Page:Notes and Queries - Series 11 - Volume 9.djvu/224

 218

NOTES AND QUERIES. [ii s. ix. MAR. u, 191*.

an Staafes*

French Civilization in the Nineteenth Century : a

Historical Introduction. By Albert I/on Gue-

rard. (Fisher Unwin, 12s. Qd. net.) M GufeRARD in this valuable work goes to the very root of things, and first of all seeks to know " what Nature has done for the region we call France, and to what extent geography controls or explains its destiny" ; and his conclusion is that " Nature in France is not oppressive. It did not lay upon man too heavy a curse, nor did it demoralize him through excessive bounty. The result is that in France the human factor is all- important : there are no geographical influences that can be traced inevitably."

The first characteristic of the people is said to be "a certain cheerfulness, not exuberant and spasmodic, but gentle and suffused through the daily routine of life." A second trait is " a nervous temperament, highstrung, excitable, expansive, and explosive, quickly moved to enthusiasm and to despair." " A third cha- racteristic of the French is their sociability ; and the fourth " intellectualism." " The French are not pre-eminently mystical, sentimental, or imaginative, and they yield the palm of practical sense to the Anglo-Saxons. ' Common sense ' is but the popular name for ' reason,' still the goddess of many a French mind. The French are passionate reasoners and rationalists. They love abstract ideas with an intensity which their neighbours can hardly realize. Even facts are despised as disorderly, until they have been reduced to logical laws."

After all the intercourse between England and France during the last hundred years, there is still room for an accurate description, such as M. Gue"rard gives us in his ' Historical Introduc- tion,' of the home life of the French people. They are still regarded by some persons only as leaders in fashion and pleasure, whereas the truth is that there is no country in the world where the simple love of home is greater, and where the affection between the members of a family is more perfect. The wishes of the parents are held in re- spect, the mother mostly taking the lead in the home, where she exercises a benevolent sway. The prudence with which provision is made for the future is shown by the " dots " given to daughters, the investments for these being commenced from the day of birth. This plan is frequently adopted by the very poorest. The French peasant as a rule is inclined to save, a fact proved at the close of the Franco-Prussian War, when the peasantry poured forth their savings to help to pay the war indemnity, and it became a proverb, " The stockings of the peasantry have saved France."

The political history of modern France is the signal illustration of the national character, Of the eleven regimes tried between 1789 and 1870 it has often been remarked that none except the present Republic has survived the generation of its founders.

We are glad to see that, while the author " holds no brief for Bonaparte," the Second Empire is treated more justly than has been the case since the terrible sorrows of 1870. The author says of it that the Coup d'Etat gave it

its characteristic stamp : that the whole regime, like its initial act, bore the mark of the kindly, well- meaning Prince whom no one approached without loving him. Directly it was established " there- was a sudden and, as it then seemed, boundless- expansion. The trunk lines were hastily com- pleted and added to ; steam navigation was developed ; an ironclad navy was created ? telegraphy first applied ; the Suez Canal com- menced and completed, mainly as a French undertaking. Most of the great cities were

E ractically rebuilt. At Marseilles hills were jvelled." Paris under Haussmann became a marble city. At Cherbourg the Emperor" revived the marvels of Egypt." " This industrial and com- mercial development was so intense, so exuberant, that it assumed a sort of poetic grandeur the epic of productivity and wealth."

Nor was the commercial side forgotten : " The ' Credit Foncier,' a national mortgage bank imi- tated everywhere, was Napoleon's earliest crea- tion. Material help and co-operative association* were encouraged." Taine was not a Bonapartist,. therefore the opinion he expresses in his ' Carneta de Voyage ' is free from bias. He states : " One must confess there is in this country a sudden expansion of public prosperity, similar to that of the Renascence or of the time of Colbert .... The Emperor understands France and his century better than any of his predecessors."

The extension of trade with other countries was his constant desire. Particularly was thi& the case in regard to England, and by the postal treaty of the 1st of January, 1855, the postage of letters between France and this country was reduced from eightpence to fpurpence. France was the first country to make this change^ the others retaining their old charges of eight- pence and more. In 1860 the Emperor again showed his wish to further the intercourse between; the two countries by a commercial treaty, and Chevalier and Cobden secured some measure of free trade. We know from information we had at the time that the terms would have been more favourable, but that the Emperor's wishes were thwarted by the French manufacturers. These may have been influenced in a measure by attacks made by our press on the Emperor's foreign policy, which caused much mistrust. The Emperor did his best to restore confidence. This was the age of pamphlets, and he caused one to be issued entitled ' The Emperor Napoleon III. and England,' an appeal to Europe, seeking to show that the alliance with England " re- moved all thoughts of conquest." It was sold at a penny, and its small price caused it to have a large sale both here and in France, where it was issued in French. " An Englishman out of Office " replied to this in a pamphlet entitled 'A Voice from England,' published by Chapman & Hall. The number of pages was the same twenty-four but the price was sixpence, it having no Treasury funds to back it. But Cobden's influence in the cause of peace between England and France was greater than that of any pamphlet. Chevalier on Cobden's death rendered tribute to " his friend and fellow- labourer," and at a meeting of the Socie'te' d'Eco- nomie Politique spoke of " the strong sympathy he had for France, and some French traits of character which he possessed, which did not, however, prevent his being a thorough English- man, wholly devoted to his country."