The Somerset press. [volume] (Somerset, Ohio) 1873-1977, 1877-09-20
NUMBER "a.
Ex-President Theirs.
cincinnati Gazette. i

A late cable dispatch announces the
sudden death, at st. Germain, of Louis
Adolph Thiers, the venerable statesman,
who has for half century been a con-
spicuous figure in the politics of France.
He was born April Is, 1897, at
Marseilles, where his father was work
ing Iocksmith. He went to the public
school, making a special study of
geometry, to fit himself for the military
profession. Afterward, however, it was
decided to bring him up to law, and he
was sent to AK, where he studied under
NJ. Arnaud He was admitted to the
bar, but met with so little success that
he turned to literature, and he accord
ingly set out for Paris. By great per-
severance he gained footing in literary
society, and having obtained an intro
duction to the conductor of the COnstitu-
tionnel, was engaged to write political arti-
cles.
The first volume of his History Of
the French Revolution " appeared in
1923, and the tenth, completing the
work, in 1882. In the National, he
opposed the unconstitutional proceed
ings of Charles X, and his Minister,
POlignac, and after the revolution of
July, 1880, held various minor official
posts, and was made Under Secretary of
State under Laftte's administration.
About this time he was elected Deputy
for AK, and distinguished himself by
his financial ability and oratorical power.
In 1882 he was appointed Minister of
the Interior, which he soon exchanged
for the Portfolio of Commerce and
Works. In 1886 he was President of
the Council and Minister of Foreign
Affairs, and in March, 1910, again held
that office, but the King soon afterward
requested his retirement. He then
wrote his History of the Consulate
and Empire" continuation of his for
mer work. Of this the first volume ap-
peared in 1915, and the last in 1862.
The revolution of February, 1S4S,
found him unprepared, and when the
republic was proclaimed, Thiers was
National Guard with musket on his
shoulder His talents and caution,
however, secured him a position first in
the Constituent and then in the National
Assembly. On the elevation of Louis
Napoleon to the Presidency, it was
thought by many that Thiers, whom the
Prince had proclaimed as his Minister
in the abortive expedition of Boulogne,
in 1910, would take office; but though
he professed to accept the republic
heartily, he was banished during the
coup Petat of December 2, 1851, and
after living in Switzerland he was per-
mitted to return to Paris. He devoted
his time to his " History of the Consulate
and Empire containing on eloquent
eulogium on the first Bonaparte, but
abounding in partial statements and
partisan feelings.
In 1868 he was elected Deputy for the
Department of the Seine by the Liberal
opposition, and in the Legislative
Assembly, in which he was the champion
of an extension of the liberties of the
French people, though an upholder OF
the Pope's temporal sovereignty, sus.
tanned his reputation as parliamentary
orator. He was opposed to Italian unity
and to war for the liberation of Poland
He was made Grand Officer of the
Legion of Honor, April 81, 1910.
Thiers was pre-eminently the leader Of
Republicanismi in France. Elected to the
Presidency of the provisional republic
at the close of the war, he remained al
the head of the nation until 1873, wher
McMahon was chosen under the new
Constitution. While Gambetta was
admired for his radicalism and elo
quence, Thiers was trusted for his con
servatism, prudence, and vast knowl
edge of public affairs. By his death thu
Republicans lose their ablest counselor
at time when much depends upon wist
counsel and able leadership.