The Sun.
London, England, 1837-06-19 00:00:00

PARIS.

GREAT LOSS OF LIFE IN THE, CIIA-:viPS DE
MARS ON WEDNESDAY.
(From the French Papers.)
The following are details of the diti-essing events which
occupy the minds of nearly every person in Paris, toge-
ther with some affecting circumstances attending them.
In ,K der to divide the crowd, it was arranged that there
should he objects of attraction at various points at the
same time ; namely-, at the Barriere du Troia, the Tui-
leries, the Champs Elysees, and the Champ de Mars.
At the same time every possible precaution was taken by
the authorities to prevent accidents. A little before 11
o'clock the crowd which filled the Champ de Mars, after
having been gratified with the warlike spectacle which was
presented to them, suddenly began to press towards one of the
iron gates, near the Ecole Militaire, and at length the
crush became so severe, that a woman fainted. This
induced those who were around to fall hack to give her
room and air ; and thus a revulsion or stoppage was
caused, which produced the unhappy consequences we are
about to relate. Twenty-three persons were suffocated.
Twelve, who were injured, and one of them very severely,
were carried to the Military Hospital at Gros Caillou,
where every possible attention and care was paid to them.
The moment a knowledge of what had happened reached
the Prefect of Police he went in person to the hospital and
offered the sufferers every relief and consolation. The bo-
dies of those who were dead were not marked with any
wounds or contusions, and it was fully ascertained that their
deaths were occasioned by suffocation alone. At an early
hoar yesterday the Ministers met in Council at the resi-
•'ence of Count Mole, whence they soon afterwards pro-
wled to the Tuileries, where they had an affecting and
interview with the King and the Royal Family. His
Majesty and the Prince Royal, on receiving the disastrous
ntelligence, shed tears, and the first wish that they ex-
pressed was that the fetes should be at least suspended.
The decision upon this point rested with the city of Paris,
since the entertainments of the two days were given by it,
and not by die King. The Municipal Council, represented
by its President, Vice-President, and two of its members,
waited upon the King and the Prince Royal, who received
them in the presence of Count Mole, the Count de Monta-
livet, and M. Barthe, and also of the President of the
Chamber of Deputies, who had come to present the Bill
which had been passed on the preceding day. The Mu-
nicipal Council expressed its wish that the fete should
take place in the evening, and its hopes that the King
would honour it with its presence, surrounded by the
Royal Family, according to his promise. At the same
time, the Deputation laid before his Majesty a
a resolution of the Council, for the purpose of granting im-
mediate relief to the families of the sufferers by the lamen-
table occurrence on Wednesday evening. The application,
however, only renewed the painful feelino.s in the minds of
his Majesty and the whole Royal Family ; and the King
could noe‘renew his promise to be present at the festival
and ball, as previously given. He, at the same time, claimed
the privilege of being the first to contribute to the succour
and consolation of so many unfortunate families. The
Prince Royal, in his own name and in that of the Duchess
of Orleans, participated strongly in the feeling of the King.
The deputation was about to retire, to refer the matter
again to the, Municipal Council, when the Prince Royal,
with great emotion, expressed his intention to accompany
them, and in person urge to the Council all the feelings of
the King, himself, and the Royal Family, as reasons for a
postponement. His Royal Highness went accordingly, ac-
companied by the Count de Montalivfit, and having en-
tered the Council Chamber, expressed himself in the
following terms :—" I do not wish to appear at the
Hotel de Ville without having my heart at ease, and my
countenance full of cheerfulness. I cannot testify, in an
unconstrained and suitable manner, the feelings I expe-
rience, whenever I am in the midst of the representa-
tives of the people of Paris, unless I shall have previously
relieved my mind, by endeavouring personally to assuage
the grief of so many unfortunate families, thrown into
mourning by the dreadful accident of yesterday evening."
'This appeal was irresistible, and it was unanimously resolved
that the ball should be put off till Monday next, the 19th
inst., when the King and the whole of the Royal Family
will honour it with their presence. Their grief and regret
at what has happened cannot be so soon effaced, hut they
will be assisted in recovering their serenity by the reflection
that in the meantime they have done all in their power to
comfort the survivors. The King and the Prince Royal
bad early in the morning charged the Prefect of Police to
ascertain the names of all the suffererS by the catastrophe
of the preceding night, and aides-de-camp of his Majesty
,and the Royal Duke were dispatched at the same time to
visit those who were injured, and promise them, in the
names of the whole Royal Family, that they should have
every possible relief and atistance their state and circum-
stances required.

BELGIAN } UNDS—BRUSSELS, JUNE 17
Actual Debt, 2% per Cent.
Rothschild's Loan, 5 per Cent. 109%
Loan of Thirty Millions 9l
Loan of City, 1832, 4 per Cent 93q
Society of Commerce, 454 per Cent l3l
Bank of Belgium, 5 per Cent 1393(,
—Brussels Papers, June 18.
DUTCH 1. ONDS— AMSTEEIBAIf, JUNK 13,
Acii:-.1 Debt, 2.34 per C.nt Money. Bills.
51,4 52
Ditto, ditto 5 per cent.
A .itor t syndic, 4% per cent 92 9254
Ditto, ditto, 33 per cent 7s!a 75N
Commercial Company, .104 per c.:iit 173 173 ~,t
Ditto (1g32 and 1833) 5 per cent.
Loin In% 4 per cent.
Ditto 1837, 6 per cent.
Exchange on London, One month l2 21'
Two months
AUSTRIAN FUNDS.—VIENNA, JUNE 9.
Five per Cents. Metalliques
Four per Cents.
Three per Cents.
Bank Shares 1378
—Allgemeine Zeitung, June 14.

SOUTH AMERICAN PAPERS.

(From the illessafjer.)
Yesterday was marked by a deplJrable misfortune. Tii;
miiitary fete at the Champ de Mars drew together im-
mense crowds. Precautions had been taken beforehand to
prevent any danger to the spectators, resulting from the
'representation of the attack upon the citadel of Antwerp ;
and, although the mimic war lasted for full three quarters

of an hour, it terminated without the occurrence of the
slightest accident. Presently afterwards, however, lamen-
tations were sent forth from different quarters. The mo-
ment the spectacle had ended the crowd, in their ardour
to depart, made a general movement towards the outlets.
Upon their approaching the gates the mass became more
densely compact, and, in the attempt to pass through
them, a great number of persons were smothered and
trampled upon. It was at the gate opposite the Rue St.
Dominique, and especially at the gate near the Military
School, and in front of the avenue of Lamotte Piquet,
that there was the greatest number of victims. The
greater number of the killed and wounded were car-
ried immediately to the Military Hospital of Gros
Caillou. It is impossible to ascertain the exact number of
victims ; but, up to the period of our writing, the deaths are
ascertained to have amounted to 31. One circumstance,
which might naturally lead us to fear that the losses may
yet be still inure considerable, is the fact that the persons
attached to the hospital state that no fewer than 300 per-
sons have visited the hospital, for the purpose of claiming
their relatives or friends. The bodies were deposited in
the amphitheatre, which, we need not say, was the scene of
the saddest and most heart-rending recognitions. The
greater part of the victims belonged to the working classes.
Three persons of the same family—father, son, and nephew
—fell, by each others' side, and expired. Among the men
who died many were young. The women, on the con-
trary, with the exception of two, were rather aged.
Among the victims, one was a young collegian, who
was separated in the crowd from the tutor by whom he
had been accompanied ; and another was the wife of a
rich merchant, who has recently retired from business.
The person of this unfortunate lady was adorned by a
number of jewels, amounting, it is said, in value, to upwards
of 3,000 francs. Not one of these was missing when her
husband came to claim the body. Within a short distance
of the amphitheatre a magistrate, assisted by a commissary
of police, received declarations, and prepared mortuary acts,
The bodies were examined, and the cause of their decease
stated by professional gentlemen deputed by the authori-
ties. Rumours have been spread that several individuals,
upon being pressed by the crowd, were barbarous enough
to make way for themselves by inflicting blows with their
knives. We are happy in being enabled to falEify these re-
ports. It has been stated by competent surgical witnesses
that the deaths all took place by suffocation. Not one
of the bodies bore the marks of wounds inflicted by a
weapon. There were some of them disfigured, but dis-
fieured solely by contusions caused by the trampling of the
crowd which passed over them. Among the killed or
wounded were several soldiers, who had been led by curi-
osity to the scene. It is much to be deplored that the po-'
lice had not recourse to more effective means for facilitating
the departure of the populace. The Champ de Mars has
but seven outlets, all of them very narrow ; but on the side
which lies next to Paris, and towards which the great rush
was made, there are but two gates, neither of them more
than seven or eight feet wide. The fosses which surround
the Champs de Mars should, as has been done upon, the
occasion of former fries, have been filled or covered with
planks, for the purpose of multiplying the means of exit.
Some idea of the horrible pressure which must have taken
place at the gates may be conceived from the fact that the
entire Champs de Mars was emptied in the space of 23 mi-
nutes. Although to foresee this accident beforehand would
hive been nearly impossible, we have been assured that the
Duke of Orleans had some sort of a presentiment of it. He
had himself visited the Prefect several da: s since, for the
purpose of recommending it to him to use every precaution
to preve.it the occurrence of any catastrophe. His inquiries
were particularly directed to the subject of the Champ de
Mars, and he declared that he would be the first to require
that the spectacle should not take place, if he were not as-
sured that no danger would result from it to the populace.
Unfortunately, the attention of the police was directed ex-
clusively to the means of preventing any accident from
being- occasioned by the combustibles employed in the
spectacle.
The Duke of Orleans has declared that he alone will un-
(testae the maintenance of the families of the several suf-
ferers, and the payment of whatever expenses the catas-
trophe of yesterday may entail.

BRUSSELS AND GERMAN PAPERS.

BRUF,SELS, JUIE 17.---M. Gizzi, the Papal Internun-
cio, has had an audience of leave of his Majesty.
His Excellency afterwards presented to the Minister for
Foreign Affairs, the Abbe Speneile, who has received his
credentials from the Pope as Charge d'Affaires. The Mi-
nisterial journal, the Union, has ceased to appear, and is
succeeded by a new journal, under the head of the Conser-
vateur. The Minister of Finance informs the holders of
Coupons of the Belgian Loan of 30,000,000 of francs, bear-
ing interest at 4 per cent., due Ist of July, 1837, that they
may receive payments of them from this day, as well at the
office of the Cashier General at Brussels, as at those of the
agents in the other towns of the kingdom.
FRONTIEIS OF SERVIA, MAY 30.—Accounts from
Adrianople say that the Sultan had already arrived in that
city, on his return to Constantinople, and had been re-
ceived with an enthusiasm not to be described by an im-
mense concourse of people. There, as in all other places,
the Sultan addressed the Turkish authorities and the
heads of the other nations, declaring .that the happiness
of all his subjects is the sole object of his care and
wishes, and proclaiming a degree of toleration which must
do honour to the most civilised nation in Europe. The
Sultan also particularly enquired into the necessities of
his subjects, and was ever ready to give relief where he
saw .it required. In some parts, especially those which
suffered be the last war, he remitted all the taxes, in
others granted a large abatement of them ; at Adrianople,
where tire lately did great damage, he ordered the dwell-
ings of hundreds oF poor persons who were burnt out to be
rebuilt :at his expense. Opportunities to relieve distress
were everywhere to be found, and it is therefore no wonder
if the effects which this tour of the Sultan's has produced
on the minds of the people in general is represented
as very great. Persons who are considered to be
thoroughly acquainte'd with the state of the country, dwell
on the beneficial consequences to the country which this
journey will produce ; they affirm that in Roumelia and
Bulgaria, at least, a new era begins, and that the minds of
the people are impressed with far more favourable senti-
ments than hitherto.

Recent letters from Bitoglia affirm that the disturbances
in the south of Turkey are confined to Thessaly. We
learn from Constantinople that troops continue to be sent
from Odessa to Sebastopol, and that there is no doubt
that these armaments are intended against the Circassians.
Letters from Bucharest say that Prince Ghika had arrived
at this capital on the 21st, returning fram Silistria.
It is said that Colonel Hodges, the English Consul for
Servia, was not received by Jussuf, Pacha of Belgrade, on
his first visit, with the respect and politeness due to his
official character, and that he therefore immediately left
the Pacha's palacC, without exchanging a word with him.
We are curious to learn the particulars. Jussuf Pacha is
well known to have been governor of Varna, which for-
tress he gave up in the last war to the Russians, and placed
himself under their protection. The Sultan confiscated his
property, but subsequently on the intercession of Russia,
gave him the post of Pacha of Belgrade.
VIENNA, MAY B.—ln consequence of an invitation from
the Emperor Nicholas to all the Archdukes, his Imperial
Highness the Archduke John will go in the autumn to the
grand reviews in Southern Russia, in which it is said 50,000
cavalry will take part. The Archduke Francis Charles
will go to Vienna, to be present at the reviews of the Aus-
trian army. The Empress Mother will go in August to
visit her relations, the Royal Family of Bavaria, at
Tigernsee.

Letters from Trieste, received to-day, announce new
bankruptcies, chiefly affecting Greek houses connected with
the Levant.

RIO DE JANEIRO.—The Corivio Official, from 28th
March to 27th April inclusive, has official letters from the
Governor at Goyaz, Victoria, Oaro Preto, St. Catherine's,
Reife de Pernambuco, St. Christovas de Scrigipe, Paratriba
do Norte, and Cuyuba, stating that the tranquillity of those
provinces had not suffered any interruption. The 25th of
March being. the anniversary of the taking the oath to the
Constitution, was observed with the usual rejoicings.
Some vessels arrived at Rio on the 13th from Rio
Grande, after a very short voyage, and unpleasant news
was soon afterwards spread, which, though the accounts do
not all agree, show us that affairs in that province are be-
coming more complicated, and that intrigue dividing the
friends of legal order, weakens the spirit with which they
should promote the general object, namely, the pacification
of the province, sacrificing private resentments which ma-
nifest themselves in so many imprudent re-actions.
It seems that-the President Antero having set out from
the camp, to have an interview with the General Bento

CHURCH-RATE STRUGGLE.

TO THE EDITOR OF THE SUN.

THE SUN, LONDON, MONDAY, JUNE 19, 1837.

Manoel, was taken prisoner on the way by an armed force,
which declared that it was done by order of Bento Manoel.
Major Marques, who accompanied the President, escaped
to Porto Alegre, where a Councl was called, and mea-
sures immediately taken to prevent any re-action, and troops
sent to the aid of Antero.

We have not been able to ascert.tin the motives which
induced Bento Manoel to act in this manner.—Correio
Ojticial to 17th April inclusive.

SlR—This struggle is one of most intense interest here.
We have had no rate for three years. ,Masters have
brought up their men by every command—business is neg-
lected on both sides—women, and the sick, halt, and lame,
all are taken up. You will not be in time to help us, but
it may inspire others. We close at six on Monday.
The Earl of Dartmouth has come down, and has been
actively engaged in canvassing, and has polled to-day.
The subjoined is the copy of a hand-bill in circulation :
" No Church Rate—West Bromwich, Saturday, June 17,
1837.—First and Second Day's Poll :—Against the Rate
906 ; For the Rate 695. Glorious majority against the Rate,
211. Those who have not polled to-day must come to poll
on Monday by ten o'clock.
" The opponents of Church-rates are earnestly entreated
to come forward on Monday, in such numbers as to show the
Church-rate men that they can expect nothing but disgrace by
by continuing the contest." Yours,
West Bromwich, Saturday, June 17th. A.