The Sun.
London, England, 1866-01-27 00:00:00

CORRESPONDENCE FROM PARIS.

(FROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENT.)
PARIS, Friday Evening.
The 3lonitcur publishes two decrees respecting
the exchange of ratifications between France, Por-
tugal, and Greece, relative to the international
telegraphic convention concluded at Paris on the
17th May, 1865.

The despatches from Madrid state that Queen
Isabella and the newly-born infant are both well.
Accounts have reached Paris from Toulouse of
the death of Baron La Gueronniere, Prefect of the
Haute Garonne. He died suddenly from aneurism.
The Baron was only 38.

A question of great constitutional importance
was discussed yesterday in the Corps Legislatif,
whether a Senator could solicit the suffrages of the
electors and become a Deputy. The point arose out
of the election of Count Walewski for the depart-
ment of the Landes, when the report of the com-
mittee appointed to examine into the validity of that
election was brought up. M. Jules Favre, M. Gar-
nier Pages, and M. Pelletan gave their opinion that
such election was unconstitutional. M. Jules Favre
expressed his astonishment that the head of the
State should have chosen for President of the Legis
littive Body M. Walewski, instead of selecting him
from among the members of the majority, which
would not have placed Count Walewski in a false
position. M. Gartner Pages pursued the same line
of argument, and said that the course adopted by
M. Walewski in becoming a candidate for the
Legislative Body without resigning his position as
Senator had acted illegally.
M. Rouher, Minister of State, contended that
the election was perfectly legal and constitutional.
The question, indeed, he said had been solved.
When the hereditary peerage was abolished a
certain number of the members of the Chamber
of Peers, after taking the oaths, resigned their
functions. Count Walewski has resigned before
the verification of his powers, he had therefore
acted both legally and constitutionally, and ac-
cording to the electoral law of Article 29. The
objections of the Opposition would, in fact, re-
strict the liberty of universal suffrage. The ma-
jority of the Chamber approved of the report of
the Commission, and declared that the election of
Count Walewski was valid.

A frightful crime has produced horror and con-
sternation at Nantes. A man named Pierrie Flar-
moy, nearly 40 years old, murdered his mother
for the sake of being possessed of her little property.
He lived with his mother, who is 70. Being a man
of very dissolute habits, he was continually at the
wineshop, and in his drunken fits he often expressed
a wish that his mother would die. On Tuesday
night he returned home intoxicated as usual, and
the neighbours heard a violent altercation. At ten
or eleven he got up and said he would go out again.
His mother said she would prevent him, and tried
to do so, upon which he seized a chopper and struck
her a mortal blow on the temple. He also inflicted
a terrible wound in the cheek. The wretch then
took the keys, overturned the furniture, and ab-
dracted all 04 Pactuey he could find and left the

honsetaking an umbrella with him. He wandered
about the town the greater part of the night, when
some policemen entertained suspicions about him,
arising from their seeing a labouring man walking
about on a fine night with an umbrella. He refused
to say where he lived, and their arrested him as
a rogue and vagabond. When taken to the station
some questions were put to him, upon which he
with great indifference confessed his crime. "As
you must know everything," said he, " I am not a
vagabond. I am better than that. I have just
killed my mother with a chopper." The terrible decla-
ration, which was thought to be a joke, proved to be
too true. The prisoner gave some further explana-
tions about the murder, and said his mother died
without uttering a word. An incident is related to
prove that the greatest criminals, however hardened
in crime, are affected when confronted with their
victims. Flarmoy's sister, a very respectable
woman, had the evening before brought her mother
some meat and two bottles of wine. When placed
before his mother's corpse he seized one of the
bottles and tried to kiss it in an attitude of venera-
tion, but the police prevented him. The mob were
ready to kill him on his way to prison.
An interment, which was very numerously at-
tended, has just taken place at I►lontmartre, that
of Mrs. Egerton Smith. Mrs. Smith recently died
at Neufchatel, in Switzerland, but. according to her
last wish, her remains were brought to Paris to be
interred there. Her daughters and son-in-law and
many friends attended the funeral. Mrs. Smith was
the widow of Mr. Egerton Smith, the founder of
the Liverpool Mercury. The homage rendered in
France to the widow of an English journalist
proves forcibly that there is an entente cordiale be-
tween England and France in literature as well as
in politics.
The lioness which caused such sensation the other
evening at the Cirque Napoleon has brought forth
a lioness and two lions, all of which are very
lively and in fall health. They are suckled by a
dog. The lioness in question has long been noted
for her ferocity. A short time ago she killed one
of her keepers: Physiologists say that the mode of
suckling has great influence upon the character of
an animal. If this be so, these young ones will pro-
bably be as violent and vindictive as their mother,
but nevertheless the proprietor has already received
liberal offers for them from several quarters, with
the idea of trying to bring them up as domestic
animals, like cats for instance. Edmund Kean had
a young lion which strolled about the house, and
was very tame and caressing. As it grew up, how-
ever, and began to taste meat, its natural charac-
teristics began to manifest themselves, and Kean,
thinking it likely to prove a dangerous companion,
sold it to the late Mr. Cross, who then had a mena-
gerie at Exeter Change, exactly opposite to The
Sun office. The late Marquis of Waterford had also
a young pet lion, which also became too savage to
keep in the house.

The Emperor's speech was transmitted to Bor-
deaux in 30 minutes, to Brussels in 33 minutes, to
Dover in 35 minutes, to Havre in 28 minutes, to
Lille in 30 minutes, to Lyons in 13 minutes, to
Metz in an hour, to Nantes in 28 minutes, to Rouen
in 38 minutes, to Strasburg in 53 minutes, and to
Toulouse in an hour. It may be well to explain that
the speech was divided into four portions, and each
portion transmitted simultaneously by four wires.
An unusual occurrence, a military execution, has
taken place at Lille. The culprit, Jacques Eyrard,
a soldier of the 10th Regiment of the Line, was
condemned to death for having, while in garrison
at Amiens, stabbed his sub-lieutenant with a
bayonet, for having imprisoned him for two days
for misconduct. Eyrard met his fate with entire
resignation, and was very attentive to his religious
duties. He received the sacrament the night be-
fore, and was very calm and pious, expressing deep
regret for the crime he had committed. The execu-
tion took place in the citadel, in the presence of a
regiment of cuirassiers and a part of the 47th and
57th of the line. The prisoner marched resolutely
and courageously to the spot. The drums beat,
and the culprit kneeled and embraced the priest, the
Abbe Delannoy, who was much more affected than
he. An officer bandaged the eyes of the prisoner,
but he tore off the bandage, and again embraced
the priest. He took off his cap and kneeled before
the platoon. The officer gave the signal, and Eyrard
was dead instantaneoasly. The regiments defiled
before the corpse by companies.

Johnston's Handy F. oyal Atla.9.

PUBLISHED BY WILLIAM BLACKWOOD AND SONS.

The magnificent Atlas, designed by Alexander
Keith Johnston—known far and wide as THE
ROYAL ATLAS of Modern Geography—has sug-
gested to its Proprietors a publication likely to
be more widely popular, and quite worthy of
being a rival to it in reputation. The title of
the projected pendant, as it may be called, to
the earlier, more costly, and more highly elabo-
rated production from which it thus emanates, as
by a sort of after-thought, is given above.
The Handy Royal Atlas—to be issued in a serial
form—in twelve monthly parts,
each costing four
shillings, so that the whole work when completed
will be producible at less than half the price of Mr.
Johnston's magnum opus already mentioned. For,
published as a five-
`i's The handy Royal
gwuhieureesa-sau"dT-ah-ehßaifoyvalulAumtlaes,"
It should be Atlas"remem-
bered, e _g u will,iu
e a
sound tali_ eh
acontrary,f volume. be no more than u
however, that the larger and costlier of these
two works comprises within it close upon 150,000 re-
ferences, being (and no wonder it attained the dis-
tinction) the only Atlas for which in 1862 a medal
was awarded at the Great International Exhibi-
tion. How, in fact, has the " Royal Atlas" been
spoken of by perhaps the greatest geographical
authority in Christendom, meaning M. Make;
Brun ? Why, Malte-Brun has not hesitated to
dehis l'Oeptaintiode n
la science geo-
"Un repertoire
dperosclpaliums
eitemapsietisu
graphiques a notre Opoque !" In other words,
a work worthy of being classified with Mr.
Johnston's two other masterpieces, " The Physical
Atlas" and the "Dictionary of Geography." The
smaller, cheaper, and more accessible work,
therefore, which is now announced by the
Messrs. Blackwood and Sons as immediately forth-
coming cannot of course be regarded in any way as
an Atlas directly competing with its more ambitious
predecessor. It undertakes to be, according
to the wording of its prospectus, in so many words—
"an entirely new, useful, and moderately-priced
Atlas of General Geography, which shall, on a
smaller but still a distinct scale, and with a less
ambitious aim, present many of the excellencies of
its more elaborate prototype." The size of the
volume will be that of an imperial quarto (18k by
14f inches), sufficiently compact to be easily handled
and readily placed upon the bookshelf. As an illus-
tration of how the index may be relied upon and
turned to for rapid reference, take the following :--

Map. Lat. Long.
Oviedo
Palma lO No ... 39.35 N ... 2.43 E

Pamplona
Salamanca lO Ed ... 40.59 N 5.39 w
San Sebastian
Santander lO Ga, ... 43.30 N 3.51 w
Santiago de Compostela lO Bb ... 42.50 N. ... 8.30 w
Segovia
Sevilla...
Soria
St. Vincent, c
Tagus, r lO Af ... 38.40 N ... 9.18 w
Toledo
Trafalgar, c
Valladolid lO Fe ... 41.38 N 4.47 w
Zaragoza or Saragossa

Judging from the specimen-map, moreover, which
has been submitted to our consideration, The Handy
Royal Atlas gives promise of being as beautiful as
it will be useful as an aid to popular instruction.

EDUCATION AND THE FRANCHISE.—The annual
meeting of the East Lancashire Union of Mechanics'
Institutes was held at Gawthorpe Hall, the residence of Sir
J. P. Kay Shuttleworth, Bart., on Wednesday evening.
There was a very large and respectable audience. The
prizes obtained by the successful members of the various
institutes were distributed by the Rev. Dr. "Whittaker,
vicar of Whalley. Sir James Kay Shuttieworth, Bart.,
who occupied the chair, opened the proceedings, and after-
wards delivered en instructive address on education and
the frauchiee.

LA TEST INTELLIGENCE.

(REUTER'S TELEGRAMS.)

The Col poration of London and the
Commissioners of Sewers.

A Court of Common Council was specially con-
vened yesterday for the purpose of discussing some
motions having relation to the constitution of the
Commission of Sewers of the City of London which
were upon the paper of business of the last Court,
and as the subject was one of considerable interest
and importance to the citizens of London, the Lord
Mayor felt it his duty to appoint a special Court to
take the subject into consideration.
'I he Lord Mayor presided, and there was a full
attendance of members of the Court.
THE CITY OF LONDON SCHOOL.

Alderman HALE took occasion, before the busi-
ness for which the Court was specially convened was
brought on, to mention a very gratifying fact in con-
nection with the City of London School. Ile said
that he had just received a telegram from Cam-
bridge informing him that Mr. Aldis, who had for-
merly been a pupil at that school, had obtained a
degree as Second Wrangler. (Cheers.) The young
gentleman's two brothers had also been educated at
the City of London School, and they had both ob-
tained degrees—one as First and the other as Sixth
Wrangler. (Hear, hear.)
The Court then proceeded to discuss the subject
for which it had been specially convened.
It may be as well to explain that the Commis-
sioners of Sewers of the City of London have very
important duties to perform in behalf of the Corpo-
ration in reference to cleansing, lighting, &c., and
also with regard to the sanatory condition of the
City. The commissioners at present are about 83
in number, and they comprise the Recorder, the
Common-Sergeant, and nearly the whole of the
aldermen. For a considerable time past endeavours
have been made to alter the constitution of the body,
and a select committee was appointed, of which Mr
Rudkin, a very active member of the Court, was
chairman, to consider the subject, and this com-
mittee made a report, which virtually recommended
that the Commission of Sewers should be thrown
open to every member of the Common Council. A
long discussion took place upon this report a short
time back, and in the result it was negatived, but
not by a very large majority. There appeared to be
no doubt that a considerable portion of the consti-
tuency of the City was not satisfied with the mode
in which the Commission of Sewers was formed,
and various endeavours were made, after the deci-
sion above referred to, to reopen the question.
With that view several motions were placed upon
the paper of business at the last Court, but as it
was evident that there would not be sufficient time
to discuss so important a subject, a special Court
was called together by the Lord Mayor for the ex-
press purpose of having the matter fully discussed.
Mr. E. MEDWIN brought forward the first
motion, which was, " That the recommendation
contained in the report of the special committee re-
lative to the constitution of the Commission of
Sewers, namely, ' that so much of the 33d standing
orders as relates to the constitution of the Commis-
sion of Sewers be amended by omitting the words
one commoner out of each ward' and substituting
the words, ' all the commoners who are eligible,'
be agreed to by this Court." The hon. member ad-
dressed the Court at considerable length in support
of the motion, urging that the mode in which the
Commissioners of Sewers were at present appointed
was not satisfactory to the citizens, and also that the
duties devolving upon him, which were of the most
important character, were not performed as they
should be. Ile_particularly instanced the state of
the City after the recent snowstorm, which he said
was disgraceful, and argued that if the Commis-
sioners of Sewers had performed their duty properly
such a state of things would have been prevented.
Mr. M. GEORGE seconded the motion.

Mr. J. F. BONTEMS moved an amendment, the
effect of which was, that in addition to the Lord
Mayor, the Commissioners of Sewers should consist
of eight aldermen and a certain number of com-
moners from each ward in the City, the result pro-
posed to be obtained by this alteration being that
the number of the commissioners would be increased
by about nine meraborQ

Deputy BONE seconded the amendment, and a long
discussion took place upon that and the original mo -
tion, in which Messrs. Anderton, Pricker, Harris,
Lusher, and Bedford took part.
Deputy DE JERSEY, the Chairman of the Com-
mission of Sewers, next addressed the Court, and
endeavoured to show that there had been nothing in
any of their proceedings that would justify the
charge being made against them that they had ne-
glected the interests of the corporation or of the citi-
zens at large. With regard to what had been said
about the state of the City after the late snowstorm,
he said that the contractors had full instructions in
such a case. It was through their neglect, and they
had been summoned by the Commissioners and fined
to the extent of £2OO for that neglect, and this
would no doubt have the effect of preventing such
an o2currence from again taking place. The com-
missioners had done all that was in their power in the
matter. He then went on to express his opinion
that the act of Parliament which gave the power to
appoint the Commission of Sewers never contem-
plated for a moment that the whole Court of Com -
monCouncil should be appointed, and he urged that
such a proceeding would not only be contrary to the
understanding that was come to by Parliament, but
would be absolutely illegal.
Mr. A. L. TAYLOR said he believed that a desire
existed that there should be some alteration in the
constitution of the Commission of Sewers ; but he
could not for a moment believe that the proposition
made by Mr. Medwin would be a satisfactory solu-
tion. The amendment of Mr. Bontems was pre-
ferable to the original motion ; but, in his opinion,
it was not based upon any sound principle, and he
considered that some of the wards would be over-
represented and others under-represented, having
regard to the population and the rateable value. He
said it appeared to him that it was very unsatisfac-
tory to have these discussions in reference to the
Commission of Sewers taking place fip continually;
that it was most advisable that the matter should be
fully disposed of. With that view he would suggest
that the subject of the constitution of the Commis-
sion of Sewers should be referred to the Law and
Parliamentary Committee for them to report what
alterations they considered advisable, having refer-
ence to the present number of commissioners, the
number of freemen occupiers, and the rateable value
of the property in each ward.

The motion of Mr. Medwin and the amendment
were then put, and the latter was declared to be
carried. A division was demanded, when there
appeared--

For the amendment 77
Against 4O
Majority —37
Upon the amendment being put as an original
motion,
Mr. H. L. TAYLOR, at the suggestion of Mr. Rud-
kin, who withdrew an amendment he had upon the
paper, proposed an amendmentto the effect suggested
in his speech, and this was declared to be carried.
A division was demanded, and the numbers were—
For Mr. Taylor's amendment 63
Against it
Majority —l9
The Court then adjourned, after a long sitting.

MR. SEWARD RUNNING AWAY.—The Times
Washington correspondent, writing on the 9th inst., gives
the following reason for Mr. Seward's trip to the Gulf :
" The absence of Mr. Seward from Washington at an
important period of the Session is now generally held in
political circles Ito be connected in some way with the
course of forthcoming events. The Foreign Secretary's
health has not been more indifferent than usual of
late, and until within the last few days the season has
shown no indication of excessive severity. Rumour,
therefore, ascribes various motives for a journey which is
unusually long for a member of the Cabinet to take at a
time when he may be called upon for explanations any day,
and the most plausible of the explanatory conjectures
offered is that the very obligation to make explanations
which might be inconvenient has sent Mr. Seward to
Santa Cruz. It is easy to conceive that the Foreign
Secretary may find himself placed in circumstances of so
much difficulty that even his large experience and prac
-Used address can suggest no better expedient for getting
rid of the embarrassment than the somewhat rough one of
running away from it." _ _

It is expected that the cotton tax paid at Macon,
Georgia, for January, February, and March, will exceed
85,000,000.

Gilt+ " ~„• enaur

HER MAJESTY.

OSBORNE, Friday.
Her Majesty walked and drove in the grounds
yesterday morning, with Princess Helena, Princess
Beatrice, and Prince Christian.

Tier Majesty was attended by the Dowager
Duchess of Athole.

In the afternoon her Majesty drove with Princess
Helena, again attended by the Dowager Duchess
of Athole.

His Serene Highness Prince Christian rode
on horseback, attended by Colonel the Hon. A.
Hardinge.

The Right Hon. G. J. Goschen, Sir C. WYke7
and Mr. Gooch, Clerk of the Council and Registrar
of the Duchy of Lancaster, arrived from London
this morning.

Mr. Gooch having given up the seals of the Duchy
of Lancaster to her Majesty (Lord Clarendon being
prevented by indisposition from attending), ber
Majesty delivered them to the Right Hon. G. if-
Goschen, who took the oath appointed, which was
administered by Mr. Gooch.
Sir Charles Wyke had an audience, and kissed
hands on being appointed her Majesty's Minister to
Hanover.