New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1883-02-04
LOUIS BLANC.
AS POLITICAL LEADER AND AS WRITER.

LONDON. Jan. 10.
For reasons of interest to nobody but myself, this
ietter has lam my desk long time, is already
out of GATE and is nevertheless unfinished / had a
great deal to say of Louis Blanc and should hest
tate to send sketch so inadequate IL 1t were not
obviously fragment. But had rather offer him
Spoor tribute than at all, and part OF this let
ter touches on side of his character of which no
sufficient account has been given
Emerson said of Charles Sumner: lie has tDo
Whtest soul ever knew" If he had known LOUIS
Blanc, he might well have summed up that pure
anu beautiful character in the same WORDS IL
ever man lived free from stain. it was he VINO mas
lust died. All his life long the fierce ght Oh pa'
sonate political and still more passionate SOCIAL con
troverses beat upen him. He made innumclaole
sncmies he was the object of innumeraDlc calum
MES Not one of his enemies hated the man. not one
OF the calumnics touched his private WORTH no
nlunged into every conflict of his time. FROM the
first he made himself felt as formluaoIe an'aeo-
mist He attacked with fearessness the classes ana
rrcods which were then, and still are the most pow
arfnl in modern life. His criticisms went to tie
root of the existing social organization, which he
,troye to dissolve and reconstruct. His theories
were destructive to tho idea of property as at pres
ent held and 10 the processes by which property is
accumulated. For forty years he was foe to
svery government and form of government which
maintained its power in Franco. Even after 1870,
which saw q Government republican in form rise on
The ruins of the Empire, Louis Blanc preserved his
attitude of reserve and distrust. 1t was Republic,
but 1t was not his Republic. And again, afterthe
Constitution had been voted which baptized the
new regime and gave il the sanction of the coveted
name Republican, it was not socialistc, and there
fore not to his mind. So late the autumn of
1877, after tho decisive overthrow of the rOyallst
conspiracy which went by the name of the Seize
Mai Ministry, with the Due de Brogo at It's head,
heard LOUIS Blanc say: "Yes, thank God Tor the
defeat Of that intrigue but it is only the beginning
of the end And not long after Wait till we get
q real Republic then you ii see what we shall do
The Extreme Left, the group to which he has al
ways belonged in the Chamber and of which he
was president IS minority, and necessarily mi
noriy 1t has practically been in opposition TO every
Republican Ministry; which has not prevented 1t
from saving many of those Ministries at critical
moments from disaster. LOuis Blanc allowed him
self in most cases to vote with his colleagues but II
the vote involved supporting policy or measure
which he the ught unsound the utmost pressure had
to bs used to secure his adhesion If he had fol-
lowed his inclinations, he would have let any MIN
jstry 90 to pieces sooner than swerve mars
breadth from bis loyalty to the most abstract prn
eiple. The doctrine of Opportunism was distaSteiul
10 him. vet he Lent substantial support 10 NJ Gam
beta, with whom ne had at any rate, among
other points of sympathy. hearty detestation OF
rlericalism.
Thus ho had against him from the beginning to
the end, Government, Society. the Church. lie was
hated and feared. His pen was never Idle MS
books his letters his new sparer articles were read
from one end OF France to the other Ills voice.
while it was allowed to beheard in his own country
had an echo from every quarter. lie was never ior-
gotten and could never be despised. AL possible
means were used to discredt and crush him. But
att,, nOh n IN
pose that any dlsparagement OF LOUIS Blanc pr
yate character would get believed.
But that merely spotless purity is. after oil, neg
a1ive. lie had much more than that. lie had the
most positive private virtues. He was not only
uns.lfsh, he was generous in rare degree nc
was devoted to something more than an Idea lie
became the benefactor of those whose place I'D the
world and share of the worlds possessions was less
than he thought it ought to be. lie never though'
IT enough to plead their cause to devote MS ITO u
their advancement Always Door IMAM. he gave
laylshly. ! don't think he slwaJs gave wisely
Nobody who knocked at his door was ever sent
.mn.v away. His wife tried to put check on his
charities and perhaps succeeded in dismlssiug
worthless pegCar with one franc instead OF hve'
Tie gave on much greater scale than this. ana
with prodiga eecklessness of his own interests a
,tory about the financial history OF bis history OF
Tho Frencb Revolution will show 10 what lengths
he allowed his sympathies with tLe SUPPOSED
troubles of others to carry him. lie made CON
tract with Paguerre, the publisher, for 3oo'ooo
f,anc, ont of which certain sum was to be paid
hin, YEARLY: the balance the conclusion OF the
work. After some years Paguerre came TO MN
with ptiful story of depression IN business lessen
ing sales Of the early volumes, and loss OF all proht
in short he declared that the price first offered was
greater than the publication coud support ana
besought LOUIS Blanc to torego 100000 out oil the
300 600 francs cooler Iiece OF lmpudehce
would perhaps be found with difficulty IN the an
uals Of the publishing trade. Legal claim Paeuerro
had none of morality the less said the better. But
IL was precisely the sort Of appeal which LOUIS
Blanc could not resist an appeal mo matter how
nnfou nded at once to his sympahies and MS sense
of iustice He assented. and with stroke OF his
pen made NJ Paguerre, then rich man, free gut
of tns 100 900 francs. | believe am right ID saw
ing that Louis Blanc had not at that moment dol
lar in the world except what he was earning from
day 10 day. Em0odeued by this success. Pagnerre
presently made another attempt. repeating the Ola
story aud finally inducing his victim TO ABANDON
another largo sum to hm-either another Ioo'ooo
francs or 10000. And it happened that when
Louis Blanc had finished his great work, t. when
he devoted eighteen of the best wears of his life, lie
Wa. not a penny the richer fol il. He had parted
with his property in the book, and he had received
dnrinp the writing of it just enough To Keep Douy
and soul toge thcr
English opinion has never done justice to this
History. Charles Sumner used to say that Nhe nrSt
volume was one of those profoundly phlIosophicai
studies which mark an epoch In literature auu ~
the development of human intelligence. Nobody
had traced the causes of the Revolution to their
deeper sources. or with such wide knowledge OF
men, events, books and the movement OF thought
OF the later volumes the other eleven IL IS 10 10
said that they contain a fuller statement oil lac'S