The action of General Boulanger and his language in the
Senate, where he called the Duke's letter "insolent," and was consequently provoked to a challenge by the Baron de Larreinty, seem to prove that the Minister for War is playing for Radical support. At a recent review before the President, the General was the only person warmly cheered by the populace, and he has been created by the Cabinet Grand Officer of the Legion of Honour. It is supposed, therefore, at present, that if he uses his power to intervene in politics, it will be to support the Radicals, should the Monarchists ever gain a majority. Perhaps too much attention is paid to his movements, as he is evidently a man who likes to be conspicuous ; but he is certainly at this moment the most visible figure in France, and is watched with an interest and care not quite intelligible outside Paris. He cannot, as a Radical, be the next candidate for the Presidency, for his party have announced their immovable determination not to elect a soldier; he has, of course, quarrelled finally with the Right by his decree of expulsion, and the Opportunists rather fear than admire or follow him. For all that, he is making of himself a personage in French politics, and has a strong and separate individuality.
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