France

FRANCE

PAKT I.—GEOGRAPHY AND STATISTICS.

I. Situation and Extent.—Face of the Country.— Climate and Soil.

THIS important part of continental Europe extends from the 43d to the 51st degree of north latitude, and from longitude 7° 35' E. to longitude 4° 43' W. The boundaries of France are—on the N. the English Channel (Manche), the Straits of Dover (Pas-de-Calais), Belgium, and Luxembourg; on the E. Germany (Alsace-Lorraine), Switzerland, and Italy; on the S. the Mediterranean and Spain; on the W. the Atlantic Ocean. From north to south its length is about 576 miles, measured from Dunkirk to the Col de Falguères; its breadth from east to west is about 494 miles, from Mont Donon to Cape Saint-Mathieu at the extremity of Brittany, which projects into the Atlantic, like a wedge, and without which France would approach in form to a square; and its superficial extent, including Corsica and the small islands on the coasts, is 204,147 English square miles, nearly twice the total area of the British Isles.

Though in point of extent of coast and ready access from the interior to the sea France is far inferior to Great Britain and Ireland, it is, on the other hand, more fortunate in these respects than the vast inland territories of Austria and Russia,—its coast-lino extending 395 miles on the Mediterranean, 572 on the North Sea, the Straits of Dover, and the Channel, and 584 on the Atlantic. The country has the advantage likewise of being separated from its neighbours by natural barriers of great strength, the Pyrenees forming a powerful bulwark on the southwest, the Alps on the south-east, and the Jura and the Vosges mountains on the east. The boundary line on the side of Belgium is the only one which nature has left unprotected.

Orography.— The lino which separates the basins of the Mediterranean and the Atlantic runs to the north from the Pyrenees through the Cevennesand Vosges, and finally joins the Alps in the south-east. The most remarkable summits in the Pyrenees are the Pic du Midi d’Ossau (9734 feet), not far from the favourite town of Pau, the Pic d’Anie (8219 feet), the cirque of Gavarnie, Mont Néthou (11,168 feet), Mont Perdu (10,995 feet), the Pic Long (10,476 feet), the Vignemale (10,820 feet), the Tour de Marboré (9861 feet). An offshoot of the Pyrenees, the Corbières, deserves mention, on account of the huge granitic mass that it contains, called the Canigou. The Cevennes are about 600 kilometres (373 miles) in length, lying between the Rhone on the east and the Garonne and Loire on the west; here, proceeding from south to north, we have Mont Naurouze, the Pic of Montant (3412 feet), the Malpertus (5512 feet), the Hort de Dieu (5135 feet), Mont Pila (4474 feet, Vivarais), Gerbier des Jones (5121 feet), Mézenc (5820 feet), Tarare (4757 feet), Haute-Joux (3262 feet, Charolais). Smaller chains detach themselves from the Cevennes, among which may be noticed the Montagnes d’Auvergne, the Plomb du Cantal (6095 feet), the Puy-de-Saucy (6220 feet), the Puy-de-Dôme (4806 feet), the Mount Dore (6187 feet), the mountains of Limousin, and those of Velez, Forez, and Madeleine. The Vosges, which reach no great height, trend northward between the Rhine and the Moselle. Their ramifications are the hills of Belfort, the Faucilles mountains, the Langres plateau, the Montagnes de la Côte d’Or, which are βon-tinued by the mountains of Morvan, the Orleans plateau, and tlιβ hills of Picardy, Normandy, and Brittany. The Vosges end in the north with the Argonne and the Ardennes, which separate the Seine from the Meuse. The Jura is a chain of the Alps extending between the Rhine and the Rhone from the north-east to south-west. Its principal summits are the Crêt de la Neige (5656 feet), the Reculet (5630 feet), Mont Tendre (5518 feet), and the Dole (5514 feet). Mont Blanc (15,780 feet), the highest mountain in Europe, is in the Alps of Savoy, which project the Graian Alps, the mountains of Maurienne (Mount Cenis), the Cottian Alps, the Maritime Alps, the Alps of Dauphiné, and the Alps of Provence. As may be seen from these particulars, the surface of France exhibits, in general, an advantageous succession of high and low ground. Less level than Poland, the north of Germany, or the greater part of European Russia, it is, on the whole, less mountainous than Spain or Italy, and may with great propriety be compared to England, with this distinction that, whilst in the latter the mountainous tracts are in the north and west, in France they are in the south and east. Throughout Flanders, Picardy, Normandy, and the countries to the north and south of the Loire, we find plains, diversified occasionally by hills (either insulated or rising in succession), but having none of those massy elevations entitled to the name of mountains. The south and east of France, on the contrary, are rugged and elevated tracts, and may be said to be to that country what Wales and Scotland are to Great Britain.

Hydrography.— The course of the great rivers is easily connected with this view of the surface of the territory of France. With the exception of the Rhone, they all flow either from south to north or from east to west, and discharge themselves into the North Sea, the Channel, and the Atlantic. The Rhine, which not long ago formed the boundary between France and Germany, has part of its basin in France; the Moselle, one of its affluents, takes its source in the Vosges (Ballon d’Alsace), and waters Re-miremont, Épinal, Toul, and Pont-à-Mousson, before entering the German territory; the Valogne, the Meurthe, and the Seille are its tributaries. The Meuse rises not far from Bourbonne-les-Bains, and becomes a Belgian river at Givet. During its course, it receives on its right bank the Chiers and the Semoy, and on its left the Bar and the Sambre. The Escaut (or Scheldt) has its source near Le Catelet (Aisne), and leaves France after having watered Cambrai, Valenciennes, and Condé; the upper courses of its two affluents, the Scarpe and the Lys, also belong to France. The Somme, which receives the Avre, rises near St Quentin, and empties itself into the Channel between St Valery and Le Crotoy. The Seine, one of the four large rivers of France, the others being the Loire, the Garonne (Gironde), and the Rhone, descends from the Langres plateau, flows north-west down to Méry, turns to the west, resumes its north-westerly direction at Montereau, passes through Paris, and discharges itself into the Channel between Le Havre and Honfleur above Rouen and Quillebaeuf. Its affluents are, on the right, the Aube, the Marne (which joins the Seine at Charenton near Paris, after having received the Ourcq and the Saulx), the Oise (which has its source in Belgium and is enlarged by the Aisne), and the Epte; on the left the Yonne, the Loing, the Essonne, the Eure, and the Rille. The Orne is a short river, which waters Argentan and Caen (Normandy), and flows into the Channel. The Vilaine, not much more considerable, passes Rennes, Redon, and La Roche-Bernard (Brittany), near which it falls into the Atlantic. The Loire rises in Mount Gerbier des Jones, in the range of the Vivarais mountains, flows due north to Nevers, then turns to the north-west as far as Orléans, where it takes its course towards the south-west, and lastly from Saumur runs west, till it reaches the Atlantic between Paimbaeuf and St Nazaire. It passes through several large towns, as Nevers, Orléans, Tours, Angers, and Nantes. On the right the Loire receives the waters of the Furens, the Aroux, the Nièvre, the Maine (formed by the Mayenne and the Sarthe with its affluent the Loir), and the Erdre, which joins the Loire at Nantes; on the left, the Allier (which receives the Dore and the Sioule), the Loiret, the Cher, the Indre, the Vienne with its affluent the Creuse, the Thouet, and the Sèvre-Nantaise. The Loire, the longest of French rivers, is navigable for about 512 miles of its course. It is often in many places dried up during the hot season of the year, while, on the other hand, it is subject to frequent and disastrous floods at the time when the snows melt in the upper valleys, or as a consequence of the long rains of autumn. The Charente descends from Chérounac (Haute-Vienne), traverses Angoulême, and falls into the Atlantic not far from Rochefort. The Garonne rises in the valley of Aran (Spanish Pyrenees), enters France near Bagnères-de-Luchon, has first a northwest course, then bends to the north-east, and soon resumes its first direction. It flows through Toulouse, Agen, and Bordeaux, and joins the Atlantic between Royan and the Point de Grave, opposite the tower of Cordouan. In the lower part of its course, from the Bec-d’Ambez, where it receives the Dordogne, it becomes considerably wider, and takes the name of Gironde. The principal affluents are the Ariége, the Tarn with the Aveyron and the Agout, the Lot, and the Dordogne, which descends from the Mont Dore-les-Bains, and joins the Garonne at Bec-d’Ambez, to form the Gironde. All these affluents are on the right; the Gers is the only one of note which joins it on the left. The Adour rises near the Pic-du-Midi in the Pyrenees, and discharges itself into the Bay of Biscay at Bayonne; the mass of its waters is much increased in winter by several mountain streams, of which the Gave de Pau, the Bidouze, and the Nive may be mentioned. The Hérault is the first river of France which runs south and discharges itself into the Mediterranean. It comes from the Mont Laigonat in the Cevennes, and debouches into the Gulf of Lyons. The Rhone, the source of which is in Mount St Gotthard, in Switzerland, enters France by the narrow defile of L’Ecluse, and has a somewhat meandering course, first flowing south, then north-west, and then west as far as Lyons, whence it runs straight south till it reaches the Mediterranean, into which it discharges itself by two principal branches, which form the delta or island of the Camargue. Lyons, Vienne, Valence, Avignon, Beaucaire, Arles, are the 'chief towns passed by the impetuous waters of the Rhone. The Ain, the Saône (which passes through Mâcon, receives the Doubs, and joins the Rhone at Lyons), the Ardèche, and the Gard are the affluents on the right; on the left we may mention the Arve, the Isère, the Drôme, and the Durance. The Var, a large and rapid stream, descends from Mont Caméléon (Alpes Maritimes), and flows into the Mediterranean near Saint-Laurent-du-Var.

Lakes.— France has very few lakes. The Lake of Geneva, which forms 32 miles of the frontier, belongs to Switzerland. The most important French lake is that of Grand-Lieu, between Nantes and Paimboeuf (Loire-Inférieure), which presents a surface of 17,300 acres. We may also mention the lakes of Bourget and Annecy (both in Savoy), St Point (Jura), Paladru (Isère), and Nantua (Ain). The lakes, or étangs, of Villers (Cher), Indre, Stock, Con-drexange (Meurthe), Horre (Aube), Chaussée (Meuse), Ploërmel (Morbihan), La Pelaque (Maine-et-Loire) are artificial creations. The coasts present a number of maritime inlets, forming inland bays, which communicate with the sea by channels of greater or less width. Some of these are on the south-west coast, in Gascony, as Carcans, Lacanau, Biscarosse, Cazan, Sanguinet; but more are to be found in the south and south-east, in Languedoc and Provence, as Leucate, Sigean, Thau, Maguelonne, Berre, Cour-thezon, Citis, Pourra, &c. Their want of depth prevents them from serving as roadsteads for shipping, and they are useful chiefly for fishing, or for the manufacture of bay-salt.

Forests.— The artificial or ornamental plantations of France are much fewer in number than those of England, its natural forests far more numerous, the total extent of ground covered by wood being computed at 32,250 square miles, about one-sixth of the surface of the country. There are forests in almost every department. Lower Normandy contains several of considerable extent. There is a large one at Fontainebleau, only 45 miles from Paris, and a larger to the north of the Loire, in the vicinity of Orléans. The department of Ardennes aud the mountainous tract that forms the boundary of France on the side of Switzerland abound in forests. The state possesses 991,766 hectares (3830 square miles); 1,903,258 hectares (7348 square miles) belong to the communes or to public institutions, and are managed by the state; the rest are private property. They represent a total value of about three thousand millions of francs (£120,000,000 sterling), the annual revenue of which exceeds 38,000,000 francs.

Climate.— The climate of France is generally temperate, but by no means uniform. The division into the north, west, south, and central regions, although it seems the most natural, does not satisfactorily correspond to the actual differences. A more convenient division is that of the following four regions or zones :—the region in which the olive tree is cultivated, which is limited by a line from Bagnères-de-Luchon (Haute-Garonne) to Die (Isère); the region of the maize, or Indian corn, from the mouth of the Gironde to Raon-L’Étape (Vosges); the region of the vine, from the mouth of the Loire to Mézières (Ardennes); and the northern region, which is characterized by the culture of the apple-tree. These limits are, however, far from being absolute; the Indian corn, for example, is successfully cultivated in Brittany, and vineyards are to be found much farther north than the mouth of the river Loire. The north and north-west of France bear a great resemblance, both in temperature and produce, to the south of England, rain occurring frequently, and the country being consequently fit for pasture. In the interior the rains are less frequent, but, when they occur, are far more heavy, so that there is much less difference in the annual rainfall there as compared with the rest of the country than in the number of rainy days; but, on the whole, the climate of the interior is the most pleasant in France, that region being exempt equally from the oppressive heat of the south and the frequent humidity of the north. The great current of wind which prevails in France blows from west to east, from the Atlantic, over the whole surface of the country, except the lower basin of the Rhone, where the mistral (a cold wind coming from the north-north-west), the east wind blowing from the Alps, and the south winds do considerable damage both to the produce of the soil and to the health of the inhabitants. Pau, Cannes, Nice, <fcc., in the south, are much resorted to by invalids, and by English families for winter quarters.

Geology.— In a geological point of view France may be divided in three great regions, which comprehend a nearly complete series of the different kinds of soils.

1. Mountains. (a.) Granite and Schist.

Alpes. — Part of Isère (S.E.); Drôme; Hautes-Alpes; part of Basses-Alpes (E.); Savoie; Haute-Savoie.

Pyrénées. — Part of Aude (S.E.); Pyrénées-Orientales; part of Ariége (S.), of Haute-Garonne (S.), of Hautes-Pyrénées (S.), and of Basses-Pyrénées (S.W.) Vosges.— Part of Vosges (E.) Maures. — Part of Var (S.E.)

(b.) Limestone.

Jura.— Doubs; Jura; part of Ain (E.)

Provence.— Part of Basses Alpes (W.) and of Var (N.W.); Vaucluse: Bouchcs-du-Rhône.

2. Plateaus. (a.) Granite and Schist.

Central Plateau.— Part of Nièvre (E.) and of Saône-et-Loire (W.); Rhône; Loire; Ardfeche; part of Gard (W.), of Allier, and of Puy-de-Dôme (E. and W.); Haute-Loire; part of Lozère (N.); Creuse; Haute-Vienne; Corrèze; Cantal; part of Aveyron (N.) and of Tarn (E.)

Ardennes.— Part of Ardennes (N.)

Bretagne.— Part of Orne (W.); Mayenne; part of Maine-et-Loire (W.) and of Deux-Sfevreβ (N.W.); Manche; Ille-ct-Vilaine; Loire-Inférieure; Vendée; Côtcs-du-Nord; Morbihan; Finistère.

(δ.) Limestone.

Causse».— Part of Lozère (S.) and of Aveyron (S.)

Languedoc.— Part of Gard (E.); Hérault Quercy.— Lot.

Haut Poitou— Part of Vienne (S.), of Charente (N.) and of Dcux-Sfevres (N.)

Bourgogne.— Haute-Saône; Haute-Mame; Côte d’Or; part of Yonne (S.E.) and of Nièvre (W.)

Lorraine. -Moselle; Meurthe; part of Vosges (W.); Meuse

3. Level Tracts. Champagne.— Aube; Marne; Ardennes.

Neustrie.— Nord; Aisne; Seine-et-Marne; part of Yonne (N.W.); Pas-de-Calais; Somme; Oise; Seine-et-Oise; Seine; Loiret; Cher; Seine-Inférleure; Eure; Eure-et-L<dre; Loir-et-Cher; Indre; Calvados; part of Orne (E.); Sarthc; Indre-et-Loire; part of Vienne (N.) and of Maine-et-Loire (E.)

Aquitaine.— Part of Tarn (W.) and of Aude (N.W.); Tarn-et-Garonne; part of Haute-Garonne (N.), of Ariége (N.) and of Charente (S.); Dordogne; Lot-et-Garonne; part of Hautes-Pyrénées (N.); Charente-Inférieure; Landes· part of Basses-Pyrénées (N.E.)

Limagne.— Part of Allier (W.) and of Puy-de-Dôme (central part).

Bresse.— Part of Côte-d’Or (E.), of Saône-et-Loire (E.), of Ain (W.) and of Isère (N.W.)

The following table shows the same districts classified according to the nature of their soils. It will be remarked that the Tertiary rock forms nearly the third part of France, whilst the coalfields are scarcely the two-hundredth part of it.

Primitive rock.— Vendée, part of Brittany, part of the Maures, the Vosges, and the Alps—10,416,000 hectares (40,217 square miles).

Transition rock.— Pyrenees, central part of Brittany, Cotentin, Ardenne, part of the Vosges—5,200,000 hectares (20,077 square miles).

Porphyritic and Carboniferous rocks.— North of Ardenne; north-west of the central plateau; the Maures; small portions of the surface in the Corbiferos, Brittany, and the Vosges—520,000 hectares (2007 square miles).

Triassic and Permian rock.— East of Lorraine, and a small part of the Vosges— 3,480,000 hectares (12,436 square miles).

Jurassic rock. —The Causses, Quercy,and Haut-Poitou; Lorraine and Burgundy; part of the Alps—10,371,000 hectares (39,943 square miles).

Chalk. —Champagne, west of'Neustrie, and some places in Aquitaine and the Pyrenees—6,245,700 hectares (24,115 square miles).

Tertiary rock.— The greater part of Neustrie, Limagne, Aquitaine, Bresse, part of Languedoc, Provence, and some places in Brittany and Vendée—14,853,500 hectares (57,350 square miles).

Volcanic rock.— Several masses in the central plateau, and various places in the Causses, Languedoc, Provence, the Maures, and Lorraine—520,000 hectares (2007 square miles).

Alluvial soils. —These are to be found in all valleys, but chiefly near Dunkirk and Niort, and on the Mediterranean coasts—520,000 hectares (2007 square miles).

The Statistique générale of France divides the soil thus :— [table]

Or, considering the use rather than the nature of the soil, the surface of France may be divided, thus :— [table]

II. Population.

The population of France, which in 1801 was 27,349,003, was 36,905,788 in 1876, of whom 11,405,000 were living in towns. The following table shows the extent of each department and the population in 1861 and 1876. [table]

The annual increase of population in France between 1801 and 1876 has been very small. Allowing for the alterations in extent of territory which took place in 1860 and in 1871, it amounts to about 0 ’ 43 per cent.; so that while in England the population during the same period has been doubling in about 53 years, it would require 161 years to bring about a similar result in France. The census of 1876 returned 18,373,639 males and 18,532,149 females, of whom 9,805,761 males and 8,944,386 females were single. In 1874 there were 954,652 births, 981,709 deaths, and 303,113 marriages; of the births 69,294 were illegitimate, and 44,613 were children stillborn. Population is not so dense in France as in the United Kingdom, the proportions being about 181 and 270 inhabitants respectively to the square mile.

The following table of the population arranged according to employments (exclusive of children and servants) is taken from the census of 1872 :— [table]

The first of the following tables shows the population for 1832, 1851, and 1876 of the towns in France that had upwards of 50,000 inhabitants in the last-mentioned year :— [table]

Towns with from 20,000 to 50,000 Inhabitants in 1876. [table]

III. Government and Administration.

The governments and constitutions which have ruled France since 1789 have been many, and have presented wide differences. We have not, however, to consider here those frequent changes, which belong to history; we have merely to state from a geographical and statistical point of view how France is now governed and administered. The law of the 25th February 1875 confirmed in France the republican government which had existed from the fall of the empire; but the institutions of the country still bear strong evidence of their monarchical origin and tendency. The sovereignty of the people, acknowledged and proclaimed since 1789, is now represented by three powers,—the chamber of deputies, the senate, and the president of the republic. The deputies are elected by universal suffrage; each district or “arrondissement” sends one deputy to the chamber, if its population does not exceed 100,000, and an additional deputy for every additional 100,000 inhabitants, or fraction of that number. The senate consists of 300 members, the fourth part of whom were at first elected by the national assembly, and hold office for life, each vacancy being filled up by a vote of the senate. The others are elected by special bodies formed, in each department and in the colonies, by the deputies, the general councillors, the councillors of arrondissement, and a delegate of each municipal council. They are in office for nine years, and every third year are partly renewed. The president of the republic is chosen for seven years by the senate and chamber of deputies voting together. He promulgates the laws passed by the parliament; he has the command of the land and sea forces, but cannot declare war without the advice of the chambers; he makes treaties of peace, alliance, and commerce, nominates to all Government offices, and has power to dissolve the chamber of deputies, with the sanction of the senate. He receives a yearly salary of 600,000 francs, with an allowance of 162,400 francs for household expenses. Senators and deputies have an allowance of 9000 francs each per annum. It may here be interesting to compare the salary now paid to the president of the republic with the civil list or revenue of the various dynasties which have successively ruled France since the beginning of the century. Louis XVIII. had 15,510,000 francs per annum, and 4,000,000 were allowed to the royal family. Charles X. got 25,000,000 for himself and 7,000,000 for the princes. Louis Philippe was satisfied with 12,000,000 francs a year, and adequate allowances to his children. And lastly, the second empire cost 25,000,000 francs a year, not including the pensions to the members of the imperial family, the revenues of the palaces, castles, and forests, and those mysterious resources which have become known by the name of virements.

Next to these three great powers must be mentioned the council of state, presided over by the minister of justice, and composed of a vice-president, 22 councillors in ordinary service, 15 councillors in extraordinary service, representing the different ministers, 24 maîtres des requêtes, 20 auditors of first class, 10 auditors of second class, a general secretary having the title and rank of a maître des requêtes, and a secretaire da contentieux. The auditors are appointed after a competitive examination; the councillors in ordinary service are elected by the chamber, and the other members of the council of state are nominated by the president of the republic. The business of the council is to give its advice on the projects of law which the parliament or the Government wish to submit to it, and on administrative regulations and bye-laws. All disputes arising in matters of administration, and all claims or complaints against administrative officials, are brought before the council of state, whose decision is final. The vice-president receives a salary of 25,000 francs, the presidents of sections or committees 18,000 francs, the councillors 16,000, the maîtres des requêtes 8000 francs, and the auditors of first class 4000 francs; auditors of second class have no remuneration.

The executive department of the Government is administered by the president of the republic and his cabinet coun cil, consisting of nine ministers, viz.:—the minister of justice and keeper of the seals; the minister of foreign affairs; the minister of the interior; the minister of finance; the minister of war; the minister of marine and colonies; the minister of public instruction, ecclesiastical affairs, and the fine arts; the minister of agriculture and commerce; and the minister of public works. They are appointed by the president of the republic, and are responsible to the chamber. They receive a salary which has been reduced from 100,000 to 60,000 francs, and may live, if they choose, in the “hotels” where the duties of their ministry are discharged.

Administratively, France is divided into 87 departments cut rather arbitrarily out of the territory of the ancient provinces. These departments are subdivided into 362 “arrondissements,” 2865 “cantons,” and about 36,000 “communes.” The table on page 510 contains a list of the departments, with their capital towns and arrondissements, and also a reference to the old division into provinces.

Each department is administered by a prefect appointed by the president of the republic, and each arrondissement by a sub-prefect. The prefects are divided into three classes, the salary being 35,000 francs for the first class, 24,000 for the second class, and 18,000 for the third class. The prefect of the Seine has 50,000 francs a-year. The authority of each prefect is great in his own department: he can issue local decrees; he appoints and dismisses a number of agents who depend directly on him; he is at the head of the police to maintain public order, and for this purpose can summon the military forces; he superintends the collection of taxes; he is in correspondence with all the subordinate functionaries in his department, to whom he transmits the orders and instructions of the ministers; in one word, he is the general agent of Government, and the principal instrument of centralization in the state. He is assisted in his work by two bodies, the general council (conseil general), which is elected by universal suffrage, and the council of prefecture, which is nominated by the head of the executive power. The business of the council of prefecture is to decide all legal questions and to advise the prefect, when asked to do so. The general councils assess the taxes, authorize the purchase, sale, or exchange of departmental property, superintend the management of the same, decide about new roads, railways, or canals, vote the budget for sanitary and charitable institutions belonging to the department, and give advice on every matter of local interest, political questions being strictly excluded. The law of the 23d February 1872, however, has invested them with great political importance; in case of the parliament being violently dissolved by a coup dsétat, they must immediately assemble, and form a new parliament with their delegates, in order to oppose by all means the criminal attempt. *

As the prefect in the department, so the sub-prefect, with a more limited authority, is the representative of the central power in the arrondissement. He is assisted, and to a certain extent controlled, in his work by the council of arrondissement—an elective body to which each canton of the arrondissement sends one member. Except in that case, the canton is not an administrative division. It will be noticed again in connexion with the judicial system of the country.

The commune is the administrative unit in France. At its head is a mayor assisted by deputy-mayors (adjoints), the number of whom varies according to the population; communes of 2500 inhabitants have one deputy-mayor; up to 10,000 inhabitants they have two, from 10,000 to 30,000 three, and one additional for every 20,000. The mayor has a double part to perform, as he represents both the

[table]

Prior to 1790 France was divided into thirty-two great and eight small military governments, often called provinces, which are, however, to be distinguished from the provinces formed under the feudal system. The great governments were Alsace, Ang » Anjou, Artois, Aunis and Saintonge, Auvergne, Beam and Navar.e, Berri, Bourbonnais, Bourgogne (Burgundy), Bretagne ( y).

Champagne, Dauphiné, Flandres, Foix, Franche-Comté, Guyenne and Gascogne (Gascony), Ile-de-France, Languedoc, Limousin, raine, Lyonnais, Maine, Marche, Nivernais, Normandie, Orléanais, Picardie, Poitou, Provence, Roussillon, and louraιne. ð , small governments were—Paris, Boulogne and Boulonnais, Le Havre, Sedan, Toulois, Pays Messin and verdunoιs, baumu , Corse. See Plate XIII.

central power and the commune; and often it is a difficult matter to avoid a conflict of duties. He is besides officier de l'état civil, or official registrar of births, marriages, and deaths. The mayor and deputy-mayor are not salaried officials. In the large towns they are nominated by Government, but they must always be chosen out of the municipal council, which is elected on the principle of universal suffrage, and has with regard to the commune much the same power and duties as the general council with regard to the department.

Every canton must have a commissary of police, who is under the direct control of the mayor. This police-officer is appointed by the prefect in towns having not more than 6000 inhabitants, and by the president of the republic in the others. He has rather complex duties, being at the same time a governmental, judicial, and municipal agent.

Paris and Lyons have in some respects a special and exceptional administration, the consideration of which belongs to the articles devoted to these cities.

IV. Law and Administration of Justice.

Judicial proceedings may be classed under civil, commercial, and criminal jurisdictions; there are besides some special departments, such as military and maritime tribunals, councils of discipline, and the cour des comptes.

In civil matters, every 7 canton has a juge de paix, whose decision is final when the amount in dispute does not exceed 100 francs (£4); up to 200 francs, he only can give a sentence subject to appeal. His principal business is, however, one of conciliation; and no suit can be brought before the tribunal of first instance till he has endeavoured without success to bring the parties to agreement.

A tribunal of first instance, or primary court, is established in every arrondissement. Its decision may be appealed against for sums above 1500 francs. The cours dfappel decide the actions when the sentence of the first court has been appealed from. They are 26 in number, established in the following towns :— [table]

Tribunals of commerce to decide disputed points arising out of business transactions are instituted in all the more important commercial towns, and consist of judges chosen from among the leading merchants, and elected by their fellows. For sums above 1500 francs there can be appeal from their decision. In small towns, the judges of the civil tribunal decide such commercial cases.

The courts of criminal jurisdiction are of three kinds. The tribunals of ordinary police (that is, the justice of the peace court in each canton) have the cognizance of small offences, which are punishable by a fine not exceeding 15 francs (12s.), or by imprisonment not exceeding 5 days. Offences of a more serious character, which French law calls délits, are judged by a special section of the tribunals of first instance, bearing the name of tribunal correctionnel. This tribunal can be appealed to from the sentences pronounced by tribunals of police; but its judgments are also subject to the revision of the cours dfappel. Offences which rank as crimes are judged by the cour d'assises, consisting of three magistrates and twelve jurors. The jury, as in England, decides only on the facts of the case, leaving the application of the law to the judges. The assizes are the only courts that are not stationary. They are held in the chief towns of the departments once in three months. In all criminal suits, the first inquiry is confided to a special magistrate attached to the tribunal, called juge d' instruction. He conducts the necessary investigations privately and with almost absolute power. An order of non-lieu issued by this magistrate at once puts an end to any prosecution. But if he finds that the case should go to trial, he hands it over to the court, before which a public prosecutor, with the title of procureur, or procureur-général de la république, maintains and endeavours to prove the accusation.

Above these various tribunals the court of cassation stands supreme. It is held at Paris, and is composed of three chambers, the chambre des requêtes, the chambre civile, and the chambre criminelle. Its province is to decide in all appeals from the other courts, investigating, not the facts of the case, but the forms of law, and ordering, wherever these have been infringed or deviated from, a new trial before such other tribunal as it thinks fit.

Among the special jurisdictions may be mentioned the military tribunals or councils of war, which sit in judgment on crimes and offences committed by soldiers, or by civilians in a town or district proclaimed by the Government as in a state of siege; the maritime tribunals, which are to the navy what the councils of war are to the land forces; and the councils of discipline for lawyers and other professional corporations. The cour des comptes deserves special notice. It consists of three chambers, with a president in chief over the whole court, and three presidents (one for each chamber), a general procurator, a chief greffier, 102 councillors, 20 auditors, and 81 clerks. This important institution, which costs 1,554,500 francs a year, was created in 1807 in order to control all the accounts of the Government officials. Certain agents who are not magistrates are, however, connected with the administration of justice. Such are the greffiers (clerks of the court), who keep the archives, and receive a salary from the Government; the huissiers (sheriff-officers), who give notice of summonses and sentences; and the avoués (solicitors) and the public notaries (notaires). Statistics of Justice (1874).—In 1874 the juges de paix had before their bar, with a view to private settlement, a total of 2,160,116 cases, and brought the parties to an agreement in 856,340, a result which is hardly satisfactory. As judges, they had on their rolls 391,129 cases, to which 5166 electoral disputes must be added. Their decisions were appealed from in 4460 cases. There were 125,248 cases on the rolls of the civil tribunals of first instance. The commercial courts had 255,333 cases before them, 5596 of which were cases of failure or bankruptcy. In 1850 the number was only 138,027. The decisions of the various courts above mentioned were followed by 10,555 appeals, which were brought before the cours d'appel. In about 67 per cent, of these the original sentences were confirmed. Of offences 168,835 were brought under the consideration of the tribunaux correctionnels, 171,431 males and 31,678 females being implicated in them. Of these 7509 were under sixteen years of age, and 146,588 above twenty-one. The tribunals acquitted 13,506. Out of 7949 appeals the cours d'appel confirmed about three-fourths of the original sentences, and in 1206 cases increased the punishment awarded by the tribunaux correctionnels. The jury and judges of assize courts tried 4084 cases, affecting 5228 prisoners, 4368 being males and 860 females; 55 were under sixteen years of age, 799 under twenty-one, and 284 above sixty; 2818 were unmarried; and nearly the half of the number consisted of people living in towns; 170 only had received a good education; 1810 could not read, and 2160 could read, and write but imperfectly. The jurors found 1056 prisoners not guilty; 31 were condemned to death, 151 to hard labour for life, 972 to hard labour for a limited time, 1 to transportation; 29, who were under sixteen years of age, were sent to houses of correction; sentences of imprisonment for various periods were passed on the others, except two, who were fined. Four women were among the prisoners condemned to death; the sentence was carried out in the case of 13 of the convicts; the others, including one of the women, had their sentences commuted. Besides these criminal cases, the cours d’assise had to decide on 20 alleged infring-ments of the laws and regulations affecting the liberty of the press, and on 10 political offences, consisting of speeches, cries, or displaying of emblems considered as seditious. The accused were 52 in number, of whom 28 were acquitted, 4 fined, and 20 sent to prison. There were 1100 criminal cases brought before the cour de cassation, which has the same jurisdiction in criminal matters as in civil. In a large majority of cases it confirmed the decrees of the tribunals, only 103 having been sent back for a new trial.

Prisons.— Although the prisons are attached to the ministry of the interior, it is impossible to treat of the administration of justice without saying a word about them. The convicts who have to serve more than one year are distributed into 24 central prisons (maisons centrales). Departmental prisons receive those whose sentence does not exceed one year. Political convicts are kept in custody in the two maisons de détention of Doullens (Somme) and Belle-Ile (Morbihan). Two places of transportation, Cayenne and New Caledonia, receive those who were formerly confined in bagnes, or convict prisons. The population of these penal colonies is considerably increased by the victims of internal discord; for in France it seems as if the victorious party thought that by banishing its opponents from their native land it could eradicate the ideas for which they unsuccessfully fought. The expenses of these different penitentiary establishments amount to about 18,500,000 francs. On the other hand, the produce of prison labour has a value of 2,800,000 francs.

Police.— The public peace is maintained by an armed police or gendarmerie, partly on foot and partly mounted; and in all emergencies, when this force is found insufficient for the preservation or execution of the laws, the troops may be called in to assist, subject, however, to the orders of the police. About 7000 gardiens de la paix, formerly sergents de ville (policemen), under the orders of the prefect of police, form in Paris an additional police force; and similar organizations exist in all the larger towns.

V. Religion.

Three churches are recognized and supported by the state in France,—the Roman Catholic, the Protestant (subdivided into Calvinist and Lutheran), and the Hebrew. In Algeria the Mussulman creed is equally recognized.

Roman Catholic.— The Roman Catholic Church is much stronger than the others. It may perhaps be said that France is the country where this church is the most powerful; at any rate, it has there its most perfect organization, and raises the largest sums of money; and it is to France that, directly or indirectly, the Holy See appeals in all its difficulties. Most of the provisions of the “concordat” concluded in 1801 between the first consul Bonaparte and Pope Pius VII. are still in force. France is divided into dioceses, each governed by an archbishop or a bishop, and the dioceses into parishes, each of which has at its head a curé, or parish priest. Archbishops and bishops are appointed by the head of the Government and confirmed by the pope; the archbishop of Paris receives a salary of 50,000 francs, and the others are paid 20,000 francs a year. The stipend of the bishops is 15,000 francs per annum. In 1789 France contained 135 dioceses, 18 of which were archbishoprics. The Constituent Assembly made the dioceses correspond exactly with the departments; but this was changed by the concordat of 1815. The archbishoprics and bishoprics now existing in France are as follows :— [table]

Every archbishop has three vicars-general, and every bishop two, making a total of 190. They are assisted by a chapter attached to each cathedral church, and presided over by the bishop. The curés have a minimum salary which varies from 1500 to 1200 francs, but additional money may be allowed by the municipal councils. They also receive the fees charged for baptisms, marriages, funerals, and extra masses, and have the benefit of a free house called a presbytère. The curés are about 3500 in number, and are assisted by curates (vicaires), and by desservants, the latter being priests attached to succursales or chapels-of-ease in large parishes. In 1873 the sums paid to the prelates and priests of France by the Government amounted to 39,382,495 francs—about two and a half millions more than in 1859.

The Roman Catholic Church possesses in France 89 grands séminaires, in which special instruction is given to young men who intend to enter the church, and 150 petits séminaires, or establishments of secondary education, by which the clergy endeavour to rival the lycées of Government. There are besides a number of schools and colleges kept by the Jesuits and other religious bodies. A recent law has even allowaed the clergy to found independent universities, which will be noticed in the chapter on education. Convents are very numerous in France, especially for females. They are inhabited by about 140,000 persons (including 120,000 women), whose property is worth more than a thousand millions of francs.

Protestants.— The Église Réformée (Calvinist Church) has about one million of members in France, distributed into parishes, which form 103 consistories, and 21 synodal districts, including Algeria. The Lutheran Church (Église de la Confession d ’ Augsbourg) is far inferior in number. It is ruled by a directory, now sitting in Paris, instead of Strasburg as formerly. Sixty-one pastors compose the staff of this Church, whilst the Calvinist Church has 600. The seminary of the latter is at Montauban, and that of the former at Paris since the loss of Strasburg.

Jews.— The Hebrew Church is administered by a central consistory presided over by the chief rabbi. It is subdivided into eight provincial consistories, sitting respectively at Paris, Lyons, Bordeaux, Nancy, Marseilles, Bayonne, Lille, and Vesoul. Their seminary used to be at Metz, but has been transferred to Paris.

VI. Education.

The National Convention laid the foundation of the system of public instruction that is still in force in France; the Government of the first Napoleon developed and completed it. At the head of public instruction is a minister, who has the title of grand-master of the university, this term describing, not an institution for liberal education as in Great Britain and Germany, but the branch of administration under which public instruction in its universality is placed. The minister appoints all the officers of university administration, and fills up all the vacancies in colleges and schools. He is assisted by the superior council of public instruction, which has to examine the books adopted in schools and colleges, to judge and remove incompetent teachers,·—in short, to watch over the concerns and interests of public instruction in all its branches. Attached to this council are 19 inspectors-general, who visit the principal establishments in the country for the purpose of inquiring into their management and the way in which instruction is conducted.

Académies. — The whole territory of France is divided into 16 academies, or districts of educational jurisdiction, a list of which is appended. [table]

At the head of each académie is a rector, assisted by an academical council, and by the inspectors of the district. His business is to superintend all the schools, colleges, and faculties within the bounds of his educational province, and to serve as the organ of communication between the inferior officials and the minister of public instruction. In the académie of Paris the rector is the minister himself, who is represented by a vice-rector. The rectors have not, however, the entire management of all educational matters, for primary schools are mostly under the superintendence of the prefect and of a departmental council.

Superior education is given by faculties of theology, law, medicine, sciences, and literature. The faculties of theology are established at Paris, Aix, Bordeaux, Lyons, Rouen, Montauban; those of law at Paris, Toulouse, Aix, Caen, Dijon, Poitiers, Rheims,^.Bordeaux, Grenoble, Douai, Nancy; those of medicine at Paris, Montpellier, Nancy; those of sciences at Paris, Besançon, Rennes, Caen, Bordeaux, Clermont, Poitiers, Dijon, Grenoble, Lille, Nancy, Lyons, Marseilles, Montpellier, Toulouse; and those of literature at Paris, Aix, Besançon, Bordeaux, Caen, Clermont, Dijon, Douai, Grenoble, Lyons, Montpellier, Poitiers, Rennes, Toulouse, Nancy. The faculties not only impart superior teaching, but are also examining bodies, which confer the degrees of bachelor, licentiate, and doctor.

The teaching work of the faculties is in some measure shared by 3 superior schools of pharmacy established in the same towns as the faculties of medicine, 22 preparatory schools of medicine and pharmacy, 5 preparatory schools of science and literature (at Angers, Lyons, Nantes, Chambéry, Rouen), and by the École pratique des Hautes Études, founded in 1868 at Paris. Secondary education is given in 80 lycées, attended by about 37,000 pupils, and 244 collèges communaux, with an attendance which is not much inferior in number to that of the lycées ; but the organization of many of them is still in an imperfect state. The third and lowest stage of national instruction is that of the écoles primaires or primary schools. Every commune of 500 inhabitants has to maintain a boys’ and a girls’ school. The law is not yet very strictly observed; in 1871 the total number of schools was 51,881, of which 20,374 were boys’ schools, 14,837 schools for girls, and 16,670 schools attended by girls and boys together. Primary instruction steadily gains ground in France, although it is neither gratuitous—except when parents cannot pay for it—nor obli gatory by law. In 1827 only 420 out of 1000 could read; in 1857 this average had risen to 675, and in 1867 to 775. The following table was published in 1873 by the general bureau of statistics :— [table]

To provide the staff of teachers necessary for these educational establishments, training schools (écoles normales) have been instituted. The écoles normales primaires are now 90 in number,—79 for the training of male and 11 for the training of female teachers. The école normale supérieure, founded by the decree of the 9th Brumaire, year III. (30th October 1794), provides for the education of professors for the lycées or facultés·, it maintains 100 students, who, during a course of three years, not only attain considerable proficiency in literature and science, but are trained to the art of communicating their knowledge to others in an attractive and interesting form. It is not, however, necessary to have gone through the course of study of the école normale to become a secondary teacher or a faculty professor; the condition required of students of the école normale, as of others, is to pass a series of examinations, and to acquire the degrees of bachelier, licencié, and agrégé, the last being the only one conferring rights of membership in the university.

The law of the 21st June 1865 has laid down in the lycées and communal colleges a special course of teaching, more especially intended to prepare pupils for commercial and industrial pursuits; it is c,ofdñW^nseignement secondaire spécial. A normal school, for the training of teachers who choose this line, was founded at Cluny (Saône-et-Loire) in 1868.

Private Eaucationdl Establishments.— The systematic provision thus made by the state for public instruction in France is supplemented in various ways. Not only may any one who possesses the diploma of bachelor engage in the work of primary and secondary education on his own account, but recently by a special law sanction has been given to the existence of institutions for superior instruction distinct from those of the state. The Roman Catholic clergy have not been slow to take advantage of this new state of things, and have established universities in which students may get their degrees, as in the old university of France. In 1872 there were, besides the Governmental schools, 657 establishments for secondary education directed by laymen, and 278 by priests, the latter giving instruction to 34,000 pupils, whilst the 657 others were only attended by 43,000. There are other high class schools devoted to various special purposes, and not in all cases depending on the minister of public instruction. Such are the École des chartes, in which twenty students are trained during a three-years’ course to study the documents and historical remains of the Middle Ages; the École des langues orientales ; the École des beaux-arts, which every year sends to Rome its best pupil in each of the departments of painting, sculpture, and architecture; the École de Rome ct Athènes, where young savants find the opportunity of studying antiquities in the two great capitals of the ancient world; several special schools for the teaching of drawing and mathematics applied to the industrial arts at Paris, Lyons, and Dijon; the École polytechnique, in which the highest scientific education is imparted to young men who have passed a very difficult preliminary examination, and who wish to prepare themselves for the ordnance office, for engineering, or for high positions in the different branches of administration; the École spéciale militaire, established at St Cyr for officers; the École de cavalerie, at Saumur; the Pry tanée militaire, at La Flèche, in which gratuitous instruction is given to sons of officers and non-commissioned officers; the École d'application d' état -major, for the training of staff officers; the École d'application de V artillerie et du génie, at Fontainebleau, formerly at Metz, where old students of the polytechnic school receive a more special and developed instruction; the naval school, at Brest; the École d'application du génie maritime, for students of the polytechnic school who are intendedfor maritime engineering; the École d'hydrographie, for sea-captains; the École des ponts et chaussées, which is under the minister