The Globe. THURSDAY, MARCH 13, 1879.

Globe, Volume XX, Issue 1580, 13 March 1879, Page 2

The Globe. THURSDAY, MARCH 13, 1879.

Marshal McMahon is a gallant old gentleman, as well as a brave old soldier. When he has a friend he stands by him to the last. It will be seen by our telegrams of yesterday that, in tho event of the de Broglie Ministry being impeached, the Marshal has demanded that his name shall not be dissevered from that of his old associates. The sentiment is a fine one, although the cause for which the Marshal proposes to suffer will not bear examination. A short review of the events that have lately taken place in France will enable us to guage the conduct of the late President, and to separate our sentiments of regard for his fidelity from our judgment of his political conduct. In 1873, the Legitimists, alarmed at the growth of Republican feeling in the country, determined to make a push for power, and the consequence was the fall of M. Thiers and the appointment of Marshal McMahon as President, with a cabinet of strong Legitimist tendencies. If at that time the Comte de Chambord, the head of the Bourbon family, had only consented to come to some reasonable terms to suit the exigencies of the crisis, there is no doubt but that France would be now ruled by a Bourbon. But the Count gentleman was too obstinate to bend in the slightest, and his chance passed by rapidly and for ever. Time went on, and France's republicanism became more declared, until the end of 1876 saw the republican M. Simon as Prime Minister. But all this time the Marshall had become more and more restive. He wasaLegitimist at heart, and his pent-up foelings burst forth in May, 1877, when, on the barest possible pretext, he dismissed M. Simon and called on tho Duke of Broglie to form a Cabinet. The Duke was a Legitimist of tho most illiberal tendencies. To strengthen his position tho new Prime Minister took into his Cabinet M. do Fourtou, a Buonapartist, whose only affinity with the Duke was his intense desiro to crush tho Republicans. Marshal MacMahon thon dissolved tho Chambers, and the new Ministry set themselves to work to see if they could not, by electioneering manoeuvres, succeed in getting a Conservative majority returned. They " workod the oracle" in a manner truly appalling; they arrested M. Gambotta;

they proscribed the liberal papers. Bat it was no use. The country would not have it. Notwithstanding Government pressure —and oven ordinary Government pressure in France means a good deal—out of 533 Deputies elected, 355 were Republicans, and only 198 Government nominoes. Notwithstanding this clear manifestation of the popular will, the Marshal determined to keep his Conservative Cabinet in oflico, a stand-up battlo between the two sides of the House took place, and the Republicans drew up an artclo of impeachment against the Government. This was fifteon months ago. But the Marshal saw that his struggles against the Republicanism that ho hated were in vain, and he gave in. The De Broglie Ministry resigned, and the Marshal, after a vain endeavour to stem the torrent by appointing a military Cabinet of nonentities, called on M. Dufaure, one of the loaders of the Liberal party, to take the roins of Government. Since that date the history of France has been chiefly the history of tho rapid development of strong Republican sentiments, until finally tho Republicans secured a majority in the Upper Houso, and then their absolute power became indisputable All this timo Marshal McMahon was retiring more and more into tho background. Ha found it usoless to object to tho inevitable; he put a good face on tho matter and made himself so amiable that peoplo began to doubt whether ho had not changed his opinions, and whether, after all, ho had not becomo more or loss of a Republican. He would have stood a very good chance of re-election in 1880, but, unfortunately for him, the question of changing those army corps commanders who held strong anti-re-publican opinions supervened, and the Marshal, although circumstances had made him somewhat supple politically, was not prepared to lower his standard of what he considered duo to his profession, and ho at once resigned.

The above brief sketch will have shown where the true sympathies of the Marshal in reality lie. Notwithstanding his complaisance of late, he has evidently been fretting under a system that he intensely dislikes. And now, when the Chamber of Deputies has determined to resume the impeachment, which was abandoned fifteen months ago, ho has boldly stood forth and has practically said —"My sympathies have always been with the Legitimists I entirely approved of the measures used by the De Broglie Cabinet to secure the elections for oar party. It was with my full concurrence that these measures were taken. All my lato complaisance has been a sham. I have been merely bowing to necessity- I hate the Republicans and their principles. Impeach the De Boglie Cabinet for their manoeuvres fifteen months ago if you like, but, if you do, you must impeach me as well. I will not be dissociated from my friends. lam glad to have such an opportunity of declaring my real sentiments. Bah! you republicans are canaille." Such outspoken sentiments from an old soldier who has fought and bled for his country are not likely to be taken amiss. They will be treated like the testy remarks of some old moustache, who has 'earned the right of grumbling. The Republicans can now afford to give up somewhat to sentiment. Their power is perfectly secure, and they will probably be unwilling to take any step that may in any way annoy the gallant old man, for whom every Frenchman has a soft corner in his heart. His latest utterance will only increase the sentiments of regard with which the Marshal is held. But, at the same time, the regard is a purely personal one. The cause that he upholds is rotten to the coro, for the actions of the de Broglie's Ministry were altogether unjustifiable. Condensed, they meant intimidation, and the repression of the popular will by means the reverse of honest.