The Sun.
London, England, 1866-12-26 00:00:00

FRANCE.

A Berlin letter endeavours to refute the rumours
according to which the new Constitution of the
Confederation of the North is to provide also for
the event of a Union with the Southern States. The
writer affirms that Prussia does not dream at pre-
sent of extending its dominion south of the Maine.
The sole question will be to establish on new bases
the mode of distributing the revenues of the
Zollverein, of which the States of the South
continue to form part. The letter adds, how-
ever :—" If these, or some among them,
should desire to take the negotiations for this
purpose as a starting point for ulterior conferences
respecting the common defence, it is probable that
Prussia would not repel them ; but, once more, there
is not and cannot be any question as to the entrance
of the South German States into the Confederation
of the North. The reasons assigned some time
since have not lost their validity. It cannot be for the
interest of Prussia to weaken the dominant position
she holds in that body in increasing its • individual
elements by the entrance into it of the States of the
South,"

A letter from Florence, in the Debats, has the
following :—" When two months ago I wrote to
you that after the departure of the French from
Rome in all probability nothing particular would
happen, I must confess I did not expect to be so
thoroughly correct. The fact is, that nothing is
doing, absolutely nothing, and the calm is such that
it seems as if it might be prolonged to all eternity.
However, this must only be trusted to a certain ex-
tent. M. Tonello and his mission are hardly spoken
of. People say that by the side of his negotiation a
secret semi-official one is progressing which willpre-
pare the real solution. What is clear, in any case,
is that the country is tranquil and that the passions,
if they exist, are singularly kept down. The
Official Gazette has published a letter from the
bishops residing at Rome to the President of
the Council, and the reply of Baron Ricasoli.
This answer deserves to be noticed. It is a clear
and lucid exposition of the motives which animate
the Government. I may add that it appears a sin-
cere one ; the Baron has evidently either written or
dedicated this epistle, and put into into it his real
thought, for it does not consist of mere Ministerial
phraseology. His idea is to solve by the most com-
plete liberty the long-standing difficulties between
Church and State. This attempt, made in Italy
herself, there where the Church had fixed her centre
of empire, there where the Roman right was created
which has furnished the best arms to the State, is
a daring effort, so bold, that one hesitates to pre-
dict its success, although, down to the present time,
everything seems to indicate its possibility."

The Alabama's Story Told by her Com

mander.

According to the Galveston (Texas) Bulletin,
Capt. Semmes has been lecturing in Galveston on
the subject of the Alabama's career during the late
civil war. Mr. Semmes, who had been introduced
by the chairman as "that distinguished hero and pa-
triot," said—Lecturing is not my art. lam not ac-
customed to the lecture-room. Othello's occupation
is gone. I do not propose to touch any political sub-
ject•—l propose to speak of the history of the Ala-
bama as viewed in the light of historyand American
precedents. I propose to show to you that she was
not a pirate, a privateer, or a buccaneer, but the re-
cognised ship, wearing the colours of a State, by
the laws of nations. On the land an enemy might
overrun a country without destroying private pro-
perty. Destroying private property on land is for-
bidden. Not so on the sea. The destruction of
commerce in ancient times was a slow process. The
war between the Confederate and the United States
was the first between maritime Powers since the in-
troduction of steam. The Alabama had warrant for
what she did both in the laws of nations and of the
United States. She was built abroad. The United
States has made the British origin of the Alabama
a constant source of complaint. She was built by
the Lairds. The United States Government en-
deavoured to contract with this same firm to build
ships for them. (Mr. Semmes here read extracts
from Mr. Laird's speech in the House of Commons,
already published and well known.) From this
speech it appears that before they undertook to build
the Alabama, the United States Government had
been in treaty with the Messrs. Laird to build gun-
boats and monitors. 'We offered better terms—hence
the Alabama became a Confederate ship instead of
a Federal vessel. She left England as a merchant
vessel. Her Confederate commission was read,
and her proper flag unfurled on the high seas, where
the Confederate had as much authority as the
Federal Government. It is the commission a
Sovereign puts on board a vessel that makes her a
personification of the Sovereign. Even if a ship
be built iu a neutral territory she is purged of tha

wrong as soon as she is commissioned. If the Ala-

bama was built in violation of the neutrality laws,
that was a question between the United States and
England. From the moment the Confederates were
recognised as belligerents they had a full right to
make war in every particular. The United States
acknowledged this in the first months of the war.
In support of this proposition the speaker quoted
" Vattel, third book," and argued that if the
United States could buy ships the Confederate
States could do the same. The speaker then quoted
Justice Grier's decision in the prize cases, reported
in " Second Black Reports," laying great stress on
the passage, "it is not necessary that the State
should be recognised." Mr. Semmes entered largely
into the history of the South American States,
claiming that their cruisers captured prizes and car-
ried them into American ports. In illustration of
the fact that the Confederate States were recognised
and entitled to all the sovereign rights of war,
Generals Grant and Sherman treated Generals Lee
and Johnson as generals of an army. The speaker
concluded thus :—The Alabama was not a new
construction, save that she was a steam-vessel.
Dr. Franklin and his compesrs constructed a good
many Alabamas in their day. What our sires did
their sons may do. In other generations the his-
tory of the North will be the history of the South.
By the philosophy of history I am willing to be
judged. If the philosophy of history embalms the
struggles of the colonial States, so will it embalm
the struggles of the Confederate States. If it re-
cords approvingly the exploits of the Surprise and
the Revenge, so will it record the exploits of the
Alabama.