The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1898-12-26
M. FAURE A STRONG MAN
SOME FACTS ABOUT THE PRESIDENT
OF THE FRENCH REPUBLIC.
Affairs of tho Nation Thought to BE
Safe in the Hands of This Dis
tinGuished Director.

of state with a hand that never weakens
Frenchmen in this hour of national danger
turn to the Elysee Palace and take heart at
the thought that one man, at least in all
France can be depended upon to keep his
head and still the tempest. Let those whose
nature it is to rage and storm in the heat
of a crisis waste their precious heart-beats
without purpose. President Faure shows no
more signs of perturbation than does the
grim and silent sentinel at the gates of the
palace. Nevertheless, France knows he has
his finger on the public pulse, even in the
quiet Of his domestic life.
Few are privileged to pass beyond the
grim sentry referred to- Republican free
dom such as Americans are accustomed to
is not a part of the political life of France.
Visitors to Paris cannot walk in at the gates
of the Elysee Palace as they can pass
through the gates of the White House
grounds. President Faure is not lat home
TO anybody ON stated occasions, as is Presi-
dent Mckinley. On the contrary, he is as
carefully guarded as is any monarch of the
empires of Europe, and the grounds of the
Elysee are as much barred to the public as
the Enclosure in which stands Buckingham
Palace or the garden of Marlborough House.
On account of this exclusiveness of the
many who have seen the interior of the fine
old Elysee Palace, and there are fewer who
know by observation how the man on whom
France depends in it's hour of need spends
his days. A photograph of the outside of
the Elysee is seldom seen in the stores of
Paris of the inside never, for their sale Is
not allowed. Hence, it is with feelings of
curiosity and almost of awe that the visitor
who succeeds in gaining admittance to the
palace passes through the gates OF the line
grounds. There is no chance of hating on
the way to the building, for the sentries are
alert, and the hesitating person is reminded
quickly that lettering is not allowed: Paris
evidently dstrustS itself, as well 1t may,
after the blood that has been shed around
this lovely building.
President Faure is not a man who needs
court seclusion. He is handsome, dignihed
clever, statesmanlike in appearance the
beau ideal of "a national leader. The royal
visitors to France have acknowledged tnat,
although plain monsieur" TINS man mas
tho manners of a cOurtier and the wisdom
of a born diplomat. But more of the oc-
cupants of the Elysee later Let us look
around the palace first.
THE ELEGANT PALACE.
What memories come to those who have
studied the history of France the moment
the visitor enters the Elysee! 1t was here
that the fallen despot, Napoleon 1, sought
temporary rest when he fled from the field
Of Waterloo, where his mighty sword,
lay, shivered into atoms. Through the rail-
ing the people saw the popular idol, and,
knowing nothing of the disaster saluted
him as the invincible conqueror. In many
thrilling episodes of French history the
Elysee has had a prominent place.
The first rooms that the favored visitor
is shown are the state apartments on the
ground floor. They include the state dining
room. where eighty guests can be enter
tanned, 1t is gorgeous apartment. Eight
chandeliers are suspended from the hand
some ceiling, and when these are electrically
lighted the room is a sight worth seeing.
The most interesting features of the furni-
ture are the Sevres vases, of which there
are a number of various styles. One of the
Sevres ornaments consists of marble
fountain, on which is perched a peacock
fashioned entirely of the favorite china.
Adjacent TO this dining room is terrace,
which overlooks the fine grounds, and con-
nected with it are two rooms which can be
made a part of the dining room when the
number Of the guests requires 1t. This was
done when the Car and Czarina We're the
guests of the French nation two years ago.
When the three rooms are made one there
hundred and twenty guests. This is not by
any means the limit of the rooms seating
capacity: for two hundred and twenty-five
guests dined here when the great state din
rier was given in honor of the visit of the
Emperor ano Empress of Russia.
Tt is in this room that the state balls are
given. When the dinner is over the guests
retire to the covered terrace adjoining, an
army of servants descends on the remains
Of the, feast, everything supertiuous, IS
marvelously short time the dining room is
transferred into a ballroom.
From the state apartments the visitor IS
taken to the Murat Salon, with it's magnih-
cent Sevres china, its furniture of gold and
white, and pictures by Horace Vernet. Next
to the Salon de Murat is the room in which
Nine. Faure, the kindly and home-lovng
wife of the President, comes out of her re-
tirement, laying aside the charitable work
to receive the favored few who are adj
mitted to her presence once a week. These
include the ladies of the embassies and her
own special friends. The reception room of
Nine. Faure is elegantly furnished in gold
and white. with costly tapestry. From its
windows she can step on to the terrace or
the Elysee, and from there to the garden
before referred to, where Napoleon walked
after Waterloo.
AN HISTORIC ROOM.
A room adjoining Mime. Faures reception
room was occupied by Napoleon III as a
bed chamber 1t contains some famous tap
estry and pictures, as mementoes of the
days of the last Napoleon. Both this and
the adjoining apartment will always be con-
nected with the Bonaparte era, for it was
in the latter room that the man Of destiny
placed his signature to the abdication pa
pers 1t is used now for state consultations.
Here the Cabinet ministers gather when
the President calls them, and the affairs of
the republic that are directed by M. Faure
are discoursed around the baize-eoVered
table tnaL STanQS III the center VI ltiG IOOAils
This is the room where the President is seen
by distinguished visitors, members OF the
ambassadorial corps and those VINO come
to him with the proper credentials.
The part of the Elysee where the Pres
ident Of the French republic lives his quiet
home life in the society OF ms wlte ana
charming daughter Lucie is immediately
over the state apartments already described.
These private rooms consist OF Nine:
Faures private apartment, the boudoir or
Mile Faure the bedroom of the President.
his study with the well-stocked library OF
carefuly-selected books and the general
rooms of the family
The President is a very wealthy man, nut
both he and his wife and his daughter pre-
fer the quiet comfort Of their own apart
nents in the palace to the gorgeous elegance
of the staterooms. 1t is not easy to recon-
cile the dignifed appearance ana poHshed
manners of President Faure with his
humble origin. For the present head or the
French republic, in his younger days, was
a tanners apprentice. He grew up poor,
but we'll educated. His devoted mother,
though she could not bequeath money to her
son, provided him with liberal education.
His marriage was a love match. He met his
wife during the period of his apprenticeship
as a tanner, sued for her hand. and was
told by her relatives that the earnings of
tanners apprentice We're not sufhcient for
the support of q wife as well born as the
lady he loved. A few years later young
Faure was a rising merchant of Havre. and
the marriage took place. The young mer-
chant became one of the rich men OF HaVre,
was elected to many important posts and
eventually attained the highest position in
the gift of the nation
President Faure is Il pattern of neatness
in his personal appearance, sportsman, an
athlete an ardent yachtsman, fearless
horseman and fine fencer A man of ro-
bust mind, quick and alert in conversation
wth the quiet composure Of the born leader
who has perfect confidence in himself, he is