The kind of government the French are likely to get
from their new masters is well displayed in the most recent incident. M. Gambetta, unquestionably the second man in France, delivered a speech at Perigueux on Saturday declaring that he had always subordinated party interests to those of France, and that France had saved her honour under the Republic. Nevertheless no officer of the Army was permitted to be present, and the Mayor was actu- ally suspended for two months for having permitted him to go on with his oration. If such things can be done under a Republic, what will be done under a Monarchy ? Will M. Gambetta be broken on a wheel in the old way, or will M. de Chambord, who once wrote to Berryer that he was a Constitutionalist, go the enormous length of allowing public dinners? Even Louis Philippe could not bring himself to do that, and it is more probable that dining with more than three in company will be added to the definitions of treason in the Code.
