France: A Vocation for Grandeur

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Seven former Premiers and Presidents of the Fourth Republic stood bareheaded in Le Havre last week at the funeral of René Coty, the last President of that era. But it was Charles de Gaulle, the man of the Fifth Republic, who stepped forward to deliver the eulogy. He clearly intended it also to be a funeral oration for the Fourth Republic. Praising Coty's "breadth of vision and good sense," President de Gaulle turned with bitter words to the old "regime, paralyzed by its own confusion," and its leaders, "who failed through...

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