The daily morning journal and courier., 1896-09-03
 LORD SALISBURY.

bury's villa at La Bastide, on the Riy- iera, and to a study of the premier himself. The opening paragraph Is de- lightfully naive. While our ministers are imposing upon the credulity of our deputies by telling them that a con- stant stream of dispatches and official letters is passing daily from the Eng lish embassy or the Quai d'Orsay into England addressed The Premier of the United Kingdom his Grace (sfc), the Marquis of Salisbury, resting tran quilly at his villa at La Bastide, res pire avec satisfaction Pair embaume de la cote d'azur So much for the abus de la candeur on the part of the French ministry. The villa itself, the writer goes on to say, is entirely Eng fish in appearance, and is two stories high, with a large number of straight windows on each side A wide stone terrace runs around the house, which is furnished very simply, combining, says the scribe, English comfort and English solidity. The walls are hung with chintz, while surrounding the house is an enormous garden, its olive trees, it's luxuriant foliage and brilliant AiS WALL epS' SAiiGS siieNA Ply VNtAi eiiC severe lines of the villa. The house itself contains only sufficient rooms to accommodate the Premier and his family, guest-chambers being non-ex- istent. It would consequently seem, infers the writer, that Lord Salisbury wishes to be absolutely alone when he Is en villegiature at La Bastide, and he sees a stronger indication of the desire in the fact that the Mayor of Ville- franche was requested to remove a r1o- tice from the gate of the villa stating that it was the residence of the Pre- mier of England. But so many tour ists hung about the place eager to catch a glimpse of the statesman that | the request was probably made in self | defence.
 From the villa "Gaston Pollonais'' passes to it's owner as he Is seen when enjoying the rest he so thoroughly de- serves. Lord Salisbury, we are told. is | tall-taller than the average; his good humored face is surrounded by beard | rapidly turning gray which very fre- quently stands in urgent need of the barber's care; his blue eyes twinkle with malice amiable; and he Is always l smoking pipe Gas matter of fact the | premier never smokes) as if--says this l child of Gaul, with delightful ignorance l of English ways and manners-to | show more clearly that the English di- l pIomat wishes to become a French | peasant pur ct simple for the time be- | ing. Lord and Lady Salisbury, we are | further inform ed are great pedestri- | ans and, after the mornings work, the result of which Is dispatched daily by | the express train to London, they de- vote the rest of the day to walking, rarely returning before 730 for dinner. At 10 o'clock La Bastide is wrapped in | slumber On these excursions the 1 Marchioness usually wears very sinl- pie dress, heavy boots, and blue veil entirely covering her face.
 Later on the scribe returns to his former point-Lord Salisbury's evident | desire to escape from his own country men. But if, says he, the noble lord is reserved with his compatriots, he de- lights, on the other hand, to talk to l French people. Expressing himself 1 in our language with marvellous facili- | ty, he makes brilliant mots, stopping | sometimes to see their effect upon his 1 listener. He will describe incidents of l his career, his early struggles when he was only 8 younger son and obliged to write in English newspapers and mag azines in order to live; how his wife | also contributed to several London publications; and how, when he suc-
 ceeded to the marquessate, the jour- nalist gave place to the statesman"
 But the man himself has remained bon
 enfant, without pose or pretension
 Every Frenchman who is admitted to
 his table at La Bastide finds that the
 master of the house has most charm ing manner, that he at once puts. his
 guests completely at their ease, is bril-
 liant yet sympathetic in conversation
 and speaks of Paris like a Parisian
 and of France like a traveller of wide
 experience. q have heard 1t often de- clared,'' the writer goes on to say, that
 Lord Salisbury dislikes France but
 that is an error made only by the igno- | rant. Certainly he Is an Englishman-
 how could he be otherwise?- ?-but he | appreciates en connaisseur all the | illnesses of our language and Of oui l character. He admires France ane
 Frenchmen, although he says thai
 sometimes we are little too talkativei adding, however, but, as everybody
 has so much wit ce nest que deml'
 mall
 For ten years Lord Salisbury hat
 spent his holidays at the Chalet Cecil
 near Dieppe, but he found Dieppe "toC
 near England,'' and has forsaken th'
 Atlantic for the Mediterranean. Gas
 ton Pollonais" closes his interesting, I
 a little wild, account of the premier
 with the following anecdote: The oth
 CT day Lord Salisbury went to see tn
 Mayor of Villefranche, in whose com
 mune La Bastide is situated. When h.
 was leaving he said, T am sorry t
 say that I shall be obliged to shorter
 my visit this year. I am returning t
 London in a weeks time: affairs in Af
 rica are so unsettled" The truth 0
 this statement is more than questiona
 ble, but the writer suggests that ou
 embassy at Paris should read, mark
 learn and inwardly digest it. Witt
 what object he does not explain
 French journalists take too much fo
 granted as rule, and state their i'm
 aginings as incontrovertible facts; but on the whole, "Gaston Pollonais" ha