The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1891-03-08


of Cahors. On entering the lycee in Oc-
tober, 1851, he was placed in the fourth
class. He LEFT in the month Of August,
1855, with the degree Of b. A. At the ly-
Gee, a. previously at the seminary, his
facility ii the assimilation Of knowledge
and his unfailing. memory were speedily
remarked. But he was more or less re-
fractory to discipline and quite equal
amount Of attention was bestowed on him
on this account At one time he was .
day-boarder, butin consequences Of one Of
the school-boy mutinies which occurred at
the lycee Of Cahors in 1854, his parents
we're Obliged to withdraw him from the
dining-hall, and it was only - day
scholar that he was permitted to attend
the rhetoric or logic class-As the division
now known as the philosophy class was
then called. The lycee palms" and the
ssiirst honorable mention" which he OBJ
tained in 1853 at the general competitive
the academic district Of Toulouse prove
that he held one Of the first places in his
class. But he was not one of those pupals
who carry off all the laurels on prize days.
He worked only when the whim took him
and only obtained the first place on those
occasions when he was willing to apply
himself to study. He was besides very
boisterious in his manners and by no
means made Of soft wax which may be
modelled after the likeness of the professor.
He constantly displayed an independence
Of ideas which, too often, resulted at ex-
aminations in chasing quite unfavorable
to him. But his school fellows recognized
his uncomfortable superiority and used to
relate that Gambetta was the livery clever
est" Of his class.
Crammed with Greek roots, and having
learned from N. Kirsch, his professor, the
method Of making use of them, he found
Greek valuable acquisition. he could
read Demosthenes' disc0urses and Tbucy-
dides' hiatory in the original with as much
ease as an advanced pupil Of Partisan
lycee reads Quintus Curtius or the Eneid.
Later on, when he was studying law, Gam
beta took pleasure in attending the lee
lures of Professor Hase at the Sorbonne,
or Paris university, and had more than
one discussion with that learned Hellenist
on the meaning Of disputed text.
But the real strength of our school fell
low lay in French literature and history.
Our professor of history was n. Anselmc,
lycees of Paris. Under his tutorship
Gambetta conceived positive passion for
historical studies. He made regular re-
searches at the Municipal library, which
was comparatively well supplied with
books, and came to school loaded with
young professor and astonishing his class
mates by his erudition on any given sub
ject. Even while at college he began to
speak on political economy. He had got
his father to buy him Carriers small
treatise on the subject, and, in our walks,
he used to crush us with the aphorisms of
science, of which few among US possessed
even the most elementary notions.
NJ. Arnault, our professor of rhetoric,
OWNED future orator in him. One day
the subject for an essay he gave his pupils
was: "The speech Of Etienne Marcel to
the States General in 1856" Gambetta,
fortified by his historical knowledge, made
the mayor Of Paris speak in terms which
excited the professors admiration. NJ.
Arnault not only read Gambetta's dis
course IN extcnso to the assembled class,
but handed it round among his colleagues,
and the pupils essay was read everywhere
in the lycee.
Gambetta was very popular with his
classmates, over whom he possessed extra
ordinary authority. He it was who pre-
sided over all our games, who directed our
excursions on half-holidays, and who gave
ton to our discussions, conyersing de omni
re scribiti with inexhaustible spirit. He
was, moreover, acquainted with everything
that was going on. Whenever there was
an important case being tried at the court
house he was certain to be found there.
important news he commented on the
facts with vibrating voice. His father
being q subscriber to the Paris newspaper
lie Steele, Leon often repeated TO US . solemn
article by Leonor Havin, criticism of the
newest Partisan play by Louis Tourdan, q
chronicle by Edmond Texier or by Taxile
Delord- His original sketches and unex,
contributed to give him teal supremacy
ovee his school fellows.
Itlias been alrS9dy laid that Gambetta
pasDod HIS b - o6Aminatiop with honDrs
before the faculty OF Toulouse. Had his
fathers first intentions been carried out,
he would now have taken place behind
the shop counter and have been initiated
NAL produce. But everybody conspired to
thwart his fathers plans. His mother,
who always had faith in her sons star, in-
sisted that so hopeful q youth should not
be condemned to pass his life in grocer's
back shop. The mayor Of Cahors, n.
in which Gambetta's shop was located,
supported the mothers wishes with all his
authority, and the father consented to per-
NIT his son to proceed to the metropolis.
But he cut down the allowance Of the
young student to the lowest possible
figure. All he gave him was Just the sum
required to pay his board and lodging, and
everybody else in the family did their best
to ameliorate his pecuniary situation. In
addition to sending him supplies of pro-
visions without concealment, his mother,
sister and aunt more than once appropri-
ated louis at the shop counter wherewith
to augment Icons little stock Of money.
Every one is acquainted with the Incl
dents Of Gambetta's life whilst he was
student at the law school. He boarded at
the Hotel-du-Var, in the Rue de Tournon,
which was the recognized caravansary for
students from the south Of France. Very
soon he acquired great notoriety. in the
Latin quarter. On the very first day Va
letta, the dean Of the law school, noticed
the characteristic visage and voice of the
noisy southerner who managed to
be assiduous at the law lectures,
to attend lectures at the Sorbonne,
to be present at the courthouse
whenever an interesting case was being
tried, and to deliver harangues in all the
brasseries and cafes Of the neighborhood.
1t must be admitted that it was in these
last named places that Gambetta acquired
the popularity which made him one of
the most widely known students in Paris.
In defiance of the imperial police he used
violent language frequently and pro-
claimed his irreconcilable opposition to
the established government. In the cafes
Of the Latin quarter he discussed the
topics Of the day regularly whatever the
topic might be. At one time it would be
the murder of Archbishop Sibour; the
next, the official funeral which the empire
accorded to the remains Of Beranger. The
"Demi-Monde" by Alexandra Dumas fills
were played: Flaubert published his book
Madame Bovary" Gambetta saw, read
and heard everything, and, moreover,
spoke out his opinions on everything.
In 1853 he was present at Orsim's
trial, and was among the crowd which as
III IL. \ l.