The Sun.
London, England, 1858-12-09 00:00:00

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Exchange on London, at sight, paper, 25f. 12p. ; money,
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95c.

PRUSSIA.

A letter from Berlin of the 3d says :--" A part
of the suite which accompanied the King and
Queen to Meran have returned to the capital.
General de Gerlach soon after waited on the Prince
Regent and delivered a letter from the Queen.
Different versions were in circulation as to the
contents of this letter. It is said by some that
the Queen complains bitterly of the changes
which the Regent has effected among the high
functionaries of the. State, and particularly of the
speech made by the Prince to the ministers, and
in which, it may be remembered, he alluded to the
faults committed under the preceding Government.
The Queen, it is said, observed in her letter that
it was rather premature on the part of the Prince
to pronounce such an opinion while the King wa
still alive, and might at any moment resume the
reins of Government."

" The Emperor of Austria on the 2d received the
Archbishop of Vienna, who took leave on his de-
parture for Rome, where he goes to receive the hat
of cardinal. His Majesty also received the reign-
ing prince of Leichstenstein, who had arrived the
day before from his country seat at Eisgrieb.

LITERATURE.

Maiden Sisters : a Tale. By the author o
" Dorothy." Parker.
Written in a simple style, there is much to charm
in the stories of this author. The one before us is
very melancholy, and the reader naturally feels in-
dignant at the authors of such needless suffering as
the unfortunate young heroine endured. Ellen
Kerr was indeed to be pitied, chiefly for having
had her education so "wofully neglected, and her
mind, which was not naturally strong, totally un-
prepared and unfitted for struggling with the
world. The conduct of her elder sister was indeed
a crime. She knew that the young girl she tyran-
nised over, however yielding and helpless she then
seemed, would one day have to take her place as a
responsible member of society, and her sin was a
grievous one, in stifling all expressions of feeling, and
in destroying all efforts at self-knowledge. There
must be a fearful reckoning on the great day of ac-
count against those who pervert their powers to
such unworthy ends, and thus trifle with the soul
i
that is to live for ever. Norah s a delightful char-
acter—the only really estimable one in the family. ;
for, in consequence of the crushing system employed,
Ellen's energies were so paralysed, that we can
hardly form an opinion of her real capabilities, and
she appears almost a nonentity, not daring to assert
an opinion of her own, and occasioning sorrow to
others and misery to herself by her weakness and
cowardice. Col. Oliphant has some striking quali-
ties, but he is hasty and suspicious, and he was very
much to blame at the last for sacrificing his own
happiness, and still more that of Ellen, to false
pride and offended dignity, when he might have
reflected that Anne Kerr wa§ his enemy, and she
was sure to tyrannise over her young sister. It is
not surprising; considering her delicacy of consti-
tution, that the continued sufferings and the
harassing recollections should have done the work
of the destroyer, and sent the persecuted young girl
to an early grave. It was not likely that the har-
dened heart of Miss Kerr should be alive to any
kindly feelings of regret or sympathy, at such sor-
row, so meekly borne, and so fair a life un-
timely' -withered, but in the still times that
will intervene in the most busy life,
her conscience must have risen up in judg-
ment against her, for her actions admitted
of no palliation. Lord John Oakleigh
is a weak, irresolute man, who might have
created great mischief had not Ellen been so
straightforward and true. Cecil, his sister, is a
charming character, with no pretentions, and she
maintains her ascendancy over the regard when we
find her no fashionable acquaintance of the hour
—but a true friend, and under no very pro-
mising circumstances. A sad page from life's his-
tory is here placed before us, and it will interest
some from its pleasing style and natural descrip-
tions. The spirit with which the author is actuated
is a noble reverence for the pure and the good, and
thus the work possesses a merit apart from its at-
tractive story, in its skilful delineation of social
evils, arising from prejudice and pride, and may be
regarded as a successful attempt to combine in-
struction with amusement.