右と左
Defeated in the election of 1898 he spent four years without a legislative seat. His eloquent speeches nonetheless made him a force to be reckoned with as an intellectual champion of Socialism. He edited , and was, along with , one of the most energetic defenders of Alfred Dreyfus (during the Dreyfus Affair that polarized the Right and Left), army officers, and an educated newspaper readership. He approved of , and the socialist's inclusion in the cabinet, though this led to an irredeemable split with the more revolutionary section led by forming the Independent Socialists Party.