scattering of thousands of the poor and discontented over
the country, is an effectual sending out of missionaries
to preach the cause of disorder where comparative peace
now reigns.

The sovereign people of the head-quarters of riot, the
Faubourg St. Antoine, were not long in resenting this
insult to those, many of whom they reckoned as friends.
On the day following (Easter Monday) the concurrence
of a ginger-bread fair at the Barrier du Trône in
the above faubourg, and a grand military review by the
President at Vincennes, brought out a vast concourse of
holiday-makers. The President was Insulted in returning
from the review while passing through the barrier.
A multitude surrounded his carriage—an open one;
shook their fists in his face, and assailed him tumultuously
with the last new popular interjection, to which
they were pleased to add, "A bas le tyran!" Prince
Louis Napoleon was not in the least ruffled either by
anger or fear. His escort compelled the mob to fall
back, and he proceeded on his way without further
annoyance. General Changarnier, who preceded, had
had a foretaste of this reception, and very likely to his
spirited conduct may be attributed the easy manner in
which the President was let off. When the shouting
crowd gathered about him, he drew up his horse, and
turned upon and menaced them with such stern
determination, that they instantly fell back. Among them
was a drunken soldier who neglected to salute him;
Changarnier rode up to the fellow, removed his shako
with the point of his sword, and then moved slowly on,
amidst the applause of those who had previously hooted
him.

Many indications showed a disposition among the
army to support the socialist party not only in Paris but
in the provinces. There was a Mutiny in the11th
Infantry. On the march of the 2nd battalion from Rennes
to Toulon, on the 11th, the popular cry was raised by
the common soldiers, urged on by the democrats of the
town, and they insulted their officers. At Angers the
men were entertained at a fête; and in the evening the
soldiers and subaltern officers, accompanied by their
entertainers, paraded the streets shouting again and again
"Vive la République démocratique et sociale!" The
Minister of War, on receiving intelligence of this affair,
ordered the battalion to be disbanded, and the
subalterns and soldiers drafted into the regiments at
Algiers.

Besides this disgrace, an involuntary and Appalling
Calamity befel this regiment. When the 3rd battalion
was leaving Angers, on the 16th, at eleven o'clock
in the morning they met a squadron of hussars
coming from Nantes, which crossed over the suspension-
bridge of the Basse Maine, without any accident. A
fearful storm raged at the time. The last of the horses
had scarcely crossed the bridge than the head of the
column of the third battalion of the 11th appeared
on the other side. Reiterated warnings were given
to the troops to break into sections, as is usually done,
but the rain falling heavily it was disregarded, and
they advanced in close column. The head of the
battalion had reached the opposite side,—the pioneers,
the drummers, and a part of the band were off the
bridge, when a horrible crash was heard; the cast-iron
column of the right bank suddenly gave way, crushing
beneath them the rear of the fourth company, which,
with the flank company, had not stepped upon the
bridge. To describe the frightful spectacle, and the cries
of despair which were raised, is impossible. The whole
town rushed to the spot to give assistance. In spite of
the storm, all the boats that could be got at were
launched to pick up the soldiers in the river, and a
great number who were clinging to the parapets of the
bridge, or who were afloat by their knapsacks, were
immediately got out. The greater number were, however,
found to be wounded by the bayonets, or by the fragments
of the bridge falling on them. As the soldiers were got
out, they were led into the houses adjoining, and every
assistance given. A young lieutenant, M. Loup, rendered
himself conspicuous for his heroic exertions; and a young
workwoman, at the imminent danger of her life, jumped
into the water, and saved the life of an officer who was
just sinking. A journeyman hatter stripped and jumped
into the river, and, by his strength and skill in swimming,
saved a great many lives. One of the soldiers,
who had reached the shore unhurt, immediately stripped,
and swam to the assistance of his comrades. The
lieutenant-colonel, an old officer of the empire, was taken
out of the river seriously wounded, but remained to
watch over the rescue of his comrades. It appears that
some people of the town were walking on the bridge at
the time of the accident, for among the bodies found
were those of a servant-maid and two children.

The following letter from the Lieutenant-Colonel of
the regiment gives a short but affecting account of the
disaster. It is curious that the same officer (Col. Simonet)
should have survived the terrible catastrophe which
occurred at the battle of Leipsic, when Poniatowski and
so many others were drowned in the Elster:—"Before
entering the faubourg of Angers, an aide-de-camp of
General Duzer came to me with an order to enter the
town by the suspension-bridge, and to draw up my men
on the Place d'Académie, where he proposed to review
them. I had scarcely resumed my march by column in
sections, when the weather, which had been before very
fine, suddenly changed to a perfect tempest,—a furious
wind and pouring rain. It was then half-past 11. It
was under these gloomy auspices that I entered on the
fatal bridge, after having stopped the band, and broken
the regularity of the step, as is usual in such cases. The
wind was so high that the floor of the bridge rose and
fell from it so much that I had difficulty in keeping my
seat on my horse. Scarcely had the section of the
advanced guard, the pioneers, and the greater part of
the band, reached the opposite bank of the river, when
suddenly a horrible crash was heard, and the floor of the
bridge gave way under our feet. With the exception of
the head of the column and the two rear sections, all the
rest of the battalion followed the movement of the floor
of the bridge, and fell into the water. Ah, General,
what a spectacle! Never was there a more heart-
rending one. My poor mare turned over, left me in the
water, and then suddenly rising nearly crushed me. I
rose and endeavoured to catch her, but Captain
Desmarest, my adjutant-major, who was marching behind
me, and to whom I owe my life at this moment, seizing
me by the arm, drew me forcibly to the left side of the
bridge (the water was then up to my armpits); then,
assisted by some soldiers, I was lifted into a small boat,
when one of the inhabitants, an old soldier, received me
in his arms in a fainting state. Thence I got into a
washerwoman's boat, and then gained the shore. I was
saved, but too earnestly occupied with the fate of my
children, my friends, and my comrades, to think of
accepting the assistance which was eagerly offered me
by the inhabitants and the officers of the garrison."

When the muster-roll was called, it was found that
there were 219 soldiers missing, whose fate was unknown.
There were, besides, 33 bodies lying in the hospital, and
30 wounded men; 70 more bodies were found during the
morning, 4 of whom were officers. The President of the
Republic set out for Angers, to see the extent of the
disaster. He arrived on Thursday night (18th). The list
of the dead was at his request given to him. He passed
the whole morning in visiting the hospital where the
wounded are taken care of. He was accompanied by
the Minister of War and the general officer commanding
the department of the Maine and Loire. The orderly
officers of the President also visited the private houses
where the wounded took refuge. The greatest attentions
were paid to the unfortunate survivors. The kindly
feeling shown by the Prince produced the best effect.

The funeral of the victims took place on the 19th. 182
corpses were buried, and followed by an immense
population. All the shops were closed, and the town wore
an appearance of deep sorrow. The usual military
honours were paid as the dead were laid in their graves
The prompt sympathy shown by Louis Napoleon for
the survivors of this great fatality help materially to
regain that popularity he was fast losing. On his
return to Paris he was well received. On the other
hand, the disaster was basely taken hold of to damage
the government.

M. Proudhon was arrested on the 18th, and sent to
the fortress of Doullens, for having charged the ministry
in his own paper, the "Voix du Peuple," with having
occasioned the disaster of Angers by sending the 11th