Saturday, September 2, 1871.]

THE TABLET.

291

Nation ale, when it concludes by repeating, that it “ cannot “ approve such proceedings, however warm may be its sym“ pathies w ith Ireland.” I t is precisely because o f those sym pathies that we should be most in clin ed to deplore them.

A fte r the vote o f the A ssem b ly M . Jules

™choo°s S S 'mon was unable to shut his eyes any longer

0 s' to the scandalous in fraction o f the law b y the expulsion o f the teachers and the suppression o f religious instruction in the schools o f Lyons. H e has accordingly written to the M ayor that he has learnt the facts from the Inspector-General o f Public Instruction, who has la te ly been paying an official v isit to Lyons, and that the measures adopted by the M unicipal Council are a manifest v iolation o f the laws o f 1850 and 1854. H e has communicated,he adds, in th e same sense with the Prefect o f the Rhone, and trusts that th e M ayor will support that officer in procuring as speedy a solution as possible, in conform ity with the law and the w ishes o f the population. T h e excuse made for the Council in its debate on this letter was, that it im agined it was only “ prejudging the opinion o f the future A ssem b ly ” in “ g iv in g “ practical effect to a reform a lready accom p lish ed in free “ in tellects in other words, that they broke the law, calcu la tin g on the support o f Governm ent in doing so. T h e C ounc i l referred the letter to the Committee o f Public Interests.

T h e Prefect o f the H aute-M arne has set a

observance £ ° °d exam Ple to G overnm ent functionaries in of sundavs. France. H e has issued a c ircular to the mayors,

rem inding them that all Governm ent contracts

contain a clause forbidding the contractors to m ake their men work on Sundays and recognized holidays, and in form ing them that, as several infractions o f the rule have been p roved, the M in iste ro f Public W orks has insisted on measures being taken to prevent the recurrence o f the abuse. T h e mayors are therefore ordered strictly to enforce the rule in the case o f a ll works for the State, the departm ents, and the communes.

T h e Univers, the Patrie, and the Paris Journal, have a ll been c ited before the juge France. d'instruction for the publication o f false news

maliciously, and with the in tent o f exciting

troubles. T h e occasion for this accusation is a rumour of disturbances at Lyons, originally published by the P a r is Journal, and speedily contradicted by the official paper. T h e Constitutionnel, the Presse, the Figaro, and the Union, are all loud in deprecating this a ttack on journals which have a lw ays advocated the cause o f order. In the words o f Figaro

it is a concession to the detestable spirit which seems to have g o t the upper hand in the press and in the conduct o f public affairs, and the Union, recalling to m ind that the journals of the R ig h t were always the first and a lm ost the on ly victim s under the Empire, sees with regret that M . Thiers is enterin g on the same path, but w ithout surprise, as “ all D ictator“ ships are a like.”

T h e proposal for public rejoicings on the

« m e p t b i i Îek. 4th o f Septem ber, as the b irth day o f the French

R epublic, has met with a decided negative from

th e Governm ent. T h e promoters o f the fetes are rem inded ■ that that date is connected not only w ith the establishm ent o f the Republic, which leaves the country “ free to “ g ive itself the institutions 'w h ich it shall ju d ge to be “ best for securing its prosperity and greatness,” but also w ith the terrible disasters which were the proxim ate occasion o f that event. Only ju s t emerging from foreign and c iv il war, France, continues M. Lam brecht, is still in mourning, and her soil is still occupied by troops not her own. Should these remonstrances not be attended to, th e Prefects are enjoined to use the means which the law p laces a t their disposal. Austria ant T h e Present state o f things in Austria well

Germany. * c^ese.rves the attention o f Catholics. T h ed ip lo -

.

matic coup prepared by Prince v. B ism ark seems

o la ve rather flashed in the pan. There can be no doubt that the meeting at Gastein was arranged by him, and that he wrote to Count v. Beust that his presence there would be acceptable. W e know enough o f the German Chancellor to make it certain that a mere in terchange o f courtesies would not have taken him so far out o f his way. A nd, besides the Roumanian difficulties, there seem to be other com p lications which rentier a distinct understanding with Austria very desimble. W e quoted last week the saying o f a Russian statesman to the effect that Russia felt herself as uncomfortable after the Franco-Prussian war as F rance did after Sadowa. T h e Russian press is now openly taking up the same theme and accusing Prussia o f havifig made a catspaw o f Russia lost year as she did o f Austria in the war with Denmark, and

o f I ta ly in the war with Austria. T h is change o f tone in th e Russian papers is attributed to counter-orders given after the return o f the Emperor from his tour in Germany, during which the sudden leaning o f Prussia towards Austria m ay well have becom e apparent. H owever this may be, it was only natural that, Russia having becom e suspicious and hostile, Prince v. B ism ark should try to drive in the nail at once, and make a ll safe with Austria. H e has counted however too much on M. de Beust and his German sym pathies. Behind the Im perial Chancellor is the cis-Leithanian Prim e M in ister, Count v. Hohenwart, the success o f whose new conciliatory policy depends entirely on the support o f the C atholics and Federalists, who lo ok with suspicion on an a llian ce which m ight tend to strengthen the G erm an Radicals and Centralizers. Count y- H ohenwart has appealed to the country on the question o f g iv in g more selfgovernm ent to the secondary nationalities. I f th e e lections support him in this policy, as th ey p robably will, there will be an end to a ll idea o f an a llian ce such as Prince v. B ism ark wants. H is object o f course is to use the German party as he has done in Bavaria. But in Austria a ll the Germans are not to be calculated on. H e has the R adicals and Centralists in his interest, but the G erman Catholics and Federalists, lik e the Germans o f that party in Bohem ia , will go with Count v. H ohenwart, and not with Beust. A ccordingly Prince v. B ism ark, as we learn from a telegram in the Tagblatt, has declared that, before com in g to any definite agreem ent, he must wait for the result o f the elections. I f they g ive the v icto ry to the “ C lericals ” and the “ S laves,” b y which he means the Federalists in general, “ G erm any can have nothing to do w ith A u s tr ia .” T h e crisis is a v e ry curious one ; it is, practically speaking, a duel between the Austro-H ungarian Chancellor and the Austrian Prim e M in ister. Beust is backed by B ism ark and the Ger1 man Radicals ; H ohenwart by the Catholics, the Federalists,

and, o f course, the Slaves.

When the world was inform ed, after the bat-

- - - - - tie o f Sedan, that Prince v. B ism ark had the “ daily to ld a newspaper correspondent on what term s telegraph.” he would make peace, the world was d isposed

to be slightly incredulous. I t turned out, how­

ever, that those were precisely the terms which he d id exact, and Prince v. B ism ark’s confidence to newspapers are now quoted at a much higher value. T h e D a i ly Telegraph o f Saturday presents us with a startling o n e ; nothing less than j a conversation, in which the Chancellor unbosom s h im self ! o f his sentim ents with regard to France, Austria, I ta ly , and | Russia. W e print elsewhere the most im portant part o f it.

T h e Prince p laces unbounded reliance on Russia, which is curious when contrasted with the assertion o f the Golos, the organ o f G eneral M ilu tine, the Russian M in ister o f War, that the policy o f Prussia is dangerous to the very existence o f the Russian Empire. Prince v. B ism ark’s trust in I ta ly is evidently o f a much more lim ited description, and is expressed b y the significant monosyllable, “ Umph 1 ” O f his relations to Austria the Prince is careful to tell us nothing more than that they are and must b e good friends, having so many interests in common. H e touches on the war o f 1866 as an unfortunate accident, for which Austria was to blam e, and which Prussia has been good enough to forgive. But what is principally rem arkable is the savage tone in which he speaks o f France. T h e im prudence o f the French press in continually ta lk in g o f their future revenge is bearing fruit. “ W ith the F rench,” says Prince B ism ark somewhat brutally, “ we never were and never “ can be friends. I f th ey prove, as they are trying to “ prove, that th ey are not enough beaten, we will do “ it at once.” I f the peace o f Europe is to depend upon France being kept down lik e this, the prospect is not a reassuring one. A t the fall o f the first Em p ire France was com p le te ly crushed, drained, and exhausted, and 40 years afterwards she was again the leading Power on the Continent. She is beginning again to d isp lay her vast recuperative powers, and there is not much chance o f Germany being able to keep her perm anently under its heel. I t is, therefore, as useless as it is m ischievous in F rench writers to threaten a revenge which their country is certainly not yet ready to inflict. I f they must w ipe out their in juries in blood, it would surely be better to wait till they have at least the power to do so. We d o not know which is most to be regretted, the em p ty menaces on the one side, or the brutal contem pt on the other.

A singular movement is going on in A lsace.

unannexed 1 t is a spontaneous one, and is confined to inpopulations. d iv idual a c tjon> s0 that the French Governm ent