FRENCH POLITICS

Ashburton Guardian, Volume VII, Issue 1924, 21 August 1888, Page 3

FRENCH POLITICS

THE BOULANGER FLOQUET DUEL, General Boulanger surprised his friends and enemies on July 12th by resigning bis seat m the Chamber of Deputies, where his short career had been confessedly a. failure. The eoene was remarkable. Shortly after his entranoe the General took the tribune and moved the adoption of a resolution for the dissolution of the Houae. M. Floqaet. Chief of the Ooaucll, refused to entertain the motion, and burct Into a furious diatribe against General Boulanger. He asked, by what right the man who had been spending his time In the ante obambere of Prlnoes orltiolsed a Parliament of Republicans He charged the General with unpatriotic conduct In needlessly disturbing the country, and endangering its peaoe for personal aims. Boulanger was thoroughly aroused, and daring the Premier's Bpeeoh five times stigmatised him as an " impudent liar," eaoh time raising a storm of tmpreofttions amongst the* members. He was repeatedly o tiled to order by the deputies- At length they became highly indignant, and (.here were cries of rage from all parts of the Ohamber, the most inßuitlng epithets being hurled at Boulanger, A vote of censure was moved and seconded amid an uproar of approval. Before the vote was taken, the General protesting that liberty of the tribune was threatened, tendered his resignation to the President, and left the Ohamber amidst derisive cheers and laughter, the members following and hooting him to the steps of the palace.. He seemed not to have a friend, and the pent np fury of the Deputies broke forth without restraint. Never was it more merciless. Boulanger may be said to have been driven from the place m a tempest of rage. It was expulsion rather than re* signation. The excitement on the Boulevards over the •ffair was Intense. A duel between the General and Flcqoet took plao9 at Naullly. Four • minutes ended the affair. Rapiers were 'the weapons, Boulanger, exolted and nervous, made several passes at his antagonist, who did not seem expert — m faot, was extremely awkward; In the second encounter Boulancer was slightly wounded In the leg and Floquet reoeived a oat on the right hand. The seconds wished to end the combat, but the principals Insisted on continuing their third bout, Boul&nger made a desperate lunge at Floquot, who thrust his sword oat straight before him, and held it m that position, As he made a lunge the General nreeelved Floquet's rapier In the right side of his neok, making a wound l£in deep, narrowly missing the jugular. He-staggered, dapped his hand to the wound, and fell unoonboloub into the arms of his second, who oarrled him away. After his wound had been bandaged, General Boulanger fought desperately, and displayed muoh feeling. He tried . very hard to kill his antagonist, and threw hlmielf on him again and again, making desperate lunges at eaoh onset. M. Floquet throughout the oombat was 000 l and collected, but his faoe white as a sheet. The duel caused intense excitement m Paris, and it is generally oonoedad that Boulanger by his oonduot m the Ohamber and his misfortune m the field has praotioally ended his career.