THE CONVICT BLANQUI ELECTED TO FRENCH ASSEMBLY.

Samoa Times and South Sea Gazette, Volume 2, Issue 98, 16 August 1879, Page 2

THE CONVICT BLANQUI ELECTED TO FRENCH ASSEMBLY.

A sillv proceeding of 3000 or 4000 radical electors, at Bordeaux, lias kept Franco in intense excitement. Tlio.mj eccentric citizens have elected Blampii to be their deputy though Blampii is ineligible for the simple reason thai he has lost his political rights, and is now undergoing a sentence of imprisonment for life. The history of the election is a curious one. Oil the (ith of April, when the first vote took place, there were three candidates who were considered serious. Blauqui came forth, but so little importance was attached to his candidature that bis name was not pronounced in the war of words which preceded the hallo'. 11l the evening, however, there was general astonishment at the announcement that Blauqui stood second on tho poll with more than 3000 votes, and that it was against him that Livertujon, a stanch Republican, and a journalist of n ite, woo beaded the poll, would have to li'lit at the seen,l ballot. A second ballot was necessary, because none of the candidates had polled a sutlicicnt number of voles to he elected. That second ballot took place April ±). In the fortnight that elapsed between the two pollings all Itrancc was intensely excited; and the Conservatives, Bonapartists, Monarchists, and Clericals loudly called upon tln-ir friemb in liouleaux to vote for Blampii, the in meilablc enemy of thrones and altars, as his election would prove a terrible blow to the Uepublic. I'he mol d'orilre I bus given was faithfully obeyed, and Blnuqui wa- borne, by the united efforts of the Radicals, Boy-ni-ls:-, anil Imperialists, to the hj, a 1 of the I»>HBlanqui is now 7- years of age. and

ii. is tiiu very incarnation ol conspiracy ami insurrection. Hi; was nnlv it ttiioil I,'- tii-si ros.. iii revolt. Thai was in against .-wry one n. tin: niuiiy forms of ani !.y every one of theai ho has been si.iiteiic.-d to long terms of imprisonment. il.' iias b.-cn sentenced i,, ituath three ■''.■ i!S, ! ■ '-■'■,..'' Vol , :■ ■ ■_<;■ u: , : - ;:, Theru was nothing in his origin or education that tonld have, led any one to believe that he would turn out the modern Ishnmei ho has become. Hu is the brother of a political economist of great notu Adoiphc ISlampii, a member died in l»C>4. Bhtnuui himself is a man of mi small learning, though of a bizarre kind, and has published a curious work on " Eternity in the Stars." id- muiuwhat we have been iu're. Il is his chief occupation in prison to scan the heavens for hairs on starry nights ; for Blautiui known the discomfort of a cell. The prison authorities have always treated ni,n as the honour..,! guest, mid given him sicoiiifonal.Uj room. Mi the warders and pi.- - , -lii-- jtm-s who have had the

euro of lliampii speak most highly of his charming ui-i.anily and cx.piisitu' p .;„,.. "'•ss. In---" polished manners lie, a,., ■ d.Hiiil. owe-, tu the fuel tha; w hen a very ... ■« in ■ bo wa, ;■ private tutor in ~;,'... ol I no Di : an-l.cs pfliieold i'Yuieli ~„ I bili'.y. ■■■ . ■.i.v.ip'jrarily übm nt from ; ■■■■"• a I. - usually reside. l in Paris, :.. the w irking eia s ipiartei-of.lielloville, where lie ...., po] ulary known as " Liu petit uiaiipiis." i his sobriquet of "the little muruuis'' is due to his neat style of dressing, and die fuel of his never gnfug abroad without gloves and a cane. " J le is also very soft, spoken, and in his persuasive speeches in the revolutionary clubs his most sanguinary and anti-social proposals were made iu tile mildest t mes, and without any excitement of look or gesture. What his politics are it is J, ;lll i to say -. one thing, however, is certain he possesses the secret of being always ilissatislted witli tho politics of others, "as a brief siiminary of mo principal nets of his lifo Will shew. When still Very* young he became a member of all the "•'■ ■:'.'. of which he.had learned the existence. 110 rose a first time againsl the liotirbun monarchy in l,s-»7 and was wounded, lie fought against it again in 18:10 in the revolution that broughl ill the Orleauist dynasty. lint Louis Wiillippe had iio sooner mounted the tlnono than ho began to conspire against him, ami fought, in the many small riots of tho reign. Ho was imprisoned sevcrul times for long terms and in 18*8, was seiiten i to death jThal nonton :o having boon coiniuutod "> l " perpetual iniprwonniont, Blampii roumiituil in e,,niin.'in.ait. nil the revolution of IMS, which drove the Orleans iutuoxjle. Naturally, the Republic, did not satisfy Uhuiqui, mid ho got upieVorul small iiuurrecUona to overthrow It, When tho Republican* could endure him u ,

■eager, they sent him ta prison for ten | years, and he was set at liberty only in IH3O. hi Ititi] the Empire tent bun hack to prison fa fi> r««ia and hj« w.us pretty eonsUntlj in u till the Bmpiro fell After tin revolution '.I Sept. i, Dhutqul founded a revolutionary taper called La htfrieen danger, which became the organ of the wildest Socialist ravings uttered nightly in the'political clubs. Blanqui imperatively demanded the institution of the Commune, the suppression of all kinds of worship, the appropriation of the churched to national uses, the arming and sending of the priests to the outposts, the construction of barricade*, tin: denunciation of suspected persons and Bouapartists, the revelation of concealed wealth, and the puttiug in commnii of all provisions. On the .'list October, duriug the siege, and while M. Titeirs was negotiating with Bismarck, Blanqui all but overturned the National Defence Government, arrested the same night, but set ut liberty next day, lie wus elected imiubjf of. the Commune in March, I*7!. but never sal in the Assembly- M. Theirs having had him arrested in the south of France, where he prudently retired. For his participation in tho unpatriotic rising of Oct. :ll ho was sentenced to death once more, and the si utence was again commuted into one uf perpetual imprisonment.