282 



FRANCE. 



one which has always been our own, and we shall 



be happy to pursue with them its sincere and com- 

 plete application. Nevertheless, our brother depu- 

 ties will have observed that the execution of this 

 plan, notably in the case of reforms which relate to 

 the electoral circumscriptions and to the nomination 

 of mayors, cannot take place without changes in the 

 constitution, and they desire, without doubt, as we 

 do to demand from the Government to use its initia- 

 tive to make the country henceforth participate by 

 means of the representatives in all the constitutional 

 modifications which may be thought necessary. They 

 will think with us, doubtless, that the provisional 

 solution indicated in their proposal for the nomina- 

 tion of mayors will not give to the communes an 

 adequate participation in the choice of those magis- 

 trates ; and that without law, otherwise so necessary 

 on communal, cantonal, and departmental organiza- 

 tion, there is a great necessity to provide for so great 

 an interest by special law. 



In laving these reservations before you your com- 

 mittee is inspired by your resolutions and your pre- 

 vious votes. It is acting again under the same influ- 

 ence when it affirms in conclusion that its most 

 serious care and most active solicitude are directed to 

 the necessity of union and accord between all the 

 elements of the liberal and conservative parties. The 

 conclusions of this report have been adopted unani- 

 mously by those present. (Here follow the signa- 

 tures.) 



The " Left," embracing men like Jules Favre, 

 Jules Simon, Gambetta, and Bancel, numbered 

 27 members, while Raspail and Rochefort were 

 classed as "Extreme Left," or "Radicals." 



On the 28th of December, the Journal 

 Officiel announced the resignation of the 

 ministry and the Emperor's determination to 

 accept the same. It also contained a letter 

 from the Emperor to M. Emile Ollivier, re- 

 questing him to name persons who would, asso- 

 ciated with himself, form a homogeneous Cab- 

 inet, faithfully representing the legislative 

 majority, and resolved to apply, in letter and 

 spirit, the Senatus Consultum of September 

 8th. The Emperor counted on the devotion of 

 the Corps Lgislatif to the great interests of 

 the country, no less than on that of M. Ollivier, 

 to aid him in the task he had undertaken, of 

 putting into successful operation a constitu- 

 tional regime. 



The Emperor's letter was generally regarded 

 as the close of the personal government in 

 France, and as the first chapter in the history 

 of the constitutional empire. The construc- 

 tion of the new ministry by Ollivier was not 

 completed before January, 1870; it consisted 

 of members of the Right and Left Centres, the 

 combined support of which it was hoped would 

 give to the new ministry a decided majority 

 in the Legislative Body. 



The verification of the election returns being 

 completed, the extraordinary session of the 

 Legislative Body was closed, and a new (the 

 regular) session began. The Legislative Body, 

 for the first time exercising the right of choosing 

 its President, reflected M. Schneider, by 190 

 to 40 votes. 



The French "Yellow-Book," composed of dip- 

 lomatic documents, and the " Blue-Book," con- 

 taining the annual statement of the situation 

 of the empire, were distributed to the mem- 



bers of the Senate and of the Legislative Body 

 on the llth of December. The former com- 

 pilation, which is the thirteenth of the series, 

 has 115 pages. Fourteen are devoted to gen- 

 eral considerations on political affairs, and thir- 

 teen to commercial matters. 



The expose of the political and commercial 

 affairs in the " Yellow-Book," thus refers to 

 the most important foreign questions of the 

 year: 



The situation of the North-German Confederation 

 and the Southern States has not been sensibly mod- 

 ified. We have not seen in the questions which have 

 arisen in the course of the year any reason to depart 

 from the reserve we had observed in presence of the 

 transformations which have occurred beyond the 

 Bhine. Our relations with Germany have not ceased 

 to be very friendly. 



Under favor of the tranquillity which prevails in 

 the States of the Church the bishops of the whole 

 world are about to assemble in Korne.^ The Pope 

 has convoked at the Vatican an (Ecumenical Council. 

 The affairs which will be discussed there are, as a 

 rule, beyond the competence of the political powers 

 of our days, and under this aspect the situation 

 differs materially from that which existed in past 

 centuries. Also, the Emperor's Government, renoun- 

 cing the use of a prerogative which the sovereigns of 

 France had always exercised without protest, has 

 resolved not to interfere in the deliberations of the 

 Council by sending an accredited ambassador. It 

 has considered not only that this determination was 

 most in accordance with the spirit of our times and 

 the relations between Church and State, but that 

 such a course was most suitable to free the French 

 executive from all responsibility in any decisions 

 which may be taken. The Holy Father himself, 

 moreover, seems to have recognized the value of the 

 considerations which guide us, since he has abstained 

 from inviting the Christian princes to send repre- 

 sentatives to this meeting of prelates. However, we 

 have no intention of remaining indifferent to acts 

 which might exercise a great influence on the Catholic 

 populations of all countries. His Majesty's Govern- 

 ment would find, in case of necessity, in the laws of 

 the country the powers requisite to maintain fhejnib- 

 lic rights free from att deterioration. We have, besides, 

 too much confidence in the prudence of the prelates 

 in whose hands are placed the interests of Catholicity 

 not to believe that they will know how to take account 

 of the necessities of the period in which we live. 



At the moment when the European Cabinets were 

 discussing the question of Eastern difficulty with the 

 Sultan and the Khe'dive, a work essentially peaceful 

 in its character, and of a nature to inspire all states 

 with thoughts of union and concord, was completed 

 in Egypt itself. The Suez Conal definitively opened 

 tip the Red Sea and the extreme East to the direct 

 commerce of Europe. France followed with patriotic 

 sympathy the sovereign who went in its name, by 

 the side of the august representatives of powerful 

 nations, to applaud on distant shores the realization 

 of this grand idea. 



The increasing development of our intercourse with 

 E 



jurisconsults and of agents who have lived in the 

 East, was intrusted by the Emperor's Government 

 with the examination of the proposals of the Egyp- 

 tian authorities, and it has set down in a memorandum 

 which was communicated to the various powers in- 

 terested, the result of its labors. At the conclusion 

 of this first inquiry the Government of Egypt thought 

 fit to demand that the question should be studied in 

 the places themselves by an international commission. 

 We acceded to these overtures, on the sole condition 

 that the report of the French commissioners should 



