The Sun.
London, England, 1869-05-15 00:00:00

On Monday evening nest the last day for the holding of
Public meetings expires. For five days before the elec-
tions, which come off on the 23rd and 24th, public
meetings are forbidden by law ; the five days are always
claimed by the GovernMent, which industriously
works during this period without fear of effective
counteracting propaganda from the Opposition. It
was, perhaps, natural that the Democrats of Paris
should desire. to employ the remaining. days to
the best advantage. And if riot and uproar
be making the most Of political opportunities,
they have tunioubtedly done so. Hithertd the
numerous electoral meetings of Paris have been held with
tolerable outward decorum. There has been plenty of
noise, but little that came under the denomination of
rioting. No speaker at a public meeting is allowed to
discuss the Constitution, or make any disrespectful allu-
sion to the Emperor. A commissary of police is always
present to see that these regulations are carried out. Up
to Wednesday the Democrats of Paris contented them-
selves with driving the commissary to desperation by
every species of indirect allusion and inuendo which the
ingenuity of Frenchmen could devise. Sometimes their in-
geneity was carried so far that .the meeting was dissolved.
But in the,;e latter days cf the public meetings, the
Parisians have grown tired of baiting the commissary.
They have apparently wished to wind up the - electoral
campaign with some more striking tiemonstration, and
they have had their wish. On Wednesday evening' a
great meeting was -held at the Chaelet Theatre. M.
Emile 011ivier was announced to speak. It is hardly
necessary for me to again recount the position which this
young deputy holds in the. political world. On account of
his negotiations with the Emperor, with the view of
reforming the Constitution in a liberal sense, he lost his
popularity with the Republicans, stmongst whom he
ranked himself. The reforms which he projected were
all frustrated by M. Rouher, whilst poor M. 011ivier lost
the favour of his party. He is now vehemently—nay
Savagely—opposed, and his chance of re-election for the
city of Paris is, to speak mildly, none of the best. No
wonder, then, that the ChAtelet`Theatre was crowded. The
hour fixed washalf-past eight, but persons began to assemble
as early as half.past four, and at seven all the ap-
proaches to the building were blocked up by a crowd
anxious to obtain admittance. When the doors were
thrown open the struggle was indescribable. So great
was the confusion within the building that it was fully ten
o'clock before let. 011ivier could obtain a Waring. He
rose at nine, and combatted the din of the roaring
multitude for a full hour. At last one of the audience in the
front gallery got up and asked them to hear the deputy,
remarking that they could learn nothing if they did not
hear his explanations. Then M..ollivier again got up, but
the interruptions were still numerous ; as always happens in
these cases, if one of the audience made a remark there
I was a row of some seconds involved in the attempt to
silence him. Thus M. 011ivier's speech was curtailed
to one-half the length which he bad deemed needful for
for an explanation. Ho divided it into two parts. In the
first he defended his plitical conduct, enumerating his
constant efforts in the cause of liberty. This part of his
speech was rather favourably received. Ise urged his
pleas that liberty could not e achieved b revolution
that as they had got the Embpire, they ought to make
the moat of it ; and that constitutional means
were the best and speediest mode of obtaining reform.
In the second pert of his address he endeavoured to demon-
strate from history that revolutionary measures had never
I produced results favourable to liberty, citing, by way of
example, Italy, which had struggled in vain for so
many years under the sterile agitations of Mazzini
I and Garibaldi, but at last found repose in the sound
constitutional policy of Count Cavour ; Hungary,
also, he said, had been powerless under Kossuth,
but now took rank amongst independent nations under
the direction of M. Peak ; lastly, Prussia herself, pre-
viously weak, was now most powerful under the rule
of Count Bismarck. These unpalatable remarks
were received with great disapprohation, and
constant cries of "A la question !" But M. 011ivier
displayed, at least, the quality of courage. He was not
to be put down. He affirmed that the present Govern.
ment did not one its origin to the coup d'aat, but to the
subsequent votes of the plebiscite, and was thus conse-
crated by universal suffrage. Moreover, the revolution of
1848 was the direct' forerunner of personal government
under the Empire. Both these assertions were
received with a tempest of dissent. The crowd
literally howled with fury on being told that
it was the author of its own. slavery. Lastly, AL
I 011ivier vehemently denounced the practice of taking
•• the oath of fidelity to the Emperor with the delibe-
rate intention of overthrowing the Government at the
first possible opportunity. I may remark that every candi-
date returned to the Corps Ugislatif must swear allegiance
to the Emperor. The Republican deputies all take this
oath, but they do not conceal their intention of breaking
it. The speaker said that he had taken the oath,
he 1a I to k.,n it honestly—and he meant to keep it.
To tAk., a,i oath wi h the deliberate intention of breaking
it he held io be infamoos•and dishoimuralile. 1 his put an
end to the meeting. The uproar was so great that the com-
missary, who ha i allowed the ._proceedings to go on until
half.past eleven, 'declared the meeting dissolved. The
crowd separated in indescribable confusion, a portion
hissing 011ivier, and shouting for Bancel, the opponent of
the former ; the rest carrying off the orator in triumph.
The mingling of the audience v ith the great crowd
which had been unable to obtain admission was the
signal for _uproarious proceedings outside. The crowd,
Which numbered 20,000, had kept telerab'y quiet at first,
but the emptying of the theatre speedily produced a riot.
The cries of " Vive Bancel !" were followed by singing c f
the obnoxious " Marseillidee." Tie revolutions y hymn
was given amid loud acclaim, and a repetition was de-
inanded. Well it might be, for the " Marseillaise " sung by
at least 10,000 voices is one of the most inspiriting national
chants ever composed. The sergent3-dc•rille had, how-
ever, come up in great force by this time, and about five
hundred of them, with some mounted municipal guards,
charged the mob, without drawing their swords,
and attempted to disperse it. The police behaved
with great moderation, but several blowS were
. struck, and some Wounds were infreted. One yourg
man in particular was struck in the forehead, and bled
profusely. Several groups which had formed themselves
near the theatre, after having been partially dispersed
by the police, proceeded towards the Faubourg St.
Antoine, and went bareheaded round the Column of July
singing the " Mareeillaise ;" others uttered seditious cries,
and threw stones at the windows. The tumult was at
lengths quelled by the arrival of a strong party of scrgcnts-
dc-ville, who succeeded iu arresting several of the most
riotosts. There was likewise a row in one of the
beer-drinking saloons indeed, all the caNs in
the neighbourhood, which were densely crowded, suf-
fered damagebut this was quieted by the police. The
number of arrests was 20.

Yesterday there was another outbreak. A meeting was
held at the Cirque Napohion by the electors of the fifth
circumscription, and was dissolved by the commissary.
An enormous crowd then gathered on the Boulevard
Beaumarchais round the theatre. All the neighbouring
streets and lanes were crowded. The " Marseillaise"
was again sung, the entire crowd joining in with
great vehemence, The police arrived to the number of
six hundred, and attempted to disperse the multitude.
But the. GOO seryents-de-ville were swallowed
up in the crowd of from 15,000 to 20,0C0. The
municipal guards then came up, and charged the
crowd, which took refuge, in the small lanes.
The divisional inspector of the municipal police,
M. Brun, was struck on the Temple by a heavy
stick, and carried away covered with blood. Another
officer was wounded. Of the crowd many were iajureo
but none gravely. Twenty-five _arrests-w.ere made.
There was yet another disturbance in the seventh cir-
cumscription on Wednesday. M. Rochefort held a
1 meeting, and the people who could nat get iu sang the
" Marvillaise," and destroyed sowizycperty. _The Liberal
journals exhort the electors to peaceful measures.
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Mr. neverdy Johnson took his lcaie 'of th 6
Queen, by letter, on Wednesday.
A sad accident occurred iu thc.Fit th of Forth, near
Inchkcith, en Wednesday. A &Ling boat, belonging to
Newhaven, manned by four men, named John Cairney,
and James Flucler, bile
George Eueker, Philip Thicker,
.returning from the fishing, was caught either iu a squall or
a whirlwind, and cal k. The four m .11 ttruggl. d gallantly
fut life for some time, but IA fore as,is•at.c..; could Lo obtained
two o: them, lhiip and James Flu, ker, perished.

A WONDERFUL CLoex.— If the spirit of good
King Alfred, who invented the mode of measuring time
by burning candles of different lengths, could be permitted
under the auspices of 11Ir. Home to view the wonders of
m ,deru c:vilitiati,►n, we doubt if anytL•ing would interest
the ingenious monarch more than a clod: which has just
been completed for the cathedral of Beauvais, and
which far surpasses all the existing specimens
of the clockmaker's art. This wonderful piece
of mechanism contains no less than 90,000 wheels, and
indicates, among many other things too numerous to
recite, the days of the week, the month, the year, the
signs of the zodiac, the equation of time, the course of the
planets, the phases of the moon, the time at every capital
in the world, the movable feasts for 100 years, the saints'
days, &c. Perhaps the most curious part of the mechanism
is that which gives the additional day in Leap year, and
which consequently is called into action only once in.four
ycar3..ila clock is. :wend. up,,(xety eight days. The
utlin dial i 3 twolvo Ic.gt la fliPPoters and the .tOtalCeat
, wadi ftB,(c •