, 1877-10-27

echoes of which vibrate In the provinces.
has never been fond of uttering, after
the fashion of his countrymen, epigram-
matte sayings which become the wisdom
and wit of the many. He has been engag-
ed in revolutions, he has been a member
of the advanced guard of Liberalism ; but
he has uniformly been temperate IN man
ner, and has advocated thorough-going
views with remarkable moderation Of tone.
Had he been an Englishman, he would
have been lost to political life. His char
acter and the nature of his training and
successes would have marked him out,
with universal concurrence, for the high
est judicial promotion. He would have
been pronounced by solicitors, and persons
more potent than solicitors, a safe man, fit
to be made a Puisne at fifty, and to be
elevated to the Court of Appeal as soon
as room could be found for him. In truth,
bis faults and virtues have a legal favour,
and he is always reminding close observ-
ers of his career that a large portion of it
has been spent in Courts of Law.
Though q convincing speaker, he is
apt to weaken the general effect Of
his addresses by giving rather dispropor-
tionate prominence to the dry, legal view.
lie delights to pursue trains of reasoning
which a non-legal mind might regard as a
little repulSive, trivial, or sOphisticaI.
For example, in a speech with respect
to he Septennate, he argued %ingeniously,
bnt we fear only with the eff ct of p~uzzling
or confusing most of his audience, hat
one Assembly could not bind its success
sor, aud that a vote which prolonged the
Septennate 10 1880 could be properly and
legally reconsidered, and, if deemed ne
ceSSary, revised. On the otner hand, be
has in full measure most of the judicial
virtues. Ills conduct as president Of diff
ttrent Chambers in troubled times was
such IS to command universal esteem.
lie Was fair and temperate ; he was firm,
too; he rarely interviewed, and when he
did, it was only to set matters straight by
brlet, pointed remark. He knew we'll the
weakness of French Legislative Assem-
blles. as was revealed in his remark dur
ing a confused debate, We lose all our
time in incidents. We shall never get
done. We incident too much, and with
out OCCASION" M. Grevy hates, and has
always hated incidemting; he has nothing
theatrical in his composition, the Due de
Broglie's organ complains that he is too
plebeian in demeanour and his political
Influence gives the lie to many fashionable
common-placHs about The ineradicable lie.
witty or love of sensationalism of his race,
ana to numerous harsh dicta, such as
Mommsen's, that the Gaul lacks the
moral depth necessary for a politician.
M. Greyy, though lacking the qualities
which made NJ. Timers a Minister about
th~irty-fve. and M. Gambet:a a party lead.
er and Dictator about thirty, has some
virtue which will stand him in good stead
whenever he is put in nomination for
the Presidency of the Republic. He has
uniformly been successful in ell he has
put bis hand to. and his countrymen have
come to believe that he is q lucky man.
which is of itself a passport to fresh sue
cess. He was a successful advocate he
won astonishing electoral victories in the
Jura against the Empire ; and he was. on
the whole. a remarkably successful Speak
er of the Bordeaux Assembly. He failed
indeed, to retain the complete confidence
of that curious Assembly 80 hard to rule,
10 its later days; but nc one now doubts
that be was ia the right in the episode
which led to his resignation 10 1879. He