_An Intercepted Letter about Frontier Raids._ In August 1865 the Bey of Tunis managed, by some means or other, to obtain possession of a letter addressed by his _then_ Consul at Bone to the French Chargé d’Affaires at Tunis on leave in Paris, through the medium of the French War Office. I am unable to ascertain how he contrived to intercept it, but it must be remembered that for two generations at least the Tunisian Government has been officially and unofficially represented in the French capital. The document in question shows sufficiently the utility of border raids in diplomacy, and runs as follows:— “Monsieur le Consul Général,— “Permit me to congratulate you on your nomination to the rank of Commander in the Legion of Honour. . . I regret I did not see you before your departure, as I had many things to communicate to you. . . I must admit that your mission is a most difficult one in presence of the eternal _non possumus_ of the Khaznadar. Nevertheless, your exquisite courtesy and the great benefits you have conferred on the Hassanite dynasty, by asserting the independence of Tunis as far as the Porte is concerned, should have compelled him (if he was really loyal to his sovereigns), to express his gratitude, and brought him into a proper line of thinking. Alas! the great achievement with which all European journals have rung, has been misrepresented to the Tunisian population by the Khaznadar; no paper in the country has ever mentioned it (!); and it is not difficult to detect the influence which has prompted this extraordinary behaviour. “As a retired French officer I cannot but deplore the fatal conduct of the Khaznadar; I am persuaded that the Bey, who is a very worthy and honest Prince, would be displeased by it if he could only understand it, because his sheet anchor is clearly France and not England. “The fall of the Khaznadar would save the Tunisian government; I am convinced that every one at the Tunisian Court desires it for the good of the country. But unfortunately an interested influence sustains this man: the influence in question is the more to be dreaded, because it commands pounds sterling, the chief moving force of the present century. France should arouse herself and cease to be the victim of her good faith. It must henceforth be with her a case of diamond cut diamond. The following project illustrates this maxim:— “In the first place, be persuaded that this idea of mine is not suggested by personal interest (as appearances might wrongly indicate); it is prompted by a desire to see French influence consolidated at Tunis, and to thus have friends for neighbours instead of enemies.