The record-union., 1899-09-01
PAUL DEROULEDE.
History Of the French Agitator
Now Under Arrest.

HISTORY OF the ETcncn Ag2raCOr
Now Under Arrest.
There was a time years ago when
Paul Deroulede was one of the most
popular men in France. He now waverS
| between prison and the platform of a
cheap lecture hall. Once distinguished
as soldier and a man of letters, he
! has become notorious as a disturber
of the peace and a breeder of discon-
| tent. During the first quarter of a
| century Of his life he figured as the
| hero in a series, of episodes which Alex
andre Dumas could have made use of
! in his most romantic novels. Born of
| good stock, he inherited shrewdness
and decision from his father who was
a clever lawyer. and literary disposi-
ton from his mother. who was the sis
ter Of Emile Angler, the distinguished
author and playwright
Like all ambitious young Frenchmen,
he soon found the provinces limited and
monotonous. and started early from his
country home for the Latin quarter
of Paris. He was here in 1870, study
| ing law, when the call to arms reached
his ears and first reused in him that
sense of patriotism which he now
/
courses. He enlisted at once in the
"Garde Mobile de Belleville'' but,
charmed, no doubt, by the romantic
and brilliant history of the Zouaves,
he almost Immediately obtained a
| transfer to one of their regiments, and
set off for the frontier.
One dag when about an eight hours
march from Reims the Third Regiment
nf
field, worn out and hungry, when Paul,
hearing some one call his name, looked
up from the kettle of soup he was
watching, and saw his mother and his
young brother Andre standing near by
He rushed into their arms, and, half
laughing and half crying, begged an
explanation Of this sudden and unex-
pected appearance. Andre began to tell
at once how eager he had been to follow
Pauls example, how his mother had at
first opposed him. feeling it sorrow
enough to part with one son, but how,
at last, seeing his determination to
serve his country, the mother had de-
clared that she would accompany him
and not leave him until they had found
Paul and obtained his promise of pro-
lection for the younger boy, who was
| only seventeen2xe
Their first journey was from Paris
to Reims, whence, they learned, Mac
Mahon and his army. and Paul among
them, had marched the previous day.
Half sick with excitement and fatigue,
Nine Deroulede,- showing only courage
to her boy, rented a post-chaise, and to-
| gether they set out. with no guide but
the information given them by peasants
on the roadside, as to which way the
Third Zouayes had passed. They were
about despairing when Andre perceived
| his brother.
| The three found their way to an inn
near by, and when Andre had finished
relating his story. the two sons, lean
| ing on their mothers knees, fell asleep
there as they had done countless times
when they were children. after a sham
battle with toy fowling pieces. The
mother only watched. for the anxiety
of the hour and the dread of what
would result to her boys kept away
sleep. She left Paul and his brother
the following day, calling to them as
she drove away, Courage, my sons."
the echo of their Courage, mother."
| and waving until she was out of sight
her "panache," handkerchief in
reality, though the symbol to them of
a noble bravery peculiar to mothers.
Three days later the Third Zouaves
were fighting before Sedan, Andre be-
ing shot through the chest in his first
battle Paul was among the $4,000
Frenchmen carried prisoners across the
| Rhine by the Germans during the war
as living trophies of their victories.
The suffering of these prisoners has
been described by many Frenchmen.
1t is possible that they have exagger-
ated it's horror, but the following ac-
count of it exists in a German news
paper ('Trierische Zeitung'o of 1870
IL: 1.-THE peasants who came to-day to
the market from the neighborhood of
Bitburg say that there are men lying
all along the road. French prisoners,
who had fallen behind the last de-
tachment. Many were groaning and
muttering like dying men, and others
were stretched out motionless. Dead
bodies mark the route followed by the
unfortunates in crossing the region of
Eiffel. Every thirty or forty feet one
stumbled against dead or dying man,
and often they are found fallen in a
heap, one upon the other The peas
ants and authorities do what they can
to assist these poor, miserable crea-
lures. but their needs are overwhelm-
ing"
Night and day these poor wretches
had to march, march, march. In vain
they begged for grace. "Vorwartsi"
was the answer. When, fainting with
hunger and thirst they approached q
fountain and several of the French
prisoners ran toward it eagerly, they
We're prostrated, it is said, by blows
from the sabres, guns and swords of
the German officers and soldiers. The
jugs of water which the peasant wo-
men offered them from the wayside
We're dashed to the ground before their
eyes, and the halts,, Notwithstanding
this. became less and less frequent, the
marches more and more rapid. The