Vermont watchman and State journal. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1836-1883, 1871-05-03

. ne tlNlllIel WOriu mas Deeh astOulshel az
b the recent exhibition Of the French nation.
: For her to enter upon a war with Prussia was
not considered strange 70 be defeated in
that war was not unexpected For intelli.
gent men of other nations. who had studied
d French society, well knew that while France
had lost none of her military aspirations ou
lonlne,s Of military glory, She had lost her
moral and material power Therefore, neither
the war nor the result Of it was startling or
unexpected to those who had given much
though, to European politics.
Nor was France without much foreign sym.
pathy through the war Her inability to
cope with Prussia, aud the extraordinary re.
verse, that followed her arms SO rapidly, Gre
ated q rcactionary feeling in her favor. Men
passed from "a dinpproyal of her course in
inauguratiug The war 10 sympathy with her in
her terrible misfortune. and caamities Other
nation, were moved in her behalf TO offer re.
lief to her suffering population. and supply to
some extent the bitter necessities Of her raw
aged territory Contributions from every
quarter flowed in upon her
But late events seem to have dried up the
.pripr. of foreign sympathy. The results of
thc war with Prussia have shown the inhe-
rem, weakness and corrnption of the French
nation The pressure Of the iron hand Of
Germany /, no sooner removed. than the wild
poli,ic,l and sorial.te theories. which had
baoo -opressod by the Empire. be,an to de.
yelop themselves. In fact the war. during
il, progre.s emapeipated the ideas of France
aud the Governments which had been and
were successfully constituted. disappeared one
after the other like the dissolyinp views Of a
panorama. In one night the Empire yanish
cd. The regency. with Olivier at the head
of IFS ministry. soon followed The CORPS
! Lo,iJotic .nccun,bod 10 the mob of the Hotel
/ D,VWe For few month, Gambetta WELD. |
ed tbe national authority with an irresponsj. |
bic and recl less hand. and then was oyertaken |
by the fate which had fallen upon his prede.
cossor. and he ha. now oone into silence and |
darkness. No sooner had the Terrible cxioon. |
ce4 Of France conyoked general Assembly
and lodoel the nowers of the Government in |
the hands Of Theirs 10 make peace with the
enemy. than the low demaqcrues of Paris he.
gan their revolutionary proceedings. They
Organized committee 10 administer fine State |
They took Pari. into their hands and now for
weeks have ruled the capital with terror and
commended snccossG,llv with tho orcos If tho
Assembly Franc, b,. beso;,od and hom.
ibarleI Paris. and the citv .till hold. ont
agoipst tbe or,rics or tho n,,io, The ola
marshal. Of Lonis N,noleo, command ,ho
forces Of the Versailles Government, rel
French character wa. not variable ouap.
tity the result MIGHT bo nredicted bn, 90
both the politi.. and morals of Franco ara 40
unsettled as those Of Mexico before the reign
of Juarez. so it is impossible to be assured
Of what day will bring forth. or to tell
through what changes the government NAV
pass One thing seems to be sure, that neither
the Commune nor the Versailles Assembly
can long retain authority in that wretched
country Neither of them represent the ma
ton, and neither of them can have any more
than brief and local authority.
r The success of the Commune would be the
organization aud triumph Of those social
moral and political ideas which have had
their advocates in Paris ever since the days
of Noltaire aud the Jacobins. The mass Of
French society is thoroughly atheistic and so.
caistic Its only idea Of religion it has
gained from the despotism and corruptions Of
the Romish priesthood. 1t has consequently
reacted against Christianity, and utterly dis
f cardod it, knowing nothing of it in its origi
G nal purity and power, but only as it has beer
j. crystalzed in the peryersions Of the Stat,
y Church The French liberals hate it with al
4 unconcealed and infinite hatred They look