The Sun. — 1869-08-03 (London, England)

ARTS CORRESPONDENCE.  MONDAY.  The great day has come. The Senate has met, and the precise draft of the changes brought about by the verdict of the country is now before France and Europe. As you will have learned the details ere this, I shall not particularise them, but merely observe that the first general impression here is cne of satisfaction. No sooner was the reading of the Scnatus Consultum finished than M. Rouher rose and addressed the senators at some length, his subject, of course, being those very reforms to which he was suspected of not being too favourable. Ire began by warning his hearers that the task before them was one of much difficulty ; but that political science consisted in adopting necessary changes EC) soon as public opinion perceived their advantages. No sovereign had been more faithful to this line of policy than the Emperor, who, invested by the people with immense power, had always regarded that power as the property of the nation. The gradual transformation of the Despotic Empire into the Liberal Empire was one of the most striking occurrences of the epoch. No doubt some looked back with regret while others looked forward with impatience, but both were alike unjust. To allow France to remain stationary while Liberal principles had spread over all Europe would be not only to overlook the necessary preservation of her influence, but to weaken the ties between the Napoleonic dynasty and the French nation. But to slide carelessly along a path which leads to a known abyss would be to forget that the Government owed to the people absolute security. In the words of an august speaker; the Empire is sufficiently popular to identify with liberty, and sufficiently strong to preserve liberty from anarchy. No good citizen would wish to alter this, for experience had shewn that a revolution was only a miserable obstacle to progress and civilisation. If the reforms proposed attained the desired end, a truer harmony and a more fruitful solidity would be established between the powers of the nation, and the imperial institutions would acquire more strength, more splendour, and more popularity. No fewer than a hundred senators arrived in Paris yesterday. M. Reuher sent a communication to each senator, requesting his attendance at th• sittings of the Chamber, wLere moat important questions would have to be discussed.  Several amendments to the Senatus Consultum will be proposed. Those which precede the debate will be sent back by the President to the committee, who will give their opinion in a supplementary report. Those which are introduced during the debate will not be taken into consideration unless they are signed by six senators. The Constitutional reforms are the pervading topic. The Constitutionnel attacks the Left, and complains that they have no definite political programme. The Extreme Right wishes to maintain the Constitution of '52 ; the Middle Left desires a Liberal empire, but it is impossible to guess what are the wishes of the Extreme Left, or what institutions they would give to France. M. Gambetta would give all power to the people, but the people must delegate it to some one. The future must have its men and its ideas. We know the men of the Left, but where are the ideas?  At the assizes at Vaucluse, a woman, named Eydoux, has been sentenced to bard labour for life for the murder of an infant which bad Leen entrusted to her to nurse.  The Havre journals report the suicide of M. Despond, the f-3•ndic of bankrupts in that town, who had been sumpendcd from his functions for alleged irregularities. One of his clients bad brought an action against him, and M. Despond blew out his brains on the day before the conclusion of the  An extraordinary story is told in the Quartier St. Vonore. A child, G . years obl, a pupil at a public school, was a fortnight ago violently beaten by a member of a scholastic fraternity who taught there. The boy has since lost his senses. Information was given to the police, Lut the friar took refuge in a nunnery at St. Sulpice, and the authorities are making every effort to compromise the matter. There is great excitement in the neighbourhood, and the inhabitants are loud in their demand for the punishment of the offender.  The funeral of the eleven victims of the coalmine accident at Dourly took place yesterday, and it was witnessed by an immense crowd of all classes of society. The authorities were present at the sad ceremony. It is believed that the mining company will contribute largely to the support of the families who have been visited with such heavy trouble. A Naples journal records a terrible event that has just taken place at Trani. During the celebration of a religious festival in the cathedral, an ornament of wood had been erected, which was covered with gauze and lighted with tapers. By some accident the drapery caught fire, and the flames spread rapidly. At last a cry was raised that the roof was falling in, and a fearful rush took place, many persona being thrown down and trampled on. Sixteen dead bodies were found on the ground afterwards, and a great number of persons were seriously injured.  A violent storm broke over the town of Luxemburg a few evenings ago, and destroyed trees and crops, and struck to the ground the large workshops that were established for the repair of railway engines. Fortunately, only three of the men engaged there at the time were much hurt. Ten of the engines have been rendered unfit for service. As the hurricane continued its devastating course, the ground was strewed with poplars and telegraphic posts.