The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1866-06-20

The Christian Watchman has secured
the distinguished French theologian
and scholar, DIR. Pressensc, as regu-
lar correspondent. In his last letter
he gives sketch of Thiers, which we
COPY; M, 49,. ;. 49,, ,,o,, :, +,,a. hour
At first sight a person would not imag-
inc that he had before him one of those
men who have done the most for their
country, one of the most marvellous
organisms which are able etoaccomplish to
the most difficult tasks with readiness
and ease. Remarkably small in stat
ure, his physiognomy bears no impress
of distinction, his gestures are rough,
and his voice light and piercing, clam
orous rather than sonorouS. NeVerthe-
less, an entire political assembly Will
hang upon his lips, more than those OF
the most Ciceronian orator, because no
one surpasses him in the art of she'd
ding light on the most difficult subject.
He mandates with clearneSS, Il QueS-
ton of finance or diplomatic embr0g-
lilo. Nothing is more simple than his
exhibition of his topic. Piquant, sspir-
itual, his words rise and fall with his
subject. He sacrifices nothing to rhet-
oric; but when necessity demands, he
knows how to become cutting, biting,
eloquent. 1t is the policy of MIR.
Thiers to address the average class of
minds, leading step by step to thePoint
to which he wishes to bring them. Thus
he is able to speak in his shrill whistle
three or four hours without producing
fatigue. At the commencement of his
parliamentary course, he eSsayed the
lofty style. His periods were
full and harmonious but his
failure was complete. He had
ne capacity in this direction. One
day he abandoned conventional rhe-
toric, yielded to his fancy, spoke Who'll
ly ut his ease, and at once took his
place among the first orators of his age.
AT seventy years of age he is as win
ming as at forty. notwithstanding his
historical labors, which are very con-
siderable, Notwithstanding the reverses
he has suffered, and the disappoint-
ments he has met, taking everything
into consideration, he has no reason to
complain of his fortune. Born in the
port of Marsielles, of parents but little
removed from indigence, educated in n
college at the expense of the State, he
arrived in Paris in 1920 without a cent
in his pocket. He took lodgings with
his friend Mignet, who has since be-
come one of our most renowned his
torians, in n room in the fifth story of a
house occupied by laborers-- There he
first tried his pen as n pubiciSt, COM
mencing in n widely circulated journal
with articles in the true spirit of artis-
tic criticism. He was at once marked
most powerful newspaper writers of
his age. He contributed more than
any one else to shake the throne of the
Bour bons, and at the same time rose to
great literary celebrity. In the period
of the French Revolution, which he
had not dared to issue under his own
name; he borrowed that of writer
then well known, since entirely for
gotten; but from the second volume he
appeared under his own name, and the
history of the revolution, read with
enthusiasm by the entire liberal party,
laid the foundation of his European
reputation.
into public relations. II was there that
he displayed all the resources of his
versatile and brilliant mind, yet with
out forgetting literature, as is proved
by his great history of the Consulate
and the Empire. The Republic laid
aside. to return him soon to the Constr
tutional Assembly, into which he threw
all his brilliancy. EXiled in conse-
quence of the coup az etdt of December,
at the close of two years he re-entered
France, and when Paris again had "a
taste for the parliamentary regime, ii
sent to the legislative body this incom-
parable orator, on whom so many
times it has showered its applause.
In his green old age, Mr.. Theirs has
preserved the laboriOus habits of his
youth. Though he lives in magnifi-
cent dwelling and enjoys all the adj
vantages of an immense fortune, he
rises at five o'clock every morning, and
works without cessation till the mo-
ment when he goes to the legislature.
He takes Siesta of a few minutes after
dinner, and then till ten o'clock he is
as busy and lively as ever. But the
moment of his triumph is when he en-
ters his parlor. His conversation, full
of wit and viyacity, sparkles with
mind. He treats the great questions of
the day as if he We're in the rostrum.
He seems as if he had prepared himself
beforehand. People are never weary
of hearing him, and they retire dazzled
and instructed. 1t is in this way that
this marvellous spirit enjoys his sea-
sons of recreation.
Hedesires parliamentary liberty, and
he is right, but he does not conceive it
as possible outside of the framework of
our administration. He admireS our
centralization, though it paralyZes ev-
erywhere our individual life. He fa-
yOrs the union of church and state, the
placing of the former under the protec-
ton of the latter. He is a liberal of
the old revolutionary school. If he
had little taste for the second empire,
he had far too much for the first. He
had certainly contributed by his histO-
ry of Napoleon /. to pave the way for
Napoleon III. Perhaps he will say,
like children caught in fault, "I will
not do so again." but the empire goes
on, nevertheless, and his repentance is
no less tardy than it is useless. His
foreign policy is very narrow, as is
proved by his strange animadversions
on regenerated Italy. The temporal
power of the Pope has no more ardent
defender than this free thinker, who
has no faith in revelation. He well
merits the bitter criticism of one of our
most discriminating writers-"As to
the religion of Mr.. Thiers, we will say
nothing; it is mere policy" In fact, he
does not rise above the level of his pO-
litical views; he sees in religion moth
ing but an i8StTitneTltIiH1 Tegnt, gov
ernmental experiment. This is his
weakness, his great mistake. Happily
an entire political school, now headed
by Mr.. Laboulaye, is tending to burst
this narrow circle, within which liber-
ty cannot expand itself, but is reduced
to an empty form. Nevertheless we
should be ungrateful to Mr.. Thiers,
were we to overlook the great service
he had done to the cause of parliament
ary liberty, which, however imperfect
it may be, is nevertheless the first con-
dition of fself-government by country.
THE Pittsburgh Dispatch relates the
following about a plueky woman: The
attention of Alderman Donaldson was
called yesterday afternoon to a fight
going on in front of his office. On go
ing out he saw a man and woman
Sin holts," the woman bleeding from
the effects of severe blow in the mouth.
In a moment after the woman placed
one of her feet behind her antagonist,
and by vigorous push in front laid
him fat upon his back. Quick to profit
,1y io "a Il rTa ora aha ffxynnt tI1 ro1ot,u