The New York herald., 1873-10-07
The Situation ira Fr&ncc--A King or
. Republic !-What IL the Futures

In the tempest and uproar which have
swept over our country like the recent mid
summer cyclone, which had its terrible will on
the North Atlantic, we are apt to overlook the
important events which control the Continent
of Europe. Weare not inclined to think calmly
upon matters interesting to the French and
the Spaniards when surrounded by the wrecks
OF the financial storm. But the nations are so
bound together that whatever concerns France
cannot fail to concern the United States.
France is now solving problem in which her
peace and prosperity are largely involved.
Great as are many OF the events in her late
history no event will have broader meaning
than the result of the deliberations at Yer
sailles. And wear assisted in comprehending
the problem by the intelligent and keen
analysis of it which we print this morning
from our correspondent in Paris.
We are liable to mistake the historical mean
ing of an era when we are near it, just as we
lose the expression of o countenance or pic
ture when our eyes look at it too closely.
What is momentous event to the American
people this morning, asserting its historical
value in wide, endless columns of newspaper
narrative and commanding the attention of
all men, will be forgotten tomorrow; while
an obscure, unseen record in o corner may tell
in two lines an event that history will dwell
upon for centuries The fall OF Sedan was
an extraordinary circumstance. The world
looked at it in terror and awe. Theologians
| opened their Bibles and told US that the battle
of Armageddon, as written in the prophecies,
| had at length been fought; that Antichrist
had fallen in the person of the third Bona
parte; and that we were coming upon the full
ness of time when the prophecies were to be
all fulfilled 1t seemed SO. The battle was
tremendous event, and the fall Of the Empire
awakened echoes destined to resound through
the ages; and we could not but marvel at the
wonderful dispensations of Providence and
that we had lived to see them But now that
| we look at it with clearer eyes and better
perspective, as it were Sedan was not as great
a battle as many that preceded it. Moreover,
what remained to the Bonaparte Empire but
that it should fall? 1t was just and wise and
necessary that Germany should be nation.
German nationality and the dynasty of Napo-
leon were antagonistic. They grappled, and
the dynasty fell.
We see now what rotten thing it was, and
marvel that it stood so long In the vast pine
forests of the Columbia River there are trees
whose majesty pierces the skies and astonishes
the eyes Of men with their beauty and strength
and vigor. We look upon them with the
interest and pleasure invariably inspired by
unusual manifestations of nature. A storm
comes, and with the first blasts the tree falls,
and we see that its core was only hollowness
and decay. Then we learn that in that land
an insect so minute that it can scarcely be
seen will bore its way into the stateliest
trunks and exhaust their life and fruit We
learn also that the comeliest trees in the
grove are mere shells and apt to fall before the
| first uneasy gusts of November This illus
tration reminds us of the French Empire. If
| Napoleonism had been healthy growth Of
France Sedan would never have overthrown
it. If it had even possessed the rudest vir-
tues of monarchy it would have lived. Ma
tons are not apt to overthrow their rulers in
q time of national disaster. Jena only made
| the King of Prussia dearer to his people.
When the Russian Alexander was over
whelmed the people assisted their Emperor to
burn their capital Austerlitz did not destroy
the loyalty of Austria towards the Kaiser
Francis. Somehow a people, no matter
how restive under ruler, will not abandon
him when he makes war for the nation.
! There were many. Americans who censured
Mr.. Lincoln for the defeats of his generals,
but when they were asked to supersede him
and choose Mcclellan we know the answer.
So that there was no life in the Napoleon
| dynasty that was not artificial There was no
real, hearty, natural relation between France
and Napoleonism, not even the relations Of
the root and the evil. The Empire was
gaudy and vast and attracted the world con-
slant attention. But it was builded upon the
sand, and when the tempest came it fell, even
as houses on the sand were said to have fallen
in the Scriptures
| Our correspondent gives us many logical
reasons for believing that the Count de Cham
bord will return to France and sit on the
throne, and his views seem to be strengthened
by our latest cable dispatches We shall not
enter into these reasons, except to say that no
matter what the result may be, no political in
cident of the modern history of France has
as many curious phases as the movement to
restore the Count de Chambord 1t is our
custom to believe, or at least to say, that we
are enlightened men, living in an age of light.
And yet, in the brilliant civilization Of
France, we see it possible for narrow
minded, respectable, ecclesiastical gentle
mana slow-witted, brooding man." in the
middle age of life-to demand that France
and her honor from him as gifts. Because he
happened to find his being in the loins Of o