M. de Frey cinet and his Cabinet have executed a
volteface about the Amnesty, M. Gambetta having made it a condition of his support. The French Premier therefore proposed it to the Chamber on Monday, declaring that the measure which he opposed in February had become, owing to the profound quiet of the country, " opportune " in June. M. Gambetta, who now rarely speaks, supported him, in a speech of striking power and dignity, in which he ventured to say " that he was not above the Government," but that he held the amnesty necessary "to put an end to shameless recriminations as to the civil war." There must be an oblivion cast over the Commune before the General Elec- tion, fifteen months hence. No one would say the amnesty should never come, and it ought to come now, for the country, if not unanimous for it, was weary of the repetition of the subject. France is not an island, but the esteem of the Monarchies has been won by her order, and "the amnesty no longer terrifies Europe." The work of ten years ought to be closed. The Con- servative and Extremist journals condemn this speech as dicta- torial, but the Chamber, in a burst of enthusiasm, voted the Amnesty by 312 to 136. It is understood that the majority in the Senate will be nearly as great, but that an amendment will be carried excepting men guilty of assassination, and perhaps incendiarism, though the latter crime includes many of the condemned.
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