Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1880-07-15


wider an more universal distress thar then ami for
long years before pergaded France Ia B.uyere
| wrote just century betors 1888 Certain savage.
10 king beings male and female, are seen in the
country black, hvid aud sln-hunt, aud belonging
to the soil which they dig and grub with invincbl,
stubhornness. They seem capable oi articulation.
and when they stand erect they display human Inca
! meuts. They are, IN ct men. They retire at
| bread. water and roots. They spare other human
| beings the trouble OF sowing, plerinS and
harvesting, and thus should not be IN wan, cf the
| bread they have planted.
CAUSES OF THE REVOLUTION.
| Blu: they did Want Is. and died in herds, while
| Injury and extravaganza corrupted the upper
classes. In Normandy people lived on the grass of
the fields. st. Simon declared that the first king
of Europe is great simply by bes. king OF beggarS
and by turing his kingdom into vast hospital OF
dying pc pie from whom their all is taken without
murinnr The pictures Of distress during the
century are numerous and horrible. No incident of
| prlyaton is wanting, either in the provinces or in
Paris. Yet the r2or VI the Tax Collector increased
| with the misery, and the Kings troops shot down
| renlonstrans. The atrs eious burdens fell only
the poor, and were therefore more insupportable
| The tax-gatherer, To whom the revenues We're
! farmed, snatched his crust while exempting the
feast of the titled and rich. Political economists
hold that onehalf OF the produce Of the soil belon.
10 the soil, aud must be left inviolato 20 the hus-
bandman, else he falls into misery and ruin. The
eNactons levied on the cutiyators, and merciessly
extracted were two thirds and three fcurths.
and the result widespread, hopeless poverty
| and starvation The agony of that long famine
could but accumulate wrath for the ,lay OF retrbu-
ton.
No regard was paid TO personal liberty or rights.
The worst characteristic feudalism was its cont
tempt for the personal liberty OF the subject This
was illustrated not merely BY ettre dc caeet that
", re often issued at the solicitation OF favoriie
and consigned the noble to the Bastile Thousands
OF persons, male and female, charge OF ysgrancy
angiiished in confinement year after year with no
prOyisOu for t.i1l
food, many the victims Of prejudice the crime OF
Others the laN being the convenien. instruments Of
| private dislike and revenge With all these and
many other aggrayatl0ns Of misery, the rich and
great held themselves apart with lofty insolenee.
With marked exceptions, they were generally lndif-
ferent TO the suffering everywhere, turning Paris
and France into charnel-housc. In Paris, wrote
MERCER, :" the people are weak and pallid, dminu
| tive, stuntcd, matreated, and apparently class
apart from other classes in the State, The rich aud
titled who possess equipages, enjoy the privilege Of
crushing them, or OF mutatins them in the stTees
There IS no convenience ior loot passengers, no sidc
walks Hundreds of victims die annually uudsr the
carriage wheels
TERRIBLE SCENES.
0i.ler was m intained as long IA il was
only through fear and force. This condition
OF things lasted down TO l7S0. IN that year
destructive storms cpped the climax nj
| misery. There was no white bread III France, ard
its substitute was black, earthly and bitter. While
| pinehing famine blghted the country Paris was
| also famishipg city To get bread iit for dogs
men must stand IN line for hours, and fight for il
| like dogs. The dearth was not greater. nor the
! food worse, in Paris besegcd in December, 1870
| than in Paris tranquil in July, 1889. The poor
| could get work, Tor there were no industries
| and the moderately wealthy were reduced also to
| want. The eNacting tax-gatherer still piled his
vocation. TO feed the extravaganza Of the Court,
| which seized on the public revenues as personal
perquistes, and used them arbitrarily and waste
! fully. Human en- 3urance could no further 60 and
slight turned silent diseostent into political
a. thf, t..f
the American Revolution, respect for the opinion OF
| mankind demands that people shall assign the
| causes which impe them to overthrow government,
and organize another in such form shall seem
to them best fitted secure their future happiness
ard security, certainly your forefathers had the
deepest for their action The causes moving
| them lacked no clement OF gravity and conclusive
| ness. They suffered under hideous array OF
wrongs, perhaps unparalleled III history. But they
had also wonderfully clear ideas OF human rights.
Their philosophers had specullted upon and taught
the rights OF man, partly for intellectual amnse-
ment and partly from CONVICTION. These ideas l.
| become fashionable in the salon, had been heard
tradesmen and servants, become the theme at cafes
the inspiration of countless pamphlets and OF the
press, and gradually permeated the whole structure
of society In this misery the sufferer asked himself
If the doctrine of equality, OF fraternity OF liberty
could be practically applied and leave him to perish
with hunger. that the uutaxed aristocrat might
feast or 10 be ridden down i'll the street, or shot
down by Swiss guards, or thrown hopeessly into
poisome prison. However vagne the popular concer-
lion of these great truths, they seemed inconsistent
with
come by destruction. Opposed 20 change we're the
monarchy and privileged classes. Then these must
he stricken down. IL was the hard logic OF the stu
alton. The hesitatng and partial concessions of the
King only gave sanction TO popular demand that
had before doubted its validity LOUIS himself
wa cause OF the revolution, nor merely in being
the posessor OF hereditary power aud representative
Of privilege, but by his feebieness aud anability
by his lack Of force to attempt the arrest Of the
monarchy as it glided down the declivitv. Said
MiIabeau 'The King is undecided and weak be-
yond all expression; his character resemhled those
oiled ivory balls which one vliDly strives to ke to-
gether." Thus fierce, impelling causes drove the
nation INTO revolution, and imbecility and seshness
aid by their fe BILE dissent The people who had
been crushed beneath the wheels OF the great who
had bled and starved from time mDemoria who
had endured all the nnseres consequent from tyran-
ny, at last turned upon their oppressors, at first
with uncertain and hesitatins blows but finally with
cruel and relentless strokes. iG was Nemesis in
vited by ages of wrong. let 40 one overlook the
causes, who would pronounce on the work done
and let no one overlook the result worked out fo-
France and civilization, in the vindicatinn OF the
rights OF seif-goyernment in European State, and
in the broad happy prosperity that now reposes in
the lend that witnessed the Terror.
FRENCH 9EPUgLIs.
Since the taking .s.s, ,,,sTn 10 the pres
ent, the constant idea OF enlightened French minis
has been to realize republic There have been in
-
multiplied causes for failure whenever attempted.
Fortunately many of these causes are disappearing
with time. One Of the most prominent obstacles to
the success of French republicanism has been the
roots and snag5 Of royalty and imperialism the va
rious pretenders to divine right TO own and rule
over the French people; the favored first sons or
COUSINS OF families whose ancestors held and abused
power in France and who must h we transmitted 10
their descendants an unimpeachabie claim TO do l.
also. These men and their retaners have con-
stantly watched for moments OF weakness dissen-
.1ef. 4
have formented strife, Stirred up iii content, de-
bauched with promises o. geld, perpetratel coUps
detat, for long years at time seized and held the
coveted sovereiontv. 4 then v,nished each in
turn like shadows, either before the military power
of Europe which they had antogonized or at the fat
of the French people, longer tolerating their pre-
tensions and cheap pageantry, bur reyeti5g TO the
idea of republic and equality OF rights
AS have said, time is removing this obstacle to
republicanism in France. The laDce Of zulu may
have stricken down gallant and worthy youth, but
it relieved France OF future danger. Imperialism
in the person OF Napoleon V or other exist
ing Bonapartist, is thing for deriscn, not for
fears; and as much may be said of any other pre-
tender to right to erect and occupy throne in
France.
An obvious cause of postponed republic a
France has been he hostility OF European me NJ
arches to such example in their neighborhotd d
Republican institutions on such scale, on Euro
pean soil, were deemed a menace to every throne
while the fate of Louis XVI, his Queen and cour
tiers, were calculated TO burn horrible memories
into the soul Of every monarch The warlike vigor
of the early revolutionsts, with their naxims of
universal emancipation, enforced in clouds OF dust
and of blood, Of action where less in
spired cornbatants were scattered rs il by whirl-
winds, excited unconquerable fears. Time has mod
ied those old peudiees and Gained those old fears
Louis Napoleon falsely declared ' LesHpire c'eSt
la pair" His Empire was the product Of Vi lence.
Its only luster gained by wars and il perished
in wer But of the present Government II may be
trukfully said La Repabique c'est la pGis. OF this
the European nations seem convinced, and to be
less watchful Of offense Meantime the treasury
oveIfiows, and taxes are reduced. The French na-
ion is the most prosperous in Europe, and there is
glorious promise for the future Of the republic That
it is yet beset with dangers cannot be doubted 1t
has still enemies within and without. But it has
brayely held its for nine years past, guided by
wise craftsmanship and enlightened purpose, and
grows in strength with age.
THE GRAND PROMISE.
As an American imbued with rep Ablican princi-
pies believing in the great maxins illustrated by
resistance TO tyranny Or Iaborsd against al edds and
obstacles to establish liberty, equality and frater--
nity as an American reveriug the land Of L9fay-
ette hail with joy this grand promise fa- free in
stitutions in France, ard with all my heart unite
with you in celebrating this day. You honor your
selves by tommemoratiDg the iustrious deeds of
your forefathers and their glcry casts light upon
their posterity. No true American fOr1et that
French blood nloistened American soil il The reso-
luton that achieved the independence Of these
States 1t was generously dedicated % aid in
the great sgork of disanthra ling fr,ln seryi-
.,,avx ESu he Il