The Sun.
London, England, 1869-07-12 00:00:00

HER MAJESTY.

WINDSOR. CASTLE, July 11.
Her Majesty, accompanied by Princess Christian,
drove out yesterday afternoon.
The Queen, accompaniedi by their Royal High-
nesses Princess Christian, Princess Louise, Prince
Arthur, Prince Leopold, and Princess Beatrice
and the ladies and gentlemen in waiting, attended
Divine service this morning in the private chapel.

The Prince and Princess of Wales attended
Divine service yesterday morning in the Chapel
Royal, St. James's.

CORRESFONDERCE FROM PARIS.

(FROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENT.)

PARIS, SUNDIT, July 11.
The crisis—for even the Imperialists admit that there is
a crisis—still continues, and as yet there is no solution.
The Chamber was not constituted for business yesterday ;
but it is finally arranged that the election of secretaries
shall take place to-morrow, so that the determination of
the Emperor will probably soon be made known. There
is much talk to-day of change in the Ministry ; but the
preponderance of rumour is at present in favour of M.
Rouher retaining at least some share in the Government,
and this will neither please the country nor settle the
question. If the status quo is to be altered at all, the
shelving of M. Rouher is indispensable.
Some of the papers, I see, are prophesying that the
Imperialists who have joined the noble Cent-seize, the band
_ of 116, will be persuaded by the Emperor to withdraw
their signatures, and the demand for Ministerial respon-
sibility will be rejected in toto. The rejection
is possible, and not improbable ; but the deputies
who have already signed cannot well withdraw now.
Moreover, I am assured by the leaders of the Reform
party that the great majority of, if not all, the 116 will
remain faithful.
It may be as well to point out what are the exact im-
mediate changes in the constitution and government which
will be required if the Emperor resolves to give way to the
demand of the Moderate Liberals. Three articles of -the
Constitution, the sth, 13th, and the 44th, will have to be
altered. The sth Article provides that "The President
of the Republic (the Emperor) is responsible before the
French people, to whom he has right of appealing." The
first part of this must be struck out, and the article will
thei provide only that the Emperor has the right of ap-
peal to the people. The 13th Article stipulates that the
Ministers are dependent only upon the Chief of the State,
there is no "solidarity" amongst them—that is, they do
not stand or fall together, as the English Ministry gene-
rally does ; each is answerable only for the doings in his
own department. This article will be altered so as to read
simply that the Ministers are responsible. Article 44
provides that Ministers cannot be members of the Corps
LSgislatif. This must be changed so as to admit the
Ministers to be members both of the Corps IZgislatif and
of the Senate, besides providing that they must seek re-
election when nominated to office.
Such are,the demands of the Left Centre as formulated
by the Libellee, and they may be taken to represent the
policy of the new party. Their effect will be simply that
whereas now the Corps Legislatif cannot discuss the Con-
stitution, cannot pass a vote of censure on the Ministry, and
cannot exercise any direct contra over the acts of the
Administration, it will, if the programme of the Moderate
Liberals be taken, have the power to do all these things.
In short, though the Emperor will still reign, the Empire
will be at an end. The more the situation is considered
the more completely astonishing does it seem that such a
crisis as this should have been brought about in so short a
...., time. The position the Moderate Reformers have taken
up has been most judiciously selected, and managed with
admirable tact. They might readily have chosen a pro-
gramme which the Emperor could have accepted more
easily, but such a course would have been perfectly
useless. If the form of government is to be changed, it is
only a considerable change that tan be of any avail.
Whether the present system be beneficial or injurious, it
is clear that the abolition of personal government is the
only course by which it can be sensibly modified.
It is much to be desired that the Emperor would come
to a decision at once, for, in the present state of uncer-
tainty, the attitude of the Corps L€gislatif is becoming
really alarming. For several days past an entire sits:_eg
has been devoted to the validation of two or three elec-
tions which were not seriously contested. What will
be the case when the disputed returns—not one of
which has yet been considered—come on for hearing?
Thursday's sitting, as I mentioned, was stormy, but Fri-
day's was much more so. Three distinct uproars took
place. First, there was the Guyot-Montpayroux row. M.
Rouher, the day before, spoke of the necessity of raising
a barrier against revolution, and the Marquis de Pir4
turned towards the Left with menacing gestures. M. '
Guyot Montpayroux said that the language of M. Rouher
was of a kind which "we"—the Left—would not tolerate.
The President told him that to say he would not tolerate this
or that was improper. The excited deputy retorted that he
expressed the sentiments of 20,000 free citizens, and that
he would not be termed a revolutionist. Using rather
warm language the President asked him to be moderate
in his terms; but M. Guyot Montpayroux would not
be moderate, and finally M. Garnier-Pae'.2 created
a tremendous storm by declaring that he gloried in the
revolutions of 'B9, '3O, and '4B, Order was at length
restored, and the Chamber got to business,but only to pre-
cipitate itself in another row, brought about by M. Ferry,
the Red, declaring that all the elections of official candidates
were null and void, and that the system, instead of being
universal suffrage, was only hypocrisy. Row number
three was owing to M. Pelletan, who, in reply to a remark
that the general election had sanctioned the coup d'etat,
said that the coup d'etat was a crime. The Chamber from
the beginning to the end of the sitting resembled a bear
garden. Yesterday was moderately quiet, the sitting,
which was a very long one, being devoted to a constitu-
tional discussion, the result of which was that it has been
resolved to constitute the House to-morrow.
The Emperor is said to have made an important speech
at the grand dinner at St. Cloud the other day,
His Majesty, after listening to some observations
from M. Buffet (close to whom were 111. Brame,
M. de Saint-Paul, and M. Louvet), replied in
substance that the Government would not be
found to persist in the :Wu quo, but that it could not
follow to the utmost limits the iniative of the Constitu-
tional Liberal party. He added, "I am firmly convinced
that if I had ever to consult the nation, I should still have
for me six millions of votes."