Page:The Royal Family of France (Henry).djvu/13

From Wikisource
Jump to navigation Jump to search
This page has been validated.

M. Léon Gambetta's death.

We may not here dwell on the startling passing away of M. Gambetta since we wrote this Essay. May God have dealt very graciously with him! Anyhow, we see that God alone is All-wise; and the enemies alike of His religion and kings no longer see how to defend that presumptuous wisdom which too long they believed infallible; and for the moment those giddy men are staggering in disappointment and exasperation by the shock of their chief's death. Let us mourn over their strange insensibility or, worse still, over the mischief which their shortsightedness inflicts on the men and women of France, and indeed very truly on themselves.

L. E. H.