PARIS.
(12031 OTJB OWN COERESPOKDE2TT.) January Ist, 1870. The Emperor's letter to M. Emile Ollivier has fallen like a bomb alike in the camp of friend aud foe. No one had ever anticipated such downright frankness from the "Ruler of tbe State. Tn its Tacitns-sentences the Emperor fully and freely empowers M. Ollivier to form a cabinet to succeed the ministers resigned out of the majority of the Corps Legislatif. Like Cortes, the Emperor has burned his ships, and there is no return to personal government possible, if the chamber does its duty. What the Empire wants is not ministers, but a minister ; not a body, but a head. It is lamentable to think that Ollivier is the only statesman France possesses — Thiers is use. He has won his position by sheer force of talent, despite great opposition, and it is to his eloquence and influence that the policy of the Second Empire has been of late years liberalized. He is engaged in the formation of his cabinet — has been repelled by tho3e leading men who have hitherto been demanding a parliamentary regime — more from petty jealousies and rivalries than difference of political views. It is this frog puffing itself to the dimensions of the bull that shortens the arm of the nations legis- , lative power. The country ought to judge. It has called for parliamentary administration ; the concession has been honorably made by Napoleon the Third ; it is for Frenchmen to show, by their support of Ollivier, if they are fitted for the practical life of free men. The session which "has just closed will go down to history as that which has I exposed the gross and violent corruptions which can be practised even under universal suffrage. These were indulged in by both parties, but most unblushingly by the agents of the Government. Open houses for eating and drinking — promises of promotion — gifts of money — intimidation — placing false voting papers in the urns, and manufacturing false keys to open the ballot boxes, were some of the means employed. The magistrates did not scruple to prostitute 'their ofiice to ensure the return of the official candidate. The chamber broke several of these J elections, but the Ministry did not j repudiate, did not brand the acts of their subordinates as the occasion demanded, nor did the members themselves exhibit enough of severity. However, the new Ministry will prevent a return to such bad practices. If the ordinary session, which opens on the 10th, passes but the quarter of all tha projects deposited for ameliorating tbe condition of the constitution, France will become great, glorious, and free. As if the spirit of the times had taught them speed, the reactionary party — the B naprr : ghspureandsimple — arebringing forth reforms also. As John Knox could not see why the Devil should have a monopoly of all the good tunes, so this party is not inclined to leave to the " Irreconcilables " the monopoly of reforms. The destinies of the nation are now in the hands of the Corps Legislatif. This body has the year before it to labor for the common good. Each member receives 12,500 francs for his services, be the session long or short. It is to be hoped the laborers will prove worthy of their hire. No one desires to effect any change by revolution. The word is decidedly not the mode now. Even those who threatened us with this spectre rouge have withdrawn their hobgoblin. The Emperor intends to uphold order with his | army of 900,000 men. Spain, is falling into a "relapsing fever." The journals that hitherto advocated the Duke of Genoa, have i turned tail upon him, and several members ! of the Corte«, that promised to vote the throne to him, have changed their mind. The Prince himself is " seared " at the i very idea of having greatness thrust upon him. Maximilian is ever on his lips, and Queretaro before his eyes. He is a good boy — melancholy and mystical. I He confesses once a week, and receives 1 the sacrament once a month — virtues J that would recommend him to tbe Spanish clergy, only they are believers in the "right divine " principle and Don Carlos — a few accommodate their conscience to Dona Isabella. The luxury that Prim surrounds himself with is the topic of general conversation. At j Toledo he lives and hunts like the Graud Monarch. Meanwhile the people begin to cry for bread, and empty stomachs have a fatal tendency to revolution. The Regent is said to stand in fear of Prim, and is beginning to look to the army for his friends also. Indeed the army is now the object of affectionate attention by all the stormy and ambitious spirits. .Revolution sits in the air, and the hollow peace existing will break into violence the moment the official vote — if it ever reaches that stage — is taken on the Duke of Genoa. The French never expected anything from the (Ecumenical Council. Though the conductors were changed, the music they knew would be the same as at former assemblies. The Eeligious Tories are too powerful to allow of any radicalism in a constitution built on a rock, and perfect. Pride and ambition are too powerful to allow of any departure from the spirit of the dark ages. The programme of the Council is in flagrant contradiction to the present and prospective state of the world. The reforming bishops — about 200 — and comprising nearly all those from France, see in the ideas of the Council but the ruin of the Church. It is only now beginning to be felt how embarrassing aud. perilous has been the convocation, and His Holiness is not blessed for the thought which inspired it. However, the Pope will not recede. As usual, the ! " hat and sword " has been blessed this ! year, but no Prince has been found i worthy to receive it — ; having done nothing for the church. It is not unusual to bless the same hat and sword ten times — as in the case of the Golden Eose. The Golden Eose, which passed from the Vatican to the- Palace of Madrid,
received I do not know how many annual blessings before becoming the property of ex-Isabella. A matter more serious for the (Ecumenical Council is the' change of ministry in France. One of the articles in the programme of the liberal cabinet is the withdrawal of the French troops from Eome. The Corps Lesi.slatif will carry, the motion by a great majority, and the Emppror will hardly risk a conflict with his Commons, and swell the opposition against him in the country by upholding a state of things that gives the lie to every liberal act of France. There is no other solution at present for the Eoman question than there was in 3849, nor would there be if the French army was to remain for centuries to come. Eeligion, like all other things now-a-day, must stand or iall on its merits.
Troppmann's trial has at last taken place, but not a moment too soon. _ His j presence was a moral pestilence. Briefly, his crime consisted in murdering a father, mother, and their six children, to possess their money and title deeds. In September last, Paris was struck with horror, by the discover of a woman an 1 her five children, brutally murdered, and buried in a field. The bodies were still warm. In process of time, the remains of the eldest son, and lastly the father, were found. Hi»h and low, rich and poor, flocked to view the see* c of the crime. The joumils published the details, and to them is the honor due for the arrest of the assassin. The police were on the wrong scent, and rathor slow. If you cry murder, fire, or robbery, the police, aa elsewhere, are difficult to be found, but cry vive la repuhlique, a bas VEnpereur, they seem to spring up from the earth, and pounce upon you like an army of locusts. Troppmann sailed to Havre, . with the view of escaping to America. Having no passport, a local police officer made him go to the magistrate and explain. Tin route, the policeman casually asked, " Since you have come from Paris, possibly you have visited the scene of the dreadful murder." At these words, j Troupmann made a bound, and jumped I into the harbor. A boatman plunged in, ! and after a fearful struggle, rescued Troupmann, who made every effort to drown himself. He was taken up sense less, conveyed to the hospital, and on his clothes being removed, /ill the papers of the family, Kinck, that he had murdered, were found upon him. His explanations j were but a series of lies, one contradicting the other. He soon became a " fashionable" criminal. His slightest action and word were eagerly seized, and the whole of the Parisian press was compelled to chronicle all ! '• the small beer." On Tuesday the trial commenced. The applications for admission had been made weeks before- ; hand, but only a few were granted. As early as 8 o'clock, the Court-house was crowded, though the trial did not take place till 11. Three rows of seats were occupied by ladies, many of distinction, who enjoyed themselves by breakfasting upon their knees. The middle of the Court was covered with the clothes of the victims, the instruments of the crime — the knives, pick-axes, and spades, that killed them, and scooped their shallow grave. The internal organs of the father were exposed in large glass vases, after being chemically examined to discover the prussic acid administered to the deceased. The jury having been chosen by ballot, the judge having taken his place, the prisoner was directed to be introduced. He enters, surrounded by a triple guard. All eye 3 and opera-glasses are at once fixed upon him. A cold shudder, a sensation of horror, pervades the audience. Troppmann is but 20, has all the appearance of youth, a downey moustache and beard. But regarded sideways— from his profile — his jaws, head, and mouth display the evidence of strong passions and brutality. His hands are enormously large, and as a mechanic, his feeble looking frame has in hi 3 trade acquired skilfulness. As the judge examined him, and, as the witnesses laid bare the hideous tragedy, he displayed a cynical indiffer- , ence — the only spectator who was , unmoved as the doctors described the result of their post mortem, examination, and the nature of the terrible wounds inflicted. He sometimes answered angrily, frequently impertinently, and often ruffianly. His defence was, that he never struck down one of the deceased, but his accomplices did all. Unfortunately he declined to name these, and was ever seen alone with his victims. Lachaud, the famous criminal lawyer, who won his spurs in defending the celebrated Madame Lafarge, was the counsel retained for the defence. He had no case. At nine o'clock on Thursday evening the jury retired to consider their verdict. The prisoner was remanded to his cell, and invited his guards to play cards to kill" time. Anhour afterwards, he was brought into the court, and informed that the jury had found him guilty in all the issues. He bowed and smiled. The court retired for five minutes to consider the sentence — that of death. Troppmann smiled at the passing of it, and on returning to his cell, bounded along the corridor, calling upon the gaolers to give him something to eat. Up to that moment he was treated with some consideration, in the hope that he would make a clean breast of his crime. He was at once placed in a strait-jacket, which he will wear till he ascends the scaffold. If he appeals he can delay his execution — which may take place within ten days or forty, according to the laws delays. Of course there is no second opinion about his sentence. Some people are occupied suggesting how he ought to be tortured, not guillotined. New Tear's Day is the great Jioliday in France— the exchange of visits, of photographs, presents, and good wishes. The season is dull on the present occasion, because business is very bad, and people have not much money to spend on trifles. i The Emperor paid his first round of visits to the ex-King and Queen of Spain, and on return,, paid the Prince and Princess Eoyal of Prussia a visit also. Cnristmai day has little in France to
recall roast beef and plum-pudding. The eve of the festival every one prefers going to hear the " midnight masses " instead of the theatre ; really excellent music takes place, and by the first artistes. This year there was no. exception to the rule, but the prices of admission, in the case of the fashionable chapels, were something extrav.'iganfc. After the " mass," as all the world is bound to observe the r{vil!on, there was nothing but supper parties. The taverns have the privilege of remaining open all this night, and they also did a very roaring trade. The boulevards are at this period invaded by wooden shanties, whera toys of every description are sold by the makers of the:n. This occasion, tbe inclemency of tbe weather has frozen the public within, and these petty shopkeepers out-of-doors.
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Southland Times, Issue 1217, 1 March 1870, Page 3
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2,207PARIS. Southland Times, Issue 1217, 1 March 1870, Page 3
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