soldiers went in procession to the Column of July, and
placed crowns of immortelles on the graves of the
victims of February. This revolutionary manifestation
created a great sensation, as showing the strong
democratic feeling existing in the army. The soldiers
composing the procession belonged to different regiments,
and met by appointment for the purpose. Next evening
the following proclamation was issued by the prefect of
police:—"The authorities have caused to be respected
the homage paid to the memory of the dead interred
beneath the Column of the Bastille, but for the last few
days some manifestations have assumed a character
threatening to public tranquillity, and an order has been
given to put a stop to them. Emblems of a seditious kind,
or which are contrary to the regulations of the police,
which may be placed at the foot of that monument, will
be removed." Pursuant to the above notice, a strong
party of troops went to the Place de la Bastille, with a
waggon, and carried off the vast mass of crowns of
immortelles, flowers, branches of laurel, flags, &c.,
which had been placed on the railing. Several score of
the crowns were afterwards carefully deposited at the
foot of the column within the railing, to show that no
disrespect to the memory of the dead was intended; and
the remainder, having been designed as a political
demonstration, were removed. This act caused some agitation
among the working population of the Faubourg St.
Antoine, but no attempt at resistance was made. During
the whole of the morning a large crowd, consisting for the
most part of ill-looking fellows, dressed in dingy blouses,
assembled on the place, and on the boulevard near to it,
but they made no demonstration of any kind. A few
extra municipal guards were stationed as sentinels
around the column, and about half-a-dozen sergens de
ville were also on the spot to preserve order.
Contrary to the anticipations of the friends of government,
the elections for the department of the Seine
have terminated in the triumph of the three Socialist
candidates. The blow is a heavy one, and that it was
felt to be so was shown by the immediate fall of the
funds. The panic, indeed, was universal, and rumours
of the most alarming kind were everywhere rife.
Military precautions, however, were taken, and nothing
occurred to disturb the tranquillity of the capital. The
funds also had partially recovered, the price quoted for
the Five per Cents. on that day being 92f. 25c. The
following is the result of the elections, distinguishing
the political faith of the members elected. In the
department of the Seine the numbers were: Carnot
(Socialist), 132,881; Vidal (S.), 128,317; De Flotte (S),
126,835; Foy (Moderate), 125,673; Lahitte (M.),
125,163; Bonjean (M.), 124,000. It is curious to follow
and compare the numbers of votes in the different
districts of Paris. About the Tuileries, the Elysée,
and the Faubourg St. Honoré, the Conservatives have
double the votes of the Democrats. Around the Palais
Royal and the Bourse, the Conservatives are one-third
superior; in the Faubourg Poissonnière only one-sixth.
As we go eastward, towards the quarter of the trading,
manufacturing, and labouring classes, the proportion
becomes reversed. The two parties are balanced in
the quarter of the University and School of Medicine.
They are also balanced in the banlieue,
or suburbs. One would have expected to see
the Democrats considerably ahead in both these
districts. Nothing is more remarkable than the great
number of votes for the Socialists even in the most
wealthy and fashionable quarters. This proves that
great numbers of the shopkeepers voted for the
Democrats. The votes of the soldiers of the army who are
natives of Paris are as follows:—Carnot, 6,699; Vidal,
6,615; De Flotte, 6,553; Foy, 5,378; Lahitte, 5,363;
Bonjean, 4,911. The following is the result of the
elections in twelve departments:—Moderate candidates:
Arriege, General Pelet; Isere, M. Barral; Hautes
Pyrenees, M. Goulard; Var, MM. Clapiere and Simeon;
Ardeche, M. De la Fourette; Allier, M. Dufour; Cher,
MM. Desgranges and Vogué.—Socialist candidates: Bas
Rhin, MM. Gerard, Vidal, Valentin, Laboulaye, Hochtulh;
Loir et Cher, M. D'Etchegoyen; Nievre, M.
Charles Gambon; Haute Vienne, M. Ducoux; Soane
et Loire, MM. Esquiros, Madier de Monjau the elder,
Charrassin Buvignier, Hennequin, and Dain. So that, on
the whole, as far as the returns are completed, seventeen
Socialist candidates have been returned, and only nine
Moderates. It must, however, be borne in mind that
the members thus replaced were all Socialists, and are
now paying for their opinions by imprisonment and
exile. In consequence of the unfavourable result of the
elections, M. Dupin, the President of the Assembly, was
summoned on the 14th to advise with the President of
the Republic on the state of affairs: and various
negotiations were set on foot for the formation of a new
ministry. Messrs. Piscatory and Leon Faucher were
tempted with office, but they declined to separate from
their party. It was believed in well-informed quarters
that so soon as the result of the Paris elections was
known, the President of the Republic had almost decided
on resigning, but that he was dissuaded from doing so by
General Changarnier.
An extraordinary case of Death by Spontaneous
Combustion is related in the Gazette des Tribunaux:—A
few days ago, in a tavern near the Barriere de I'Etoile,
a journeyman painter, named Xavier C——, well
known for his intemperate habits, while drinking with
some comrades, laid a wager that he would eat a lighted
candle. His bet was taken, and scarcely had he
introduced the flaming candle into his mouth, when he
uttered a slight cry, and fell powerless to the ground.
A bluish flame was seen to flicker about his lips, and
on an attempt being made to offer him assistance, the
bystanders were horror-struck to find that he was
burning internally. At the end of half-an-hour his
head and the upper part of his chest were reduced to
charcoal. Two medical men were called in, and
recognised that Xavier had fallen a victim to spontaneous
combustion. This conflagration of the human frame is
frightfully rapid in its progress; bones, skin, and
muscle, all are devoured, consumed, and reduced to
ashes. A handful of dust on the spot where the victim
fell is all that remains."
According to the last accounts from Madrid, a
ministerial crisis has been imminent there, arising out of a
letter sent by Narvaez to the King Consort, and signed
by all the ministers, complaining of his influencing the
Queen's mind against them, and of having refused to
give them a private audience, and concluding by threatening
to employ severe measures. The King replied that
he was, constitutionally speaking, nothing more than
a Spanish subject, who had nothing to do with the
government; but that he had perfect freedom to refuse
to receive those whose conversation was disagreeable to
him. The ministers upon this, it is said, tendered
their resignation, and although it was not formally
accepted, yet for twenty-four hours General Narvaez
really ceased to be at the head of the cabinet. General
Concha and the Marquis of Viluma were sent for by
the Queen, who showed the utmost eagerness to
comply with the wishes of her husband to turn out the
cabinet. Both declared that they would be happy to
obey the injunctions of her Majesty, had they the
means at their disposal to carry on the government;
but that such not being the case, they were obliged to
decline, however unwillingly. Affairs, therefore, remain
in statu quo. The diligence, which left Madrid for
Seville on the 8th, was stopped the following day by
eight men on horseback, and well armed, who pillaged
it in the most deliberate manner, taking two-and-a half
hours about the work, notwithstanding it being in the
middle of the day, and there being detachments of civil
guards at both the places above-mentioned. General
Blaser was one of the passengers, the whole of whom
lost their money, watches, and clothes; and the Granada
diligence, coming up directly afterwards, shared the
same fate.
A new league has been entered into by the Kings of
Wurtemberg, Saxony, and Bavaria, having for its
object to dispose summarily of the affairs of Germany.
It was signed on the 28th ult. Hanover has not yet
consented to join the league, on account of certain
differences of opinion between Hanover and Austria on
the subject of the propositions respecting the German
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