FRANCE. 



419 



Our exportations in the first eight months of the 

 year 1863, as compared with those of the corresponding 

 months of 1862, have increased by 233,000,000 francs. 

 During the same period the movement of the maritime 

 navigation has exceeded the figures of the preceding 

 epoch by 175,000 tons, of which 136,000 are under the 

 French flag. The abundant harvest of the present 

 year is a blessing from Providence, and must assure 

 the subsistence of the population at a cheaper rate. It 

 proves also the prosperity of our agriculture. The 

 public works have oeen prosecuted with activity ; 

 nearly a thousand additional kilometres of railway 

 have been opened for traffic ; our ports, our rivers, our 

 canals, and our roads have continued to be improved. 



He then pointed out the reforms judged op- 

 portune. Among others a decree relative to 

 the freedom of the baking trade, one which ren- 

 ders the maritime conscription lees onerous to 

 the population of the sea-coast, a bill which 

 modifies the law on coalitions, and one which 

 suppresses the exclusive privilege of the theatres. 



I have caused, also, to be prepared a law des- 

 tined to increase the functions or the general and 

 communal councils, and to remedy the excess of cen- 

 tralization ; in fact, to simplify administrative formal- 

 ities, and to make more mild the legislation applicable 

 to classes worthy of all our solicitude. In all this 

 there will be a progress with which you will delight 

 to associate yourselves. You will have also to occupy 

 yourselves with the sugar question, which demands to 

 be finally settled by a more stable system of legislation. 

 The project submitted to the Council of State tends 

 to accord to indigenous products the facility of exporta- 

 tion enjoyed by the sugars of other countries. A law 

 upon registration will get rid of the double decime, and 

 substitute for that surtax a more just imposition. In 

 Algeria, despite the anomaly which subjects the same 

 populations, some to the civil, others to the military 

 power, the Arabs have comprehended how French 

 domination was reconstructive and equitable, without 

 the Europeans having less confidence in the protection 

 of the Government. Our ancient colonies nave seen 

 the disappearance of barriers which were inconvenient 

 for their transactions ; but the circumstances have not 

 been favorable to the development of commerce. The 

 recent establishment of the institution of credit will 

 tend, I trust, to ameliorate their condition. In the 

 midst of those material cares nothing which touches 

 religion, the mind, and morals has been neglected. 

 Works of religion and charity, the arts, the sciences, 

 and public education, have received numerous encour- 

 agements. Since 1848 the number attending at school 

 has increased one fourth. At present nearly 5,000,000 

 of children, a third of whom pay nothing, are attending 

 at primary schools ; but our efforts must not slacken, 

 for 600,000 children are still without education. The 

 higher studies have received increased animation in 

 the secondary schools, where special instruction is now 

 being reorganized. 



Some remarkable explanations were made on 

 the foreign policy of the Empire : 



In the life of nations events unforeseen and inevita- 

 ble arise, which must be met without faltering. Of 

 this number are the war in America, the compulsory 

 occupation of Mexico and Cochin China, the insurrec- 

 tion in Poland. The distant expeditions, the objects 

 of so much criticism, are not the result of a premedi- 

 tated plan ; the force of events has brought them about, 

 and nevertheless they are not to be regretted. How, 

 in fact, could we develop our foreign commerce if, on 

 the one side, we were to renounce all influence in 

 America, and if, on the other, in presence of immense 

 territories occupied by the Spanish and Dutch, France 

 alone remained without possessions in the Asiatic 

 seas ? We have conquered in Cochin China a position 

 which, without subjecting us to the difficulties of local 

 government, will permit us to make use of the immense 



resources of these countries, and to civilize them by 

 commerce. In Mexico, after an unexpected resistance 

 which the courage of our soldiers and sailors has 

 surmounted we have seen the population welcome us 

 as liberators. Our efforts will not be in vain, and we 

 shall be largely recompensed for our sacrifices when 

 the destinies of that country, which will owe to ua its 

 regeneration, shall have been confided to a prince 

 whom his enlightenment and his qualifications render 

 worthy of so noble a mission. Let us, then, have faith 

 in our enterprises beyond the sea. Commenced to 

 avenge our honor, they will terminate in the triumph 

 of our interests ; and if prejudiced minds do not divine 

 the fruitfulness inclosed in the germs deposited for the 

 future, let us not tarnish the glory thus acquired, so 

 to speak, at the two extremities of the globe atPekin 

 and at Mexico. 



According to the calculation of A. Legoyt (in 

 Statistiques de la France), the population of 

 France might be divided, on Jan. 1st, 1862, as 

 to their religious denomination, as follows : 



The Synods and Consistories of the two Pro- 

 testant State Churches made, however, a some- 

 what higher statement of their membership ; 

 that of the Reformed Church being calculated 

 to amount to about 1,300,000, and that of the 

 Lutheran Church to about 700,000. In the 

 budget of 1862, the allowances to the Roman 

 Catholic clergy amount to 49,819,936 francs, 

 and those to the Protestant Church, 1,493,436 

 francs. From, the returns of marriages in 1860 

 and 1861, it appears that in the former year 

 86,491 bridegrooms, and 140,530 brides, out of 

 a total of 256,636 marriage entries, and in the 

 latter period, 83,905 bridegrooms, and 136,447 

 brides, out of a total of 270,896 marriages, 

 were unable to write their names. 



According to official returns, there were, in 

 October, 1863, 82,135 establishments of primary 

 instruction, 16,136 more than in 1848; and the 

 scholastic population had, in 1862, risen to 4,- 

 731,949, from 3,771,597 in 1848. The 36,499 

 communes provided, in October, 1863, with 

 means of instruction, comprised 41,426 public 

 and free schools, special for youths or mixed as 

 to sexes, of which 37,895, numbering 2, 145,420 

 pupils, were directed by laics or secular per- 

 sons, and 3,531, numbering 482,008 pupils, by 

 members of religious congregations. 



The number of schools for girls, in October, 

 1863, amounted to 26,592, of which 13,491 were 

 directed by laics provided with diplomas of ca- 

 pacity, and 13,101 by religious sisters, of whom 

 12,335 had only the "letter of obedience." These 

 schools received 1,609,213 pupils, of whom 604,- 

 207 were in the lay schools, and 1,059,966 in the 

 establishments of the religious congregations. 



The following tables exhibit the names, area, 

 and population of each of the 89 Departments 

 into which France is divided, according to the 

 census of 1861, and the statistics of births and 

 illegitimate children : 





