The Sun.
London, England, 1870-05-30 00:00:00

P IRIS CORRESPONDENCE.

SATURDAY EVENING

The great topic of conversation in Paris to-day is the
formation of the new party, the Constitutional Left.
Seventeen deputies, belonging some of them to the mode-
rate republicans, others to the old Left Centre, have
united under M. Ernest Picard, numbering amongst them
Barthelemy, Saint Hilaire, Guyot Montpayroux, and
Bethmont. To judge from present intimations the new
party are willing to accept the Empire, and are ready to
assume office when called upon to do so, provided they
can fulfil their programme which is very briefly stated.
Such a defection from the ranks of the old Left of Jules
Favre and Jules Simon must necessarily materially affect
the position of parties. The group of which MM. Daru
and Buffet are the most prominent members, will be con-
siderably strengthened, by the rapprochement of M.
Picard and his followers. The establishment of the Con-
stitutional Left is a matter of congratulation to sincere
and moderate Liberals who wish to obtain and secure
free thought, free speech, and a free press without over-
turning thrones and subverting dynasties. It shows that
the French are training in the way of Constitutionalism
that their politiciafis are beginning to recognise the fact
that great political ends are better gained by mutual con-
cession and compromise than by the aut Caesar, aut nullus
principle, where no question of right or wrong is concerned.
We have another excitement to-day in M. Gambetta's
speech at Belleville. The favourite tribune of the masses
is not inclined to make any concession. He attacked the
Emperor as " the man whose fortune was made by
three conspiracies ;" and though he counselled mode-
ration, and declared the despotic party had been strength-
ened by the excesses of the revolutionists, he did
not, as you see, set a very forcible example.
In the Corps Legislatif yesterday the discussion of M.
Bethmont's interpellation elicited from M. 011ivier the
remark that he did not think the time was ripe for grant-
ing freedom of political association. This was of course in
reference to the refusal of the Ministry to grant the
central plebiseitary committee permission to preserve its
organisation, a refusal by which M. 011ivier has in-
geniously succeeded in giving double offence. He has
offended the committee of course, and they naturally
inquire what the minority has to fear from a Con-
servative body who have exerted themselves and
risked their credit and their influence in the
Imperial cause. The Left is angry with the
Ministers on public grounds, as they naturally upheld
that right of public meetings which M. 011ivier thinks it
unadvisable at present to concede. As usual, he carried
the Chamber with him by his speech, and the order of the
day was pasied by a large majority.
M. Laboulaye is not yet out of his troubles. His
second attempt at a lecture was even more stormy than
his first.

The Paris Journal announces the death of M. Salmon,
who has lately risen into celebrity as the father of
Victor Noir, and it adds that Louis Noir, his son
was not present at the funeral. You may remember
that the civil suit against Prince Pierre Bonaparte for
compensation for the death of Victor Noir, gave rise to
some difference between Louis Noir and his father. The
former wished' to lay the damages at one franc only, so that
there should be suspicion of pecuniary profit on the part
of the Salmon family. As it turned out, however, the
suit was necessarily brought in the name of the father
since it could not be shown that Louis, a strong active
man, in the prime of life, had suffered damages by the
untimely death of his younger brother. To his father
he might have been a means of support, and the damages
were given accordingly. LOuis Noir was so much chs'
grined at the acceptance of this money that he announced
his intention of repaying it in full as soon as he could
earn it. As the Prince of course would not accept it, he
intended to bestow it on a public object.

Speaking of journalists, I may add that an important
change has been made by the new Press Law. The stairiP
is to be abolished, and a rate of postage charged which
will virtually prohibit the Parisian press from travelling
far from the capital. Of course this is supposed to be
done with the object of diminishing the influence of the
journals in the provinces, but the design, if seriously in-
tended, is a very foolish one, as men's minds will work in
the departments as well as in the city; and if Paris cannot,
or not, supply them, provincial journals, probably
more violent and less able will spring up in every dire'
tion. Of course the abolition of the stamp will increase
the number of journals at one sou in Paris itself, but I do
not expect it will eventually make mnch difference.

A great fire has occurred in the Rue Rossini, at the
stables of Baron Rothschild. Fortunately the bore°
were all got out, and after about three-quarters of an
hour's incessant exertion, the flames were subdued, and
the street was loaded with wet and half-burned trusses of
hay and straw. The damage done was about 20,000 f., but
as it will come out of the coffers of a Rothschild, we PIO
reserve our sympathies for shallower purses.

GENERAL PRIM ON THE PORTUGUEO

CRISIS.

The following is the substance of the speech of General
Prim, delivered in the Spanish Cortes on the 24th, on the
news from Portugal. The Chamber will have remarked
the reserve which the Ministry has maintained since the
day when the news of the recent events in Portugel,
reached Spain. The Government, however, finds itsell
obliged to enter upon some explanations so as to avoid the
risk of being thought to be the instrument of passions it
is not necessary to specify. He then read a despatch
received from Lisbon, stating that in consequence of the
news from Sprain the whole of the Portuguese Deputies
had taken an oath en ntasse to defend the independence of
Portugal. "It has been believed," continued Gener°'
Prim, " that the events in Portugal were due to the
machiavelism of the Spanish Government. Therefore
wish in the name of all my colleagues to declare in thee
most emphatic manner that the Spanish Government is
It
total stranger to all that is taking place in Portugal.
is well known that persons have long thong"'
this would be a favourable opportunity for Will
and Portugal to realise the dream of Iberisll
unity. Unfortunately for me I was once knol
to speak loudly in favour of that scheme in Lisbon its e
I now say in this place, believing that I interpret tub
feeling of the country and the Chamber, that the Spa"i!,
nation has no idea of accomplishing the Iberian union w
force, violence, or conquest. They wish for friendlYy, °r
rather fraternal relations between the two countries. They
wish for the day when there shall be no longer a frontier
line between Spain and Portugal—when a Spanish Mice-
cate may exercise his profession in Portugal, and a Porto;
guese doctor come and practice medicine in Spain. De
if this union is ever accomplished it will be on the CO
dition that each nation preserves its autonomy. xlird
from us be the thought that the noble Portuguese show
be erased from the book of nations. In Portugal as ~
Spain there are men who never miss an opportiloitJv
of misrepresentation. I trust my words will speew;
reach even to the Portuguese Chambers, so that 0"-
brothers may know that the national independence thel;
have sworn to defend will never be attacked by SParl!sii
arms, that they may put aside their suspicions whleeg
nothing justifies, and acknowledge that Spain She
truly to be the friend of Portugal. Senor Castel
followed, reproaching the Government of the Bege
with not having more strictly observed the neutral',q
required by the gravity of the situation, but approl
the conciliatory tone, adopted by General Prim. SPaiDlficl
no. Prussian dreams of war and conquest. The past '—ej.„
future of the two countries were the same, and he be it
nothing would prevent them from one day resting tiley
mutual independence and their mutual sovereignty on

federation of the United States of free Iberia.

tlt
A letter in the Birmingham Daily Post says the
the member who took the notes for the Times when the
eporters were excluded from the House of Commons the
other night was Sir John Trelawny, who reported f°l.teto
same paper in 1849, the last occasion when the repor

were Convened to leave.

.mr. John• 11,3;

EXPERIMENTING IN CHLOROFORM.-I%lr.
Anderson, of Govan, writes as follows :—Apropos cLre;
death of the lamented Sir James Simpson, allow me n of
late my first experience of chloroform. The sure°
the Alligator hospital ship in Hong-Kong, in 185n_...,,
i,° •veti
enthusiastic in its praise, and when any man-of-war ail
ip
whose medical officer had not received the news ~e.tc`
wonderful properties, he was instanter hauled 011
the Alligator, when the first order given was, " Sterren"
catch the cat." This unfortunate animal was thend for,
dered insensible, and one joint of his tail amputati-teatiP
the benefit of science. When we arrived in the
from the Arctic expedition, a similar invitation WitiO
to our surgeons. The cat had only one joint left, ails the
was razed in our presence. On recovering his senateli
animal cast one mournful look behind, and imranulrooni
committed suicide by jumping out of the after gun-
port. This is literally a fact.
MUSICAL NoTEs.—Madame Adelina Patti
roof,
signed with K Bagier, of the Paris Opera, for a fell coit,',
engagement, on her return next March from the the
North.—Offenbach has written a three-act piece ,; o°,
Paris Gaiety, by the name of " I,e roi Carotte.lo
Grand Duke of Weimar has ordered "Tristan and Isfor°
to be added to five other operas byWagner, designed te,eo.!,
the r6pertoixe of the forthcoming model perforraans'trel..
" Impitoyable le grand-duc," exclaims '7 Le gene., brt
—A great fusion of the management of Europaii'ero
theatres, that is, so far as the engagement of siva
concerned, is talked of in Paris.—The famous or
Carpeaux group will forthwith disappear from the PDYfe
of the Paris Opera House. M. Gumery 11ostv.
charged with the execution of a new group----4'
Standard.