trittrs ta t4r Etitnr.

TRE FRENCH ELECTIONS,

Paris, 24t1i June 1857. Sra—The elections here are now over ; and the result, so far as Paris is concerned, has been more favourable to the Opposition than was anticipated. Perhaps it might not be uninteresting to your readers to have a detail of the manner in which things have been conduoted, by an eye-witness, who has misted at the voting and the verification (the depouillement) of the votes. But just allow me a few words with respect to the electoral system in general in France.

France is divided into departements ; and each d‘partement is again di'sided according to the amount of its population, into electoral districts (eirconscriptions.) Those circonscriptions return each a single Member to the Legislative Assembly. The number of electors of each circonseription is upon an average thirty-five thousand, never under thirty nor over forty thousand. There is no difference between town and country ; the peasant and artisan voting together. The suffrage is universal ; the vote -is by ballot ; and the expense of registration and everything else connected with the exercise of the franchise is defrayed by the State. Such is the electoral system of France, and in appearance it is perfect. There is here the most perfect equality—no rotten boroughs, no power of bribery and intimidation by the aristocracy. Everything is left to the private conscientious opinion of the elector. It is true that the ignorant peasantry may be led astray by the priests' and the artisans of the towns by unprincipled demagogues ;but this must be by the free choice of the elector himself. And in so enlightened a country as France—provided the press and public discussion have fair play—this cannot go far, and the lower classes will soon see through the motives of selfish and interested leaders, whether they be priests or Socialists. As long as France possesses such an electoral system as this she has a right to hope for 'better days, however much she may be under the shade for the moment. France is now under a military yoke, ruled entirely by the bayonet. The electoral system is in -reality a mere form, a myth. But every thinking Frenchman knows, that as long as thismaehinery of liberty exists—inert though it be for the moment—the people may at a moment's notice, even by the slightest accident, spring up again into political existence, great, glorious' and free. IB under this conviction that the French Liberals are enabled to rest tranquil at the present time. They say to each other, " Let us precipitate nothing ; let us bide our timethe pear is not yet ripe." They look at England, and say, " We have an infinitely better electoral system than they have ; and if this system were only worked under a constitutional sovereign, such as Victoria, or Leopold of Belgium, we should be as free as the English, and better governed too, because there would be no privileged classes in France to usurp the monopoly of all the first places in the state. At present, this-French electoral system, penfect as it may be, is not of the slightest use, because the Assembly when chosen dares not eel. France is not governed by laws made by the Chambers, but by Imperial decrees signed by the Emperor, and enforced by the bayonets of 1500,000 soldiers. This is the cause of the great apathy among the inhabitants for the exercise of the franchise. "Supposing," they say, "we were to return a ma jority of independent men to the Legislative i Assembly, they could do nothing. The Chamber not allowed to initiate any law, or teinquire into the details of the expenditure of the taxes. All it can do is to grant or refuse in the lump the sums demanded by the Government. And we all knew, that if a Legislative Assembly were to venture upon such a step as to oppose any obstacle to the vote of the 8111118 asked for by the Government, the existing constitution would be changed, a new coup d'elat would take place, and we should lose eyen the form of our electoral system, which is our only hope for the future."

The electoral movement which has just taken place was disapproved of by the greater part of the electors opposed to the Government, and who have absolutely refused to vote. Therefore, to judge of the strength of parties— of the state of public opinion—all the abstainers, or electors who have not voted, must be added to the list of those who disapprove of the present Government; for the authorities in Paris as well as in the provinces have called upon all the electors, under the gain of being considered the enemies of the present state of thiegs, to come forward and record their votes for the candidates of the Government.

I now come tothe manner in which the voting has been carried on. I have not witnessed this in: the provinces. But in Paris during the two days that the election lasted I Visited a number of the polling-places, and I shall describe how things were conducted there. The elector enters, with his voting-card in Ms hand, (his "carte d'electeur,") which he has obtained at the mairie of his circonsciiption. This is the proof of his right to vote in that particular district. He presents his sand to the official who presides at the ballot-box. It is examined, compared with the register. He then presents his "bulletin de vote,"—which is a small piece of white paper, folded, with the name of his candidate written or printed inside; so as not to be seen. The official then places the bulletin in the orifice of the ballot-box. Nothing can apparently-be fairer than this mode of proceeding, and in all the polling-places that I visited everything appeared to be perfectly open and above board.

The elections last two days. The first day, which was Sunday, the voting commenced at eight in the morning and ended at six in the evening : at six, the ballot-boxes of the different polling-places were locked, a piece of paper placed over the orifice, and fastened down with wax, sealed with the arms of the mairie •' and were then carried off to their different mairies, where they were left during the night. The next morning, the boxes were brought to the different polling-places, the papers removed from the orifices, and the polling proceeded as before. The polling continued to four o'clock the second day ; after which, and upon the spot, the verification or depouillement of the votes itntnediately took place in the different pollingplaces. This also appeared to be conducted in a most businesslike and honest manner. The lists of the number of votes given for the different candidates are then taken to the different mairies; and the numbers are added up, and a declaration made as to the party who has gained. So far everything is fair. But there is another point connected with the French elections which alters the nature of the whole. This is a circumstance which the Government keep jealously in the background, and which the Opposition papers dare not even allude to; but in intimate French society it is constantly discussed. Every polling district or section is presided over by what is called the bureau, consisting of five or six individuals. These gentlemen have everything in their-power ; they keep the keys of the ballot-box, fix the seals of the mairie, take the ballot-box to the -maine, And bring it back to the polling-plaee next morning ; in short, they have the full power to open the ballot-box, take out the votes in favour of the Opposition candidates, and substitute others—that is to say, after six o'clock on the first day's polling. I have already mentioned, that at six o'clock on Sunday evening the voting-urn-was carried to the mairie, and left there till eight o'clock on Monday morning. During this period the substitution of any number of bulletins could have taken place, provided the maire and the members of the bureau agreed to dose. The second day of the election this is impossible, because the verification (the depouillenient) takes place in the locality itself' immediately after the poll is closed. But it may be asked, Why should the bureau desire to falsify the election ? The members of the bureau are nominated by the mafre; and he again is appointed during pleasure by the Govesnment, and is in almost every case a devoted, unscrupulous partisan of the Emperor. If he refuse to obey the orders of the prefet, his immediate superior, he is immediately dismissed. Each department is divided into parishes or communes, presided over by a maire, removeable at pleasure, and ready to go through fire and water to please the authorities above bins. All that the inaire, then, has to do, is to pick out a few unscrupulous individuals to constitute the bureau. Be hes then the election completely in his power, and may return whom he pleases, or rather whom he is ordered by the prefet to have returned per Las ant nefas.

That this is nearly universally done in the provinces is believed by every one in France. In Paris, where the mairies are of a higher standing, and where they are more immediately under the responsibility of public opinion, there may be exceptions. But even in Paris, there is among all classes the belief that this practice is generally adopted. But perhaps it may be here asked, How is it possible then, that an Opposition candidate is ever returned ? I shall explain this. The second day's poll is given, and &meanies a sufficient number of votes are reserved for the second day, so as to overwhelm the substitution of the first day.

The Goverrunent here is a strange combination of tyranny and duplicity. Not only does the Emperor desire to rule despotically, but also to persuade Europe, and especially England, that the French people prefer despotism to freedom. He subscribes himself "Emperor by the grace of God and the will

of the People," and he then refers to the eight millions of votes recorded in favour of the coup d'6tat and the Empire. But in France this deceives no one. Every one knows, and no one better than the Emperor himself, that the eight millions of votes only exist in the report of the makes, and that there were not three millions of bomi fide votes given in favour of the Coup d'etat or the Empire, and those votes by the most ignorant of the peasantry. Ms Government wished to play the same game over again, and to persuade Europe by the present election that the popularity of the Emperor had increased. In thus they have signally failed as far as the capital is concerned. As for the provinces, they are never taken into consideration, as Paris is considered as ruling public opinion in France. The Liberals, I assure you are highly pleased with the remit of their demonstration' -and upon good grounds. There are eight members for Paris proper, and for each of the eirconseriptions returning those eight members there was a contest. For the candidates of the Government, supposing everything was fair, eighty-one thousand electors voted. For the oaudidates of the Opposition eighty thousand voted. The difference here is very small ; but if we add the abstainers, as we are entitled to do, to the voters of the Opposition, we shall then have about three to one disapproving of the Government ; and all this in spite of the gagging of the press, and the obstacles opposed to everything like combination in favour of the Opposition candidate. A result of this kind is a ground for serious consideration among the authorities, and I can assure you it has iiiade a profound impression on

them. J. A.

TEE 1CA.TIVE TROOPS IN INDIA.

Snt—The recent mutinies of Native troops in Bengal are very serious events ; and, considering that discussion as to their cause cannot but do good, I venture to submit the following opinions.

First, as to the immediate grievance complained of by the men. The use of cartridges made greasy for rifle purposes in a manner which renders them impure to 'lindens of any but the lowest caste, and by consequence to Indian Mahommedans also is in itself a sufficient cause of mutiny. A very serious mutiny is on record caused by the introduction of leather peaks to the men's caps. The readiness to mutiny may proceed from other causes ; but this occasion would not have been given had the proper authorities been sufficiently attentive to the prejudices of the people. It is said, that when the Sepoys of the ddpot formed for instruction in the rifle exercise were taunted by the men forming the Commander-in-chief's escort with having contracted ceremonial impurity by biting the greased cartridges, no notice was taken of the matter in the proper quarter. Subsequently, some change was made in the manner of greasing; and the men then objected to the kind of paper used, which was new to them : and their suspicions being roused, its shining appearance led them to think that perhaps something impure was used in its manufacture ; the filthiness of many European manufacturing processes being fortunately unknown to them. The best remedy for their suspicions would have been to put the manufacture of cartridges into the hands of men of their own caste, from whom they could receive them without contamination, in the same way as their sick in hospital receive their food from Brahmin cooks. There is evidently at the present moment a want of confidence by the Native soldiers in the Government ; and I think this is occasioned by a prevailing desire at Army head-quarters to treat them more and more in matters of internal economy as English soldiers. The old rule was, to leave them almost entirely to themselves when off duty, dressed in their own native clothing, living in their own native huts, assorting with comrades of their own choice, messing on food bought and cooked by themselves, &e. In this way only could men of various castes be combined in one regiment : off duty, they were free each to follow his own religious and social observances. A system has lately been creeping in, of building their huts more like barracks, whereby their privacy and freedom of action when off duty is interfered with. This instance is given merely as an example of a tendency which the Native troops cannot perceive without alarm. Notwithstanding Lord Ellenborough's assertion the other night, I do not believe that the Natives of India do not distinguiefi" between the official and the private acts of their governors ; and I believe Lord Ellenborough to be mistaken in thinking that no Governor-General before Lord Canning has subscribed to missionary funds. I believe that Lord W. 13entinck and Lord Dalhousie did so, and I know that a majority of the highest officers of Government have been in the habit of doing so. I do not think that a military officer should personally endeavour to convert the soldiers immediately under his command ; but no greater restriction on the point than this do I consider necessary. Now as to faults in the constitution of the Native Army. I do not think it wants more officers, but better ones ; and perhaps the principal reason of their not being better than they are, is that too little power has been left to them. In time of peace, perhaps even in war, five English officers with plenty of duty to do, and power given them to do it properly, is enough for a regiment of Natives 800 strong : but they must be intrusted with ample power, and then made responsible for the efficiency and trustworthiness of their men—I mean really, not merely nominally, responsible. Asiatics pay respect to power, and to power only : multiplying European subalterns with Native troops only brings officers into contempt. As a remedy for the existing evil state of affairs, I would suggest an addition to the number of European regiments in the Indian service, the sending of all officers on their first entering the service to these European regiments, and their subsequent appointment to Native regiments only after their having been thoroughly instructed in regimental duty, and in the Native languages to the extent now required of interpreters. At all events, no officer should be allowed even the temporary command of a company of Natives until after three years service, having passed the interpreters' examination, and been reported fit by a committee of three officers commanding regiments. The pay of adjutants and interpreters should be somewhat increased, and these appointments made stepping-stones to general staff employ.

As to the men themselves they resemble too much in their constitution a

• self-chosen corporation. The district from which they axe recruited is too limited : recruiting-parties arc sent down who recruit mostly amongst their relatives and connexions, and, so that they bring to the regiment men of the regulation size, little more is thought of: the men are thus too much linked together; too many Brahmins are enlisted, and they being more intellectual than thereat take the lead ; an organization is thus introduced which would enable the soldiery, could they succeed in throwing off the English yoke, to become, as lately in the Punjaub on the death of Runjeet Singh, the ruling power in the state by a sort of military republic.

But my letter is growing to an unwielclly length, and I will conclude with a recommendation to the authorities for the present emergency ; which is, to raise an English regiment in place of every Native one it may be necessary to disband, and to transfer the officers of the disbanded regiments to the Europeans, instead of collecting officers from every regiment in the service as has hitherto been done on raising a new European regiment. I would add, that the reduction of men in the Queen's service now going on ought to render recruiting for India more easy than usual. I am, Sir, your obedient servant, , Lt.-Colonel.