think him too moderate, and call him "a prisoner of
the Right." M. Berteaux, the Minister of War, who belongs to that wing of the Republicans, agrees in this judgment, and on Friday week he in the most dramatic way, during a debate in the Chamber, publicly resigned his portfolio by seating himself among his old colleagues. M. Rouvier, who is always cool, declared that a "regularly constituted Ministry could not be overthrown by a gesture," and in a speech of sustained power defined his position as representative of all the Repub- lican sections. He would not tolerate excommunications, or remain Premier without a vote of confidence. The different sections of the majority, appalled at the thought of a change of Ministry before the Bill for the separation of Church and State had been passed, rallied behind him, and the vote of confidence was given him by 310 to 147. The Cabinet has, therefore, been reconstructed, M. Etienne taking the War Ministry, and M. Dubief, a Radical Socialist, the Ministry of the Interior, an appointment of exceptional significance, because in five months the Chambers will be dissolved by effiuxion of time. The incident shows that the Republican Bloc is not all composed of the same substance, but that the fear of losing their great Bill with the elections impending still dominates them all.
