THE 'UNREST IN FRANCE.
THE Paris correspondent of the Times made on Wednes- day a statement which we think he would not bare made if he had not obtained official confirmation of its truth. If so, it is a very grave statement indeed. On Sunday an army of two hundred and fifty thousand men, all affiliated to the Labour Societies, marched before the members of the Republican Government all carrying the Red Flag, the well-known and accepted banner of Revolu- tion. The Government were vexed beyond measure, for the flag is illegal, and the President in his indignation actually left the ground rather than see the triumph of the detested symbol ; but nothing was done either to remove the banners or to rebuke those who displayed them. The police and civil guards would, it was known, be over- powered, and the Government simply dare not call out the Army, lest the soldiers should either refuse to fire, or after putting down the revolt should take power into their own hands and proclaim a military dictatorship. This means, of course, that the momentary submissiveness of people, Army, and Chamber to the Administration is only apparent, that the elements of discord are still boiling furiously beneath the outward calm, and that any moment may see a disturbance which would end in the over- throw of the Republic and a startling change in the relations of all Europe. We ourselves are told on authority which we believe to be well informed that the respectable classes are genuinely alarmed, and that there is a consensus of opinion, which includes many convinced Republicans of character, in favour of the necessity of a dictatorship. The Red Spectre, in fact, is abroad again, property as well as opinion is alarmed, and men are eagerly looking round for a " saviour of society" who will hold all the dangerous classes, including the Army, in a strong restraint. The fear is so keen that it has actually formulated itself, and a movement is expected on the following lines. The passions raised by the Anti- Semites, by the Church, and by the " patriots " who think France humiliated are as bitter still as they showed themselves during the Dreyfus riots. Events such as "Fashoda " have added fuel to the flame by irritating classes not by instinct revolutionary ; the diatribes of the Clerical and Revolutionary journals, which circulate by the hundred thousand, are more incendiary than ever ; and the mob of Paris is inclined to believe that the Army is with it, and that the situation is once more at popular mercy. Any accident, or the appearance of any resolute leader among the populace, would give occasion for an attack on "Jews, Protestants, and traitors," and as the civil force could not resist, and Government must main- tain order, the Army would at last have its opportunity, and would use it. Its chiefs would allow disorder to reach a certain height—a frightful detail for Jews and Protestants—and would then declare the Constitution unworkable without an individual as actual instead of theoretic head of the State. That head would be supported for the time, as the only defence against anarchy, by all the respectables, by all capitalists, by the whole Army, and by a considerable section of the workmen, who hold, with some appearance of logic, that only a Dictator will venture on great social reforms ; but to seat himself firmly he must engage France in some great enterprise promising chances of success. Ultimate victory for the populace is not feared, but a momentary Reign of Terror is, and that fear dissolves the strength of the friends of the Republican Constitution.
We entirely believe that the fear of which our friends give accounts, and of which hi. do Blowitz relates so amazing an instance, does exist, and is so widespread that if an insurrectionary movement occurred all France would be crying for a Dictator ; but there are three grand obstacles in the way of such a movement immediately beginning. One is the approach of the Exhibition, from which the bourgeoisie expect enormous profits, and on which very large sums have already been expended. A Frenchman even when excited never forgets his pocket, and. it is hoped by friends of the Republic that the populace will share this feeling and postpone all disturb- ance till the visitors have spent their last sovereigns and departed, say in August. That is a serious guarantee for order during the next few months, but it is evident that the Government do not consider it sufficient ; it is doubtful whether the "Army of Revolu- tion" is as sordid or as prudent as the bourgeoisie, and it is suggested that as revolutionary movements in Paris are rapid, all might be over before the Exhibition opens, and the Dictator would be able to occupy the pleasant time of the grand bazaar in maturing his plans and his arrange- ments. The second obstacle is General de Galliffet. His fidelity to his word is considered assured, and his word is pledged to the Republic. When the crisis arrived the sol- diers, whose love for their officers needs development, might declare for their legal chief, and as, if they did. General de Galliffet would be master, and would infallibly shoot every officer who disobeyed him, the risk to be run is very serious. This is the personal obstacle, and is most for- midable; but then the Chamber is capable of overthrowing General de Galliffet, he may die, or he may fall so sick that he ceases to be an active personality in affairs. He has many enemies, and the Reactionaries, who would naturally be his friends, detest him as at once a tyrant and a renegade. The third obstacle is the well-known one that none of those who desire the overthrow of the Republic can settle upon the individual who must be its successor. The people will not have the house of Orleans, for which the clergy wish ; there is a hesitation about a Bonaparte Prince which we do not profess entirely to understand, but which is possibly due to Waterloo and Sedan ; there is no French General who towers above his rivals; and there is no one, or no one known abroad, who has, as General Boulanger had, the liking of the con- scripts. It is said, however, that this obstacle would not in a moment of excitement be of final consequence ; that the emergency would reveal the man ; and that even if it did not there would on the day after a revolt had been suppressed be no one to resist the Generals' nominee. Although there is no victor in France, there must be men whom the Army itself knows fairly well ; and the ignorance of the rest of the world is not to a candidate for a plebiscite altogether a disadvantage. Every one hopes somewhat from an unknown man ; and whoever he was, a plebiscite could not be refused under penalty of anarchy and possible war in the barracks themselves. Remembering General Boulanger's near approach to success, it is difficult to doubt that the Army, if once in revolt, could carry through its purpose even in favour of an untried or inferior man. It is more probable that at the last moment the charm of the name Bonaparte would prove irresistible ; but supposing that candidature impossible, the emergency would be so great that the unknown person could not be set aside.
It is useless at any time to offer predictions about France, but that the Red Spectre is abroad again, and that ideas such as we have reported are becoming danger- ously general, we are well assured. They are worth the consideration of those who believe that France has sunk into lassitude, or that the votes in the Chamber prove the Government to be out of serious danger. They prove very little indeed, except that agitation at the centre has not yet been fully developed in the extremities. Un- fortunately for France, her actions in times of emotion are governed by her brain, which is Paris, and which is liable to periodic attacks that can hardly be distin- guished from accesses of lunacy. The disease of France is, however, more like epilepsy than madness, the kind of epilepsy which produces occasional paralysis, but is found consistent both with greatness of intellect and a long career.
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