The Sun.
London, England, 1867-04-04 00:00:00

TO THE ELECTORS OF MIDDLESEX.

GENTLEMEN,--•T
11E death of Mr. Hanbury has deprived you of
the services of a highly-esteemed Representative in
the House of Commons. _ _

For the vacancy thus sadly and unexpectedly occasioned
I venture to offer myself as a Candidate.
There are many among you, I flatter myself, to who.n
my name is not unknown as a zealous supporter of the
Liberal cause, and at this important crisis I hold it essen-
tial that any candidate presuming to ask for the suffrages
of such an important and thoroughly Liberal constituency
as that of Middlesex should be able to give trustworthy
assurances of his devotion to the principles which they
have at heart. _ _

Should you do me the honour to return me to Parlia-
ment it would be my first duty to co-operate with those
who desire to effect the passage of an honest and straight-
forward measure of Reform—such a measure as would
prove to the large body of artisans and working men, whom
I hold to be entitled to the franchise, that the House of
Commons is not afraid of the people, nor averse to the free
extension of political privileges, nor disposed to deny to
the intelligent operatives a share in the government of the
country, to whose burdens they are called upon to contri-
bute. If the Reform Bill proposed by the Tory Ministry
be not capable of adaptation to such an end, I should not
hesitate to give my adherence to any, course which may
seem the most calculated to attain the desired object.
Respect to the memory of your late Representative will
not allow me for the next few days to take any further
steps to bring myself before the Electors, but 1 shall take
the earliest possible opportunity of meeting you in public
and giving you a detailed, and I trust satisfactory, account
of my views upon all the important political topics of the
day.
I have the honour to be, Gentlemen,
Your very obedient servant,
HENRY D. LABOUCHERE.
23, James-street, Buckingham-gate, S.W.,
March 29, 1867.

THE SUN, LONDON, TH UR SDA Y EVENING, APRIL 4, 1867.

of the noble lord to impress upon the Dutch Go-
vernment the desirability of withdrawing from the
negotiations with France, in order that the ques-
tion might very conveniently be dropped without
any awkward collision taking place between Berlin
and Paris. In the first place, it is uncertain if
this be true ; and, in the next, we should say it
was very doubtful if much heed would be paid
to such a request on the part of our Foreign
Office. We do not think that the Berlin Govern-
ment have ever showed so much respect to the
representatives of our country that we should
depart from the non-intervention policy, which
seems to have obtained so much of late years
among us. Besides, we have nothing to do with
the matter, and should very likely offend France
with our ill-timed interference. Common consist-
ency might, in all conscience, keep Prussia from
being so very sensitive upon the point as to whether
other countries have places ceded to them or not ;
but in any case there will be no great sympathy in
England for any indignation or disappointment ex-
perienced in the matter by those so fully capable of
taking care of themselves at the expense of others,
to the consternation of the lovers of fairplay, of the
violation of the principles of justice and the laws of
honour.

CORRESPONDENCE FROM PARIS.

(FROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENT.)

PARIS, Wednesday Evening.
Politics are somewhat at a discount to-day, but
the report of the alleged cession of Luxembourg to
France is still an exciting topic. Private letters
from Luxembourg state that the idea is received
with great favour there, indeed some inflammatory
placards against Prussia led to such enthusiasm that
the authorities were compelled to interfere. These
placards were :headed " Vive Napoleon ! Vive la
France !" It seems quite clear from these accounts
that Luxembourg is more desirous of annexation to
France than the continuation of Prussian domina-
tion.

The weather has improved to-day, and there have
been a good many visitors to the Exhibition. There
is still much to be done before full appreciation can
be given to its wonderful contents. Comparisons
are odious, but at present the French portion is the
most attractive. There is, however, much to delight
and astonish in the English department. Indeed
there has been a notable illustration of this. The
very first visit paid by the Princess Mathilde, after
glancing at the French articles, was to inspect the
splendid specimens of art brought by Messrs. Han-
cock and Co., the renowned jewellers, of Bruton-
street. The Princess expressed her high admiration
of them. I shall have to notice some remarkable
articles in the French jewellery and clockmaking
section. Throughout the long extent of the French
galleries marvellous and beautiful articles are to be
seen on both sides at every step. They require more
than a cursory glance in passing to give adequate
description, and I therefore defer the task for the I
present.

At a recent conference at the Sorbonne, M. Le-
vasseur, Professor of History at the Lyceum Napo-
leon, gave an appropriate and very interesting sketch
of such Exhibitions in Fiance. He said that the idea
was not so novel as some had supposed, for in
the 17th, as well as in the 18th centuries, France,
which was considered the country of the arts,
found imitators of her productions. In 4795)
after the terrors of the Revolution, there were exhi-
bitors of paintings. In 1798, after the signature of
the treaty of Campo Formic), the Minister Francois
de Neufchateau opened the first industrial exhibi-
tion. It was a very humble edifice, but, like the
present great temple, it was in the Champ de Mars.
Brequet, Cont 6, and other eminent French manu-
facturers, sent specimens of their art and industry,
but England did not exhibit anything. In 1801 the
First Consul took advantage of a temporary inter-
val of peace to inaugurate an industrial exhibition.
It took place in the Louvre, but there were hardly
200 exhibitors. In the following year there was an
exhibition, when the exhibitors numbered 600.
There were some splendid productions from Sevres
and the Gobelins. The English began to take
notice of such exhibitions, and came to see the
articles, but they did not send any. Fox, the Mini-
ster, who came to see them, in company With Count
Chaptal, expressed his congratulations, but not
without mixing a spice of satire. "It is certainly
a French exhibition," said he. " 1 see some very
beautiful articles, but none of them are very useful.
In England we work in a different manner." Chap-
tal, upon this, pointed to some small knives at
three halfpence a piece, and Fox was so delighted
with them that he filled his pockets with the articles
to take them to England. Napoleon about that
time wrote from Vienna that he should like to have
an exhibition. It took place in 1806. France Was
then at the height of her grandeur. It was the most
splendid exhibition of the Imperial era. There were
1,500 exhibitors, and the articles were of very great
value. The exhibition of 1819 took place on the
esplanade of the Invalides. Four years afterwards
there was another, and in 1827 the third took place.
The
The last two were not so brilliant as the first.
war against Spain injured that of 1823, and perhaps
in 1827 the spirit of the times was opposed to
such exhibitions. Industry received a fresh im-
petus in 1833, and an ordnance was passed autho
rising an industrial exhibition 't very five Years.
In 1834 there were 2,500 exhibitors. Their num-
ber had much increased in 1839, and reached 4,000
in 1839. These were brilliant and peaceful struggles ;
but when machines were substituted for manual
labour the workmen thought they were about to be
reduced to beggary, and there was excitement and
violence. Time did justice to these mistakes. France
is now filled with machinery, and the wages of the
workmen are doubled. In 1849 the most important
machine exhibited was .the locomotive, but soon
many other admirable machines took their place by
the aide of it. The idea of universal Exhibition
then arose. England took advantage of it and
erected the Crystal Palace. France, not wishing
to be behind hand, decided that in 1853 she would
also have her International Exhibition. It was
opened in 1855, and, in order that France should
have her novelty, a saloon of Fine Arts was added.
England owed her Exhibition to Sir Robert Peel,
as free trade opened an outlet for the products of
the whole world. The Emperor followed the example,
and a project of law was presented to the Chambers,
which overcame the obstacles to commerce caused
by prohibition. A great number of manufacturers
protested against the law. The Government yielded
to these remonstrances, and allowed a period of five
years to elapse before the inauguration of the prin-
ciple of free trade. It was on Jan. 23, 1860, that
the treaty of commerce with Great Britain was
promulgated. England celebrated the destruction
of prohibitory measures against France by con-
structing the Crystal Palace, and her Universal
Exhibition of 1862 was much more brilliant than
the first. There were products from the colonies,
and, indeed, from all parts of the world. France has
now opened her second Universal Exhibition. The
anxiety of the peoples in regard to it proves the
influence which France exercises over foreign coun-
tries. The most distant nations have sent speci-
mens of their industry.

I recommend all your readers who go to the Ex-
hibition in the Champ de Mars to pay a visit also
to the Billzincourt Agricultural and Horticultural
Exhibition. Many wilt be even more pleased with
it. There are among the sheep some of the most
splendid specimens of Southdowns and Merinos ever
seen. The agricultural portion of the Exhibition
will be particularly interesting. The English have
shown great activity in this respect, and occupy a
goodly portion of space. The specimens of vines
are very interesting, and the various modes of
cutting and culture will astonish even horticulturists.
The same remark applies to the show of fruit trees.
At a later period of the year this portion will be
very interesting and conspicuous. Even if there
were no exhibition at Billancourt, no stranger who
comes to Paris should omit to visit the locality. The '
Exhibition is on an island of the Seine, which is a
most Picturesque and beautiful spot. It is close to
Baia Uendon and near to Statue, which, according