The morning call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1878-1895, 1890-10-26
MEN OF FORTY-EIGHT.
Two Who We're Popular in France.
Louis Blanc and Lamartine.
Translated for THE SUNDAY CALL

In his Journal of the Times Jules Simon
has given his recollections of the Assembly
of 1913 and the Provisional Government In
speaking of Louis Blanc and of Lamar
!, tine he says.
/ knew but little of Louis Blanc when
| he was a pupil at the Normal School, but
| more after he became editor of journal
which was called the Good Sense" |
was put in relation With him through Emile
Saisset who found an opportunity 10 write
an anonymous article which appeared i'll the
Good Sense" much to Saissers satIsfac-
ton and my own.
Louis Blanc was with us only an amable
comrade of an easy humor, somewhat in
love with his own wit, and eager to show it
and much disposed to brush against the
graduates of the Normal School, whom he
considered as savants. We were proud in
deed of our acquaintance with him, espe-
cially when his History of the Ten Years
had given him great notoriety.
The events of '4S put him in full light be-
fore the public gaze. There. were, at that
time, three great chiefs in the Government ::
Louis Blanc, who represented the socialists,
Ledru R0lhn, who represented the JacobinS,
and Lamartine, who represented France.
.Arago, Marie and Marrast disappeared be-
iliuQ vi anu udEultT
Pages behind Ledru Rollin; Albert.
workman, was only satellite of Louis
Blanc. The oetogeDarian, Dupont de
pEure, Minister OF Justice in 1880, was
only symbol. Each one of the great chiefs
held his own court-that of Lamartine the
most numerous, and that of Louis Blanc the
most clamorous. Marrast, GARNER Pages,
Arago himself, could go out into the
street with impunity. They were accosted
with some courteous removals of the hat. A
young lad who might recognize them would
cry, Long live the Provisional Govern
ment." They were saluted. and that was all.
But if Lamartine would place his foot on
the place of the Hotel de Vile, at once lie
would find himself surrounded and pushed
by a thousand individuals, who would come
no one could tell from where mon,
women, children, citizens well dressed.
workmen in blouses, priests, rabbis and
Protestant clergymeD. The women were
mostly in the majority, and they were of
all kinds, from working women to those of
the highest class, and the cry would break
out from all, Long live Lamartine! Long
live our proteetorp There was an enula-
ton among the women to do him homage
even to the kissing of his hand. He was
neither surprised nor moved, thinking that
those things were all Of natural order, as
an antique chorus was natural surrounding
TyrteuS. Ii a discourse was necessary he
improvised it on the instant, as great
master will improvise musical harmony
Without preparation.
The surrounding of Louis Blanc was quite
another thing. Ii was composed OF work
mcn-the old veteran, the disabled tOiler,
the artisan of ability, and the workman in
poverty and the strong and able-bodied me-
chanic.
They would surround him Unexpectedly,
by what miracle of selection one does not
know. There was no seeking among them
for the kissing of hands, but they would by
all means carry him on their shoulders. Ii
was not an agreeable thing for him; he was
not willing to lend himself to their desires
through patriotism, to Il rough and I'M
pleasant tossing about.
He was not to be seen at the Chamber ex-
cept about the 10Th OF May. He was too
much occupied at Luxembourg and with the
Government. He was embarrassed with
difficulties concerning Proudhon and Others.
When the Chamber divided into committees
they placed him OH the Committee for Labor,
of which | was one, but he preferred thai of
Foreign Affairs.
When he found himself in the Chamber
on the 18th OF May the first thing the invaf-
erS did on that tumultuous occasion was to
take him on their shoulders, according 10
custom, and carry him In triumph around
the semicircle. noticed that he defended
himself with all his force and called on his
friends to assist in extricating him from the
unpleasant testimonials of the crowd He
was not less compromised some days after
in the proceedings of the Chamber. M.
Montalembert and myself voted against the
current Of accusation.
This great socialist, who had agtated the
people during three months, disappeared
without leaving any trace behind him.
You ask then what is popularity? an
swer, it is nothing. Lamartine at the close
Of his career was heard to remark that
the people at large were apt to throw at
their idols the very stones which they had
formerly devoted to the construction of their
monuments of devotion r.