The Sun.
London, England, 1867-06-15 00:00:00

THE SUN, u 1 DO SA TURDA Y EVENING, JUNE 15, 1867.

whi ch. has been marked by recent arrangements.
We think that all who peruse the noble lord's
speech_ will recognise the importance of the Treaty
just effected, and appreciate the just cause we have
for Vaankfulness that peace has been preserved.
Lord STANLEY admits that when ho first entered
upcin this task he had very little hope of being able
to prevent war by the Conference which was as-
sembling. The question at issue was a simple
one. France having claimed to purchase Luxemburg
1 from the King of lloLtaxn, alleging that by the
dissolution of the Confederation the German right
of garrisoning the fortress had departed. This was
objected to so strongly that the King of IIouNND
withdrew his consent, and France contended that
Prussia bad no right to keep this garrison any
longer as a " danger and a menace" to France, cir-
cumstances having altered the position of things in
Germany so much of late. To this very reasonable
request Pruss'a gave at first a flat denial. As Lord
STANLEY said, every one knew that things could
not go on like that, and jealousy and irritation
between France and Germany increased every day.
From this untoward state of affairs arose suggestions
as to the possibility of mediation by neutral Powers,
and their proposal of a Conference.
As the noble lord emphatically said, England had
no possible interest in the matter, but the mainte-
nance of peace in Europe—an object which all
countries must have in view at such a time. "We
did not wish to give a triumph to France over
Prussia or a triumph to Prussia over France. We
only wanted to keep the peace ; it was perfectly well
known that we had no other object and interest, and
if we carried with us any might or influence in
these negotiations, I ascribe it mainly to the fact
that everybody knew what we wanted, and that we
wanted nothing eke." Lord STANLEY showed
great prescience in the management of this affair,
for he declined to enter upon the Conference at all
until he had such assurances from Prussia as should
afford a prospect of coming to terms eventually.
The French Government had already made some con-
cession. In this he showed a striking contrast to the
line adopted by hispredecessor at the Foreign Office,
for Lord RUSSELL always wasted time in useless re-
criminations, and irritated people by his extreme
language, and after all hesitated so much in coming
to the point that he effected nothing and lost his
influence, while he imperilled the position of Eng-
land in regard to foreign countries. Prussia made a
sine qua non of attaining the neutralisation of the
territory under a European guarantee. All the
other Powers of Europe agreed readily, with the
exception of England ; and Lord STANLEY de-
clared that he never felt so much doubt and anxiety
upon any public question in this life as he did be-
fore this one, and he hesitated before giving his

consent .to the arrangement.
Still we do not see how he could have done other-
wise, for, as he truly observes, had he withheld
his agreement it is not a matter of doubt or specu-
lation, but cf absolute certainty, that at this mo-
ment the French and Prussian arms would have
been fighting, Austria and Italy would have been
drawn into the conflict, and Holland and Belgium
would probably have ceased to exist before
the war was over, besides serious complications
arising in the East. For all this England
would have been responsible, because the arrange-
ment only wanted her sanction. Everything taken
into consideration it appears that Lord STANLEY
has acted wisely and well in the very arduous and
responsible task assigned to him, and from the re-
marks of those who followed him it is evident that
the House was of the same opinion. The Luxem-
bourg Treaty is, indeed, an achievement of which
any statesman may well be proud, and it rested
mainly with England to secure its being carried
into effect.

CORRESPONDENCE FROM PARIS.

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

The Moniteur is destitute of political news to-day.
It states that many foreign vessels are now at Gib-
raltar. The English flag is represented by the
screw frigate Galatea, commanded by the Duke of
Edinburgh, the gunboats Trinculo and Psyche,
and the frigates Caledonian and Arethusa. There
are also in the roads the school sailing ships Iride
and Valeroso, the steamship Prince Humbert, be-
longing to the Royal Italian Navy, and the cele-
brated American corvette Canandaiga.
The Vienna Gazette mentions many acts of kind-
ness and munificence directed by the Emperor of
Austria on the occasion of his coronation as King
of Hungary. All the articles pledged at the pawn-
broking establishments of Pesth for a sum under a
florin are to be restored to the owners free of the
amount advanced, as well as the interest which
would be due upon them.
The latest accounts from Japan are satisfactory.
The visit paid to the Taicoon at his residence of
Osabka by the representatives of the European
Powers, appears to have led to some satisfactory
results, and the Japanese Government exhibits a
disposition to execute promptly all the stipulations
of the treaties which hitherto have not been ful-
filled.

The King of the Belgians, and the brother of
the Taicoon of Japan, have sent addresses to the
Emperor, reprobrating in vivid terms the late
attempt at assassination, and congratulating the
Emperor upon his escape. These addresses have
been graciously and thankfully acknowledged by
his Majesty.

The chief point which now occupies the poli-
ticians of Paris is the question whether the business
of the session can be disposed of without an ad-
journment. Upon this matter I cannot give you
any information, for the simple reason that in an
official quarter I am informed that the Government
cannot tell whether the two important measures
which it is desirous to pass can be disposed of in
time to prevent another meeting in the autumn. It
is necessary that many members should depart for
the provinces shortly to be present at the meetings
of the General Councils, and if delay should be
created by the opposition who have given notice of
amendments both in regard to the proposed law
upon the press and that for regulating public meet-
ings, the discussions must be temporarily postponed.
The proposal now is to reduce the stamp duty upon
newspapers to one sou uniformly. At all events
the Government desires to pass both the above
measures with as little delay as possible.
The arts and the institutes have just experienced
a loss which will long be sensibly felt in the death
of M. Le Bas, a member of the Academy of Fine
Arts, and the oldest member of the architectural
body. He was a member of the Legion of Honour,
and has succumbed after a long and painful illness
at the age of 85. his genius is attested by many
architectural works in Paris. There was a vast
assemblage of the members of the Institute to-day
to do honour to his memory by accompanying his
remains to the cemetery.
_

Figures like facts are stubborn things ; aye, and
they mark the progress of popularity sometimes
very conclusively. On Whit-Monday the number
of persons who paid for admission to the Exhibition
was no less than 136,000. Such an assemblage of
visitors created a little confusion among the rastau-
rateurs as well as pleasure, for at an early hour of
the evening the stock of provisions was exhausted.
Remonstrance was, of course, usel2ss in the presence
of temporary famine, so the famished visitors were
compelled either to go without dinner, or to seek for
it elsewhere. The unceasing attraction of the Ex-
hibition -should act as a hint to such of your readers
as may be undecided about coming to see it. My
advice to them is, "not to stand upon the ordtr of
coming, but come at once." The International
Theatre is now open. It was expzeted that the
opening would have taken place at au earlier period,

but it is such an elegant and commodious building
as to excite wonder that it could have been finished
in so short a time. The inaugurative piece was
" L'Ange deßothestiy," a comic opera in three acts,
and although the plot of it is drawn from Scotland,
it was natural that on such an occasion French
authorship should have been selected. The words
are by Henri Eser and Alexander Ducros, the
music by llenri Potier. The subject may be de-
scribed in a word. A young Scotch orphan resides
in a ruined chateau at Itothesay, which, according
to popular tradition, is haunted. A handsome cap-
tain, as brave as he is amorous, is determined to
penetrate into the gloomy and dangerous abode,
to exorcise the ghosts if need be, but at all events to
obtain an interview with its fair resident. He does
so, and of course he falls in love with her and mar-
ries her.

Rather a serious incident, not expected by the
authors, occurred during the second act. The flags
disposed as ornamental trophies outside the theatre,
waved by the wind, caught fire from a lamp, and
cries of fire resounding through the theatre a panic
arose for a moment, and every person rushed out.
'f hey instantly returned, however, laughing, and the
audience was reassured, the flames having been in-
stantly extinguished, and their being evidently no
danger.
The ballet talked of in which 60 English danseuses
are to appear will be produced without delay. The
Scotch virgins have proved attractive—many are
introduced in the opera—but the English sylphides
are expected to make a pas in advance of them.
I have already described this theatre. Without
being luxurious it is handsome, capacious, and con-
venient. The boxes are comfortable, and the seats,
instead of being stuffed with velvet and hot in the
summer time, are like open straw chairs. The ordi-
nary chandelier from the ceiling is conspicuous for
its absence, and for the increase of air which is thus
obtained through the upper part of the theatre, the
light being given by small lamps or girandolas
around the theatre. The performers in the opera
are Messrs. Reynal, .llazet, and Codelaghi, and
Mesdames Levero and Boulanger. The orchestra
is exceedingly well directed by Mons. F. Barbier.
The ball given at the Prussian Embassy was very
brilliant, but the details would only be a repetition
of the many recent similar assemblies. The Emperor
and Empress were present, and did not retire until
nearly three o'clock in the morning. The Emperor
Napoleon wore the grand order of the Black Eagle
and King William the grand cross of the Legion of
Honour.

The sovereigns are not the only " stars" recently
observed at Paris. A magnificent shooting star
was seen by ➢i. Silbernann, of the College of France,
on the night of Tuesday. The direction was S.W.
to N.E. It was of extraordinary brilliancy, and

its progress was peculiarly slow. It emitted suc-
cessively white and yellow coruscations, and was
very near the earth.

To the list of illustrious visitors to Paris may
now be added Prince Charles the Third of Monaco,
who is accompanied by the Queen Mother and her
suite.

A letter from Rome states that during a recent I
conversation upon the subject of the assemblage of
Sovereigns in Paris, the Pope said that he had long
entertained a wish to come to this capital, and it
would be the realisation of a most earnest desire if
he should be able to realise his wish.
An interesting scientific balloon ascent was made
by M. Camille Flammaria on Sunday last, accom-
panied by M. Godard and M. de Montigny. The
balloon descended at Vouza (Loir et Choir), to the
great consternation of some women in the fields
who ran away, shouting ont, ,‘ the Devil is come !"
One great point established was the decrease of the
humidity of the air on descending. The distance
performed was forty leagues in about six hours. At
the extreme height the gas in escaping made a noise
like the escape of steam from a locomotive.

LATEST INTELLIGENCE.

(REUTER'S TELEGRAMS.)

AMERICA.

NEW YORK, June 14.
The steamers Columbia and United Kingdom,
from Glasgow, arrived here to-day.
CROOKHAVEN, June 15, 7.30 a.m.
The Cunard steamer Africa, from Boston and
Halifax, is now passing Browhead signal station.
She will probably arrive at Quemstown at 1 p.m.,
and letters reach London on Sunday at 9.15 p.m.