The Portland daily press., 1878-01-10
The Seven Years. Struggle in France.

The Seven Years. Struggle in France.
The intelligence brought by the foreign
mails shows far more clearly than the cable
| dispatches the completeness and great ex-
| tent of the victory won by the French Repub.
| licans. The overthrow of the reactionists is
| absolute, the submission of the President is
| complete; and those who looked to see the
Marshalate like the Consulate result in the
Empire have virtually given up that expecta-
tion. The hope of the Monarchists, abso-
lutte or limited, is as completely destroyed.
No event of SO great promise of good has hap
pened in France since the downfall of the
ancient monarchy. The result was TO be ex-
pected, but so confused have been French
politics since 1871, and so unnoticed has been
the rapid growth of the republican sentiment
in the country, that many, perhaps most oil
us, looked for the triumph of MacMahon and
consequent upon it the establishment of a
dictatorship or the restoration of the Empire.
Now that the hong struggle between the Re-
publicans and their opponents has ended in
the triumph Of the former, it may not be
amiss to review the course of that struggle.
The armistice of January 1871, found the
Legitimists and the Orleanists in the ascen-
dant. The Imperialists were completely
broken down. The Republicans were di-
vided, one section seeking peace, the "furious
fools" of the other clamoring for continu-
ance of the war. The Assembly convoked to
decide between peace and war was two-thirds
monarchst. The outbreak of the Commune
strengthened the reactionists. They had,
apparently, only TO unite their preferences in
order to bring about restoration of the mon
arehv. A fusion of the two branches of the
House of Bourbon was the one thing neces-
sary to the achievement of this object. Mean
while in order to give time for the necessary
negotiations between the Count of Chambord
and the Count of Paris, the heads of the two
branches, the provisional government was
formed with M. Thiers at its head. His long
experience and eminent services commended
him to the country, while bis supposed pre-
dilection for constitutional monarchy made
him acceptable to the fusionists. The nego-
tiations however, were long delayed. The
Count of Chambord declined to assume the
role of constitutional king, to hold his title
by any other claim than the divine right, to
acknowledge that the world had moved since
1889. M. Thiers however, unlike the Bour-
bon, had learned much about government
and forgotten many prejudices. He had
come to believe in republican institutions, or
else his wise ambition led him to see that the
title of Founder of the Republic would be
worthier and more exalted than that of Re-
storer of the Monarchy. However that may
be he gradually withdrew from the fusionists
and at last entirely broke with them in Octo-
ber 1874 by bringing into his cabinet CAST
mier Perier, one of the chiefs of the Left Gen.
and strife began which lasted two years.
The breach grew wider aud wider to the
time when Theirs declared that the Republic
was the only possible government. The
hostile Assembly compelled his resignation.
Marshal MacMahon, whose bravery and mis-
fortunes had endeared him to his country
men and whose supposed hold on the army
made him necessary to the Monarchists, was
chosen to succeed Theirs, and formed by the
aid of the three Dukes, de Brogie, d'Au-
difffet-Pasquier and Decazes, the famous
government of combat" The new cabinet
recognized in its composition the reviving
strength of party which until then had not
been heard of in French politics since the
surrender at Sedan. M. Magne. Bonapart-
ist, was made minister of finance. No rec
ognition was accorded, however, to another
party, the Republican, which was fast grow
ing in influence and numbers. This was the
celebrated movement of the oath of May"
1878. The chief Of the new cabinet was the
Duke de Broglie, a man who had posed as
liberal in the time OF the Empire, but who
seems TO have studied its system of oppres-
sion only that he might practice it himself
when his day came. His first step was to re-
open negotiations with the obstinate old man
at Frohsdorf The Count of Paris was sent
to pay his homage to Henri Cling. For a
little while it looked as though the reconcilia-
tfon of Bourbon and Orleans was complete,
and that the throne of 1889 would be re-es-
tablished But the stupid adherence of the
Count of Chambord to the white flag, "the
standard of Argues and Ivry," his declara-
tion that he would never become "the king
of revolution" and finally his rebuke to
his followers for "wastipg the hours in seek
ing barren combinations" convinced the Or
leanists that the time for restoration had
not yet come. De Broge set himself to
work on make-shift, and with the aid of the
Assembly established the Septennate, thus
gaining, as be thought, seven years, in which
time Henry Cinq might die and the Count Of
Paris become undisputed head of the House
of Bourbon. The Bonapartists Joined him,
for they too wanted time e-the exile of ChseI-
hurst was "ower young" to head a revolu-
ton and the shameful memories of Sedan
were too fresh in the minds of Frenchmen,
The support of the moderate Republicans
was secured by calling the new establish,
ment Republic. They were content to
wait until their cause had taken a stronger
hold upon the confidence aud affection of the
people.
Having established the Republic in name
the premier set about making it a despotism in
fact. Republicans were everywhere discharged
from Office, and the army, the magistracy,
the bureaucracy, were put in the hands OF
the reactionists. MacMahon, dull man, all
unused to political government, readily lent
himself to the furtherance of the scheme.
But the people did not. The elections to fill
vacancies nearly all resulted in Republican