The Van Buren press., 1873-09-02
The French Situation.

The remarks Of the duke de Broglie,
French minister of foreign affairs, at the
entertainment given him in Paris last
Saturday, are important In their manner
rather than their matter. Little is said,
but much is intimated; and the speaker
was evidently more anxious ts conceal
the purposes of the administration than
to prepare the way for sucsess by frank
avowal and bold defence 1t is noticea-
bic, however, that purely republican sen.
timents are studiously avoided; no hon.
ors are paid to the familiar and sorely.
abused trinity Of" Liberty, Equality and
Fraternity - no hymns are sung to "the
republic, one aad indiyisible," :" and there
are none of those denuncia.ions Of kings
and kingly powers which we are accus.
toned to find in the oratorical efforts OF
enthusiastic French democrats. In fact,
it is very much such speech as might
have been anticipated from the prime
minister of a monarchy, and not at all
such a speech as thorough going re-
publican leader would be likely to make
We are told that " the government of the
republic is engaged in struggle, not
against public opinion. but against those
loose principle, which threaten social
order. " Also that " this struggle may
be long and perilous, requiring in sup
port Of the government the efforts Of all
honest citizens. And iinally-which is
the suggestive kernel Of this rhetorical
nut-that % the problem which the situa-
ton presents Will soon be solved by tha
national assembly without passion and
without the influence Of personal sympa
thies. 1t will naturally occur to most
persons that, under a government based
upon the popular will, problems" Of the
kind specified should obtain their solu-
ton at the hands of the people, and not
from 4 legislative body in which the peo
pie have small confidence
But what is it that the duke is cndeav
orng to foreshadow and yet hesitates to
expressly declare? We are inclined to
believe it is the re establishment of mon
archical institutions in some shape, and
that Mac Mahon, "whose LOYALTY to his
country is above the ties of party" is
preparing to repeat the performance Of
Monk in the Cromwelian revolution bv
abolishing what is left of the republic and
fixing the crown upon the head Of a roy.
al parsonage whose name for the present
is withheld. All signs point in this di-
rection now. The combination of the
Legitimists and Orleanists has been SO
openly and repeatedly announced that
there seems to be no longer room to
doubt it, and the friendly feelings of the
conservative branch of the assembly to-
ward this combination are sufficiently ap.
parent to render it toerably certain no
strong opposition will come from that
quarter. MacMahon is not in love with
the presidency, and we are convinced he
would rather be commander in-chief Of
the French army than occupy the uneasy
executive chair OF the French nation.
To resign his place to a respectable
prince would involve no personal sac:i-
flee on his part; on the contrary, it is
more than probable he would gladly use
all honorable means to facilitate change,
which he deems sooner or later inevita-
bic.
Meanwhile what may be termed the
straight out republicans are strange
ly silent Nothing is heard from Gam
beta, or any Of the men who for the last
two years have given form and color to
the puhlic- sentiment of Franco, Are
they disposed to quietly aequiesce in
what can no longer be aycrtcdY Have
they decided to sit down with folded
hands and sealed lips, and allow the
structure they helped to erect to be de.
molished in order that out Of its ruins o
throne may be built for Chambord This
seems unlikely, if not altogether impos-
sibe Gambctta and his associates are
not very wise or very popular, yet they
nquestionably represent the views of
large and powerful constituency not on
ly in Paris hut in the provinces Neither
they nor their constituency are Bourbon
ized and before the contemplated bar
gain is comsummated we may hear thun-
der from the capital as well rs the rural
districts. Notwithstanding many and
disastrous failures, republicanism mas
still deep root in tho hearts of the
French people; and though their ideas
concoraing it are exceedingly vague and
unmanageable, we shall be surprised il
they submit chccrfully to its utter de
struction-especially when such climax
is accompanied by the rehabilitation Of
n dynasty which France has every reason
TO hate ST. LcuiS Republican.