The Impeachment debate came off in the French Chamber on
Thursday, but was, on the whole, a languid affair. The great majority of the Republican party were known to be opposed to the policy of impeachment, while a good many of them evid- ently doubted whether the Ministry of the 16th of May and its successor had ever intended more than a very strained, but still, as they imagined, legal, use of the Constitution, for the purpose of enforcing on France a reactionary policy. M. Brisson's speech sup- porting the impeachment produced some effect, but the conclusion was foregone, and his motion was defeated by 317 votes against 153, the Moderate Left outvoting the Extreme Left by forty votes. M. Clemenceau, with great ability, then proposed to drop the censure, as the impeachment had been dropped, but was beaten by 225 against 187, many Deputies abstaining. Finally, M. Rameau proposed a vote of censure on the late Government, to be placarded in all the provinces ; and this was carried by 240 votes to 157, many Deputies again abstaining. The conclusion was practically satisfactory, though not in any true sense either logical or just. The vote should have been limited to one of political censure, if the impeachment were not to be proposed. The compromise assumed the late Government to be guilty of betraying their trust, without granting them the trial to which they had a right.
