The Sun. — 1869-03-05 (London, England)

CORRESPONDENCE FROM PARIS.  (FROSI OUR OWN CORRESPONDENT.)  PARIS, THURSDAY, March 4.  I am assured that M. Emile 011ivier's book was sent; before publication, to the Emperor. It is likewise stated that it met with a very good reception in that high quarter. It is doubtful, however, if it will meet with the same welcome from the members of the Democratic Committee, who are charged with the task of selecting Opposition candidates for the depart. ment of the Seine, which M. 011ivier represents. One idea strikes me in perusing this book. Can it be possible that new reforms are contemplated, and that this publica. tion, containing the Emperor's liberal letter, is a not undesigned preliminary ?  The Presidency of the Senate is becoming a disputed question. M. Baroche loses ground as the probable suesessor of M. Troplong, whilst M. Drouyn de Lhuys and M. de Persigny are both mentioned. It is probable, however, that no definite appointment will be made during the remainder of this brief session.  The 211j2norial Diploinatirpte and many other Paris journals are beginning to convince themselves that a Montpensier sovereign for Spain is an extreme probability, not to say a certainty. The not very veracious Memorial says that the Cortes sent a solemn deputation to Dom Fernandp to offer him the crown, but it was refused. The Government has, therefore, definitely abandoned a candidature which presented no chance of success. This intelligence seems to be tolerably true in substance, and very disagreeable is the impression it produces here. The official papers are gradually assuming a semi-hostile attitude towards Spain. Any candidate would have been preferred to Montpensier. The Figaro states that Madame Alboni receives £l2O a night for singing in Rossini's new mass. The weather for several days past has been dreadfully tempestuous. So violent was the wind at Paris the day before yesterday that one of the large trees planted more than half a century ago on the Quai d'Orsay was blown down. The telegraph wires have been injured in all directions. Communications are interrupted between Paris and the provinces, as well as with Italy,. Switzerland, and part of Germany. The gale has gradually descended from the North Sea towards the Mediterranean, and the Bay of Biscay has been given up to a perfect hurricane for two or three days. A distressing calamity occurred during the tempest at Havre. The barque Lerida, of Nantes, was wrecked off that port, which throughout the storm has been almost inaccessible to ships. The Lerida was not able to combat the immense waves which beat the entrance to Havre. The crew were seen to let go two anchors, but the cables snapped by the violence of the tempest, and in a moment the Lerida was cast against the ramparts, the parapets of which were beaten by her yards. The spectators who had been watching the vessel from the shore in the most painful axiety rushed to the spot with ropes, which they were able to throw to the persons on board. The whole would have been brought safely to land had not a passenger and an apprentice both seized together the same line, which broke beneath their weight. They fell back into. the water, and were drowned.  The famous poisoning case at Marseilles did not measure the depth of iniquity in the South of France. A series of revelations now being made at Montauban is even worse than the story of Joye, the herbalist, and his customers. The details ought never to go beyond the court of justice. To form an idea of the nature of the crime it will be sufficient to mention that eight women are all included in one act of accusation for wholesale abortion and child murder. No less than twenty-seven charges are preferred against these eight persons. The rez-de-Mausst'e of the house inhabited by one of the women was a perfect graveyard. Four infant skeletons were found in one place, five in another. The Act of Accusation reads like a chapter from the history of Rome in the worst days of the Empire, but unfortunately it is a narrative of real events, occurring in the nineteenth century.