* * * * *
The excitement in France over the case of Captain Dreyfus, instead of
subsiding, has grown even more serious.
For several days the students have paraded the streets in small groups,
uttering cries against Zola and the Jews, and have been dispersed by the
police.
It is said also that cries of "Long live the Emperor" have been heard.
This suggests that the excitement may affect the Government, after all,
in spite of its apparent security in recent years.
In Paris this seems to be a very easy thing to do. More than once the
Government has been overturned by the mob.
In spite of their bitter experiences, the French people of to-day are
very like the French people of a little more than a hundred years ago.
But the French people of a hundred years ago were very badly governed
and had terrible grievances.
At present, the French are well governed by rulers of their own
choosing.
It is very likely that those who cried out for the Emperor were either
jokers, or people eager to add to the excitement, or else paid agents of
the Imperial party, which still hopes to restore the descendants of the
first Napoleon to the throne of France.
So far, the mob has accomplished nothing, and the Government has stood
firm.
In the Chamber of Deputies, however, the discussion of the Dreyfus case
has led to very serious complications.
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