The Sun.
London, England, 1867-03-20 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON, WEDNESDAY EVENING, MARCH 20, 1867.

which she encountered, and the main points of her
news have, of course, been anticipated by the tele-
graph. Still we gain some interesting information,
which enables us to understand better the stormy
aspect of American politick!. The PRESIDENT has
had to resort more than once to the veto, and still
presents the same immovable front to the turbulent
and angry spirits which rule in both branches of
the Congress. He vetoed the Tenure of Office Bill,
which prohibits the removal of Cabinet officers
with the consent of the Senate, the PRESIDENT
objecting to it on the ground that it deprived his
office of its Constitutional powers. The most im-
portant exercise of this privilege was with regard to
the Bill for the Military Government of the South ;
a bill as unjust as it is impolitic, as unreasonable as
it is oppressive. No shadow of an excuse exists for
subjecting States which are tranquil, if desolate,
whose people are peaceable, though starving, to the
extraordinary severity of martial-law in time of
peace. The PRESIDENT takes a firm stand upon
the doctrines of the Constitution, and gives
unanswerable reasons for withholding his con-
sent from the measure. 'The State Governments
of the South, he says, enforce the laws for the pre-
servation of order and the suppression of crime in
substantially the same manner as in the Northern
States. No armed opposition to the national autho-
rity is anywhere threatened. " The national
triumph" over the rebellion subjugated the insur-
gents to legal obedience, not to the yoke of arbitrary
despotism. This, however, is the belief of the PRE-
SIDENT, and it is quite evident that the exercise of an
arbitrary and unscrupulous despotism is the object
of the Radical leaders.

Mr. JOHNSON points out that this bill reduces the
Southern people to a condition as degrading as
slavery, giving the military district commanders an
unlimited and despotic power, which they could
abuse with impunity. The United States are bound,
as Mr. JOHNSON showed, to guarantee to every
State a Republican form of government ; whereas
this bill destroys every vestige of Republican govern-
ment in ten of the States. It is not a little curious
to find the Congress expressing such anxiety
about the Republican form of government in
Mexico, and receiving with apprehension the
rumour of a Canadian kingdom, while they
are actually excluding ten of these so-called
United States from the advantages of Republicanism.
Mr. JOHNSON remitds the Abolitionists that by
denying the legality of the Government of the ten
States which participated in the ratification of the
amendment abolishing slavery, slavery is left where
it was before that amendment. He cites the solemn
declaration of the Congress of July, 1861, that war
was not waged to ssbjugate the South, but to en-
force obedience to the Constitution. When this
obedience was yielded the contest should cease, and
to repudiate the declaration thus made was a breach
of the national honour. The Constitution, remarked
the President in conclusion, forbade the passage of any
bill of attainder, bait was not this not an attainder
against nine millicns of people ? A proof of the
temper of which uafortunately governs the Ameri-
can Legislature wax given on the receipt of this
message. Upon reading it Congress immediately
suspended the rules, and passed both bills over the
vetoes. It is true there may have been something
more or less than temper in this, for the Radicals
are, as we known, adepts in political manoeuvring
and the opportunity may have been a favourable
one for getting the veto overrides without difficulty.
The PRESIDENT could hardly have anticipated a
different result, though his protest is not the
less valuable, and will have due weight with those
who are beyond the circle of political passions.
Mr. JOHNSON referred to the recent decisions of
the Supreme Court to prove that martial law can-
not, under the Constitution, be declared in time of
peace, and surely there are many Americans who
would be reluctant to sanction so flagrant a breach
of the old constitutional doctrines. It is no light
thing for the Legislature of a country to authorise
so arbitrary and illegal a proceeding, and the North
itself may hereafter suffer for it. A fresh outbreak
of party feeling, a new cause of quarrel
between the States, may turn the weapons it is now
so recklessly placing in the hands of unscrupulous
officials against itself. President JOHNSON long ago
pointed out the great danger of concentrating
power, and declared that had he availed himself of
all the facilities which Congress put into his hands
he might have become an irresponsible military
dictator. If the same course were adopted towards
New Jersey or Connecticut that they would pursue
towards Georgia and Carolina, they would
very soon repent having sanctioned so
dangerous and unconstitutional a precedent.
The great stronghold of individual liberty
in every free State is the supremacy of con-
stitutional law, the maintenance of civil over
military authority. This safeguard the American
Congress are voluntarily putting from themselves ;
they are turning back to the absolute forms of un-
scrupulous despotism, resigning their traditional
' liberties for the shadowy semblance of such profitless
i
power as is wielded by those tyrants who hold their

throne on sufferance. It is a serious question for the
American people at large to consider, and they may
be assured that the course pursued by the dominant
party in Congress is full of danger to all ceneerned.
It incurs besides a very great risk of driving the
Southern people to desperation, and they may per-
haps feel that having patiently submitted to the for-
tunes of war, and endeavoured to submit to peace
without profit, they can hardly be worse off if they
openly resist Northern authority, or league secretly
with foreign Powers to defeat the tyranny of their
oppressors.

CORRESPONDENCE FROM PARIS.

(FROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENT.)
PARIS, Tuesday Evening.

The Paris papers to-day being filled with the
reports of the discussion in the Chambers, to the
exclusion of any news of interest, I take the oppor-
tunity of returning to the subject of the Statues of
the Plantagenets, which engages much public at-
tention. I have already given a brief historical
sketch respecting these statues. A modern French
writer says that Geoffrey Plantagenet, Count of
Anjou, and Matilda, grand-daughter of William the
Conqueror, had issue at Mans in 1133, Henry the
Second, one of the most powerful Monarchs of his
time. In fact, on his mother's side he was Duke of
Normandy and King of England, and by right of
his father he was Count of Anjou, Mans, and
Touraine.

At that time there lived at the Court of France
a young queen, proud and voluptuous, Eleonore
d'Aquitaine, married to King Louis the Seventh, a
sort of crowned monk, whom she detested. Louis
VII. having become a crusader at the solicitation of
St. Bernard, took his wife to Palestine. When she
arrived at Antiocha she fell in love with some say a
young Saracen slave, others with Count de Poitiers,
her uncle, one of the finest young men of his time.
Other writers say the Queen loved the Sultan
Saladin. Be this as it may, Louis the Seventh, on
his return to France, repudiated his wife. She re-
married with Henry the Second, and brought him
for dowry the Guyenne, Poitou, Saintonge, Au-
vergne, Perigord, the Angoumois, and the Limon-
sin, with rights more or less incontestable over the
Court of Toulouse, which he tried to maintain. By
Henry the Second Eleonore had five sons, among
whom were Richard Coeur do Lion and Jean Sans
Terre. The latter having been invited to the wed-
ding of Isabeau d'Angouleme and Hugues de Lusig-
nan, Count of La Marche, carried away the young

bride and married her. He made her unhappy
during the whole of her life, and after the decease
of her husband she united herself to Hugues de
Lusignan, whom she had never ceased to love.
These statues decorated their tombs. They all
wished to be buried at Fontrevault, because they
were of French origin, and the Augevine Abbey
was the burial place of their family. Eleonore died
at Fontrevault in 1204, and, according to her
desire,. was buried in the cemetery of
the kings, by the side of her husband.
As to Isabeau d'Augouleme, it was llenry the
Third, her son, King of England, who ordered her
remains to be interred there. " These princes,"
concludes the writer, " belong to our history as well
as to that of our neighbours across the sea. From
their accession arose the interminable wars of feudal
anarchy, which ravaged, divided into portions, and
depopulated our country to such an extent that it
was very near falling under the yoke of the Eng-
lish. Surely we have paid dearly enough for their
statues to be allowed to preserve them."
To this account I may add, from what I believe
to be good authority, that although the Emperor,
with his usual desire to perpetuate the entente
cordiale with England, made a sort of promise to
allow these statues to be removed to England, upon
consideration, and in consequence of the strong re-
presentations made to him, it is probable that some
communications will take place between the Govern-
ments of England and France, the result of which
will be that the statues will remain at Fontrevault.
An ordinance of the Duke of Saxe Cobourg fixes
the salary to be paid to the Deputies of the Duchy,
who sit in the Reichstag at $4 (15fr.) a-day. They
are also to have free first-class tickets to and from
Berlin, and their luggage is also to be paid for.

It is stated from Munich that the commission of
the Chamber of Deputies has given unanimously,
less one vote, a decision in favour of the abolition
of the punishment of death. It is therefore pro-
bable that there will be a majority in the Chamber
in favour of the measure. It is not yet known what
course the Ministry will adopt on the subject.
As Verdi's new opera, " Don Carlos," continues
to excite so much enthusiasm, I translate some pas-
sages from another critique. "The genius of Verdi
is at this moment affected by an inevitable crisis.
We shall not reproach the composer of ' Don Carlos'
with having been unfaithful to his true vocation.
The master who created Rigoletti' and the Tro-
vatore' is a mind too much of his own time not to
perceive the revolution which, within the last ten
years, has been effected in music. It is not
his fault if Italian peculiarities, and the
composition of the orchestra, no longer suffice
for us. Verdi tries in his turn what Rossini and
Meyerbeer accomplished in so masterly a manner.
In again composing
a work destined for the French
scene, he wished definitively to leave his native land
to pay a more serious homage to the country of his
adoption. He has made it a point to renew himself
like his illustrious predecessor. "Jerusalem" was
not even his " Moise." He has tried with " Don
Carlos" to find his " Guillaume Tell." It is in the
third act that he has achieved his decisive victory.
The first representation of "Don Carlos" was coldly
received. The succeeding ones have given a little
warmth to the general impression. The execution
of " Don Carlos" does honour both to musicians and
singers, and our praise should be first addresssed to
the valiant chief of the orchestra, Georges Haiul,
upon whom the great responsibility of this grand
battle rested. For a long time Faure has been the
first singer of Paris, but one forgets too often to say
how much each new creation shows a progress in
himself. Never was Faure's voice at once so sono-
rous and so soft. After Faure the honour of the
evening belongs to Obin, who makes up the figure
of Philippe the Second with supreme art. Madame
Sass always possesses the eclat of her incom-
parable voice, but the rich metal wants toning
down. The character of the Princess d'Eboli has
parts too detached for the charming talent of Madame
Gueymard, who is but a light singer.
The recent speech of M. Thiers has brought to
mind the first political effort of the great statesman.
At the commencement of the Restoration, M. Thiers
was studying at the Faculty of Aix. The Academy
of Aix at that time offered a prize for eloquence.
The subject was L'Eloge de Vauvenargues. M.
Thiers was at that time engaged with his Cinq
Codes and his Corpus juris civilis Romani, but he
put them aside for the moment, and sent to the Aca-
demy the culogium upon Vauvenargues, according
to the programme. The learned men of the Academy
were of opinion that the work deserved the prizi in
a literary point of view, but as regarded the political
composition they did not think it was worth it. The
competition for the prize was postponed till the next
year. Next year M. Thiera sent back his manu-
script without changing a word, but to this manu-
script he added another, which he dated, and had it
sent from Paris, so that there might be no suspicion.
When the sealed notes containing the names of the
authors to whom prizes were awarded were opened
it was found that both belonged to M. Thiers. This
trial it is said determined M. Thiers to select
politics for his vocation.
It appears from the statistical report respecting
the crimes committed in France from 1861 to 1865,
that the tribunals bad to decide upon 18,292 crimi-
nal cases. Of these 8,584 were crimes against the
person, and 9,708 against property. Of the 22,752
persons accused from 1861 to 1865, the number of
men was 19,009 and 3,743 women ; 12,036 were
unmarried, and 7,104 married and who had chil-
dren. Of this number 8,998 were completely illi-
terate, 9,761 could only read and write imperfectly,
2,858 derived profit from their education ; 1,135
had received a superior education. Of the 22,752
us
jury
acquitted 5,579. One hundred
andc eightd, the
were j
condemned to death ; of this num-
berace 63 were executed. Two of the accused com-
mitted suicide, and one escaped from prison and was
never recaptured. Of the 108 condemned to death,
50 could neither read nor write, and 54 had been
previously convicted of some crime. Thirty-nine
persons condemned to death had their sentences
commuted to transportation for life.
Cardinal Puente, Archbishop of Burgos, and

Governor of the Prince of Asturies, died afew days
ago, after a long and painful illness. His funeral
took place on the 14th inst., with the ceremony paid
to a marshal who dies on the battle field. Cardinal
Puente was a very learned man, and much esteemed
at the Palace, where he enjoyed great and deserved
influence.
Count N. de Launston, second son of the Mar-
shal, and godson of Napoleon 1., has just died in
Paris.

There is a very agreeable change in the weather.
Last night there was abundance of rain and some
snow, but to-day
it has been fine and much warmer.
According to some of the prophets we shall now
have a little settled weather. The inclemency of
the last few days has been a general and exciting
topic with all Paris.

REFORM MEETING AT DEVONPOHT.—We learn by
telegraph that at the first monthly meeting of the Devon-
port Reform League, held last evening, a resolution was
passed by acclamation that the meeting "having no con-
fidence in the new-fangled Reform Bill of Earl Derby,"
pledges itself to use all legitimate means to agitate the
question of Reform, in favour of a measure embodying re-
sidential manhood suffrage. Every confidence was ex-
pressed in Mr. Gladstone as the leader in any future roform
legislation. Although started but a short time, this branch
of the League is stated to have 200 members, and 100 of
these are voters who exert great influence in the elections.
DEATH OF M. E. T. WAY.—We regret to hear
of the death of this gentleman, the well-known sta-
tion-master on the South-Eastern Railway, at Dover. Mr.
Way, who had been suffering for some time, was in his 50th
year. ills great attention to the duties of his post and his
unvarying courtesy had made him a favourite with the
groups of distinguished personages who are successively
passing to and fro from the Continent, and their apprecia-
tion of his qualities was recognised on several occasions
by valuable souvenirs. With all with whom his duties
brought him into contact Mr. Way was equally popular,
and his death is deeply lamented at Dover, where he was
so well known.

MR. SPEAKER IN THE FAR WEST.—American
papers state that on the 17th ult. Mr. Chapin, Speaker
of the Nebraska House of Representatives, made several
obnoxious decisions, whereupon his office was deolared
vacant, and Dr. Abbott, of Washington county, elected by
the house to fill it. Great excitement ensued, and the
ox-Speaker drew a pistol and threatened to shoot the
Sergeant-at-Arms, but that officer firmly discharged his
duty; the new Speaker took possession of the chair, and
quiet was restored.

L A TEST INTELLIGENCE.

(REUTER'S TELEGRAMS.)

AUSTRIA.

VIENNA, March 20.
The contract for the farming of the tobacco
monopoly has been concluded for five years.

BELGRADE, March 19.
Prince Michael of Servia will set out on Monday
next for Constantinople.

HUNGARY.

PESTII, March 19 (Evening).

The Deak party have agreed to accept the pro-
posals made by the Committee of '67 npon the
future relations between Hungary and Austria, the
Hungarian Ministry having declared their intention
of resigning unless these proposals are adopted by
the Diet. The party of the Left intend to propose
an adjournment of the question. Yesterday and
to-day the Hungarian Ministers met in Council.
Baron von Beust will return to-day to Vienna.
The Emperor and Empress will be crowned at
the same time as King and Queen of Hungary.
Herr Lisszt has composed the coronation man.

THE BOMBAY MAIL.
MARSEILLES, March 20.
The Ripon arrived at 1 a.m. to-day.
The mails leave for London at 11.30 a.m.

AMERICA.

NEW YORK, March 19.

It is expected that the President will veto the
supplement to the Reconstruction Bill, which has
been adopted in both Houses of Congress. In this
event the measure is sure to be passed over the veto.
NEW YORK, March 19, 5 p.m.

The Legislative Council of British Columbia
have passed a vote in favour of admission to the
Colonial Confederation.
COMMERCIAL INTELLIGENCE.

Closing Prices.—Gold, 134. Sterling exchange
on London, 108 f. 5-20 United States Bonds, 115 f.
Erie, 59f. Cotton—Middling Upland, 32.

BREST, March 20.

The Transatlantic Company's steamship Pereire,
which left New York on the 9th inst., arrived here
this morning, with 95 passengers and million

:rancs in specie.