第 50 页

absurd. And thereupon applause rang out; the Chamber, delivered from its

fears, thrilled by his words, acclaimed him.

From the little Socialist group, however, some jeers arose, and voices

summoned Monferrand to explain himself on the subject of the African

Railways, reminding him that he had been at the head of the Public Works

Department at the time of the vote, and requiring of him that he should

state what he now meant to do, as Minister of the Interior, in order to

reassure the country. He juggled with this question, declaring that if

there were any guilty parties they would be punished, for he did not

require anybody to remind him of his duty. And then, all at once, with

incomparable maestria, he had recourse to the diversion which he had been

preparing since the previous day. His duty, said he, was a thing which he

never forgot; he discharged it like a faithful soldier of the nation hour

by hour, and with as much vigilance as prudence. He had been accused of

employing the police on he knew not what base spying work in such wise as

to allow the man Hunter to escape. Well, as for that much-slandered

police force, he would tell the Chamber on what work he had really

employed it the day before, and how zealously it had laboured for the

cause of law and order. In the Bois de Boulogne, on the previous

afternoon, it had arrested that terrible scoundrel, the perpetrator of

the crime in the Rue Godot-de-Mauroy, that Anarchist mechanician Salvat,

who for six weeks past had so cunningly contrived to elude capture. The

scoundrel had made a full confession during the evening, and the law

would now take its course with all despatch. Public morality was at last

avenged, Paris might now emerge in safety from its long spell of terror,

Anarchism would be struck down, annihilated. And that was what he,

Monferrand, had done as a Minister for the honour and safety of his

country, whilst villains were vainly seeking to dishonour him by

inscribing his name on a list of infamy, the outcome of the very basest

political intrigues.

The Chamber listened agape and quivering. This story of Salvat's arrest,

which none of the morning papers had reported; the present which

Monferrand seemed to be making them of that terrible Anarchist whom many

had already begun to regard as a myth; the whole _mise-en-scene_ of the

Minister's speech transported the deputies as if they were suddenly

witnessing the finish of a long-interrupted drama. Stirred and flattered,

they prolonged their applause, while Monferrand went on celebrating his

act of energy, how he had saved society, how crime should be punished,

and how he himself would ever prove that he had a strong arm and could

answer for public order. He even won favour with the Conservatives and

Clericals on the Right by separating himself from Barroux, addressing a

few words of sympathy to those Catholics who had "rallied" to the

Republic, and appealing for concord among men of different beliefs in

order that they might fight the common enemy, that fierce, wild socialism

which talked of overthrowing everything!

By the time Monferrand came down from the tribune, the trick was played,

he had virtually saved himself. Both the Right and Left of the Chamber*

applauded, drowning the protests of the few Socialists whose

vociferations only added to the triumphal tumult. Members eagerly

stretched out their hands to the Minister, who for a moment remained

standing there and smiling. But there was some anxiety in that smile of

his; his success was beginning to frighten him. Had he spoken too well,

and saved the entire Cabinet instead of merely saving himself? That would

mean the ruin of his plan. The Chamber ought not to vote under the effect

of that speech which had thrilled it so powerfully. Thus Monferrand,

though he still continued to smile, spent a few anxious moments in

waiting to see if anybody would rise to answer him.

* Ever since the days of the Bourbon Restoration it has been

the practice in the French Chambers for the more conservative

members to seat themselves on the President's right, and for

the Radical ones to place themselves on his left. The central

seats of the semicircle in which the members' seats are

arranged in tiers are usually occupied by men of moderate views.

Generally speaking, such terms as Right Centre and Left Centre

are applied to groups of Moderates inclining in the first place

to Conservatism and in the latter to Radicalism. All this is of

course known to readers acquainted with French institutions, but

I give the explanation because others, after perusing French

news in some daily paper, have often asked me what was meant by

"a deputy of the Right," and so forth.--Trans.

His success had been as great among the occupants of the galleries as

among the deputies themselves. Several ladies had been seen applauding,

and Monseigneur Martha had given unmistakable signs of the liveliest

satisfaction. "Ah, General!" said Massot to Bozonnet in a sneering way.

"Those are our fighting men of the present time. And he's a bold and

strong one, is Monferrand. Of course it is all what people style 'saving

one's bacon,' but none the less it's very clever work."

Just then, however, Monferrand to his great satisfaction had seen Vignon

rise from his seat in response to the urging of his friends. And

thereupon all anxiety vanished from the Minister's smile, which became

one of malicious placidity.

The very atmosphere of the Chamber seemed to change with Vignon in the

tribune. He was slim, with a fair and carefully tended beard, blue eyes

and all the suppleness of youth. He spoke, moreover, like a practical

man, in simple, straightforward language, which made the emptiness of the

other's declamatory style painfully conspicuous. His term of official

service as a prefect in the provinces had endowed him with keen insight;

and it was in an easy way that he propounded and unravelled the most

intricate questions. Active and courageous, confident in his own star,

too young and too shrewd to have compromised himself in anything so far,

he was steadily marching towards the future. He had already drawn up a

rather more advanced political programme than that of Barroux and

Monferrand, so that when opportunity offered there might be good reasons

for him to take their place. Moreover, he was quite capable of carrying

out his programme by attempting some of the long-promised reforms for

which the country was waiting. He had guessed that honesty, when it had

prudence and shrewdness as its allies, must some day secure an innings.

In a clear voice, and in a very quiet, deliberate way, he now said what

it was right to say on the subject under discussion, the things that

common sense dictated and that the Chamber itself secretly desired should

be said. He was certainly the first to rejoice over an arrest which would

reassure the country; but he failed to understand what connection there

could be between that arrest and the sad business that had been brought

before the Chamber. The two affairs were quite distinct and different,

and he begged his colleagues not to vote in the state of excitement in

which he saw them. Full light must be thrown on the African Railways

question, and this, one could not expect from the two incriminated

ministers. However, he was opposed to any suggestion of a committee of

inquiry. In his opinion the guilty parties, if such there were, ought to

be brought immediately before a court of law. And, like Barroux, he wound

up with a discreet allusion to the growing influence of the clergy,

declaring that he was against all unworthy compromises, and was equally

opposed to any state dictatorship and any revival of the ancient

theocratic spirit.

Although there was but little applause when Vignon returned to his seat,

it was evident that the Chamber was again master of its emotions. And the

situation seemed so clear, and the overthrow of the ministry so certain,

that Mege, who had meant to reply to the others, wisely abstained from

doing so. Meantime people noticed the placid demeanour of Monferrand, who

had listened to Vignon with the utmost complacency, as if he were

rendering homage to an adversary's talent; whereas Barroux, ever since

the cold silence which had greeted his speech, had remained motionless in

his seat, bowed down and pale as a corpse.

"Well, it's all over," resumed Massot, amidst the hubbub which arose as

the deputies prepared to vote; "the ministry's done for. Little Vignon

will go a long way, you know. People say that he dreams of the Elysee. At

all events everything points to him as our next prime minister."

Then, as the journalist rose, intending to go off, the General detained

him: "Wait a moment, Monsieur Massot," said he. "How disgusting all that

parliamentary cooking is! You ought to point it out in an article, and

show people how the country is gradually being weakened and rotted to the

marrow by all such useless and degrading discussions. Why, a great battle

resulting in the loss of 50,000 men would exhaust us less than ten years

of this abominable parliamentary system. You must call on me some

morning. I will show you a scheme of military reform, in which I point

out the necessity of returning to the limited professional armies which

we used to have, for this present-day national army, as folks call it,

which is a semi-civilian affair and at best a mere herd of men, is like a

dead weight on us, and is bound to pull us down!"

Pierre, for his part, had not spoken a word since the beginning of the

debate. He had listened to everything, at first influenced by the thought

of his brother's interests, and afterwards mastered by the feverishness

which gradually took possession of everybody present. He had become

convinced that there was nothing more for Guillaume to fear; but how

curiously did one event fit into another, and how loudly had Salvat's

arrest re-echoed in the Chamber! Looking down into the seething hall

below him, he had detected all the clash of rival passions and interests.

After watching the great struggle between Barroux, Monferrand and Vignon,

he had gazed upon the childish delight of that terrible Socialist Mege,

who was so pleased at having been able to stir up the depths of those

troubled waters, in which he always unwittingly angled for the benefit of

others. Then, too, Pierre had become interested in Fonsegue, who, knowing

what had been arranged between Monferrand, Duvillard and himself, evinced

perfect calmness and strove to reassure Duthil and Chaigneux, who, on

their side, were quite dismayed by the ministry's impending fall. Yet,

Pierre's eyes always came back to Monseigneur Martha. He had watched his

serene smiling face throughout the sitting, striving to detect his

impressions of the various incidents that had occurred, as if in his

opinion that dramatic parliamentary comedy had only been played as a step

towards the more or less distant triumph for which the prelate laboured.

And now, while awaiting the result of the vote, as Pierre turned towards

Massot and the General, he found that they were talking of nothing but

recruiting and tactics and the necessity of a bath of blood for the whole

of Europe. Ah! poor mankind, ever fighting and ever devouring one another

in parliaments as well as on battle-fields, when, thought Pierre, would

it decide to disarm once and for all, and live at peace according to the

laws of justice and reason!

Then he again looked down into the hall, where the greatest confusion was

prevailing among the deputies with regard to the coming vote. There was

quite a rainfall of suggested "resolutions," from a very violent one

proposed by Mege, to another, which was merely severe, emanating from

Vignon. The ministry, however, would only accept the "Order of the day

pure and simple," a mere decision, that is, to pass to the next business,

as if Mege's interpellation had been unworthy of attention. And presently

the Government was defeated, Vignon's resolution being adopted by a

majority of twenty-five. Some portion of the Left had evidently joined

hands with the Right and the Socialist group. A prolonged hubbub followed

this result.

"Well, so we are to have a Vignon Cabinet," said Massot, as he went off

with Pierre and the General. "All the same, though, Monferrand has saved

himself, and if I were in Vignon's place I should distrust him."

That evening there was a very touching farewell scene at the little house

at Neuilly. When Pierre returned thither from the Chamber, saddened but

reassured with regard to the future, Guillaume at once made up his mind

to go home on the morrow. And as Nicholas Barthes was compelled to leave,

the little dwelling seemed on the point of relapsing into dreary quietude

once more.

Theophile Morin, whom Pierre had informed of the painful alternative in

which Barthes was placed, duly came to dinner; but he did not have time

to speak to the old man before they all sat down to table at seven

o'clock. As usual Barthes had spent his day in marching, like a caged

lion, up and down the room in which he had accepted shelter after the

fashion of a big fearless child, who never worried with regard either to

his present circumstances or the troubles which the future might have in

store for him. His life had ever been one of unlimited hope, which

reality had ever shattered. Although all that he had loved, all that he

had hoped to secure by fifty years of imprisonment or exile,--liberty,

equality and a real brotherly republic,--had hitherto failed to come,

such as he had dreamt of them, he nevertheless retained the candid faith

of his youth, and was ever confident in the near future. He would smile

indulgently when new comers, men of violent ideas, derided him and called

him a poor old fellow. For his part, he could make neither head nor tail

of the many new sects. He simply felt indignant with their lack of human