The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1883-01-27 00:00:00

Eke ',stourbribge Obsetber.

SATURDAY, JANUARY 270, 1883.
--
LESSONS IN REPUBLICS.

When, a little more than a century ago, the
North American colonies successfully asserted
their independence of Great Britain, they lost
no time in establishing a form of government
different from any which then existed in the
eastern hemisphere They discard(d the prin-
ciple of having a crowned head, and went boldly
in for that of "government by the people for the
people." The ation was to el, ct its own chief
who was not to nold office for life, but only for a
short term of years. The idea of hereditar,
sovereignty was left behind for European ecuu-
tries to continue if they pleased ; there was no
recognition of the doctrine of Divine right, such
as exists to this day in the heart of the aged
Emperor of Germany. The people would
choose the best and most capable man in their
midst to rule over them ; and if at the expire
tion of nis four years of office, the President ot
the Republic were not re-elected, be would
cheerfully bow to the national verdict, make way
for his successor, and subside into the obscurity
of an ordinary citizen who had never attained to
the Presidental dignity.
Such was the determination arrived at by the
descendants of those colonists who originally left
the shores of England to settle upon the Great
North American continent. It was a decision
which, amid all the storms of our national his-
tory had never been arrived at on this side of
the Atlantic. In all the struggles which took
place from the time of William the Norman,
the fight had always been for the possession of
the hrone. Whether, as the result of the fierce
contest, the Plantagenets, the Tudors, or the
Stuarts came to the front, the Crown and the
Sceptre were the prizes contended for. From
the wars of the Roses to the days of the secona
Pretender the story was the same. It is true
that for a period of eleven years, from the exe-
cution of Charles I. to the succession of his son
there ensued what is described in English his-
tory as an interregnum. But Lord Protector
Cromwell, albeit the head of the Commonwealth
never proclaimed himself President of the Re-
public. Again, when James 11. was driven
from the throne, there was no thought of set-
ting up the rule of the people alone. William,
Prince of Orange, was sent for, and upon his
death without issue, Queen Anne came to the
Throne as a matter of course. Upon the death
of that Sovereign a difficuity-again presented it-
self in the absence of a direct heir to the Crown
and then we had to fall back upon the House of
Brunswick. In the reigns of the first two Sov-
ereigns of that line the banner of insurrection
was raised ; but the efforts of both the Old and
the Young Pretenders were directed towaras toe
possession of the kingly power. There was no
idea of the establishment of a Republic.
The last time the flag of rebellion waved
upon English soil was in 1745, when Princi
Cbar.es Edward Stuart was d, feuted by the
army of tieorge 11. at Culloden. It was nearly half
centure after that the people of France rose in
revolution against the form of Government
which had existed for ages in that country, and
swept i:, utterly away. The vices and miscon-
duct of preceding reigns had pressed heavily
upon the nation, which resolved noon a change
A system of rule was set up which very much
resembled a Republic, nd which was regarden
as such an innovation by the other craneo
heads that a combination of Continental Powers
was speedily leagued against it The French
raised a million of men, and defied the Europeau
armies sent against them. It WAB a grand oppor
tunity for an ambitious man, and such a man
w.ls found in Napnleon Bonaparte, who contrived
to make himself First Consul and than Em-
peror. The Restored Legitimist Monarchy was
supplanted by that of the Orleanists, and that
too, buying had its day, the Republic of 1848
was proclaimed, That however, was not vary
long in existence. Louis Napoleon became what
was called Prince President, a singularly incon-
gruous title for the chief of a Republic. In
three years the Second Empire had been es-
tablished upon the ruins of the Republic, and
then in its turn the Republic took the place of
the Empire. It is still the form of government
in France ; but looking at the experiences of
the past hundred years, he would be a bold man
to predict the result of the next upriaing in
Paris. The French Republic, withal Conserva-
tive, is an institution which although familiar
enough in America, is foreign to the soil of
Europe. It is flanked on every hand by king-
doms and empires upon which the shadows of
centuries look down. Across the Rhine there
are the ancient houses of the Hapsburgs and the
itohenaollerns ; further north there are the Ro-
manolfs, while on this side of the Channel there
i 3 a Monarchy which with but slight intermis-
sion Gan point to,an existence of over eight bun.
red years. Into the comparative merits of
Monarchs or Republicanism it is not necessary
to enter. These can be settled by time. It is
aufficient here to indicate the difficulties which
have so long beset French statesman.