"MASTER HUMPHREY" IN ENGLAND.

Evening Star, Issue 3595, 31 August 1874, Page 2

"MASTER HUMPHREY" IN ENGLAND.

(No. Ill) Wolverhampton, June 30. A crisis is evidently approaching in Franco, and before this reaches you it is quite pos» Sib.e the telegraph may have borne you thp news of something decisive. The country ia groaning under the yoke of an Assembly which, in no true sense, represents it, and by restive starts seems endeavoring to shake */ff she inoabuis. This Assembly, it will be remembered, was elected at a time when the infamy of the Empire had been dramatically and most tragically exposed, aud when the Republican party was discredited by its failure to retrieve the disasters bequeathed by the Bouaparisis. As a necessary conns* I queuce the monarchical element largely predominates, and'if the “ fusion ’’—that is, the uniting of the Bourbon and Orieauist par: ties—could have been effected two years earlier no deubs the monarchy would have been established. The opportunity, bo\y* ever, was lost, aid those who might bays profited by it now obstinately ret use'to rp. cognise that it is irrevocable. Disliking the Republicans, the Legitimists regard tho Bouapartists with furious hate, and would undergo almost anything rather than submit to their detested sway. '1 he Septennate is ch aily a compromise, and was supported by the monarchical party in the hope that pending its duration events might favor them aud give another chance for a restoration. A very fine, but still a very distinct, line separates the Right Centre from the Left Centro in tho Assembly. Alonarchists wish to proclaim the government oi France as Re? l>ubJican fpr f seven years, 'with Marshal Macmahon as President. The Republicans! creed is that the government of Franco is a Republic, and that Macmahon is tp he t*rql gident for seven years. This may at first apt pear a very subtle distinction, mere half splitting, and yet there is an important prim ciple involved. France wants a definite, settled government, and the Sepknnate, as accepted and maintained by the Right Centre, is hut protracted uncertainty. The Monarchists ear teat, by consenting to the permanent constitution of the Republic, they would be driving away their only chance, and that is than they can bring themselves to sacrifice. Btit'then remains the. absolute, unavoidable nece.-sicy of doin' something! F or a nation—more especially for a naiioli like France—fo look forward to seven yearsincessant worry, agitation, and uncertainty! to [mss that time in a never-ending dis.iifc! s ion as to its form of government, is beyond all endurance. To have all the time ot the .-assembly occupied in raging disputes as to th* merits of this or that system, is obviously to forego all the practical advantages of legiahition. ilu-n, alike m the Assembly aud out of doors, is the constant fear of some coup U-ctat or ne anous conspiracy of the Bonapartisis. Ihhee lorm a ring of s6me twenty members m the Assembly, though their powet for uasqlmf is altogether out of pro', portion to their numerical insignificance. nur audacity, their cunning, their utter unscrapuiousness, cause them to be regarded sutli grave apprehension, which is tenfold increased by the infatuation of the Rpyaijstg, who unconsciously have been directly play* their hands. A very significant sign of the state of the public mind is furnished by a recent election—that for Nievro, a de. JLrtment in the centre of Franbb. At tbs

last election the I’epubHcan candidate? w<v Returned by a majority of IO,OCO. '.o\v tin poll stands— Bom-going ... Bonapartist ... 37,529 Gudin r,. ... Republican ... 32,157 Count Pazzio :.. Royalist ... 4,527 Bourgoing held some small appointment hthe household of the ex-Kmperor, ai d wha; lends so much importance to the fact of |,i f election is that he went in simply and so’dj on the Imperialist ticket. It is difficult t. convey an idea of the astonishment and consternation which this event has spread throughout all parties in France. But for the blindness and infatuation which characterise the Royalists, it might convince them of what has long been patent to everyone else, that the choice of the nation lies between the Republic end the empire. Only one third course is even mentioned. That is the continuance of the present; provisional pystem of government. But that is impossible. The nation, racked with anxiety, asks for a definite assured form of government, and to be freed from the sway of a legislative body utterly out of harmony with its wishes. If the Republic can be achieved, none can doubt the French people would eagerly welcome it, but, driven desperate by excitement and uncertainty, and wishing at alt c< sts to get rid of the present repressive sys'.em, the people may turn to the party that offers them a plebiscite, even thoughjprcceded by military violence.

Such was the state of parties and feeling in France when the vi e election came like a thunder-clap. Its effect was instantaneous and vivid. I have already mentioned the disreputable endeavors of the Assembly to restrict and mutilate the suffrage —the very suffrage by which itse ; f was elected. These efforts, I am delighted to say, have failed. The iniquity of the attempt was most elo-quently-exposed by Ledru Kollin. Deputies, he contended, had no power to alienate the rights of their constituents. Besides, wbat crime had universal suffrage committed that it should be maimed and gagged? Under the form of a plebiscite, to be sure, it had committed a blunder, bub the plebiscite was but a parody of universal suffrage, and those who voted for the Em peror d.d not know that they were voting for war. What chance was there for a divineright monarchy? and as for the constitutional monarchy, all remembered how it had withered under the revolution of contempt. As ;o the empire, to talk of its re establishment after Sedan was too infamous, a- aterloo and Sedan were its cyclical dates. All this was sufficiently just, and. to the purpose ; but it may be questioned whether such arguments would have had much weight had they not been backed by the sterner logic of facts. This was. however, supplied by the election of Bourgoing, and to it we may attribute the rejection by a majority of eleven of the clauses in the Municipal Bill, s|dch q,|med at restricting the 1 franchise to ihose over twehty : fivp' : ' An explosion pf anger and excitement was occasioned by the discovery of a printed circular, apparently issued by the agents of the JJpnaoariists, urging ha f-pay officers, &c , tp vote for Bourgoing, and promising advantages in ease of compliance. The document was stamped with the Imperial Eagle, and the worrit)' “ central Committee. Appeal to the people.” A copy which h.d hem found under the seat of a railway ca~j iape was laid before the ■ ssembly by M. Girard, who inquired of the Ministry if they were aware of the existence of this secret committee The Minister of Justice replied he had telegraphed to the authorities at and that if the authors of the document cuuld be discovered they should i.e severely dealt with. M. Router, the leader of the Bonapartists, then followed, making a profession of perfect ignorance and innocence, stigmatising the document as “indecent,” and hoping its originators would be brought to light. This protes 1 ; was received with dprisiye jaughey by Uie Left, and pientiially' with : a tempest cf groans, threats, and incoherent shouts. M, Rentier was hooted out of the tribunal. The minister of the interior then spoko a few word?, after which Gambetta sprang to the tribunal and addressed the Assembly with impassioned eloquence that elicited storms of CbeeVfng'fvdfti the Republicans. Wpar.made |be discovery oi the document a matter cf such grave concern, was that its promises of promotion, &c., to retired efficers, tallied so curiously with the course pursued by the (Government. Many appointments had been giyen to Bonapartists,’ which gave strength to tpe opiniop that the agents of tfie State Wore accopiplipes of that party. '< hen General de Oissey made for the tribunal, and vainly endeavored to allay the excitement, protesting against the circular in the name of the army, and appealing to the fact of his having censured General Fieury for attending at Chiselhurst, as a pref that the Government was not favoring the Bonap irtists. Houher followed, again retorting that Gambetta had enough to answer for himself, and that he had better leave the

Bonapartists alone. Gambetta replied he had. never shrunk from inquiry on tjie part of the Assembly,’ but as to “those jyretehes” or “ curs” (cea movables), pointing to the Bonapartists. who had brought Him B>' ; d desolation pn France, be should pot heed them. The deputies rofered to made a rush towards the tribunal, hooting and shaking their fists at Gambetta. whilst the President, M. Buffet, vainly endeavored to restore order. W hen silence was partially established he called Gambetta to order, requesting him to withdraw the offensive term misdrahles. This, however, the Hepublican orator, positively refused, declaring that ho used the term not as an insult, hut as a badge of infamy for undertaking the war, which culminated at - v &lan. Ultimately the deputies, overcome with excitement, left the Chamber, and the debate was adjourned. •• appear to have been bitterly ptdngby Lambert ate ibyectiros, and with thepl it is a first object to get the ex-dictator put d the way. Attempts have been made. By ipsp.lt, with the idea of provoking him to fivbt a duel, in which it is hoped he might fall j and one man—M, de ainte-Croix—-actually struck him as he was passing through the Versailles railway station. He was fortunately arrested, and has subsequently been sentenced to six months’ imprisonment, and a fine of LB. The occurrences I have thus briefly narrated seem to have convinced almost everyone that a continuance of the present state of things is beyond endurance, and, as a result of this feeling, M. Perier, a few days frftpr, brought forward his naotion of “urgency.” M. Perier, I should explain, is pne of the victims of 1851. 1 need hardly remind your readers of tlie atrocities which accompanied .Lopia Napoleon’s coup d'etat. Well, M. Rerjer was ono of the many who were then seized, and, without any form of trial, consigned to Mont Valerian. It is needless to say he is one of the very few who ever came out His motion for “urgency” amounted to this : ‘ That it had become imperatively necessary to put an end to the uncertainty of the country by deciding upon and establishing a permanent form of Government. r - In a very full house, this motion was carried by 345 to 341, and, being proposed by a Kepublican, and mainly carri'-d through by the support of that party, it is regarded m tfie light of a quasi adoption of the Republican form as a permanency. What lends more importance to this victory ig the attitude cf the Orleans Prince?, The Luc d’Aunaale, who ia the wealthiest and most energetic of them, has carefully abstained from identifying himself with tk* fufcionistß, and tbtfugh in Parlß

the time, he held aloof from the Assembly, where naturally he was expected by hi« ■arty to vote against M. Rerier’s motion, his defection is perhaps explained by the f mt that the Prince has never been deficient ■t prudence, and apparently realising that ill the running is between the Empire and he Republic and well-knowing that the es ra-lkhmeot i f the former would involve his being dr.ven into exile, he wisely abstains from throwing his weight against the Republic. It may be even that he has ideas of obtaining the presidency, if the Republic were established. Hardly was the motion of “urgency” carried, than, with astounding infatuation, one of the Bourbon?sts brought up a resolution declaring that France was a monarchy, find that its Crown belonged t . the head o; its House The motion was rejected, some sensation being occasioned by the Prince do Jomville not g’ving it his support. With this may be said to have perished the last hopes of ever rau.ing the old mummy calling himself Henri V to the Throne of' France Jhe next day the Republicans scored a further victory in rejecting another of the obnoxious clauses in the Municipal Bill. It was that which rives to the richer inhabitants excessive and almost paramount influence in municipal affairs ; and the rejection of this clause, together with that which aimed at restricting the franchise, may be considered as hsving t titled the fate of the bill altogether.