New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1894-01-28
NJ. WADDINGTON.
THE PUBLIC CAREER AND fEfoONAh
CHARACTER OF THE LATE FRENCH
AMBASSADOR TO ENGLAND.


"He was too English" said the French of NJ
waddington who died suddenly on Saturua!
last sixty-sevcn years DID, and they turned
him out OF his Embassy They discovered this
excess OF Anglicism after he had represented his
country In London during ten years. The mere
length of his residence In the British capital
might give rise to such complaint, especia"y
on the part OF those who are ignorant OF the
conditions Of life abroad, as most Frenchmeh
arc. A Frenchman who lives in England. whether
in a diplomatic or private capacity Is cOf''ih"a"S
in contact with a society of persons whose IDEAS
are alien 10 his whose interests are alien whose
conceptions of things remote from those
which govern the conduct Of his people.
He Is constantly called upon to justify his own
views don't mean that he lives amid wran-
gle-far from It, Society would not bc possible
on r,ch terms But there Is friction or IDEAS
which need not and does not involve social fric-
ton
To a man who has convictions yet lives with
another race whose convictions necessarily are
not his. social intercourse is constant chal-
lengc He is called upon. tac!tly but peremptor-
lily, to defend his own beliefs and to attack those
Of others His own became the stronger III the
process His own nationality becomes more
versation He has in the first place to give
more accurate and reasoned account Of them TO
himself and in the second place an accurate
and reasoned account of them to others No
doubt he acquires better knowledge of the peo-
pie among whom he lives and Of their notions
of life. No doubt he may find them sympathetic
and they him. nor is much real knowledge OBJ
tainable or exchangeable without by.
But the net resul: Of all this. and of
all his experiences Is 70 make him bet
:er Frenchman than h. was before. That
this was true of NJ Wadd,ngton anybody
who met him frequently could see. and the
Foreign Office knew it best of all. He yearly
became more exacting. more difficult to satisfy
in matters Of diplomatic business. more punctili-
Gus in trines as we'll as in serious matters. The
consciousness that he was criticised at home
as English had something TO do with this. but
the influences of his surroundings had more.
The French criticism on NJ. Washington as
too English had reference Of course in part. 10
the fact that he was English. not by birth, but
on both sides. by descent, and by education. The
family had been settled at ST. Remy for more
than 100 years, yet were French only by nat
urazation. The grandfather Noting
hamshre man. his wife also English. The
father married an Englishwoman descendant
perhaps, vi III WIZ gave SHcit'i ~
Charles Second The parents sent the boy to
Rugby and then to Cambridge where he was
renowned as ar athlete. He was n good scholar
He spent nearly ten years in England, and Of
course spoke English perfectly. imagine Eng
lish was always used more or less in the family
at st. Remy-at any rate, l have heard his
brother Richard. Senator Of France. speak the
language. not quite so we'll as the Ambassador.
but f1uently and accurately.
The English name seemed to displease the
French. but only later in the life Of him who
bore It, They do not mind German names among
the Alsatians, nor did his Irish name ever stand
in Marshal MacMahon's way nor is General
Dodds of Dahomey fame the less esteemed for
a patronymic which is neither French pa
trician. But NJ. Waddington, 1t must be con-
fessed. English In appearance. in bearing,
in manner. and, to a great extent. in character.
! mean to character that he had the English
traits Of sef-command. Of restraint. Of GOODNESS.
Of good sense. and others. 1t was his nature to
care more for the substance OF things than for
show: more for realities than for appearances.
NJ WaddingtOn was thought of in England as
Ambassador. but in truth he had played a great
part in the public life of his country long before
he became the tenant of the French Embassy
at Albert Gate lie had been Minister of Edu-
cation, Foreign Minister. Plenipotentiary of
France at the Berlin Congress- and finally Prime
Minister He made a great name for himself
Berlin where. for the first time since 1870, France
may be said to have resumed her place. and
something Of her old authority. in the councils
Of Europe-something but not too much. He
gained the respec: Of Prince Bismarck and very
considerable concessions for France. Whether
leave to work her will on Tunis was a concession
Of real value to France. may be doubted, but
the doubt does not affect the merit Of NJ Wad-
dington's diplomacy. He had to give effect,
far as he could. to a policy settled for him at
home. and Tunis was part of that policy. 1t is
probable that Prince Bismarck assened with an
alacrity which he took to conceal. He was
we'll pleased to see France embark in an adj
venture certain to embroil her with Italy, and
certain to withdraw a portion Of her military
forces from European battlefelds. What stamped
Waddington as a true dlplomatst was the read
mess with which. on the acquisition OF Cyprus
by England becoming known. he used II az an
irresistible argument and obtained from Lord
Salsbury-as II were in exchange though he
had nothing TO offer In exchange pledge that
England would leave France a free hand in
Tunis. During all this time he had against him
a strong party and strong current Of opinion at
home in opposition to his presence and policy
at Berlin. The same opposition met him on his
return and on his becoming Prime Minister. He
remained Prime Minister for eleven months-a
very good length of time in Republican FrsSce-
but it was not the best part Of his far
more masterfu personality was at that time the
dominating influence in French politics. Wad-
dington reigned and Gambetta governed
II was in 1883 that NJ. Waddngton became
Ambassador to England, and he did not resign
that great post till 1899. He admirably suit
ed for II in many ways and for the very reason
which the Anglophobes Of the French Republic
alleged against him--that he 80 English"
He understood the English no Frenchman
without English blood in his veins ever did or
could understand them. He could enter into
their minds and comprehend their point of view.
Their way Of looking at things. their ideas OF
Justice. Of right. Of policy in a considerable
measure his also. OF course that is an adj
vantage II you have 10 deal with n man,
whether IL be for concert or for opposition. the
first condition Of helping or Of hindering him is