The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1880-01-14
Aambetta's Control of the French..As.
sembly.

There was a time-a year or two ago
when he would have taken his seat in
the midst of the deputies of the left;
and would have sat, when the presi-
dent rang his bell to call the chamber
to order, in a slouching attituds, now
and then turning right or lett to say
something to a neighbon n listening
intently to what went forward. Ihen'
when q scene or excitement occurred
rs it ofton did and does in that cham
ber--when deputies were drowning the
voice of the speaker in the tribune, and
shaking their fists in each others face,
and hurrying down to confront each
other with hostile gesture and menace
of tongue and attitude in the open
pace below the benches-on such an
ccasion you might have seen him rise,
aise his arm, extend his hand, and by
the powerful persuasion ofhis voice and
manner quell the tumultuous mood of
hishot-headed followers. Then, toe, amid
a stiffness as deep as that of a mountain
solitude, you might have seen him, at
a certain moment, leap from his seat,
thrust back his struggling locks, and
with long stride and head aloft adj
vance to and ascend the tribune;
whence would thereupon flow the rich
est and most lesistless eloqucnce that a
French assemblage has heard. since, in
the same Versailles, Gabriel Rlquettl
de Mirabeau shook throne and castle
with the sudden thunder of his wordy
onslaught.
But now, the parsonage we have de-
scribed ascends, not the tribune, but
the presidential platform, and promptly
at the designated hour, rings his bell
and summons deliberasion out of the
babel of voices. The dignity in which
he seemed so lacking Il little while ago,
now sits rs easily upon him as did his
Incidence; while the strong grasp with
which he once held his partisans, now
holds the entire assembly. He is their
master, and readily and vigorously
maintains his mastery. An intense and
impetuous partisan, he shows himself
capable of q Roman impartiality. The
sharp blow of reprimand, the quick
| check of parliamentary order, fall upon
republican and monarchist alike: The
power of tue chair is sustained intact.
His presence of mind is never once sus-
pended. The dispatch of business un-
DER MS rule Is H~dIVelOuSly Iaplu' lie
holds the reins of this turbulent, excit-
able, sometimes riotous body, with the
hand and nerve of q Titan every dep
uty feels the bit jerk in his mouth at the
slightest rebellion. Every mar feels
that there resides in the chair a power
within a power; the power of individ-
ual strength and command supplement-
ing the power endowed by the rules, by
the representation of law, and typided
by the mace. A more unpromising
presiding officer, than this man would
have seemed to be a year ago, could not
be conceived. An awkward, heavy per-
son, a mar easily aroused to white-hot
passion, who often broke through all
self-rcstraint and violated every rule he
is now called on to enforce, whose whole
being seemed wrapped in the design to
crush out one of the great parties in the
nation, one who could not be supposed,
considering his unstudious and careless
habits. to have deeply conned par.ia-
mentary procedure, seemed to be the
last person capable of filling we'll the
fauteuI of NJ. Grevy and M. Buffet
Yet he has proved a far more able presi-
dent than either Good Company.