The Sun.
London, England, 1869-05-21 00:00:00

There can now be no doubtthat these manifestations are
purposely exaggerated by the authorities. The Aude
tffair, for instance, in which one man was seriously
injured, was represented by a semi-official paper to
be a case of rivers of blood and hills of slain.
All Paris was alarmed by the statement of " tumults in
which knives were used, and several mortally wounded."
The affair was really as I have described it.
This exaggeration is not all. The report is
industriously spread abroad that numerous French refugees
London, Brussels, Geneva, and the Hague are holding
themselves in readiness for a revolution. Of course this
is pure fiction, invented to frighten the voters. Neither
the refugees nor anybody else expect a revolution, or the
iemi-official prints would not talk about it. This
raising of the revolutionary phantom is not creditable to
the Government ; but it is the old game, and it is very
fageniously managed. The official papers publish two
distinct editions. One, destined to meet the eye of Paris,
:ontains nothing alarmist. But the other, which
is sent off to the provinces, is full of the
wildest and most fantastic legends. It is carefully
distributed amongst the rustic voters ; and as carefully
kept from the Paris voters, who would like nothing better
than to ridicule it.
It is very strange, but not less true, that, in the midst
at this election excitement, the rumours of war are
once more beginning to make themselves heard. For a
long time the Paris newspapers have banished all alarmist
reports. The election news was regarded with more
interest ; and, moreover, the rumours would keep.
The Bulgarian bands, triple alliances, movements of
Ambassadors, and all that good old stock, would do just as
well in June as in May ; and, moreover, they would come
out fresh, and create excitement after a few months' calm.
I fully expected to hear nothing of war preparations until
after next Monday at the earliest ; but I have been
disappointed. The reports have come up again ; and
this time they are founded upon preparations
which, to say the least, have a queer look. A military
commission is about to try experiments with the convey:-
ance and rapid disembarkation of horses on the
Eastern railway. Then some other officials have
been busying themselves with the calculation of the
number of trains by day which will be required to rapidly
transport so many troops to a given spot. There is like-
wise more gossip about the sailing of fleets and the like.
The Bourse has been affected. It would be rash to place
too hasty an interpretation on these reports. They
have been spread abroad scores of times before,
no doubt ; but at the same time there is a war party at
Court who would be only too glad to persuade the
Emperor to engage in strife, with the view of putting off
the evil day when Liberal Reform will be the unanimous
cry of the nation.
The French ship Bretagne, which sailed from Buenos
Ayres for Bordeaux on March 26, has been lost with the
captain and several of the crew.
The Emperor and Empress have paid a visit to Queen
Isabella. The Gaulois says that the visitors communi-
cated some good news to the Queen, which gave her great
satisfaction ; but though Paris wonders what this good
news could be, it is very incredulous