The New York herald., 1873-12-01
MARSHAL IMAGINATION.
The Life and Character of s'the
Modern Bayard."
his CIVIL AND MILITARY CAREER.

been entrusted with the task OF governing the
most unruly people under heaven, is one or those
provtdcntial men who arise from time to time and
efeteness OF their contemporaries than owing TO
any lustre OF their own. He has never been an
ambitious man, ana he is not great man, nor does
ne think himself one. Not by any means the ablest
soldier in his country; devoid of political astute-
ness, and, indeed, disiking politics; a sluggish
thinker, chary OF words, and, IN public
0ratory, unframed and simple he has
yet, out of homely qualities which sprightler
runners in the race or life despse, earned share
OF renown, public esteem and love such as falls
to few OF those who ardently covet it, Fortune
takes q humorous pleasure in thus petting those
who never seek her favors II MacMahon were
asked to what good hazards he owed his rise he, OF
all men, would be most puzzled to tell; but this is
the very reason why he has risen. He is man
who has all along done his duty to the best OF his
might and unbraggingly. While others hustled,
fused and blew their own trumpets he obeyed
orders. But somehow the work he did was better
than other mems; SO that those who employed him
got to feel that he could be rehed on like plain.
strong stan. Brave and obedient as soldier, he
was In private life amiabe, honest and true. His
tongue never slandered, his heart was not
thing he gladly did So and 1t is by such gifts that
man knits himself to the affections Of wife, chill
dren friends and dependants in ties not to be bro.
KEN. MacMahon was rightly called by the Count OF
.Uhambord s'tne Modern Bayard,n for ne is, like
Bayard, s'sans pe,r ct sans reproche" The roll Of
his great deeds may pc small, but the page that
would chronicle his unworthy acts is a blank. In
q word, it is not so much on account of the glow
fng things that can be said in his favor that Mac
Mahon is pre-eminent; it is because there is abso-
1utely nothing to say against him.
MACAAHoN's BoYHooD.
He was born in 1908, OF family that had emil
grated from Ireland In 1885, after sacrificing all their
property to the cause of the Stuarts Settled Bur-
gundy the MacMahons rebuilt their fortunes inter-
married with the French nobility and became, in
course OF time, rich and influential landowners.
Maurice de MacMahons great-grandfather was
created Count by Louis XIV, and his father who
was the intimate friend of the Count d'Artos,
afterwards Charles X, was raised to the French
House OF Peers in 1917 by the title Of Marquis.
This Marquis OF MacMahon was in all points
nobleman OF the old school. He abhorred liberals,
ne talked OF the Revolution and its ''rights OF
man" only with contempt, and the sum and SUBJ
stance OF his political opinions were to be always
royalist and Catholic, and nothing more. In
these views he educated his son, and he also
taught him to be keen sportsman, for, like his
royal friend Charles, who split his time In
equal parts between mass and the hunting field,
the Marquis OF MacMahon loved nothing so well as
to chase wild boars and deer, refreshing himself
after his efforts with powerful stoops OF that Bur-
gundy vintage which cheers, strengthens and
paints the nose RED. 1t is not often that French
boy is brought up amid field sports, for the Revolu
tion, by morselling ali the lands OF the no.
bility, destroyed the great preserves and deer
forests But the MacMahon estates had, fortunately
ESCAPED the common lot. Young MacMahon
learned to ride before most other French boys can
read and to shoot long before he could spell prop
erly. Yet was his education not neglected, for he
this priest had few Of the cunning Instincts for
which the Order Of Jesus Is notorious but was a
thorough Christian and gentleman. He did not
teach his pupil much mathematics or science, for
hA huf ha AflaA fo
Latin, gave him a smattering OF history ana Eng
lish and sent him to the military school OF St. Cyr
at the age Of II, neither more nor less learned
than most other young nobemen OF his time.
had just assembled the THRONE and the
Bourbon dynasty seemed SO firmly established
that all who knew OF the warm friendship existing
between the Marquis OF MacMahon and the King
propnesied for the young Count Maurice the most
brilliant destinies 1t was felt tnat, whether the
boy worked or not his career lay smooth and pros
porous before him; he would be given commits
sion in the Royal Guard, obtain court sinecure
be sent as diplomatic attache on some special mis-
sion, and in due time succeed his father in the
House OF Peers and probably be promoted to a
-dukedom. However, the Count did work. and to
the great surprise OF his companions he passed the
anal examination OF st. Cyr, the seventeenth out
OF 15o, and, being snus classed among the first TO-
was qualified for stan appointment.
HE RHTERs THE ARMY
He was then straight, tall boy OF 10, with wide
blue eyes, iignt-naxen nar and demeanor some-
what solemn and thoughtful. Little given to dis
sipatton, he preferred riding and the manly sports
OF his boyhood to the gambling hard drinking and
frivolous gallantries in which mosS OF his brother
omcers INDUCED but, on the other hand, he was a
noted and skilul ducllist. This was one OF the
necessities Of his position. An onicer who went
much TO court and had personal reasons for being