The Sun.
London, England, 1841-03-17 00:00:00

PRUSSIA,

BERLIN, MARCH 6.—Our papers are full of news relative
to the different meetings of the States of the Kingdom. Their
elements are as different as the names and families of the
members, and the interest of the several provinces as opposite
as anything can be. It will, therefore, be rather difficult to
reconcile them, and much -will depend on the ability of the
" Marsh:lls" of The " Itndtage," es the incetin,2s of the Sates
of the provinces are styled. The transactions of the meetings
of the States are regularly published in the paper=, and the
State .Gazettc, a very dry and uninteresting paper, seems to
indulge partieul :Ay in these home news.
Count Gres n, the French Ambassador, is gone to Paris,
in order to vote for the fortifications. Ile is generally
esteemed here, arid is, as I know from personal knowledge,
a very sensible and clever man. Ile w:is much in favour
with the lase King of Prussia, also was fond of a certain
openness of character, and, as much as I know, the. present
ruler h-,s imbibed -this predilection. In case (as the rumour
goes) Count Pontois should succeed Count 11: esson, the dif-
ference between these two people wi l be sensibly felt, as the
former is but a courtier, and full of the pretensions of the
haute voice. The death of the Electress i f Hesse, a sister of
the late King, and an txcellent woman, has caused a tempo-
rary interrupti'•n in the Court festivals.- There are now but
two brothers of the late King alive—Prince Henry, who lives
at Rome, and has, it seems, given up the idea of t eturning to
his native country, and Prince Wiliam. the younger brother,
who married a Princess of Hesse Homburg, sister to the p e-
sent Landgrave of Hesse, and sister-in-law to the late Princess
Elizabeth of Engh.nd.
Professor Von Schelling, the famous philosopher, is ex..
pected here. This is now the second professor whom we
got from Bavaria. The first professor, Stahl, is a Jew, and
not much liked by the students, who arc averse to his doe-.
trines of absolutism, and to the principles of the Hallerian
school, which he professe,..

THE COURTS OF EUROPE AT THE CLOSE
OR THE LAST CENTURY. BY THE LATE
.HENRY SWIN-
BORNE, ESQ.—Two more delightful volumes than these
it is scarce!} possible to meet with. They form the most •
perfect picture cf the state of the Conti cot tower., be
conclusion t f the list century we possess; any o single
work ever before exhibited such a gall c f illustrious
characters as ice are introducd t.. It c,utay rises the
Royal Farniii'n of. the princip outs cf Eurore with
almost every person of ral.k celebrity in the Church,
the profession ef -,tplomacy, literature, art, end
science in existent a ..t the dove of the last century.
Among the twos • teresting of whom w'll b.? f)und th we
who distingui .ed themselves during the short-I'ved, but
horribly-eventful Republic of France, such as RAespievri
Carnot, Barris, I,eft., cue, Ta'leyrand, Buonuparte,
and the political and other crlebr,:ted ci,a.-acters flourtsh-
ing in England about the same period, such as Pitt, Fox,
Sheridan. Burke, Wilkes, Garrick, S:r Joshua Reynolds,
Lord Nelson, Lord George Gurdor, &c See, —Neu)
Monthly.
GALLANTRY OF A FRENCH. CORPORAL.—
Some days since, when the Vincennes r4lemcn passed through
Douay, on their road from Algiers to St. Omer, every one
was eager to see the crosses conferred on them for the courage
of which they bed given such remarkable proofs in Africa, and
a certain degree of surp,ise was felt on seeing how scattily
these rewards had been bestowed on she gallant band; but
thole who have deeerved the glorious recompense arc to rec• ire
it, we are informed, on their arrival at, St. Omer, from the
hands of the Prince Royal in person. A corporal of the re-
giment, a fine athletic man, wearing the red ribbon on a coat
worn threadb re by hard service, attracted every eye, and
his order of knighthood was acquired in the following valiant
manner:—Corporal N. (we regret our inability to give the
gallant fell,w's name) was firing, with some dozen comrades,
against a band of Arabs, when suddenly the latter retr. a'ed,
and were followed by the Frenchmen. The corporal did not
perceive the movement ti I it was eff, cued, and was about to
rush forward to rejoin his men, when he beheld lying on the
ground his lieutenant bathed in his blood. At the same
moment seven Arabs rushed from a thicket to massacre the
French officer, whose fall they had witnessed. The nature
of the ground afforded the corporal full means to avoid the
murderous band, but his honour forbade him to desert his offi-
cer, and he resolved to protect him or die. He consequently
advanced to meet the foe, and, taking a cool ;dal, had the
good fortune to disable two, wiih h.s bayonet he soon killed
three more ; another, frightened at the sight of his dead and
wounded comrades, made off ; one foe alone remaineil, and he
resolutely caught the Frenchman round the body, and a terri7
ble struggle ensued near the brink of a precipice, to the bottom
of which the two antagonists rolled locked in each other's
armt. The combat continued thrre, and victory long
remained undecided; when, fortunately for the corporal,
an argular stone was in his reach, and with that
offensive weapon he struck the Arab a tremendous
blow on the head and koocked out his brains. The cor-
poral then succeeded with difficulty in getting out of the
goree into which he had fallen, and found that some corm-axles
had returned to the assistance of the wounded officer, who, as
soun as he beheld the corporal come forward, his face streaming
with blood and his body covered with wounds, exclaimed,
." There is he who saved ire," and immediately embraced his
delivt rer with fra•ernal affection. The officer and corporal were
carried in triumph amid the applause of the battalion, and the
cress of the Legion of Honour was given to the non-commis-
sioned officer as a reward for the gallantry of his conduct.
Courrier du Nord. _ _

HOTEL AND TAVERN KEEPERS' PROVI-
DENT INsmuTioN.--The member.s of the above Inst tu-
tion held their second annual gene al meeting at the nee-
masons' Tay. ro, Great Queen-street, on M..nday, Belll4-
min Bond Cabbell, Esq., in the chair. Ti c Secretary
read the Report. It appeared that at the last audit 2e31.
93. reala'ued in favour of the Society, whict,, with 8041.
7s. 93. received in donatir ns and subse, iptions, and the
dividend on stock, made the receipts in March, 1841,
amount to 1,117/ 2t. sd. The disbursements being 1501.
14=. 4d. in the necessary exr.enses, and 8491. ss, Sd,
io-
vetted with the Commissioners of the Nalional Debt, a.ui
aVed to the permanent fund, left 1171. 23. 5(3, in the
treasurer's hands. After congratulating the members
upon the prop essive influence of the Society, the fir..
port stated that 384 members were enrolled, a great num.
her of whom were cooks an waiters of hotels, for whose
relief the Society was princid pally inteede4.