222 SCIENCE SKETCHES. 
For he was an unpractical man, easily swayed by 
theories rather than by emotions. 
But the reaction soon came, as it always comes 
in the politics of France. That it came so early 
was due to the Clermont newspapers. They pub- 
lished Jacques’s speech in full, with words of great 
approbation. 
In the Clermont “ Libéral” were the head-lines: 
“Long live Mayor Jacques!” “ Down with the 
Demagogues!” ‘Issoire coming to her senses!” 
“The Working-men repudiate the Octroi!”’ “Good 
Prospects for the Clermont Trade!” 
It was on the very eve of the election that the 
Clermont papers were received in Issoire. It was 
enough. What sophistry had seduced, patriotism 
reclaimed. The mayor said that if Jacques was 
elected, the octroi would be removed at once, 
every man in Issoire would be ruined, and the 
city, bound hand and foot, would be delivered over 
to Clermont. Ten wagon-loads of goods would be 
sent in the place of one, and not all the money in 
the whole city would suffice to pay for them. 
Then he read from the Clermont “ Libéral” an 
editorial in which Jacques was compared to 
Arnold Winkelried and to Charles Martel and to 
Saint Austremoine, the first hero and martyr of 
Issoire. The effect was tremendous. Every word 
from Clermont in praise of Jacques was, as the 
mayor said, “ one more nail in his coffin.” 
The election-day came at last—as such days 
always come. It was a bright Sabbath afternoon 
in early August, for in France elections are always 
held on Sunday afternoons. The birds sang in 
