The Sun.
London, England, 1868-06-18 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON, THURSDAY EVENING, JUNE 18, 1868.

CORRESPONDENCE FROM Ems,

(rnom OUR OWN CORRESPONDENT.)
PARIS, WEDNESDAY, June 17.

The unfortunate Empress Charlotte of Mexico is better,
but the hope of perfect restoration to sanity seems to have
been abandoned. From time to time she has had attacks
of her disease, and it is only by being kept in a state of
perfect calm that she continues even as well as she is. She
reads and writes much, and often talks of her past life
mournfully, as one that has suffered greatly. She has
sent a funereal crown, a chef d'aurre of jewellery,
to be deposited upon the tomb of her husband on the anni-
versary of his death (to-morrow), and she has also sub-
scribed about £l,OOO towards the monument which is to be
erected to his memory in Trieste. An arrangement has
been made with the Emperor of Austria in her
behalf, by her brothers, the King of the Belgians
and the Count of Flanders, by which she abandons
all right of succession accruing to her through her
husband, and has confirmed to her use the palace and
Property- which he possessed, and the dowry settled upon
her.

The report of M. Bussor:Billaut upon the Budget was
distributed this morning. It is expected that the dis-
cussion will commence on the 25th. It will no doubt be
long, and as animated as this hot weather will allow.
The French I'ress does not at all like Count Moltke's
speech in the Prussian Reichstag upon the loan for the
navy. The Minister enlarged upon the importance of
having a great military Power in the centre of Europe,
which should be able to restrain all the rest, and,
though military, should not be warlike, but a
peacemaker. Of course that Power, according to
the Count, was Germany. Here it is very well
understood that the Prussian policy is intended to keep
France in check, so that the Master of the Tuileries shall
no longer be able to declare of his sole will whether there
shall be peace or war. . Some Frenchmen are wise enough
to see that this is really for the good of Europe. But it is
still too soon for the national love of pre-eminence to be
satisfied when it ktees a rival near the throne, and Paris
no longer the capital of Europe.
How does the Havas agency (which answers to your
Reuter Company) obtain its news? Yesterday evening
some of the London journals announced that there was an
insurrection in Catalonia. A telegram is published this
morning in the Paris journals, purporting to come from
Madrid, and denying the statement. Denials come very
quickly from Madrid. Probably they come from the
Spanish Legation in Paris, which, according to a well-
known theory, is Spanish ground. To-day we hear that
there is a terrible famine in the neighbourhood of Madrid.
Of course this, too, will be denied. The denial would
have more weight if it were not so prompt.
The Corps L6gislatif has after all decided by a large
majority that a loan of four millions sterling shall be
made to the Isthmus of Suez Canal Company, to be repaid
by lot. There was strong objection on the part of a
few members both to the principle of the loan and still
more to the revival of the lottery system. Fut in the end
the Ministerial proposal was adopted by 183 to 8, and
thus the Government has added to its reponsibilities by
lending money to an undertaking in which the public has
so little faith that they will not subscribe for its shares.
Prince Napoleon has set out for Constantinople. The
Sultan intended to give him a magnificent reception, and,
thinking the Palace of the Sweet Waters too small for his
visitor, chose another. The Prince has, however, sent
word that he wishes to maintain his incognito, and he will
make his yacht his headquarters.
Ile weather continues superb. The sky is as clear and
bright as though this were Naples, not Paris. Some per-
sons sleep out in the Bois de Boulogne all night. I hear
that the crops are beginning to suffer from want of water,
especially the root crops. The vineyards, however, are
magnificent. In Algeria some welcome rain has fallen,
and wheat is now being cut. The Arabs have come down
from the mountains in large numbers to assist the
harvesters.

THE WEATHER TABLE.-THIS DAY.