The expulsion of the nuns and monks belonging to the
un- authorised Orders in France has been completed, and happily without bloodshed. The resistance was longest and most deter- mined in Brittany, but even there it yielded before the great show of force made by the Government. A great deal has been said as to the mismanagement of the Government, but, consider- ing the inflammable material with which they were dealing, we think they may fairly feel satisfied at having got through with. out serious explosion, especially as the Royalists were no doubt doing all they could to create incidents that would damage the Republic. We hold, however, that the Govern- ment policy was fundamentally wrong, and that, in spite of the provocation they received, they should have fought the clerical enemies of the Republic, not with intolerance and oppressive action, but with tolerance and liberty.
