, 1876-04-12

there will be people on both sides
OF the two Houses,-people who fear
the Radicalism of NJ. Gambetta,
and people who fear the reactionsry
tendencies of Marshal Mac MahoD,-
who will say to themselves that their
opponents seem to profess too much
either to be too obsequious to the Repub-
lican will Of France, or to be too grateful
to " the prudence and devotion " of
Marshal MacMahon. And no doubt this
view is a sound one. It is impossible to
doubt that an artificial self-restraint is
still necessary on both sides, and will be
necessary for some time to come, if the
French Constitution is to grow in stability,
and II the fear felt for its durability is
gradually to die away. The Republican
majority has bad as yet no training in
those habits of wary and tentative action
which are of the very essence of permanent
institutions, and the anti-RepubIican mi
norlty necessarily inspires the sort of sus-
plclon and jealousy which are always felt
towards q party whose well-known bias is
directed not so much against the policy of
the Government as against the institutions
ID which, for the moment, it consents to
cooperate, though chiefly for the sake of
overthrswing them. Still these are the
kinds of fears which are simply inseparabIe
from the infancy of any new regime. What
seems to US to be matter for congratu-
latlon to-day is the marvellous success with
which, for the moment at all events, these
fears have been subdued. That success is
due to the fact that the Republican party
has achieved q victory ever itself, thanks
to she generalship OF NJ, Gambetta. 1t is
no longer to be regarded as the party of
political sensation, but rather as the
party OF practical aims,-the party which
deliberately favours the craftsmanship Of
such men as the Duo Decazes, and rebukes
the weak violence of Z" IrreconciIables "
like NJ. Naquet, which endeaYouls to
restore rural confidence in the inviolability
OF property, and to reassuro all Churches
OF the freedom of religion, no less than of
the freedom Of doubt, which tries to make
1T known that it will exclude no one from
the benefits of the Constitution who bond
tide accepts the Constitution, simply be-
cause he wishes to attain ConstitutionaIly
ends different from those which its own
'C@dOlo AlOou N1luC' All 0iOLby Ii M
Gambetta has achieved a triumph for his
party, it is by giving his party a stamp of
political catholicity quite new In it's
history, and let US add, by r~enouncing for
himself the immediate future, thereby, no
doubt, securing for himself, if he lives, a
still more brilliant ultimate future. 1t is
this novel Characteristic of deliberate self
restraint which augurs so we'll for the po-
litical era which began on Wednesday, and
the very safe Ministry the composition of
which was announced yesterday. And
though we should BIO the last to say that
the future of the Constitution is assured,
AID the last to ignore the anxious empha-
sig with which everybody announces that
they feel the most perfect confidence in
men whom they secretly d%istrust, we
deliberately think that the effort at honest
cooperation between constitutional pow
ers half-distrustful OF each other is the
first step, and the only possible step, by
which distrust may be ultimately conquer
ed and hearty cooperation be secured.
Nn~N