The Portland daily press., 1873-10-07
The French Situation.

1t is apparent that the days of the French
Provincial Government are numbered. The
party of the Right have always looked upon
it, as merely the chrysalis of the legitimate
monarchy, and they apprehend that the time
has come for the Bourbon butterfly to wing
its flight to Paris. The Left are clamoring for
the dissolution of the Assembly on the
ground that it has ceased to represent the ma
ton.
To all appearances the supporters of legiti-
macy are stronger than at any time since
1928. The princes of the family of Orleans
have waived their claims and now pledge
their support to the titular Henry the Fifth.
Their great wealth, and powerful following
makes their adhesion strong acquisition to
the cause of the restoration. The Count of
Chambord has discarded that fatuous policy of
his House which handicapped him at the
start of his race for the French throne and
has resigned himself to the indignity, from
Bourbon point of view, of becoming the con-
stitutional head of limited monarchy. The
Catholic element in France, stronger than for
years, is devoted to the service of the child
rem of St. Louis as means of sustaining the
war of the bishops against Italy.
All these interests conspire to advance the
designs of the Right. Yet it seems highly
improbable that the French people, to whom
the monarchy is known only by the traditions
of hate, will consent to recall family re-
markable for little ex cept its misfortunes, its
vices, and its fatal faci ity for laundering, and
to establish a governme mt which promises
neither the equality of the Republic, nor the
warlike renown of the First Empire. The
capture of the Assembly is not equivalent to
the consent of France. The Republicans are
many and determined; the Bonapartists are
well organized and compact force, and there
is great body of the people, nominally Cath
olics and Monarchists, who abhor nothing so
much as change, and who apparently desire
church without pope and monarchy
without a king
These three elements, the two first actively,
the third passively, will oppose the majority
in the Assembly, and will present a strong
front of opposition which De Broglie and his
legitimists cannot easily break down. An
other element, in the person of Adolphe
Theirs, should be added to this opposition,-
a man who cannot fairly be classed as Repub-
lican, or Bonapartist or Indifferentist,
but whose long experience in par
liamentary affairs and revolutionary out
breaks render him formidable opponent.
The priest-hatred of Paris, the unreasonable
dread of the old noblesse, species as extinct
as the mastodon, entertained by the small
landed proprietors of the Provinces, the
bourgeois fear of another war, the conserva-'
tive tendencies of the money-changers, all
combine to defeat the attempt at a restora-
ton. Should the Assembly proclaim the ac-
cession of Henry Fifth Paris would blaze up
into revolt and the large Provincial cities, as
Bordeaux and Marseilles, would follow her
example. The army, strongly taini ed with
Bonapartism, cannot be relied upon, and it is
difficult to believe that Mcmahon is emulous
of the fame of Monk and Albemarle With
out the assistance of the army and its chief
the Right can do nothing, and it will scarce
ly be SO foollardy as to attempt extreme
measures. In this situation of affairs it is at
least premature to despair of the Republic.