Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1882-04-23
FRANCE PREsrxr AND rCrrRE

| The quiet steadiness with which the
| French republic carries on the public bust
ness of the nation is crafty ing instance oil
the influence OF liberal principles. While
| the monarchists, Bourbon and BonapartIst,
retained considerable amount of power af-
| ter the conclusion Of the war with Germany,
the commerce and prosperity of the country
| were obsiructed by continued. disturbance
and harrassing uncertainty. Since the de-
termination OF the French people to submit
to no more monarchy ihhiciion has been IN
mistakably manifested, and the republican
| prime pies dear to the French ever since
they first drove the Bourbons from their
throne have been in operation, the country
has been well governed and public tranquil
lIty has allowed the various industries of
the nation to be carried on with regularity
and preft. The army receives continually
the utmost attention; SO mistrustful are the
heads OF the Europe States of each other
that every one of pem finds it nee
essary TO keep aHhled and ready,
like bands of robbers in district
where none can tell when the power of
the law may Violently assaiI them, or
some rival band make en- attack upon them |
and France has to keep armed like the |
rest. But France cnerishes the hope OF |
revenge upon GermSpy at some favorable |
opportunity, and intends to rescue Alsace |
and Lorraine from their enemies As !
measure of security to its Mediterranean
colony, and an expedient for disciplining and
adding to the effectiveness of her army by |
experience in the field, France has seized |
upon Tunis, and has involved herself in the |
difficult work of subjecting an unwilling
people to her authority. A republic should |
be quick in defense and slow to assume the /
aggressive. This principle France has
violated, and her extreme attention to the
sustenance Of military force is inconsistent
with The peaceable role most fitted for the
republican system. p these thiDgs-love Of
armed force aud sh,ressiveness = France
falls behind the correct republican
standard. On the other hand, she Is
doing we'll in advancing public education
of an enlightened character, free OF
clerical authority. Education should teach
the people to think, and open to them the
wide resources of all that life and nature
offers for the exercise of unbounded investi-
CATION. The priest, untrue to the grand
teachings of his Master, seeks to set bounds
to investigation and to put restraints upon
thought. From this restraint republican
France has taken measures to deliver its
youth. The co1cordat with the pope is a
Toke the country also seeks to be delivered
rom, SO that church and state may be
separated as they were sep srated by the first
evolutionists until Bonsparte restored the
rksome bond. II this cannot be done, it is |
insisted that the existing concordat shall be
construed to the letter, and the revenue Of /
he church from the public taxes be reduced
rom the S0000,000f. or $4,000, OOOf., to
which it has gradually svelled, down to the
original 100000. Carefully and pru- ;
iently monarchial customs and institutions {
ire weeded out, and freer principles substi- I
uted, SO that the foundations of liberty are j
gradually becoming broader and more &C.
ure in proportion. Gsmbetta, retired for q
he present from Office, with true republi- t
an simplicity resumes his old duties q
IN his newspaper, and is compare a
lively little heard OF. He is not
Orgotten, however. The people have an a
biding conviction that, should some crisis a
ring danger to France o. her free instiiu- r
ions, their old and trusted leader would at Il
nee come TO the front, and by his vigor and
arlessness secure the welfare of the people
I'D the success of the country's intere SITS. r
he Sz,laal1 - E-asa,4a re. s-.-:s.~s:.>.--s =
good; the weak p,int il, The French love e
ne army ard partially for military
lory and conquest. The moral atii- @
lde of France is also detective. So long wss q
ie CHI urch OF that county the supporter of
lie monarch that oppressed the people; so a
onsisteut has it been in opposing attempts a
establish the country's government on lib
al principles; SO stead Ain supporting the Il
Iterests and urging the preteusions of the c
d, hated Bourbon family, that it has lost Il
8 influence over the people to an immense u
rtent, and many minds, confounding reli- i:
Gus truth with those teachings, have aban-
oned all belief in revelation and all trust O
God, and that faint OF immortality ii
lould prevail in society and stain the page 81
the national literature is an inevitable d
With free institutions and b
urer influences a better day may come,
hen devotion and the church will not be s
'garded as mere resources for feeble mindt 8;
oman IL