The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1871-05-29
The Struggle in Paris-The Cause aud
Its Moral.

The frghtful excuses of the Paris Com
mune have been denounced by the civilized
world. The free people and press of America,
OF Europe, have expressed their horror at the
bloody deeds and madness OF the Parisians.
The fearful and useless destruction of life and
the splendid monuments Of art will never be
forgotten. An indellible stain will rest upon
the history of the great city which claimed to
be at the head Of civilization. The horrors Of
the first Revolution, when Louis XVI. and
Marie Antoinette were beheaded, and the
guillotine was kept going mercilessly moving
down all who opposed the revolutionary
monsters of that period, were scarcely less
shocking than the occurrences in Paris during
the last few weeks. Yet, while these facts
are as undeniable as they are appall-
Ing, and while the civilized world
and history must condemn in the severest
terms the Paris insurgents, there may be two
sides in the cause, object and history Of these
occurrences. However indefensible the
bloody and destructive conduct Of the Com
mune may be it is clear that the vast body OF
the Parlsans, outside of the criminals and
scum of society, have been fighting for some
thing more than plumber or from mere brutal
instincts. A large portion Of the shopkeepers
and respectable Industrious classes as we'll as
great many intelligent and educated people
have been identified with the cause of the
Commune and have laid down their lives for it.
With surprising heroism worthy of a better
cause the Parisians have been warning against
what they deem existing evils or to prevent
those they fear. They are wrong, doubtless,
and have resorted to extreme and inexcusable
means to accomplish their object, even if that
object were reasonable or practicable. They
ought to have given the republic as estab-
lished by the voice of the whole people of
France, with NJ. Theirs at the head, fair
chance. Whatever reforms they desired
should have been left to votes of the people.
History is full of examples to show that those
who resort to the sword perish by the sword,
and that those who would despotically force
their views or dogmas upon others generally
become the victims of despotism.
Apart from the dangerous classes-the
criminals and scum of society--which always
emerge from their dark abodes and take a
prominent part in emeutes or revolutions in
Paris, the Commune commended for local self
government and for the decentralization of the
national government. It saw, as others have
seen in and out of France, that under every
form of government, Of the old Bourbon mon
archy, of the different ephemeral republican
governments, of the consulate and the en-
pires, and Of the Orleans dynasty, the GEN.
tralization of power in the hands of whoever
was chief of the State for the time being had
been inimical to the establishment and per-
petuation of liberty, and tended always to
provoke revolutions. To remedy this evil
was one of the objects of the Commune.
Whether the plan proposed was good one or
not we cannot discuss here. The means re-
sorted to for making the reform were GER
tan'y bad, and more likely to defeat the
object than to attain it. The insurgent Com
mune thought, no doubt, that the best time
to accomplish their object was just on the
Inauguration of the new government, and be-
fore it could consolidate its power. But in
connection with this movement, and, perhaps,
at the bottom of it, is another one
both exceptional and dangerous. We refer
to the attempt of the leaders of the
Commune to engraft on republican institu-
tons their socialist theories. If they do not
60 quite so far as their prototypes of the first
Revolution, who declared all property theft,
or of the Communists Of the revolution of 1S4S,
who proposed to take the property of the rich
to support the poor, their theories have the
same tendency and would, II carried out,
break up the framework Of society and lead to
the worst consequences.
Then, again, these Commune leaders, of
whom Bergeret is chief and representative
man, endeavor to subvert the Christian reli-
gion, and, indeed, all religion. These SOL
disant philosophers, but narrow-minded men,
follow in the wake of the Mirabeaus, Marats,
Dantons aud Robespierres of the first French
Revolution and are as insanely hostile to
Christianity. Infdelity, in the worst sense Of
that term, seems to have been inerajicably
engrafted on the French mind since the time
VI VOltuic, lSouSSchu3 tuc IuCyCAOpculStS duu
their successors of tie revolutionary Noun
tain. AT least this is 50 in Paris and other
J large cities. Ia the revolt Of the French
mind against monarchical tyranny
and priestly despotisni the men
Of progress and education in that
country, particularly in the gresss.. centres Of
intelligence, lost sight of the good in Chris
tianity. They attributed all the political and
social evils of the time to the Christian reli-
gion; and yet, when they saw that mankind
needed some kind Of religion, they in their
madness, attempted to substitute the Goddess
of Reasonable worship Of humanity-and
took lewd woman as its representative.
They were wilfully blind to the fact that the
principles incucated by Christ and his imme-