The Press. FRIDAY, OCTOBER 20, 1899. A FRENCH WARNING TO ENGLAND.

Press, Volume LVI, Issue 10481, 20 October 1899, Page 4

The Press. FRIDAY, OCTOBER 20, 1899. A FRENCH WARNING TO ENGLAND.

The oSer of Major Marcha-d of his services to the Boers is sij____c__t because, notwittistanding the official disavowal which at once proceeded from (his superiors, there is little doubt -hat the spirit of antagonism to England Whidh. animates the "ihero of Fashoda" animates also a very large section of tihe French people. Unless we are mistaken, ■moreover, there are other signs on the diplomatic (horizon which our statesmen would do well not to neglect. One naturally wonders ihow far the chorus of approval with whicfh our attitude towards the Boers has been greeted by tihe ofl-dal press all over Europe is sincere, and how far it was designed to egg us on into a conflict which was likely to be severe and might cause us a good deal of trouble. We, ourselves, believe that we are engaged in a just war, and it would be very gratifying if we could feel assured that the sympathy and approval of Europe were with us. We know, (however, that no matter how just our course of action may have been in the past, our critics on the continent, as a rule, have been only too sready to carp and sneer at us. It is impossible to avoid a suspicion, therefore, that this soothing harmony from tihe official press may really be the purring of the cat, waiting lor a spring if it sees a chance, after lulling its prey into fancied security. This impression is cos-inned by the fact that while the official continental newspapers were purring ao affably, the jot___i_t not under ministerial inspiration., (both in Fraace and Germany, were snarling and showing their teeth, A very interesting, if not -ltogetber reassuring, article, Showing the extent to wihic_ French antipathy to England has grown in irecent is published in the "National Review" for September. It is entitled "Anglophobia—A French Warningto E-glanld," and is written by Monsieur Urbain Gohier, author of •* L'Armee contre la Nation." He quite confirms the statement mada by another writer in tihe same Review that Germany, ambitious of becoming a great maritime and colonial power, seek- to range under her (hegemony the States of Continental, or at any rate of Central Europe, and to direct them against the British Empire, and that to -his end she has devoted the last fifteen years to effecting a reconciliation with France. "It is likewise true," adds Monsieur Gc/hier "that her " skilful and persevering propaganda has appreciably modified French opinion. It "is also true that this modification takes " the indirect form of antipathy to England, " rather than the direct form of attacthment " to Germany." Of the existence of this antipathy, Monsieur Gohier gives many proofs. The chief agents in the "Affaire Anglaise," he tells us, are the "Petit Journal" and the various issues of "La Croix," which have an aggregate circulation of several millions daily amongst classes so ignor__(b as to believe everything they see in print, while they never read anything except those papers. About the "Petit Journal" Monsieur Gohier does mot mince matters. It is the property, he tells us, of a naturalised Italian, .M. Enrico M_rino_i, "a faithful servant of the Triple AUianee, "who is said to have made 630,000 francs " (£25,200) out of the Panama swindle." It is edited _y "a bravo called M. Ernest Ju- " dot This ardent patriot is accused by ids "enemies of having concealed himself in a "cellar during the Fr__co-Grerman war in " order to preserve -his great faculties for the "service of his co—ntry." He devotes his existence to a pen-and-ink crusade against England. "In order to -aflame the passions "of the French people he ransacks the "pages of history and reproduces all the " dis_greeaWe episodes between the two na- " tio_s; when these fail he draws upon an "odious -_agi_ation." He accuses England of having bought some of the leading politicians in France, and perpetually demonetrates that the English are the authors of every evil whidh be____ the _Y__ch. The

other paper, "La Croix," is the property of the Fathers of the Assumption, and endeavours to arou« the masses to Anglophobia by appeals to religious prejudice and passion. Bnt the anti-English agitation is by no means confined to tho dosses ihere typified. M. de Ca-ssagnac, the deputy, and director of the •• Autorite," who is one of the most influential of tihe monarchists, in an article quoted by M. Go_ier, refers to England as "a real nation of prey, without scruple, re- " morse or conscience, cowardly in the pre- -'.*. fiance of the strong," truculent towards the "weak, never hesitating to appropriate what " is wit-in range of her guns, and mocking, "in scandalous fashion, at international "rights, honesty and justice." Even the University professors introduce gibes nt Great Britain into their addresses. At the distribution of prizes at the Lannion College Jast.July, tihe professor selected to deliver the address, referring to Waterloo, said— "Since then, my dear students, the Bretons "have had no opportunity to cross swords "with, the English. But a day will come, "perhaps 1 , when this long feud will be "broken. Then the two peoples, impelled "by -heir venerable bub ever-vivid hatred, "will fly at one another, throats." Some of the diatribe, in religious publcations are even more extraordinary. In a work entitled "Famille, et Divorce," we are told, the Abbe Vidieu, vicar of fit. Rochie and Doctor, of Divinity, devotes a chapter to demonstrating that Protestanta continually practiso adultery, polygamy, and incest. "If," says the' reverend author, "you go on " certain days to a particular place in Lon- " don, or in any other English town,'accord- *' ing to Father Ventura, you will see in the " middle of a mocking and insulting crowd "of people, a number of unhappy-looking "women with a rope round their neck, both "ends of which are held by a man. They " are wives put up to auction by their hus- " bands. You would imagine yourself to be " in Borne Egyptian, Chinese, or Tartar town, "The Government has endeavoured to "abolish this barbarous practice, but its '•efforts have been powerless. For we are "here in the presence of a habit due to "heresy and schism concerning marriage. " This is proved by the fact that in Catholic " Ireland, which is under the same Govern"ment and laws as Great Britain, such a "revolting spectacle has never been seen." Of the existence in France of hatred of the most dangerous kind against England— hatred which is .the product of fanaticism and ignorance—M. Gohier gives us ample illustrations. When he proceeds to trace its origin he enters upon more debatable ground, where it is not necessary to follow him. One further feature in the situation which he describes, however, should not be dismissed without notice. The leading lesson impressed upon French people, ha tells us, is that menaces directed against England are as meritorious, and far safer, than those formerly levelled against Germany, for in the event of a, war with the latter the flower of the French manhood would be exposed to destruction, while ih the case of a conflict with England, only a few thousand sailors, recruited from the fishing "classes —who apparently "don't count"'—would be sacrificed. Enough has been said to show that there is mora in the, present situation than meets the eye of the casual observer. It is not on the Boers only that our statesmen have to keep careful watch. Their feet are planted in perilous places, and a false step may mean disaster. Surely it must be apparent, even to Mr. T. E. Taylor and the Hon. Mr Scotland, that it is the duty, also, of the Empire at large, to look beyond the confines of the Transvaal dispute, and take heed of the graver possibilities that threaten- The Burest way to stave off the danger which lowers before us, is for Britons to stand together, shoulder to shoulder, all the world over, and that, we are proud to say, Britons are evidently determined to do.