The morning call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1878-1895, 1891-09-11
AN HONEST MAN.

There IS q lesson III the lie OF the lale NJ.
Greyy. EXPIRES ident of France, which Amer
lean politicians might lay to heart with adj
vantage. Francois Jules Grevy was the son
of a peasant, educated among peasants, and
imbued to the close of his life with the in
stincts of a peasant. He never acquired
the polish of a man of the world, never
seemed at ease in a dress suit, always be-
haved in a drawing-room as if he would be
glad to be out OF it, a lawyer by trade, he
never knew much law, and was halting
speaker in court. Yet from the very start
OF his career he commanded the confidence
of the most intelligent party in France. In
the darkest DAYS of the interregnum he was
chosen TO preside over the body which
made peace with Germany, and in reward
for his services he was twice raised to the
highest office in the gift of his countrymen.
The secret simply was that he was an honest
man, who was always, under all circum-
stances, and at whatever risks of popularity,
guided by his sense of principle. and by that
alJne. People trusted him because they
knew that he would never, for any object.
swerve from what he believed TO he right
In country swarming with demagOgues
and opportunists, he stood out cons picu-
ously as man who cared for nothing but
NtldA dRltalEu u Nun ~ US TIC u Ulu
H was modern repr, duction of Hor-
aces just man, whom even the lightnings
of heaven could not shake. During the long
eighteen years of Louis Phiippo's reign, he
C lntentedly lived in ubscurily, Subsistng
by the emoluments Of slender law prac-
tice. 1t Won I'd have been Il victory for the
Tulleries to have enlisted him in the royal
service. H. would have been a tower OF
a,. Ia; IL,
GuiZJt and Theirs would have given much
for his Endorsement But he stood aloof
and could not be bought. When the mon
arehcal principle was put in issue in 1899
he seOrned the Establishments of the court
and proclaimed his fidelity to republican
principles. During the brief interval be-
tween the kingdom and the empire, he
acted with the men who were conscien-
ti0usly in favor Of popular sef-gOyernment
But the defeat of CavdgIac satisfied him that
the French people had not been educated up
to his level, and lie cheerfully retired into
private life for another period of twenty
years. Like the monarchy, the empire
coquetted with him and sLrove to draw him
into the circle Of its friends But he declined
all invitations to present himself at court,
and whenever he spoke ii was TO denOunce
famieS.
His life had been nearly spent when Sc
dan changed the face Of France. He was
63 years old. The forty odd years of his
earlier career had been passed in compare
tive ObscurIty and in winning the reputa-
ton Of political dreamer. He had then to
show that his dreams were realities. At
Bordeaux he presided over the Assembly
foi, IL, 4
entail man in the body. He brushed aside
the wild schemes of those who were for
fighting to the bitter end, and insisted on
peace at any cost. In the Chamber, of
which he shortly afterward became Presi-
dent, or as we should say Speaker, he la
bored steadily to plant the new republic on
solid foundation. When MacMahon re-
signed the Presidency his election to sue
coed him was forced conclusion. There
was no one else whom France could so i'm
plicitly trust.
In choosing him the statesmen of France
gave the best possible proof of their inten-
ton to make the new republic a sensible
workaday form Of Government. There was
nothing snowy about Grevy. He had won
no victories like MacMahpn; he had achieved
no political triumphs like Thers; he was
sess any hereditary claims to power. He
was simply a plain man. who had always
told the truth even when it was unpalata-
bic, and had been faithful to republican
principles through forty years OF adversely
and disappointment To place such man
at the head of the republic was to say to the
world that there was going to be no non
sense in the administration of public af-
fairs, no fuss and feathers. no cringing to
this or that faction for the sake of votes
With face as strong as the one he had set
against the lOve-makng of Theirs and De
Morny, he warned the Socialists and Com
munists that they had nothing TO expect
from him. He was neither to be swayed
from his notions of right by the brides of
court nor deferred from the discharge of
what he felt to be his duty by fears of Of
Tending a mob. He had drawn his line of
conduct early in life and held to it when its
abandonment meant place, power, fame and
riches. He did not depart from it in later
days when the pressure came from the
other end of society,"