Year: 1873

terMlne tne iOrIn Oi government unuer WHICH
Frenchmen are to live for some years to come,
revolutions permitting. 1t has been the COM
mon understanding of the Deputies. and of
the country that the Assembly, upon conven-
ing for the present session, should act with
the least possible delay upon the great,
vital subject and clear the ground for
an early determination of the form of govern
ment, or even determine the form without
further ceremony. At Bordeaux it was uni
versally agreed not to determine anything
and that truce has been well kept; but the
| main cause for making it passed away when
| the Germans marched out of verdun; and this
| long postponement Of the conflict OF PARTIES
this patriotic consent to defer the struggle for
supremacy until the time when the enemy
should be gone, while it has greatly chafed
the patience of party leaders has given them
time to form their plans and mature their
various projects, and has also thoroughly con-
vinced the whole country that state of uni
versal suspense is but little better than war
itself, and has thus in advance assured the
general assent to any form Of government
that the Assembly may declare. With such
general anticipation Of the result and such
readiness for the occasion in the several par
ties, it is next to a certainty that within
few days the Republic will be confirmed, or
the way prepared for another monarchy.


MacMahon utters the watchword of his
party, and states what they believe to be the
need of the hour in calling on the Assembly
to 'create strong, durable executive, which
can energetically defend society,"" and with
very slight modification this formula will
answer for all the parties, only they have
different notions as to what defending
society means, and equally different notions
as to what constitutes ''strong executive"
The main proposition is to make MacMahon
dictator for ten years, unless the report on the
constitutional bills decides differently; and this
seems to have the support of the Right Centre
and some votes from the Left Centre. The
Left and the Left Centre demand definiive
recognition of the Republic and its immediate
organization, and the Bonapartists call for
p,fbiscihrn, that the people may vote directly
on the form of government. This demand for
o 1lebisctsun has become a shibboleth with





capital. They are too few in number
to be power by themselves in this Assembly,
but they have, nevertheless, made themselves
felt by adroitly acting with one or another
party on close votes whenever there was
proposition before the House that it was their
interest either to carry or defeat They thus
gave to the Right some very necessary votes
IL Il H..
Theirs was overthrown, and their votes
will now be cast in the same spirit against
whatever proposition is most obnoxious to
their views. 1t has been thought the Bona
partists made mistake in thus helping to re-
move Thiers, inasmuch as they thereby seemed
to make easier the labor of the monarchical
party in putting king on the throne who
might permanently shut out the Prince I'm
perial but they may have thought the mon
archy less formidable in that sense than q
republic that appeared to be establishing
itself by mere continuance. There is little
doubt, however, that as they then acted with
the Right against the republicans they will
now act with the republicans against the
Right and they may thus become the con-
trolling power in one more critical occasion.
1t is significant of the possibility of the Left
and the Bonapartists acting together that
Theirs yesterday spoke in support Of the
motion for plebiscit,tm. Perhaps it is one
of the possibilities of the situation, though
remote one, that pIebiscitum might be
carried; but this would, of course, be because
the republicans are absolutely confident that
the whole mass of the people is in their favor.


But the great interest of the situation is
centred in the conduct OF the Right and Right
Centre, or the monarchical party. They
claim to have, with the seceders from the
Left Centre, 361 votes against 311; and if this
count be true the immediate future for France
is, of course, whatever they may decide to
make it. Until within q very few days
their programme was definite and known
to all the world. They were re-
solved to put Henry V. upon the
throne by any means that might be necessary.
They had prepared the country for this, and q
most effective part of their machinery was the
pilgrimage propaganda that had excited every
village in the land They had, moreover


accomplished more than exciting the people,


for they had charmed away the dissensions
between the rival royalist families. But at the
very moment when success seemed most GER
tain, when people saw all the difficulties
put aside, and scarcely waited for more than
to hear men name the day for the coronation,
difficulty more insuperable than all the
Others arose, for the candidate once more be-
came obstreperous about his wonderful white
flag and the other points Of his royal mono
mania. From that time, it is reported, his
greatest friends have given up the Count de
Chambord as impossible; but it must not
therefore be concluded that they have given
up the monarchy. The proposition to keep
MnnMnhnr, in nffica fnr ten vaarS and 10 cnn-