ist I have not
seen in France. He was quite convinced that the Republicans would show a
majority in the seven circumscriptions or districts of Lille at the
elections in the autumn, and he criticised very severely the attitude of
the Catholics at Lille in regard to politics. 'They are excellent
people,' he said, 'but they think too much of the souls of the people
and not enough of their votes.'

I ventured to suggest that perhaps the picture which he had himself set
before me of the moral condition of the city of Lille, at least, might
be thought to afford some excuse for this preoccupation of the Catholics
with the spiritual rather than the political interests of the people.

But to this he would not listen for a moment.

'No, no!' he said; 'the first thing to be done for the souls of the
people is to get rid of these fellows at Paris! Are they not paganizing
the country? Here is this new law which is demoralising the army. Why do
they wish to force the seminarists into the service? Is it not avowedly
because they think this will stop the recruiting for the ranks of the
clergy? Why are they attacking the foundations of the magistracy? Is it
not because the French magistrates stand between them and the rights of
the French clergy as French citizens? How far off are we from a revival
of Danton's beautiful doctrine that, in order to consummate the
regeneration of society, all conditions imposed upon the eligibility of
citizens to act as judges ought to be immediately abolished, so that a
tinker, or a butcher, or a bootblack, or a chiffonnier might be made a
French magistrate just as well as a trained student of the laws? As you
know, one of the first things Danton, as Minister of Justice, did was to
carry through the Convention his famous decree making this doctrine law
in France!

'I am worn out,' he said, 'with trying to make our good people here
understand that they must go into the battle-field of politics and put
these fellows out of power at Paris if they mean to prevent France from
falling into absolute anarchy once more. I cannot make them move, and I
believe we shall be beaten in all the seven districts of Lille.'

I am glad to say the event proved that my pessimistic friend was by far
too pessimistic. Of the seven seats to which the arrondissement of Lille
is entitled, four were carried by the Monarchists--in two cases without
an attempt seriously to contest them; and if the seven candidates had
been voted f