The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1873-02-20


it does not seem a. II Father Hyacinthe would
meet with any great success In France I regard
him 90 O thoroughly honest man. and In his new
work intensely earnest But the French mind
Graves logic Frenchmen know well that there Is
no hating place. no middle ground, between sthe-
lsm and Catholicism. mean that q man must be
whole Catholic or none ct all. One cannot DO .
half Catholic. This Is the position OF Father dye.
cinthe. Added to this there Ia . prejudice T.. the
minds OF frenchmen against the merriS,,e Of the
clergy. and the marriage Of Father D,,acinthe has
onended public opinion great.J. n may interest
you TO know. perhaps, thu. before he married he
sent to consult mo upon pe advisability Of an act
which. among otSeE Things, would separate him
forever nom thO Church OF Rome. I answered
.aas 40 scou!I think o long time before doing
.nns " RADICALLY opposed to his career and caicu-
.sS9 70 embarrass his position ~ refOrmer In the
yPaich., Furthermore said that before marrying
ne must make up his mind to go all lengths In
opposition to Rome and to feel assured
that he was really in earnest and pre-
pared for oil the Contingencies Of bis new
situation. My daughter went to hear Father
Hyacinthe preach tho other Sunday at the Orat0ry.
She tells mo she was more Impressed with his
eloqoence than BY any special depth or originality
In his serm0ns." Pausing moment n. Guiz0t
asked your correspondent II he knew the wife Of
Father Hyaclnthc. After responding. he said:-
~ am told she Ia very superior woman. and cal.
cuiated to have very great influence upon her
husband.u -- j.. I. 10 .o.. .... . ..-..l .,,
THE INTERNAL CONDITION OF FRANoH.
We came then to speak Of the internal political
situation Of France. N. Guizot expressed himself
ON this subject with Q clearness ana exquisite
choice OF word and phrase which make 1t almost
Q hopeless task for your correspondent to trans
late ana remember without marring the clearness
and beauty OF the original This was main
dlficulty with your correspondent throughout the
interview, and in this report he can only hope to
present the substance and idea Of the great states
mans observations The color and glow. and
precision Of expression, which Guzot possesses In
remarkable degree, your correspondent despalrs
Of reproducing.
POLITICAL AND SOCIAL CONDITIONS IN FRANCE.
THE taserlal condition q Eralce. y he said Ct
length, Ills, as you may easily see, complicated.
France may be divided into four great parties-the
legitimists, who follow the C0mte dc ChambOrd;
the Orleans party, to which belong myself; the
imperallsts who see Napoleon as their head, and
those who call themselves republicans. This Is
the political subdivision. In addition there are
classes, or social strata, which can only be broadly
denned-as, instead Of an active, recognized living
arist0cracy, the Revolution merely left the rem
nant OF an arist0cracy. We have In France the
peasants, the workingmen OF the towns and cities;
the bOurgeoisie or the great middle business class,
who control most OF the enterprises and possess
most Of the money and small upper class (cgaSse
eleree), composed Of noblemen literary men, great
proprletors and so on Looking closely at these
classes we at first have the peasantry. They ore
by far the largest share of the pOpulaton-seventy
per cent as is estimated. They work hard,
haV Ind ofrv and tv hnt hava
no political foresight. The politics of
peasant lie between his interests and his magma
ton. SO long as the peasant sells his produce and
meets fair markets; so long as the taxes OF his
commune are not high and the government con-
structs public works; so long as he sees the
authorities building bridges railroads, canals and
public highways; so long as Improvements are
being made which increase the value Of his lands
and add to his yearly earnings, the peasant cares
little who rules over him or what form OF govern
ment France possesses. This will explain that
love OF the Empire which was so frequently re-
marked In imperial times. The peasants liked the
Emperor and cared nothing about the Empire. To
Napoleon III. they were personally attached,
knowing little and caring less about the system Of
government. Napoleon III. was vast personal
power In France, and 1t would be absurd to deny
1t. The peasants admired him and gave him their
that they will transfer their allegiance to his
son, the Prince Imperial. The sourge0isie,
on the other hand, are in the main Or
leansts. Wealth or comfort makes them quiet.
They are not at all demonstrattve, and are GER
tainly far from being ardent or vehement in their
devotion to the House Of Orleans. They want
order rest ana steady government-no matter
who governs. They would, for instance, never dis
turb the existing order Of things to put the Count
de Paris on the throne, and yet they would well
come an Orleans monarchy The bourgeoisie will
never take any advance step, any initiative In
political affairs. We see great defect in our
middle class, that its members, who are among the
most worthy, most sagacious and most wealthy
citizens do not take more interest in politics.
THE NOBILITY.
Your correspondent ventured to observe that in
America the same complaint was made-that the
honest, wealthy merchant classes, who had 80
much at stake in the cause Of coed government,
remained aloof nom political AFFAIRS The result
was that the baser elements Of society frequently
gained power and governed the people. NJ Quiet
listened and then continued 1.-THE upper Glass;
he said oelong largely to the Old noosse They are
mainly legitimsts and believe in the head of the
BourboAs, the Comte dc Chambord. These men
were always famed for the fervor and Impotence
OF their convictions. But see In late years that
they are becoming more tranquil and considerate
In their opinions and willing 10 consider other
interests and views. The egitlmists and Orlean.
ists for instance, are growing more and more to-
gether, and should the Comte de Chambord pass
from the scene all parties would proclaim the Comte
de Parisn
REPUBLlcAN1sM IN FRANCE.
question having arisen as to the condition OF
the republican party IN France, M. Guizot said: -
"You, OF course, know that am not n rennblican
am now what have been all my life, profoundly
convinced OF the wisdom OF o constitutional
monarchy For years served Louis Philippe as
his constitutional Minister. believe In consti.
tutiona principles az seen IN operation under the
British Crown. prefer the British to the Ameri-
can system. federal republic Is the best for the
United states, because no other form was possible
after the War OF Independence. Am sorry it should
have been found Necessary In America This Ia