The Sun.
London, England, 1857-04-28 00:00:00

THI MARQUIS' OF IvORMANBY AND
THE _FRENCH 11,'VOLUTION.

The _Nord of Brussels publishes the following
letter from the Marquis of l'..lonnariby, Et4ilis mi-
nister at Florence, but the dite of it is not given :
" Sir—l have received this morning your jour-
nal of the 14th. Ido not dispuie that a journalist
is always free to appreciate the opinions of a public
man, but I do not admit that he has the right to
impute to him controverted facts. In an '4oticle
containing a pretended memoir of Lord Palmer-
s'ou, there is a question of m°, in connection with.
the revolution of 1848. 1 will confine myself here
to denying each precise aile4ation. I was never
in open (or secret) connivance with the men who
conspired against the-government of Louis Phil-
lippe.' Never did I receive at my house the
leaders of the movement, or the journalists who
professed republican opinions.' Your correspon,
dent adds, Lord Normanby was seen to frequent
with remArkable familiarity these ministers of
chance.' The fact is that, being then only at
Paris non-officially, I never visited those gentle-
men, whom I did not know personally. It was
never nec:esary for me to address a word to a sin-
gle meml er of the Provisional Government, with
the exception of M. Lama tine, minister of foreign
affairs, with whom naturally I maintained daily re-
lations. No one ever saw. me present at 'the filing
of of the corporations of workmen, going, about
200,000 in number, and headed by flags, to signify
their will to the indescribable government (cc pou-
voir sans nom) which sat at the Rotel de Ville.'
It is therefore unnecessary to add that the assertion
that 'this spectacle appeared to enchant hint' is a
pure invention. On the who'e, there is not a
word of truth in what concerns me in the article.
It is true that I foresaw, to my great regret, the
probability of the revolution, and when it bad
b. oken our, I did my best, within the limits of my
duty and my powers, to diminish the sad conse-
quences of it. I beg of yu, sir, in a spirit of fair-
ness, to give the same publicity to this letter that
you have given to the anonymous accusations of a
writer who meditates a reproduc'iou of his article,
since he reserves to himself the right of translating
it.—Accept, sir, &c.,

" NORMANBY."

THE GRAND DUKE CONSTANTINE A 7' TOULON.

The following letter from Toulon of the 24th
gives an account of the further proceedings of the
Grand Duke Constantine :

" The representation given on Thursday evening
at the theatre in honour of the Prince was ex-
tremely brilliant. The house is rather a barn than
a theatre, but by dint of flags and other ornamen-
taVous, it was transformed into something really
handsome inside. The amphitheatre was arranged
with fauteuils for the Prince and his suite, and the
other persons who accompanied him. His Impe-
rial Highness reached the theatre about eight o'clock
in an open carriage, accompanied by Baron Du-
bourdieu, the maritime perfect, Admiral Behrens,
and Genera,'„ Totlelieu. The other officers of the
squadron followed in other carriages. On the
Prince and his staff entering the house, they were
warmly greeted by the audience, and the orchestra
immediately struck up the Russ'an national
march. The representation of the " Mousquetaires
de la Reiue " then commenced. During the per-
formance an enormous white cat, doubtless an
amateur of music, came on the stage, and gambolled.
about for some minutes, in spite of all the efforts
of the persons there to drive it off. The movements
of the animal appeared to cause great amusement
to the Grand Duke, as well as to the audience.
The Priece, on leaving the theatre, expressed his
satisfaction at the manner in which the opera had
been performed. The next morning, after break-
' fast, the Prince went to visit the fine building yard
of the Mourillon. The large sheds, upwards of
500 metres in length, built for storing timber, par-
ticularly struck his attention, as did also the largo
steam saw-mills. He asked numerous questions
from the different persons who acted as bis guides,
and took notes of all he saw. The Prince after-
wards visited the new fortifications, and also
Fort Lamalgue. In the afternoon, he went
on board the Bretagne line-of-battle ship to
partake of a dinner given by Admiral Trehouart.
The Prince returned to the maritime prefecture
about seven o'clock, to prepare for the grand ball
given there by Admiral Dubourdieu, and which
was an exceedingly brilliant affair ; the only draw-
back was that the number of invitations given was
so great that the rooms could not contain them all
conveniently, and several persons Mt without
having been able to penetrate into the Grand
Salon. With that exception the fête went off most
admirably. The variety and splendour of the uni-
forms, the elegance and richness of the ladies'
dresses, presented a charming coup d'ceil, and
when after midnight the roams became less crowd-
ed dancing went on with great spirits. The Grand
Duke and the officers of his squadron took a very
active part in the dance, an amusement of which
the Prince appeared to be particularly fond. This
morning the Prince did not quit his apartments be-
fore breakfast. He passed agreat part of the after-
noon in visiting the fortifications, and stopped two
hours at the Pyrotechnic School. He frequently
interrogated the artillery officers on points of its
orgunisation, and dictated notes to his aides-de-
camp. At four o'clock he visited the naval hos-
pital, and expressed his admiration at the order and
regularity winch prevailed in that establishment.
He was accompanied by the surgeon of his own
vessel, who bad in the morning beau present at the
dressiug of the patients. That officer seemed par •
ticulatly struck with the choice quality of the food
supplied to tee convalescent, and remarked, Wo
cannot equal this in Russia ; half of our time we
should net be able to procure the medicaments you
use or the food you distribute.' The Prince went
slowly through all the wards, asking a number of
questions, and expressed great admiration at the
manner in which everything was conducted."

THE ITALIAN OPERA.

(From the Dublin Daily Express of April 27.)
The announcement of the farewell appearance in Dub.
lin of Miss Catherine Hayes lent much additional

interest to the attractions of the performance of Satur-
day night, and brought an audience which crowded
every part of the house. For sorne years-past the name
of Catherine Hayes has been famous throughout the
world. Not atone in sunny Italy and sprightly France
it greeted with applause, but throughout the vast
region of the United States, in the remote valleys of San
Francisco, amongst the planters of the West Indies, the
descendants of Pizarro and Almagro in Peru, the nabobs
of India, the gold diggers of the Australian fields, and
the grave Dutch settlers of Java, her sweetest notes and
most impassioned songs are remembered with enthusiasm.
It required no ordinary woman to brave the dangers of
such travel ; it was the thought of no ordinary songstress
to give the most refined of Eurapean pleasures to the
dwellers in those remote and savage regions. She rt.
turned to the British islands with talents unimpaired,
and in a lengthened visit to her native land has prove,
by the representation of characters never before enacted
by her, the range of those talents, and the still corn-
mending power she wields. To one of these we refer-
red when speaking of the artistes triumph in " llTrove-
tore ;" another demands notice in refrence to the opera
of Saturday night, Donizettes "Lucrezia Borgia."
Here, as in other parts, Miss Hayes had to contend with
the majestic impersonation of Grisi, to whom nature hal
accorded much that fits her for the enactment of the
terrible scenes of lyric tragedy, as it has Miss
Hayes for more graceful aid therefore less thrilling
parts ; and yet with a lull remembrance of what Grisi
was and is in the role of Lucrezia, speaking of her vs
an
without fear of contradiction, that
in e points w e
as surpassed by the performance of
hoi actress, siaty,
was
miss Hayes. This observation particularly applies t 3
the whole of the first act. In the second the balance
trembles between the two. In the last terrible scene
the agony of the wretched mother was more horribly
drawn by. the songstress of Milan, the grief more ten-
derly depicted by the songstress of Ireland. We ha ..e
seldom seen a stage picture more grand than the su -
tamed look of bold indignation that promised retribu-
tion, when one of the noble; tore the mask from he

- -
face in the first act, and the warm applause of the
audience rose to enthusiasm when, with perfect origi-
nality, as her tormentors digitised, the haughty and in-
sulted princess threw herself upon her knee, her ar a
outstretched, her eye flashing, and her whole et unt
berme lit with the diabolic hope of vengeance. Upon
this picture the curtain fell, and amidst a storm of a.)-
plause the artiste was called to the front. In the scene
with Don Alphonse there were native majesty and gra ie
combined, and throughout the whole second act, without
effort, there was undoubted originality. Of the pece-
liarities of the last scene we have already spoken. Aft, r
the second act, again, and twice after the green' curtail
had fallen, Miss Hayes wits called to the front and
greeted with genuine enthusiasm. Should it so happen
that Miss Hayes, as we understand to be her preset t
determination, will not again visit this city, regarding
her not only as Irish vocalist, but as au artiste in ti 9
abstract, in many points "we shall not look upon her
1 ke again."
Siemer Badiali had little comparatively to do in th,
part of Don Alphonse, but be did it iu such a way as to
cast into complete shade all other artistes who have at-
tempted it in Dublin. His noble voice, managed with a
skill but too rarely possessed, was heard throughout wish
pleasure, and in the " Vieni la mia Vendetta" he was
rapturoudy encored. Volpini acted well, but his voice
does not suit the character of Geunaro, and with the del-
cious notes of Mario still falling on our ears, the unplea-
sant middle voice of Velpini, which he so profusely need
on Saturday night, was by no means calculated to rai e
that artiste in our esteem. For such parts as Pollio and
I E tgardo nature has fitted him ; Gennaro should not be
included in his list.
His Excellency the Lord Lieutenant was present, and
remained in his box until Miser Hayes came a second
time before the curtain.