, 1876-01-08
Supplement to tG ST: Cdl AVIS January 8h 1876, No.. Z.

ing of personal freedom for the sake of
France.
1t is usual to lay the blame of this
melancholy result on the radical inability
OF the French to govern themselves; and
no doubt it is quite true that they must
get rid Of many political faults before
they can become a free people. But we
should do more Justice to them it we were
to look at their difficulties by the light
OF our own history. We sometimes forget
that this country passed through apoIitical
stage not unlike what we now see across
the Channel. In the time of Queen ANNE,
for example, we had our d~ynastic r~iyalries,
and political strife was heated by religious
passion. One part OF the people were
loyal to the real Sovereign, and another
was devoted to the " King over the water.''
Some of the Ministers kept up relations
with st. Germans, and members of the
House of Commons were openly on its
side. The High Church Party put the
sanctities of religion at the service of the
STUARTs. Neither of the rival factions
gave any quarter to the other, and what
we deem the peculiarly English element
of fair play had not come into existence.
At general elections the Government used
its power to procure the return of its own
candidates as openly as M. BUFFET will
employ his influence after the dissolution
of the National Assembly. Nor did the
present temper of fairness, courtesy, and
moderation come into our political dis
c%ussions until d~ynastic hOstilities had dis
appeared with the death of all Pretenders
to the throne, until High and Low Church
had exhausted their rich store OF theo-
logical %rancour, and until all the disputes
of Parliament had sunk to matters OF
secondary moment. Nay, even at q
later date, when the Court was battling
with the House of Commons for suprema-
CIV, there was q curiously French intensity
Of passion in our debates, and q French
unwiIlingness to accept any compromise.
M. BUFFET and NJ. GAMBETTA do little
more than reproduce the temper ofPIrr and
Fox. The truth is that no nation can toll
crate free speech, free meetings, and free
action to the same extent as we do until
it has decided all its d~ynastie controvsr-
sizes and settled down to the discussion of
matters which are little more than poInts
Of detail. Political courtesy is a2piHnt
that needs a sunny atmosphere. a Fairness
to opponents and chivalry of opposition
are impossible when rival passions are so
heated thai the best and ablest of oppo-
nents find it difficult to believe in each
others sincerity, and when each suspects
the other ofa determination to gain the
upper hand by the first means that Offers,
be it fair or foul. Some remnant of sach
a temper still fingers in Ireland, thshkstto
political and religious animosities which
have not yet burnt themselves odt, and
hence the Administration and the Oppo~
sition still fight each other with weapons
that suggest the strifes Of France. 'Irish
Jobs " are " suryivaIs" of a time when
ireland was chronicaIIy in a state of sup.
pressed Civil War. IT is no wondcs.s then,
France should have been unable as yeBfto
hit the happy mean between tyranny
and disorder, or that her" rival, factions
i should betray q longing to put each other
down by main force. The wrench given
by our Revolution was trivial compared
with that giveneby hers. While leaving a
Throne, an Aristocracyy1 and d Church in
ruins, the French Revolutions did not crash
the hopes of their partisans, and so slfaehe
political strifes have = turned for niHety
years on the very subjects that exciteig b
deepest passionsof human nature Whether
there shall be a King, and, if SO, who he
shall be whether there shall be privileged
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