_July 13th._--Sent to the _Kölnische Zeitung_ the following letter, based upon a report from Paris: “Hopes are entertained in the Orleanist camp that, after the indirect abdication contained in the manifesto of the Comte de Chambord, they will be able to proclaim the Comte de Paris as King. This hope is not, however, shared by the more thoughtful members of the party, although MacMahon is understood to show a leaning towards the Duc d’Aumale, and many persons are even of opinion that when Thiers hands over the reins of power his successor will not be an Orleans, but some one very different--namely, Léon Gambetta. If all signs are not deceptive, the cause of the sons of Louis Philippe is just as certainly lost as that of the Comte de Chambord. They can make no further progress by legal means in presence of the very considerable accession of strength which the Republican minority in the National Assembly obtained at the elections, and they have hardly courage enough for an attempt to use force, which might, perhaps, have succeeded two months ago. The centre of gravity now lies in the Republican party, with whose assistance Thiers has hitherto held his ground, and which the recent elections have further strengthened, as against the monarchical parties. But Thiers’ position is very seriously menaced by the reappearance on the scene of Gambetta, who will probably in a short time induce the Left to desert him. Gambetta’s first object would then be to form a purely Republican Cabinet, and that may be expected to develop into a Grévy _régime_, which would one day suddenly give place to a Gambetta dictatorship. Such a turn of affairs would not be favourable for German interests. Thiers and Favre (of whom the latter would be the first to fall a victim to the Parliamentary Left) are unquestionably the statesmen who now and in the future would suit us best. As to Gambetta, we know that he observed recently to an acquaintance that the Republic would enable France to prosecute a successful war of revenge against the Germans, and that he intended to promote this end by every means in his power; and that even to-day France was in a position to wage such a war if it were conducted in a more revolutionary spirit. Of course he will not immediately proclaim such views and intentions in the National Assembly. On the other hand, it is expected that his support of the income tax will win for him the gratitude of the poorer classes, the artisans, the small bourgeoisie, and the peasants, amongst all of whom he has even now a large following. By such means he and his friends will find their way into the Paris Municipal Council, which is to be elected on the 23rd instant. He has also no little influence with the army. In the first place, the leading officers, like Faidherbe, are on his side; while all those who were appointed by him during the war regard him as their natural champion against the reductions in rank which the Government