TOPICS OF TI - TE DAY. -
THE RESIGNATION OF M. GREVY.
-E1RENCHMEN are changing, they say, and in the direction
of dullness, but certainly they have not lost the gift of making their politics dramatic. The scenes presented in Paris during the last few days have been those of a great melo- drama, full of "effects," of sudden surprises, of attitudes struck by the performers, all leaving the audience in doubt whether the climax, though it is expected to be pleasant, may not after all be tragic. We left M. Grevy last week almost weeping, or, it is reported, actually weeping, with anger and humiliation, but under a promise, made through M. Henri Maret, to resign his chair. He had been deserted by every- body, and was left alone to write his Message with as much dignity as he could. It was understood, and definitely announced by the Times' correspondent, that the letter of resignation would be forwarded to both Chambers on Monday ; but M. Grevy, as the hours went on, found his place more and more dear to him, and on Monday he post- poned till Thursday the irrevocable act. No one, however, doubted that he had yielded, and Tuesday and Wednesday were passed by politicians in conferences, questionings, and intrigues, with this general result,—that if the Right supported M. Ferry at the first ballot, he would be elected at once, but that if they did not, the Opportunists and the Radicals might by possibility coalesce to carry M. de Freycinet. If not, all existing candidates must be thrown over, or the balloting might last for ever. No settlement closer than that could be arrived at, and on Thursday, when the Chambers assembled to hear M. Grevy's farewell message, the excitement was extreme. M. Bouvier mounted the tribune ; but instead of reading the message, announced, amid the stupe- faction of the House, that the President had altered his decision and withdrawn his promise of resignation. It was even so. A number of Radicals, alarmed at the idea that their formidable enemy, M. Ferry, might be elected to the Presidency, had visited M. Grevy, had assured him that he was necessary to France, and had offered to provide him with a working Ministry who would at least give him time. The old man, who has been President for nine years, who during that time has met with nothing but deference and adulation, and who cannot even now get rid of the feeling that the outcry against him is a mere intrigue, entirely believed his consolers, accepted their utterances as the voice of the people, ridiculed the notion of being bound by his notes in the official journal, and, in short, refused to go. "I am defending," he said quite truly, "the prerogatives of my successors." M. Bouvier, therefore, had no alternative except to communicate this decision to the Chamber, and to announce, for the third or fourth time, the resignation of his own Cabinet.
It is probable that M. Grevy was sincere, that he was the victim of a vanity which has swollen in his seclusion, and that he really expected the Chamber to feel relieved by his re- tractation, and to find his enemies tolerate a Ministry of Affairs at least for a short period. He does not know much of what is passing in Paris, he is very angry with the politicians, and he does know, through the Embassies, that the Courts of Europe regard his resignation with dismay. He therefore expected applause ; but the Chamber, after a moment of utter confusion, voted a suspension of the sitting only till 4 o'clock, meaning, of course, that the Deputies intended to sit until a solution had been arrived at. This was communicated to the President, but he only snubbed M. Rouvier for talking to him as a Minister when he had resigned, and at 4 p.m. the sitting was resumed. As no message was forthcoming, nor any promise of one, a Deputy named Viette proposed the pregnant resolution that this " Chamber, awaiting the comnzunication which was promised it, adjourns to 6 o'clock." This resolution, which, though couched in constitutional language, was in sub- stance a direct demand that the President should resign, was passed by 531 votes to 8; and as the Senate also agreed to a further postponement, M. Bouvier and his colleagues repaired once more to the EVE& to inform the President of the will of a nearly unanimous Assembly. What had occurred in the interval at the Elysee is not known ; but M. Grevy was in a more placable mood, and signified to M. Ranvier that, as both Houses were against him and he had no Ministry, he would forward his Message on Friday announcing "the resolution which he had to take." M. Bouvier, of course, understood that the resolution taken would be to resign, for he agreed to resume office, and the Houses, in that expectation, adjourned to Friday, when the President resigned.
All this while the excitement in Paris had been growing. Crowds began to form in the neighbourhood of the Palace in which the Assembly sits, the picked Guard, military and civil, was strongly reinforced, and special measures were. taken for the protection of the Elysee. The crowd dis- played no arms, and possessed none ; but in the evening, the violent clubs were crowded to the doors, the old language of revolution began to be heard, and the possibility of beating- or attracting the soldiers was openly discussed. All the signs, indeed, which in Paris precede eineutes began to be visible ; and when, at 11 p.m. on Thursday crowds began to float to and fro, and cry for a rush upon the Elyse°' the cavalry were called out, and charged, fortunately without taking any lives. Paris was beginning to ferment ; and if any accident impedes- the action of the Congress, we may next week have to recor& a conflict in the streets, with its usual consequence, that the General in command overshadows all the statesmen in office or in the Chambers.
If the Congress site in peace, there is little to be added to. the views already before oar readers. If the three parties adhere to their principles, an election is impossible, for an absolute majority is needed-443 votes—no party possesses one, and while the Right and the Extremists ought not to vote either for M. Ferry or M. de Freycinet, neither of them can accept a. Radical nominee. Parties, however, under such circumstances, never do stick to their principles, and the point to be considered is the temptation that weighs most strongly with each. We think, for ourselves, that the chance of a vote, passing by all candidates, in favour of some firm but almost unknown man, possibly an Admiral, have increased, and that this may be the ultimate solution ; but this is not the con- clusion of observers on the spot. They believe that the old Ganabettists will vote for M. Jules Ferry, and that the Right, forgetting the law against the religious corporations, of which he was the author, and the disasters in Tonquin, for which he was responsible, will support him, in order to keep down the populace of Paris. He is known to be Conservative, to be a man of unusual nerve and haughtiness, and to be firmly determined to maintain order ; and they ask first of all for that. It is asserted, too, that the Pope has condoned his offences against the Church— he is nominally a Lutheran—and that Russia has disclaimed any idea of opposition to hi election. His chances are there- fore considered the best, and next to his are those of M. de Freycinet, who might, it is supposed, be accepted by the Gambettists, and attract the Radicals by a pledge to summon M. Clemencean and suppress the Budget of Public Worship. No other candidate is at all in front, and the only quite un- known name discussed is Admiral Dompierre d'Harnoy- usually called Admiral Dompierre—who is nominated by M. Herve, and would not, therefore, for himself be un- acceptable to the Right. Nothing is clear, however, and the merest accident, the gathering of a crowd, a chance shot, a rumour, may modify all minds at the last moment, and induce the Congress, in spite of all resolutions, to accept a soldier. That fact, which no one will doubt, is a strong argument against the present mode of electing the President, which was intended, we most remember, to pave the way for a King. If the President were elected by the people, the intrigues of the Chamber would be stilled, and the populace of Paris would be powerless to dictate the election. That, how- ever, is a large subject, and the stream of tendency among French Radicals runs strongly the other way, towards the abolition of the Presidency, and the investiture of the President of a single sovereign Chamber with all the duties of representation. That dangerous proposal would be Parliamentary government made logical, and there- fore has an attraction for the French mind ; but the Congress summoned this week will hardly dare to discuss any suggestion for revising the Constitution, or, indeed, any subject except the election of a successor to unfortunate M. Grevy.
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