FRANCE IN 1833 [BLACKWOOD'S MAGAZINE, OCTOBER & DECEMBER 1833] * OBSERVATIONS made on the spot by one who has long regarded the political changes of France with interest, may possibly be of service, in conveying to the public on the other side of the Channel some idea of the present state and future prospects of a nation, avowedly followed as the leader by the Liberal party all over the world in the great work of political regeneration. Such a sketch, drawn with no feeling of political or national animosity, but with every wish for the present and future happiness of the great people among whom it is composed, may possibly cool many visionary hopes, and extinguish some ardent anticipations; but it will at least demonstrate what is the result, in the circumstances where it has been most triumphant, of democratic ascendency; and prepare the inhabitants of Great Britain and the Government for the fate which awaits them if they continue to follow the footsteps of the French Liberals in the career, one stage of which has been recently brought, on this side of the Channel, to so triumphant a conclusion. Most of the educated inhabitants of Great Britain visited France during the Restoration; many of them at different times. Every one thought he had acquired some idea of the political state and prospects of the country, and was enabled to form some anticipations as to its future destiny. We are now enabled to say, that most of these views were partial or erroneous. They were so, not so much from defect in the observation of France, as from ignorance of the political principles and passions which were at work amongst its inhabitants; from want of experience of the result of demo * Written during a residence of some months in Paris in summer 1833. cratic convulsions; from judging of a country over which the wave of Revolution had passed, with the ideas drawn from one which had expelled its fury. We observed France accurately enough, but we did so with English eyes; we supposed its inhabitants to be actuated by the feelings, interests, and motives which were then at work among ourselves, and could form no conception of the new set of principles and desires which are stirred up during the agitation of a revolution. In this respect our powers of observation are now materially improved. We have had some experience during the last three years of democratic convulsion; we know the passions and desires which are developed by arraying the lower orders against the higher. We have acquired an acquaintance with the signs and marks of revolutionary terror. Standing thus on the confines of the two systems at the extremity of English liberty, and the entrance of French democracy-we are now peculiarly qualified to form an accurate opinion of the tendency of these opposite principles of government; we know the landmarks of the civilisation which is receding from the view, and have gained some acquaintance with the perils of that which is approaching; and, combining recent with former experience in our own and the neighbouring country, can form a tolerably accurate idea of the fate which awaits them and ourselves. The leading circumstance in the present condition of France which first strikes an English observer, and is the most important feature it exhibits in a political point of view, is the enormous and apparently irresistible power of the central government at Paris over all the rest of France. This must appear rather a singular result after forty years of ardent aspirations after freedom, but nevertheless nothing is more certain, and it constitutes the great and distinguishing result of the Revolution. Such has been the centralisation of power by the various democratic assemblies who at different times have ruled the destinies of this great country, that there is hardly a vestige of power or influence now left to the provinces. All the situations of emolument of every description, from the highest to the lowest, in every department and line of life, are in the gift of Government. No man, in a situation approaching to that of a gentleman, can rise either in the civil or military career in any part of France, unless he is promoted by the central offices at Paris. These are general expressions which convey no definite idea. A few examples will render the state of the country in this particular more intelligible. The Chamber of Peers, who now hold their situations only for life, are appointed by the Crown. The whole army, now four hundred thousand strong, is at the disposal of Government. All the officers in that great body of course receive their appointment from the Waroffice at Paris. The navy, no inconsiderable force, is also appointed by the same power. The whole artificers and officers connected with the engineers and artillery, a most numerous body in a country so beset with fortifications and fortresses as France, derive their appointments from the central Government. The Custom-house officers, an immense body, whose huts and stations are set down at short distances all round France, are all nominated by the central office at Paris. The Post-office, in every department throughout the kingdom, is exclusively filled by the servants of Government. The Police, an immense force, having not less than eighty thousand employés in constant occupation, and which extends its iron net over the whole country, are all appointed by the Minister at the head of that department. The Clergy over the whole country receive their salaries from Government, and are appointed by the Crown. The whole teachers of youth of every description, in all public or established seminaries, whether parochial or departmental, are appointed by the Minister of Public Instruction. The management of the roads, bridges, and chaussées, throughout all the kingdom, is intrusted to persons appointed by the Crown. No man can break a stone, or mend a bridge, or repair a pavement, from Calais to Bayonne, unless he is in the service of Government; and all the labourers on the roads have a uniform hat, with the words "Cantonnier," or "Pontonnier," upon it, indicating that they are in the service of the state. The Post-horses over all France are under the control of the Crown. Not only the post-masters, but every postilion from Brest to Marseilles, and Strasburg to Bordeaux, is nominated by the Government. No additional hand can be added in the remotest relay of horses without the authority of the Parisian Bureau. On all the great roads in the north of France there are too few postilions, and travellers are daily detained hours on the road, not because horses are awanting, but because it has not pleased the Ministers of the Interior to appoint a sufficient number of postilions for the different stations. In the south the case is the reverse; the postilions are too numerous, and can hardly live, from the division of their business among so many hands; but the mandate has gone forth from the Tuileries, and obedience must be the order of the day. The whole diligences, stage-coaches, mails, and conveyances of every description which convey travellers by relays of horses in every part of France, must employ the posthorses and postilions appointed at the different stations by the Crown. No private individual or company can run a coach with relays with their own horses. They may establish as many coaches as they choose, but they must all be drawn by the royal horses and postilions, if they do not convey the travellers en voiturier with the same horses all the way. This great monopoly was established by a decree of the Directory, 9th Dec. 1798, which is in these terms: "Nul autre que les maîtres de poste, munis d'une commission spéciale, ne pourra établir de relais particuliers, relayer ou conduire à titre de louage des voyageurs d'un relais à un autre, à peine d'être contraint de payer par forme d'indemnité le prix de la course, au profit des maîtres de poste et des postillons qui auront été frustrés." The whole firemen throughout France are organised in battalions, and wear a uniform like soldiers, and are appointed by Government. The whole Judges, superior and inferior, over the whole kingdom, as well as the Prefets, Sous-Prefets, Procureurs du Roi, and in general all the legal offices of every description, are appointed by Government. The only exception are the Juges du Paix, a sort of arbiters and mediators in each canton, to settle the trifling disputes of the peasants, whom they are permitted to name for themselves. The whole officers employed in the collection of the revenue, over the whole country, are appointed by the Government. They are an extremely numerous body, and add immensely to the influence of the central authority, from whom all their appointments emanate. The It would be tedious to carry this enumeration farther. Suffice it to say, that the Government of France has now drawn to itself the whole patronage in every department of business and line of life over the whole country. Army, the Navy, the Law, the Church, the Professors and teachers of every description; the Revenue, the Post-office, the roads, bridges, and canals, the post-horses, the postilions, the firemen, the police, the gens-d'armes, constitute so many different branches in which the whole patronage is vested in the central Government at Paris, and in which no step can be taken, or thing attempted, without the authority of the Minister for that department, or the deputy in the capital. In consequence of this prodigious concentration of power and patronage in the public offices of Paris, and the total stripping of every sort of influence from the Departments, the habit has become universal in every part of France, of looking to Paris, not only for the initiation in every measure and thought, but for the means of getting on in every line of life. Has a man a son to put into the army or navy, the law, the church, the police, or revenue? He finds that he has no chance of success unless he is taken by the hand by the Government. Is he anxious to make him a professor, a teacher, or a schoolmaster? He is obliged to look to the same quarter for the means of advancement. Is his ambition limited to the humbler situation of a postmaster, a bridge contractor, a courier or a postilion? He must pay his court to the Prefet of the Department, in order to obtain a recommendation to the Minister of the Interior, or the Director of Bridges and Roads. Is he even reduced to earn his bread by breaking stones upon the highways, or paving the streets of the towns? He must receive the wages of Government, and must wear their livery for his twenty sous a-day. Thus, in every department and line of life |