M. Lon Say was on Tuesday elected President of the
French Senate, by 147 votes against 4 given to M. Leroyer, and 121 left blank, the curious form in which Senators record a dissent which they do not desire to make effective. The selection is an excellent one, as M. Say:is a moderate Liberal, sincerely desirous that the Constitution should work, and unlikely to quarrel with the other two Presidents. His promotion, however, leaves the Embassy in London vacant, as since M. Walewski's departure it has too often been, M. d'Harcourt, Marshal Machfahon's nominee, having been the longest tenant, and he only remained four years. Such rapid changes are not favourable to the thorough mutual comprehension which ought to exist between Great Britain and France. No doubt, the French Government has many means of knowing what goes on in London, but only an Ambassador resident for a fairly long time can be sure of understanding individual English statesmen, their views and influence; and the want of that information often delays matters of importance. Such a representa- tive, too, conveys information to English society which is often valuable, the tendency here being to accept the French Republic, but to exaggerate and misunderstand the influence of Radicalism within it. Half London Society does not under- stand yet that a French Red is no longer, before all things, anti-aristocratic, but anti-clerical, and that the party frequently numbers very wealthy men among its prominent members. They shiver at the thought of M. Clemenceau, under an idea that that very governing Radical is a sort of half-developed Nihilist.
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