Chapter XI: Front Matter (11)

He returned to France in June, was elected by three departments in July, and commenced an agitation for the definitive establishment of the Republic. On the 5th of November 1871 he established a journal, _La Republique francaise_, which soon became the most influential in France. His orations at public meetings were more effective than those delivered in the Assembly, especially that made at Bordeaux on his return, and that at Grenoble on the 26th of November 1872, in which he spoke of political power having passed to les _nouvelles couches sociales_. When Thiers, however, fell from power in May 1873, and a Royalist was placed at the head of the government in the person of Marshal MacMahon, Gambetta gave proof of his statesmanship by unceasingly urging his friends to a moderate course, and by his tact and parliamentary dexterity, no less than by his eloquence, he was mainly instrumental in the voting of the constitution in February 1875. This policy he continued during the early days of the now consolidated Republic, and gave it the appropriate name of "opportunism." It was not until the 4th of May 1877, when the peril from reactionary intrigues was notorious, and the clerical party had begun a campaign for the restoration of the temporal power of the pope, that he delivered his famous speech denouncing "clericalism" as "the enemy." On the 16th of May Marshal MacMahon, in order to support the clerical reactionaries, perpetrated his parliamentary _coup d'etat_, and on the 15th of August Gambetta, in a speech at Lille, gave him the alternative se _soumettre ou se demettre_. He then undertook a political campaign to rouse the republican party throughout France, which culminated in a speech at Romans (September 18, 1878) formulating its programme. MacMahon, equally unwilling to resign or to provoke civil war, had no choice but to dismiss his advisers and form a moderate republican ministry under the premiership of Dufaure.

When the resignation of the Dufaure cabinet brought about the abdication of Marshal MacMahon, Gambetta declined to become a candidate for the presidency, but gave his support to Grevy; nor did he attempt to form a ministry, but accepted the office of president of the chamber of deputies (January 1879). This position, which he filled with much ability, did not prevent his occasionally descending from the presidential chair to make speeches, one of which, advocating an amnesty to the communards, was especially memorable. Although he really directed the policy of the various ministries, he evidently thought that the time was not ripe for asserting openly his own claims to direct the policy of the Republic, and seemed inclined to observe a neutral attitude as far as possible; but events hurried him on, and early in 1881 he placed himself at the head of a movement for restoring _scrutin de liste_, or the system by which deputies are returned by the entire department which they represent, so that each elector votes for several representatives at once, in place of _scrutin d'arrondissement_, the system of small constituencies, giving one member to each district and one vote to each elector. A bill to re-establish _scrutin de liste_ was passed by the Assembly on 19th May 1881, but rejected by the Senate on the 19th of June.

But this personal rebuff could not alter the fact that in the country his was the name which was on the lips of the voters at the election. His supporters were in a large majority, and on the reassembling of the chamber, the Ferry cabinet quickly resigned. Gambetta was unwillingly entrusted by Grevy on the 14th of November 1881 with the formation of a ministry--known as _Le Grand Ministere_. He now experienced the Nemesis of his over-cautious system of abstinence from office for fear of compromising his popularity. Every one suspected him of aiming at a dictatorship; attacks, not the less formidable for their injustice, were directed against him from all sides, and his cabinet fell on the 26th of January 1882, after an existence of only sixty-six days. Had he remained in office his declarations leave no doubt that he would have cultivated the British alliance and cooperated with Great Britain in Egypt; and when the Freycinet administration, which succeeded, shrank from that enterprise only to see it undertaken with signal success by England alone, Gambetta's foresight was quickly justified. His fortunes were presenting a most interesting problem when, on the 31st of December 1882, at his house in Ville d'Avray, near Sevres, he died by a shot from a revolver which accidentally went off. Then all France awoke to a sense of her obligation to him, and his public funeral on the 6th of January 1883 evoked one of the most overwhelming displays of national sentiment ever witnessed on a similar occasion.

Gambetta rendered France three inestimable services: by preserving her self-respect through the gallantry of the resistance he organized during the German War, by his tact in persuading extreme partisans to accept a moderate Republic, and by his energy in overcoming the usurpation attempted by the advisers of Marshal MacMahon. His death, at the early age of forty-four, cut short a career which had given promise of still greater things, for he had real statesmanship in his conceptions of the future of his country, and he had an eloquence which would have been potent in the education of his supporters. The romance of his life was his connexion with Leonie Leon (d. 1906), the full details of which were not known to the public till her death. This lady, with whom Gambetta fell in love in 1871, was the daughter of a French artillery officer. She became his mistress, and the _liaison_ lasted till he died. Gambetta himself constantly urged her to marry him during this period, but she always refused, fearing to compromise his career; she remained, however, his confidante and intimate adviser in all his political plans. It is understood that at last she had just consented to become his wife, and the date of the marriage had been fixed, when the accident which caused his death occurred in her presence. Contradictory accounts have indeed been given as to this fatal episode, but that it was accidental, and not suicide, is certain. On Gambetta the influence of Leonie was absorbing, both as lover and as politician, and the correspondence which has been published shows how much he depended upon her. But in various matters of detail the serious student of political history must be cautious in accepting her later recollections, some of which have been embodied in the writings of M. Francis Laur, such as that an actual interview took place in 1878 between Gambetta and Bismarck. That Gambetta after 1875 felt strongly that the relations between France and Germany might be improved, and that he made it his object, by travelling incognito, to become better acquainted with Germany and the adjoining states, may be accepted, but M. Laur appears to have exaggerated the extent to which any actual negotiations took place. On the other hand, the increased knowledge of Gambetta's attitude towards European politics which later information has supplied confirms the view that in him France lost prematurely a master mind, whom she could ill spare. In April 1905 a monument by Dalou to his memory at Bordeaux was unveiled by President Loubet.

Gambetta's _Discours et plaidoyers politiques_ were published by J.
Reinach in 11 vols. (Paris, 1881-1886); his _Depeches, circulaires,
decrets_ ... in 2 vols. (Paris, 1886-1891). Many biographies have
appeared. The principal are J. Reinach, _Leon Gambetta_ (1884),
_Gambetta orateur_ (1884) and _Le Ministere Gambetta, histoire et
doctrine_ (1884); Neucastel, _Gambetta, sa vie, et ses idees
politiques_ (1885); J. Hanlon, _Gambetta_ (London, 1881); Dr Laborde,
_Leon Gambetta biographie psychologique_ (1898); P.B. Gheusi,
Gambetta, _Life and Letters_ (Eng. trans. by V.M. Montagu, 1910). See
also G. Hanotaux, _Histoire de la France contemporaine_ (1903, &c.).
F. Laur's _Le Coeur de Gambetta_ (1907, Eng. trans., 1908) contains
the correspondence with Leonie Leon; see also his articles on
"Gambetta and Bismarck" in _The Times_ of August 17 and 19, 1907, with
the correspondence arising from them. (H. Ch.)

GAMBIA, an important river of West Africa, and the only river of Africa navigable by ocean-going boats at all seasons for over 200 m. from its mouth. It rises in about 11 deg. 25' N. and 12 deg. 15' W., within 150 m. of the sea on the north-eastern escarpment of the Futa Jallon highlands, the massif where also rise the head-streams of the Senegal and some of the Niger tributaries, besides the Rio Grande and many other rivers flowing direct to the Gulf of Guinea. The Gambia, especially in its lower course, is very serpentine, and although the distance from the source to the mouth of the river is little more than 300 m. in a direct line, the total length of the stream is about 1000 m. It flows first N.N.E., receiving many left-hand tributaries, but about 12 deg. 35' N. takes a sharp bend N.W. and maintains this direction until it leaves the fertile and hilly region of Bondu. The descent to the lower district is marked by the Barraconda rapids, formed by a ledge of rock stretching across the river. Between 30 and 50 m. above the falls the Gambia is joined by two considerable affluents, the Nieriko from the north and the Kuluntu or Grey river from the south. From the Barraconda rapids to the Atlantic the Gambia has a course of about 350 m. Throughout this distance the waters are tidal, and the river is navigable all the year round by boats drawing 6 ft. of water. At Yarbatenda, a few miles below Barraconda, the river has a breadth, even at the dry season, of over 300 ft., with a depth of 13 to 20 ft. From the falls to McCarthy's Island, a distance of 200 m., the river valley, which here presents a park-like appearance, is enclosed by low rocky hills of volcanic character. For 50 m. below the island, where the stream is about 800 yds. wide, the banks of the river are steep and thickly wooded. They then become low and are fringed with mangrove swamps. From Devil's Point, a sharp promontory on the north bank--up to which place the water is salt--the river widens considerably and enters the Atlantic, in about 13-1/2 deg. N. and 16-1/2 deg. W., by a broad estuary. Near the mouth of the river on the south side is St Mary's Island (3-1/2 m. long by 1-1/2 broad), and opposite on the north bank is Barra Point, the river being here contracted to 2-1/2 m. Eighteen miles lower down the distance from shore to shore is 27 m. There is a sand-bar at the entrance to the river, but at the lowest state of the tide there are 26 ft. of water over the bar. The Gambia is in flood from November to June, when the Barraconda rapids are navigable by small boats. Above the rapids the stream is navigable for 160 m. Politically the Gambia is divided between Great Britain and France--Britain possessing both banks of the river up to, but not including, Yarbatenda.

The Gambia was one of the rivers passed by Hanno the Carthaginian in his famous voyage along the west coast of Africa. It was known to Ptolemy and the Arabian geographers, and was at one time supposed to be a mouth of the Nile, and, later (18th century), a branch of the Niger. It was possibly visited by Genoese navigators in 1291, and was certainly discovered by the Portuguese c. 1446, but was first explored for any distance from its mouth (1455) by the Venetian Alvise Cadamosto (q.v.), who published an account of his travels at Vicenza in 1507 (_La Prima Navigazione per l'Oceano alle terre de' Negri della Bassa Ethiopia_). Afterwards the Gambia became a starting-place for explorers of the interior, among them Mungo Park, who began both his journeys (1795 and 1805) from this river. It was not until 1818 that the sources of the Gambia were reached, the discovery being made by a Frenchman, Gaspard Mollien, who had travelled by way of the Senegal and Bondu. The middle course of the river was explored in 1851 by R.G. MacDonnell, then governor of the Gambia colony, and in 1881 Dr V.S. Gouldsbury also navigated its middle course. No native craft of any kind was seen above Barraconda. The more correct name of the river is Gambra, and it is so called in old books of travel.

See Mungo Park's _Travels_ (London, 1799); G. Mollien, _Travels ... to
the Sources of the Senegal and Gambia ..._, edited by T.E. Bowdich
(London, 1820); the account of Dr Gouldsbury's journey in the Blue