The Sun.
London, England, 1857-07-09 00:00:00

THE FRENOII 11LECTIuN,S.

The Moniteur of yesterday publishes an order of
the Minister of the Interior suspending the Assent-
blee Nationale for two months. The offence for
which that journal, _which had received previous
warnings, twice in 1853 and once in 1856, besides
undergoing a two months' suspension in 1854, is
now again similarly punished consists, of an article
which appeared two days an entitled " A Last
Word about the Elections," and in which the fol-
lowing is the passage complained of :
It would be difficult to find, in the elections just ter-
minated, one of those free and spontaneous expressions
of public opinion which do not slow even the most in-
credulous to doubt:the union between the country and
its government. It is, indeed, convenient, in appealing
to the nation, to make at once the qUesticin and the an-
swer; but then this answer must not baappealed to as a
striking demonstration of public opinion. The rural com-
munes, it is true, have had a great share in contributing
to the general result of the elections, but they have voted
under the influence of the administration; and these in-
fluences must be taken into account, when the opposition
and abstention, which are to be remarked in the cities,
are contrasted with the eagerness and fidelity of the rural
Electors.

To the above 'observations the following is M.
Billault's reply :
Considsring that these allegations, whatever may be
the skilfulness of the language in which they are wr..pped
up, in the article referred to, are equally false and male-
volent, that the most perfect liberty has presided over
the electoral contest, and that the Government cannot
allow the 5 million suffrages to be cal imniated with im
punity, which in every part of the country, both in the
cities and in the rural districts, have given it their loyal
support, I order that the journal L'Assemblee Nationale
be suspended for two months from the Bth July inst.
There is another specimen of this authoritative
ministerial logic in the "second warning" adminis-
tered by M. Billault to the editor and publisher of
the Estafette, as alluded to by our Paris correspon-
dent. The-official announcement of it also appears
in yesterday's Itioniteur, and is not less worthy of
attention than whit we have given above. The
objectionable paragraph in the Estafette was this :
- -

In spite of the assertions of Certain journals we main-
tain what we have said of the significance of the Paris
elections. Yes, the capital is the political exuression of
the whole of France, because its population is composed
of citizens recruited from all, even the smallest, seats of
population. Yes, the vote of the 22d June, the return of
Messrs. Cumot and Goudchaux, and the relative majo-
rity obtained by Gen. Cavaignac, have a meaning which
has been appreciated bythe press throughout all Europe.
The Minister of the Interior replies in the follow-
ing style :

Considering that under the regime of universal suffrage,
the respect due to the authority of the maj nity is a fun
damental principle which minorities cannot be permitted
to deny or to bring into doubt, and considering that to
prWend to find the- political expression of France in the
vote of a few constituencies, when the whole of France
has spoken and c'early expressed its opinion, is to at-
tack the constitutional authority of the five million votes
which form the immense majority gained by the candi-
dates of the Government, I order that a second warning
be given to the Baal ette.

NOTES ON THE TRIAL AT EDINBITAGH.

-4----

We take from a contemporary, the Ayrshire Ex-
press, the following interesting notes on the trial
of Mi-s Mad.ele'ne Smith :

The personal appearance of Miss Smith, the cen-
tral figure in this remarkab'e case, is the point on
which most attraction seems to be fixed in the
court by the spectators with which it is thronged,
and which is most talked-of among the less privi-
leged outside world. Eager crowds gather in the
early morning at the gaol, and in Parliament-square,
to catch a glimpse at the prisoner as she is taken to
the court. In the evenings thoneaods gather in the
streets to see the cab in which she is b-,rne back
from the court-room to the pl.-son. Every day sees
hundreds at the door of the court, who would wil-
lingly expend guineas in obtaining a look at the
young lady. Hundreds are daily passed in for
a few minutes by official friends to get a glimpse'
of the prisoner, and may be seen departing
with the air of satisfied cut iosily upon their anxious
countenances. Others who are privileged to sit in
the court through the whole day may be seen sur-
veying the alight figure at the deck with eyes that
never weary of gazing upon it, from the opening of
the-- sliet till its close ; while the newspapers,
in the second, and thir 1, and fourth edition.,
with which the town is hourly deluged, stop the
press to te'l how she looked at a particular hour,
how she was seen to blush at a certain point in
the evidence, and how for breakfast she had
coffee, rolls, and a mutton chop, which she ate with
great appartnt heartiness. In the midst of all this
excitement, passing through the eager crowd from
and to prison, s ated at the bar with hundreds of
eyes fixed steadily upon her, Madeleine Smith is
the only unmoved, cool personage to be seen.
From the first moment to the last she has pre-
served that undaunted, defiant attitude of perfect
repose which has struck every spectator with aston
ishment. She passes from the cab to the court-room,
or, rather, to the cell beneath the dock, with the
air of a belle entering a ba'l-room. She ascends
the narrow stair case leading into the dock with a
cool jaunty air, an unveiled countenance, the same
perpetual smile—or smirk, rather, for it lacks all
the elements of a genuine smile—the same healthy
glow of colour, and the same confident ease. The
female turnkey at her side locked much more of the
prisoner, for, while she is still, and scarcely ever
lifts her eyes, Miss Smith never ceases surveying
a'l that goes on around her—watching every word
of every witness, returning every stare with com-
pound interest, glancing every second minu'e at the
down turned eyes in the side galleries, and even
turning right round upon the reporters immediately
behind her, to see howtheyget along with the note-
taking, which is carrying her name and deeds into
every British home. When judges andjurymen re-
tire for lunch, she refuses even so much as a small
packet of sandwiches. Others may be thirsty amid
the hot' excitement, but when the attendant offers
hera glass of water she will not have it. Thera she
sits, refusing meat and drink or amoment's retire-
mentin hercell, with asmelling bottle in her dainty
little hand, which she never uses—a splendid speci-
men of physical power, and of such endurance as
only a will of terrible strength could attain. When
she is called up to plead, she says, in a clear, sweet
treble—no trace of huskiness or emotion perceptible
in the voice, no trembling on her tongue, " Not
guilty." The Dean of Faculty, her counsel, bids her
good morning, or says a word to her when the proceed-
ings close for the day, and she smiles so cheerily that
you listen to hear her laugh. Whoever speaks,'
counsel or witness, must be sensible of the fixed,
penetrating glance of her large dark eye. Her head
is perpetually turning from the gentlemen of the
long robe to the responsive witness box, as the ques-
tions are put and answered. She has a well culti-
vated taste—that is evident. She is elegant with-
out show. A rich brown silk gown, with a large
brooch, low set in the breast ; a white straw bonnet
simply trimmed with white ribbon, awhite cambric
handkerchief, and a bottle of smelling salts in her
kid-gloved hand • such is the inventory, so far as I
can furnish it. Her hair, of which she has a rich
profusion, is quietly arranged in the fashion pre-
valent before theEngenie style, although the small-
ne s of the bonnet, which is of the most fashionable
make, necessitates the leading of two ebony
braids across the crown of her head. Miss Smith
is about five feet two inches in height. She has an
elegant figure, and can neither be called stout nor
slim. She looks older than her years, which are 21,
I should have guessed her age to be 24. Her eyes
are deep-set, large, and some think beautiful ; but
they certainly do not look prepossessing. Her
brow is of the ordinary size, and the face inclines to
the oval. Her nose is prominent, but is too long to
be taken as a type for the Roman, and too irregu-
lar to remind one of Greece. Her complexion, in
spite of prison life, is clear and fresh. Her cheeks
are well coloured, and the insinuation that a rosy
hue is imparted by artificial means, made by
some portion of the press, does not seem well
founded. The scene in the court-yard is such as the
High Court of Justiciary has never presented be-
fore in the present century. *The whole of the
Faculty of Advocates would seem to be there, fill-
ing more than their own gallery ; a goodly array
of writers to the signet appear in their gowns ; up-
wards of a score of reporters for the press ply their
busy pencils ; the western side gallery abounds in
mustachioed scions of the aristocracy ; ministers of
the Gospel are there gathering materials for dis-
courses ; and civic dignitaries are in abundance. A
few women, who may expect to be called ladies,
are mingled in the throng. Among the clergy we
notice Principal Lee, Wm. Pulsford, the celebrated
Independent preacher • Dr. Andrew Thomson,
Professor Harper, and Mr. HibbF, an Episcopalian
'priest, who " goes in" for preaching about Palmer
and Dove. Lords Cowan and Ardmillan, after
they are relieved from their duties elsewhere, come
'and sit in undress on the bench ; so does the Vener-
able Lord Murray, and Lords Wood, Deas, and
others. The fee given to the Dean of Faculty, the
senior counsel for the defence, is said to be a hun-
dred guineas, butthisretainer will be supplemented,
likely, by a daily " refreehee during the trial, It