New Orleans Republican. [volume] (New Orleans, La) 1867-1878, 1874-09-20
TIE WEEKLY REPUBLICAN,
Terms Of nubscvlptlo0s
Ss0riss


undressing letter from Nj. Eugene Law
.:v.cs.
There was never city 80 full Of historical
snsMUyies 40 Paris. Each one of these tall
lIlGkA OF buildings Oyerhanging the narrow
srreets has shatcd in some medieval tragedy
81. been associated with the story of the
.sar. a; the League and the madness Of the
Ssonae. Huge houses seven stories high,
alspa rent!y as inaccessible IS mountains,
with sh altered rsofs and projecting windows
shAs ss,eM ready to fall m0mentarily Oh the
Geniz.ns Of the nineteenth century. remind
one \: least Of the discOIatOrts and the
arhar;ties Of the fifteenth. 1t IL almost
.sissIhle. in these dim streets, to imagine
Neasy Y. winning his bride ut the pcin: Of
his aw"Sd from perishing France and
tie infant Henry w. beginning his dis
and Of France. Up yOnder narrow cause
Csy rode the gay English. helmeted.
rsumed. triumphant. In yonder island,
stained with the Gears Of ages, the guild Of
t.Ie butchers Of Paris ruled over the capital.
Ns!eaKists and Hurgundians fought on yon-
s:.4- bridge, and the Seine has borne down to
s:s ocean, from age to age. the blood of con.
lending factions. All the wonders and the
:E.sss5es OF Paris seem condensed in Q mar.
soc esace. The drama OF French national
sltc has SecR played out on little stage,
SID is actors, bedizened as kings or queens,
priest. Or Princes. have never ventu,ed far
arsn. the obscure river and the central fame
u: Metre Dame. IL was only Louis XIV
>si,o led loyalty and nobility TO Marty and
Versailles. and the revolution brought them
hack 70 harbog in the temple. Within the
E:arrOw limits eI the ancient city it needs no
ss,enc-paintev to provide setting for the his
torical picture. The buildings, the streets.
sks river, the titful skies. and the heavy air
are still appropriate to the long succession
ira
>Sith which Paris has tiled the attention Of
Che world.
OF the latter the most conspicuous has
IeeA the attempt 20 restore The Bourbons.
1Gt j: 10 only twelve months ago that
sudden and nearly successful intrigue OF
priests and princes, Of De Broglie and Mac
Nshon, overturned the new republic, and
iaG almost placed Henri Y. On the throne of
:Ee CapetA Ono can fancy the stately
:.o,ni' with which he would have entered !
ss,a astOnisled capital, surrounded by his |
Ia.ttsiiens IT sOlaiery, and welcomed only
BY cardinals and Jesuits, mobiles and mar
Ahai.. Versailles would have shone again |
with banquets and revelry. the ruins OF the |
Joileries have Rlowed with . new illumina- /
SION. and the policy OF Louis NV. governed !
France. IL was no fault OF the existing |
Assembly Os OF its nominal Precedent |
shat this singalas scheme was not al. |
together successful. Every ahisg had
A!ng. The church opened its arms to
receive hiai. the Pope had blessed the un
slertAking. The people alone seem to have
esen wholly forgotten. 1t was when Paris \
Iad just expressed its preference for
liberal republic by an immense majority.
and when the nation had firmly resolved
upon reform, that the Assembly and its
PRESIDENT untolded their plOs for the destruc.
zion Of the liberties II France. How they
could have hoped 70 impose upon the people
4 government that nO-Oae but the Jesuits and !
sn,aII fnctien Of the old aristecyacy could
endure it is difficult TO imagine. Vet their
plan was plainly % Introduce the king, 70
sae nation by the powerful organization
III The Church. its committees. editors,
: o;leties, to bear what they could not
avert. The plan was perfected. the royal
guest expected. . state carriage and horses
shade ready tor his triumphal entrance into
Paris; and MacMahoR and De Broglie. the
chief leaders 1t reaction. believed apparent
" that their attempt t. practice = plain |
lraaI upon their country and their con. ]
epiracy against freedom could not be foiled. |
ne church would again rule ever France.
aHd heaven SCenge its wrOngs upon Ger |
many. One obstacle slOne interviewed. |
Henry V. was perhsps an henest man--one =
u tue first among his sacs--or 1t least
-ss0lute fanatic. and gefused to be . sharer | 4
n the public fraud. DE Broglie and the 6
PRIESTHOOD seem 70 have hoped to convince |
he people by an express compact that ! r
Here was no danger 10 the existing settle. s
nent Of the land. the popular rights and =
eligious freedom in the return Of the BOur.
ION; Henry y. refused to declare that he
would be bound BY any OF the restrictions
lslposed upon royalty by the revolution Of {
.ss. ifhe came back At all. it must be as the |
king of France. the chosen son ! 5
u the Church. prepared to restore the na. | q
ION 20 that happy condition in which it | e
wed when it Obeyed and treMbied before | /!
lie most tyrannical Of his ancestors. But q
Tot even De Broglie and MacMahon would a
s TO bring back Bourbon untrammeled "
~ some constitutional check. and bound v
y no higher law than the traditional au. '
hnrity Of the crown. There happened to l.
e IN France several millions of landed pro- ! v
,rletors, usually hardy and frugal peasants. a.
i1 aties to whose email estates were u
oun1ed upon the revolution Of 1889 o
{ the Church and the nobility.
nd the reactionary faction knew that Il
0 KING nor government could bear the IL
funt OF that political storm which must q;
weep over the country should the existing til
of the national domain be placed re
~ moment in doubt. Already through d.
ae provinces the peasants began to suspect hi
Aat the Church and the mobiles designed to | III
resi- from them their little farms, and re- st
utio anew their chatcaux and their mon III
series. There were OminOus threats on | ct
40 Naronne and the LoIr. The people to-
' W at the approach of Henri " 1t Ca
=, Ihe a to give them some assurance So
ouid respect their property and their
ghts. But this he refused to do The plot "E
He'd. and the conspirstors who succeeded ~
overturning the republic OF NJ. Theirs in no