The Sun.
London, England, 1870-01-17 00:00:00

PARIS CORRESPONDENCE.

SrICDAY.

The crime at Auteuil, and the prosecution of M.
Rochefort have not yet lost any of their interest. Paris,
which loves sensations, has now two at the same time,
though it is true that the one depends partly on
the other. The Government, we must hope, will
be able to regain by their conduct of the trial
the position which they have undoubtedly lost by
their resolution to persist in the prosecution. The
trial of Prince Pierre is, of course, a matter of
absorbing interest. Nine witnesses were cited
yesterday, among them Paschal Grousset and Ulric de
Fonvielle. The Prince is still at the Conciergerie,
where he receives numerous visits. He sustained, accord-
ing to the Public, a serious bruise on the left cheek from
Victor Noir. The Prince was asked during his interroga-
tion how it was that he fired at the unarmed Victor Noir
when he saw Fonvielle draw out the pistol. "Because,"
he answered, " I felt the outrage before I perceived the
danger." The Prince does not appear to see any outrage in

firing on an unarmed man.
The Constitutionnel says that the Council of Ministers
has unanimously pronounced in favour of pursuing the
policy of prosecuting M. Rochefort. This accords
with the reply given by M. 011ivier to M. K6ratry in
the Chamber yesterday. He stated that the sub
ject was still under the consideration of the
Council of State, and he did not know whcn it
would come on for discussion, but it would be
brought forward as soon as possible. It is now thought
likely that the discussion will commence on Monday. M.
Keratry's proposal to adjourn the question for a week was
defeated by a large majority. The Independance Beige
thinks that the Ministry have already reaped evil conse-
quences by their persistepce in the prosecution of Roche-
fort. The press prosecutions are multiplying, and the
011ivier Ministry has entered upon the aggressive policy
which it was hoped bad been entirely abandoned during
the Forcade administration. In spite, however, of the,
representations which have been made to them, the
Government have made a Cabinet question of the prosecu-
tion. The Left Centre dispatched an emissary
to M. 011ivier to induce him to adopt a more
moderate policy, but the Minister refused to enter upon
the subject at all. Many deputies have received
threatening letters, warning them not to consent to the
prosecution of Rochefort. It is also rumoured that the
Government, on their part, made some communication to
Emile de Girardin, for the purpose of temporising the
attitude of the Liberte.

The opponents of the authorisation to prosecute
Rochefort point out that the latter will be tried before
judgment is pronounced against the Prince Pierre Bona-
parte which will produce a deplorable effect, But a worse
effect will be produced if unfortunately it should turn
out that M. Rochefort was condemned to a heavy penalty,
and the Prince only suffered a slight infliction. The
Government will incur a great responsibility by pursuing
their present policy.
The Journal de Paris, which is supposed to be a Minis-
terial organ, declares that it will be a great mistake to
make Rochefort's prosecution a Cabinet question, and
that the friends of the Government should warn them

The Siecle quotes a passage from M. 011ivier's speech at
a public meeting last May, and argues that M. Rochefort
is not liable to prosecution for his remarks in the
Marseillaise. M. 011ivier said:—" With regard to the
press, have I not always demanded for it more than
Benjamin Constant, more even than the deputies of the
Left? The jury is not sufficient for me. What I wish
for human thought is complete immunity. I make a dis-
tinction between act and opinion. The former falls under
the ban of the Penal Code ; the latter involves only the
intellectual or moral responsibility of him who expresses
it. Such is my theory."
M. d'Oms, of the High Court of Justice, spent the
greater part of yesterday in inspecting Prince Pierre's
hotel at Auteuil.
M. Grousset, as a writer in the Orarseillaise, has received
a citation to appear before the Tribunal of First Instance,
but he has refused to obey it, declaring that he will not
recognise either that tribunal, or any Bonapartist jurisdic-

Victor Noir is likely to gain a degree of celebrity by his
death, which his life could hardly have brought him. In
addition to having caused a bonterersenient of the whole
city, and seriously imperilled the dynasty, he is to have a
monument. M. Itaspail has sent a contribution of 50fr.
The Ministry have refused permission to sell the portrait
taken of him after death, at least if we are to accept the
statement of M. Carjat, photographer, published in the

Rappel.
There is as, I have already told you, division in the camp
of the Irreconcilables. The withdrawal of M. Gustave
deal of comment. You have already had his version o
the affair. Here is Rochefort's :—" There was on -Wednes-
day amongst the Democrats who attended the funeral of
Victor Noir two opinions—some wanted to traverse Paris
with the coffin. whilst the others were anxious to preserve
to the manifestation its pacific character. As I was the
only deputy present, the crowd consulted me; but when
the crowd is determined to act, it never consults anyone.
I was well aware that one hundred thousand men and all
the cannons imaginable had been called into requisition.
We were little, or not at all, armed, and found ourselves at
Neuilly, that is to say, almost in the country, and obliged
to besiege Paris to gain the strategical points on which a
struggle could be engaged. Furthermore—and here is
what renders more marked the difference between Flourens
and me as to the course to be pursued in case that
what Robespierre called the most holy of duties should
become a necessity—the intentions of the day had been
imprudently rumoured about the evening before in the.
various meetings. A revolution is something unexpected,
and if you inform your enemy that the next day at two
you will blow out his brains, he will be sure to take
proper precautions, and you will not succeed in doing
anything of the sort."
The Revell of the 12th of January expresses itself in the
most extravagant terms, and declares that all is not over
because the funeral of Victor Noir has been completed.
The condemnation of Prince Bonaparte cannot absolve the
past, of which he is a complete illustration. The evil
must be eradicated in the root. Paris will not fail in per-
forming this duty and France waits for its execution.
Under the pressing excitement of the last few days
ordinary politics have been completely overlooked or for-
gotten, nevertheless the debates in the Senate have been
of considerable importance. The discussion raised by M.
de Maupas on the policy of the new Ministry was inte-
resting on two points. The analytical compte rendu
becomes occasionally extremely oppressive to the journals,
which are abliged to publish it in full whatever its
interest. They have no power to publish one part with-
out another. Tho natural consequence is that
one of the houses has to be sacrificed, and the
Senate has the most reason to complain of being
frequently omitted. The other question, which is prac-
tically interesting, is M. 011ivier's explanation concerning
the mayors. The Minister of Justice made a very unwel-
come statement on this head. The Cabinet, he
said, would not, in the promised measure of
reform, go so far as the :election of the mayors by
the municipal councils. Whatever the Cabinet may be,
the country is quite prepared to go as far as this, and
I doubt if anything short of it will satisfy the public.
M. Ernie de Girardin has an article in the Liberti, de-
claring that if the attacks on the Emperor in the Mar-
seillaise are dangerous, the Procureur-G6neral is the
greatest offender against the law, for by his prosecution of
a deputy he has given it a degree of publicity it would
never otherwise have attained.

Uertain insinuations against Mr. Baxter, M.P.,
are explained by the Dundee Advertiser, which states that the
son of the hon. gentleman will assist his father at the Ad-
iuiralty merely as an unpaid attaché.

According to the North Wilts Herald, it is stated
that Lord Edmond Fitzmaurice, the present member for
Caine, will contest North Wilts in the Liberal interest at the
next election.

'The Sheffield Telegraph says that rattening is again
the recognised and tolerated custom of the town. It is not
only done, but it is done promptly and almost openly as
soon as a man omits to make his weekly payment to the
trade secretary.

The Duke of Cambridge has been again examined
before Lord Northbrook's Committee with reference to the
proposed transfer of his department to Pall-mall, and has
likewise had several interviews with Mr. Cardwell on the
subject. his Royal Highnesa's objections to the scheme are,
tho Broad Arrow believes, as strong as ever.

The Albert Memorial at Dublin was completed
yesterday, by the placing of a E tvtue of the late Prince
Consort on a pedestal forty feet from the ground. The
figure is of stone, ten feet and a half in height, and the
Prince is clothed in the robes of the Oruer of the Garter.
At about seven o'clock last evening a serious
collision occurred at the Tyne Dock Station, South Shields.
A. passenger train from Newcastio ran into a coal train. Both
engines and trucks were smashed, and the lino was blocked
for two hours. The passengers were severely shaken, but
no lives wore lost.

A solicitor of Holywell, named Davies, has been
charged with perjury. In an action against him for salary
he swore that he had paid a £lO note to his clerk, which it
appears he did not. The defence was that his statement
was not material to the issue of the case. On this argument
the charge was dismissed.