M. Gambetta has returned to Paris from Cahors, where he
has been received with royal honours, and has made a series of speeches, which, as we have pointed out elsewhere, are distinctly Conservative. He wishes the Constitution not to be touched till 1885, when it will be nine years old, and declares that if left intact till then, nobody will seek to meddle with it. Ho • especially defended the Senate as a possible refuge of Repub- licanism. It is conceivable that there is insincerity in these speeches, though that is not our impression of them ; but on Tuesday M. Clemenceau pushed his proposal for a revision of the Constitution to a division. His avowed object was to abolish the Senate, which ho considered a mere device for en- abling the minority to prevail over the majority, and he was supported by the whole Extremist party. Nevertheless, he was defeated by 254 to 186; and it is well understood that he was opposed by M. Gambetta, though he, as President of the Chamber, and also as representative of Belleville, did not vote. Indeed, this came out in the speeches, for M. Clemencean quoted M. Gambetta as his only antagonist; while the repre- sentative of the Government, M. Cazot, Minister of Justice, repeated the Cahors speech as his own, argument by argument.
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