NEWS OF THE WEEK.
GENERAL BOULANGER is losing ground, more espe- cially in Paris, and feels it. He has been compelled to remain inactive, which is dangerous in France; and his sup- porters, who are generally in favour of a military policy, are a good deal cowed by the change of government in Germany. The General, therefore, to test his popularity, resolved to resign his seat, and seek re-election in the Nord, the Ardeche, and the Dordogne—that is, in the Lancashire, Somerset, and Shropshire of France—thus testing all varieties of opinion. On Thursday, therefore, he appeared in the Chamber, and demanded a dissolution, using his usual arguments as to the impotence of the Clamber. M. Floquet, in reply, taunted the General as a pseudo-dictator who had been a haunter of ante- chambers, and now had become a mere mouthpiece of the Right. General Boulanger retorted in a speech in which he gave M. Floquet the lie four times, and on the President rebuking him, declared his freedom of speech at an end, and handed in a previously prepared resignation. After the sitting, M. Floquet challenged General Boulanger; and lathe consequent duel, M. Floquet was wounded in the leg, and the General in the neck, neither wound, however, being serious.
