Marshal MacMahon has addressed a letter to the Minister at
War, telling him that last year only fifty-two Communists were prosecuted, and in the last five months only ten, and that it is time to abandon such prosecutions, "except when demanded in some way by the unanimous sentiments of all honest people." He directs the Minister at War, therefore, to invite all the Generals to "accord the benefit of oblivion" to all but exceptional oases, and to abstain from any prosecutions without previous consultation with the Minister, who, again, before giving his sanction, is to lay each case before the Cabinet.. This is a virtual amnesty for undetected Communard& not guilty of murder, and hae excited furious resentment in the Conservative party. The letter has even, it is said, been denounced by the Duke de Broglie in the Senate, as an abandonment of the prineiples the Marshal was elected to protect. Its principal meaning seems, nevertheless, to be that the Marshal-President follows the advice of his Ministry, even when it is contrary to.some of his own dearest convictions.,
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