The French Government has decided to prosecute the leaders of
the Patriotic League, as members of a secret society. They have discovered, they say, that the League is a political organisation, and that a plan for throwing its members into the streets, and so coercing the Legislature, has been not only drawn up, but so arranged that it is ready for execution. The Senate on Thursday sanctioned the prosecu- tion of M. Naquet very readily by a vote of 213 to 58; but in the Chamber there were violent scenes, General Boulanger him- self calling out to the Republicans who were denouncing him, "Be silent." The argument of the incriminated three Members, of whom the best known is M. Lag-uerre, was that the pro- ceedings of the League were not secret, and that their object was not to destroy the Republic, but "to free the Republic of the Constitution ;" but the Chamber voted the prosecution by 334 - to 227. It is probable that it will never take place. The accused will be able, it is stated, to delay proceedings for months, and before it occurs General Boulanger will either have forced a dissolution, or have been attacked by the Government through more direct methods. As we have pointed out elsewhere, until General Boulanger is arrested, the members of the League know where to look for orders, and officers would be soon improvised from among the General's working staff. The real question behind all these proceedings is whether the
common soldiers would fire upon General Boulanger's men, a point upon which M. de Freycinet is probably the only man well informed.
