A week or two ago, we noticed an interview with
M. Bar- thelemy St. Hilaire, published in the Manchester Examiner, in which the ex-Foreign Minister protested strongly against the Russian alliance. On Wednesday, a further statement of his views on this subject was published by Dalziel's Agency. " It is a national shame," he declared, " that France should place herself in the wake of an Asiatic Power ; for I look upon the Russians as more Asiatics than Europeans." In the course of the conversation, M. St. Hilaire praised the system of treating Dependencies pursued by the English, " those modern Romans and true civilisers," and deplored French mismanagement in Algiers, where " during the past fifty-nine years we have done nothing but commit blunders." "For myself," said M. St. Hilaire, "I have always been Republican, but at the same time the partisan of energetic government. A Frenchman needs to feel the hand of the Executive. The President of the Republic should make use of all his prerogatives. For him self-effacement is a mistake, as recent events have proved." That is, we sup- pose, in part true ; but the difficulty is, that France does not breed men like Lincoln, who can take sole command of the ship, and yet not want to own her.
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