the begum's character, and knows that now for them there is no hope.

And must they die - they who had begun the day in such fulness of life? Is death the terrible, the dreaded, now staring them in the face? Death, not as a release from some horrible disease - not when his advent has become indifferent to the powers of sensation, worn out by some long sickness — but death in the plenitude of life and health and strength, of capacity for feeling. Death, not as a release from poverty and sorrow and anxiety and distress, but in the midst of affluence and wealth, with full command of all the enjoyments of life. Death death the terrible!

Life must always have a shrinking from no life.

her small feet fearless still; but she gazes pitifully upon her mother and her father and on Maud.

And Maud Hilton's first thoughts, too, are for those dear others; those others so near and dear to her. The beloved sister, whose existence has been intertwined with her own; the dear, kind mother, so beloved; the much-loved father. Then there darts through her mind a sudden thought: so Philip Lennox and May Wynn are not to be married to one another, after all; and she, Maud Hilton, and he, are to die together-oh, joy ineffable! And then she subdues that terrible feeling - rather it had vanished, as it came, of itself. No, she would far rather that he should live and enjoy his happiness, and her grief is greater for him than for herself; so great is the power of love.

So elastic was Mrs. Hilton's spirit that the mere thought of the change to better apartments had made her face quite bright as they were walking along. But now a horror of great darkness falls upon her. What! death for them, her children! Death for them ere they have known of life in the first sweet bloom of woman

qualities; death for her bright, fearless Agnes; death for these her children! She would have fallen to the ground, had she not seized her husband by the arm. "Oh, John, the girls!" she cries out to him.

There falls upon them all, without any thinking, the natural horror of death. Philip Lennox had never felt fear, and he does not feel it now; but he experiences a sinking of the soul such as he has never known before. The sudden ending of his grand career that he could have borne. He had often faced that contingency on the battle-field; to so face it had been necessary towards making it. The man-hood! Death for Maud, with all her noble ner of his death-thus, and not on the battle-field- he could have borne that also. But to have the crowning boon of love, not to be won by force, given to him too, and not to be able to take it! To have the cup of the elixir of life dashed from his lips, when he had only just tasted of its divine sweetness! It was heartrending. He casts a look towards May. She, too the gentle, the beautiful, the tender she to die in the bloom of her youth and beauty; she to be subjected to this fiery trial; she to be cast into this burning fiery furnace; she to undergo the terror of a sudden and violent death! The whirling brain brings up the thoughts which have most occupied it of late: God! there is no God! And then he casts upon the man nearest him a look which daunts and startles the ruffian, and makes him think that Lennox is about to rush upon him; and assuredly, had Lennox been by himself, or only with men like himself, he would have rushed upon the murderers and sold his life dearly; but these women cannot be killed running about that would add to the terror of death; and so he folds his huge arms upon his massive chest - though that very action, as significant of the casting aside of his strength, has a great pang in it and stands calm and still.

Agnes Hilton, the fearless, stands on

"What can I do?" he mutters from between his teeth, his voice hoarse with grief and with rage. And then he remembers, as in a sort of dream-in such moments not only the thoughts with which it has recently been occupied, but even those most distant and incongruous, will come into the mind — that gain of a large sum of money a day or two before, what does it profit him now?

May Wynn had cast a wild look at Lennox, and then buried her face on her father's arm; and he, bending down, had whispered in her ear, "Courage, my child! we go to meet your mother." Wynn is the weakest in body of the four Englishmen here. Though he had maintained a quiet cheerfulness, and soothed and sustained the others, he, with his weak, delicate frame, had suffered more from the terrible heat and discomfort of their place of confinement that day than any, even of the women. But not even Philip Lennox, with his enormous natural courage, confronted this terrible trial with so firm a front as did Cuthbert Wynn, supported by his high Christian faith. He addressed

little become accustomed to it. They have recognized that there is a great advantage in being protected against their own impulses by the complications of the parliamentary machine, and a large majority of them would not willingly abandon it to day.

space of some weeks. The air was full of this street-ballad, and, as usual in France, dignity could not be maintained against ridicule. The old man had perforce to quit office. M. Carnot, who succeeded him, bears one of the greatest names of the Republican party, as grandson of the illustrious war minister of the revolution. Carnot may not exactly be defined as a man of deeds and perhaps this very quality fits him for the post he now fills but whenever he acts as president he does so with such sure tact and skill as to prove that his want of more prominent action springs, perhaps, rather from a designed reticence than from a lack of ability. He certainly has a good career behind him.

A brilliant pupil at the Lycée Bonaparte, Carnot early became under-secretary to the Committee of Pons et Chaussées, and was sent by them, when quite a young man, into Savoy to direct important engineering works. His success in this line gained him medals at the Universal Exhi

The working of this republican, demo. cratic and parliamentary institution, however, suffers from great difficulties, arising from the very succession of events which led to its establishment; for each of the governments overthrown during the last century has still its partisans, and is still represented in the French Chamber. Thus we find there Legitimists, Orleanists, Bonapartists, all of whom alike would desire to overthrow the republic, though not one party is agreed as to what they would put in its place. The Republican majority, too, which exists in both Chambers is much subdivided, and hence weakened in force. Certainly the education of the democracy in France is as yet far from complete. It is only very recently that this democracy has been given the instru-bition of 1867. In January, 1871, during ments necessary to their education freedom of press and freedom of public meeting. France does not yet possess freedom of combination; and one may say that all that concerts the strong organization of parties, their discipline, the strict definition of their programmes, and the concentration of their forces, is still unknown in that country, or very nearly so. Consequently, the French Parliament commonly presents a spectacle rather of coalition for particular purposes than of combined action for a comprehensive policy.

Thiers, as we have said, was succeeded by the victor of Magenta. Seven years is the legal term of office for a French president, but the marshal resigned ere it had expired. He was accused of conspiring to use his opportunities for the restoration of the monarchy, and the strength of the Republican opposition, led by Gambetta, left him no alternative. He was succeeded by Grévy, an ex-barrister, whose moderation and firmness were believed to be a guarantee for the republic, but who at the end of 1887 had to resign on account of a criminal prosecution which was brought against his son in-law, Wilson, for utilizing for his own f.nancial ends information he was able to procure thanks to the official position of his father-in-law. The circumstances of the case showed at least culpable weakness on Grévy's part. "Ah, quel malheur que d'avoir un gendre!" sang the gamins of Paris for the

the war, he placed himself at the orders of the government of the National Defence, and submitted to it at Tours the model of a mitrailleuse gun of his own invention. Introduced by Gambetta to De Freycinet, he served the latter for a short time as secretary, helping him to organize the army of the defence in the valley of the Lower Seine. He was among those who protested against the fatal armistice signed by the government of Paris, and, when the peace took place, Carnot, who had been a member of the guerre à outrance party, resigned his post with a dignified protest, winding up thus: "In coming here, charged with the mission of organizing our forces of defence, I was accepting a militant post, the only raison d'être of which lay in a fierce and resolute Chamber such as Gambetta dreamed of, excluding partisans of peace at any price. To remain faithful to the line of conduct which I had traced out for myself, I hand over my function and beg you to accept my resignation."

Elected deputy, he voted against the peace of Frankfort, although his own father voted for it. Both sat in the Republican Left, of which Sadi Carnot was secretary. In 1878 Carnot was appointed under-secretary of public works by M. de Freycinet, and, after the latter had been obliged to resign on account of his action in the matter of the religious bodies (Carnot is openly anti-clerical), he still continued to hold his post. His task was to

modify, as far as possible, the gigantic his friend Dreyfus was to get back from and disastrous schemes of De Freycinet, the Treasury all the taxes he had paid. who was engaged in organizing immense projects of engineering reform all over the country. It was Carnot's endeavor to condense and simplify these schemes.

When Gambetta came into power in 1881, Carnot became again a simple deputy. Despite his attitude during the war, he was never really a friend of Gambetta. Carnot was more moderate than the Gambetta party when it was radical, and remained more liberal when it joined hands with Ferry and became domineering. He never formed a part of the Union Républicaine. For a short time he was a member of the Union Démocratique; but when the non-radical elements of the Chamber, in 1885, fused under the name of Union des Gauches, Carnot remained outside all groups. Temperate in all things, he generally voted with the ministry, but kept himself aloof from the too-absorbing influence of leading men.

M. Rouvier, wishing to draw a contrast between the minister who had ordered this restoration and an upright functionary, said: "Yes, it is clearly shown by the documents that one of my predecessors, M. Sadi Carnot, refused to make the restoration asked of him." At these words the whole Chamber rang with loud ap plause and cheers for Carnot.

De

Then followed Grévy's resignation and the preparation for the presidential election. The four prominent candidates were Ferry, De Freycinet, Floquet, and Brisson, of whom we shall have more to say. There were objections to all. Ferry's election would have broker. up the Republican party, driving away the Reds, and bringing about a coalition between the remainder and the reactionaries. Freycinet's disastrous policy in Egypt and his public works scheme were too fresh in men's minds. Floquet had insulted the czar by crying in his face, "Vive la Pologne!" Brisson had had the misfortune to be in power when a strong Conservative minority had been returned at the elections. Carnot was a Moderate, independent of all groups. The only question was - Could he be induced to stand? On December I three members of the Chamber waited on him at his house and laid before him the proposal, which Carnot accepted under the condition that he should have to take no steps whatever in canvassing or soliciting his candidature. If France chose to elect him for this high post, he should think it his duty to accept ; but he would not appear to thrust himself upon the nation. He was elected by an overwhelming majority. News of his selection for the post of president came like oil on the troubled waters, for at Belleville and Montmartre the Reds were already gnashing their teeth and preparing to go

When the De Freycinet ministry was formed, Carnot for the second time became minister of finance, with the difficult task of presenting the budget of 1887 to the Chamber. The Chamber would none of it, yet this budget had one great merit that of sincerity. Carnot had frankly faced the situation, and did nothing to hide the huge deficit, which he was prepared to meet by a loan and by a tax on alcoholic drinks. But the Chamber had had enough of loans; it clamored for economy in the various administrative branches. The ministry of finance was first passed in review; Carnot hid nothing, and quietly pointed out various possible economies. He spoke, as he always did, calmly and coldly, with no waving of arms, no gesticulations or elaborate phrases. Certain proposed economies, however, he would not hear of; and his plans were defeated by a large majority. Nevertheless, after the ministry had fallen, when a new commis-"down into the streets." sion was named to examine the budget of Carnot's successor, so deep was the impression of absolute trustworthiness which Carnot had inspired in the Chamber that he was elected first on the list of the commission.

A few months later, during the Wilson scandal, a fact came to light which paved the way to Carnot's future presidentship. M. Rouvier, minister of finance and president of the Council, was discussing a motion as to the appointment of the commission to examine into the recent scandals. One of the facts alleged was that President Grévy had given directions that

Since he has been president, Carnot has, both socially and politically, acted with the greatest tact and discretion, and proved himself more than ever a man of unimpeachable integrity. In his social duties he is ably seconded by his wife, a daughter of the political economist Dupont-White, who was secretary-general of justice in 1848.

Although Léon Gambetta is no longer one of the living, it is not possible to speak of French statesmen of the last decade without mentioning him. Indeed, his influence over public affairs has been