The Sun.
London, England, 1867-02-11 00:00:00

TH E SUN, LONDON NI ONDA Y E YEN 1N G, FE UA Ea Y 11, 1807.

A rumour comes from Ottawa speaking of Prince
ALFEED as the possible head of the Confederation of
I
the British American Provinces. Certainly his
Royal llighness would be likely to receive a cordial
welcome from British subjects and from Ameri-
cans alike. A gratifying instance of international
good feeling and American courtesy has just be-
come public. Mr. BENNETI', the owner of the
yacht Henrietta, the winner of the famous race
across the Atlantic, has generously offered her to
Prince ALFRED, as a gift from an American
yachtsman to an English yachtsman, in token of
personal respect and national goodwill. His
Royal Highness, while hesitating- to accept so
magnificent a present, has acknowledged Mr.
BENNETT'S offer in such kind and cordial terms
that we may hope the transaction will tend to
draw closer those bonds of national good feeling
and sympathy which all true statesmen in both
countries must desire to see strengthened.

CORRESPONDENCE PRON. PARIS.

- .0- -

(FROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENT.)

PARTS, Sunday Evening.
A Cabinet Council was held yesterday afternoon
at the Tuileries, under the presidency of the Em-
peror.

The following is from the Moniteur :—" Yester-
day morning the deliberations of the conference of
delegates of the States of Northern Germany were
terminated at Berlin. A private despatch informs
us that the signature of the Federal treaty took
place yesterday (Saturday) at the Ministry of State.
The federal delegates will be invited by Prussia to
be present at the opening of the Parliament (Reich-
stag) of the North. Before leaving his capital for
Jassy, Prince Charles of Hohenzollern made some
diplomatic arrangements. .Not havinghad the oppor-
tunity since his recognition of entering personally
into relations with the Emperor of Austria, his High-
ness sent his Minister of Foreign Affairs, Prince
Stirbey, with a letter. On the other hand, Prince
Charles profited by the expected speedy return to
Belgrade of his usual agent, M. Cantacuzere, to send
a letter to Prince de Montenegro, to whom he had
not yet announced l is accession."

Some sensation has been created among the Paris
papers by a circular from the Post-office authorising
the opening of letters supposed to contain a letter
to General St. Priest from the Count de Chambord.
The explanations given upon the subject by the
Government in an official communication to the
newspapers is perfectly satisfactory. The letter, I
may add, contained treason against the present
Dynasty, and all Governments claim the right to
suppress treasonable correspondence. When the
late Sir James Graham was in office he contended
openly is the House of Commons for the right.
The Court of Nisnaes, in confirmation of a deci-
sion of the Tribunal of Avignon, has given a judg-
ment of importance in support of the cause of pus-
lic morality. It has decided that a seducer who,
by deception, shall succeeded in turning from her
duty and inducing a virtuous young girl, a minor,
to leave the home of her parents, may be condemned
to pay damages, either to the parents or to the
girl, even if he may not have promised her mar-
riage:, In the case in question the seducer was
ordered to pay 4,000 f. damages.
The new regulations for the insurance of order
and propriety during the discussions in the Legisla-
tive Body arc rather stringent, and might perhaps
be initiated in " another place" with advantage.
A member called to order for interruption cannot
be allr)wed to speak. Should the speaker deviate
from the question at issue, the President may call
his attention to the fact. If, after a second appeal
from the President, he should continue to wander
from the real subject under consideration, the Pre-
sident may appeal to the Assembly to decide whether
he shall be allowed to address the Chamber again
during the same sitting upon the question. It is
the President only who can call an orator to order.
All personalty or sign of approbation or disappro-
bation is forbidden. Should a member of the
Legislative Body trouble the tranquillity of the

must be abided by ; but negro suffrage is not the
general. law, and why is Nebraska to be the excep-
tion ? At this rate all States North and South that
do no t admit negro suffrage might be reduced to
the level of territories. It is likely enough that
Ca egress may force both Bills over the veto ; but
th e PRESIDENT has entered his protest nevertheless.
Ti le Mississippi Legislature has unanimously re-
jected the Constitutional Amendment; so that the
middle party, which hoped for compromise, and
thought the South might be cajoled into accept-
ing the amendment in the vague hope of het-
ter treatment from the Radicals, must by this
i'ne he pretty well convinced of their mistake. It
/as at one time reported that the PRESIDENT him-
self would be persuaded by a certain section of his
advisers to accept the amendment, and to press it
upon the Southern Legislatures for acceptance. It
was said that negro suffrage was so unpopular that the
Radicals would never attempt to stand by that, and
that if the Constitutional Amendment were adopted
by the ex-Confederates they would have nothing to
fight about. This sounds plausible enough, but we
are glad that Mr. JOHNSON was not deluded by it.
In the first place, that was no sort of security that
the Radicals would abide by their own words, and
admit the Southern representatives on the adoption
of the amendment. The leaders took care to avoid
any risk of- such a pledge. Their hatred of the South
seems so great that even if they were actually
pledged to a favourable policy they would find some
means of evading or counteracting it. Mr. JOHN-
SON, too, by sa ill-advised a concession, would have
lost the strength which his firmness and immobility
have given him. All felt that he could not be moved
from the position which he had taken up by any of
the ordinary resources of manoeuvring politicians,
and although his case at first seemed almost hope-
less, yet he has gained in strength as the time went
on. lle could not be turned from his policy with-
out such violent measures as "would disturb the
finances, unsettle the country, foolishly reopen the
gates of civil war, and very likely be rejected by the
people. The reaction in favour of the PRESIDENT
and his policy, which any extensive measures, such
as the threatened impeachment, for instance, would
be quite opposed to the wishes and intentions of the
Radicals. Their leaders appear to be sagacious
enough to detect this, and we find that the impeach-
ment is less talked about.
They have not, however, abandoned it altogether,
and are now, it is said, preparing a bill providing
for the temporary instalment of General GRANT as
President during the impeachment of Mr. JOHNSON.
General GRANT has never identified himself with the
ultra party, and is highly popular. It is currently
believed that he will be the next President in regu-
lar succession, and indeed he seems to be almost the
only man likely to be accepted by the country.
The Radicals think, no doubt, that it will be a very
sagacious movement to propose him as temporary
President, inasmuch as many would accept him
who would not tolerate the idea of putting
the country under the rule of STEVENS or
BUTLER. It remains to be seen, however, whe-
ther the general would accept the flattering but
troublesome distinction. It would be identifying
himself with the impeachment, and openly desert-
ing the PRESIDENT, whose firm ally he professed to
be. It would also hopelessly embroil him with the
Democrats, and damage his European reputation.
Under these circumstances, it is quite possible that,
even were the impeachment pressed on, and the
offer of the temporary Presidency made to General
GRANT, the American ULYSSES, would have sa-
gacity as well as honour enough to decline it, and
thus neutralise the Radical Itchemes.

LITERATI7RB.

Lads Adelaide's Oath. By Mrs. Henry Wood,
author of "East Lynne." 3 vols. Richard
Bentley.
Among the many qualifications required for a
good novelist, one of the most essential, the one,
in fact, of foremost importance, and without
which all others are comparatively useless, is
attractive
alarming t tAe B
h than
the
onmthorraeuing,btlt
lees
the power of interesting the reader. s
perti-
onfacliiooursa,oo,baust
Ancient Mariner, the Story-Teller (worthy of his
name) holds our attention spellbound, and with a
willing submission we yield to his potent influence.
An author may have excellent descriptive powers ;
he may be able to discriminate and de-
pict all varieties of character and temperament,
he may instruct us by his learning, or amuse us by
his wit, and his readers may be loud in their com-
mendations of his genias ; but the Story-Teller pur
at simple, the novel-writer gifted with the power
(aud it is a rare gift) of constructing a life-like
plot, and infusing into it a vital interest,
will be read by the , many, while his, per-
haps, more excellent but less attractive com-
peer is admired by the few. Among the fair
authoresses of the day, and their name is legion,
and, let us own it with gratitude, their powers of
fascination are great, pre-eminent for their power of
arresting their readers' attention are Miss Braddon
and Mrs. Henry Wood, as the readers of "Aurora
Floyd" and "East Lynne" can abundantly testify.
We have before us now another enthralling history
from the fertile pen of the delightful author of "East
Lynne " and " The Shadow of Ashlydiat." The
present story, "Lady Adelaide's Oath," is in every
respect quite as attractive as its predecessors. The
first volume is intensely interesting, and the scene
in which the unfortunate heroine summons up
courage—the courage of desperation—and takes
the all-important oath is very powerfully described ;
in fact the conception of the whole situation is of
itself an indisputable evidence of the peculiar powers
of the authoress in the construction of a plot, and
the concoction of a mystery. Added to this great
capacity for producing a sensation, the chief secret
of Mrs. Wood's success as a novel-writer is her very
natural delineation of human emotion. " That
touch of nature" which makes the whole world kin,
gives the reader a personal interest and sympathy
in the tale. It was so with regard to the erring
heroine of East Lynne, as she watched by her un-
conscious children. It is so with Lady Adelaide,
guilty as she is, as she strives to protect and
screen the beloved one from danger. The cha-
racter of the heroine is not an agreeable one. In
former days a charge- was brought against
the poets and romancists for always depicting
their heroines as paragons of perfection, but
the writers of the present day go to the other ex-
treme, and in place of angelic heroines, we have
recently been favoured with the histories of some
fair friends, as we might almost call them. Lady
Adelaide Errol does not come within this designa-
tion. She is, when we first meet her, very young,
but selfish and fond of admiration, and not above
deception in order to gain her own desires. The
two heroes are capitally contrasted: the one genuine
and unsuspecting, the other weak and treacherous,
" not half a villain and not half a knight."
Engaged to the one and attached to the other,
the artful Adelaide is playing a dangerous
game when the fatal incident occurs, which
gives a different tenour 10 the whole plot, and
compels the unhappy girl to utter the awful
oath which exercises such a dreadful influence
upon her whole career. The revulsion of
felling which makes her . shrink from the
&eject of her former affection is very naturally
described, as are the baneful effects of remorse,
remorse which is not repentance. We cannot enter
further into the merits of the work without betray-
ing too much of the mystery, and as the chief at-
traction of the book is its very interesting
story, we are reluctant to spoil the plea-
sure of the reader. We must content our-
selves, therefore, with commending "Lady Ade-
laide's Oath" as being a very enthralling story,
describing with great power and accuracy some
very well-drawn charactets—in fact, as being a
worthy successor to the very interesting history of
" East Lynne," which earned for its author so
great a popularity,

Assembly, the President may call upon him by
name. If he persist in the same course, the Presi-
dent may direct a note to be taken of the member
having been called to order. Should the member
still resist the request to conform himself to the
regulations of the Chamber, the Assembly, upon the
proposition of the President, and without discussion,
may exclude the member from the Chamber for any
period not exceeding five days. (What would the
Marquis de Boissy have said to such a prohibition
as this ? Only fancy a member precluded from
uttering nonsense for five days. Such a regulation
at home might put a stop tem; orarily to virulence
from John Bright.) This is not at all, for on occa-
sions when a member may be excluded from the
Chambers for outraging the regulations of the Cham-
ber, it may order publicity to be given to the fact
in the department or town which the offender re-
presents. Should the Assembly beCome disorderly,
and the President be unable to calm the tumult, he
may suspend the sitting for an hour. At the expira-
tion of that time, should the disorder continue, the
President may adjourn the Home until the next day.
The previous question must be put before the pro-
posal of the question which may be at issue. " The
previous question" cannot be put in regard to any
proposals made by the Emperor. No member of
the Legislative Body can absent himself without
leave. All demands for the right to put questions
to the Government must be in writing, and be
signed by five members. The request must be in
the following terms :—" The Legislative Body calls
the attention of the Government to the object of the
iuterpellations."
The excitement respecting the cattle plague, still
continues at Hassell. Some veterinary surgeons
having given their opinion that some meat was
diseased it was buried with great precaution, as
well as the cothes of the men who had slaughtered
the animals. Straw was burned over the spot, which
was also covered with quick-lime. One account
from Hasselt says that the cattle disease prevails to
a " terrible extent." All the markets are held out-
side the town, and clothes are not allowed to be sold
in the streets for fear of infection. One regulation
of a police ordinance is, that " children are not
allowed to circulate in the streets." I❑ short, the
sanitary regulations are of such a stringent and
extraordinary character that it has been necessary
to send for additional troops to enforce them.
The change in the weather to-day is really mar-
vellous. The tempest is completely stilled, and
there is complete placidity. The morning was rather
dull, but since 1 o'clock in the afternoon the sun
has been shining with almost Uninterrupted brilliancy,
and in the Gardens of the Tuileries and other pub-
lic promenades it was not merely warm, but hot.
The horse races at the Hippodrome in the Bois
de Boulogne will be more numerous and of a more
important character than ever this year, in conse-
quence of the Universal Exhibition. They will take
place Sunday 7 and Sunday 14, Easter Monday the
22d, and Sunday, 28th April ; Thursday the 2d,
Sunday the sth, and Sunday, 26th of May ; Satur-
day the Ist and Sunday the 2d of June. There
will, therefore, be nine days' racing during the
course of two months. Chantilly Races will take
place on the 12th, 16th, and 19th of May.
The use of horse-flesh as food is becomingmore and
more general, says a Paris paper. The Observateur
d' Avesne says that the horse butchery of Hautmont
becomes daily of greater extension. Three horses
are killed there weekly, a fact which has cheapened
the price of meat. The horse-flesh for food is sold
so cheap as from 2d. to 3d. English per pound, ac-
cording to quality and cut.
A committee has been formed at Zurich to obtain
from the friends of the Polish cause the funds ne-
cessary to enable the young Polish exiles to finish
their studies at the University of that town. M.
Victor Hugo has been appointed honorary member
of the committee. In his letter accepting the ap-
pointment M. Victor Hugo says, " I shall never be
insensible to your great cause. There never was a
more heroic martyr than Poland."

LATEST IN

(REUTER'S TELEGRAMS.)

THE FRENCH ARMY.

PARIS, Feb. 11.

An Imperial decree, issued to-day, orders the
re-establishment of the Gth squadron in the regi-
ments of Carabiniers, Cuirassiers, Dragoons, and
Lancers, and the formation of a fresh regiment of
African Chasseurs.

The Ministerial report preceding the &tree
states that these measures are taken in the interest
of the officers whose advancement has been retarded
by the reduction made in the regimental cadres in
NovernLer, 1865.

The Moniteur of this morning says :—" A journal
has announced that the Government intended to
submit the Budget of the City of Paris to the
examination and vote of the Legislative Body. The
Government, in fact, at the suggestion of the Prefect
of the Seine, has undertaken a careful study of the
question, but such a derogation of the legislative
rules which control the settlement and voting of the
municipal budgets does not appear to the Govern-
ment to be required by any interests of importance.
The news that the Government had under conside-
ration the suppression of the octrois is totally devoid
of foundation." ,