New-York tribune., 1876-03-25
PARTISAN AFFAIRS.
LETTER FROM HENRY JAMES, JR.

"t,rqRANGERE M RITS AND DEMERiIs OF
THE pEEFORuANCE-THE CARNIVAL IN PARIS.
.rro,, prcu,An CORRESPONDENT or TIE TgBUNEl
Paris. Feb. %, 1s7G.-That large Republican
majority has been returned 10 the new Assembly,
tbst the Bouanartizts have been Ito all present ap
pcorepcel hopelcssly beaten, that NJ Buffet. in his
anneal to four electoral districts, has failed with
cou,leteness which leaves nothing 10 be desired,
ot the said NJ Buffet has sent i'm his resignation as
Vice-Presdont of the Council of Ministers, and that
Marshal MacMahon has accepted II, that the Con-
soryatives in general and tlmid people ID partlcuar
nrofess themselves terribly frightened, and that IN
d. the Fuuds have gone down, and are staying
do,yp-aIl this, By the time these lines reach You,
vii have become an old story and will pospiyhave
b.er snpeIseded by events even more thrilling. For
the moment however, here, this Is thrilling enough
even for those who see reason for beng IIlght-
ened except deliberate preference for the raeic
or nothetic state of mind. In the defeat of NJ.
Buffet in particular, by the four constituencies 20
which he had presented himself there has been
so,o.tbinr sinrularly complete and symmetricai-
ooe+biuO as | have seen it well observed, OF that
oualtv which we attribute to provdential interpo-
s;t;o, II is really q theme for the mOralist. NJ
Rufat for the present retres 10 private life. When
b eroeroes again. as Of his tenacious instincts
Inevitably must, how will it stand with the Re
nubcY Not so i'll doubtless as the frightened people
insist upon believing nor so well perhaps as those
vino min their faith upon tne small radical leaven Of
the new Republican majority would fain proclaim
ON the housetOps. Without giving up everything for
lost or taking the fall of the Rcntes too much to
heart or insisting tO"g gGgRer Ia troaiiere"-lf one
he's time, rs Of the characters in "EEtrangere"
says-it may be affirmed that the situation is as scr-
ous as it has been for many day. But it is serious
IN a good and healthy sense The Republic is now for
the first time IN Republican handsand itremains TO be
seen what they will make of it. The day of speeches
and promises and generalhes is over, and the day of
political conduct has come 1t entails great re-
sponsibility and it viii be interesting TO see how
the party of N. Gambetta meet the OCCASION In so
far as they are the party of NJ Gambeta the prospect
Is fair enough for the conduct of their leader during
the late campaign has been distinguished by nOder-
ston tact, and extreme political sense. His split
with the pure Radicals is now complete, and ii he
gets the Of them i'll the coming session. as there
js no good reason why he should not they Will have
lost their power To compromise him. lis enemies
affirm that he viii throw off the mask and show him
self as red as the reddest. Idoubt il; he has been
al too much trouble to put the mask on, and he has
learned to wear it too we'll He would want, II moth
Ing else to reap the crop of his discomfort In the
present situation of the Republican party there GER
it-understand that they have just prejudces and
damniug associations to overcome that the presump-
ton is fairly enough against them, and that they are
exceptionally bound to moderation, tact, and pa
tence Some people despair of their doing anything
Of the SORT others hope they WILL others far az
10 believe they will. With very little encourage
meut shall feel like passing from the second to the
third category Weshall not get that encouragement,
however, from hearing Victor Hugo as soon as the
Senate opens present a request for a universal AMI
ncsty. This performance will be perfect specimen
of the things which, under tie circumstances. the
new majority must on no account do.
If is true that the country is going TO the bad,
and that the celebrated ezra of revolutions is again
to open people are beguiling the interval in such
fashion as they may A convenient sedatiye to Sis
pense is found to be evening at the Theatre
Francois, where they are now playing Alexandra
Dumas's long-expcctcd drama "EEtrangere." Be
sides vonr evening, in this you can get plenty
to talk about afterward. The production of this
piece has been the event OF the Winter. Besides It's
intrinsic importance there were several accessory
reasons for its attracting attention. IL IS the first
play III am not mistaken) that Dumas has pro
duced since his election TO the Academy, as wei ar
the first that he has presented TO the Theatre tran-
Gals. The curiosity of the public, moreover, had
been very skillfuy stimulated and the last rehear-
sal of the play had all the hOnOrs of first represen-
tation "LEtrangere," after all, has been but
moderate success-thongh, certainly, many poor
playwright would he enchanted that moderation
should deal out his laurels and has percentage III
this particular fashion. The great theater Is
crowded and for the least little orchestra chairs you
have to apply week in advance. Nevertheless the
play is pronounced Indifferent by some people, and
shockiugly bad by Others. No one as far as | have
Observed has had the originality to call 1t good l
happened to hear it discussed, few days since,
among several gentlemen who are more or less OF the
same guild as its author, and it was as
pretty a cuttng-up as one could desire to
see The general verdict was that Alexandra
Dumas has so much wind in his sails
from former successesl that he will float safely
across his present shadows but that his decline
since decline It is will be cumulative that another
piece as bad as "DEtrangere will have much worse
luck. and that the gentle the public has been
for the author hitherto. the pitess it will be
when he begins to sink. Has be already begun to
sinkt confess that EEtrangere" strikes me as
rather desperate piece Of 1ounderng III the dramatic
sea- 1t is long story, and cannot pretend 10 re-
late il in def all Suffice it that the Foreigner" who
gives its title to the piece, and who is played by that
very interesting actress Nine Sarah Bernhardt. is
daughter of our democracy. Mrs. ClarkSon by
name. She explains, In the second act by mortal
harangue-the longest, by the watch, l have ever
listened to-that she is the daughter of mulatto
slave-grl and Carolinian planter. As she expresses
1t herself MY mother was pretty he remarked
her was born of the remark" Mrs. Clarks0n,
however has next to nothing TO do with the action
of the play. and she is the least successful figure
that the author has ever drawn. Why she should be
an American, why she should have negro blood, why
she should be the impacable demon that she is repre-
sented, why she should deliver the meOdramatic