The Sun.
London, England, 1869-05-27 00:00:00

MAY 27, I 69.

t TIIE G:ENEILLt ELECTIO,7S IN FRANCE.

(FROM 01.311 OWN CORRESPONDENT.)

PARIS, WEDICESDAT.
The result of all the elections throughout France is now
definitely ascertained. The two seats iu Corsica will not
be disposed of until next Sunday ; but the contest in all
Vie 290 circumscriptions of France has been fought out,
and the gains and losses may to a certain extent
be calculated. Two hundred and three candidates who are
avowed supporters of the Government, or who were not
combatted by the authorities, have obtained seats. It
does not. follow, however, that the Government has
secured 203 supporters. Several of this number, beyond
doubt, held moderately Liberal views, and are disposed to
think that the Empire woull prosper better if the liberty of
the subject were more completely provided for, and might,
perhaps, turn against the Government on various questions
in which arbitrary authority was pushed too far. But
considering that a terribly Red Opposition has been
elected, it would be hazardous to hope too much from the
Independents, whom the Government did not care to
oppose. They might have voted with moderate men, such
as ravre and 'niers, but they cannot be relied on to make
common cause with such "sanguinary'' Democrats asßancel,
Easpail, and Gambat.ta. Hence the number 903, though
far in excess of the strength represented by the thick-

and thin Imperialists, may, perhaps, be counted on in a

serious time of danger to the Empire. The Opposition
has returned up to the present time twenty-eight depu-
ties. This is five in excess of the number mustered by all
shades in the last Parliament, and thus the Liberals have
secured a clear gain of ten on a division. •

This, however, does not represent the whole progress
made. The Liberals are mostly of one hue, that of the
deepest red ; and thus the policy of the Opposition, be
it good or bad, will be carried on with order and unanimity.
Mere than this, a great many seats yet undecided must
fall to the Left. The Liberals have already gained five on
their former strength, and yet the unprecedented number
of fifty-nine seats have to be fought for again. Never before
has there been such a large proportion of constituencies
in which no candidate could obtain the requisite half of
all the votes polled plus one. The Left must win many
of these seats on Sunday week. Some, indeed,
are so sanguine as to expect that they will
gain, them all. But four indecisive elections are
to be decided in Paris, and three in the Marseilles
district. The Radicals must surely carry these. In every
circumscription only one official candidate appears, whereas
there are in all these fifty-nine cases, several of
the various Opposition shades. With several of the
Liberals with a smaller number of votes, the fight in
nearly all cases will be carried by the single representa-
tive of the Left. Of course much depends on the self-
sacrifice of the unsuccessful Liberals in giving way
to their more fortunate brethren. This sacrifice
has, however, been made in many cases.
M. Clanzel, a Liberal, who was behind M, Lavertinjin,
Another Liberal, at Bordeaux, retires, and thus one repre-
sentative of the Opposition is left. In Paris, Alton Shde
gives way to Thiers, Cantagrel to Rochefort, Gueroult
to Ferry, and, further detail apart, this example has
been followed in other cases. Thus the Left must gain
several more seats ; it is highly probable that its present
strength will be doubled ; it may be trebled. The general
agreement of the English and French press, that the days
of personal Government are numbered, is not without
foundation. _ .

The good order which prevailed in Paris throughout the
two days of polling was reported in most of the electoral
circninscriptlons, but, unfortunately, not from all. There
have been a few disturbances to mar the general
quiet of an election which, as a whole, reflects
the highest credit on the people of France. From
Saint Etienne, especially, some grave occurrences are
announced. llerr Dorian, a Republican, was elected,
and the enthusiastic Liberals resolved to appropriately
celebrate their triumph. "A bas les Jesuites! " and
" Five Dorian !" intermingled with frequent doses of the
" Marseillaise 1" resounded the whole night. The Jesuits
were the special object of Republican aversion. The
mob attacked the college of the Order, set fire to the
porter's lodge, smashed the windows, and broke the bars
of the ground-floor windows. The Prefect called out the
whole of the troops, but was not able to disperse the
rioters until daybreak. Some arrests were made. At
Amiens some 1,800 workmen assailed the manufactory of
M. Cosserat, the late deputy who has been re-elected,
and inflicted some damage. The gendarmes were obliged
to interfere to restore order. At Angers crowds gathered
before the Mairie and the Prefecture, singing the " Mar-
seillaise." Seventeen arrests, says an official journal, had
to be made here. At Lille several arrests were made,
one man being taken with a gun in his hand. A mob, angry
with the defeat of the Liberal candidates at this city, had
gathered together and adventurously broken some of the
windows of the central police-station. At Toulouse pi
crowd gathered on the Place du Capitole, and advanced
against a barrack which had been established near
the Palace of Justice. Stones were thrown, and one
officer and a soldier slightly bit. These details, I may
add, are given by the semi-official papers. The Liberal
journals say very little about the disturbances,
remarking that in no case was there any out-
,br eek of gravity. It will not, therefore, be prema-
ture to conclude that the character of these riots has
been purposely exaggerated by the Patrie, which gives a
most lengthy account of them. The semi-official journal
was found guilty of this offence but a few days ago, and
its readers, therefore, may be pardoned for not on this
occasion accepting its statements in full. No doubt the
riot at St. Etienne has been of rather formidable pro.
portions ; but at the other places it is clear that nothing
very alarming has occurred.
A somewhat singular fact, much commented on just
now, confirms this impression. The Indlpendance Beige
has been seized by the authorities five days in succession.
The Patrie, as I have before mentioned, told a
dismal tale of revolutionary preparations in Belgium;
how a band of political exiles, including, of
course, Rochefort, were assembled at Brussels, and
d
egp e
n d arevolutionaryenneceaddressedBeige
thesaedtilerzeiauti
letter
lin'hela/nidn
e
weo
re el
wa cutpi vteiliye
Ee ningraigree,
paper has
hi se story
tionrsn oo
fmt ae sßu rreuds s
etlesr
im)asp,
to all the Liberal editors in Paris, stating why his
paper was seized, recounting the story of the Patrie,
andinforming the public that the statements made by
that and another semi-official paper are "completely
false." The Liberal papers reproduce this letter, and thus
the design of the authorities in seizing the Inclipendance
is frustrated.

The system of schooling pauper children is being
taken up in Liverpool. Apropos of the subject it was stated
at the meeting of the vestry on Tuesday that the vestry clerk,
acting on a recent recommendation, bad communicated with
the managers of various schools in the town to ascertain
whether they would be trilling to receive the children of
paupers in receipt of outdoor parochial relief on the terms
which the select vestry had offered. Replies had been re-
ceived, some of which were unfavourable to the terms pro-
posed by the vestry, but it is expected that in about a fort-
night the vestry clerk will be informed as to the number of
schools in 'which pauper children way be received, and the
arrangements for carrying out the new system will then
soon be completed, and probably a large number of children
taken off the streets.

Yesterday morning a collision of a very serious
character occurred on the Mersey, near Monk's Ferry. The
new ferry boat, Richmond, which plies in the summer
months between Liverpool and Easthaven, left the latter
place et nine o'clock with a large number of passengers, en
route for Liverpool. The limning was thick and hazy, a
heavy fog hanging over the river, end when nearly opposite
Monk's Ferry the Richmond came into sudden collision with
a large brigantine, lying at anchor off the Ferry. The
shock was such as to cause the Richmond to heel over,
causing the wildest consternation amongst the passengers.
As soon as the vessels got clear of each other it was found
that the Richmond's funnel bad been carried away, together
with her sponson. Fortunately, no one on board was seri-
ously injured ; and after a blight delay the Richmond pro-
ceeded to Liverpool.
-

- - -
Another case of herb poisoning is reported. It
took place at Fozdnle, Isle of Man. A miner, named Thomas
Christian, lost his life by it. Ho and three other men seated
themselves to rest in a field, when their attention WAS di-
rected to what was apparently a carrot growing close by.
The root was pulled up, and the deceased eat a considerable
portion, two of his companions also partaking of it, but not
so freely as Christian. In a few minutes the latter was
reized with all the symptoms of poisoning from some power-
ful herbal poison ; and, at the Mlle time, the others who had
eaten of is also began to f, el a Fick faintness. The latter two
succeeded at once in obtaining remedies which enabled them
to overcome the effects of the deadly root, but the unfortu-
nate man Christian expired in great agony kfore any aid
could arrive. The rout is : up' csed to I aye Leen Lelladonna
or deadly aightshutde. 'I he deLeas«l was. an aged turn, being
upwards of 70 years old.
At the She (field C Lurch Conference on Tuesday the

Archbishop of Yolk made an in-ro taut speech on Church,
extension. His gr: ce referred to the difficulties inter-
posed in the erection of new churches by the powers
and privileges given to differ( nt parties interested,
and said that he would not allow any individual
to have the power of a veto from which there could bo no
appeal. Ile admitted the rights of the clergy and of patrons
but he thought that in every case there should be an appeal,
and he proposed iu the bill be had introduced into Parlia-
ment to make the Mat attempt to estahlirh anything like
compulsion in dealing with patrons and their rights. Hie
proposition was to take rower to compensate a patron
whether he would or not.