The Sun.
London, England, 1866-06-26 00:00:00

LONDON, TUESDAY, JUNE 26, 1866.

Subsequent accounts not only confirm the intelli-
gence of the Austrian victory, but show us that it
was most complete and comprehensive. The Arch-
duke ALBRECHT has forwarded a despatch to the
EMPEROR, in which he declares that the troops be-

hayed with great fortitude, and displayed extraor-

dinary valour and endurance. In many respects
this is a great achievement, and has given a
prestige to the army of the EMPEROR, of
which it stood greatly in need. No one
can pity the Italians, for they brought their
fate upon themselves, by their temerity and
perverseness, and there was no occasion what-
ever for them to go to war in such unseemly haste.
It was no easy task which engaged the Austrian
troops last Sunday, and only a desperate resistance
on their part could have gained them success.
The fight was a very hot one, as we learn from the
official bulletin at the close of the engagement
Custozza was taken by storm, which caused
a fresh struggle, and two thousand Italians
were taken prisoners. The Italians also used
great efforts, the KING employed the three
corps of the army of the Mincio and the reserve,
and brought all his troops in succession under fire.
Prince AMADE us and many Generals were wounded.
The attack was made by the forces under King
VICTOR EMMANUEL, and the Austrians carried
Alontevento by assault. According to accounts
officially sent the troops of the EMPEROR are ani-
mated by the best spirits. The battle is called by
the Archduke the battle of Custozza.

It is now considered probable that an engage-
ment will take place in Bohemia between the forces
of Marshal BENEDEK and the Prussians, as the
former will be prevented from entering Silesia in
consequence of the advance of the Prussians. Con-
cerning the forces of Hanover very little change
seems to have taken place. It was stated that they
had effected a junction with the Federal troops ;
but such apparently is not the case. Neither do
they seem to have come to any satisfactory arrange-
ment concerning the terms of their capitulation. It
is officially stated that they had twice attempted to
break the lines of the Prussians. This, as might have
been expected, was a failure each time, and attended,
on the part of the llanoverians, with discomfiture, as
several of their men were wounded. What could
have induced the Forces of the King of lIANovEn
to have remained stationary so long it is extremely
difficult to say, and they seem likely to pay very
dear for it. Two battalions 'of Prussian infantry
and two divisions of cavalry attacked the town of
Oswiencin in Galicia, but they retreated after a loss
of eight killed and several wounded. No loss was
incurred by the Austrians.

The Austrian Government may already begin to
appreciate some of the effects of their dilatoriness in
proceeding to the relief of their allies. Several of
the States have signified their intention of with-
drawing from the Confederation, and others, it is
said, will shortly follow the example thus set. At
the sitting of the Federal Diet yesterday the seces-
sion of some of these was mentioned, and the repre-
sentatives declared that the Diet's resolution of the
14th was a rupture of the Bund. The President
very properly replied that the Prussian invasion
of Saxony, Hanover, and Hesse-Cassel constituted
a rupture of the Confederation, and not the legal
decision of the Diet. The greatest interest is felt in
Paris respecting the state of things on the Conti-
nent ; and in the Corps Legislatif Ni. LARABRERE
at
tempted to raise the discussion on foreign
affairs,wieh
and declared that the Chamber ought not to sepa-
rate without expressing its desire for peace, h
was the " true interest of France ;" but no dis' cus-
cussion was raised on the topic. The feeling in
France is now very different from what it Was
at the time of the Dano-German War. Then the

liveliest sympathy was expressed for the persecuted
Danes, and great disappointment was felt at no
assistance being rendered to them ; but now the
case is widely different. The Austrians at this
moment command the most respect, but no great
amount of good-will exists between the
Governments of Vienna and Paris. As for
Italy, it has forfeited all claim or re-
gard, from its inconsistent course in making a
treaty With Prussia. The French are most inimical
to the Prussians, and condemn their policy alto-
gether. Events
are now hurrying on to some
grand denouement
on the Continent, and no doubt
we shall soon hear of some
great battle between the
forces of Austria and those of Prussia. Marshal
BENEDEK'S army is .
0 immense that he
can hardly fail to achieve something me-
nimble when he at last gets it into full
working, and no doubt the signal triumph just

effected by the Austrian troops in Italy will be of
great service in inspiriting the forces in Bohemia.
At any rate the Austrians have gained the first
advantage of a material kind in action, and this is
a good augury for future successes. So much de-
pends upon a check being given to Herr BISMARCK
that the hope of all lovers of independence in Europe
must rest upon the successes of Austria.

The Ministerial explanations in both Houses last
evening told us very little more than we knew
before. The Ministers have felt it their duty to lay
their resignation before her MAJESTY, and the
QUEEN, as was naturally anticipated, has very rea-
sonably expressed her opinion that a personal inter-
view with the chiefs of the Government should
precede a change of Ministry. Earl IlussELL, in-
deed, added that her MAJESTY hesitated to accept
the resignation of her Ministers, and hoped that in
the present state of affairs on the Continent they
would not persist in tendering it. Mr. GLADSTONE,
who appears to have made up his mind on the
point, was less communicative to the Lower House,
and merely said that her MAJESTY considered it
undesirable to accept their resignations without
further consideration. Under these circumstances
there was, of course, no alternative but adjourning
the House, and immediately after some trifling pro-
ceedings the members dispersed, to discuss for the
thousandth time the prospects and peculiarities of
the political situation.

Two pieces of information were gained last night.
The Ministers determination to resign, and her
MAJESTY'S reluctance to accept their resignations,
wire, indeed, matters of confident surmise, if not of
certainty, but no word was breathed of a dissolu-
tion, and the notice, which it had been rumoured
was to be given by an independent Liberal, was not
given. A dissolution is an alternative which Minis-
ters may yet accept ; and it is still pos-
sible that in the event of her ALUESTY'S refusal to
permit them to retire from their offices they may
adopt that course in order to try the feelings of
the country and ascertain their real posi-
tion. The proposed vote of confidence would be
quite a different thing, and one which we are not
surprised that Mr. GLAD STONE should have declined
to accept. It would have placed the Government
in a humiliating position in retaining their offices
on sufferance, and they have seen too much of the
temper of the present house to believe they can
make any such attempt with credit to themselves
or with satisfaction to the country. So when the
notices of motion were called, though the expected
notice was eagerly listened for, it was not given,
and it very soon became known, as we have said,
that the Ministry declined to escape from their
difficulties by any such sidelong contrivance. So
that the public must have a few hours' patience,
and to-night we shall have a full account of how
we stand. One thing is certain, this transition
state must be put an end to, and we must have a
strong Government with a definite policy if we in-
tend to hold our position among Continental
nations.

The arrival of the Nova Scotia from New York
on the 16th confirms the intelligence of the disper-
sion and discomfiture of the Fenians. It is said,
indeed, that the Canadian authorities apprehend
another raid in the vicinity of Fort Erie, but no
importance is attached to the rumour. On the
other hand, there are numerous significant indica-
tions that the danger is over, and the whole scheme
collapsed. Two Thousand Fenians left Buffalo on
the 15th, and the stragglers who remained were
being arrested by order of General MEADE,
and forwarded to their homes—the best
thing that cculd be done for them. The Federal
troops have been aided to return from the frontier
to their respective stations, after having done good
service by their presence on the border, since there
is no doubt that the conviction that the
Americans had decisively turned against
them helped very much to dishearten and
demoralise the Fenians. ROBERTS has been
released from custody because of the difficulty of
procuring evidence against him, the witnesses for
the prosecution being threatened with assassination.
STEPHENS has returned to Washington, though
what he is going to do there is not stated, but
fourteen Fenians, who have been arrested in Ca-
nada, were found to be bearers of important papers
disclosing Fenian plans. These conspirators
seem wonderfully ready to commit their
designs to paper, and are altogether indiffe-
rent to the old precautions of signs and
devices. They write in plain black and white what
they wish and intend to do, and then walk about
with the information for the benefit of all who may
obtain it. Perhaps this way is as good as any other
for a sham rebellion.

The American news itself tells us that
the House of Representatives has concurred in the
Senate amendments to the reconstruction resolu-
tions, one of which amendments struck out the
obnoxious 1870 clause. These resolutions• having
now passed both Houses of Parliament by a two-
thirds vote will therefore become law when
they have received the ratification by two-thirds of
the State Legislatures. Here, however, this
bill, like others, will come to a dead-lock,
for the Southern States will certainly re-
fuse to ratify it, so that the necessary two-thirds
will hardly be made up. The vexed question of the
Southern representation must come up before long,
for even the Congress has declined to keep up the
four years' sentence of exile. However, we have
good grounds now for hoping that common sense
and free government will carry the day, and that
Messrs. STEVENS and Co. will find the country un-
willing any longer to submit to their unscrupulous
dictation.

ASTRONOMY.—In a letter addressed to the Cosmos,
Father Secchi, Director of the Observatory of Rome,
treats summarily of various subjects connected witk the
heavens. The spectra of stars seem still to engross his
attention ; by means of the new and delicate apparatus
constructed for the purpose he has observed the bands of
the spectrum of Arcturus, a well-known star, and he finds
them as numerous and fine as those of the sun. This star
is one of those that has a less absorbent atmosphere than
many others, and the black bands aro consequently thinner.
The absorbing power of stellar atmospheres has been ar-
ranged in classes by Father Secchi; those that de coloured
from one of those classes, and the white ones another. The
former are characterised by numerous dark lines, and in
the latter there is more continuity. Those that are of a
greenish-blue hue offer great interruptions in their spec-
trum : Sirius (the dog-star) and Alpha Lyrre are in-
stances of this ; and Father Seochi tells us that he
has
found such distinctions even in stars of the
,or
4th and sth magnitudes. Father Secchi regrets his
because, ho says, there could not have
ncootroahativlealis, having seen the star which lately appeared in
been too many observers, and in this case there were very
few. Nevertheless a c • •
curious circumstance was pointed
out to him at • the time by M. Rospighi, viz., that on Cm- 's
celestial globe there is a nebula marked
veryY
near the spot where the star was seen, and that this
nebula is not to be found in llerschel's catalogue. It
would be very curious, he thinks, if the history of this
nebula could be traced, and it turned out that it were iden-
tical with the late star. Turning to the subject of solar
spots, Father Secchi states that in examining those which
have appeared this year, he has ascertained changes of
latitude, but that those changes were sudden and irregular
whenever the spot underwent any variation. The changes
varied between six and eight degrees of latitude. The
mean duration of their rotation he findssomewhat less than
that assigned to them by Mr. Carrington. Latterly, a spot
has appeared in the sun's southern hemisphere, but it was
too irregular to lead to any proper conclusion, except that
these changes of latitude are incowpatible With the sup-
position Of a solar photosphere.

LITERATURE.

Harrison Ainsworth's New Romance.

The Constable de Bourbon. By William Harrison
Ainsworth. 3 Vols. Chapnan and Hall.

We have repeatedly, on the aypearance of a new
romance of Mr. Ainsworth's, congratulated the
author upon his wonderful felicit:, in the selection of
a subject. That " Truth " whicl is "stranger than
Fiction" is almost invariably the )13ject of his choice,
and if, like the author of " The Henriade," he in-
vokes the aid of Fable to embellish the records of
Reality it is in a spirit kindred tc that of Voltaire—

"Pour ornor sos attraits et non pour les cacher."

In addition to the marvellous stgacity, which, like
a happy instinct, guides him in the selection of his
theme, Mr. Ainsworth possesses another admirable
qualification for the historical ronancist. He realises
to himself and to his reader " th.) very age and body
of the time," which he undertakes to describe. He
fairly masters the situation of his characters, and
the individual peculiarities'of those characters them-
selves. The various details cf the picture, the
dresses, the accoutrements, and all the etceteras of
depicted, and the
reevaedryer-dliavyeslfiof et: carefullythaeretime in
reads. Fortunate as Mr. AinEworth has hitherto
the
period of which he
proved in the choice of his seem and of his hero he
has seldom proved more fortunate than in the present
instance. The proud and haughty Constable de
Bourbon, the cousin, and almos-, the compeer of the
King and the ally and partizan of the enemies
of France—a gallant soldier, winning glory for his
country by his sovereign's side on the battle-field,
and then, like Coriolanus, lading his country's
enemies to victory, and doming his King to
captivity on the hapless field of Pavia—at one
time a Christian Knight, holding high place in
the ranks of chivalry, and then in the last fatal
hour of his life leading a band of mercenaries to the
sack and pillage of the capital of Christendom !

"He, whom Benvenuto's hand struck down,
While mounting to the fierce assault of Rome,

•
The heir of Palaces, without a home"—
is, indeed, a fitting subject for the romance-writer.
The only drawback to the interest excited by a con-
templation of the career and character of Bourbon
is the lack of sympathy which, owing to his
treachery, he excites in the mind of his reader. Even
those who profit by an act of treason have no love
or liking for the traitor. The Spanish nobles were
not singular in their aversion to the renegade, an
aversion which they did not hesitate to manifest.
Bourbon followed the royal prisoner to Madrid, and was
received with the greatest distinction by the Emperor, but
neither his brilliant achievements nor his princely rank
could reconcile the haughty Castilian nobles to his pre-
sence at the court. They regarded him as a rebel and a
traitor, and could scarcely refrain from manifesting their
scorn and aversion. He came attended by a large re-
tinue, and as the Emperor did not desire to assign him
apartments in the royal palace, he begged the Marquis de
Vilenna to lend him his mansion—one of the largest and
most magnificent in Madrid.
"Sire," replied the. proud marquis, " I can refuse you
nothing. But I declare that as soon as the Duke de
Bourbon has quitted my house I will burn it to the ground
as a place infected with treason, and unworthy to be inha-
bited by men of honour."
"As you please, my lord," said Charles V., smiling
sternly. " But as I have instigated the duke to his
treason, I must share the reproach, and since you will
not lend him your house, I must perforce lodge him in the
A lcazar."

Of a different stamp is another hero, who also ap-
pears upon the scene, the Knight" without fear and
without reproach." Here is a portrait of

THE CHEVALIER BAYARD.

Bayard was fashioned in the heroic mould. Above the
ordinary height, powerfully built, and possessed of pro-
digious strength, he wore his ponderous armour, dinted by
many a blow, as easily as if it had been a silken doublet.
His features corresponded with his frame, being massive
and nobly sculptured, generally stern in expression, yet
sometimes lighted up by a pleasant smile.
The doughty champion was now approaching fifty, and
though. his mighty arm had lost none of its power, and his
features bore few traces of age, his once raven locks were
thickly sown with grey. It had been remarked by his
soldiers, by whom ho was idolised, that since the affair of
Robccco their captain had looked sombre and discontented,
and they fancied that the thought of the defeat rankled in
his breast.

More than human valour seemed to beat in Bayard's
broad breast—more than human strength appeared to
reside in his herculean framo and powerful arm. No
danger ever appalled him—nay, his spirit rose with dan-
ger, inciting him to deeds worthy of the heroic ages. Such
was his conduct at Garigliano, when, wholly unsupported,
he defended the bridge against the entire Spanish host,
and saved the French army. Besides the inconceivable
daring of all his actions, their grandeur made him the cen-
tral figure in every conflict in which he engaged, and ex-
cited the admiration both of friends and foes.

When only eighteen, Bayard followed Charles VIII.
into Italy, and won his spurs at the battle of Fornova,
where he performed prodigies of valour, and had two
horses shot under him. He was several times made pri-
soner, and more than once grievously wounded, but while
free he was ever with the army. Courts he despised, and
hence the neglect he experienced from Francois 1., who
placed his favourites over his head. But other monarchs
appreciated him at his true worth, and after a signal vic-
tory which he had gained at Padua, the Emperor Maximi-
lian said to him, in the presence of the whole army, " Che-
valier Bayard, the King my brother is happy in having a
knight like you. 1 would I had a dozen such, even though
each cost me a hundred thousand florins a year."
Nor did our own bluff King Hal use less flattering
language towards him at the siege of Teronanne. " Were
all French captains as valiant as you, Chevalier Bayard,'
said Henry, " I must speedily raise the siege of this
place."
Bayard, as is well known, after the famous battle of Ma-
rignano, which he himself had helped to win, and where
ho fought side by side with the Constable de Bourbon,
was called upon by the victorious King to dub him
knight.

Bayard would have declined the honour, but Francois
insisted, and bent the knee before him. Whereupon
Bayard, drawing his sword, and touching the King's
shoulder with the blade, exclaimed :
" Sire, may it be with you 943 with Roland or Oliver,
Godfrey or Baldwin, his brother. Certes, you are the first
king that ever I dubbed knight." Then pressing his lips
to the blade, he said, " Happy thou art, my sword, to have
performed this office for so bravea monarch! Henceforth,
good sword, shalt thou be kept as a hcly relic, and hon-
oured above all other weapons !"

The death of Bayard is simply and touchingly de-
scribed, but we see no mention of the incident re-
corded by some historians of Bourbon wishing him-
self in the place of the dead hero.

"And Bourbon gaud onßayard's corse and said,

0 would I were that gallant soldier dead !"
The death of Bayard, however, occurred in the hour
of Bourbon's triumph. Here is a vivid picture of
the last efforts of the brave King and the dashing
onset of the Constable on that fatal field.