FRANCE. 



285 



had been exaggerated. He called attention to 

 the increase of the national wealth of France 

 and England since the conclusion of the treaties 

 of commerce, and remarked upon the solidity 

 of the French economical regime, which had 

 maintained the credit of the country during the 

 crisis of 1870, and had enabled it to pay an 

 enormous war indemnity. He concluded by 

 saying, " We have had many sufferings, but, if 

 other countries have grown in breadth, we may 

 grow in stature." The speech was much ap- 

 plauded. In the course of the discussion the pro- 

 tectionists made many efforts to impose higher 

 duties than those recommended by the com- 

 mittee, but they were generally unsuccessful. 



The administration of Algeria was the sub- 

 ject of a warm debate in the Chamber of Dep- 

 uties on April 21st. M. Godelle, one of the 

 leaders of the Bonapartist party, who repre- 

 sents one of the arrondissements of Paris, 

 brought forward an interpellation respecting 

 the allegations contained in a letter written by 

 M. Journault, the Secretary-General of Algeria, 

 who had resigned his appointment in conse- 

 quence of a disagreement between him and 

 M. Albert Grevy, the Governor. M. Godelle 

 charged M. Grevy with ruling in a most des- 

 potic manner, and moved for a parliamentary 

 inquiry on the subject. M. Janvier de la Motte, 

 another Bonapartist, followed, and accused the 

 Governor-General of corruption with respect 

 to a railway contract. M. Albert GreVy, who, 

 being a Senator, attended to make his defense 

 by virtue of a special decree by the President, 

 having replied, M. Godelle rejoined by press- 

 ing for a parliamentary investigation on the 

 ground that " suspicion still rested on the broth- 

 er of the President of the Republic." This 

 provoked great uproar, and on the motion of 

 M. Gambetta, who said that the President had 

 been insulted, the Chamber passed a vote for 

 M. Godelle's temporary exclusion. Censura 

 was also passed on two Bonap'irtists, M. Cun6o 

 d'Ornano and M. Baudry d'Assun, for their 

 comments on M. Gambetta's severity. The 

 Right then threatened to leave in a body, 

 whereupon M Gambetta declared that such a 

 demonstration would bring on them a like pun- 

 ishment, and the threat was not carried out. 

 A resolution proposed by M. Spuller, express- 

 ing satisfaction with the Governor's expla- 

 nations, was supported by 367 deputies. The 

 Right voted against it, and a few radicals did 

 not vote at all. 



On July 14th France celebrated, for the 

 first time, the annual festival which the Gov- 

 ernment has introduced in commemoration of 

 the removal of the Bastile (July 14, 1789). The 

 Chambers had appropriated half a million francs 

 for the festival. The participation of the masses 

 of the people in Paris and the large provincial 

 cities was general and enthusiastic. President 

 Grgvy distributed flags to 436 deputations of the 

 army, which was followed by a grand parade 

 of 25,000 troops, with 96 pieces of artillery and 

 6,000 horses. The Government took occasion to 



distribute a few crosses of the Legion of Honor. 

 Among those promoted was M. Ernest Renan, 

 who was now made an officer of the Legion 

 of Honor, after having waited twenty years. 



The relations between France and England 

 were throughout close and cordial. M. Leon 

 Say's appointment as ambassador at the Eng- 

 lish court was generally thought to promise an 

 arrangement for the renewal of the commer- 

 cial treaty which had been provisionally con- 

 tinued pending the French general tariff legis- 

 lations. Mr. Gladstone was willing to make 

 an effort to compass this object, and his sup- 

 plementary budget included a provision for 

 the reduction of the wine duties demanded 

 by the French. M. Leon Say, however, soon 

 abandoned the London embassy, preferring 

 the presidency of the Senate. He was suc- 

 ceeded as ambassador by M. Challemel - La- 

 cour. The negotiations with respect to the 

 treaty did not progress rapidly in France, 

 and finally were postponed till 1881. The 

 new ambassador in London is an ardent re- 

 publican and an intimate friend of Gambetta. 

 He is a pupil of the Ecole Normale. The 

 first position he occupied was the chair of 

 French Literature at Zurich. Then he returned 

 to France, and became a journalist. In 1868 

 he joined Gambetta, Brisson, and Allain-Targ6 

 in forming the " Revue Politique." In 1870 

 he entered political life and was elected Sena- 

 tor in 1876. He joined Gambetta again in 

 founding the " Republique Franchise," in which 

 he was one of the principal writers until 

 he was appointed minister plenipotentiary at 

 Berne. The alliance of Austria and Germany 

 tended to bring France and Russia together, 

 and this mutual approach alleviated the bitter- 

 ness felt when the French Government refused 

 the extradition of Hartmann, the Russian Ni- 

 hilist, who was arrested in February by the 

 French police on suspicion of having been con- 

 cerned in the attempt of December 2d to blow up 

 the train by which the Emperor of Russia was 

 traveling. .The new Minister of Foreign Af- 

 fairs, M. Barthelemy St. Hilaire, is outspoken 

 in favor of preserving friendly relations with 

 all the European powers. In April he wrote, 

 as Vice-President of the Senate, a letter to the 

 editor of a paper in Berlin, in which he ex- 

 pressed his recognition of Prince Bismarck's 

 policy as one u decidedly useful for the preser- 

 vation of European peace." M. de Freycinet, 

 while Prime Minister, ordered the foreign en- 

 voys of France henceforth to style themselves, 

 not ambassadors or ministers of France, but 

 of the French Republic. 



In consequence of the Amnesty Bill adopt- 

 ed by the Chambers, the exiles returned to 

 France. Rochefort and his family arrived in 

 Paris on July 12th, and were escorted from 

 the station by a crowd of 50,000 persons 

 singing the " Marseillaise," and crying "Vive 

 Rochefort ! " " Vive la republique ! " Roche- 

 fort, soon after hia return, established a new 

 radical organ, "1'Intransigeant." In Octo- 



