The Sun.
London, England, 1866-05-08 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON, TUESDAY EVENING, MAY 8, 1866.

CORRESPONDENCE FROM PARIS.

(FROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENT.)
PARIS, Monday Evening.

Yesterday was a great day for fetes near Paris.
There were some half-dozen fetes in various direc-
tions. That at Auxerre was really important as
well as interesting. The Emperor and Empress
were there, and his Majesty made a political
speech, although the fete of the Concours Regional
(agricultural competition) of Auxerre has nothing
to do with politics. You will probably have re-
ceived the text of the addresses to the Emperor
and Empress by telegraph, but should this not be
so, I may as well say that the Mayor, M. Cha]le,
in offering the keys of the town to the Emperor,
reminded him of the expressions of re-
gard and sympathy for it uttered by the
first Napoleon. To her Majesty he said
that she and the young Prince night always
rely upon the devotion of the inhabitants.
The Emperor, in his reply, said he inherited the
sentiments of the Head of his famill for those
energetic and patriotic populations who had sup-
ported the Emperor in good as well as bad fortune.
" The department of the Yonne was the first to give
me its suffrages in 1848, this was because it knew,
like the majority of the French people, that its
interests were mine, and that I detested like
itself those treaties of 1815, which it is sought
now to make the solo basis of our foreign
policy." The Emperor and Empress are about
to start on a provincial tour, but they
returned to Paris last evening, as a grand
party is to be given to-night at the Tuileries
to celebrate the birthday of the Empress, who on
Saturday entered into her 40th year. They will
leave Pails again to-morrow, or at all events early
in the week.

There is no news about Germany to-day, in ad-
dition to the telegraphic despatches; but the Journal
des Debats, referring to the statements of The Sun
in regard to another Congress seems disposed to
throw doubt upon them. The Sun is a great autho-
rity in Paris, and the Journal des Debats does not
profess to have authority to contradict it, but pro-
bably notices the report with the view to draw at-
tention to itself. The Journal des Debats says:—
" France cannot forget that it was she who
three years ago made the proposal for a
Congress, which most of the European Powers
refused to join, and her dignity would not now
allow her to expose herself to another refusal.
England on her part was the first to repudiate the
proposal made by France, and she ought now to
undertake the task of amending her errors of former
days, supposing that those errors were very serious."
The Journal des Debats proceeds to give its opinion
that it is a noble and generous idea to solve, by the
arbitrage of various Governments, international
questions, which, if left to themselves, that is to
say, to the passions and covetousness of interested
parties, would lead to war ; but in the present state
of European policy such an idea was not so prac-
ticable as it was praiseworthy.
A drama by M. Edouard Plouvier, " Le Mangeur
de Fer," is now all the rage at the Ambigu. It is
a piece of the regular Ambigu school, in five acts
and eight tableaux, with splendid decorations and
marvellous and exciting incidents. The Mangeur
de Fer, atthough not exactly an iron eater, can
twist and turn iron as he pleases, and " locks,
bolts, and bars fly asunder" at his wish. He is a
regular Jack Sheppard, an escaped convict from the
galleys. In concert with a fascinating girl, named
Diane d'Overteuil, he assassinates the Duchess of
Navaille, with the view of getting the Duke married
to his accomplice, of whom he is sick. The Duke,
however, is not sufficiently amorous to fall in love
with Diane. The Duke's son, however, is smitten
with the siren. This, however, does not suit Phoenix,
the Mangeur de Fer, whose idea was that if the
Duke married his mistress, he would assassinate
him, and as the Duke's widow would then be
rich he would marry her. Diane has another
game to play, and in order to avoid the menaces of
the iron-eater she denounces him to the police. He,
however, escapes as usual ; and, in revenge, mur-
ders Diane by placing a poisonous necklace round
her throat. Such are the leading enticements of
this piece, but there is an undercurrent of equally
wicked, marvellous, and spicy occurrences. Pro-
bable or not, the Ambigu audiences are delighted
with them, and the piece will undoubtedly have a
long run.

The attendance at the Chantilly races yesterday
was such as to prove that they have not lost any of
their attraction. The Emperor was engaged else-
where, as I have mentioned above, or no doubt he
would have been there. Great excitement prevailed
about Mr. Montgomery's Ceramique, as might
naturally be expected when a horse comes expressly
from England to run a race, especially with such a
jockey as Challoner. The favourites, however, do
not always win, which was the case yesterday at
Chantilly. The following is the result of the
racing :

The Prix de la Reine Blanche, 2,000 f. Anisette
the Second, 1 ; Esther, 2 ; lienriot, 3. The win-
ner was claimed for 3,520 f. by M. Delatre.

Prix du Gros Chene, 2,000 f. Anglo-Saxon, 1 ;
Affidavit, 2 ; Mercedes, 3.

Prix des Ecuries (Handicap), 600 f., for horses of
three-years-old and upwards. Distance, 2,400
metres. 38 horses entered ; 23 declared forfeit.
Feu Follet, 1 ; Matamore, 2 ; Gontran, 3.
Prix do Diane, 10,000 f. Here, of course, was
the great struggle. Distance 2,100 metres. 47
horses entered. 29 declared forfeit. Victorieuse
(G. Pratt), 1 ; Marcella (Mortimer), 2 ; La Fa-
vorite (H. Grimshaw), 3. Ceramique began well,
but it was soon seen there was no chance. The
betting was sto 4 against him. Amount of the
prize, 23,150 f. ; I,ooof. to the second horse.

Prix d'Apremont, 3,000 f. Sultan, 1 ; Czar, 2 ;
Puebla, 3. Amount of prize, 3,000 f.
There were also races yesterday at Brussels and
Angouleme (France.)