life. But yet, notwithstanding these inherent antagonisms, there is no fundamental reason at all why a moderate republic should not recognize the necessity and the policy of gaining the goodwill of society, and of supporting and utilizing it as a national force. To do this, however, the republic must remain somewhat Conservative, and that is precisely what the French Republic has ceased to be. Its ungainliness is increasing instead of diminishing; its innate disinclination to graceful things is augmenting, for the simple reason that it is becoming more and more essentially democratic. It is to its democratic rather than to its purely republican spirit, that the gravity of the social situation is to be ascribed. The Republic, as a separate abstract conception, is relatively innocent. It deprived the upper classes of power, but it does not necessarily follow, nor is it in any way proved, that if left to itself it would have gone beyond that point. Democracy, on the contrary, would stop nowhere. The attacks against society, so far as they have already gone, were the act of the Republic in its young excitement; the situation.in the present is also, consequently, its work; but the danger of the future promises to arise almost exclusively from democracy, from the radical elements which are unceasingly gaining power, and from the certainty, based on experience, that they will use that power for destruction. The result produced already is marked enough, and sad enough; but the true seriousness of the case lies in the sombre probabilities of the future; in the effects which will be produced on Frenchwomen by the growth of the revolutionary spirit-by the development of that latent radicalism" of which the Duc de Broglie so prophetically spoke in 1877. during the stormy discussions which followed the 16th May.

66

The mass of the nation is indifferent in the matter; it does not understand it; and it cares so little for anything whatever except money-making, that it gladly leaves the management of its affairs to any one who is kind enough to take the trouble off its hands. But still, if the mass had any opinion at all, that opinion would be against society; for the old popular conservatism is ebbing

away, and the multitude has no favor now for anything which lies above it. It is becoming democratic in the country as in the towns, and will soon be ripe to follow the new leaders who are marching to the front, and to approve the measures which those leaders will apply. Society and women, as institutions, can look nowhere, with certainty, for reliable and effectual assistance. According to all the probabilities of the case, they both are doomed. Even the intensity of their Frenchness will not save them, for the longing for subversion takes precedence of patriotism in the democratic mind. Furthermore, if democracy permitted them to exist, it would not know how to utilize them. The Republic, even in the relatively temperate form it has hitherto assumed, has proved how incompetent it is to employ, or even to comprehend, these delicate forces; and democracy is, necessarily, still more awkward in the matter, for its entire essence is opposed to the symmetries and refinements of which Frenchwomen are the type and the exponents. Yet the danger lies not in the coarseness or the clumsiness of radicalism, but in its hate-in that chafing abhorrence of everything that stands high, which is the distinguishing characteristic of democratic passion.

There is but one faint chance left. If the Republic can resist democracy, and if it can open its eyes to its own and the national advantage, it may yet prevent the coming disappearance of Frenchwomen. It was urged, at the commencement of this article, that some of the old forces of France might advantageously be employed by the Republic. Is it quite incapable to distinguish between the "ancient parties" and society at large, and to keep the latter at work, though it continues to discard the former? Is it quite unable to utilize women? It is, of course, free to reject the aid of both if it thinks that it can do without them; it is also free to refuse to protect them, if it thinks that France does not want them; and it is fully entitled to set society at defiance, and to laugh at its hostility. But in doing these things it will have the whole of Europe against it; and the certainty of the disapprobation of all its neighbors may, perhaps, count for something in its

eyes. Thus far the Government has given no signs of its opinions or intentions in the matter. Perhaps it is waiting to let the current grow in force, and then to float on with it when it is sweeping all before it. Perhaps, when that time comes, it will say of its citizens, like Caussidière in 1848-" Of course, as I am their chief, I must follow them;" perhaps it will do nothing at all, and will leave independent radicalism to effect the overthrow by itself. But even mere inaction on the part of the Government would be as fatal as active hostility; for of all the dogmas which compose the creed of French life, not one is more universally adopted, more indisputably admitted, than the tenet that the Government is supreme master of everything, and that nothing can thrive if the Government is not with it. In the present state of things, the declared support of the State is indispensable for the maintenance of society as a force; and even that support would probably be insufficient now, for the double reason that it would be powerless against democracy, and that nobody would believe in its sincerity. Still, it is the sole remedy to try. Society will, of course, continue as a half-dried channel of intercourse-visits and parties will go on in an impoverished fashion; but that is not the meaning of society as we are considering it here. If the Government will not or cannot protect it from its adversaries, the day will soon arrive when its national functions and its corporate qualities-its creativeness, its self-constitutiveness, and its representativeness-its dignity, its lustre, and its repute will all be exterminated by irresistible and relentless sweeping out from below. Society can only be saved by union between it and the Republic. It is for the Republican Government to hold out its hand: it is the conqueror, it is the master; it is in a position in which it can afford to be generous; it can lose nothing, but it can render a priceless service to France, and can merit the. gratitude of Europe.. If the Government refuses to do its best, then the decadence will march on with speed, and there will be nothing left but to recommend French society and Frenchwomen to the protecting care of the Society for the Preservation of Historic

Monuments, so that their memory and their relics may not be totally lost in the land in which they were once so great.

Ac

It would be a mistake to imagine that what is now passing is a superficial or momentary accident, which will settle itself straight again in a little time. cording to the aspect of things, no such expectation can be entertained. The rupture of personal relations between society and the Republic, if that were all, could probably be patched up in time, provided society frankly admitted that it can only be rescued by the Republic, and provided the Republic heartily recognized that it would do an irreparable damage to France if it allowed society to be destroyed. But the true danger is graver and far deeper; it is in the very nature of the democratic sentiment in the inevitable process of demolition to which all upper things will be subjected, not only in France, but in every other country in which democracy will successively apply its action. The lighter Paris newspapers proclaim, sneeringly, that "la République manque de femmes," and laugh at it because no Frenchwoman of what was formerly called good society will consent to appear at the official receptions of its functionaries. That detail is, however, so infinitely small that it constitutes no test and supplies no argument. The question is not one of the absence or presence of particular women in certain houses, but of the general feeling and intention with which the Republic, in its entity, contemplates the social institution which those women incarnate. It is not the action of the women which interests us-it is the action of the Republic. The Republic has now an opportunity of a special kind; it can astonish the world by being delicate and graceful. It can show, if it likes, that under its rule Frenchwomen can remain themselves, and that there is nothing in the theory or the practice of a republic which is in any way contrary to the development of elegance and charm. But if it is to effect this, it must act with a tact and a skill of which it has hitherto displayed no sign. It must show sympathy for its vanquished foes, and must reawaken in them the sense of useful

ness.

It is in no way necessary that it should restore them to any share of po

litical power; but it is indispensable that it should make them feel that they have still a duty to discharge and a function to perform, in the name and for the honor of their country. They should be told that France intrusts them-under the Republic as under the Monarchy with the maintenance of some of her best traditions, with the conservation of her brightnesses and graces, with the guardianship of the qualities which have given to her the first place in social Europe. And they should be assured that, in the execution of the mission which is confided to them, the Republic will resolutely protect them against all the attacks which may hereafter be directed against them.

Nothing of all this, however, is to be expected. Mention must be made of it because it forms part of the possible eventualities of the subject, but the probabilities are not in favor of its realization. They all lie, indeed, the other way, and betoken a constant aggravation of the estrangement between the Republic and society. In such a strife, the vanquished are foredoomed. Democracy will stamp out its victims, and will give no thought to the damage done to France.

The French have not yet quite got to that, but they are fast drifting to it. The decadence of the French woman has not yet attained the form of a clearly marked decay of capacity. Thus far its symptoms are only a dispossession of

4

The

place and power, with an accompanying cessation of the utilization of abilities. It is a deprivation, not a total loss; a torpor, not a death. The qualities of the Frenchwoman remain what they were, but they are ceasing to be active, and are becoming latent. Her potentialities are unproductive, her faculties are passive. She is in a state of lethargy, like the Sleeping Beauty in the Wood. So far, the harm done is not incurable; it is still quite possible to awake her, provided the Republic will consent to play the part of Prince Charming. But if she remains too long in her present inaction, she will lose her power and unlearn her traditions; her arms will rust, and she will forget how to handle them. present generation may be able, from habit and association, to preserve some portion of its ancient attributes; but its children will not inherit its endowments, because they will not have seen them in full work, and will not have learned either to value them or to apply them. Darwin tells us of some beetles in one of the Atlantic islands, whose ancestors flew there because they had wings, but who have no longer any wings themselves (though the marks of them remain), because, having left off using them-lest they should be blown from their sea-girt home into the waves-they have atrophied and disappeared. So will it be with Frenchwomen, when encaged in the nouvelles couches: their wings will leave them.-Blackwood's Magazine.

As distance is the greatest enemy to human industry, whatever reduces the time and cost of freight is a benefit to mankind—“It blesseth him that gives and him that takes." Much advantage has, therefore, resulted to all nations from the fact that the carrying-power on land and sea has grown in a higher ratio than commerce. In 1850, for every million sterling of international commerce, there were in the world 52 miles of railway, and a maritime carryingpower of 9900 tons; and in 1880 the respective ratios had risen to 77 miles and 12,000 tons. The improvement has not only led to a saving of one-fourth in freight, but also brought producers and consumers into such contact that few, if any, of the earth's products are now wasted. We no longer hear of wheat rotting in La Mancha, of wool being

Ports of

United Kingdom. Continent... United States.. British Colonies.

used to mend highways in the Argentine Republic, nor of sheep being burnt for fuel in making bricks. It is to Great Britain in especial manner that mankind is indebted for bringing all nations within reach of a market for their products. English engineers and English capital have made most of the railways built since 1850; and English and Scotch dockyards have turned out steamers with such rapidity* that the carrying-power on sea has been quadrupled.

TRAFFIC ON THE HIGH SEAS.

Other Flags. Total Entries, Tons. 7,520,000

26,030,000

36,990,000

52,500,000

Pessimists are in the habit of saying that we send our ships to sea shorthanded; but if such were the case our ratio of wrecks would not be (as shown hereafter) less than in French, Dutch, German, or American shipping. If we work with fewer sailors, it is probably for the same reason of skill and efficiency that our cotton-mills have fewer hands per thousand spindles than in other countries. It is indisputable that as our preponderance of steamers increases, so must our economy in sailors. Only ten years ago the average of tons

1850. 1860.

1870.

1880.

own.

117,200,000

next

carried by each British seaman was no more than 278; so that, in fact, two men do now the same work that three did in 1870. The French have at present reached the same degree of efficiency that our men possessed ten years ago. France, moreover, comes after Great Britain in steam-tonnage on sea, with Germany and Spain following closely upon her. If we examine the relative position of Great Britain in this respect towards the world, we shall find our predominance has grown in every decade-viz.,

It is commonly said that our superiority in the carrying trade is due to the facility with which we can build steamers, more than other nations; but the books of the shipbuilders of the Tyne and the Clyde show that they build vessels as readily for other flags as for our If the Americans had ten years ago repealed their suicidal Navigation Law, and got our builders on the Tyne to launch an American steamer for every British steamer built on the Clyde, they would be to-day in some position to compete with us in the carrying trade, instead of having to deplore their present state of destitution. At the beginning of the nineteenth century," says Yeats, the commerce of the world seemed

Total.

270,000

Ratio of British. 59 per cent.

790,000

1,820,000

62

63

4,110,000