The Pall Mall Gazette from London, Greater London, England • 11

PALL MALL GAZETTE. 11 October 21, 1869. will never forget that agriculture is the base of public prosperity, and' that your representative ought to devote himself, above all, to the rights and interests of those who produce and of those who His farther programme is thus summed up A policy of peace abroad and Liberalism at home, reduction of taxation, diminution of the military contingents, extension of gratuitous primary education, and popular election, of the local mayors." But there were three Liberal candidates in the field, and though they mustered 18,000 votes against 12,000 given to the Government candidate, the majority of no one was decisive, and a second ballot had to take place. The two lowest Liberal candidates then retired, one declaring that he "left the contest as he had entered it, with head erect," and calling on the electors to unite to defeat the principle of official candidatures, since they would perform an act of manhood and of discipline, and would deserve well of their country." The other is still stronger he says he stood on the principles of 1789 and 1848, and has the gratification of being assured that he had done much to awaken the Liberal feeling of the constituency, but now their first duty is to put out all their strength to crush official candidature, "that cankerous outgrowth of personal government. Then some of our English dodges seem to have been tried, for I find the last appeal of Count in these terms Messieurs the electors, it is as I had foreseen.

The attacks of the last moment are--developed to-day they take the form of anonymous scribbling, of which all the assertions are lies. Their author has been ashamed to sign them. As for me, it would be unworthy of me to reply. It is you who shall judge." And it seems that messieurs the electors did judge as Count desired, for they returned him by a triumphant majority. Evidently Napoleonism is on the wane when in a rural district the candidate favoured by the uncle's nephew is turned out in favour of one who goes in for peace, retrenchment, reduction of the army, and popular education.

This general rejection of Imperialism is indeed a phenomenon which no one who mixes with Frenchmen can help being struck with. As a Parisian, and not a politician, expressed it to me, There is no longer a Bonaparte party in France. There are a few Legitimists still Orleanists exist, but Bonapartists nowhere. Of course officials support an existing-Government, whatever it is, for the sake of their places, and many people in the country support it for fear of the consequences of a change, but no-one for the sake of the dynasty." And though perhaps the ideas of Paris may have a little coloured the language of this gentleman, I believe it is substantially true. Seventeen years of personal power occurring at an.

epoch of advancing intelligence, and associated with the facts of increased, imposts, harsher conscription, and failing prestige, have disenchanted the French nation with the name of Napoleon, and any day, any moment, the facts of history may bear witness to the revulsion of feeling which has left the holder of power with no hold upon the affection or sympathy of the people. But for the present our village, content with recording its vote, leaves' the combat to the heady spirits of the towns, and confines itself to its own affairs. And its own affairs consist of hard work in the fields or barns, with much excitement over the sale of some plots of land, and the occasional recreation of a marriage feast. I believe the communal council sits also once a week, but I am unable to say what business it transacts. Two of our villagers are members, and the labours of local government seem to be not entirely ascetic, if one may judge from the happy state in which these gentlemen return home supporting each other with an arm round the neck of each, and smiling radiantly on the passers by.

They have-just seated themselves on the bench at our auberge door, but my efforts to learn what they have been discussing -are foiled by an explanation, which has endured for half an hour, of how wonderfully like I am to a certain Monsieur Maurice, American, and how, when my interlocutor first saw me, he thought I was the veritable M. Maurice. on the other hand, the "noces" or marriage festivals are periods of real hard work. They last for three days, the party generally adjourning to the large room of some neighbouring auberge for their greater convenience of recreation. Dancing begins the first night at half-past eleven, and is kept up till five in the morning; next day there is a little before dinner just to waken the party up, and the evening ball opens at nine and continues till two o'clock.

What happens on the third evening I am not quite sure, but a party which honoured our hostelry at that stage had a. remarkably dreamy and uncertain look about the eyes, which suggested, that the pleasure even of dancing may be satiated. Leaving the work of the fields to another day, I am, Sir, your obedient, servant, K. station and postage stamps are to be had at the debit de tabac, which fanes out its modest sign nearly opposite, and where you may have a choice of two kinds of cigars in addition to the ordinary coarse tobacco of the peasants. But though our wants are thus easily supplied, there js an air of substantial comfort around us.

The single long straggling ftuet is made up of two-story buildings, of which some are houses and Kiiie are barns, the appertaining dwelling in the latter case being situated wiihin a court-yard, of which sunny glimpses can be obtained through the half-opened folding gates. Sometimes it is a garden, bright with asters and dahlias, which is thus disclosed sometimes it is the yard of a little jVuro, in which chickens and. dogs stroll about in friendship, and the sound of the flail or winnowing-machine tells of work going on. Or in the morning or at mid-day there may perhaps walk solemnly out a couple of large brindled cows, each haltered and guided by a girl, who is taking thtm to the strips of clover, where they will not be suffered to stray aimlessly about, but will be staked down to the defined portion of herbage vibicb it is their duty to consume before night. The only thing that makes our village differ from any other village in mid-France is that it happens to be situated in convenient neighbourhood to a stretch of wild forest scenery, and that it is therefore much resorted to by artists.

And these gentlemen have imparted a distinction quite peculiar to the auberge in which I have my quarters. Every room bears the marks of their pencil in various stages of study. The bedrooms have on the doors or window-shutters half finished sketches of scenes of revelry, often touched with grotesque power but the chief galleries of art are the salle-a-manger and the billiard-room. In these every inch of available panel on doors or cupboards is filled with landscapes, battle pieces, sporting scenes, or what not; and there is many a private collection which might be glad to possess some of these works of art. But in speaking of salle-a-manger and billiard-room, let me not convey too brilliant an idea of our suites of apartments.

As we enter from the street we first come into a hall which is the common eating-room of the household, the centre of gossip of the village, and the host's bedroom. On the right is the brick-floored salle-a-manger, which is so slightly divided from the entrance hall that it partakes of nearly all its functions. On the left, the billiard-room contains a table about eight feet in length, which on Sundays is turned from its proper use to be a drinking table for the peasants. To reach the bedrooms one must pass through the house into the back yard, where a crowd of fowls, a cat and kittens, and two very well-bred English pointers belonging to our host's son, form a family party, with the stable dung heap for a point of reunion. But humble as our hotel is we enjoy in it very good cheer at a most moderate rate.

For five francs a head per day we are provided with lodging and board, including vin ordinaire at discretion. The beds are scrupulously clean, the morning coffee and milk is excellent. At twelve we have dejeuner, consisting of boiled eggs or omelette, cutlets, and potatoes; at five we have a dinner of soup, beef boiled or stewed, roast mutton or fowl, vegetables, salad, cheese, grapes, and coffee such a dinner as an English hotelkeeper would charge more for than our whole day's expenses would come to. Yet here we are by no means in a cheap country. Of society, besides the artists who happen to be residents, but who are out of doors all day, it is true we have not much.

But of an afternoon in the back yard, under a sort of trellis of vines which leads from the back door of the house to the cookery cupboard, which is called a kitchen, a little conversation party is often improvised, in which the hostess looking up from her culinary operations, the host resting on a bench, and any chance visitor, peasant, or stranger who drops in from the village, take their equal part. It is a life of extreme simplicity and absence alike of false pride and false humility. The easy yet self-respecting equality which makes its charm is partly the result of the slighter barrier of social distinctions on the Continent than among us, but something is also doubtless due to the character of the host and his family. He himself is a man of some standing in the village, being owner of several houses, besides the auberge he is extremely intelligent, and takes a lively interest in agriculture as well as in politics. His wife is frank-looking and frank-spoken their daughter, a handsome girl of twenty, who plays the piano really well, waits also at the table-d'hote with a word always ready in answer to any harmless badinage that may be addressed to her by the guests, most of whom are old habitue's; and the son, two years younger, divides his time between shooting and painting, having caught the artistic fever in the atmosphere that surrounds him.

From these worthy people I gain a good deal of information about the life that is led in the village, and other friends who have lived long among them help me to give 4 shape and meaning to what I see passing around. There are indeed indications on the corners of houses and the big bam doors of some waves from the outer sea of life having recently agitated this quiet hamlet. Election placards curiously like to our own old familiar style still remain in tolerable preservation since May last. Perhaps it may interest an English reader as much as it did me to see the character of these appeals. Our village is evidently strongly opposition, so not one specimen of the address of the Government candidate (who had been for thirteen years the sitting deputy) survives.

But in a neighbouring village I find some shreds of a very long address still hanging in tatters from a door, in which are to be made out an appeal to past services, a profession of devotion to the existing dynasty, an exposition of the benefits of order and of Imperialism, a defence against the charge of extravagance, and an announcement in capital letters that the writer is the candidate of the Government." But if the history told by the other addresses does not mislead, it is this very official favour which has cost the poor deputy his seat. His chief opponent, ultimately elected, was Count wnose address put forward his old family connection with tne district and his service of twelve years in the army. After this preface he 1'iorec-ds to declare that he is 11 the candidate neither of an administration nor of a dj nasty." He next appeals to an agricultural constituency: I THE REPUBLICAN MOVEMENT IN SPAIN. San Sebastian, Oct. 18.

The Republican insurrection was undoubtedly a preconceived and' cunningly prepared plan of the leaders of the Federal party. It 13. evident however, that it was not a spontaneous movement of the masses-which compose it, for a great number refused to join in it, and others did III their power to assist in repressing it. The cause of this defection 1 to be" found in the fact that the peaceable portion believed tneir deputy and iouraals when they hypocritically protested that their party desired ZVZLdoAs by means of peaceful discussion, and to Slk opinion for the great political change which they knew was to ccme of Self shortly. They did not wish, they said their arms, but heir Meas to triumph It is now clear that while they were giving ti ces nublicly they were conspiring secretly and preparing fSTSrSld authorities ind to establish themselves nstead Their journals, however, contained from time to time disguised reats1 ard defiance, and thus the Government was to a certain SS prepared to meet the outbreak.

It is probable that unforeseen drcumstances precipitated it before preliminaries were arranged or plans 1547.