New-York tribune., 1877-09-15
THE FRENCH CRISIS.
THE ADMINISTRATION PERPLExED.

PARIS Aug 1--we are, at this present moment
passing through the most dangerous crisis france
las been exposed to for the last twenty-five years.
Since the of the famous coup detat oil 1901 inc
same kind of peril has been 30 close at hand
do not deny that very large number Of cool
headed politicians still hold to the belief that the last
and worst of crimes will not be committed, but they
all admit that il il be not so il will be as much at
trbutable to chance, to anything else; proof OF
the nations good luck OF the state OF feud In when
the members Of the Cabinet have been living for
the last month"; they only can give you an adequate
notion who belong to that Cabinet, and OF THESE
there are one or two who speak. One fact must not
be forgotten namely that, objectionable as has been
the conduct of the present Ministry, since the 18TH
of May land above all since the dlssolu-
tion), all did not equally originate the
insane act of the 10th" 1t il, nevertheless,
certain that they who joined the Government
having declared that the whole proceeding was
great mistake have gone on, day by day, lndulglng
in the eyer-increasing repetition Of that feminine
formula "What did say r. or Didn't / tell you
how it would be p At last this has become so irri-
tatng that open warfare has brokon out not only
between the heads of parties, but between their
henchmen and hangeTS-On. This split IN the Cabinet
results chiefly from the temper, habits and home
teachings of the champions themselves The Due de
Broglie is preeminently what may be called bad
man-not one atom better than the worst of the nc
completes Of Napoleon ILL.,; but his cradle was
rocked to the sound OF other dtes, and his terors
have different forms-and there lies the whole dliier-
ence between him and his colleague, Fourtou. Albert
dc Broglie the grandson of Madame de Stdel the
son of Duke Victor, the most genuine OF Liberals
brought up under the wing Of all the noblest splrts
in this land nuI.ed in the veneration OF o9-AlDert
de Broglie, selfish, priest-ridden, narrow-mlnded'
cold-kearted cowardly y-natured, as he may DE, mas
vet one conviction engrayen on his brdn he does not
believe y0u can put down ideas by bayone's'
This TO him. is simply matter of fact he thinks his
experience proves it, and il Is enough for him. Like
his professor. Guizot he holds falsehood to be the
equal OF truth and, in the way Of public lmmoraly
there is nothing be would not attempt; he believes
a whole country may be cheated; he does not be-
heyc IT can he coerccd. II is not that he objects To
the crime on any other grounds; but he cannot De-
lieve in its success, aud unsuccessful violence Is
thing costing too high price.
There is this difference between the Due de Brog-
lie and NJ de Fourtou: the latter believes in brute
force. alone. His "to the end" means violence. HIS
are the traditions of the Empire, without any adj
mixture of Parliamentarsm, or OF those cunning de-
vices by which his more artful colleague deems that
tber rights Fourtous creed is that ideas to be
put down by bayonets On this rock the two chiefs
of the present Ministry have split and for the mo-
meut. the Orleanist has had the best of the fight,
but the danger is ~ great ever, on account
of the fearful thickheadedness of the Marshal
,yho neither hears nor sees whatsoever demands
even the most ordinary degree of perception
What gives q possibility of success to NJ. de
Rroglie over his colleague, NJ. de FOurtOu, Is
NOT tnat he j. shade less reactonary, but that ne
Is Duke! The Marshal is, like all men OF inferior
birth and social standing who III France marry
into families Of the old noblesse-he Is so perpetual
" humiiated by his great relations that he gets to
think rank and birth absolutely eyerytling-and
although as soldier of the most antlquated ana
bigoted stamp. he has positive JOY III NJ de four-
toms arbitrary barrack-ke mode OF action-stiil the
Duke de BrOglie-as a Dukc-eXerclses klnd ol
fascination over his mind, and for the moment the
French pubic is, in slight degree, the gamer by
this.
The Marshal, above all his other defects, has the
very worst of all IN ruler-he IS essentially DUN
derer he never, by any hazard, SAYS or does the
right thing IN the right place. There IS an IRE
mediable want of tact IN his very nature.
Yesterdays scene at Euncux eXemplihed this.
While the Deputy-Iayor, and the President Of the
state 10 understand that the welfare and prosperity
of the country were seriously endangered by the ex
,sting "crisis" so wrongfuly provoked the tone OF
tho Narshars replies was monotonously the same AS
though the language used had been the precise re-
verse. Blnnderingly he repeats his theme, which
has in reality no sense and tells the nation that II
,nust he good and promise not to do it again.
AsTwrlte il is expected that VI. Bertauld the Sem
otor and Mayor of CaGn, will administer to the Pres
dent of the Republic "a lesson, stronger, even, and
sharper than those he received yesterday ut Eunen
N Rsrtauld is President of the Lett Centre, and a
man of considerable worth, capacity aud influence,
and. "A vet the Ministry have not ventured To re-
move him from the Mayoralty of Caen, rs they
removed NJ F6ay from that of Essonnes, ON the
occasion of NJ Thierss visit TO Stors. 1hls removal
of NJ F6ray from post which he had occupied
thirty years, has made n deep sensation, ana the
aI,oirohIe letter il has drawn from him to NJ de
rourtou has made n sensation deeper STILL In that
I.tter NJ F6rav strikes hard and straight at the
noint nm which the Government has been striving,
might and MAN, toconfuse the public mind-the prac-
tlcability, namely, of coalition, at the last hour,
with the Conservative Republicans. This was, uD to
ten days since the prospect the Orleanist Ministers
tried 10 open before the eyes of the Liberal majority
but NJ F6ray leaves no doubt possible on TINS head
He denounced all the recent as faise
and saws. categorically: Between the Left Centre
and Won there is an abyssw This is worse blow
than You may, perhaps at first realize but 1t also
affords an arm to the advocates of violence. must
explain: If the Duc de Brogle could now, at the
eleventh hour, come to All understanding with the
leaders Of the majority and turn round to the Mar
shal. saving: This Cabinet you must accept, or
there will be a revolution" 1t Is almost certain the
unlucky Executive would accept, aud be delighted
to find a way out Of his impassable situation. But
this is what no man in all the Liberal party of
France will agree to. The dream Of NJ.