The record-union., 1893-12-05
A FRENCH FRESHMAN.
Some Interesting Notes on Mar
Shal Mcmahon.

He Was a Good Husband and Father
His Life IN Algeria - Opposed to
Cardinal LavIgerie's Proselyting
Schemes-A High Spirit and a Sweet
Nature,
The death of Marshal MacMahon has
in no degree damped the festal spirit
which the visit of the Russian naval Off
GERS has called forth, says the Paris cor
respondent of the New York tribune.
II has only added another grand specta-
Gle, which, to them, viii be a new one.
! MacMahon was just and kind and could
! be generous, though he had an Irish ca
pacity for harboring rancor against dis
honest persons who injured him. One
might depend both upon his love and
! hatred. However, as he was constantly
sounding his conscience, he took pains
not to let the latter feeling hurry him into
injustice. or blind his eyes to the truth.
! He had also, associated with the pride of
race and situation, an humble spirit
which led him to mistrust himself, and
made him prone to obey commands and
circumstances rather than the prompt
! ings Of his own wishes. The Marshal
! was aifectionate in his family relations
and truly the husband of one wife. His
! fidelity in this respect was also an Irish
characteristic, and exposed him in the
army to the irony of other officers of his
! standing. Another irish quality was his
! capacity to go long time without food
| and feel the 10
always plain liver. and. when he had
urgent military or other work to get
! through. preferred to a set meal, a bis
cult with a little whisky and water. His
! table, by his wish, was plainly served, be
! preterrlng few good simple dishes to a
variety OF palate-tickiing and Iiyer-eX-
citing ones. Toward his children he was
| all sweetness.
He was, in 1858, in minority of one in
! the Imperial Senate of which he was q
member, against a law which gave the
| Emperor power to transport suspects to
! Ceyenne untried. The division over. he
was universally Stunned by his fellow
! Senators. The late Due de Broglie who
was man OF good deal OF back bone
called on AlacMahon to congratulate him
on the great moral courage evinced in his
vote. MacMahOn said: 81 felt called on
! by my conscience TO speak and vote as |
did. Whenever | disregard a call OF con-
! science l do not dare to embrace my
! children" This saying gives the key
! note OF the MarshaPS character and ca
reer. Honor IN France is a conventional
/ virtue born Of social requirements, and
! distinct from honesty and duty. Mac
| Mahon never admitted the distinction.
! He maintained that ii one was careful to
i do ones duty under all circumstances
ones honor would be without a stain.
| The moral complexion Of MacMahon,
| l.
! not French but Irish. He had the high
spirit and the 'spunk' OF an Irish gem
| tleman, the Indifference, after a certain
| point, for money which one so often sees
IN Ireland. Ills detestation of indecency
| and of mean stinginesS was very Irish
and not French. He had Irish Catholic
piety, but was far from being a clerical,
| and his never having taken his politics
from Rome is one OF the reasons why the
King of Italy showed such deep sympa-
thy for him after he retired to private
lite. MacMahOn as Governor-G General
OF Algeria, fought hard against the late
Pope, the Emperor and Empress Eugene
and Cardinal Lavigerje Tor the consci-
ences and parental rights OF the Arabs to
| be respected. He never forgave the Car
dinal his attempts to proSelytiZe Arab
children against the wish of their parents
and the MarshaPs orders, and spoke of
him to the last as an intriguer who wanted
to become Primate OF all Africa and make
large fortune by getting grants OF land,
getting African catechumens to work
them, and sending round in France the
begging bag to collect money for his
farms and neophytes.
MacMahon kept up splendid state as
Governor General of Algerie. There was
no simpler man in his home life, and his
indifference to show and luxury was re-
markable. But when ne filled any great
public situation he instinctively went in
for magnificence in his dinners, balls
general surroundings and equipages,
spending every cent OF his salary ana his
and his wife's private incomes. He even
went in debt at the Elysee and must
have ended his life in poverty had his
wife not unex pectedly inherited e30,000
from an Irish relative, for her two grand
mothers were Irish women. The Mar
shal was deemed the first figure at the
coronation of the late Emperor William
as King OF Prussia, at koenigsberg. His
equipage eclipsed every other. Nobody
had a better eye to the points OF a car
riage or a saddle horse, and he looked
sharply to see that his grooms and stable
men did their duty. His humility did
not prevent him taking high view of
himself as the chief OF the Government
when he was at the Elysee. Persons OF
royal birth seemed wanting in presence
beside him there.
His private life was unaffected and that
of a high hearted Christian soldier and
gentleman. AS a Marshal OF France he
was considered to be in active service,
but practically was not. Having been
head of the State he would accept no paid
Office however high. and accordingly,
when General Faidherde died, declined
the Grand Chaacellorship of the Legion
of Honor. MacMahon looked after old
soldiers, paid visits to illustrious friends.
and Archbishop Albert among others, in
Austria and Italy, and passed his sum
mers and autumns at small country
house Of his wife. la FOret, near Montar-
gis, where he died. His servants vene-
rated and loved him. The English thor
oughbreds in his stable also knew him
and craved 10 be stroked and patted by
him. He was keen sportsman and un-
erring shot TO the end. The death illness
was brought on by drenching he got
when out shooting. He generally shot
in the British style, and hated the conti-
mental "battue" which he thought whole
sale butchery, demanding no line quality
on the sportsman's side. and not afford
ing healthy exercise.