The Express.
London, England, 1861-06-18 00:00:00

EXPRESS FROM PARIS.

1111.011 OMB OWN

PARIS, MONDAY EVENING.
The Cavour mass was a celebration which will be
long remembered. The vast nave of the church
and all the galleries were crowded—principally
with well-dressed people, furnished with ticket& of
invitation from the Sardinian Legation ; but at the
lower end of the church there was a good sprinkling
of blouses, for of all Italian statesmen Cavour was
the most popular among the working classes in
Paris. The clerical authorities, in the same spirit
which prompted them to prevent the Italian singers
from taking a place in the choir, shut the doors of
the church before it was quite full, but a remon-
strance procured the admission of a part of the
crowd outside, and when the service commenced
there was scarcely a vacant place to be seen. The
church was entirely hung with black. Black car-
pets were laid down on the ground floor, and for
the company representing mourners there wore
several rows of black-covered chairs. A catafalque,
with the initials and coronet of Count Cavour, pre-
sented the melancholy appearance of a real coffin,
and the ceremony of sprinkling it with holy water
by all who passed by was gone through just as if
the corpse had been in it. Among the company
present I remarked particularly in the foreground, '
and, as it were, chief mourners, Count de Morny,
Count de Persigny, and M. Thouvenel. They sat
together on three chairs placed in front of
the altar. When I saw these principal ad-
visers of the Emperor taking such a promi-
nent part in the demonstration, I could not help
indulging the comfortable thoughts that the recog-
nition of Italy by France must be a reality. The
Emperor was personally represented by Marshal
Vaillant, the minister of his household, and officers
of the household of Prince Napoleon and the
Princess Mathilde were also present I was told
that the Empress was also specially represented,
but I do not see this fact mentioned in the evening
papers, and I feel inclined to doubt it. The corps
diplomatique was not in force. Lord Cowley is in
England, and I rather think nobody from the
British embassy was present The Persian, the
Swedish, Swiss, Turkish, and American ministers
were, I think, the only foreign representatives in
the church. Among the congregation were
observed M. Fould, General Regnault de St.
Jean d'Angely, General Dembinski and the Polish
schools, Prince Ladialas Czartoryski, Dr. earnest],
General Fox, M. Grosselle and the Sardinian
Legation, the Countess Castiglione, the Princess de
Solms, and the Countess d'Agioult. Some Eng-
lishmen in Garibaldian uniforms were loudly
cheered by the crowd.
The Moniteur having chosen to publish a letter
from London advancing the opinion that the session
of the Corps Legislatif in France this year has been
a model for the House of Commons, the Pays and
the Patric follow suit at once, and declare it to be
an ascertained fact that the French constitution is
infinitely better than the English one. They
speak in a tone of contemptuous pity of
England, still condemned to suffer all the
evils of that parliamentary government of
which France in her wisdom " has only
retained the useful part." The zealous gentlemen
who sign these articles seem to forget that the
only plausible excuse for the French constitution
is that the empire is too young to have the
same degree of confidence in the affection of
citizens for the dynasty which older govern-
ments may safely indulge in, and that their
fugleman, M. de Persigny, only a few months
ago, likened France of the present day to England
in the time of William 111., and lamented that
the existence of " old parties" made it impossible
to grant the liberty which was in theory desirable.
They should not therefore vaunt as progress a
state of things which their betters regret as being
necessary but painful retrogression. For the rest,
the comparative values of English and French
Three per Cents. ought to make French writers
speak with modesty about their constitution.
Only a few details of any interest on the elec-
tions for the Councils-General have reached Paris.
In the Oise, the Marquis de Mornay, an opposi-
tion candidate, has been elected. At Morigny, in
the Manche, where the administration professed to
be neutral, M. Ravin, of the Side, is elected.
At Versailles, M. Jules Fevre polled 666 votes
against 1,336 given to the government candidate.
The Bourse was almost deserted, owing to the
heat, and there is no change in quotations.