The times., 1899-08-15
cAsIMIR-PER1ERs BRAVERY.
An Act Tint Gave Him the Red Rib
bon of Honor.

49, os7S. W. uASNAONS
ing him as regards the first is better known
than the one referred to by NJ. Adoiphs
Brlsson, in this mornings Figaro, about
his having hoisted wounded comrade upon
his shoulders during the Franco -Prussian
war and carried him to an ambulance
through perfect hail of bullets. This sig
nal bravery won him the Legion d Honneur,
and the red ribbon can rarely have been
better deserved.
At this very same engagement NJ CAST
mir-Parier found himself side by side with
one OF his tenants, man strongly built
This individual fought marvelously well,
and proved himself a dead shot. Every
time he fired one OF the enemy fell. M
Casimir-Per congratulated him upon his
unerring aim, and said:
Where the mischief did you learn to
shoot so well?.
oh captain.r replied the soldier, laugh
ing, by poaehing your pheasants.
The man is still alive. In fact, M. Adolphe
Brisson says he is one of ii. Caslinlr-
Perier's most trusted employees upon his es-
tate at Pont-sur-S Seine-a gamekeeper.
maybe
1t appears the former President now and
again plays a game OF billiards with his oid
companion in arms and reformed poacher
Nj. Casimir-Perier is indeed worshlped
by the villagers and tenantry ON MS es-
tate. He is a devoted sportsman, walks
miles daily, and bicycles with an ardor
that is oniy equaled by that displayed by
his son.
If you stroll along the dusty roads in
the morning. says NJ. Adolphe Brisson. in
the charming article to which reference
has already been made. you may meet
two bicyclists pedaling aiong daily, wear
ing the traditional cap and shaking their
thirst at the first spring or wayside foun-
tain. They are the former President OF
the republic and his heir of the name
brilliantly educated and legislator OF the
future
They are venerated in the district. NJ
Casimir-Perier is the friend OF the VII
layers, who are his vassals and depend
ents, in the meaning attached TO the word
by the Romans He treats them with
condescending simplicity that Is almost
affectionate in several instances.
."They upon their side testify their at
tachment for him by calling him their
cousin The term Is not undeserved. They
are almost relatives, having lived side by
side through good times, and during the
war they fought together. NJ. Casimir-
Perier having fitted out the 'Aube Mobiles
and taken command of company. They
distinguished themselves by more than one
AiVtdbtc t3piOll dAiiH6 thS SuahpSsoh' P~NA
ticularly at Bagneux.
1T was here, in fact, at this little sub
urban town beyond Montague that M.
Casinlir- Perier won the red badge of cour-
age and made the acquaintance CT his
poacher tenant His admiration fer the
mans skill as shot made him overlook
the practice at his expense that had Sc
cured it.
"Perier is a great disciple of the gun.
1t is an unfailing custom of his to be pres
ent annually at the Pont-sur-Seine shoot
ing contest on September TO-" NJ. Adolphe
Brisson even says slyly that it is also a
tradition that he is a constant winner, for
all that" he adds. "his hand trembled
last year and he missed the bulls eye.
People were quite astonished at this unex-
pected failing, which was. perhaps caused
by public cares. While aiming at the tar
get NJ. Casimir- Perier was thinking about
the affair."
The former Presidents moral courage
is amply proved by his conduct in 1883.
when the princes of the royal and imperial
houses of France were disqualified by law
| from serving in the French army. NJ. Cast
mir -Perier disapproved of the law. Toll
erance was his watchword. AS he said in
an address to his electors at Nogent in
1876, when he posed his candidature as
| deputy for that ACCOMPLISHMENT:
Il am convinced that the government
| OF the country will remain Republican. 1t
ought to be in the cleanest and most capa-
| BILE hands. 1t ought to respect all rights.
all faiths. all liberty that is not an attack
| upon the liberty Of others
! From the benefits of that broad minded
| programme NJ. Casimir- Perier believed
not a single French citizen should be ex-
| cepted, and he refused to retain his seat in
a Parliament that could vote a law ostra-
ciZing individuals for mere reasons of he
redity.
In Parliament" says M. Adolphe Bris-
! son, he was assiduous Industrious, and
did not shirk even the most irksome labors
OF the committees. He became under Sec
retary Of the Beaux- Arts, vice president
of the Chamber, president of the Council
of Ministers, and, after Caserio's crime,
| chief OF the State.
"In these divers parts II. Casimer-Pe-
rier displays quality that Is in way an
| individual one. Whereas all deputies with
out any distinction OF opinion, covet port
| folios. decorations. or dignities be ac-
| opted them with coldness that ap-
| preached impertinence. One would think
he resigned himself to accepting power,
while so many people pursue IL breath
lessly. He showed plainly that ne did not
care to retain 1t, or that. II he did re-
| main in power, Ii was from sense of
duty. not for his own pleasure.
HE violated the rules of the despised
protocol and followed the remains OF Car
not on foot Contrary to custom, he paid
visits to single ambassadors and received
ungraciously any observations made to
him on the matter
THAT he was not unsympatnetic to the
| people of Paris was evidenced by the
friendly murmur that greeted the passage
of M. Casimir- Perier all the length of the
way from Elysee TO Pere-Lachaise Gem
etery on the day of Felix Faure's fune-
ral"
AS M Adolphe Brisson says: Zone feels
oneself In the presence OF a personality
| when one sees him. He offers a curious
| mixture of stiffness Of manner and famii-
iarity His eyes are superb and thought
full. his mouth and mustache common, and
yet the totality is not 'banal-' There are
courage, energy. and pride In that stocky
frame, in those broad shoulders, in that
robust neck. Pride, perhaps, is one of the
predominant characteristics of NJ. CAST
mir-Perier-pride of race. pride of dig
nifty
'fHe lacks" says NJ Adolphe Brisson
| that generous flame which warns the
heart of great citizens and pushes them
on to forget, to sacrifice not only theii
life. which is nothing, but their reposs
and their own happiness for the sacred
interests of the country"
Atkinson Pamphlets.