GAMBETTA, LEON MICHEL. 



315 



the 9th, issued proclamations appealing to the 

 patriotism of the inhabitants in terms so earnest 

 and irresistible as to produce a profound im- 

 pression throughout the departments. Com- 

 bining in his own direction the cumbrous func- 

 tions of three ministries Interior, War, and 

 Finance his energy presided in all branches 

 of the public service, in the Cabinet and on the 

 battle-field; now at Orleans, Lille, or Lyons; 

 again at Tours, or, after December 7th, at Bor- 

 deaux wherever there were measures to be 

 concerted, discouragement to be dispelled, dis- 

 orders to be repressed, armies to be organized, 

 or even military operations to be planned. 

 Thus Gambetta, vigorously seconded by M. 

 de Freycinet, maintained his authority for a 

 period of nearly four months, in the midst of 

 the situation here briefly sketched. In a word, 

 he was dictator by force of circumstances. 

 True, this dictatorship has been rudely criti- 

 cised by some, and sneered at as the dictature 

 de Vineapasite ; but such harsh reflections on 

 the " inutility and impotence of the dictator's 

 impetuous efforts" did not find utterance until 

 near the end. Among the acts and speeches 

 pertaining to that period, French biographers 

 cite the decree for the mobilization of the Na- 

 tional Guards, at the expense of the respective 

 departments ; the proclamation containing the 

 announcement to France of the surrender of 

 Metz, and the denunciation of Bazaine as a 

 traitor the loan of 250,000,000 francs nego- 

 tiated with British capitalists ; the dissolution 

 of the Councils- General elected under pressure 

 of the imperial administration ; the successive 

 organization of the two Armies of the Loire 

 under Generals Aurelle de Paladines and Chan- 

 zy ; the organization of the Army of the North, 

 commanded in turn by Generals Bourbaki and 

 Faidherbo ; the disastrous issue of the campaign 

 of the east (under Bourbaki), hastened by the 

 armistice, and the removal from office of such 

 members (even life-members) of the magistracy 

 as had taken part in the mixed committees 

 in 1852. After the surrender of Paris, which 

 he spoke of as an act of culpable haste, he is- 

 sued the convocation of electors for the Na- 

 tional Assembly, but stipulating the ineligibility 

 of such persons as had been candidates for or 

 had held office under the empire. The Central 

 Government, however, annulled that stipula- 

 tion, and, on Gambetta's refusal to comply, dis- 

 patched one of its members, Jules Simon, to 

 Bordeaux, with orders to execute the decree as 

 at first drawn up. On this, M. Gambetta re- 

 signed all his functions, and withdrew from a 

 government with which he was now in open 

 disagreement. The elections of February 8, 

 1871, afforded abundant proof of the contin- 

 ued prestige of his name. He was spontane- 

 ously proposed as candidate in a number of de- 

 partments, and elected in nine, among these 

 being that of Bas-Rhin, for which he chose to 

 sit, as a protest against all measures entailing 

 the dismemberment of France, although the 

 cession of that province to the German Em- 



pire would deprive him of his seat in the 

 Chamber. At the complementary elections of 

 July 2d, he was returned by three departments, 

 and gave his option this time for Paris. He 

 took his place at the Extreme Left, became a 

 member, and was chosen President of the 

 Union Republicaine. During the turbulent 

 period of the Commune, and before the July 

 elections, M. Gambetta had spent a brief vaca- 

 tion at San Sebastian, in Spain. After his re- 

 turn he was for a long time seldom seen at the 

 Chamber, the Extreme Eight being then in ma- 

 jority. And later, when he again took part in 

 the debates, his attitude was uniformly concil- 

 iatory, spite of incessant and petulant attacks 

 on the part of his colleagues of September 4th, 

 and to which he had decided never to reply. 

 On more than one occasion he prevailed upon 

 his party to sustain the government of Thiers, 

 notwithstanding the latter had frequently as- 

 sailed him in parliamentary discourses; but 

 once he left Thiers to support the candidature 

 of M. Barodet against that of M. de Eemusat. 

 In 1871 and 1872 it was usual to see Gambet- 

 ta's name associated with the preparation of a 

 government party in the republic, with its 

 Whigs under Gambetta and its Tories under 

 Thiers. The year 1872 was marked by two no- 

 table speeches from the leader of the Left. In 

 one of these, on the anniversary of the taking of 

 the Bastile (July 14th), he dwelt on the necessity 

 of reconstituting the union of the middle class- 

 es, of adopting secular and compulsory instruc- 

 tion, universal military service, and a policy of 

 conciliation, crowned by an amnesty without 

 restriction. In the other, delivered at a pri- 

 vate reunion, he referred to the advent of a 

 " new social stratum, by no means inferior to its 

 predecessors." The theme of this latter speech 

 and its tone of hostility to the existing admin- 

 istration alarmed the public mind in the south, 

 and provoked the open resentment of the Gov- 

 ernment. His most important speech in 1873 

 was one against the Septennate (November 

 19th). On June 9, 1874, he interpellated the 

 De Fourtou Ministry concerning Bonapartist 

 intrigues, and M. Eouher, in the course of his 

 reply, having touched upon the revolution of 

 September 4th, Gambetta retorted: "There 

 are certain men to whom I deny the right and 

 privilege to arraign the revolution of Septem- 

 ber 4th I mean the wretches who have been 

 the ruin of France." On being called to order, 

 he added, "My expression undoubtedly im- 

 plies more than an outrage it implies a brand 

 of dishonor, and I maintain it." 



In the course of the winter of 1874-175, for 

 the most part occupied in the task of effecting 

 a union between the several subdivisions of 

 the Left and the Eight Center, with a view 

 to the adoption of the constitutional laws, 

 M. Gambetta delivered one of his most effect- 

 ive and most finished speeches (February 12, 

 1875). From that day forward the so-called 

 policy of " opportunism " has been the dis- 

 tinctive policy of the entire Left, save the 



