Year: 1872

dangerous. M. liners was never III d PVSi-
ton requiring moro GOODNESS and Judgment
The weapon prepared at his suggestion by Nj.
Dufaure has been presented to him blade fore
most. The Committee of Thirty has ma
iority hostile to him and to the Republic, or
at least hostile to him as long as he faVors
the Republic. Yet it is with this Committee
that he must deal in relation to matters OF
such transcendent importance as the limitations
of the executive and legislative powers. 1t Is
rarely that difference so vide ever Is seen
among members of deliberatiye body. 1t is
not n question merely of measures upon which
they arc divided. They differ radically IN
relation to the very principles of government.
While NJ Thiers regards himself as President
of tho Republic, his opponents insist upon 1t
that no Republic exists. While his efforts are
directed to making the Republic permanent,
their energies arc devoted to its destruction
and to the establishment of q monarchy. II
is not an ordinary and normal variance of
views such as is to be expected in free par
liamentary governments. 1t is one OF those
cases where one side must be hight and the
other wrong.


1t will not be difficult in this case for American
readers to decide on which side their sympathies


shall fall. NJ. Thiers represents in this quarrel


every principle which we are accustomed to


respect in public life. His action is based,


first, upon public opinion. At every election


which has been held during the last year


tho strength of the Republican party has been


shown so decidedly that there is no longer any
doubt as to the desires of the vast majority of
! FrenchnIen. The conduct Of the Deputies OF


the Right in refusing a renewal of the Assem-


bly, also abundantly proves this. In the Sec
ond place, he stands as the representative
of more liberal and advanced ideas of govern


ment than his opponents. Third, it is only by
following out the line Of conduct he has traced


for himself, that peace and prosperity can be
preserved in France. We do not say the Re-


public is peace. There is no man with French


blood in his veins who does not expect at some
day, sooner or later, to rectify the broken
frontiers and to redeem Alsace and Lorraine


But the only form of government which can
afford q reasonable prospect of immunity from
civil war is the Republican. The coalition of


the monarchcal parties in the Assembly is
powerful only for evil and impotent
for GOOD. Their opposition to the Re-


public can hold them together for the
moment, but If they should gain control of
the Government, their eternal rivalries would
break out beyond control. The Dukes and
country gentlemen who look for the coming of
Henri V. have nothing in common with the
constitutional mOnarchists whose hope is in
the house of Orleans, and the few Imperial
ISIS left by the winnOwins of recent elections
are equally irrecOncilable to both factions


But the claim of either of these parties, or
Of all of them in coalition, to govern the coun-
try and to establish its permanent constitution,
is absurd and impertinent, and has in 1t q sort
of moral treason. These Conservatives were
elected in q critical moment of the war, when
there was no opportunity for discussion or for
sober Judgment. The immediate want of
France was the cessation of war and the ne
gOtiatiOu of treaty of peace. For this. pur-
pose the people voted for their most promi-
nent neighbors and landed proprietors, and
they did well enough the work assigned them
But in two years the sentiment OF The country
has developed and declared itself in favor of
the Republic. The people everywhere assert
this by their votes, and the Administration,
though not pretending to be enthusiastic
about the Republic, sees the impOssibilty of
contravening so evident q popular tendency, and
recognizes the fact that no other form of gov
ernment is possible. But these gentlemen of
the Right do not seem capable either OF seeing
the facts or of reasoning from them. They
obstinately refuse to allow the country to
decide upon its destinies. They arrogate to
themselves constituent powers and decline TO
submit this claim to the popular decision.
They inform NJ. Thiers, in effect, that they
are in power and that there is no way OF
getting them out. The reserve and admirable
good temper of the extreme Left, so
far from warning them, seems only
to encourage them. They feel no sense
of shame when Gambetta repliestO their abuse
by simple shrug Of the shoulders. The
dulest squire from Brittany seems to think,
when the ex-DctatOr has listened to him in
contemptuous silence. that his eloquence has
rendered speechess the first orator of France.
1t seems impossible that men should indulge
in such reckless folly, without some sources of
confidence unknown to u.s. It is limited that
they rely upon the sword of MacAIahon to sus
tain them in their opposition to popular
opinion.


The last advices seem TO indicate that the
President 4, disposed to temporize with them
A reorganization of the Cabinet in a conserv-
ative sense is indicated. ~ Thiers has had
an amicable interview with the VicePresident
of the Committee of Thirty, tho Duke of
Audiffret-P -Pasquier, who is also the parlia-
mentary leader Of the Orleanist party. If a
temporary truce can be accomplished it is
perhaps the best that can be DONE while public
opinion is manifesting itself in public meet |
ings. Already the clamor Of the masses is |
making itself heard. NJ. Louis Blanc has pre- |
sided at last over a Republican meeting in the