Mr. Thiers addressed the Council-General of the Seine-et-Oise on the
27th October in a speech on the necessity of order. He had not made the Republic, but had received it as a trust, and that trust should not perish in his hands. The Republic was, however, so mistrusted that it had need to be wiser and more orderly than a Monarchy. Public peace is indispensable to liberate the soil. All sorts of meanings are attached to this speech, but it is probably intended only to excuse the very strong acts M. Thiers still sanctions, the snubs administered to local Councils for expressing political wishes, the continuance of the state of siege in Paris, and the disarming of the National Guard. People in France seem to fancy that personal liberty should exist under a Republic, so, as it does not exist, M. Thiers explains that it is postponed till the Germans are gone.
