Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1889-10-14
PLANS0F BOULANGER.
No Better Ground Than the Isle Of
Jersey Could Be Chosen
FOR A MOVEMENT UPON FRANCE.
All the Coast in That Vicinity Ready to
Rise in His Favor
THE REVIVAL OF AN ANCIENT LEGEND

Ii Oeneral Boulanger seriously enterIalns
any notion of leading desperate attack on
the strongly intrenched Republican Govern
ment of France he could have chosen no
better place to start out from than the rocky
Isle of Jersey. Standing on any of the
fortrcss-crowned heights that encircle the
quaint old city Of st. Helier's, one can on
looking to the east see plainly on clear
day the long, low blue coast line of Nor
mandy. With a glass, further off to the
south, scarcely distinguishable, between sea
and sky can be seen the cliffs of St. Lunaire,
in Brittany, and sometimes even the light
house is visible on the extreme point of Cape
Frehel, which, like some enormous wall,
pushes out from the French coast miles and
miles into the sea. "La Belle France" is
hardly Is miles away.
Once the doughty General should cross
that stretch of tempestuous channel water,
however, he would have truly burned his
bridges behind him. The English garrison
of Jersey would doubtless offer him any
thing but safe retreat after violating their
hospitality. while between him and the
coveted Elysee would be the soldiersof the
Republic he defes.
POINTS IN HIS FAVOR.
Nevertheless there are several points which
would count in the Generals favor in case
he casts his sword in the balance, which he
must have reckoned by selecting Jersey for
his present residence. Romance and relig-
ion appeal strongly to the emotional French
man, and on these impulses the exiled officer
will have to depend if he lands on the Breton
or Norman coast and unfurls the standard
of revolt to constituted authority. The an
cient religion OF Brittany, the Roman Cath
olic, is still the creed of the simple peasan-
try of that province and of Normandy. It
is well known that this Church has openly
favored the Generals cause, seeing in his
success, probably, chance of relief from
the somewhat intolerant edicts of the pres
ent. Government.
On the day Of the recent election at Mont
martre, the Partisan suburb where General
Boulanger was a candidate, prayers were
offered for his success in many of the Catho-
lie churches throughout the district. The
General would find himself among friendly
people at the outset should he land in either
Brittany or Normandy. If he has any
chance at all of upsetting the Government
he could not select a population in France
who would flock to his side sooner than
those peasants and fsherfolk whose
thatched-roof cottages line the rocky shores
of ancient Bretagne and Normandie, or are
hid away in the dark recesses of the great
Forest of Pontual.
THE BEST SPOT POSSIBLE.
Then not far inland is Rennes, the Gen
erals birthplace, and his hold upon popular
favor in that vicinity is we'll known, and
would be source of material help to him as
a base of operations in an uprising and
mad dash on Paris. That part of the French
army garrisoned at Rennes, Dinan, St.
Malo, and neighboring cities are all be-
lieved to be secret adherents of the cause of
the "Brav' General" and doubtless it is
upon their help that he counts when the
crucial time comes.
The French title to Jersey remained un-
questioned for hundreds of years after the
Christian era, until it was brought under
English sovereignty by William the Con-
queror along with his other Norman posses
sions. The islands they got in this easy way
the English have stubbornly held on to ever
since. Normandy they were forced to let
go, but their islands, neveri True, it costs
more to hold them than they are worth.
Every height in Jersey and Guernsey bristles
with cannon and is clad with masonry, while
the keeping of the garrisons and the con-
tinual engineering experiments to strengthen
the forts make big hole in the annual war
estimates. But it would never do to let the
French have them again.
Nevertheless, the French yearning to get
back these lovely lands has never abated.
1t is a patriotic flame that burns with
special brightness in the breasts of the peo-
pie of Brittany and Normandy. For centu-
ries the peasantry of these provinces, the
most superstitious in Europe, have been
taught from their cradles the tradition that
some city in either Bretagne or Normandie
would bring forth a hero whose mighty
arm would restore to France these islands,
these jewels in her crown, of which she was
robbed by the combined forces of nature and
the prowess of Norman arms at Hastings.
AN OLD LEGEND REVIVED.
The ancient capital of Ann of Brittany,
Rennes, with its great cathedral, according
to popular belief is to be the city that will
get the proud distinction. Three times have
the French landed in Jersey, and vainly
tried to drive out the Saxons. Twice have
they been led by men from Rennes. Boulan-
ger, a native of Rennes, wnen War Minister,
contrived to feed this superstition with fresh
fuel. and the oredulous Bretons began to
think that, with the "man on the black
charger" at the head of the State perhaps,
after all. the hour was at hand when blow
would be struck which would give them
back their ancient islands. His presence in
st. Helier's just now will hardly fail to re-
vive this wistful feeling.
Eminent men besides Boulanger have
found security in Jersey when forced by
political exigencies to fly their native lands.
The thought is doubtless consollng to the
General tEat, besides his iIlustrious country
man, Victor Hugo, Jersey was a refuge for
Charles IL, Of England, when Cromwell !
ruled Britain. The rooms the King occu-
pied at Mount Orgueil and Elizabeth Castles |
are among the interesting sights pointed out |