The Sun.
London, England, 1867-11-11 00:00:00

MISCELLANEOUS NEWS.

(From the Anglo-American Times.)
PARIS, Nov. 6.
The curtain has fallen upon the second act of
the Italian Drama, and Garibaldi, beaten, and
wounded, and prisoner, has at length learnt as
Rienzi, Coriolanus, and many others have learnt
before, what it is to depend upon the fickle support
of an Italian mob. The French press do not say
whether or not the Pontifical force were or were not
supported by the troops of France, but it is more
than probable that such was the case. That, how-

ever, makes little difference, as in sending troops
to Rome the avowed intention of the Emperor has
been to protect the Pope against the attack of ag-
gressors, who, whatever might be the patriotic
purity of their intentions, have yet commenced
action in a most unconstitutional manner, and upon
the principle that the end justifies the means the
King of Italy has been placed in this affair in a diffi-
cult and delicate position, which has given him
very much the appearance of running with the hare
and holding with the hounds, and it is more than
probable that either the knowledge of this fact, or
a suspicion of his policy, has induced the rapid
action of the French Government. Anyhow, judg-
ing from the opinions formed and appearance of
matters in France, I am inclined to believe that all
this tangled web of difficulties will receive an im-
mediate and satisfactory solution. Garibaldi has,
it is true, set the ball a-rolling, but the matter has
now passed out of his hands, and the question of
the continuance or otherwise will most probably
receive a peaceful and deliberate solution, and in all
likelihood by the intermediary of a European Con-
gress. As regards the position of France, Ido not
think it is likely she will oppose such an arrange-
ment, as in the first instance the Liberal party
strongly disapprove of any interference in Italian
affairs; and, secondly, I am of opinion that the
Emperor has acted simply in accordance with the
terms of a convention to which he considered him-
self in honour bound to adhere.

The Universal Exposition has now become, like
all sublunary matters a thing of the past, after a pro-
rogation of three days, the receipts of which are to be
given to the poor, a decision of the Imperial Com-
mission which is, I think, infinitely to be preferred
to an indiscriminate admission without payment,
which would, I think, scarcely have guaranteed
the safety of the priceless articles exposed ; and
even, under present circumstances, a robbery of
diamonds, to the amount of 35,000 fr., has taken
place on the last day, supposed to have been com-
mitted by two women, who have as yet passed un-
detected.

It is said that the next Universal Exposition
will be held in America at some few years' interval.
It is to be hoped that the energy and untiring power
of progress which have so distinguished our
brethren on the occasion of 1867 will by that time
have succeeded in rendering them at least the
equals in those industries in which, at present, they
have held but an inferior rank. In saying this it
is necessary that I explain myself somewhat more
fully, even though it is not my intention, in the
limits of this letter, to enter upon a comparative
examination of the merits of the American section
as compared with those of others. I shall speak more
fully on that subject before long, when the Ameri-
can Commission and their talented Secretary, M.
Mellon, have laid their report before Congress.
America, in coming to the Exposition of 1867, has
laboure4 under many disadvantages, amongst the
principal of which may be considered the late war.
Nevertheless, all honour to the South, she has come
boldly and fraternally to the rescue, and the con-
tributions both of North and South may, I trust, be
looked on as a good omen of further and future
conciliation. The distance has also been a serious
difficulty for exposants, but it has, nevertheless,
been completely vanquished, and all things
considered, leaving out of the question the
number of the prizes gained, I maintain that
America will come well out of a comparative
examination of the Exposition of 1867. lam wel
aware that even many Americans have stated that
they have been ashamed of the poverty of their
Exposition, but such men have been unfortunately
but superficial observers, and have based their
opinion not upon the quality, but upon the quantity
of the objects exposed. And in saying this I speak
with the authority of one who has closely and
scrutinisingly regarded every exposition in the Ame-
rican section, from the invention of Milton Bar-
low, I speak his name with respect, ani at the same
time with the liveliest personal remembrance of the
kindness and patience with which he has several
times explained to me the properties of the Plane-
tarium—an invention of which Galileo himself might
well be proud. " E per se muove," said the great
astrologer. What would he•say if he could now see
the Planetarium, which, however, I do not intend
to describe at present, for I am simply unequal to
the task, and merely content myself with a protest,
which I trust will pass over the world on the wings
of the Anglo-American against its being considered
simply and merely as an educational improvement.
" Mais revenous a nos moutons." I have said that I
haVe scanned the American Exposition from the Pla-
netarium tothe arms and trinkets of the Ojibbeways ;
from the heights of civilised science to the depths of
barbarism, from the crude products of the mines
of Colorado and Nevada to the peerlessly artificial
ladies' boots of crocodile leather, furnished by Fel-
meden, New Orleans (I will pursue the comparison
no further) ; and I maintain, and will in the course
of a few letters prove, Q. E. D., as we used to
say at college, that America comes very well out of
the Exposition of 1867. Look, for instance, at
Group the first, the Beaux Arts. The paintings, it
is true, are comparatively few ; but select a few of
those glorious landscapes of Bierstadt, Church,
Gignoux, and others whom I will ere long criticise
more at length ; look at the part of America from the
period of its colonisation and the long struggle with
every-day life which lay before the simple but stern
Puritan, and then consider only one subject at this
moment, the glorious American scenery which has
created a school of art in its natural inspiration
equal to any in the world. But lam getting out
of my depth. I must wait till next week, when, if
my reader, like Mr. Weller's fiancee, by her love
letter, wishes there was more, he will probably be
gratified. I have been so serious hitherto that
I believe I must try to rnake him laugh with one
or two of the final jokes of the expiring Exposi-
tion. In one instance at the brewery, the visitor
condemned the beer as awful. " That," said the
waiter, who had no longer fear before his eyes, " is
the international beer—a little of everything except
some castor oil, which we expect from China." In
another instance, however, the garcon was not so
fortunate. Ile had supplied a foaming tumbler of
hock to a fashionably-dressed lady from the Rue
Vivienne, who apparently found the foam rather in
excess, if one may judge by the remark—" That
beer," said the lady, " resembles you, mon garcon."
" Et pourquoi, madame," said the hero, expecting,
doubtless, a compliment. " Too much false collar,
mon cher, beaucoup, beaucoup." The Emperor
of Austria has at length left Paris, after
a brief visit to Compiegne. The lovers of
the horrible have a criminal treat before them,
of the highest possible stimulus in the instances of
the butcher d'Avinain, condemned to the guillo-
tine for murder and dismemberment of his two
victims ; and in the trial of Ipgros, the woodcutter,
for the murder with a woodman's axe of the Sieur
Demandre and his servant.

The weather is clear, healthy, and cold, and the
amusements of the winter season hatefully taken