The New York herald., 1871-02-26
The Reconstruction OF Frnnce-M. Tkicrs
and the Pope.

| anu rrance. Inc uetalis, we peleNt, al oon-
lectures to the contrary, remain only to be
settled nd the ratifca ton of the treaty by the
| French National Asse mbly at Bordeaux. AS
this body, by the terms of the late armis.ice,
was elected for this express purpose, In order
that Germany might have something like a
| responsible government with which to treat
| we can entertain no doubt of the ratification.
In the appointment Of NJ. Theirs as the
executive head pro tenn. of France, and OF
| Thiers and Jules Favre on the part OF
| the Assembly to negotiate this treaty, we
| have the most satisfactory evidence that
'tLe reds" in the Assembly are a powerless
minority. The treaty, then, will be ratified;
| the German armies will be withdrawn to their
own soil, including the Rhine and Moselle ter
rtories and the foriresses thereof surrendered
by France, and NJ. Theirs and the French As
I sembly will be left to the momentous and diff
cult task OF tie reconstruction o. their govern
ment. The present provisional establishment
OF Theirs may be likened to the late Regency
| in Spain, under Marshal Serrano and General
Prim, the halfway house between revolution
aud reorg niz .tion, the stepping stone be-
tween the government overthrown and cast
olt and the government which is TO take its
place.
What will this government be? M. Theirs
is appointed to settle this question, or, at all
events, its settlement is in his hands. The
| people OF France in their elections to this
important organic Assembly, and the Assem-
bly, in elec.ing him as sort Of provisional
dictator, have placed the destinies of the
| nation, in the treaty with Germany and in the
reorganization of France, under his direction
His great abilities and his great and varied
| experience as statesman through forty years
| of the vicissitudes Of the elder Bourbons. the
| Orleaniss, the republic and the empire, and
particularly his self-sacrificing patriotism
through oil the bewildering events to poor
France since July last, have made
him for her the man of all men
for the crisis. What then, will be the govern
ment which, through his management of the
present Assembly, will be given to France
VIII it be the confirmation OF the republic or the
the recall of the Oreanists or the restoration
Of the empire? From his antecedents it is
difficult to tell whether NJ. Theirs has more
faith in conserva tive republic or liberal
monarchy. He certainly has no faith in .'the
reds, and the disastrous follies and buffoon-
cries of Gombetta and company appear to have
thoroughly disyusted the great body of the
French people with Gambettas ideas of
liberty, equality and fraternity"
Still, under what we may call the Regency
OF Theirs, there is hope for the republic We
presume that with the retirement Of the Ger
mans the Assembly at Bordeaux will move to
Pasis--that its first business will then be
new constitution for France-that it will be
the constitution Of conservative republic or
liberal monarchy, and that whether king or
president is chosen, his election will be sub
| mitted with the new constitution to the popu-
| lar vote of France. This institution of the
empire will at least be retained, although from
the costly and humiiating failure of Louis
Napoleon in this war the last hope for the
Bonapartes appears to be gone. We believe,
too, from the political record of NJ. Thiers
and from the prevailing public sentiment Of
France, that the interests of the Pope and
the Church will not be overlooked in
this political reconstruction of the French
government. Theirs has always been strong
advocate of the rights of the Pope, even to
the extent of maintaining him in his tempo
ralities. This was much of the strength of
devoted Catholic peasantry of France. Here,
too, we expect from Theirs leading feature
Of the coming government in the protection Of
the Pope. And, whatever may be said Of the
misfortunes resulting to the Pope since the
proclamation of the dogma of Papal infallibli-
ty, it is apparent in the Old World and the
New, that this dogma and the misfor
tunes Of the Holy Father have drawn
the Catholic Church into closer sympathy with
him and his cause as head of the Church
than was ever known before since the procla-
| nation Of the unfortunate son Of the First
Napoleon as King Of Rome. Indeed, we dare
say that not one in all the long line of the
Popes of Rome has been held in the affec-
tionate veneration of the Church throughout
the world which marks its attachment to the
good Pho Mono. His exalted piety, his genial
and benevolent character, his gentle manners,
his simple habits and his winning kindness to
all visitors, and, above all, his many and
severe misfortunes have identified him with
every hope and every prayer of the two hun
dred millions Of living Catholics on the Earth,
and of the many millions more gone to a
higher life ''among the just made perfect"
M. Theirs, if not as cburchman, as saga
cious statesman, will doubtless appreciate this
pious veneration and sympathy for the Holy
Father SO universally entertained by the
Catholics in both hemispheres, not forgetting
the thirty odd millions Of Catholics in France
We believe, too, that they are represented in