NEWS OF THE WEEK.
THE MacMahon Cabinet is losing no time. It has already removed many Prefects solely for being faithful to M. Thiers, and the Minister of the Interior has issued a menacing circular to them all. It is couched in the regular Imperial tone, and is, in fact, a complete condonation of the Empire by the " Gentle- men " of France. M. Beul4 tells his vassals that Government gives them its confidence on condition of their " entire devotion," that if they obey him his responsibility will cover theirs—a phrase in- tended to encourage them to illegal acts of power—that the National Assembly expects before everything a personal administration, in- spired with one thought and openly Conservative, so as to create at last a true Governmental and Conservative majority. The illustrious Marshal will defend and support all who pursue this policy. In plain words, Prefects are to coerce the electors, and as they cannot very easily get at the Maires, who are now elective, the municipal suffrage is to be restricted to the rich. That is nice and Napoleonic, but in 1849 the electors of France, against all Prefects, &c., in the country, voted Cavaignac down by 7,000,000 to 350,000. Within a week they will perceive that the new proposal is to hand over France to the Parti Pretre, that the Right favours Revolution, and the Left the habitual order which peasants love.
