The President was not so happy. M. Dufaure bad exceeded
his instructions, and as M. Thiers cares nothing about him or any other Minister, he drove on Monday down to the Committee of Thirty and said so. In a speech marked by extraordinary self- confidence he repeated his statement that the Republic existed, and must be organised; poohpoohed Ministerial responsibility, which " existed already "; refused point-blank to be excluded from the Tribune ; declared that the question was the creation of a Second Chamber upon the plan proposed by M. Marcel Barthe, and described elsewhere ; threatened to appeal to the full Assembly if his plan were rejected ; and laughed the suspensive veto to scorn. Did a bad plan become good after a few days' delay ? The Committee was thoroughly taken aback, and on Thursday, according to the latest telegrams, began to think it would suggest a Second Chamber—that cage in which Monarchists are to be honourably imprisoned—and grew altogether placable. This tem- per will doubtless be further improved by the Recess, which lasts from December 21 to January 6, which will enable all constituents to remonstrate with their members, all Radicals to make addresses, and all cities to drown the Assembly with petitions for dissolu- tion. The net result therefore, so far, of beating M. Thiers is, that his especial enemy, the Committee of Thirty, is about to give way on the most serious point in dispute. The Assembly refuses to die, but is not unwilling to consider the expediency of being disembowelled.
