418 



FRANCE. 



circular, violently denounced the friends of the 

 former Governments, and declared that the Gov- 

 ernment had withdrawn its patronage from 24 

 of the deputies, who, elected in 1857 as official 

 candidates, had abandoned the Government at 

 the vote on the Roman question. On May 20th 

 the five members, forming the liberal opposition 

 in 1857, published a manifesto giving an account 

 of their political attitude. On May 21st a let- 

 ter appeared in the Moniteur, from the Minis- 

 ter of the Interior, declaring that the Govern- 

 ment would oppose with the utmost energy M. 

 Thiers, who ran on the opposition ticket for one 

 of the Paris districts, for Aix and for Valenci- 

 ennes. On May 25th seven bishops published 

 a manifesto, explaining the interest of the 

 Catholic Church in the approaching election. 

 The Government regarded this manifesto as an 

 abuse of the ecclesiastical power, and laid it 

 before the Council of State. 



The election took place on May 31st and 

 June 1st with the greatest order.- In Paris the 

 opposition obtained a signal triumph. Eight of 

 its nine candidates were elected ; and in the 

 ninth district, where no candidate had obtained 

 an absolute majority, the candidate of the op- 

 position was elected at the supplementary elec- 

 tion on June 14th. Six of the elected candi- 

 dates, Havin, Ollivier, Picard, Favre, Darimon 

 and Simon, had a very large majority, while that 

 of Thiers was only 1,200. In the departments, 

 the candidates of the Government were almost 

 everywhere successful. Altogether of the 283 

 deputies elected, 34 were candidates of the op- 

 position. Of these 84 candidates, several, as 

 the Marquis of Andelarre, the Vicomte of 

 Grouchy, Ancel, Plichon, M. de Chambrun, had 

 been Government candidates in 1857, and had 

 forfeited the patronage of the Government by 

 their votes on the Roman question. They still 

 wished, however, to be regarded as warm sup- 

 porters of the Napoleonic dynasty. The five 

 members who formed the liberal opposition in 

 the Legislature of 1857, were all reflected. 

 Among the new members of this opposition 

 were some of the most illustrious names of 

 France, as Berryer, Marie, and Thiers. Many 

 other leaders of the liberal parties had, however, 

 been defeated, as Montalembert in the depart- 

 ments of the Cotes du Nord and Doubs, Thiers at 

 Aix and at Valenciennes, Oasimir Perier at 

 Grenoble, M. de Remusat at Toulouse, Odillon 

 Barrot at Strasburg, Dufaure at Bordeaux, St. 

 MarcGirardin in the department of Vienne. 



The election was followed by important mod- 

 ifications in the Cabinet. M. de Persigny, whose 

 excessive zeal was supposed to have been in- 

 jurious to the cause of the Government, resign- 

 ed; and with him Walewski, Minister of State, 

 Delangle, Minister of Justice, and Rouland, 

 Minister of Public Instruction and Worship, 

 withdrew. M. Billault, Minister without port- 

 folio, was appointed Minister of State. The 

 office of Minister without portfolio, established 

 by the decree of Nov. 24th, was suppressed, and 

 its functions assigned to the Ministry of State, 



which in its turn was dismembered, one portion 

 of its duties being transferred to the Minister of 

 the Imperial House, and the other, concerning 

 learned corporations and academies, to the 

 Ministry of Public Instruction. The adminis- 

 tration of religious worship was detached from 

 the Ministry of Public Instruction and united 

 with that of justice. M. Baroche, President 

 of the Council of State, was appointed Minis- 

 ter of Justice and "Worship. M. Rouher, Min- 

 ister of Public Labors, replaced M. Baroche, 

 with the title of Minister President of the Coun- 

 cil of State. Three new men, Boudet, Behic, 

 and Durny, took the portfolios of the Interior, 

 of Public Labors, and of Public Instruction. 

 The Minister of State and the Minister Presi- 

 dent of the Council of State were charged with 

 explaining and defending the measures of the 

 Government before the Legislative Body. 



The influence of France on foreign questions 

 remained as great as ever. On the outbreak of 

 the Polish insurrection, M. Billault, Minister 

 without portfolio, declared in the name of the 

 Government, in the Legislature, that the Gov- 

 ernment had lost none of their sympathies with 

 Poland, but that they regretted the insurrec- 

 tion. When, however, Prussia concluded with 

 Russia an offensive and defensive alliance, 

 France, in union with England and Austria, 

 warmly advocated the treaty rights of Poland. 

 At one time the Government seemed even to be 

 willing to declare war against Russia, but the 

 idea was at once given up, when England and 

 Austria refused to join France. (See POLAND.) 

 When it became apparent that the diplomatic 

 negotiations on the Polish question would lead 

 to no result, the Emperor proposed to the Gov- 

 ernments of Europe to meet in Congress, and to 

 discuss all the great European complications, 

 with a view to bringing about a reconciliation 

 between the rights of sovereigns and the rightful 

 aspirations of the nations. This project, top, 

 failed, because England refused to take part in 

 the Congress. (See EUROPEAN CONGRESS.) In 

 Mexico, the Emperor persisted in his determi- 

 nation to overthrow the lawful Government of 

 the country, and to establish a monarchy. (Sw 

 MEXICO.) In Asia, France now holds undisputed 

 possession of three provinces of Cochin China, 

 and in August, 1863, a treaty was concluded 

 with the King of Cambodia, by which this 

 whole kingdom was placed under the protecto- 

 rate of France. (See ASIA.) The dispute with 

 Switzerland concerning the Dappes Valley fron- 

 tier line was settled by a treaty, Switzerland 

 reserving the right to lay it before the Powers 

 present at the Congress of Vienna. Those 

 Powers were to be requested to 'recognize this 

 modification of Art. 75 of the Vienna Consrtv.-s 

 Treaty as an integral part of the internatiomJ 

 right of Switzerland. 



The new Legislative Body was opened by the 

 Emperor in November. In his opening speecbt 

 he expressed his satisfaction with the result of 

 the elections. He thus referred to the intern! J 

 situation of the country : 



