The Sun.
London, England, 1854-01-10 00:00:00

[PRiaz SD•

which the clerk inscribed for him, if he wished it'
the names of his favourite candidate, or he was free

to write them on it himself, if he preferred to vote in
secret. He had, then, nothing to do but to walk up
to the urn and quietly drup in his " bulletin," just as we
put letters into the Post-office. This operation went on
steadily, and in tolerably equal time. No crowding, no
shouting, no passion, nor confusion disturbed the scene.
The heart of the Republic beat strongly, indeed, like
that of a man excited, yet in health ; but not with the
dangerous rapidity of fever or of frenzy. Not one
drunken man was to be seen, and this, be it remembered,
in a country where every man drinks wine, and where
almost every man has, every day, wine to drink. Thus
quietly, in a few hours' time, in less than a short winter's
day, were given nearly ten thousand votes, and many
more could have been given if required. But all was
over before the proceedings officially closed, and the in-
flux of "bulletins," which had gradually grown less and
less, had ceased when the President of the Superintend.
ing Committee declared the election to be at an end.
And what was the result, you ask. Wait a bit. The
election is over, but the result lies hid in those two urns,
which have not been touched as yet, and will not give
up their contents until to-morrow, for the investigation
is too long and too serious a work to be done to-night.
I Until to-morrow, then, we must wait, and, in the mean-
while, what is to be done with the urns t Turn out the
people, and lock up the church, you reply. They man-
age things very differently in Geneva. The urns are
deemed too sacred a deposit to be left under the ordinary
custody of bolts and bars. After dismissing the people,
therefore, the doors were locked from within ; lamps
were lighted ; and the electoral committee, in company,
I presume, with the scarlet mutes aforesaid, remained to
keep watch over the ark of the Constitution all night
long. What took place during the solemn hours, history
does not tell; but on the morrow, in all honour, in the
presence of the citizens, and in the light of day, the
scrutiny was made. It was late in this afternoon before
it was completed, about as much time having been occu-
pied in examining as in giving the votes. At length,
the President, who seemed as fresh as if he hid slept
the previous night in his bed, declared that * * *
the opposition had won by a narrow majority. Up to
the last moment the crowd had remained in suspense ;
breathless silence prevailed while the speaker declared
the number of votes for each candidate, but he was
obliged to stop fora brief interval between the announce-
ment of each name, to allow time for a cheer short and
sharp, which suddenly arose and as quickly died away.
These were the first cheers which I had heard. They
were not, however, the lasts; for the crowd adjourned
to the Hotel de Ville, where soon after a proclamation of
the new government was made, with an accompaniment
of drums and trumpets. This ceremony was repeated
in various parts of the town, amidst the loud acclama-
tions of the people. The multitude then dispersed, but
not all. A considerable minority, the friends of Mr.
James Fazy, the defeated leader, mustered in procession
and paid that gentleman a visit of condolence by torch-
light. He replied to their address in a speech remark.
able, it is said, for talent and moderation, which I re-
gret that I did not hear. This was the last incident of
the crisis. The election was over ; the old government,
after a reign of seven years, was dethroned ; and the new
government reigned in its place. The good city re-
sumed its usual quiet, which has not been since inter-
rupted for a single moment.
Such were the facts of the election, as they presented
themselves to the eye of a stranger. Even on the most
superficial view they warrant, as I think, some infer-
ences not unworthy the attention of the British public
now engaged in the perplexing task of contriving a fran-
chise so limited as to include all who are supposed to be
fit, and to exclude all who are deemed, unfit, to be
electors.

In the first place, they warrant the inference, that,
even amongst a population recently enfranchised, uni-
versal suffrage, and vote by ballot lead to a more or-
derly and peaceable conduct of elections than is common
in England under the system of restricted voting.
Secondly. They lead to the inference, that universal
suffrage and vote by ballot tend to give a true expres-
sion of public opinion, by protecting the voter from in-
timidation and bribery. The testimony of the Genevese,
of all classes and parties, is in favour of this inference.
I do not say that there is no bribery and no intimida-
tion, because eager partisans are frequently found who
accuse their opponents of both practices in certain cases.
while they strenuously deny that their own party is
guilty of them ; but all agree, that the elections in
general, and the lasti n particular, cannot have been
appreciably influenced by such means. This inference
is also established, in the opinion of an impartial obser-
ver, by the simple fact that the Conservatives, who pos-
sess, by very far, the largest portion of the wealth and
influence in the canton, have never been able, since the
revolution, to carry an election in favour of their own
party.
Thirdly. They lead irresistibly to the inference that
universal suffrage and vote by ballot do not favour the
choice of ignorant, incompetent, or rapacious legislators.
The candidates chosen, on this occasion, are every one
of them men belonging to the democratic party, and yet
they receive the hearty and unanimous support of the
Conservatives, who express themselves perfectly content
with the choice they have made. Whatever may be the
merits or the morality of the coalition which has taken
place, it is, at least, plain as the sun at noonday, that
nothing bearing the remotest resemblance to spoliation
would be tolerated for a moment by the broad constitu-
ency of Geneva. A decided Conservative assured me
that the canton had never been so excited, and, at the
same time, never so orderly, as on this occasion, and
that the result was one likely to be both honourable and
useful to the Republic. He added, that he now had
hopes which he had not before ventured to entertain of
the working of the new institutions.
I will only add, that it was my good fortune to witness
the election in company with an intelligent young Ame-
rican, who asserted that these inferences were quite as
fairly deducible from the experience of our transatlantic
cousins. You have thus evidence of the practical results
of universal suffrage and the ballot, when tried both in
the largest and the least Republic in the world.—l am,
Sir, yours, &c.,

A NORWICH-MAN IN GENEVA.
Geneva, 26th Dec., 1853.