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The accused man, wrecked by the five years on the Isle du Diable, again appeared before his accusers in the military court at Rennes. His leading counsel, Labori, was shot while conducting his case, but, as it proved, not fatally. The conduct of the trial was such that the dark secrets of this sinister affair were never brought from their murky depths. And with neither the guilt nor the innocence of the victim proven, the amazing verdict was rendered, "Guilty, with extenuating circumstances."
Such was the verdict of the French military court. That of public opinion was different. It was the unanimous belief among other nations that the case against this unfortunate man had completely collapsed. But in order to protect the French army from the disgrace which was inseparable from a vindication of Dreyfus, he must be sacrificed.
The sentence pronounced at the conclusion of the second trial was imprisonment in a French fortress for ten years.
This sentence was remitted by President Loubet; and, with the brand of two convictions and the memory of his "degradation" and of Devil's Island burned deep into his soul, a broken man was sent forth free.
Not the least dramatic incident in this affair was the impassioned championship of M. Zola, the great novelist, who hurled defamatory charges at the court, in the hope of being placed under arrest for libel, and thus be given opportunity to establish facts repressed by the military court. By the French law, the accused must justify his defamatory words, and this was the opportunity sought.
The heroic effort was not in vain. Zola was found guilty and sentenced to a year's imprisonment, which he avoided by going into exile. But light had been thrown upon the "Affaire." And he was content.
Upon the sudden death of M. Faure in 1899, Emile Loubet, a lawyer of national reputation, was chosen to succeed him, and his administration commenced while this storm was reaching its final culmination.
With the release of Captain Dreyfus the agitation subsided. But before very long another storm-cloud appeared.
A conflict between clericalism and the Government of France is not a new thing. Indeed, it was at its height as long ago as the thirteenth century, when Philip IV. and Pope Boniface had their little unpleasantness, resulting in Philip's taking the popes into his own keeping at Avignon, and in the issuance of a "Pragmatic Sanction," which defended France from papal encroachments.
The old conflict is still going on, and will continue until the last frail thread uniting Church and State is severed.
The particular contention which agitates France to-day, inaugurated by the late Minister Waldeck-Rousseau, and continued by his successor, M. Combes, had its origin in an act called the "Law of Associations," the purpose of which was to restrict the political power of the Church by means of the suppression of religious orders of men and women upon the soil of France.
This was considered an act of extreme oppression and tyranny on the one side, and as a measure essential to the safety of the republic on the other.
In support of their contention the republican party claimed that the French clergy had always been in alliance with every reactionary movement, and that every agitation and intrigue against the life of the Third Republic had had clericalism as its origin and disturbing cause. Hence, the expulsion of the religious orders was declared to be essential to the safety of the republic.
But the Law of Associations was only preliminary to the real end in view, which was accomplished in December, 1905, when a bill providing for the actual separation of Church and State was passed by the French Senate. There was a time when a measure so revolutionary would have opened the flood-gates of passion, and let loose torrents of invective; and the calmness with which it was debated in the French Parliament makes it manifest that the highest intelligence of the nation had become convinced of its necessity. The bill provides for the transfer to the government of all church properties. This change of ownership necessitated the taking of inventories in the churches, which many simple and devout people, incapable of understanding its political meaning, believed was a religious persecution, and resisted by force. The bill recently passed is aimed not at the Church, but at "Clericalism," a powerful element within the Church, which has been determined to make it a political as well as a spiritual power. With the passage of this bill there no longer exists the opportunity for political and ecclesiastical intrigues, which have made the Church a hatching-ground for aristocratic conspiracies. The severance now accomplished is not complete as with us. Money will still be appropriated from the public treasury for the maintenance of churches in France. But the power derived from the ownership of valuable estates is no longer in the hands of men in sympathy with the enemies of the existing form of government.
Another matter which for a time seemed to threaten the peace of France has been happily adjusted. At an international conference held at Algeciras, for the purpose of considering the demoralized conditions existing in the State of Morocco, France and Germany came so sharply in collision that serious consequences seemed imminent, consequences which might even involve all of Europe.
France, with her territory adjoining the disturbed state, and her long Algerian coast-line to protect, naturally felt that she was entitled to special recognition; while Germany, having invited the conference, claimed a position of leadership. It was over the special privileges desired by each that the tension between these two states became so acute; and finally the one question before the conference was whether France or Germany should be the custodian of Morocco, insure the safety of its foreign population, have charge of its finances, and be responsible for the policing of its coast. Of course the nation assigned to this duty would hold the predominant influence in North African affairs, and it was this large stake which gave such intensity to the game. The final award was given to France, and Germany, deeply aggrieved but with commendable self-control, has accepted the decision.
The elections recently held in France have afforded an opportunity to discover the sentiment of the nation concerning the policies, radical and almost revolutionary, which have made the concluding days of M. Loubet's incumbency an epoch in the life of France. The result has been an overwhelming vote of approval. In M. Fallieres, who has been elected to the presidency, there is found a man even more representative of a new France than was his predecessor. A man of the people, the grandson of a blacksmith, a lawyer by profession, M. Fallieres has been identified with every important movement since he was first elected Deputy in 1876; has been eight times Minister; was President of the Senate during the seven years of President Loubet's term of office; and January 17, 1906, was elected to the highest position in the state. The appointment of M. Sarrien, with his well-known sympathies, to the office of Prime Minister, sets at rest any doubt as to the policy initiated by M. Waldeck-Rousseau, and consummated by M. Combes.
With each succeeding administration France has gained in strength and stability, and in the self-control and calmness which make for both. The government and the people have learned that the spasmodic way is not a wise and effectual way.
The monarchist party has disappeared as a serious political factor. There is peace, external and internal. And there is prosperity—that surest guarantee of a continued peace.
One source of the phenomenal prosperity of France in this trying period since 1871 has been her mastery in the art of beauty. Leading the world as she does in this, her art products are sought by every land and every people. The nations must and will have them; and so, with an assured market, her industries prosper, and there is content in the cottage and wealth in the country at large.
What a change from the time less than four decades ago, when, with military pride humbled in the dust, with national pride wounded by the loss of two provinces, and loaded down with an immense war indemnity, the people set about the task of rehabilitation! And in what an incredibly short time the galling debt had been paid, financial prosperity and political strength restored.
For thirty-four years the republic has existed. Communistic fires, always smouldering, have again and again burst forth—demagogues, fanatics, and those creatures for whom there is no place in organized society, whose element is chaos, standing ready to fan the flames of revolt: with Orleanist, Bonapartist, Bourbon, ever on the alert, watching for opportunity to slip in through the open door of revolution.
Phlegmatic Teutons and slow-moving Anglo-Saxons look in bewilderment at a nation which has had seven political revolutions in a hundred years!
But France, complex, mobile, changeful as the sea, in riotous enjoyment of her new-found liberties, casts off a form of government as she would an ill-fitting garment. She knows the value of tranquillity—she had it for one thousand years! The people, who have only breathed the upper air for a century—the people, who were stifled under feudalism, stamped upon by Valois kings, riveted down by Richelieu, then prodded, outraged, and starved by Bourbons, have become a great nation. Many-sided, resourceful, gifted, it matters not whether they have called the head of their government consul, emperor, king, or president. They are a race of freemen, who can never again be enslaved by tyrannous system.
There may be in store for France new revolutions and fresh overturnings. Not anchored, as is England, in an historic past which she reveres, and with a singularly gifted and emotional people who are the sport of the current of the hour, who can predict her future! But whatever that future may be, no American can be indifferent to the fate of a nation to whom we owe so much. Nor can we ever forget that in the hour of our direst extremity, and regardless of cost to herself, she helped us to establish our liberties, and to take our place among the great nations of the earth.
SOVEREIGNS AND RULERS OF FRANCE.
KINGS OF THE FRANKS
MEROVINGIAN LINE
A.D. Clovis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 496 Thierry, Clodomir, Clothaire, Childebert 511 Clothaire . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 559 Charibert, Gontran, Chilperic, Sigheben 561 Childebert . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 584 Theodebert, Thierry II., Clothaire III. 596 Dagobert . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 628 Clovis II., Sigheben II. . . . . . . . . 638 Clothaire III., Chilperic II. . . . . . 656 Thierry III., Dagobert II. . . . . . . . 673 Clovis III. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 690 Childebert III. . . . . . . . . . . . . 695 Dagobert III. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 711 Chilperic III. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 716 Thierry IV. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 720 Chilperic IV. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 741
CARLOVINGIAN LINE
Pepin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 752 Charlemagne . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 768 Louis (The Debonnaire) . . . . . . . . . 814
KINGS OF FRANCE
AFTER DIVISION OF THE EMPIRE
Charles (The Bald) . . . . . . . . . . . 843 Louis (The Stammerer) . . . . . . . . . . 877 Louis III. and Carloman . . . . . . . . . 879 Charles (The Fat) . . . . . . . . . . . . 884 Hugh . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 887 Charles (The Simple) . . . . . . . . . . 898 Raoul . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 923 Louis IV. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 936 Lothaire . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 954 Louis V. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 986
CAPETIAN LINE
Hugh Capet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 987 Robert . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 996 Henry I. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1031 Philip I. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1060 Louis VI. (The Fat) . . . . . . . . . . . 1108 Louis VII. (The Young) . . . . . . . . . 1137 Philip II. (Philip Augustus) . . . . . . 1180 Louis VIII. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1223 Louis IX. (The Saint) . . . . . . . . . . 1226 Philip III. (The Hardy) . . . . . . . . . 1270 Philip IV. (The Handsome) . . . . . . . . 1285 Louis X. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1314 Philip V. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1316 Charles IV. (The Handsome) . . . . . . . 1322
VALOIS BRANCH OF CAPETIAN LINE
Philip VI. (de Valois) . . . . . . . . . 1328 John (The Pious) . . . . . . . . . . . . 1350 Charles V. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1364 Charles VI. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1380 Charles VII. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1422 Louis XI. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1461 Charles VIII. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1483
VALOIS—ORLEANS BRANCH
Louis XII. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1498
VALOIS—ANGOULEME
Francis I. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1515 Henry II. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1547 Francis II. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1559 Charles IX. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1560 Henry III. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1574
BOURBON BRANCH
Henry IV. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1589 Louis XIII. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1610 Louis XIV. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1643 Louis XV. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1715 Louis XVI. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1774
FIRST REPUBLIC, 1792
FIRST EMPIRE
Napoleon Bonaparte . . . . . . . . . . . 1804
RESTORATION OF MONARCHY—BOURBON BRANCH
Louis XVIII. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1814 Charles X. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1824
KING OF THE FRENCH
Louis Philippe . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1830
SECOND REPUBLIC, 1848
SECOND EMPIRE
Louis Napoleon . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1852
THIRD REPUBLIC, 1871
PRESIDENTS OF THIRD REPUBLIC
Adolphe Thiers . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1871 Marshal MacMahon . . . . . . . . . . . . 1873 Jules Grevy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1879 Sadi-Carnot . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1887 Francois Felix Faure . . . . . . . . . . 1894 Emile Loubet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1899 Armand Fallieres . . . . . . . . . . . . 1906
INDEX.
Abelard, 68, 69 Academy, The French, 138 African, 261 Agincourt, Battle of, 89 Albigensian War, 66 Alexander, Emperor of Russia, 213, 215 Algeria, 246 Algeciras, 260 Alsace, 144, 240 America, 158, 164-167, 175, 176, 183, 196, 197, 209, 236 Anglo-Saxons, 263 Angouleme, Duchesse d', 216 Anne of Austria, 142, 143 Assembly, National, 181-185, 187-190, 230, 240, 242, 244 Associations, Law of, 258 Attila, 22 Augsburg, League of, 154 Aumale, Duke of, 249 Aurelius, Marcus, 14, 18, 20 Austrasia, 31 Austria, 142, 162, 198, 199, 202, 203, 204, 206, 211, 230, 233, 234, 237, 238
Babylonian Captivity, 77 Bastille, The, 97, 141, 146, 184, 185 Bayard, Chevalier, 105 Beauharnais, Eugene, 212 Beauharnais, Hortense, 212, 226 Beauharnais, Josephine, 207, 208, 213 Bismarck, 238, 240 Black Prince, 82-84 Blanche of Castile, 69, 70, 73 Blenheim, Battle of, 156 Bluecher, 219 Bonaparte, Jerome, 212 Bonaparte, Joseph, 212 Bonaparte, Louis, 212, 229 Bonaparte, Napoleon, 171, 172, 203-215, 218-220, 224 Bonapartists, 244, 246, 263 Boulanger, General, 250 Bourbon, Antony de, 116-118 Bourbons, 116-118, 129, 244, 263, 264 Bourgeoisie, 81, 100 Bretigny, Treaty of, 83 Britain, 2 Burgesses, 58 Burgundy, Duke of, 85-89, 97, 105
Caesar, Julius, 10-12, 15 Calais, 79 Campo Formio, Treaty of, 205, 206 Capet, Hugh, 48 Carlovingian Kings, 31-48 Carnot, 249, 253 Chalons, Battle of, 22 Chambord, Count of, 244, 245, 248 Charlemagne, 36, 45 Charles Martel, 31, 34 Charles V, 83-85 Charles VI, 85-88 Charles VII, 90-96, 98 Charles VIII, 101-104 Charles IX, 119, 128 Charles X, 172, 221, 222, 223 Christianity, 14-23, 32-34, 49-51 Church and State, 258 Cinq Mars, 141 Clericalism, 258, 259 Clovis, 10, 24-27, 29 Cochin-China, War with, 248 Colbert, 146, 148, 152 Coligny, Admiral, 115-124 Combes, 258, 262 Committee of Public Safety, 191, 199 Commune, The, 242, 243 Conciergerie, 191, 193, 199 Concini, 135, 136 Conde, 144, 148 Consulate, 208-210 Corday, Charlotte, 191, 192 Crecy, Battle of, 79 Crimean War, 232 Crusades, 42, 59-61, 63, 68, 73, 74, 75
Dahomey, 253 Danton, 191, 200 Dauphin, 80 Desmoulins, Camille, 184 Directory, 203, 206-208 Donation of Pepin, 34 Dreyfus, Affaire, 253-258 Dreyfus, Alfred, 253, 257 Druidism, 14, 20 Dumouriez, 198, 199
Edward III of England, 79, 82 Egypt, 206, 207, 247 Elba, 215 Elizabeth, Princess, 189, 195, 197 Enghien, Duke d', 209 England, 41, 53, 61-64, 79, 82, 110, 111, 154, 164, 165, 175, 176, 202, 203, 206, 209, 213, 219, 220, 241, 247, 251 Eugenie, Empress, 235, 238, 240
Fallieres, 261 Faure, 253, 257 Feudal System, 42, 44-46, 85, 98 Flanders, 108, 149 Fontenay, Battle of, 40 Fouquet, 147 Fouquier-Tinville, 191 Francis I, 106-112 Francis II, 116 Francis Joseph, 211, 213 Franks, 23 Freemen, 57 French Parliament, 269 French Senate, 258 Fronde, 143
Galigai, Eleonora, 135-137 Gallicia, 7 Gambetta, 245-247 Gaul, 2-4, 11, 24 Gauls, 4 Genevieve, 23 Germany, 40, 41, 108, 111, 155, 156, 210, 211, 212, 214, 238-241, 254, 260, 261 Girondists, 187-189, 193, 197-200 Godfrey of Boulogne, 60 Goths, 8, 12, 22, 23 Greece, 3, 7 Grevy, 247-249 Guesclin, Bertrand du, 83, 84 Guise, Duke of, 115-129 Gustavus Adolphus, 138, 142
Hapsburgs, 133, 142, 146, 158, 214, 238 Henry II, 115, 116 Henry III, 128, 129 Henry (IV) of Navarre, 120, 121, 123, 128-134 Henry V of England, 89, 90 Holland, 150, 151, 153, 212 Holy Roman Empire, 39, 108, 133, 211 Huguenots, 117, 118, 120-131, 137, 141, 152, 153 Huns, 22
Indemnity, 253 Irenaeus, 14 Italy, 41, 74, 101-103, 105, 106, 204-206, 212, 230, 233-235
Jacobins, 187-189, 199 Jena, Battle of, 211 Joan of Arc, 91-95 John, King, 80-83
Kelts, 2-4, 12 Knights Templar, 77, 189 Kymrians, 7
Lafayette, Marquis de, 183, 185, 187, 188, 222 Lamartine, 225 La Rochelle, Siege of, 141 Latin Quarter, 69 Law, John, 161 Legitimists, 244, 248 Leipsic, Battle of, 215 Lombards, 34, 38 Lorraine, 240 Lothaire, 40 Loubet, Emile, 256, 257, 261 Louis the Debonnaire, 40 Louis VI, 58, 59 Louis VII, 57, 61, 62 Louis VIII, 69 Louis IX, 69-73 Louis XI, 96, 98, 101 Louis XII, 104, 105 Louis XIII, 135, 136, 139-142, 148 Louis XIV, 143, 145-159, 246 Louis XV, 159-173, 181 Louis XVI, 133, 172, 174, 175, 177-190, 197, 216 Louis XVIII, 172, 197, 208, 216-218, 220, 221 Louis Philippe, 172, 198, 199, 222-226, 247 Louisiana, 209 Louvois, 148 Lutetia, 13 Luynes, Albert de, 136
MacMahon, Marshal, 243, 247 Madagascar, 253 Magenta, Battle of, 233 Mahometanism, 32-34 Maire du Palais, 27, 31 Marat, 184, 191, 192 Maria Louisa, 214, 215 Maria Theresa, Empress of Austria, 161 Marie Antoinette, 164, 172, 174, 186, 193-195, 197 Marignano, Battle of, 106 Massillia, 5 Mazarin, Cardinal, 143, 144, 146 Medici, Catharine de', 115-128 Medici, Marie de', 134, 135, 140 Meroveus, 23, 24 Merovingian Kings, 23-34, 46, 48 Metz, Surrender of, 239 Mexico, 236, 237 Mirabeau, 182, 183 Moltke, 239, 240 Monarchists, 262 Monroe Doctrine, 236, 237 Morocco, 260 Murat, 212
Nantes, Edict of, 131, 133, 141, 146, 152, 158 Napoleon Bonaparte, 171, 172, 203-215, 218-220, 224 Napoleon (III), Louis, 226, 227, 229-239, 241 Napoleon, Prince, 246, 248, 249 Necker, 178 Neustria, 31 Ney, Marshal, 218, 220 Normandy, 47, 53, 54, 62, 64, 66 Normans, 44, 47 Northmen, 42, 44, 45, 47, 48, 53 Nymwegen, Peace of, 149, 151
Orleanists, 244, 248, 263 Orleans, Duke of, 86-89, 105, 141, 159, 172, 182, 183, 222, 249
Paris, Count of, 244, 245, 248, 249 Paris, Siege of, 240, 242, 243 Pepin, 31, 34, 35, 48 Peter the Hermit, 59, 60 Philip Augustus, 62-67 Philip III, 75 Philip IV, 75-78 Philip VI, 78 Philippe Egalite, 184, 198, 199, 222 Poitiers, Battle of, 82 Pope, The, 34, 35, 37-39, 49, 59, 60, 65, 75-77, 107, 113, 155, 210, 235, 257 Pragmatic Sanction, 107, 162 Prince Imperial, 244, 246 Protestantism, 111, 112-114, 138, 142, 153, 158, 238 Provence, 5, 65, 66, 70 Prussia, 142, 155, 203, 211, 237
Ravaillac, 134 Raymond VII of Toulouse, 65, 66, 70 Reformation, The, 111, 113 Republic, Second, 225-231 Republic, Third, 242 et seq. Revolution, French, 166, 167, 179-201 Revolutionary Tribunal, 189, 193 Rheinbund, 211 Richelieu, Cardinal, 137-143, 167, 263 Robert the Strong, 48, 49 Robespierre, 183, 191, 200 Rois Faineants, 29, 30, 47 Romans, 5-7 Rome, 5-8, 10-14 Rousseau, 170, 171 Russia, 41, 203, 213, 214, 232, 253 Ryswick, Treaty of, 149
Sadi-Carnot, 249, 253 St. Bartholomew, Massacre of, 123-128 St. Helena, 220 Salic Law, 27, 78, 79, 129, 146, 161 Sarrien, 261 Sedan, Battle of, 240 Serfs, 46, 57 Simon, 195 Solferino, Battle of, 234 Spain, 41, 69, 105, 108, 122, 123, 133, 142, 146, 149, 158, 165, 202, 209, 212, 221, 238 Spanish Succession, War of the, 155 States-General, 76, 81, 82, 84, 133, 135, 179 Stuart, Marie, 115, 116, 118 Sully, Duke of, 133, 133 Swiss Guard, 188
Talleyrand, 218 Temple, The, 189, 195 Teutons, 263 Thiers, 228, 243, 243, 244 Third Republic, 258 Tiers Etat, 56, 76, 82, 133, 179, 181, 183 Tilsit, Peace of, 212 Toulouse, 65, 66, 70 Tours, Battle of, 34 Troyes, Treaty of, 89 "Truce of God," 51, 60 Turenne, 144, 148 Turgot, 177, 178
Utrecht, Treaty of, 149
Valois, 264 Varennes, 188 Verdun, Treaty of, 40, 41 Versailles, 147, 152, 156, 163, 165, 178, 182, 186, 187, 235, 240, 243 Villafranca, Peace of, 234 Visigoths, 26 Voltaire, 162, 169
Waldeck-Rousseau, 258, 262 Waterloo, Battle of, 219 Wellington, Duke of, 219 William, Duke of Normandy, 54 Williams, Eleazer, 196
Zola, 257
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