It is to be observed that the Chamber has now
morally decided that further prosecutions must be instituted, and carried on with more vigour, and its temper must be considered in the light of the temper of France. There can be no doubt that this has grown very hot. With reason or without it, the people believe that many politicians, hitherto unassailed, have been tainted with corruption, or have suifered their kinsmen to trade on their "influence," and that the Government, in fear of further reve lations, is endeavouring to "stifle the plot." It is now alleged that the Ministry are afraid of the things M. Ranvier could say, and that M. Cornelius Herz and M. Arton escape extradition through the connivance of the authorities, who dread the papers they could produce.
M. Herz, for example, according to M. Rochefort, positively asserts that M. Clemenceau was paid, and names the figure that he received. It is simply impossible for any one in England to decide how much of the current talk is well
founded, and how much the result of "preternatural suspicion;" but we think it may be accepted that the party in
power is deeply tainted, that the people are savagely irritated, and that the wiser Republicans, followed by a majority of the Chamber, have decided that all the guilty must be thrown to the wolves if the Republic is to be preserved.
