The Sun.
London, England, 1870-08-27 00:00:00

PARIS AND THE CRISIS.

The destinies of France are once more in the hands of
the capital. A crisis has arisen without a parallel since
that of 1789, and Paris is now, as it was then, as it was,
too, in 1830 and in 1848, the arbiter of the nation's fate.
The Legislative Assembly is, to be sure, in session, and
may at any time vote itself the supreme power of the
realm ; but now that the National Guard,
which, strictly speaking, is simply the nation
armed, has been appealed to, the power 'of
disposing of events has in fact become vested in the
people, in whom by right it resides. Let Paris rise and
pronounce for a republic, and who can say that Marseilles
and Lyons, Rouen and Lille, would not follow her lead,
as they have done heretofore, or that the millions of
French rural population will not accept, as hitherto,
what the great cities decree ? Whatever is, 18
right with the French peasantry, and they will
indorse a republic to-morrow as faithfully as they in-
dorsed the empire a few months ago, if only they have some
tangible evidence that the one has been substituted
for the other. The armed populace of Paris is, therefore,
master of the situation, and let but the first fugitive from
a great defeat in the valley of the Marne tell that the last
bulwark between the invader and the gates of the capital
has fallen, and it will deal as summarily with Napoleon
111, as it dealt with Charles X. and Louis Philippe.
Already the National Guard has begun to murmur
against the soldiery which charges the mob in
Paris instead of charging the enemy at the
front, and should these same soldiers return, de-
jected and mutinous, from a disastrous campaign, they
will fraternise with the people as they have done in for-
mer times of trial, and will aid in overturning the Empire
as gaily as they went to fight for it. To anyone conver-
sant with the temper of the Parisian population, the
prospects of an Orleanist restoration, now so
freely canvassed, are in the last degree absurd.
Much as M. Thiers has done to merit the
admiration of the world,- he is, in the politics
of to-day, merely a species of fossil. The party
he represents numbers in its ranks much of the intellect
and culture, as well as not a little of the wealth of modern
France. But the mass of the people never did understate,'
" the monarchy surrounded by republican institutions'
which was voted in by the Chamber of Deputies in 1830,
and contemptuously cast aside by the Republicans of
Paris in 1848. What the Emperor Alexander I.
said of Louis Philippe may be safely said of
his grandson, the Count of Paris, that he has
a very unique characteristic for a Bourbon
prince--a liberal turn of mind; but amiable
.and accom-
plished as he is, he responds neither to the traditions nor
to the hopes of Frenchmen. He is neither the rightful
heir of the ancient monarchy, nor the child of the vic-
torious First Empire; his title would be a creation of the
people, and yet would aspire to claim a share of the
" right divine ;" once elected he would seem to be above
the power that elected him, and the first time that the
people hungered, and the Government was unable to
feed them, Louis Philippe Albert, of Orleans, would be
compelled to sink to plain Mr. Smith as his
grandfather under similar circumstances did before him.
He may become a favourite of scholars and the educated
middle class, but the idol of the democracy he could
never be. It is neither to be expected from his claims or
his character. It is even conceivable that in the event of
Prussia becoming able to dictate terms to a subjugated
France, the son of Helena, of Mecklenburg-Schwerin,
might obtain the support of foreign arms to secure his
throne. But even presuming, what is far from probable, that
the Count of Paris is so little of a Frenchman, and so
much of aßourbon, as to imitate the role of Louis XVIII.,
aid like this would only make his tenure of power briefer
and more precarious. Meanwhile, Paris is not in a mood
to discuss questions of succession and dynasty-
A premonition of such an occupation as she
has not seen for fifty-five years has come
upon her, and Imperialists, Orleanists, and
Republicans vie with each other in forming a living ram'
part against this crowning national shame. And when,
in a moment of fury, she may hurl the Empire from a
place it can never regain, there is only one thing she can
put in its place, and that is a republic. A Provisional
Government, perhaps a dictator, may preside till
the crisis is over, but when the smoke of battle
rlras rolled away, the statue of liberty will once
mere, be found surmounted by the bonnet rouge,
ts.the manifest consternation of many surrounding poten-
ate% and Powers. A conviction that nothing can be
interposed between the Empire and a republic will be the
most powerful influence in support of the Empire. France
will shortly want rest more imperatively than ever, but
he would be a bold man who should say that with release
from the invader, an internal anarchy, more fatal and
persistent may not follOw.—New York limes. ,

THE WALKER DIVORCE CASE.—Mr. Walker,
manufacturer, Edinburgh,lormerly of Sheffield, has raised
an action in the Scotch Court of Session against James
Grant, the novelist, for £3,000, Mr. Grant recently
figured prominently in the Edindurgh Divorce Case. Mrs.
Walker has reclaimed against the judgement of the Judge
in the Outer House granting the divorce.

• •
A Cottage Hospital was opened at Stanley, near
Wakefield, on Wednesday last, completely furnished for
five beds. The district is one where accidents frequently
happen, and the institution will be a great benefit to the
inhabitants. £6O a year has been guaranteed fori is
support. At the opening ceremony addresses were given
by Dr. Crichton Browne and Mr. Lawson Tait.
Considerable progress has been made with the
erection of the iron pier at Hastings. The design is being
carried out by a Glasgow firm, and it is expected that the
work will be completed by next summer. It will be
I,oooft. long and 40ft. wide, and it is intended to erect at
the extreme end of it an assembly room some 200 ft. in
length. The pier is being built at a spot within easY
each of any part of Hastings or St. Leonard's.

D UNVI LLE and Co., Belfast, are the largest holders
of whisky in the world. Their Old Irish Whisky is r ommended
by the medical profession in preference to French brand . Sup-
plie lin casks and cases for home use or exportation. Quotations
on application to Messrs DUNVILLE & Co., Royal Irish Vie
tilleries, Belfast; or at thoi London oMces, 4, Beaufort BuildhiSS
Strand, W.C.

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