FAVRE, JULES 0. G. 



FINANCES, UNITED STATES. 255 



F 



FAVRE, JULES CLAUDE GABRIEL, a French 

 statesman, born in Lyons, where his father was 

 a tradesman, March 21, 1809 ; died January 19, 

 1880, at Versailles. M. Favre is known in the 

 political history of France as a life-long ad- 

 herent of republican principles. At the out- 

 break of the Revolution of 1830, he was a law- 

 student at Paris. He took a very active part 

 in the revolution, and wrote articles in the 

 Paris newspapers in favor of a republic. He 

 first joined the Lyons bar, and in 1841 fought 

 with the National Guards against the rioters. 

 In 1835, defending some political prisoners be- 

 fore the House of Peers, he began by saying, 

 "I am a republican," and, though ill, spoke for 

 four hours. After the Revolution of 1848, he 

 became secretary to Ledru-Rollin, and was 

 credited with the authorship of the celebrated 

 instructions to the provincial commissioners. 

 He resigned this post on being elected deputy, 

 was for a short time Under-Secretary for 

 Foreign Affairs, supported the prosecution of 

 Louis Blanc, and voted on some other ques- 

 tions -with the Right. He condemned the ex- 

 padition to Rome, and Louis Napoleon's presi- 

 dential acts, and, on Ledr.i-Rollin's flight, be- 

 came the virtual leader of the Mountain. After 

 the co up d'etat he kept for six years aloof from 

 any active participation in political life, con- 

 fining himself till 1858 to the exercise of his 

 profession. In that year his defense of Orsini 

 sacured his election for Paris, and he became 

 the leader of the Republicans who were the 

 nucleus of the gradually increasing parliament- 

 ary opposition to the Empire. In 1863, being 

 also elected for Lyons, he decided for that city, 

 to secure that seat for the Republicans. His 

 speeches on Mexico, Italy, and Germany made 

 a great sensation ; nevertheless, he was de- 

 feated at Lyons in 1869 by the more radical 

 Raspail, and in Paris defeated Rochefort by 

 only a small majority. After the overthrow 

 of Napoleon's dynasty, he became Vice-Presi- 

 dent of the Provisional Government of National 

 Defense and Minister of Foreign Affairs. He 

 had to carry on the negotiations with Bismarck 

 concerning the conclusion of a treaty of peace, 

 and his remarkable failure as a diplomatist is 

 now a matter of history. From the position 

 taken in his diplomatic circular, that he would 

 pay any amount of indemnity, but not give up an 

 inch of French territory, he had to recede in a 

 very conspicuous manner when he consented, in 

 the treaty of peace, to the annexation of Alsace 

 and Lorraine to Germany. Previously, in con- 

 cluding the armistice, he had not only been be- 

 guiled into excluding Bourbaki, but he had for- 

 gotten to notify the exclusion to the Bordeaux 

 Government. A still more disastrous blunder 

 was his insisting, despite Prince Bismarck's 

 warnings, on the Paris National Guard retain- 

 ing their arms, without which the Commune 



could scarcely have occurred. He was elected 

 by ^six departments to the Assembly, and re- 

 mained Minister of Foreign Affairs till conserv- 

 ative pressure obliged M. Thiers to substitute 

 M. de Remusat. In 1867 he was elected a 

 member of the French Academy, as successor 

 of M. Victor Cousin. On this occasion, as well 

 as in several speeches made in the National As- 

 sembly, he strongly declared his belief in God 

 and Christianity, and he was looked upon as a 

 devoted member of the Catholic Church. An 

 action for defamation, which, though resulting 

 in a condemnation, had laid bare remote do- 

 mestic irregularities, confirmed him in his de- 

 sire to withdraw from political life. A wid- 

 ower since 1870, he married in 1874 a Protes- 

 tant governess, and finally became a regular 

 attendant at Protestant worship. His two prin- 

 cipal works were " Rome et la Republique 

 francaise" (Paris, 1871), and " Le Gouverne- 

 ment du 4 Septembre " (2 vols., 1871-72), both 

 of which have been translated into English. 



FINANCES OF THE UNITED STATES. 

 The monetary transactions of the Government 

 have been marked during the year by a large 

 increase in the receipts, especially from duties 

 on imported goods, while the expenditures, ex- 

 cept for pensions, have increased but little, as 

 will be seen by the following statement: 



The receipts from duties on imports have 

 been derived chiefly from importations of 

 sugar, and of woolen and silk goods, as will be 

 seen by the following exhibit : 



