Excerpt from French Celebrities M. Ferry took a prominent part. A chance majority having forced upon France an ill-devised and misdirected constitution, the elections provided for were soon held. The ballot by arrondissements superseded the scrutin ole liste. Jules Ferry accepted the proposition to stand for the arrondissement Of saint-die, which elected him by an overwhelming majority. In the {newly elected Chamber his influence continued to increase, and he soon came to be the acknowledged leader of the Left. The act of the l6th of May called M. Ferry to the front. It was to a certain extent in the name of the Left that he denounced, in an impassioned speech, the course Of the government for its attitude to the men Of moral Order for its cowardly persecution of the weak, and! The'war inaugurated against the poorerfclasses. This effort of Jules Ferry produced a profound impression throughout all France, and contributed not a little to his subsequent elevation. Re-elected in 1877, Jules Ferry was at once spoken of in connection with the Ministry. Nevertheless he refused the portfolio tendered him by M. Dufa'ure. It was not till 1879, when Jules Grevy became President Of the Republic, that Jules Ferry entered the Wadding ton Cabinet as Minister Of. Public Instruction, 'his first step in office was one of superior political clever ness. The Government, having opposed the arraign ment of the Ministers on the 16th of May, could only command the support Of a feeble majority. On the day succeeding this doubtful victory, Jules Ferry effected the introduction of the laws which bear his name. The effect of l'artiele 7 was immediate. The Cabinet thereby recovered its ascendency. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.