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 AN ADDRESS 
 
 DELIVERED BEFORE THE 
 
 COOPBB UNION 
 
 FOR THE ADVANCEMENT OF SCIENCE AND ART, 
 
 NEW-YORK, FEBRUARY 10, 1872. 
 
 BY 
 
 ELLIOT C. COW DIN 
 
 NEW-YORK: 
 PRINTED FOR THE COOPER UNION. 
 
 1872. 
 
[THE library! 
 |OF CONGRESS 
 
 I WASHINGTON I 
 
 JOHN W. AMERMAK, PRINTER, 
 
 No 47 Cedar Street, N. Y. 
 
TO 
 
 PETER COOPER, 
 
 FOUNDER OF THE 
 
 COOPER UNION FOR THE ADVANCEMENT OF SCIENCE AND ART, 
 THIS ADDRESS, 
 
 PREPARED AT THE REQUEST OF THE TRUSTEES, IN THE MIDST OP 
 ACTIVE COMMERCIAL PURSUITS, IS DEDICATED, AS A SLIGHT EXPRES- 
 SION OF RESPECT AND ADMIRATION FOR HIS MUNIFICENCE 
 IN CREATING AND HIS DEVOTION IN FOSTERING, AN 
 INSTITUTION OF INESTIMABLE VALUE TO THE 
 INDUSTRIAL CLASSES OF NEW-YORK, BY 
 HIS SINCERE FRIEND, THE 
 
 AUTHOR. 
 
ADDRESS. 
 
 Mr. President^ Ladies and Gentlemen : 
 
 Four years ago I had the honor of speaking before 
 this excellent institution on the subject of the Paris 
 Universal Exposition of 1867, that is, on the triumph 
 of the arts of civilization, which then seemed to inau- 
 gurate in Europe an era of fraternity and peace. But 
 now the traces of relentless war — the destructions and 
 desecrations of an organized barbarism — are visible in 
 the same great capital. 
 
 An old adage tells us, that " what a man knows 
 should find expression in what he does." With this 
 conviction, and appreciating the noble mission of the 
 Cooper Union in elevating the industrial classes, I come 
 before you as a merchant, from the care and toil of a 
 busy life, to speak this evening of France : the War — 
 the Commune — the International. 
 
 The incidents of the terrible foreign war, and the yet 
 more terrible social revolution, which have shaken 
 France to the centre, but yet failed to ruin it, you 
 have doubtless followed with the deepest interest. 
 
 Owing to the unparalleled liberality, enterprise and 
 
talent of the American press, you at home were better 
 informed of the progress of events than we who were 
 detained in Europe. You were apprised of the for- 
 tunes of war, thanks to the telegraphic nerve, whose 
 westward thrills outstrip time itself in velocity, almost 
 before the reverberations of the terrible artillery had 
 died away upon decisive battle fields. Day by day 
 you traced the progress of that tornado of invasion, 
 which, in one month from the commencement of hos- 
 tilities at Saarbruck, overwhelmed, uprooted and 
 swept away the Empire, 
 
 You saw what the popular heroism of France re- 
 fused to recognize, that, when the French army 
 capitulated, and Napoleon III. surrendered his sword 
 at Sedan, the contest was virtually ended. Marshal 
 MacMahon recognized it on that fatal morning of 
 September 1st, when, on being urged to retire from 
 his perilous post, he answered : "Let me alone! Let 
 " me show these kings and princes, who hide them- 
 " selves behind masses of men, how a French Marshal 
 " can fight and die when victory is no longer possi- 
 " ble." Gen. Trochu recognized it, when he declared 
 that the defence of Paris was " a heroic folly." 
 
 Yet th.e efforts to arrest the chariot wheels of destiny 
 were glorious. " Heroic folly !" It was such indeed ! 
 but a people capable of such chivalric madness cannot 
 perish from the face of the earth. The long resist- 
 ance of Strasburg ; that of Metz ; the desperate defi- 
 ance of little Phalsbourg, which did not open its gates 
 
to the enemy until every musket had been broken 
 and every cannon spiked ; above all, the constancy 
 with which Paris endured the long horrors of invest- 
 ment and bombardment ; — these claim that tribute 
 which generous natures must ever pay to unavailing 
 valor and indestructible patriotism. 
 
 The simple secret of the immense military disaster 
 which struck' down the proudest nation of Europe is 
 patent to all : Prussia was prepared for war, and 
 France was not. 
 
 It has been said that the Emperor was unaware of 
 the superior efficiency of the Prussian army and the 
 completeness of its organization. Such, however, 
 could not have been the case, for the reports he re- 
 ceived from Lieut. Col. Baron Stoffel, his military 
 attaclie to the French Embassy at Berlin, submitted in 
 1868, 1869 and 1870, were minute and exhaustive. 
 
 These reports showed that in time of war the 
 German Confederation could bring into the field 
 900,000 men, which, in an emergency, could be 
 raised to 1,200,000, or more; that the number of 
 young men of the age of 20 was 300,000, and the 
 annual contingent, 93,000 ; that the duration of military 
 service was 12 years, three of which were to be passed 
 inth e active army, four in the reserve, and five in the 
 Landwehr^ with further liability in the Landsturm, until 
 the age of 42. 
 
 It was shown that the whole Confederation of 
 German States was divided into twelve great circum- 
 
8 
 
 scriptioDS, each of which was so organized as to send 
 into the field a complete army corps, consisting of two 
 divisions of cavalry, one reserve of artillery, one battal- 
 ion of pioneers, and all the requisite field service ; and, 
 lastly, that the quality of these troops was tried and 
 generally excellent. 
 
 That the Emperor had studied these reports is 
 proved by a printed but not published document, 
 found among his papers at the Tuileries, apparently 
 prepared by himself, in which the effective strength of 
 the German and French armies was minutely set forth 
 in parallel columns, accompanied by the following re- 
 marks : 
 
 " Compare the military state of Northern Germany 
 " with ours, and judge whether those who desire to 
 " reduce our national forces yet more, are well en- 
 " lightened as to the real interest of the country." 
 
 Even these statements were based on the apparent 
 effectiveness of the French army. The test of expe- 
 rience proved that corruption had been at work there, 
 as elsewhere ; that men, arms, munitions and pro- 
 visions, which figured on paper, had no existence in 
 fact ; and that a war with Prussia in 1870 was equally 
 unstatesmanlike and unsoldierlike rashness. 
 
 The tremendous military power of Prussia could hot 
 be hidden from the eyes of the world ; but her secret 
 preparations were quite as formidable, and they show 
 
the maturity of her plans and the thoroughness with 
 which she entered upon the campaign. 
 
 Her spies -pervaded Europe from St. Petersburgh to 
 Paris, and well known French writers have asserted 
 that they were afterwards found among the fomenters 
 of the civil war of the Commune. More than this, 
 many of the most influential journals in Europe were 
 paid Prussian organs, one of which, according to M. 
 Edw. Schure, whose published pamphlet is my au- 
 thority, received 800,000 francs (or $160,000) per 
 annum for its venal services. 
 
 This great Franco-German war between parties so 
 unequally matched, had its origin neither with the 
 people of France nor with the people of Germany ; on 
 the contrary, their sympathies as well as interests, 
 were, as I know from actual observation, wholly on 
 the side of peace. 
 
 The real author of the war was Napoleon HI, in 
 the interest of his dynasty, while his willing accomplice 
 was the King of Prussia, in the interest of his ambition. 
 In other words, it was a dynastic duel between the 
 BoNAPARTES and the Hohenzollerns. But when hos- 
 tilities were once commenced, the spirit of patriotism, 
 as in all international wars, united each nation in the 
 defence of its flag. 
 
 We learn from Count Benedetti's vindication of 
 himself, as late French Ambassador to Berlin, — assum- 
 ing the fairness of his statements, — that Napoleon was 
 fully informed of Prussia's intended attack on Austria, 
 
10 
 
 in 1866, long before it took place, and exhibited an 
 unaccountable supineness with regard to it. It is 
 admitted that his quiescence must have been pur- 
 chased by a kind of understanding with Prussia, that 
 if she was allowed to pursue her scheme of aggrandize- 
 ment, France would be allowed to extend her limits 
 by annexation of neighboring territory, provided it 
 was of French-speaking people, and this might be 
 done by the absorption either of Belgium or portions 
 of Switzerland. Had Napoleon acted promptly, he 
 might have seized Belgium, at the hazard of a war 
 with England, but without any fear of Prussia. The 
 opportunity, however, slipped by unemployed. 
 
 Prussia humbled Austria in a campaign of unex- 
 ampled brevity, and stood before the eyes of Europe 
 as a military Colossus, victorious and armed at all 
 points. 
 
 France beheld with shame and indignation the 
 expansion of her ancient enemy, with no compen- 
 sation of increase of territory on her part. A war 
 between the two countries seemed inevitable. But 
 here diflQculties interposed. In their hatred of Im- 
 perial sway, the French opposition, though weak, 
 rallied adherents, by raising the ever popular cry of 
 economy ; and the 120 millions of francs, which Mar- 
 shal NiEL called for as imperatively necessary, were cut 
 down to five millions. At the same time the radical 
 party were inflaming the passions of the people by 
 harping on the exasperating theme that France had 
 
11 
 
 been overreached by Prussia. The Constitutional re- 
 forms inaugurated by Napoleon's naemorable letter of 
 the 19th of January, 1867, only served to loosen the 
 bonds which held together the political fabric of the 
 nation. The extended liberty of the press and the 
 right of meeting proved advantageous only to the 
 enemies of the Empire. 
 
 Conspicuous among the causes of discontent was the 
 ignominious failure of the Mexican Expedition, which 
 brought humiliation to the heart, and heavy financial 
 losses home to the purse, of Paris. That expedition 
 was one of the Emperor's fatal mistakes ; indeed, it may 
 be called the beginning of his downfall.' It was un- 
 dertaken, too, in the darkest hour of our great rebel- 
 lion, when he believed the union of the States was for- 
 ever dissolved. Had the attempt been made when 
 our arms were unemployed, it would doubtless have 
 led to instant war, for a republican people, brave and 
 strong as ours, can permit no king or Kaiser to erect a 
 permanent throne upon the soil of North America. 
 ■ The murder of Victor Noir by a Bonaparte prince 
 increased the peril of the situation, and led to danger- 
 ous agitation in the capital. 
 
 Still, by shrewd management, by adroit manipula- 
 tion of parties, by evoking the Red spectre of revolu- 
 tion to terrify the conserv^atives, by pointing to the real 
 services of the Empire in maintaining order, in devel- 
 oping the material resources of France, in improving 
 the capital, the seaports and the great cities, in foster- 
 
12 
 
 ing commerce, manufactures and agriculture, and in 
 opening new sources of employment for the masses, the 
 Emperor signally triumphed in the pUhiscite of May, 
 1870 ; and for the third time a majority of millions of 
 votes seemed to assure him the unchallenged occu- 
 pancy of the throne. 
 
 But gathering years and infirmities admonished him 
 to think of his successor. He thought lie could hope 
 to secure the crown to the Prince Imperial only by sur- 
 rounding his brow with a halo of military glory, which 
 had hitherto never failed to dazzle the eyes of France. 
 A Dynastic necessity seemed to compel him, all unpre- 
 pared as he was, to quarrel with Prussia, and to declare 
 war on a pretext. The selection of a German prince 
 as a candidate for the Spanish crown, though disa- 
 vowed by King William, led to the demand for further 
 concessions incompatible with the dignity of the Prus- 
 sian monarch. 
 
 The French declaration of war was made July 15, 
 1870. Notwithstanding the efforts of the Imperialists 
 to create enthusiasm, the war was not really popular. 
 The reports from Prefects, since discovered in the ar- 
 chives, show that the rural populations were averse to 
 war ; and, in Paris, though the news produced univer- 
 sal excitement, it was not the excitement of martial 
 spirit. The streets of the city were filled with an in- 
 quisitive and anxious populace, representing every 
 class and interest. To ascertain the temper of the 
 masses, I drove early in the evening, in company with 
 
13 
 
 an American friend, in an open carriage through the 
 principal Boulevards, and nowhere could we perceive 
 among the dense crowds any marked expressions of 
 genuine enthusiasm. Here and there a small pack of 
 clacqiieicrs, like those who are paid to start the applause 
 at theatres, uttered shouts of "Fwe la guerre T — " On 
 to Berlin!" But these cries were followed not long 
 afterwards by shouts of " Down with the Empire !" 
 
 It is hardly necessary to add, that many of the most 
 eminent writers and thinkers of France openly pro- 
 claimed their opposition to the war. Ernest Renan, 
 Daniel Stern, Edgar QuiNET.and Michelet, not to 
 mention such statesmen as Messieurs Thiers, Jules 
 Favre and others, were most determined in their hos- 
 tility to it, and were energetically seconded by some 
 of the most powerful journals of Paris. 
 
 When the war broke out, the French could bring 
 into the field scarcely more than one-third of the men 
 that Prussia had called to arms. Strasburg was armed 
 with old ordnance, and imperfectly provisioned. One 
 of the forts of Metz was unfinished. The Commissariat 
 was a failure from the outset. Political corruption had 
 eaten into the very heart of the military strength of 
 France. Then came a series of disasters such as never 
 before befell a great nation in the world's history, and 
 the Empire perished in a breath. 
 
 The petty affair of Saarbruck, magnified by the 
 Emperor in his bulletins into a serious victory, in which 
 the poor boyish Prince Imperial gallantly received the 
 
14 
 
 " baptism of fire," was followed^by the crushing blow 
 dealt by the Crown Prince of Prussia at Weissem- 
 bourg; by the French retreat all along the lines; by 
 McMahon's second and terrible defeat at Woerth ; by 
 FoEBACH ; by successive days of fighting and disaster ; 
 by the terrible actions of GraveJotte, Mars Latour, 
 Beaumont, St. Barbe ; and last, and worst of all, Sedan. 
 
 Only vague rumors of reverses reached Paris. The 
 Government was deterred from publishing the facts by 
 the fear of provoking a political uprising. When the 
 truth could no longer be lied away, when Paris knew 
 that the capitulation placed in the hands of the enemy, 
 Louis Napoleon, a Marshal of France, 8,000 prisoners 
 outside, 4,000 officers of all ranks, 79,000 soldiers shut 
 up in Sedan, 14,000 wounded, 10,000 horses, the 
 whole war material of a great army, 400 field pieces, 
 70 mitrailleuses^' 150 rampart guns, all the small arms 
 and baggage; — that it opened to the enemy the road to 
 Paris, and virtually placed the whole French territory 
 in the hands of the Germans ; — then the empire perished 
 in a storm of hisses and execrations, A passionate 
 insurrection in Paris swept it away on the 4th of Sep- 
 tember, 1870. The people, rushing to the Corps 
 Legislatif^ demanded, or rather declared, the dt- 
 cTieance — the forfeiture — of the existing Government. 
 
 Thirteen men, chiefly lawyers, journalists and novel- 
 ists, seized the helm of the ship of State, and, with the 
 assent of the people of Paris, formed a Provisional 
 
15 
 
 Government of National Defence, taking possession of 
 the Hotel de Ville. 
 
 "In a few brief hours of a Sabbath day I had seen 
 "a dynasty fall, and a republic proclaimed, and all 
 ''without the shedding of one drop of blood." How 
 full of meaning were these few words of Mr. Wash- 
 
 BURNE I 
 
 And here let me say that, did time permit, I would 
 gladly speak in detail of the subsequent services which 
 our indefatigable, intrepid and sagacious Minister ren- 
 dered during the Siege and during the domination of 
 the Commune, not only to his countrymen, but to all 
 who required his aid. His brave good sense and be- 
 nevolence elicited universal commendation. In the 
 British House of Commons, Mr. Gladstone, the Prime 
 Minister, celebrated, in sonorous periods, the self- 
 devotion of our resolute Minister ; and some members 
 of the House did not hesitate to contrast his pres- 
 ence at the post of duty and danger, with the desertion 
 of that post by the Ambassador of Great Britain. 
 All the members of the American Legation and of 
 the Consulate General ably seconded their devoted 
 chiefs, while the efficient service of the American ambu- 
 lance corps France will long hold in grateful remem- 
 brance. 
 
 The offices of the new Government of National 
 Defence were thus distributed : General Trochu, (who 
 had previously acted as Governor of Paris by Napo- 
 leon's appointment,) Minister of War ; M. Gambetta, 
 
16 
 
 Minister of the Interior ; M. Jules Fayre, Minister of 
 Foreign Aifairs; M. Ernest Picard, Minister of Finance ; 
 M. Jules Slmon, Minister of Public Instruction ; and 
 M. Cremieux, Minister of Justice. 
 
 The improvised Government had at command, the 
 proceeds of a loan of 800,000,000 francs, just sub- 
 scribed, and a War Minister of acknowledged ability, 
 particularly as an organizer. 
 
 Mobile Guards, hastily recruited in the Western 
 provinces, were streaming into Paris, together with 
 provisions of all kinds. The works requisite for defend- 
 ing Paris, planned by the late war minister, Palikao, 
 had only to be continued, and a due enforcement of 
 the rules of the siege would have ensured the tran- 
 quillity of the capital during the impending blockade. 
 Instead, however, of applying themselves with resolu- 
 tion and unity of purpose to the task of ensuring a 
 successful resistance to the enemy, the Government of 
 National Defence began by temporizing with political 
 demagogues and adventurers. Its first act was to 
 abolish the stamp duty on newspapers, the effect of 
 which was that the streets were constantly flooded with 
 incendiary sheets_, pandering to the vilest passions of 
 the populace — a populace, by the way, which were 
 furnished with the best fire-arms, when the supply was 
 inadequate for the needs of the regular troops. Sixty 
 new battalions of National Guards, mainly consisting of 
 the most turbulent revolutionists, were created. 
 
 Then came the suppression of the old police, and the 
 
17 
 
 creation of an unarmed force ; proclamations declaring 
 the profession of printer and bookseller free, substitut- 
 ing the word National for Imperial on public buildings, 
 and creating a commission for changing the names of 
 the streets. For instance, the street in which our office 
 is situated, was called, under the Empire, Rue du Dix 
 Decemhre^ in honor of the day on which Louis Napo- 
 leon Bonaparte was first elected President of the Re- 
 public. It now takes the name of Rue du Quatre 
 Septemhre^ the day on which the present republic was 
 proclaimed and Napoleon dethroned. A Paris satirist 
 has suggested that it be again changed, and take the 
 name of Rue de la ProcTiaine Revolution. 
 
 But, during the week preceding the siege, military 
 measures were not neglected. The Government of De- 
 fence sought also to consult the people, and issued a 
 decree convoking the electoral colleges for the 16th of 
 October ; but the election could not take place, owing 
 to the state of the country, one-fourth of which was 
 occupied by the enemy. The Government, therefore, 
 remained in power, without the ascertained consent of 
 the nation. 
 
 Another praiseworthy act of the Government of 
 National Defence was that of accepting, before the 
 blockade, the services of M. Thiers, who offered to 
 visit the foreign courts to solicit their good offices be- 
 tween victorious Prussia and almost prostrate France. 
 Though his mission led to no immediate result, yet its 
 effects were perceptible after the war. 
 
 2 
 
18 
 
 The Prussians continued to advance on the city by 
 forced marches, and, on the 19th of September, after 
 an action in which the Parisian troops were driven 
 from Chatillon, an important position which com- 
 manded two of the southern forts, the investment was 
 complete. On that day, M. Jules Favre had an inter- 
 view with Count Bismarck, in reference to terms of 
 peace ; but the demands of the Prussian Premier were 
 so exorbitant that the attempted negotiation failed. 
 Unfortunately, the Government of France, ignoring the 
 fact that victory gives the conqueror the right of dic- 
 tating terms, had placed itself in a false position, by 
 declaring that " it would not surrender one inch of 
 " territory, nor one stone of a fortress." 
 
 By this time business in Paris was generally sus- 
 pended. The 'streets were filled by gangs of men 
 roaring the Marseillaise^ and marching to and fro. To 
 control the excited masses by giving them employment, 
 General Trochu, as Governor of Paris, conceived the 
 idea of forming an army out of this raw material. In 
 less than two months, the army of Paris numbered 
 300,000 men, partially drilled, armed and equipped, 
 and provided with a train of 600 field guns and 
 mitrailleuses^ all cast and finished within the besieged 
 capital. 
 
 Another feature of this memorable siege was the 
 postal arrangement of air balloons, which became a 
 regular institution. The postage on letters more than 
 paid for the expense of the balloons. Each balloon took 
 
19 
 
 out a basket full of carrier pigeons, tlie birds returning 
 with government and private despatches, miscrosco- 
 pically photographed. 
 
 These miscroscopic despatches were afterwards en- 
 larged and transcribed. It was in a balloon that the 
 fiery Gambetta escaped from Paris to join three of his 
 colleagues at Tours, and organize the provisional armies 
 which made so gallant but so fruitless a resistance to 
 the enemy. We all know that every desperate sortie 
 from Paris failed to break the iron line of the invest- 
 ment, and that, notwithstanding the brilliant affiiirs of 
 Bourget, Montretout and Buzenval, the Prussians 
 steadily advanced. 
 
 Whether wisely or otherwise, the Government of 
 Defence laid no restrictions on public meetings. The 
 result was, that a great number of revolutionary clubs, 
 — " Red Clubs," as they were called — sprang into exist- 
 ence. At most of these, particularly the clubs of 
 Favie, Belleville and Montmartre, the most subversive 
 doctrines were preached. Every thing that the world 
 holds sacred, the family and the rights of property, 
 public order, the sanctities of religion, were mocked 
 at ; rebellion was advocated, and assassination justified. 
 
 Two formidable attempts to overthrow the Govern- 
 ment of National Defence, one on the 31st of October, 
 1870, the other on the 22d of January, ]8Tl, origi- 
 nated in these clubs. Every kind of absurdity and 
 atrocity found utterance at these gatherings. 
 
 One of the speakers, referring to an article in the 
 
20 
 
 official journal, announcing that the Government was 
 ready to fight or to treat for peace on honorable 
 terms, exclaimed : " Is this the language of a Republi- 
 " can Government ? No! no! it is the language of 
 " treason ! A Republican Government ought to decree 
 " victory or death !" 
 
 At the Democratic Club oi Les Batignolles^ (on the 
 9th of December,) the President declared that " France 
 " would go to the relief of her heroic sister of the 
 " North (Poland) as soon as circumstances luould per- 
 " miV The reservation was judicious. 
 
 " What we want," cried one of the orators, " is '93. 
 " Well, '93 will come again ; be sure of it. Citizens, 
 " we shall find new Robespierres and new Marats." 
 This sentiment was received with thunders of ap- 
 plause. 
 
 On another occasion, later, a speaker, endorsing 
 Henri Rochefort, because he had justified regicide in 
 his paper, Le Mot cC Ordre^ exclaimed : — 
 
 " Regicide, citizens, Regicide ! If there is a man 
 " among you who would kill all the kings, I would not 
 " content myself by making him a deputy, I would 
 " make him a God, if I believed there was one r 
 
 At the Club of the Revolution, a speaker delivered 
 himself in this wise: "I have been in Africa, where 
 " the French have beaten the Arabs, one against a 
 " hundred, and I can't understand why we cannot 
 
21 
 
 " make an end of the Prussians. Are we degenerate ? 
 " I saw a Frenchman fight a whole day against a 
 " thousand Arabs, in the plain of Mitidja, and succeed 
 " by nightfall in putting them all to flight !" 
 
 In the Club of the Rue d' Arras, a citizen excited the 
 indignation of the audience against his landlord be- 
 cause he had the " meanness" to complain of him for 
 burning up the doors of his house for fuel. 
 
 Hunting for Prussian spies, and for traitorous signals 
 to the enemy, afforded much occupation to such 
 patriots as these during the siege. One night, in the 
 Avenue des Thermes^ a party of vigilant citizens de- 
 tected a " red and green signal" in the front window 
 of a house. Mad with suspicion, they rushed up to 
 the room on the fifth floor, and found a good old lady 
 scraping lint for the wounded. The " red and green 
 signal" turned out to be a harmless parrot, swinging 
 in a casre at the window. 
 
 o 
 
 It would be repeating a twice-told tale to recount 
 how a National Assembly, elected by universal suffrage, 
 meeting first at Bordeaux, and then adjourning to 
 Versailles, with M. Thiers as President of the Repub- 
 lic, concluded the best terms of peace they could 
 obtain after all the heroic efforts to turn the scale of 
 victory had proved fruitless; and how the Parisians 
 were compelled to submit to the indignity of seeing a 
 Prussian detachment march into the city on March 1, 
 1871, and occupy the Champs Elyseas for a couple of 
 
22 
 
 days, in assertion of their coroplete triumph over 
 French patriotism and French pride. 
 
 Before sketching the tremendous catastrophe which 
 followed shortly after the settlement of the terms of 
 peace, let us glance for a moment at the political 
 divisions of French opinion. 
 
 There are now four factions in France : the Repub- 
 licans, the Imperialists, the Orleanists and the Legiti- 
 mists, neither of which has a majority of the people on 
 its side, and neither of which is without hope of suc- 
 ceeding in establishing a government for the country, 
 based on its own exclusive ideas. The principles of 
 the Republicans, now virtually in power, require no 
 definition. 
 
 The Imperialists claim that the Empire, ratified by 
 universal sufi^rage, has never been legally dissolved, 
 and assume that another ])lehiscitG would restore and 
 re-afiBrm it. 
 
 The Orleanists claim the inheritance of a constitu- 
 tional title, and are represented by princes whose per- 
 sonal character and talents are above question. Two 
 of them, the Duke d'Aumale and the Prince de Join- 
 viLLE, have been elected to the National Assembly, and 
 finally permitted to take their seats. Their nephew, 
 the Count de Paris, is a pretender to the throne. 
 
 There are pleasant memories of the long and peace- 
 ful reign of the Citizen-King among the middle classes, 
 and his grandson is not without a powerful party. 
 But the mass of the people cannot forget that the 
 
23 
 
 Monarchy of July deceived their aspirations, and, in its 
 later days precipitated a revolution by repeating the 
 despotism and errors of the elder Bourbons. 
 
 The people of France had but a small share in its gov- 
 ernment under the reign of Louis Philippe. There was 
 a Legislature composed of a Chamber of Peers and a 
 Chamber of Deputies^ corresponding to our Senate and 
 House of Representatives. But the King appointed 
 the Peers, and as no man was allowed a vote for repre- 
 sentatives who was not a landed proprietor, paying 
 200 francs, or $40, annual tax, there were but about 
 200,000 voters out of a population of over 30,000,000 ; 
 in fact, less voters than there were office holders ap- 
 pointed by the Government. This small body of elect- 
 ors was easily manipulated by public officials. Di- 
 rectly, or indirectly, both Chambers were practically 
 appointed by Louis Philippe and his ministers. There 
 were also other abuses in the system. The deputies, 
 chosen by royal influence, were often functionaries who 
 received salaries while retaining their seats in the 
 Chamber. ^ If they did not vote with the Government, 
 of course they were removed. The result was, that 
 Louis Philippe, though he did not openly and boldly 
 declare, "I am the State," as Louis XIV. did, ac- 
 tually exercised the same authority. 
 
 In striking contrast with this is the fact, that, in the 
 recent election, the Republican authorities prohibited, 
 in the most formal manner, the interference of office 
 
24 
 
 holders in the canvass, leaving the people entirely free 
 to express their will. 
 
 The Count de Chambord, the claimant of the throne 
 of France, supported by the Legitimist party, which 
 hopes to see him crowned as Henry V., rests his pre- 
 tentions on the Divine Right of Kings. Against this 
 right the people of France protested in 1789. The 
 first and second Republics, the first and second Em- 
 pires, the choice of Loms Philippe, as King of the 
 French, were the assertions of the right of an elective 
 government against the pretensions of the right divine. 
 Foreign bayonets restored Louis XVIIL ; French 
 bayonets could not retain Charles X. on the throne. 
 Yet the Legitimists still hope to see the Bourbon lilies 
 and the white flag, the symbols of Divine Right, once 
 more replace the Eagle and the Tricolor. The Church 
 supports their cause. The Catholic clergy, as a choice 
 of evils, accepted Louis Napoleon, and he secured 
 their adhesion by sustaining the temporal sovereignty 
 of the Pope. It was under his auspices that the Ro- 
 man Republic of 1849 was destroyed. The final with- 
 drawal of the French troops by the Emperor was an 
 act which the clergy can never forgive, as it opened 
 the gates of Rome to Victor Emanuel. 
 
 A fusion of the Legitimists and Orleanists has been 
 talked of, but that is hardly possible, for it would in- 
 volve the surrender by each party of its logical basis. 
 The assertor of Divine Right would have to recog- 
 nize the claims of a Revolutionary dynasty, and the lat- 
 
25 
 
 ter compelled to admit that royalty had a supernatural 
 origin. The Count de Chambord could not bequeath 
 the throne to the Count de Paris, though the Count 
 DE Paris is his " legitimate" successor ; for the elder 
 branch of the Bourbons has systematically warred 
 against the rights of the people, and inevitable revolu- 
 tion has long ago negatived its capacity to bequeath 
 the Government of France as an inheritance. 
 
 We must now consider as briefly as possible certain 
 theories and certain associations, whose applications 
 and acts were terrible elements in the recent tragic 
 history of Paris. 
 
 The relations of Capital and Labor have for many 
 years been the subject of the profoundest study of the 
 greatest minds, and they now raise questions which 
 have assumed a colossal magnitude. In Europe these 
 questions are fraught with danger to civilization itself ; 
 in this country, I dare to hope, they are divested of all 
 future peril. They are dangerous in Europe, because 
 the conditions of a pacific solution, a free ballot, free 
 speech, a free press, common schools and general cul- 
 ture, are there mainly wanting. But they are no longer 
 dangerous in America, because here these conditions 
 exist ; because the opportunities for success are uni- 
 versal ; because almost boundless tracts of land afford 
 an outlet for excessive populations in crowded lo- 
 calities ; and because the local claim of caj)ital to the 
 ownership of labor has been for ever settled by force of 
 arms. 
 
26 
 
 In a country where most of our capitalists, both na- 
 tive and adopted citizens, have risen from poverty to 
 affluence by their own exertions, by manual toil or 
 inventive genius, by labor of head or hand ; where the 
 consolidation of inherited wealth is an exception to 
 the general rule ; there is little danger that any for- 
 midable number of our working men will adopt the 
 fundamental axiom of the International Society, that 
 " capital is the enemy of labor," or endorse the horrible 
 propositions of Prudhon, that " property is theft, mar- 
 " riage an immorality, God an evil." 
 
 Here the inter-dependence of capital and labor is 
 generally recognized, and the regulation of their rela- 
 tions, amicably and satisfactorily, is provided for by 
 the very nature of our institutions, and the character 
 and traditions of our people. 
 
 It is gratifying to know that, in this country, the 
 questions growing out of the relations of capital and 
 labor, the condition of the latter, its claims on legisla- 
 tion, and kindred topics, are now to be thoroughly in- 
 vestigated by a Congressional Bureau, recently estab- 
 lished by law. 
 
 The idea of an inevitable war between capital and 
 labor, in which one or the other must be destroyed or 
 enslaved, is an absurdity unworthy the intelligence of 
 an average American school boy. 
 
 The grandeur and glory of every Nation belong to 
 the People. By their labor, by their valor, by the 
 men of genius sprung from their ranks, they have 
 
27 
 
 won their full share of enduring renown. We accept, 
 as a LAW, the community of interests in every so- 
 ciety. The wise statesmen looks watchfully to the 
 claims of the masses ; and none but the veriest de- 
 magogue seeks to array one class against another, 
 whether it be by favoritism or class legislation in the 
 interest of the rich, or by appeals to the passions 
 and prejudices of the poor. In this free country, 
 where the ballot is in every man's hand, and education 
 is provided for all ; where there is no restriction on 
 the rights of laboring men to form co-operative soci- 
 eties, — which are worthy of all praise ; where every op- 
 portunity is offered to workmen to better their con- 
 dition, — there is no excuse, as I trust there is no desire, 
 for the violent measures which have produced such de- 
 plorable results in Europe. 
 
 From time to time, charlatans have appeared who 
 have claimed to possess sovereign panaceas for all 
 social evils, as there have been at all times quacks who 
 have pretended to cure all physical maladies. Both 
 have made converts, and both have generally contrived 
 to enrich themselves at the expense of their dupes. 
 
 Only a passing allusion is n-ecessary to Plato's "Re- 
 public," Sir Thomas More's " Utopia," Morelly's 
 " Code of Nature," the Socialist movement of the 16th 
 century, and Babeuf's " Conspiracy of Equals," to show 
 the antiquity and persistence of theories for the radical 
 renovation of society. They all misconceive the na- 
 ture of man. 
 
28 
 
 The French revolution of 1830 brought into promi- 
 nence the doctrines of St. Simon, Fourier and Cabet. 
 These theories took no permanent root. A more prac- 
 tical influence in France was exerted by the philan- 
 thropic impossibilities of the scheme of Louis Blanc, 
 published in 1840, and largely accepted by the work- 
 ingmen of Paris. Hatred of rivalry, and love of abso- 
 lute equality, were the passions to which he appealed 
 with a certain success. According to his plan, the 
 skilled mechanic was to receive no higher remunera- 
 tion than the unskilled workman ; the man of energy 
 and genius was placed side by side with the dawdler 
 and the simpleton. The prevention of laziness, the 
 suppression, indeed, of all crimes, was to be secured 
 by means of no police officers or courts of justice, but 
 by the simple announcement on a placard, " The Idler 
 is a Robber!" 
 
 When the Revolution of 1848 triumphed, a decree 
 of the Provisional Government, of which Louis Blanc 
 was a member, guaranteed work to all who needed it. 
 
 In July 'of that year the Assembly voted a credit of 
 5,000,000 francs for the purpose of making advances 
 to such workingmen as .wished to form associations. 
 Thirty-two of these were formed in Paris, and twenty- 
 nine in the departments, absorbing nearly the whole 
 of the appropriation. The abolition of competition 
 and the equality of salaries were the two great features 
 of Louis Blanc's system. One hundred and eighty 
 (180) societies of workmen were formed in Paris* 
 
29 
 
 without the aid of the Government. Most of these 
 societies started with Louis Blanc's theory, but aban- 
 doned it in practice, labor being remunerated accord- 
 ing to its quality. His system proved a complete 
 failure. In 1858 there remained at Paris but nine of 
 the associations fostered by the Government, and only 
 four of those were prospering, while of the 180 co- 
 operative societies existing in 1850, but ten were in 
 existence in 1867. 
 
 Before the establishment of any of these societies, 
 combinations had been formed among the workingmen 
 in defiance of law. Under the Restoration and the 
 Monarchy of July, the coalitionists were repeatedly 
 prosecuted. These assaults on a natural right alienated 
 the workingmen from the Government, and threw them 
 into the revolutionary ranks. The republic of 1848 
 did not enforce the law, and it was abolished in 1864, 
 only acts of violence being punished. In England the 
 rights of the laborer were secured in 1825. 
 
 A Delegation of French workingmen, with the sanc- 
 tion and aid of the French Government, visited the 
 great London Exhibition of 1862. While there in con- 
 sultation with their English brethren, they laid the 
 foundation of the International Association of Working- 
 men, which is said to number now 2,500,000 mem- 
 bers. The English Trades Unions, with many good 
 features, such as a provision for members in case of 
 sickness or accident, insurance against loss of tools, &c., 
 exercised great tyranny in the enforcement of Strikes, 
 
30 
 
 and committed sanguinary outrages, particularly in 
 Sheffield. But their influence was local. They had 
 no relation with the continental Trades, and no means 
 of preventing the importation of continental mechanics 
 to fill the places of strikers. The International Society 
 proposed to unite the workingmen of the world in one 
 body. Provisional statutes were drawn up at a meeting 
 held in St. Martin's Hall, London, September 28, 1864. 
 There was nothing very alarming in the programme ; 
 it dealt chiefly in '> glittering generalities." 
 
 The first committee of the International sketched 
 vaguely the organization of the future society, the 
 principal point being the establishment of a general 
 Annual Congress, which should fulfill the office of a con- 
 stituent and legislative assembly, and appoint a perma- 
 nent general Council, destined to be the real govern- 
 ment of the Association. A more or less considerable 
 number of the members of the Association grouped 
 together, either because they belonged to the same 
 trade in the same locality, or because they lived in the 
 same town or quarter, formed a federation. All the 
 united federations composed the Association, which is 
 directed by annual Congresses, and governed by the 
 general Council. The members of each section were 
 to choose delegates to represent them, some in the 
 federal Council, others in the Congress which elects the 
 members of the general Council. Practically the found- 
 ers of the society seem to have constituted the general 
 Council from the outset, their powers having been con- 
 
tinued and confirmed by the annual Congresses, All 
 the federations of a single locality are combined under 
 the name of branch, and the combination of all the sec- 
 tions, federations and branches, constitutes the Interna- 
 tional Society of Workingmen. The annual cost of 
 membership is small — in some localities only two cents. 
 In France the total annual assessments of a member 
 never exceed 8 francs, or $1.60. The aggregate fund, 
 however, enables it to sustain strikes in any locality, 
 whenever it is thought advisable. 
 
 It would occupy too much time to go minutely into 
 the detail of the machinery of this Association. Suffice 
 it to say, that all its branches are in constant commu- 
 nication with each other, and that they succeed in 
 maintaining this correspondence even in countries 
 where such societies can have no legal existence. All 
 orders emanating from the general Council in permanent 
 session in London, are implicitly obeyed by the whole 
 fraternity. The first Congress was opened at Geneva, 
 Sept. 3, 1866 ; the second at Lausanne, Sept. 2, 1867; 
 the third at Brussels, Sept. 6, 1868 ; and the fourth at 
 Basle, Sept. 6, 1869. Owing to the state of the conti- 
 nent, no Congress met in 1870. We may regard the 
 Commune of Paris as the Congress of 1871. 
 
 A "French Positivist," author of "Political Notes 
 on the Present Situation in France," published in Lon- 
 don, thus describes the theories of the International : 
 
 "Their philosophy is atheism, materialism, the ne- 
 
32 
 
 *'gation of all religion. Their political programme is 
 " summed up in absolute individual liberty, obtained 
 " by the suppression of all government, and the divis- 
 *'ion of Nationalities into Communes more or less feder- 
 " ated. Their political economy consists essentially in 
 " the dispossession, with compensation, of capitalists, and 
 "the transfer of their money, implements of labor and 
 "land, to workingmen's associations. Their historical 
 " theory is that the nobility and middle class have had 
 " their day, and that of the laboring class has now 
 "come. They exclude all persons outside of the 
 "working class." 
 
 How far this representation is correct, we shall see 
 from the reports, speeches and resolutions of the Con- 
 gresses, and from studying the International at luork in 
 Paris. A Swiss workingman having proposed to open 
 with prayer the Congress of 1866, according to the 
 custom of his country, the motion was indignantly re- 
 jected, and most of the delegates formally declared 
 their atheistic and materialistic sentiments. In the 
 same Congress a motion declaring the equivalence of 
 functions was adopted — that is, the day's work of .one 
 man was worth no more than the day's work of an- 
 other. In 1866 it was declared by a vote of 50 out 
 of 65, that society has a right to abolish individual 
 property, to transfer it into collective property, and 
 that there is a necessity for effecting this transformation 
 of property as soon as possible. The division of pro- 
 perty is characterized by the new name of Collectivity. 
 
33 
 
 "Divide!" says Bayle Sr, John — who cannot be ac- 
 cused of virulent hostility to Communism — " why, in 
 "six weeks the whole world would be mortgaged to 
 "usurers !" 
 
 A story is told of Baron de Rothschild, which shows 
 his appreciation of th's system. A couple of Commu- 
 nists waited on him, and told him that his wealth be- 
 longed not to himself, but to the people of France col- 
 lectively. "Ah!" said the Baron, as he took a scrap 
 of paper and made a prompt calculation, " then your 
 " share will be four francs. Here's a five franc piece. 
 "Never mind about the change, but go about your 
 " business." 
 
 How the transfer of property from its present to its 
 future possessors, or how the liquidation of capital^ 
 to use the phrase of the Internationals, is to be effected, 
 has never been clearly indicated ; but some such pro- 
 ceeding as this has been suggested. If a man borrows 
 a hundred dollars, and pays yearly installments of ten 
 dollars each, at the end of ten years the debt will be 
 paid. President Andrew Johnson, it will be remem- 
 bered, proposed to pay our vast war debt in this way. 
 The abolition of interest is a prominent feature in the 
 new system. 
 
 It is hardly necessary to add, that the funda- 
 mental idea of the Internationals, the negation or 
 denial of the rights of property, with its chimeri- 
 cal conclusions, the subordination of capital to labor, 
 the suppression of wages, and the establishment of ab- 
 
 3 
 
34 
 
 solute equality, is essentiallj false and inconsistent witn 
 the nature of men and things. Make what laws yon 
 please, you cannot abrogate the laws of God. Men, 
 equal before the law, and in freedom equal, are by nature 
 made unequal in capacity. The strong and healthy 
 will ever be superior to the weak and feeble ; the giant 
 will ever overtop the pigmy ; men will always be rela- 
 tively rich and poor. 
 
 The International plan of social re-organization is 
 summed up in one word— Communism— or, rather, Col- 
 leciivity.' Agriculture, mining, manufactures, and all 
 the branches of labor are to be controlled by working- 
 men alone. Capital is to receive but a minimum of 
 subsistence. In short, '' wak against capital" is the 
 watchword of the new party. If the association had 
 confined itself to theory and argument alone, it would 
 have been comparatively harmless, for error in time 
 refutes itself Unfortunately it abandoned its pacific 
 ground, and resorted to revolution. In the history of 
 the Commune of Paris, its record is written in letters 
 of fire and blood. 
 
 The Paris International Branch contributed largely 
 to the overthrow of the Imperial Government on the 
 4th of September. To establish the Republic, it was 
 necessary to enlist every shade of liberal opinion, and 
 it was the adhesion of the radical Red Party which en- 
 sured the favorable response of Lyons, Marseilles, Bor- 
 deaux, Toulouse and other cities and towns of less im- 
 portance to the Paris revolution. The Government of 
 
35 
 
 National Defence, when firmly seated in power, was 
 compelled to oppose the dangerous radical element, 
 and this led to armed attempts, one nearly successful, 
 to overthrow the party of order. The leading conspi- 
 rators, such as Flourens, Blanqui, Felix Pyat, and 
 others of the same type, though foiled, continued to 
 foment discontent and hatred among the revolutionary 
 masses, and only waited for an auspicious time to strike 
 a fatal blow at the heart of France. 
 
 While the insurgents held for a few hours possession 
 of the Hotel de Ville, on the 31st of October, 1870, be- 
 fore the Breton Mobiles drove them out, they nomi- 
 nated a ministry, embracing the names of Dorian, Felix 
 Pyat, Blanqui, Milliere, Raspail, Rochefort, Motta, 
 Louis Blanc, Arrial, Delescluze, Ledru Rollin 
 and Victor Hugo. Milliere's brief authority was sig- 
 nalized by his sending an order on the Treasury De- 
 partment for the modest sum of 15,000,000 francs. 
 The draft was not honored, but the messenger was dis- 
 honored by being arrested on the spot. As the count- 
 er-revolutionists claimed that ■ their ri2;ht to assume 
 power was at least as good as that of Messrs. Jules 
 Favrb and his colleagues of the Government of National 
 Defence, the latter decided to settle the question by an 
 appeal to universal suffrage. A general vote was taken 
 in Paris on the 3d of November, in which the Govern- 
 ment of National Defence obtained in all 558,196 Votes, 
 against 62,638, polled by their opponents. At the 
 election held in the interest of the Commune, on the 16th 
 
36 
 
 of March, only 109,236 votes were cast, of which about 
 two-thirds were for the candidates of the Commune. 
 In the supplementary election of April 16th, when the 
 friends of order abstained from voting, the Red Re- 
 publican vote was 45,454, or less than one-tenth of the 
 original vote given in favor of the Government of 
 National Defence, whose authority the "Reds" repudi- 
 ated. 
 
 These facts demonstrate that the destructives were 
 but a miserable fraction of the population, whom, for 
 a time, like the Jacobins of '93, they ruled by terror ; 
 and that it is as unjust to charge the citizens of Paris 
 with the robberies, conflagrations and murders of the 
 Commune, as it would be to charge the citizens of 
 New- York with the burning of the Orphan Asylum, 
 and the hanging of colored men in the riots of July, 
 1863. 
 
 The Internationals took no apparent part in the 
 assaults on the Hotel de Ville during the Prussian 
 siege ; they had a deeper object in view. Their hour 
 had not arrived. The Central Committee of the or- 
 ganization had been gradually forming and organizing, 
 without the knowledge of the authorities. They had 
 caused their agents and blinded dupes to be enrolled 
 in the National Guard, and in the temporary or march- 
 ing regiments, but with the strict injunction not to 
 imperil their valuable lives. When they were ordered 
 to the front or to the trenches, they were either so 
 intoxicated as to be unfit for service, or they broke 
 
37 
 
 and ran, thus giving a. bad name to the loyal and brave 
 men who honestly risked their lives for their country. 
 They were instructed to hoard their ammunition for 
 the use of the Central Committee, and whenever a man 
 of the association returned from duty, his cartridge- 
 box would be empty, though he had not fired a shot. 
 The bullets that spared the Germans were reserved 
 for the hearts of Frenchmen. Ammunition wagons 
 sent to the forts, under escort of the Internationals, 
 reached their destination singularly lightened. More- 
 over, nearly all the Chassepot rifles mysteriously dis- 
 appeared. The Government could not be ignorant of 
 the, main flicts of the situation, and lived in constant 
 trepidation. Thus, when M. Jules Favre went to the 
 Prussian camp to capitulate, he expressly stipulated, 
 contrary to Count Bismarck's advice, that the Mobiles 
 and not the National Guards should be disarmed ; for 
 he well knew that an attempt to deprive the latter of 
 their arms would instantly produce open insurrection. 
 When, on the 3d of March, 1871, the Prussians 
 evacuated Paris, in consequence of the ratification of 
 the preliminaries of peace by the Assembly, the capital 
 was in this condition : The chief of the executive 
 power had, in virtue of the articles, a force of 12,000 
 regular troops for the maintainance of order. He 
 could, in addition, rely upon about 60,000 National 
 Guards of the better class ; but he had to deal with 
 upwards of 50,000 National Guards devoted to a 
 mysterious Central Committee, well provided with 
 
38 
 
 field guns, rifles and cartridges. The Germans were 
 outside, in possession of all the forts. In a few days 
 they were to evacuate the left bank of the Seine, which 
 included Versailles and the forts of Mont Valerien, 
 Ivry, Bicetre, Montrouge, Issy and Yanves. At this 
 time there were in Paris great discontent and much 
 sullen anger at the result of the contest. A vast num- 
 ber of workiugraen, who had contracted habits of 
 idleness, and who were living on their pay as National 
 Guards, while drawing rations for their families, were 
 alarmed at the prospect of a sudden cessation of these 
 resources. Traders, ruined by the siege, were dissatis- 
 fied with the vote of the Assembly regulating the pay- 
 ment of debts. The national representatives were 
 generally distrusted. It was very easy for the Central 
 Committee, through their active agents, to fan the 
 flame of discontent and aggravate the fears of the 
 populace. The rebellion, indeed, was prepared ; the 
 mine was ready to be exploded. 
 
 After the official announcement of the capitulation, 
 it was ascertained that the Germans could only exact 
 the surrender of the arms and munitions in the forts 
 and outside the walls. General Vinoy gave orders to 
 bring in all the war material within the circuit of the 
 exterior works. But the greater portion of it was 
 taken possession of by the National Guard and dis- 
 tributed inside the barrier of Italy, at the Park 
 Monceaux, the Heights of Montmartre and the Place 
 des Vosges. Finally, the National Guards concen- 
 
39 
 
 trated about 200 pieces at Montmartre. The Guards 
 engaged in this work all belonged to the dangerous 
 Faubourgs : La Villette, Belleville, Montmartre and 
 Batignolles ; — to the class that received 30 cents a day- 
 each, and were under the control of the ringleaders of 
 the two violent demonstrations at the Hotel de Ville. 
 This was a great oversight or a grave mistake on the 
 part of the Government. If the regular troops could 
 not be trusted, (lest an attempt should be made to re- 
 instate Napoleon III.,) the loyal National Guards, in 
 the centre of the city, might have been safely em- 
 ployed. 
 
 On the 17th of March, Gen. Vinoy attempted to 
 take possession of the guns in the Place des Vosges, 
 but the National Guards refused to surrender them ; 
 the troops retired ; and 56 pieces were removed by the 
 rebellious guards to Belleville and the Buttes Chau- 
 mont. The revolutionists of Montmartre now no 
 longer masked their purposes. An acting Committee 
 of 40 members was chosen, claiming authority for 215 
 battalions. M. Thiers issued a proclamation, appealing 
 to popular reason and patriotism, and announcing that 
 the guns stolen from the State should be restored to 
 the National arsenals. 
 
 The storm of revolution suddenly burst on the night 
 of the 17th-18th of March. The tocsin sounded and 
 the drums beat the generate. The men of Montmartre 
 stood to their guns in their entrenchments." In the 
 morning, General Lecomte advanced on the insurgents. 
 
40 
 
 but his own soldiers fraternized with them, and he was 
 taken prisoner. He had previously been urged by the 
 Mayor of Montmartre to retire from a hopeless position, 
 and save his life. He replied, " I cannot. Here is a 
 " written order from General Yinoy, commanding me 
 " to hold my ground at all hazards. I cannot leave 
 " without a counter-order." 
 
 General Vinoy, himself, had an engagement in La 
 Place Blanche with the insurgent guards, but was not 
 supported by his men, who retreated in spite of the 
 efforts of their officers. One hour afterwards the rebels 
 were in undisputed possession of Montmartre. All the 
 approaches to Montmartre and Belleville abounded with 
 barricades, and the members of the Red Clubs were 
 everywhere fanning the flame of rebellion with incen- 
 diary appeals. The revolution spread like fire on the 
 prairies, and the Red flag floated defiantly even from 
 the column of July. 
 
 General Clement-Thomas, formerly commander of 
 the National Guards, went to the lines of Montmartre 
 in citizen's dress, in the spirit of conciliation, and was 
 made prisoner. His sad fate, and that of General 
 Lecomte, are well known. A band of National Guards, 
 in a state of beastly intoxication, took these two gallant 
 generals, tied their hands behind them, dragged them 
 into a secluded place, formed on the spot a so-called 
 Council of War, composed of an insurgent captain, a 
 lieutenant and a few guards, who forthwith condemned 
 them to be shot. General Thomas, turning to General 
 
41 
 
 Lecomte, said : " General, an hour ago I had not the 
 " honor of your acquaintance ; nevertheless, I am to 
 " die with you." General Lecomte replied, "Alas! yes. 
 " Why have the balls of the enemy spared us ?" They 
 were both placed against a wall, and asked if they had 
 any thing to say. " Yes," replied General Thomas, 
 " you are cowards and assassins !" The order to '■'•fire " 
 was then given. General Thomas expired instantly. 
 General Lecomte survived a few minutes, and ex- 
 claimed, " My poor wife ! my poor children ! will 
 France take care of you ?" These were the first mur- 
 ders committed by the Commune — unhappily they 
 were not the last. 
 
 On the evening of the 18th of March, the insurgents 
 had obtained possession of the head-quarters of the 
 National Guard, of the Ministry of Justice and of the 
 Hotel de Ville, while General Yinoy, not daring to trust 
 his troops, retired, leaving to the loyal portion of the 
 National Guard the task of restoring order. M. Thiers 
 requested the different ministers to secure their papers, 
 and repair to Versailles, The insurgent Central Com- 
 mittee issued two proclamations, one addressed to the 
 people of Paris, the other to the National Guard, de- 
 claring that they had fulfilled their mission of organiz- 
 ing the defence, and of overthrowing the Government, 
 and convoking the voters of the sections to elect the 
 Municipal Council of Paris. Of course, the regular 
 Government retorted by a counter-proclamation. 
 
 We have seen what a mere fraction of the people 
 
42 
 
 endorsed the Commune at the polls. The insurgent 
 Committee declared the state of siege raised, perma- 
 nent councils of war abolished, an amnesty for all 
 political offences, and a determination to maintain the 
 preliminaries of peace. Respect for all liberties, that 
 of the press being emphatically specified, was pro- 
 claimed. 
 
 Various efforts were made to effect a compromise 
 between the rebels and the regular Government, but 
 all failed on account of the exorbitant demands of the 
 Commune. An unarmed demonstration of the friends 
 of order was made, but the procession, on its way to 
 the Place Vendome, was fired on in the Rue de la 
 Paix, and dispersed. The leading journals of Paris 
 were one by one suppressed by the Commune for dar- 
 in£c to denounce the insurrection. Then commenced 
 a reign of terror, of spoliation and assassination. A 
 system of espionage was established, and denunciation 
 invited. Churches were pillaged and desecrated ; 
 priests and nuns were robbed and persecuted. All 
 the officers of the National Guard who did not rally to 
 the Central Committee were made liable to the penalty 
 of death. The Bank of France was forced to make 
 advances to the insurgent administration ; capitalists 
 were condemned to furnish subsidies ; the cash-boxes 
 of charitable societies were rifled ; orphans were de- 
 prived of their means of subsistence ; railway compa- 
 nies compelled to contribute funds. A tax of 500,000 
 francs was levied on Baron de Rothschild, but he is 
 
43 
 
 said to have compromised by paying 200,000 francs. 
 The expenses of the Commune were 800,000 francs a 
 day, or nearly $5,000,000 a month. 
 
 It is not my purpose to obtrude personal experi- 
 ences, but perhaps a single reminiscence may be par- 
 doned. On the 26th of March, eight days after the 
 inauguration of the Commune, I passed a day with 
 three American Generals visiting the chief points of 
 interest. Taking an open barouche, in company with 
 Lieutenant-General Sheridan and Generals Forsyth 
 and Merritt, we first drove up the Boulevards nearly 
 to the column, of July, where we encountered a huge 
 barricade. A grim savage, in the uniform of a Na- 
 tional Guard, on beins: asked if we could make our 
 way through a by-street to the Hotel de Ville, gruffly 
 answered : " No ! The best thing you can do is to go 
 "back where you came from." Americans, however, 
 are not apt to give up a project so easily. We finally 
 succeeded in reaching the desired point in the Rue de 
 Rivoli, where another barricade confronted us, with a 
 zigzag passage through it. Here we alighted from 
 the carriage, and General Sheridan taking the lead, 
 passed the sentinel, and, with the crowd, went inside 
 the square. Not altogether fancying the prospect 
 before us, I advised the General to come back, which 
 he attempted to do, but was stopped by the sentry, a 
 bright, intelligent, honest-looking fellow. On telling 
 the sentry who the General was, he exclaimed, most 
 feelingly : " Ah ! an American General ! You are 
 
44 
 
 " republicans. We want to be republicans like you — 
 "that is all we ask for; then we shall be content;" 
 and earnestly grasping my hand, he gave orders to allow 
 the General to return. 
 
 By a skillful flank movement, we passed a second 
 barricade and reached the square of the Hotel de 
 Yille, where we found a crowd, and a large number 
 of National Guards under arms. Presently a shot 
 was fired, occasioning much alarm ; but at once the 
 arms of the soldiers were reversed, showing that 
 there was nothing to fear. In a moment after 
 another gun was fired. I asked a sullen looking by- 
 stander : " What is that ?" He roughly replied : 
 " What is it ? You know as well as I do — it was a 
 " gun-shot," making the remark in a tone hardly in 
 keeping with ordinary French politeness. What was 
 going on we could not learn — nobody seemed to 
 know ; but we had satisfied our curiosity, and con- 
 cluded to move on. Regaining the carriage, we con- 
 tinued our drive through the heart of Paris, passed 
 out over the Point du Jour to Sevres, visiting St. 
 Cloud and Montretout, returning under the silent guns 
 of Mont Valerien, by Courbervoie and Neuilly. 
 
 The character and bearing of the persons composing 
 the different regiments seemed strongly to impress 
 General Sheridan. " They are not bad looking men," 
 he repeatedly remarked. And, indeed, a large portion 
 of the rank and file seemed to be honest but deluded 
 citizens, who thought they were fighting for municipal 
 
45 
 
 rights and the Republic, against a government of roy- 
 alists, which designed to restore the monarchy and 
 betray the people. Distrusting M. Thiers and the 
 Assembly, their purposes were in the main patriotic. 
 Their honest intentions were misdirected by the Com- 
 munist leaders, and their valor and enthusiasm em- 
 ployed by these leaders in an assault on the social 
 fabric," when they really thought they were defending 
 republican institutions. Exceptions, of course, must 
 be made. A portion of the insurgent troops, espe- 
 cially those from Belleville, were indeed true types of 
 the most ferocious revolutionists. As one of the bat- 
 talions from that turbulent quarter was passing, even 
 General Sheridan, with a shake of the head, could not 
 help saying : " Well, those are hard-looking fellows — 
 all of them!" 
 
 When military operations against the Commune 
 commenced on the 1st of April, it was feared that the 
 troops would not fight resolutely against the insurgents. 
 But an act of the federals, as they called themselves, 
 removed all doubt. The commander of the Govern- 
 ment troops sent a flag of truce to the rebels, in the 
 hope of inducing them to retire without an engage- 
 ment. The ofl&cer who bore it was fired upon and 
 killed. This atrocious murder exasperated the troops, 
 and from that day forward all wavering was at an end. 
 The insurgents made a sortie on Versailles, counting on 
 the neutrality of Mount Yalerien, but the Commandant, 
 who had pledged the neutrality of the fort, had been 
 
46 
 
 removed, and its heavy artillery opened on the rebels 
 with terrible e£fect. The result was, that many were 
 killed, many more made prisoners, and the rest sought 
 safety in retreat. 
 
 The notorious Gustave Flourens, who had cre- 
 ated himself a General, took refuge in a house at 
 Chaton. A gendarme opened the door and summoned 
 him to surrender. " This is my reply," said he, dis- 
 charging his revolver point blank at the unfortu- 
 nate soldier, and killing him instantly. "And this 
 is mine ! " said a Captain of the Gardes de Paris, who 
 entered the room a moment after, as he split the skull 
 of the insurgent chief with one stroke of his sabre. 
 
 I have spoken of the suppression of independent 
 newspapers by the Commune. One of its own organs 
 was called " Free Paris." It was amusing to hear the 
 newsboys shouting, " Here's your Free Paris ! six 
 " newspapers suppressed ! " 
 
 On the eve of the fall of the Commune, Henry Yrig- 
 NAULT, a courageous journalist, wrote thus of its pre- 
 tensions, and the impotency of its acts : 
 
 " Behold the works of the Commune ! Thete are 
 " the benefits of the Government which was to confer 
 " perfect happiness on the laboring man. Has it opened 
 " one workshop ? Has it organized one factory ? No. 
 " It has confiscated the factories of the capitalists for 
 " the benefit of the workingmen ; but as it has at the 
 " same time confiscated \vorkingmen for the profit of 
 " the National Guard, what do they gain by it? Be- 
 
47 
 
 " sides, spoliation is not organization. To arrest priests, 
 " to hunt down nuns, to remove the crucifix, to estab- 
 " lish clubs in churches, is neither policy nor philoso- 
 " phy ; it is loaferdom, donkeyism, stupidity." 
 
 In proportion as the regular Government gained 
 strength, and pressed the siege of Paris, did the despo- 
 tism of the Commune become intensified. The levy en 
 masse was decreed, and all able-bodied citizens of Paris, 
 between the ages of 19 and 45, were compelled to take 
 up arms against their loyal countrymen, and they were 
 not unfrequently driven to the front at the point of the 
 bayonet. Had this revolutionary faction been per- 
 mitted to execute all its projects, social disorganization 
 would have been complete. It arrogated to itself the 
 powers of the National Assembly. It went beyond the 
 true province of the State, since it invaded thpse indi- 
 vidual rights which it is the duty of the State to protect. 
 It encouraged indolence, stimulated class hatreds, 
 and substituted for religion a boastful Atheism. It 
 plundered rail-road companies, and would have ruined 
 the Bank of France, but for the courage and tact of its 
 officers, and the resistance of M. Beslay, one of its own 
 delegates. It decreed the confiscation of the property 
 of the clergy, and also that of capitalists who had ab- 
 sented themselves from the city. It suppressed all 
 papers that dared to question the wisdom of its acts, 
 while it failed to produce a single salutary measure of 
 its own. It adopted the red flag as " The symbol of 
 " Universal Human love," that flag which Lamartine 
 
48 
 
 truly said, "had only been trailed in the blood of 
 *' Frenchmen through the Champ de Mars." Yet, 
 under this symbol, in violation of all the laws of war, 
 it assassinated the President of the Court of Cassation, 
 the Archbishop of Paris, his fellow priests, and other, 
 non-combatants held as hostages. It carefully abstained 
 from offending the Prussians, and pulled down the 
 column in the Place Vendome, which commemorated 
 the triumph of France over Germany. It cordially 
 welcomed all foreigners of military talent and socialistic 
 opinions, who were williug to shoot down loyal French- 
 men, DoMBROwsKi, a Pole, was for a time its leading 
 General, and according to La Petite Presse^ received 
 at the outset, in cash, the sum of 100,000 francs, as 
 the price of his hireliug sword. 
 
 But the end was approaching. Beaten at every 
 point, and seeing that their cause was hopeless, the 
 Communists determined to destroy the capital of 
 France, its central glory, the pride of the civilized 
 world. This monstrous idea was not a new one. 
 General Cluseret, who figured largely in the councils 
 of the Commune, a man well known in the United 
 States, had announced it long before, in a letter — 
 quoted by M. Edmund Villetard, in his History of 
 the International — dated New- York, February 17, 
 1870, in which he said : 
 
 " As for myself, all which has just passed shows that 
 " the Orleanists are creeping by degrees towards 
 
49 
 
 ' power, gnawing the claws of L. N. in such a way as 
 ' to have only to substitute themselves for him some 
 ' fine morning. Now, on that day, we must be ready, 
 ' physically and morally. On that day ourselves or 
 ' nothing! Until then I shall probably remain quiet ; 
 ' hut on that day^ I affirm to you, and I never say yes 
 ' for no^ Paris shall he ours or Paris shall cease to 
 ' exist It will be the decisive moment for the 
 ' people." 
 
 The moment came, and the decree went forth that 
 Paris should cease to exist. The vilest women were 
 released from the prison of St. Lazare, on the sole 
 condition that they should go forth, petroleum in 
 hand, to aid in firing the doomed city. 
 
 The story of the terrible street fighting during the 
 last days of the Commune is well known, but some 
 striking incidents may interest you. 
 
 The fiendish outrages perpetrated by the Commu- 
 nists in their desperation, not on the proud and 
 wealthy, but on humble and hardworking men, guilty 
 of no offence but patriotism, are almost without a 
 parallel in the history of crime. Of the many appalling 
 illustrations of this fact, I will cite but one. When the 
 insurgents were retiring along the Boulevard St. 
 Martin to the Place du Chateau d'Eau, they entered a 
 well known restaurant, kept by M. Roncbray, and 
 demanded its surrender, in order that they might find 
 there a shelter while firing on the Government troops. 
 
 4 
 
50 
 
 " Take it," said the proprietor, powerless to resist, as 
 he prepared to retire, followed by his waiters ; but he 
 was suddenly stopped by the rebel captain, and ordered 
 to take a musket in the insurgent ranks. " I fire on 
 Frenchmen! never!" was the heroic reply. The 
 employees^ to a man, gave the same answer to the same 
 demand. "Shoot every one of them !" was the Cap- 
 tain's order. The savage and drunken rebels, yelling 
 like ferocious beasts, obeyed with alacrity. One volley 
 was sufficient. A few moments after, Ronoeray and 
 his faithful gargons, hurled from the window by their 
 assassins, were lying on the sidewalk, where thej re- 
 mained for the rest of the day — their dead bodies the 
 most eloquent of all protests against the mad brutality 
 of the most relentless and inhuman of all French 
 factions. 
 
 As the last hour of this insolent despotism drew 
 near, evidences of mutual hatred and distrust in its 
 own ranks were everywhere conspicuous. In their 
 cowardly selfishness, a portion of its most noted chiefs 
 disappeared, seeking safety in foreign lands, while its 
 really honest but deluded supporters were still fighting 
 with a bravery worthy of a nobler cause. Delescluze, 
 for example, one of the principal promoters of the 
 Commune, honest Delescluze, as he was fondly called, 
 divining the inevitable result of the contest, at- 
 tempted to escape in his carriage, by the gate of 
 Yincennes. He was sternly refused a passage by his 
 own troops, posted at that point. " Go back to the 
 
SI 
 
 field of battle," said the major in command, " and die 
 like a true republican." The aged, revolutionist re- 
 turned, and on arriving at the Place du Chateau 
 d'Eau, was recognized by a woman in the ranks, armed 
 with a Chassepot, who charged him with treason and 
 cowardice. She assailed him, and he replied by a 
 push. Then the mob rushed on him, beat him, and 
 rolled him in the gutter. Delescluze, recovering, 
 and nerving himself up to die, said to his assailants: 
 
 " Yes, I was wrong in devoting my talents and ex- 
 " perience to your service. You call me a traitor 
 " because I repulsed a vile creature who insulted me, 
 " in spite of my years and my gray hairs. You com- 
 " bined to assault me — now follow me, and I will 
 " show you whether I am afraid to die." 
 
 With a sudden revulsion of feeling, the insurgents 
 shouted, ^^ Vive Delescluze r as the old man advanced 
 to the barricade on which shot and shell were literally 
 raining. Shortly after he received two balls in hiii 
 breast, and instantly dropped lifeless. 
 
 The women who were in sympathy with the Com- 
 mune did their full share of burning and fighting 
 through its last disastrous days. Those from Mont- 
 martre were specially prominent, circulating through 
 the heart of Paris, and with milk-cans filled with petro- 
 leum, savagely bent on fulfilling their incendiary mis- 
 sion to the bitter end. 
 
62 
 
 Finally, the Commune fell; and, on the 28th of 
 May, Marshal MacMahon was enabled to issue a pro- 
 clamation, closing with these words: "The strife is 
 ended ; order, work and security will revive ;" — a 
 promise speedily sustained by facts. 
 
 The excesses which the regular troops committed 
 in their hour of triumph, whatever may have been their 
 provocations, were wholly unjustifiable. 
 
 It cannot be denied that the French army, in the 
 fierce elation of victory, treated the champions of the 
 Commune as a hunter treats tisrers and wolves. The 
 dreadful thirst to kill was dominant both in ofiBicers 
 and in soldiers. Little discrimination was shown in 
 the mad desire to exterminate everybody who was 
 supposed to be engaged in the work of exterminating 
 French civilization. It must, however, be said, that 
 the murders of the French army were sins of impulse, 
 while the murders of the insurgents were sins of 
 system. 
 
 "Rule or ruin" was the object of the Commune; 
 and when it was unable to overthrow the legal gov- 
 ernment of the country, it carried out its original 
 plan, and with premeditation set fire to Paris, deter- 
 mined that its dwellings, its libraries, its museums, its 
 monuments should cease to exist. 
 
 Its spirit was simply barbaric ; and when the Com- 
 mune was stricken down, the civilized world expected 
 that its friends would at least disavow its atrocities ; 
 but such was not the case. 
 
53 
 
 Throughout Europe the organs of the International 
 defended its most indefensible acts. The Italian In- 
 ternationals, in an address emanating from the Milanese 
 Sections, said : " The pi^mcijjles of the Commune of 
 " Paris arejicst^ and we accept the responsibility of its 
 ''ads:' 
 
 The English Internationals echoed this sentiment. 
 Mr. Johnson, one of their speakers, at a meeting 
 held last June, in London, declared that " those work- 
 " ingmen who, since the fall of the Commune, blush 
 "for it, are to blame. The Commune had a perfect 
 " right to execute the hostages." 
 
 Germany was especially outspoken in its defence. 
 Herr Babel, a member of the German Parliament from 
 Saxony, made a speech before that body, in which he 
 said : " The aim of the Paris Commune is neither an 
 " impossible nor a pernicious one, as it has been erro- 
 " neously called by a previous speaker. On the con- 
 "trary, in all Europe, those classes not dead to all 
 "feeliug of liberty and independence, look upon Paris 
 "as their staff of hope. Never mind whether the 
 " insurrection is suppressed or not, what is now doing 
 "at the French capital is only an outpost skirmish, 
 " which will be followed up some day by a great 
 " European battle. War to the palaces, peace to the 
 "cottages, and death to luxurious idleness, is, and 
 " ever will be, the watchword of the proletariat in all 
 "parts of the world." 
 If it be objected that certain sections and cert^^in 
 
54 
 
 orators merely expressed their individual opinions, it 
 is only necessary to point to the address of the General 
 Council of the International Workingmen's Associa- 
 tion, dated in London, May 30, 1871, "printed and 
 published for the Council, by Edward Trueloye, 256 
 High Holborn, London," to show that the Society, by 
 its highest authority, fully endorses the Commune and 
 its acts. This address styles the fallen rebels " mar- 
 tyrs," declares them enshrined in the hearts of the 
 laboring classes, and asserts that " history has already 
 " nailed their exterminators to the eternal pillory, from 
 " which all the prayers of their priests will never suc- 
 " ceed in rescuing them." 
 
 As recently as December 1, 1873, three conspicuous 
 members of the Commune, signers of its last decrees — 
 Ranvier, Cournet and Arnaud — having fled from the 
 just punishment of their crimes, were honored by 
 being elected members of the General Council in Lon- 
 don. Ranvier was one of those who issued orders for 
 setting fire to the public buildings of Paris, as was 
 shown by papers found on the persons of some of the 
 fallen insurgents. Recent advices from Europe an- 
 nounce that the refugee Communists, abusing the hos- 
 pitality of England, are now busily at work circulating 
 incendiary pamphlets among the pauper population in 
 London, (estimated at 120,000 souls,) inciting them to- 
 rise and make way with the rich. Can it be wondered 
 at that some of the European Governments have de- 
 cided to use the severest measures against an associa- 
 
55 
 
 lion which employs the torch of the incendiary, and 
 the bullet of the assassin, to advance its cause? 
 
 On the 30th of May, 1871, the London Times asserted : 
 " Paris, the Paris of civilization, is no more. It pitted 
 " itself against France, and rather than be beaten, has 
 "destroyed itself. We may look for it, but we shall 
 "find its place alone. Dust and ashes, tottering walls, 
 " twisted or molten iron- work, smoulder and stench are 
 " all that remain of edifices and collections, famous in 
 "history — the resort of all nations." 
 
 Happily this statement is most grossly exaggerated. 
 The timely entrance and persistent bravery of the loyal 
 troops saved the city from such wholesale ruin. The 
 Tuileries, the Hotel de Ville, the Ministry of Finance, 
 the Palace of the Quai d'Orsai, and the Palace of the 
 Legion of Honor, were destroyed, together with the 
 libraries of the Hotel de Ville, the Louvre, the Prefec- 
 ture of Police, and the Council of State. But the 
 Louvre galleries, with their precious souvenirs of Ra- 
 phael, Titian, Rubens and Murillo, were saved. The 
 archives and all the great libraries, all that makes 
 " Paris the first city in the world for the student," (to 
 quote the words of M. Jules Simon,) remain intact. 
 The spires of all the churches yet point heavenward. 
 
 The incubus of destruction removed, Paris revived 
 with a rapidity truly marvelous. Instead of sitting 
 down in despair, every man went to work to repair 
 the damages of the war. The gaps in the ranks of the 
 beautiful trees in the Champs Elysees have already 
 
56 
 
 been filled. The traces of shot and shell have, for the 
 most part, been effaced from the house fronts. A 
 fairer Hotel de Yille will rise from the present ruin ; 
 and we may confidently predict that the stately front 
 of the Tuileries, increased in beauty, will soon face the 
 happily untouched obelisk of Luxor, and send its 
 haughty glance along the vista closed by the majestic 
 mass of the Arc de Triomphe. 
 
 Most bravely have the French people met the finan- 
 cial question. In one month after the fall of the 
 Commune, the Bourse of Paris exhibited as much 
 activity as in its most prosperous years. The Gov- 
 ernment of France called for the largest loan ever 
 asked for by any nation, 2,000,000,000 francs, (or 
 $400,000,000,) and with the enemy still occupying 
 a large portion of the French territory, with the insti- 
 tutions of the country still unsettled, the people re- 
 sponded by subscribing in a few hours more than twice 
 the amount asked for, or nearly the whole war indem- 
 nity, thus showing that the credit of the nation, had 
 not been shaken. 
 
 Of the prompt return of the people of Paris to their 
 sober second thought on political matters, we have only 
 to record the fact, that on the 2d of July, 1871, in the 
 election for representatives, since the fall of the Com- 
 mune, among those chosen to the National Assembly 
 were M. Alfred Andre, the eminent banker, M. 
 Edward Laboulate, our tried and devoted friend and 
 defender during our own great rebellion, and M. 
 
57 
 
 WoLOwsKi, of the French Institute, a well known pro- 
 fessor and writer on political economy. In all Paris, 
 three better men, or more useful legislators, cannot be 
 found. 
 
 The terrible story of 1870-71 will long be remem- 
 bered. Those who control public opinion must and 
 will unite in preventive measures to guard against 
 the recurrence of similar political convulsions and dis- 
 asters in the future. To this task the finest minds of 
 France are directing their studies and their energies. 
 It would be unbecoming in me to say what is for the 
 best interests of the French people, or hazard a con- 
 jecture as to what will be the immediate political 
 action of their representatives ; but I venture to assert, 
 that no government will have a stable existence in 
 France, save that which is based on the clearly ascer- 
 tained will of the people, expressed in a free election, 
 through the medium of universal suffrage. 
 
 The persistent tendencies of the 'French people have, 
 for nearly a century, been in the direction of self-gov- 
 ernment ; and, even in view of the existence of four 
 great parties, was not M. Thiers unquestionably right 
 when he said: "The Republic is that Government 
 " which divides us the least ?" 
 
 It seems evident that any Government springing from 
 
 this or that royal family can be but an expedient. 
 
 France has had enough of dynasties and dynastic wars. 
 
 Even in this century, Charles X. was obliged to fly 
 
 from France, and died in exile, while the Duke de 
 
 5 
 
58 
 
 Bordeaux, in whose favor he abdicated, was repudiated 
 by the voice of the people. 
 
 Louis Philippe humiliated the nation, and prepared 
 his own overthrow by scheming to perpetuate the for- 
 tunes of his family. 
 
 The first Empire drained the life blood of France to 
 place European crowns on the heads of Bonaparte 
 princes. 
 
 The second Empire plunged into the last disastrous 
 war to secure the throne to the Prince Imperial. 
 
 Although Napoleon III. by the last plebiscite was 
 sustained by a majority of millions of votes, yet, at the 
 very first election after his overthrow, only five of his 
 partizans were chosen to the National Assembly, while 
 his most uncompromising opponent, M. Thiers, was 
 elected by 27 diff'erent Departments, when he could 
 only serve one of them. 
 
 It is a little remarkable, and in my judgment to be 
 deplored, that many of our own best citizens despair of 
 the establishment of a Republic in Fra.nce. 
 
 If French Republics have hitherto been overthrown, 
 what has been the fate of French monarchies ? We 
 have only to consult history, to see that monarchical 
 governments in France have been, in the main, a fail- 
 ure, replete with folly, extravagance and crime, strug- 
 gling always to promote the interest of a dynasty 
 rather than the welfare of the nation. For a period 
 of two hundred and seventy-eight years France has 
 submitted to twenty-seven different governments— -an 
 
59 
 
 average of a new government every ten years, and 
 during two hundred years of that period she has been 
 engaged in foreign war. 
 
 Of all the monarchs that reigned over France during 
 that time, only four died a natural death on the throne, 
 and there was only one of them about whose succes- 
 sorship there was no dispute.* 
 
 If a Republic has little stability, can we say much 
 of the permanence of Kingly and Imperial rule ? 
 
 Indeed, what the nation really needs to secure for her 
 a happy future, is the infusion of fresh vitality into her 
 veins, generated by the promulgation of sound liberal 
 ideas, through the agency of common schools, a free 
 press, free speech, free religious worship and an open 
 Bible. In short, she needs a system of education 
 similar to our own, which the eloquent Laboulaye has 
 so ably advocated, and which will form an enduring 
 basis for national regeneration. With such a system, 
 let us trust that the people will never repeat the ex- 
 cesses which hitherto have attended the struggles for 
 popular rights against hereditary. Kingly or Imperial 
 power- and aristocratic privilege. " Pour instruction 
 on the heads of the people ; you owe them that bap- 
 tism," was the injunction of a French philanthropist. 
 
 Such an institution as this Cooper Union, founded' 
 by the intelligent munificence of a workingman, him- 
 self the architect of his own fortune, (whose presence 
 
 * France and Hereditary Monarchy, by John Bigelow, 1871. 
 
60 
 
 honors us to-Dight,) would, in Paris, be more poUfent 
 against the false and fatal theories of Communism than 
 all the cannon, mitrailleuses and Chassepots that can 
 be arrayed against their champions. Education is at 
 once the chief defence and political safety of a nation. 
 " School-houses," said Horace Mann, " are the re- 
 publican line of fortifications." Physical force is, m 
 the end, powerless against ideas. 
 
 Let us hope that France will gather wisdom from 
 the bitter lessons of the war and the Commune. Let 
 us give to her people our hearty sympathy in their 
 efforts for national recuperation. And let us hope for 
 a new France, regenerated, strong in the right, trium- 
 phant over internal dissensions, no longer a menace to 
 the nations, but a bright exemplar in the peaceful 
 march of material progress, intellectual advancement 
 and moral grandeur ; — realizing the magnificent image 
 in which Milton celebrated the England of Cromwell, 
 of " a mighty and puissant nation, rousing herself, like 
 " a strong man out of his sleep, and shaking his invin- 
 *'cible locks!" 
 
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