The Express.
London, England, 1864-08-06 00:00:00

EXPRESS FROM PARIS.

(nos ous Owl

PARIS, FRIDAY EVENING.

The long-expected trial of MM. Garnier Pages,
Cannot, and others (" thirteen " in all) for being
members of an unauthorised electoral meeting of
more than twenty persons commenced to-day in
the sixth chamber of correctional police. K
Dobignie was the presiding judge. The court
was as full as it could hold, but being no bigger
than a moderate sized dining-room there was
scarcely any room for the public. The accused,
the witnesses, the numerous counsel engaged, and
the still greater number of advocates in costume,
who came from curiosity, nearly occupied
every available space at an early boor.
On the observation of M. Desmarest that
the trial was not publics because nobody
had been admitted without giving his name,
the presiding judge ordered the doors to be
thrown open, and about a dozen people out of the
great mass waiting outside contrived to squeeze in.
The heat was something frightful. It has been
stated that the council of the Order of Advocates
had resolved to attend this trial in full dress to
waist such of the traversers as are members of the
bar ; but the president refused to assign a reserved
place for the council, on the ground that none of
the defendants were accused in their character of
advocates. I think this a reasonable distinction.
Some years ago, when hi Emile 011ivier was sue-
pended—and moat iniquitously suspended, as I
always thought—for a hasty but not insulting word
addressed to the public prosecutor, the council of
the order was allowed to attend in state to act as
his counsel. But there the privileges of the bar
were directly in question. In the present case
there is nothing of the kind, and much as I think
the " thirteen" are aggrieved, I cannot blame the
judge for refusing to allow the council of the Order
of Advocates to make a hostile political demon-
stration.

All the travemers appeared at the bar. Their
names are MM. Gamier Pages, deputy ; Caruot,
deputy ; Dreo, advocate ; Herold, advocate of the
Council of StateandtheConmof Cessation ; Chimer-
Ran, advocate ; Floquet, advocate ; Ferry, advocate;
Durier, advocate ; Corbon, ex-representative of
the people ; Jozon, advocate ; Herisson, advocate ;
Meisheim, arose at Schelestadt ; and Bory, advo-
cate at Marseilles. The counsel engaged are M.
Jules Fevre, for Gamier Pages ; M. Marie, for
Carnot and Bory ; K Gravy, for K Dreo ; M.
Picard, deputy for Paris, for K Herold ; K H.
Didier, for M. Floquet ; K Berryer, for M. Ferry ;
M. Dufaure, batonnier, for M. Durier ; M. &nerd,
for M. Corbon ; M. Deamarest, for M. Jozon ; M.
Arago, for M. Harrison ; and M. Hebert, for IL
Melsheim. You will see, therefore, that all the
moat eminent leaden of the bar are retained in the
cause.

Contrary to expectation the government has not
attempted to interdict a report of the proceedings.
The first witness called was M. Brasseur, a mem-
ber of the Council-General of the Haut-Rhin, who
said, in few words, that he lived at Sohelestadt,
and had been a member of an electoral committee
to which M. Melsheim, one of the traverses, also
belonged ; but that this committee had neither
president nor secretary, and did not meet at fixed
periods. On cross-examination he admitted that
the government candidate had an electoral com-
mittee of upwards of 100 persons, which met in
a brewery, and was presided over either by the
mayor or his deputy. Two other witnesses
from the same locality deposed to much the same
effect, one of them stating that the opposition com-
mittee consisted of only 14 persons. Wonderful
to relate this was all the evidence for the prosecu-
tion ; when it was over the President proceeded to
interrogate the traverser*.
M. Gamier Pages, before answering any ques-
tion, desired, and was allowed, to read a protest
which he and M. Carnot had lodged with the judge
of instruction on behalf of the dignity of the Corps
Legialatif. He complained that the rights of the re-
presentatives of the nation had been violated by
breaking their locks, seizing their papers,
and finding out against the principle of
the ballot the names of the electors who
had voted for him and K Carnot. He then
admitted he had at one time constituted a com-
mittee of twenty-five persons, among whom were
several young advocates (authors of the Electoral
Manual), with a view to give legal advice to electors,
and also to recommend candidates, but that in con-
sequence of a note in the ifoniteur this first com-
mittee was dissolved ; and the second committee,
which had no connexion whatever with it, never
consisted of more than fourteen memb •rs. In the
course of his examination K Gamier Pages became
very animated, and said that without electoral
committee; universal suffrage wu a lie and &delusion,
and that in point of fact the public prosecutor ought
to beat the bey to take his trial, instead of himself
and his friends. The president said, "Oh, lam
astonished to hear such language," and K Maier,
the imperial advocate, said it was an " insult,"
and threatened to make a comminatory motion
against K Gamier Pages. The latter, however,
insisted that he bad a right to characterise the pro-
secution as he had done, and the subject was al-
lowed to drop.
M. Carnot said be had belonged to several elec-
toral committees, but the office was such a sinecure
that he scarcely remembered much about them.
The ttruth was that there had been a general
awakening of public. opinion, and the hat general
elections had returned several opposition members
quite spontaneously. But the authorities preferred
to suppose the existence of some occult govern-
ment rather than admit the patent fact that Prance
was democratic and liberal.
The counsel for the defenu then rue almost in
a body, and protested one after the other that they