adopted. According to that plan, the Pope can but
be touched by the personal visit of King Victor
Emmanuel and Prince Napoleon, and would recog-
nise in this visit a proof of the deference of the
Governments of France and Italy. If a refusal be
opposed by the Holy Father to the propositions
made to him, and if a departure from Rome of the
Chief of Christianity appeared imminent, the reso-
lutions to be taken would be both concerted at
Paris, after a sort of manifestation addressed to the
French Church."

ANGiIIER DEATH IN THE REGENT'S CANAL,—
Yesterday morning, at an early hour, as a bargeman was
navigating a vessel through the Regent's-canal, at Cam-
idge-heath-gate, Hackney, he saw a bonnet lying on
the towing path near the bridge,. He raised an alarm,
when one of the lock-keepers procured the dregs, and after
a few minutes the body of a female about 60 years of
age was brought to the surface. She had only been in the
water a few hours, and was very poorly clad. Her
pocket was empty. The deceased was afterwards identi-
fied as Ann Turner, the wife of a cordwainer residing at
Bethnal-green. The cause of the act is supposed to be
destitution.