MARSHAL M'MAHON'S MANIFESTO TO THE FRENCH PEOPLE.

New Zealand Tablet, Volume V, Issue 240, 7 December 1877, Page 7

MARSHAL M'MAHON'S MANIFESTO TO THE FRENCH PEOPLE.

" Frenchmen,— You ore about to be called upon to no nominate your representatives to the Chamber of Deputies. Ido not assume to exercise any pressure upon your choice, but I feel bound to dispel any doubt upon what you are about to do. What I have done is this : For the last four years I have maintained peace, and the personal confidence with which I am honoured by foreign Sovereigns enables me daily to render our relations with all Powers more cordial. At home, public order has never been disturbed for a moment, owing to the policy of concord which brought around me men devoted before all things to their country. Public prosperity, momentarily arrested by our misfortunes, has recovered its elasticity ; the general wealth has increased, notwithstanding the heavy burdens borne' by the people ; the national credit has been strengthened ; and Prance, peaceable and confident at the same time, sees her army, always •worthy of her, re-constituted upon new bases. These great results ■were, however, threatened with danger. The Chamber of Deputies, daily throwing off the leadership of moderate men, and more and more dominated by the avowed leaders of the Radical party, at length forgot the share of authority which belonged to me, and which I could not allow to be diminished without implicating the honour of my name before you and before history. Contesting at the same time my rightful influence in the Senate, the Chamber of Deputies aimed at nothing less than substituting for the necessary equilibrium of the public powers established by the Constitution the despotism of a new Convention. Hesitation was no longer permissible. Exercising my constitutional right, and in conformity with the opinion of the Senate, I dissolved the Chamber of Deputies. It is now for you to speak. They tell you that I seek to overthrow the Kepublic, but you will not believe it. The Constitution is entrusted to my guardianship, and I will make it respected. What I look for from you is the election of a Chamber which, raising itself above party rivalries, should occupy itself before all things with the country's affairs. At the last elections an abuse was made of my name. Among tlfose who then proclaimed themselves my friends many have not ceased to oppose me. People still speak to you of their devotion to my person, and assert that they only attack my Ministers. Do not be duped by this artifice. To frustrate it my Government will designate among

the candidates those who alone are authorised to make use of my name. You will maturely consider the bearing of youT votes. Elections favourable to my policy will facilitate the regular conduct of the existing Government. They will affirm the principal of authority sapped by. demagogy, and will assure order and peace. Hostile elections would aggravate the conflict between the public powers, as well as impede the course of business and maintain agitation, and France, in the midst of these fresh complications, would become for Europe an object of distrust. As for myself, my duty would increase with the danger. I could not obey the mandates of the demagogues ; I could neither become the instrument of Radicalism nor abandon the post in which the Constitution has placed me. I shall remain to defend Conservative interests with the sapport of the Senate, and shall energetically protect the faithful public servants who at a difficult moment have not allowed themselves to be intimidated by vain threats. " Frenchmen, — I await with full confidence the manifestation of your sentiments. .After so many trials France desires stability, order, and peace ; and with God's help we will secure to the country, these benefits. You will listen to the words of a soldier who serves no party and no revolutionary or retrograde passion, and who is guided by nothing but love for his country. " The President of the Republic, Marshal De M'Mahon, Due de Magenta. The Minister of the Interior, De Fourtou. Paris, September 10."