The new Ministry may become strong, but it is not
so yet, Frenchmen being a little sick of so many dinners of tongue cooked with cream. As soon as the Premier eat down, M. Pas- chal Grousset, a sane Socialist of gentle manners, rose to pro- pose an amnesty for all political offenders, including Bourbons, Boulangists, Socialists, Anarchist writers, and leaders of strikes; and though the Government fought hard, he was defeated only by 257 votes to 226, a majority of 31, or one less than the thirty-two avowed Monarchists who voted with the Premier. A hundred Moderates and Radical Deputies stood sullenly aside, thinking the programme a mere piece of verbiage. The same spirit was evinced on the following day, when the Government candidate, M. Dupuy, was elected President of the Chamber, but only by 251 votes to 213, As the Moderates are supposed to count at least 300 regular supporters, these are ominous signs, as is also the sudden turn of the Oppor- tunist Press towards Colonial affairs. England, that detest- able Power, is to be punished for "interfering" in Siam, in Madagascar, and in the French Soudan, the latter in the interest of the Niger Company. We shall see how it all works out; but clearly M. Casimir Perier and Co. have pro- duced no enthusiasm and brought forward no orator. M. Raynal, when resisting the Amnesty, was, it is asserted, barely intelligible, and created a scene by calling the Boulangists treasonable persons. The Moderates are like a household of brothers and sisters who are all united and all very jealous about a will.
