M. Combos would seem to have finally adopted Gambetta's idea
that the real enemy of the Republic is Clericalism. At a banquet given him at Saintes on Sunday last he declared, amid loud applause, that "he would continue the fight [with the Church] without mercy," until the triumph of the Repub- lican spirit over the Clerical spirit was attained. He cared nothing for the abuse with which he was assailed, and would dail on the whole country to support him against reaction in its new guise, that of a defence of liberty. M. Pelletan, the Minister of Marine, also has informed an audience that he finds a great deal too many officers in the Navy who have been trained under the Dominicans, and he will take steps to remedy that mischief,—rather an ominous threat to the Navy, which is full of Breton gentlemen, most of them sincere Roman Catholics. The campaign against the Church will, therefore, continue, and it is interesting to imagine the form it will assume. We venture to predict that the Law of Associations will be extended, and that monastic establishments will be disallowed in France, and their wealth employed in secular education. This proposal will, of course, deepen the antago- nism between the State and the Church, but it will be accepted by the two Chambers. The real feeling of France is that the parish clergy are useful, but the monks are useless, and no law directed against the latter will be rejected. M. Cotnbes's difficulties will begin when he attacks the regular clergy ; but once embarked on the Anti-Clerical course, can he limit his destructive action to the monastic establishments ?
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