23 DECEMBER 1899, Page 2

The reappearance of M. Paul Deroulede—he had been dis- abled

by lumbago—before the High Court on Wednesday led to another scene. M. Deroulede's application that M. Marcel- Hubert should be included in the trial having been opposed by the Procureur-General as a piece of mere obstruction, he deliberately charged the High Court with servile submission to the Government, and though warned by the President, went on to describe it as a "High Court of injustice and infamy," retorting to the Procureur-General's protests with "I despise you and spit in your face," addressing the Senators as " bandits and wretches," and declaring that all he was saying applied to the President of the Republic as well. As a result of this explosion, M. De'roulede was immediately sentenced by the Court—the votes being 197 to 4, with 23 neutral—to two years' imprisonment for con- tempt of court. The satisfaction inspired by this prompt punishment of M. Thiroulisle'8 outrageous behaviour is modified by the fact that he is undeniably a brave man and quite a considerable poet. But the poet is as much out of place as the priest in politics, or even more so when he is a French poet.