Clarksville weekly chronicle. (Clarksville, Tenn.) 1873-1890, 1877-06-30
nj. JULES SIMON in THE PLACE
DE LA MADELEINE.

While French politics are agai
prominent matter of discussion j
Europe, the names of two French
men are-in everybody's mouth an
all men want to know all they ca
about them. These are NJ. julie
Simon and Marshal MacMahOn
Not that there is any approach t
equality between them; M. Simon
is one of the most intellectual mel
in Europe and the Marshal is only
third rate as general, and as ;
statesman is nowhere:
Still, as the names ofthe two mer
are everywhere the subject of con
versation, we hope to interest oui
readers in two papers taken from
the London World, giving personal
sketches of the Marshal and the ex.
minister that of M. Simon is now
presented, that of Marshal MacMa-
hon will follow next week.
In recent-quoted letter to a
friend, M. Jules wrote of his "gar-
ret" in the Place de Ia Madeleine,
and he was twitted for it by one OF
the journals of the reaction-not for
the first time. 1t was said to be all
of piece with his other affections
in the tribune; and we understand
that Queen Victoria might, almost
with equal justice, have called Buck
ingham Palace her hut. This only
shows that M. Jules Simon's critic
had never been to see NJ. Jules
Simon at home.
Yes, if you have tovisit him who
was the First Minister of France yes
terday, and who, inspite of manyap-
pearances to the contrary, mey be the
First Minister of France this time
next year, you must be prepared TO
mount to the fifth floor ola Partisan
house. The front door is next to
that of cheap eating-house, and
the occupants of some of the lower
apartments have brass plates on
their doors. There is carpet ON
the staircase, considering the
present, or, indeed, any earlier, state
of tit is almost pity that there
is any. If you go there early in the
morning-as you must do, if you
wish to see the eX-Minister in the
daytime-you may get your answer
from a drowsy concierge of all work
not yet out of his bed, and still very
visibly feeling the effects of yester-
days debauch of labor. If all the
accessories had been most cunningly
by master of scenic eff
feet, they could not be better adapt
ed to form the surroundings Of the
ideal leader of democracy. Jules
Simon at home is Cincinnatus at
home, due allowance made for the
of time and place. Only
we happen to have an assurance |
that they have not been cunningly
in the fact that the eX-
Minister has rented his present
dwelling for upwards of twenty
years. He of course had to leave 1t |
for time, for an official residence, |
last December; but he prudently |
forbore to give notice to quit.
The garret is apleasant One-that |
is all you can say of it. 1t is in a
good quarter, and it commands n |
spectacle of the most varied life of |
Paris. 1t is in that angle of the /
great square of the Madeleine which |
oins the bouleVards to the Rue |
ROyale-according to Balzac the es-
;ential street of the capital. Its
however, spoil the view
Of the famous church by showing
4,A af
rooms are not much loftier than
those of an eI1treSOi; and the ante
chamber of the great into which
you are ushered on your entrance |
was certainly never designed with
IN eye to its destines, for three suitors
here would make crowd. This in
is partly due to the
builder, partly to the occupant; and
he former might complain that his
has never had a fair
,hance of showing its capacity for
visitors by reason of its having to
erve as a reception-rOOm for books.
There is n second wall of volumes
leXt the one of lath and plaster or,
o change the figure, it may be said
hat the reservoir Of learning i'm the
library has overflOwed to the very
and has left a permanent
lepOsit at the front door. 1t seems
low to be but question of the du-
alton of the life of this busy col
ector whether the flood of erudi-
ion shall not go farther, and, in de
ault of other outlet, make its way
LoWn the stairs. There are books
ii round the second room, in which
he secretaries work; books all round
heir masters study, which opens
ut of it, and which would be tOler-
bly, spacious but for its lining Of
helVes. The furniture of a libary,
hOugh, is not without a beauty of
IS own when arranged with taste;
nd NJ. Jules Simon, being evident
V a sort of cOquet in bindings, his ,
Ontrats OfVellum and morocco are
ot unpleasiug TO the eye. The ef-
ect is improved by the numerous
Vorks of art, nearly all of which
ONE into the owners hands as tes-
imonials. One fine vase of Sevres
vas presented to him by n grateful |
olony for the defence of its rights;
mother bears a record of the hOm-
ge of his colleagues of the Conn
lissiOn HetyiQIe. The statuette In
YAK of Joan of Arc is a gift of :
he artist, who afterwards carried
ut the idea on a larger scale in the
ne naturalistic monument in the !
tue de RiVoli. This reduction i'm
ne equestrian statue of the great
frederick was acquired long before !
he late war, though subsequently,
O doubt, its face was for "a time !
lrned to the wall. There are ,
ronzes in plenty and if there are
o pictures, it is only because i'm this
Dw-roOfed chamber they could ,
ardly be seen.
A glance at NJ. jules Simon's
partment reveals the history of its :
5nant. He was student before he
,as a minister; and he is one of the !
ew men who have passed nom !
to affairs. He was M.
,ousin's successor at the SOrbOnne, :
nd he might have remained there ,
II his life if the Government of De ,
ember 1851 had not gone out of
s way to suspend his course by a
Deciaf decree. 1t is true that he
ad previously dallied with politics; [
ut ii was chiefly as a professor en- |
husiastic i'm the cause of public
His path, almost as a 1
natter of course, lay directly '
thwart that of the clergy; and he
ntered upon it to find the one abid- [