The Paris correspondent of the Times reports that the Bonapartists
are manifesting a strong disposition to desert Prince Victor Bonaparte, and to replace him by his brother Prince Louis, now a General of Artillery in the Russian Service. Their mouthpieces say that Prince Victor is a faineant, whom his [father, Prince Jerome, intended to exclnie from the succession, and that Prince Lords is a higher character. We do not exactly see why Prince Jerome's opinion signifies, but we expressed two years ago the belief that the party would ultimately follow Prince Louis. Although Prince Victor is a man with a mind, as witness his proclamation on the Dreyfus affair, he is ham- pered by the circumstances of his life, and the party needs a soldier. The difficulty is that under the House-law of the Bonapartes Prince Victor 's unquestionably heir, and that unless he is compelled to resign there will always be a party behind him. If Prince Louis were to attain his object the law of succession in France would be an odd one, often sug- gested, but never that we know of formally adopted. The throne would belong to the ablest or most popular member of the reigning house.
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