Clarksville weekly chronicle. (Clarksville, Tenn.) 1873-1890, 1877-07-14

he was called by the unanimous
voice of his cOuntrymen. He had
discovered that the Republic would
| divide parties less than any other
regime ) and yet he welcomed the
Orleans princes back to France, and
cOnnived at the plots carried on un-
der his nose to restore the Monarchy
under the elder or the Junior BOur-
bon.
The mixed feelings with which
Frenchmen regard M. Thiers are
explained by the salient facts of his
and marred much. AT this moment
he is danger to the Republic which
ne helped to create. NJ. Gambetta
has called him a serpent in specta-
cles; but now the two are friends.
Some of the French papers refer to
him as the great statesman, the IL
lustrious veteran, the saviour of the
country; while Others-and these
not the ultra-democratic organs
| describe him as a great man whose
career has been a curse to France.
He has not passed a single law; his
name is not identified with one
measure of progress; he is a pro-
| tectiOnist of the most Old-fashiOned
type, and did harm to commerce
while President, by reversing some
of the Free Trade policy of the EN-
pire. He was the opponent of rail-
ways; he is no friend to England,
and nearly involved the two coun-
tries in war under Louis Philippe.
And yet there is not a living French
man of whom all France is prOuder.
Petit bOnhOmme Wit encore" the
6dddltCEs say to one another as they
see him making brisk turn in the
Pare MOnceau, followed by tall
fOOtman carrying his umbrella.
His eyes pierce sharply through the
big spectacles, noting flowers and
trees, and bOHHes and babies. Paris
delights in him. lie is French
among Frenchmen. 1t was he who
bearded Bismarck, and extOrted
BelfOrt from the greedy German.
Above all, it is he who has said
scores Of good things-who has
spiced contemporary history with
nlOtS In his youth, when ne wrote
on art, there was an undercurrent of
poetry and sentiment in his COM
positions which reminded the reader
that the author was a cousin of An
DIRE Chenier; but this has long since
evapOrated. ''IIe makes ideas flow
from facts" said Sainte- -Beuve; che
puts life and movement into every
thing" The same critic obsered of
him that, although he would pile
details to 4 mOnStrOuS height, the
mass formed Il shapely monument,
out.
AS a conversatiOnalist there is
scarcely a subject on which NJ.
ThierS does not sparkle. He is the
prince of cdUSeigS. His intellect
reminds you of a swarm of tire-fiieS
rather than Of great shining light
De LamaTtine formed a similar esti-
mate of him as an orator. "He
never struck great blows, but he
dealt an infinite number of little
ones, by which he broke ministries,
majOritieS, and thrones. He had
not the grand inspirations of Mira
beau, but he had his strength in
pieces. Out of Mirabeau's club he
made arrows" M. Thiers' shrill
weak voice, preceding from his
diminutiVe body, could never
have cOmpassed grand effects; but
it has force enough to barb showers
of darts, and he is quite conscious of
the necessity he is under of driving
his point home inch by inch. He
has understood, perhaps, better
than of his contemporaries the value
of sounding phrases and epigrams
and chduUiI1iSn2s among his country
men; and he has made himself a
superior M. Joseph PrudhOmme.
His DJuClhOnlnlerie is as conspicuous
in his plump figure, his dimpled
bourgeois face, and his immortal
white brutus, cultivated possibly as
an outward mark of his connection
with the Monarchy of July, as it is in
his conversation, and his readiness
to settle everything under the sun,
even to the manner of commanding
an army. His military pretenSiOns,
when the Versailles army was pre-
pairing to enter Paris and scatter the
Commune, were most diVerting. He
would have shared the command
with MacMahOn. There has been
one dreadful drawback, however, to
the military career Of PrudhOmme
ThierS-he has never been able to
show himself on horseback.
The hotel of this mOstremarkable
Frenchman is palace. The hall,
of red and green marble, is mOnu-
mental, thereceptiOn rooms are those
of an ambassador. The great re-
ceptiOn sOlOnS, in Louis XIV. style
white and gold, and with some eX-
quisite WOOd-carvings-are hung
with red-silk damask. The SdLIe-d-
n1u2ger, on the ground floor, is a
superb apartment for the plain roast
and boiled which are the daily fare
of Monsieur and Madame. The
sculptured consoles and the carved
walI-panels, the dreSSOr in varigated
marbles and fiOwer-paintings of Rey
Petit, make delightful coup d6a
from the little Louis XIV. salon at
the entrance. A broad staircase
rises from the marble vestible to a
spacious corridor or gallery. OppO-
site, great doors lead to a saloon,
which is a museum of antiquities
and art-wOrk collected by the illus
triOus bourgeois. On the one hand
are the private rooms of Madame,
and on the other those of Monsieur.
IiOlll his SltilC OCNlIOOiIl W. 14lAO1o
looks out upon his handsome gar
dens. AT hand are two rooms on
which the most extraordinary care
has been bestowed to make them
the exact counterpart of two sacred
pieces destroyed the cOll1nllt12drCLS.
They are the rooms of M. Thiers'
mother-in-law, disposed exactly as
she left them when she died,
and never used. Men, as a
rule, are not wOrshippers of
the memory of mothers-in-law to
this extent. By these mysterious
rooms are those of MademOiselle
DOsne-the inseprable companion of
NJ. and Madame Thiers. The 'ap-
proach to the library is royal in the
arrangement. Through massive ma
hOgany doors you gain the ante
room ; beyond, through a sculptured
oak door, is NJ. Thiers' study, and
through a side door is the room of
his faithful secretary and friend,
Barthelemy Saint-Hilaire.
The library itself is a lofty cham
ber lighted from the top, with hook
shelves of oak, picked out with
stained pear-WOOd and threads of
gold, stretching completely round it.
Two immense tables, covered with
red leather, are on either side of the
great hearth. A huge black carved