Of the new appointments, by far the most interesting are
those of General Picquart to the Ministry of War and of M. Pichon to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The latter was the French Minister at Peking during the " Boxer " rising. He was an old journalistic colleague of M. Clemenceau, and his loyal lieutenant in the Chamber of Deputies. After Peking, he went to Tunis as Resident-General, where he has been a great success, and he will carry to the Quai d'Orsay a political administrative experience as well as a Parliamentary record which should make him an admirable Foreign Minister. General Picquart is the most conspicuous instance in modern times of the Aristotelian " reversal of fortune." As a brilliant and rising soldier he staked his career as an example to the Army and the nation of how a truly patriotic man should act, and cheerfully paid the penalty. Since then his country has repented, and has now made him the most ample and dramatic reparation. Under him the cause of Army reform and general efficiency may be expected to flourish, as he is admirably free from political entanglements. He is at once a soldier and a statesman, and, as the Temps says, he may be trusted "to defend the patrimony of national defence."
