FRANCE. 



At the beginning of the year 1874, the Bro- 

 glie cabinet found itself supported by only a 

 feeble and wavering majority. Great trouble 

 was caused to it by the pastoral letters issued 

 by a number of French bishops in response to 

 the Papal Encyclical of November 21, 1873, 

 and denouncing directly or indirec Jy the Ger- 

 man Government for its attacks upon the 

 Catholic Church. The Emperor of Germany 

 considered himself personally insulted by a pas- 

 toral letter issued by Bishop Plantier, of Nlmes. 

 The Bishop of Rodez, Bourret, called the church, 

 laws which several European states had re- 

 cently adopted " conspiracies of thieves," and 

 declared that these abominable usurpations and 

 manifest thefts would justify all attacks upon 

 private property and all revolts against the 

 present rulers of the states. In consequence 

 of the remonstrances from Berlin, the Minis- 

 ter of Public Worship, M. do Fourtou, issued on 

 December 26, 1873, a circular to the bishops, 

 recommending moderation. The German Gov- 

 ernment, however, observed that the circular 

 in no wise blamed the bishops, but merely 

 gave them a friendly warning to be cautious 

 on account of the difficulty of the times. It 



* France has abandoned a-large portion of its former 

 possessions in Senegambia. 



was impossible, therefore, for Germany to 

 accept the circular as a reparation. The 

 French Government yielded to the pressure 

 brought upon it, and soon after suspended 

 the Univers for two months for having pub- 

 lished a pastoral letter of the Bishop of Pe- 

 rigueux, though the language of this letter was 

 generally regarded as more moderate than 

 that of the bishops of Kodez, Nimes, and 

 other dioceses. The Italian Government was 

 greatly offended by the presence at the port of 

 Civita Vecchia of the French steamer L'Ore- 

 noque, which had been placed at the disposal 

 of the French embassy and of the Pope, and, 

 in consequence of its remonstrance, the French 

 Government deemed it best to give assurances 

 of its peaceable intentions. A passionate in- 

 terpellation by General du Temple, who it was 

 thought desired to precipitate a war with Italy, 

 called forth from the Minister of Foreign Af- 

 fairs, Duke de Decazes, on January 20, 1874, 

 new assurances of a peaceable policy. 



On January 8, 1874, the National Assembly 

 adopted, in spite of the vigorous opposition of 

 the ministry, a motion made by the Legitimist 

 Franclieu, to postpone the discussion of the 

 bill giving the Government absolute power to 

 name the mayors in all the 36,000 communes 

 of the country, and to take up the municipal 

 bill first. The motion was adopted by a ma- 

 jority of 42 votes (268 against 226),_and the 

 ministry consequently offered its resignation, 

 which the President, however, refused to ac- 

 cept, on the ground that the number of voters 

 had not been large enough to show the opinion 

 of the majority of the National Assembly. 

 The majority soon confirmed the opinion of 

 the President by giving the ministry an ex- 

 pression of its continuing confidence. On Janu- 

 ary 13th, M. de Kerdrel, a member of the Right, 

 expressed the opinion that, though ministerial 

 crises do not possess as much gravity as before 

 the 20th of November, they are, nevertheless, 

 injurious occurrences, and cause serious incon- 

 venience in the administration of the country. 

 The ministry had shown too much suscepti- 

 bility. The sitting of January 8th was not 

 numerously attended, and the Government had 

 certainly not the majority against it. M. de 

 Kerdrel concluded by asking the ministry for 

 a replv such as would satisfy the Assembly and 

 reassure the country. The Duke de Brogiie in 

 reply, said that by the vote of January 8th, 

 the Assembly withdrew from the order of the 

 day a bill of which the ministers demanded 

 the immediate discussion ; the ministers were 

 bound to give in their resignation, without con- 

 sidering the peculiar circumstances attending 

 the vote. The strength of the Government 

 must reside in public opinion as well as in the 

 Assembly. The ministry asked that the bill on 

 the nomination of mayors should be declared 

 urgent ; because they were convinced that the 

 measure was necessary, not because they 

 wished to delay the introduction of the organic 

 law which they desired, nor from party con- 



