civil war, invasion, and coups d’etat, the monarchy I represent can only commend itself to Europe and the French people as one of peace, conciliation, and preservation.  The king of France must return to France as a shepherd to his fold, or else remain in exile.  If I must not return, Divine Providence will bear me witness before the French people that I have done my duty with honest intentions.  In the midst of the prevailing ignominies of the present age it is well that the life and policy of an exiled king should stand out white in all their loyalty.”

There was little of general interest in French politics during the remaining years of M. Grevy’s first administration, which ended early in 1886.  He was the first French president who had reached the end of his term.  He was quietly re-elected by the joint vote of the two Chambers, not so much because he was popular as because there seemed no one more eligible for the position.  He had not had much good fortune in his administration.  M. Ferry’s colonization schemes had cost great sums of money and had led to jealousies and disputes with foreign nations.  French finances had become embarrassed.  The French national debt in 1888 was almost twice as great as that of England, and the largest additions to it were made during M. Grevy’s presidency, when enormous sums were spent on public works and on M. Ferry’s colonial enterprises.  The mere interest on the debt amounts annually to fifty millions of dollars, and every attempt at reduction is frustrated by the Chambers, which are unwilling to approve either new taxes or new loans.

The two principal points of interest during the latter years of M. Grevy’s first term of office concerned the persecution of the Church and the persecution of the princes of the house of Orleans.

The Republic began by taking down the crucifixes in all public places, such as court-rooms, magistrates’ offices, and public schools; for in France men swear by holding up a hand before the crucifix, instead of by our own irreverent and dirty custom of “kissing the book.”  Then the education of children was made compulsory; but schools were closed that had been taught by priests, monks, or nuns.  Next, sisters of charity were forbidden to nurse in the hospitals, their places being supplied by women little fitted to replace them.

As to the Orleans princes, in 1886, the year of M. Grevy’s second election, they were summarily ordered to quit France; not that they had done anything that called for exile, but because Prince Napoleon (who called himself the Prince Imperial and head of the Bonaparte dynasty) had put forth a pamphlet concerning his pretensions to the imperial throne.  This led to the banishment of all members of ex-royal families from French soil, and their erasure from the army list, if they were serving as French soldiers.

This decree was particularly hard upon the Duc d’Aumale, who was a French general, and had done good service under Chanzy and Gambetta in the darkest days of the calamities of France.