24 AUGUST 1901, Page 1

General Andre, the French Minister of War, made a remarkable

speech at Auxonne on Saturday last. He was praising the discipline of the Army, and its superiority to politics, and told a story in illustration. One of the Pre- tenders had recently sent letters of appeal to those "com- manders of army corps" upon whom he thought he could count, and they forwarded the letters to the Ministry of War. One would like to read the replies of the Generals to the Pretender before pronouncing upon their discipline, but the incident furnishes a curious illustration of the dangers with which the Republic has to deal. There is much discussion in France as to the name of the Pretender alluded to by General Andre, but to our mind there can be little doubt of his identity. Only a King confident in his divine claim, and satisfied that the Army was rightfully his, would ask soldiers to break their oaths to the Republic. He would not think that he was seducing them, but only asking them to repent.