27 AUGUST 1870, Page 1

The conduct of the French Chamber during the week has

been remarkable. The spirit of the Imperialists is evidently giving way, and three successive motions have been carried having for their object to add members of the Chamber to the official Com- mittee of Defence. The Chamber asked first for nine members, and then twice over for three—who would have been Daru, Thiers, and Buffet—but the Government rejected the demand. This refUsal seems to have greatly excited the Left, who in the Wednesday sitting demanded that the policy of secrecy should cease ; that the people should be armed ; and that the country should no longer be sacrificed to a dynasty. France, said M. de Keratry, desired "to take herself into her own hand." An incur- sion by the people is apprehended, and the doors of the Corps Legislatif are guarded by detachments of soldiers, but no dis- turbances have taken place. It is rumoured that M. Rouher advises a coup ; but it could scarcely be executed without

civil war, and the disarmament of the Natioual Guard and the Garde Mobile. It is probable, however, that as the Emperor accompanies MacMahon in his desperate movement, both parties will wait, though every advance of the Prussians increases the power of those who desire a popular Dictatorship. Would the armies obey ?