22 AUGUST 1874, Page 1

The Bonapartists achieved a great success on Sunday. The rich

Department of Calvados, with its half-million of people and 123,000 electors, returned in 1871 five Royalists and three RepubliCans, the Royalists obtaining 72,000 votes, or more than a clear majority of the electors. The Republicans came near them, and there were no Bonapartists. At a single election in 1872, the Department returned M. Paris, a very moderate Republican, by 28,000 votes, and left the Royalist and Bonapartist nowhere, the latter receiving only 3,000 votes ; but on Sunday, though it again neglected the Royalist, and gave the Republican, M. Aubert, his 28,000 votes, it threw 40,700 for M. Delatmay, a pronounced Bonapartist, who accepts the Septennate, but demands a plebiscite, in order to restore the Empire. Great efforts are made in Paris to explain away this result, but they are not very successful, as M. Delaunay's per- sonal popularity would not, two years ago, have helped him at all, unless he had abjured Imperialism. The battle, moreover, seems to have been fairly fought, the Government affirming that of 760 Mayors in the department, 700 are elected by the people. Only the towns went for the Republicans, and the truth seems to be that the peasants are disgusted with what they consider the sterile disputes of the Assembly, and fall back on the party which cares nothing about Assemblies. The find effect of the event will be to increase the reluctance to dissolve.