The Sun.
London, England, 1866-12-10 00:00:00

THE SUN, LOINLON, MONOAY E v ENING, `:MBUll 10, 1866

phan.WirnLtgorian views we should only be lured
further into the dreary desert of despotism." In
cot-miller iting upon those mistaken politicians he
shade ws forth a great deal of the causes which have
actor ded to Prussia such success in the present
year. IVaverers have been caught, and doubtful
men. have been seduced from their allegiance by
the: spacious sophistries of Berlin ; that majority of
the. -world which always goes over to the winning
sides has declared loudly for the supremacy of
Prussia, and here many doubts and misrepresenta-
tions have arisen.

We. cannot see the good that can arise from this
misrepresentation of evil, and those who penist in
putting white for black, and sweet for bitter, in the
case of Prussia, are doing great injury to the sacred
cause of truth, and insulting the supreme majesty
of justice. It seems almost impossible to understand
why such perversity should have seized upon so
many minds, and nothing that any one can do or
say appears likely to disabuse them. There is great
force in this passage about truckling to triumphs
which deserve no need of encouragement or
applause. " What demoralisation would corrupt
national and party life if this inclination of having
before men success became general." We com-
mend the arguments of this writer to the notice of
all who have been mystified by the plausible argu-
ments of BISMARCK about German unity and such
like clap-trap. As he very properly remarks, the
"loftiest political phraseology of the needle-gun
enthusiasts shall not make us forget that we are still
in the midst of the struggle." This is an exact
definition of the state. of things in Germany. It is
a struggle, neither more nor less, and it will soon be
seen whether the German nation is to advance or to
retrograde. If the policy of BB MNRCK is carried out in
its entirety, there will be a great wrong done to pro-
gress ; but if, as may be the case, that wilful states-
man be checked in his career, the States of Germany
will have an opportunity of retrieving themselves.
At any rate, while in this transition state, let not
men's minds be deceived, but let them realise thei r
true position, and comprehend in its full force the
nature and tendency of Prussian policy. It is one
of aggression from first to last, and it is redeemed
in no one particular by any generous conduct, or
any trait of a higher tendency than that of rapacity,
and a determination to gain its ends no matter how
such ambition may militate against the rights and
destroy the interests of others.

the Court of Assize for the Deux Sevres at Niort for
the murder of his first and second wife, and of his
kpn by the latter, naturally excites great attention.
I sent you some particulars about the case, but it
may be well to recapitulate the facts. They are
brief, although no less than 150 witnesses were sum-
moned on the part of the prosecution. The two
women were evidently poisoned, the first wife in
1856, and the second in 1865, traces of poison
having been found in the intestines. Abel Reau,
the son, no doubt died fron the same poison, corro-
sive sublimate. The prisoner, in addition to his
other occupation, dealt in horses, and was a veteri-
nary surgeon. He was in the habit of using poisons
in small doses for.the cure of horses and mules. It
was proved that he obtained a fortune of no less
than about £6,000 sterling from insurances on the
lives of his wives and property which would have
reverted to his sou if he had lived, but which came
into the possession of the prisoner at the death of his
son. Many medical books were found at his house,
and marks and notes were made upon those portions
which treated of the most deadly poisons. On one
occasion he asked a witness if he could tell him the
best and quickest mode of poisoning, for his cousin
had threatened to shoot him, and he wanted to get
rid of him. His idea of marriage, as expressed to
another witness, was, " the more wives a man has
the richer he grows." Another heinous incident in
his case is, that the poisoner offered I,ooof. to an
Italian refugee named Bertadatto to assist him in
endeavouring to prove that his second wife and son
were poisoned by two relatives named Bontemps and
Bichon.

LATEST INTELLIGENCE.

(REUTER'S TELEGRAMS.)

LITERATURE.

A Winter with the Swallows. By Matilda Betham
Edwards. 1 vol., pp. 286. Hurst and Blackett.
Often in her childhood, the fair authoress of this
delightful volume tells us, she had wished that the
Arabian Nights were all true, little dreaming, she
adds, how she would one day discover nothing to
be truer than poetic fiction. On her recent visit to
Algeria she seemed to hear story after story added
to the Thousand and One, all new, as true and
almost as wonderful. " The city of Algiers rises
like a vision from the sea, and one wants a pencil
dipped in colour to give any adequate conception
of it. Imagine terrace after terrace of pure white
marble piled upon a sunny height with a broad
blue bay below ; bright green hills stretching
towards a vast velvety plain on either side,
beyond all a line of snow-tipped mountains, dim
and distant as clouds ; and you have some shadowy
idea of as fair a picture as the world can show."
This picture gives not only the idea of the appear-
ance of Algiers, it may also serve to illustrate the
lively powers of observation and description which
render the authoress of this book a most delightful
cicerone through the enchanted regions of the East.
Christmas-day in Africa, " warm assn old-fashioned
May-day,"----Algerian Streets by Moonlight—A
trip into Kabylia, with legends and history of the
Kabyles—A Journey to the Cedar Forests—Sleep-
ing in a Caravansary—Breakfast with the Trappists
—A Moorish Palace—Housekeeping in Algiers—
such are a few among the almost innumerable mat-
ters of interest and information that pass before
our notice, and live in our recollection as depicted
by the skilful hand of this fellow-wanderer with
the swallows.

Social Life in Former Days. Second Series. Illus-
trated by Letters and Family Papers. By E.
Dunbar Dunbar (late) Captain 21st Fusiliers.
1 vol., pp. 199. Edmonston and Douglas.
Some time back we noticed the very interesting
contents of the first volume of this very curious and
original work. We are not surprised to find that
the success of that first adventure has induced
Captain Dunbar to bring out this second in-
stalment. The old family documents from
which these incidents have been colleete3, man':
of them having been exceedingly difficult to
decipher, some delay has necessarily taken
place in the publication of this second volume.
Its contents are fully as interesting as those of its
predecessor, but the curious spelling and old-
fashioned words render many of the letters difficult
reading even at present. To the student of history
and to the future historian they will have, of course,
a particular value and interest. Among the subjects
referred to in the present volume are—" Feuds
between Powerful Families," in 1577 ; " The Plan-
tation of Nova Scotia and knights bannerets thereof,
1625 ;" " Letters from the Courts of James VI. and
Charles 1.," " Scolastical and Bibliothecal," " Noble
and Exemplary Wives," "An Order for Dress, an
Offer of Marriage, and a Marriage, 1657," " Invita-
tion to the Funeral of a Countess ; Obsequies of a
Laird, 1663 ; and of a Knight, 1666." Many of the
details cf the domestic and social life of a bygone
age are here revealed to us in the most simple and
accurate manner, the writers being wholly uncon-
scious that they were inditing epistles for the interest
or information of a future generation.

Memoirs of the Confederate War for Independence.
By Heros Von Boreke, lately Chief of Staff to
General J. E. R. Stuart. Two vols., with a

map. Blackwood and Sons.

These very interesting memoirs of the Confederate
war have already appeared in the pages of Black-
wood's Magazine, but they are well worthy of a
separate publication. The writer expresses a hope
that, although a new war, in which he himself had
"the proud satisfaction of fighting in the great
battle of Konigsgratz," may have effaced the recol-
lection of "the splendid army of Virginia, many will
still read with some interest the simple narrative
of a soldier who is proud to have shared the suffer-
ings and the glory of the late Confederacy."
To the gallant lleros Von Borcke himself, late
chief of Skiff to C;onornl Stnart, and now ono
of the 3d Prussian Dragoons, the feelings of the
politician are evidently subservient to those of the
soldier, and a war of independence on one side of
the Atlantic or of conquest on the other are equally
welcome and satisfactory.

The Book of Birthdays; or, Anniversary Poets y of
Human Life. Darton and Co.

A pretty little volume, containing some hundreds
of little poems collected from various writers, all
more or less relating to the great anniversary of
human life. The author justly claims for his little
book the merit of containing a variety of poems on
similar subjects never before collected. Among those
authors whose works have furnished materials for
this volume are Pope, and Dryden, and Byron, and
Scott, and Campbell, and Tennyson, and Bulwer
Lytton, and Wordsworth, and Burns, and Johnson
—in fact, every poet worth recalling.

The Texan Ranger; or, Real Life in the Backwoods,
By Captain Flack. Darton and Co.

The author tells us that he has endeavoured to
give in this volume some idea of the life led on the
Southern plantations some few years ago, and as-
suredly a most adventurous life it must have been.
Alligator shooting, and adventures with cougars and
wild bears and opossums are varied with ac-
counts of wild bull fighting, and the pursuit
of the mustang or wild horse, to say nothing
of snakes, and wild cats, and wild turkeys, and
stags, and bisons, which afford continual
.subjects
of pastime or peril.

Lucy TVest ; or, The Orphans of High Cliff. By
Mrs. H. B. Bank. One vol., pp. 208. Frederick

Warne.

This is a very interesting little story, which may
afford profitable amusement to young readers. Lucy
west is one of those who marry in haste and repent
at leisure, and her various trials are related with
considerable feeling and fidelity to truthfulness.

Smart Sayings of Great Personages. One rol.,

pp. 200. Darton and Co.

This little book professes to be a repertory of
wit, anecdote, apothegm, and repartee of states-
men, courtiers, divines, lawyers, actors, poets,
printers, and philosophers, collected together on the
strength of Dr. Channing's remark, "that one
anecdote of a man is worth a volume of biography."
If this be so, then must this little repertory of two
hundred pages be equivalent to an entire library !

The earth weighs 1,256,195,070,000,000,000,000
tons.

BATH AND WEST OF ENGLAND AGRICULTURAL
SOCIETY.--This society, which is second in import-
ance only to the Agricultural Society, has, at. a meeting of
the council just held, fixed to hold its meeting in 1867 in
the city of Salisbury on Monday, the 10th of June, and
following days, the entries for stock and implements to
close on 18th of April, and for poultry on the 10th of May.
£l,OOO will be offered by the society in prizes for stock,
besides £5O given by the local committee at Salisbury, and
£lOO toward the expenses of a dogishow, should it be con-
sidered desirable to hold one. In the competition for prizes,
Devons, Herefordshire, and short-horn cattle are to be
placed on the same footing, and in the sheep classes several
additions have been made to those of the Hereford show,
it having been decided to offer prizes now for Leicester,
Cotswold, other long-woo], Southdown, Hampshire Down,
Shropshire, Oxford Down, Somerset and Dorset horn, and
mountain sheep. The prizes offered by tho Salisbury
committee are £lO and £5 for five four-teeth Hampshire
Down sheep to be shown in their wool; and £lO and £5
for five six-teeth or full-mouth ewes; also £2O, in sums
varying from £5 to £2 10s., for Berkshire pigs, and £3
les. for sheep sheering. In the horse classes prizes of £3O
and £l5 will be given for agricultural stallions foaled before
1865, £2O and £lO for agricultural stallions foaled in 1865
£l5 and £5 for mares and foals or in foal, £2O and £lO for
pairs of agricultural horses foaled before 1862, and £2O and
£lO for do. foaled after Jan. 1, 1862. In the hunter classes
£25 and £lO will be given in prizes for mares or geldings
foaled before January, 1863 ; £25 and £lO for do. foaled in
1863 ; and £l5 and £5 for fillies or geldings foaled in 1864.
In the hack class £lO and £5 will be given for mares or
geldings to carry not less than 15 stone, and £lO and £5
fur do. to carry not less than 12 stone ; and £lO for the
best mare or gelding pony not exceeding 13 hands high.
very liberal prize-sheet in the poultry department has also
been decided on, and arrangements are to be made for a
horticultural show similar to last year. Moro will also be
au exhibition of art manufactures and pictures.

RISK ALLAH BEY.

We have been requested to publish the following
correspondence :

To Monsieur do Bavay, Procurour-G6nCral at

Brussels.

20, Edward-street, Portman-square,
London, Nov. 17, 1866.

Sin,—My attention was attracted a few days
since to the tenour of your speech, which appeared
in the Daily Telegraph of October the 30th, a dis-
course composed on the occasion of the trial of Risk
Allah Bey. In that speech you mentioned my name,
and made certain remarks referring to my order of
" The Redemption," instituted by my ancestor
Vincent I. of Gonzagt, Sovereign Duke of Mantua
and Moutferrat, and of which noble order I am, as
will be seen by the enclosed statutes, Hereditary
Grand Master.

Having no intention to occupy the public with

the question of the success with which the jury
gratified the efforts of your eloquence, I will only
remark that there was something very ignoble in
those attacks, launched as they were at an absent
and consequently defenceless person ; and believe
me, sir, there is not all the importance you desire
attached to those verbose accusations, delivered as
they were by a man having a certain object to
attain.

Arbitrary measures may have wrested from my
family their hereditary possessions, yet two things
remain to mo as their actual chief and last descen-
dant : these two things are the name of Gonzaga,
and my right to the possessions of my ancestors.
The weaker must of necessity yield to the stronger,
but none can deny either his existence or his name ;
and his rights, although set aside, are imperishable
and must descend to his heirs. During 38 years I
followed a military career, and retired with the rank
of General. I have frequently brought before the-
notice of the public the spoliations of which I am
the victim, and the newspapers of many periods, and
of almost all the nations of Europe (notwithstand-
ing the shameful persecutions to which I have been
subjected), have published my protestations, and my
identity has been proved by Governments, as also
by the titles and documents in my possession.
The Sovereigns of Austria, and not the Princes of
Gouzaga, have been the despoilers (for it is impos-
sible for me, sir, to repeat the base expressions of
which you made use), and if they have left me no-
thing but the name I bear, and the titles apper-
taining to it, it does not follow that I am the dis-
honest man you desire to represent me ; and there
was little delicacy on your part in attacking me
with vituperation, because it might serve the cause
in which you were engaged.
I am Grandmaster of the Orders of my family ;
and whatever may be the objections you have raised,
I confer them, and shall continue to confer them,
whenever and on whomsoever I think fit. .It is my
legitimate right, notwithstanding your having
arrogated to yourself the power of denying it. You
may calumniate me, but I shall not the less do that
which I consider best, and if you act as an Attor-
ney-General who understands his profession that
will not in any way prevent my conducting myself
as a Prince who respects himself.
In conclusion, I protest, sir, conscientiously and
solemnly, before God and before Europe, against
your unworthy expressions, as also against the
falsity of your accusations with respect to me per-
sonally. The complete inaccuracy of your allega-
tions can be proved by all those who are willing to
read the accompanying letter, which was trans-
mitted in the month of December, 1853, by his
Excellency Lord Cowley, the English Ambassador,
to his Majesty Napoleon 111., Emperor of the
French.

I have the honour, Monsieur le Proeureur-Gene-
ral, to present my respects.
PRINCE ALEXANDRE ANDRE DE G ONZAGA,
Duke of Mantua.

To his Majesty Napoleon 111., Emperor of the

French.

Sire,—The undersigned Prince Alexander of
Gonzaga of Mantua has the honour to submit to
yntir Nirki.,ty fho following fnoto.

In 1812 he entered as a volunteer the 9th Regi-
ment of Infantry of the Vistula under the name of
PrinceAlexander.tindw' of Gonzaga Mantua, Count
of Murzinowski, and Prince of the Roman Empire.
In the course of the same. year he was promoted to
the grades of non-commis3ioned officer, afterwards
of lieutenant. On his return from the Russian
campaign he was met at Wilna. by Marshal Ney,
who placed him on his staff, where he remained
until the battle of Leipsic.
After that campaign he entered the regiment of
Lancers formed by General Count Pac, in which
regiment he served as a lieutenant until 1814.

In 1816 the Grand Duke Constantine of Russia
appointed him first-class lieutenant in the 2d Regi-
ment of Chassurs ; but from that time to 1821 he was
detached from the regiment, and specially served
on the staff of the Grand Duke Constantine. After-
wards the Grand Duke sent him to Gen. Rozniecki,
Chief Instructor of all the Cavalry of Poland and
that of Lithuania, where he was promoted to the
rank of captain of cavalry in 1824.
In order to abbreviate this exposé, the undersigned
Prince Gonzaga, has the honour to make known to
your Majesty that in 1828 he was serving with the
rank of colonel in the Russian war with Turkey.
Finally, in 1833, the undersigned was naturalised a
citizen of Wurtemberg, after his identity and ante-
cedents had been verified by Baron Mayendorff, the
Russian Minister at the Court of Wurtemberg, act-
ing under orders received from the Emperor Nicho-
las 1., and later, after having distinguished himself
in the army of Don Carlos, in Spain, as colonel of
the Lancers of Tortosa, in 1837 and 1838, he en-
tered private life.

The undersigned, in order to complete this brief
and incomplete sketch of his services, must add that
the French Government offered him, in 1840, the
appointment of colonel in the Foreign Legion.
From the year 1812 the undersigned Prince
Alexander Gonzaga Mantua has been received at
all the Courts, with marked distinction and treated
by all Sovereigns with the greatest kindness. No
one has ever thought of disputing his names and
titles ; and the protests which he has several times
renewed during the last 15 years establish the fact
that he has no intention of renouncing his rights
which he considers imprescriptible. Did not the
undersigned fear to occupy too much of your Ma-
jesty's time, he would cite some passages from his
voluminous and important correspondence, in which
would be seen the sympathy and regard which
Princes, and the most illustrious statesmen
of France, England, Italy, Germany, and
Prussia have expressed towards him. The under-
signed could also give the names of many
French peers, diplomatists, generals, and admirals
who have never doubted his identity, and have
always written most flattering letters. Lately,
again, while in Rome, at the time of the French
occupation, the undersigned Prince Gonzaga thinks
it right to mention that he was of some service to
your Majesty's army. Sire, letters emanating from
the commanders of that army show how great was
the esteem in which he was held.

Before the time of the painful trial to which the
undersignel will presently call your Majesty's at-
tention, the prince did not wish to publish any
memoir, quote any letters, or even make use of any
name, as it was his particular wish to avoid scandal,
although scandal was being accumulated around
him.

Thus, Sire, time passed on for many years, during
which the undersigned bad been all over Europe,
and had resided in France for more than six years,
without any person having dreamt of denying his

identity.
However, in 1852, on his way through Paris, pro-
vided with an English passport in due order, he re-
ceived from the police authorities (April 16, 1852)
an order to depart and quit France. It caused him
deep sorrow to be the object of such an order, and
perhaps he acted unwisely in resisting that order,
but he did it in the interest of his dignity and
honour, which you, sire, will easily comprehend.
he was arre,ted under
the 2311 July, 1852,
the triple charge of swindling, unauthorised stay in
France, and of illegally wearing the order of the
Legion of Honour. This latter charge was at once
withdrawn, as the undersigned Prince bad in reality

arg ..."'"

received, in 1814, the " lettre d'avis," letter of ad-
vice, of his nomination as an officer of the Legion of
Honour by the Emperor Napoleon I. at the fight
which took place at Berry au Bac (March 10, 1814),
and, as his travelling pass (for the purpose of joining
the depot at Callers, in 1838, as colonel and general
and prisoner of war by the French authorities) de-
scribed him, as " Officer of the Legion of Honour."-
A preparatory investigation (instruction) took
place. It lasted twelve mouths, during which time
the undersigned Prince remained a prisoner,
.I),r
prevention, in solitary confinement at the prison of
Mazas. During that time Mr. Brault, the Juge
d'lnstruction, wrote to all the Courts of Europe, in
order to establish proofs that the undersigned was
not Prince Alexander of Gonzaga Mantua,. 'That
minute inquiry, without a precedent, entirely failed.
On the day the trial took place, although the un-
dersigned Prince produced all the deeds and docu-
ments relating to his family and genealogy, although
he produced certificates of his birth and baptism,
authenticated statements of his military services,
an attestation from the Minister of Wurtemberg
residing in Paris of his naturalisation at Stuttgart
in 1833, as likewise attestations from Generals
Trezel and De Lamarre, Colonel Chapuis, &C., be
was condemned.

He was condemned for infraction of the laws re-
lative to foreigners, and a thousand times more
heartrending, and still more astonishing, for swind-
ling ; and, as the sentence says, in the fact that be
caused several persons (five or six) to remit to bull
sums of money for the orders he distributed.
But, Sire, the undersigned Prince, in his capacity
of Chief and Hereditary Grand Master of the Orders
of Redemption, Conception, and of Alexander or
Merit (or Devotion) belonging to his own house,
has distributed, it cannot be denied, more than 500
crosses in different countries. All the expenses have
been borne by him without his having ever dreamt
of having them refunded ; and because, out of that
number of 500, five or six to whom he granted di-
plomas (while he was residing in Italy) did, of their
own accord, think proper to pay to his Secretary
the expenses of the crosses and diplomas, it has been
construed into swindling ; and he was sentenced to
three years' imprisonment and to a fine of 3,000 f.
The sentence of the Tribune of Pollee Correction"
elle purported to be, that the undersigned Prince
was a soi-disant Prince of Gonzaga Mantua,, but
without being able to say who he was, and they
have never been able to invent any other name for
him, although they have used every endeavour se
to do.
The undersigned Prince appealed to the Court of
Paris. He demanded through his Advocate Monsieur
Avond the grounds of accusation moyens de droll,
maintaining that it was a question of civil right'
that the civil jurisdiction, according to the 326 33d
327 articles of the civil code (Code Civil),was alone
competent to divide the regulations of his civil state
and to examine his riguts, declaring upon the pro-
ceeding in what he had transgressed the law.
The Court of Paris (Police Correctiouelle), afterc
two days' discussion, rejected that demand, refused
an adjournment to go through the case, and refused
to give the grounds of accusation upon which the
jurists had founded his acquittal, and sentenced the
undersigned Prince Alexander Gonzaga not to thre3,
years and 3,000 francs, but to five years and 5,00 u
francs fine ! ! And this, Sire, although the under-
signed had not been allowed to defend himself upon
any defined transgression of the law, nor been

allowed to say a word in his defence.
The undersigned had recourse to the Court 0f
Cassation. There Monsieur Mathieu Bodet, the
most illustrious jurist attached to that highest f
;
French courts, brought out a remarkable " I\-lenloa-
Ampliatif," iu which he clearly demonstrated vie"
lation of the law, by the Court of Paris, false aPi
plication of the articles of the same law, abase °
power, and consequently the necessity of reversing
the sentence of the Court of Paris, which had con-
demned him by default. But the Court of Caso"
tion, presided over by Monsieur Laplage-Barns'
after four hours' secret deliberation, rejected his ap"
plication.
Victim of a judicial error, the unfortunate Prince
of Gonzaga Mantua appeals now to you, sire, Oa',
your majesty may not allow an incarceration dial'
has already broken his health.
The undersigned, sire, addresses your Majesty
In
full confidence that your Majesty will have justice
done to him. He begs of your Majesty his inone-
diate release. Should your Majesty wish him to
quit the country he will do so, complying in this la'
stance, as in every other, with the orders of your
Imperial Majesty, for whom he will for ever Pre-
serve an imperishable gratitude.
The undersigned Prince of Gonzaga Mantua takes
the liberty to subscribe himself of your Majesty'
Sire, the most obedient devoted,
(Signed) Prince ALEXANDER, of Gouzaga
-Mantua.

Conciergerie, Dec. 12, 1853.
the
The above petition was placed (Dec. 1853) in
hands of his Majesty Napoleon 111., Emperor of the
French, by Lord Cowley, English Ambassador t°
the Court of France, and his Majesty gracioils
ordered the immediate release of the undersigneu
Prince Alexander of Gonzaga Mantua, which te°t
place on the Ist of January, 1854, at 7 a.m., re-
leased of all expenses. After five days stay in Paristhe Prince started for London, where he now re-
sides under the protection of the English laws.
(Signed) Prince ALEXANDER OF GONiu-
Ga
MANTUA.
London, Jan. 10, 1854.