The Dorset County Express and Agricultural Gazette.
Dorchester, Dorset, England, 1883-10-09 00:00:00

brat Conti' Expren,

DORCHNITIM, OCTOBER 9tb, 1883.

FRANCE AND SPAIN.

What iver the issue of the late demonstration at
Perim may be, one thing is certain—the French nation
has taken an dhow step towards compiet isolation. In
• moral sense, the country Is fast becoming besieged.
On either side are enemies or lukewarm friends, and
It is imporible ta avoid the impression that the
fault le within rather than without. Germany, of
course, in • rival whoo conciliatiin could not be
expect , I tob, desired. But of what we was it to insult
Spain ; or why were steps taken to binder the current
of English friendthip ? In former times such conduct
as was exhibited tiwerds Mr. Shaw woul I have
mound our people to war. There have been periods,
too, when such rudeness as wee shown to the King of
Spain would have led to immediate rupture. President
livery deserves credit fur haviog mitigated the effect of
the extraordinary brhavi,ur, and it can hardly be
Imagined that the imp .1 lioness wan approved by
• large rumba of the French people. Corning.
however, as it does, after the very questionable pro-
endless at Tony in and Madagascar, we are driven
to suspect th.t • change is coining over the nation,
indicating demoralisation, U not actual decline.
Inward mantles not unfrequently reveal themselves
In external signs. The intrigue concerning the
Spaniel' marriages was the writing on the wall which
preceded the do &elan of isni. Phiippe ; the expo Ii
time to Mexico iudicatol the • iniethaug ritten which
led to the rein of Napoleon the Third. Should the
Republic collapse and fresh troubled happen to the
people of France, there well be Touquin. Madagascar,
and the manifestation towards the King of Spate as
symptom@ of the Mt.:real dimmer. W 5 are accustomed
to say that the been of the nation is sound; bt what
ground is there for the amertion t Are we to look
for it in the President, whose impionvenees Is more
suggestive of the at atm, than of the living statesman
Shall we find it in the Cebinet, the members of
which view each other with constant suspicion, the
hupoessut delegating their dulled to others when
difficulties stare them in the face? It is being
discovered that divided counsels are interfering with
success at Tongain, and it is no secret that the
Minister of War was anxious to be relieved of Ms
official duties some time before he actually resigned.
Meanwhile the leading Perim journal is Indulging in
undignified remarks on English views of Mr. Shaw's
claim, terming that gentleman an " apostle," and
hinting that there were justifiable moons for the
treatment he received. All these things are, in our

opiMon, bad indications; they denote decline rather
than progress. disease rather than health. Combined
with the fact that the national finances are getdrag
Into disorder, and that trade Is losing its elasticity, we
take the circumstances alluded to as meaning trouble
In the immediate future of France. French statesmen
do not lack experienoe ; but they show at critical
periods • lamentable want of sagacity, and on ordinary
occasions give no evidence of genius. It may be that
matters are tending once vivre t disorganisation, and
leading to the creati ,n of so, ther ilit try dictator.
In the interest of France herself and of surrounding
nat,ons. sse trust this calamity will not ensue.

OiurWs play " Vera " is to be pro laced very
Airily in LOadJO. In New York it wee • dud
failure, but that might have been in pert hemmer' its
author was looked upon as a mountebank. That is
hardly the opinion which id now entertains I of him in
thia country. His lecture on hi.' Impressions of
Anairice" id • decidedly clever performuce. It is full
of shrewd observations and iotilligent humour. Mr.
Wilde delivered hi* lecture the other day at the
‘Yan.laworth Public Hall at the request of • local
literary society. The chair was taken by • clergyman,
who candidly announced to Mr. Wilde at the com.
mincemeat of the proceeding's that the large audience
were actuate' by two mdives in being pruent —first,
by curdenty t s.t tie lecturer, sal secondly, by
Interest in America. lie did not aid, uhe might have
done, that much disappdatinent was occsaionel by
Mr. Wilde appearing In ordinary evening dress. The
single peculiarity of hia attire was an orangs•coloure I
silk handkerchief ostentathusly displayed in • breast
pocket.

The new Bankruptoy Act, by the way, is hitting
some of the City aocountants hard. One of its pro-
vision', which is of retrospective elect, is that
trustees in bankruptcy shail periodically exhibit
accounts and pay all undistributed suet" int) the
Bank of En.riand under the supsrvision of the Board
of Trade At present such monies are nruaUy paid
into the trustee's own banking sooouut in his own
name. The oonfusi 42, if not wore*, resulting from
such a practice is easily perceptible. The accountant
who Las ju.t amazed the professional world by
absconding. fdr. Waddell, has no doubt got Into
difficulties in this way. He had a first-rate name as a
bankruptcy accountant, and waa not uncommonly
recommended and forced on parties by the court
officials, who had unbounded oonbdence in him.

A Frenoh royalist journal, deploring the intuits
offered to the King of Spain, aptly adds—" The first
principle of the great revolution wee that the Republic
oanttot do wrong; that it is always the other side
which is blameable," and quotes, &prop°, of this, the
following paragraph, almost literally translated, to
show more clearly its utter absurdity Bismarck
menaces us; Germany defies us, and stirs up the
nations against us. Let it be so; we are ready for
them. Even Austria deserts tie, and holds out her hand
to bee conqueror. Instead of demanding revenge,
Ilk, us, she forgets Sadows in greedy striving for
poesessions in the East. England takes Egypt from
as. Perfidious Albion profits by our Impotence. Tea
Ring of Italy goes t Berlin. followed by the Slug of
Belgium; finally Queen Vktoia herself. Let the
Ingrates do their worst Th. glorims French
Republic does not fear them." Our lively neighbours
tPRZto believe the truth of the aphorism that
is • good dog,"