The Birmingham age-herald., 1919-01-28
MEN, WOMEN
 AND THINGS

i two men more different Tn methou UT further apart in type. yet both served their country well.
 A big book could be written on the part played by lawyers in the government of l France. The story of the two lads who drifted to Paris and did so much to set the nation in new paths reads almost l like a romance, and reminds us that America is not the only land of oppor- tunity.
 ] Thiers was 24 years old when he made [ his advent in the capital It was not triumphal entry and no one took note of it. He had won a prize for essay and being economical had swung a bun dle over his shoulders and walked from Aix, distance of 12O miles, landing at the gates footsore and weary.
 
 l He was not built for walking, for the doctor who superintended his entrance into the world recorded that he was healthy, active child, with remarkably short legs. His legs remained short all 1 his life, but his body grew to be that os tall, powerful man. Anyway, they l came up to the Lincoln requirement. | for when some one asked Abe how long mans legs ought to be he replied, with his usual good sense, that they ought to 1 touch the ground.
 
 l Now despite their shortness the pair used by Thiers carried him far, for the young man who walked into Paris at the age of 24 marched on and upward until he saved his country and sat in the chair of the President. It is said of him that when he talked he was so fascinating that he seemed to get taller Charles Greville tells us that on one oc- casion a distinguished lady remarked to him: Did you know. Thiers is hand some and is six feet high?''
 l But here is how he impressed a gay circle of Bohemians into whose gay revels he wandered by mistake, on the night when he first reached Paris, "He wore a coat that had been green, and was faded to yellow. tight buff trousers too | short to cover his ankles, and dusty, and glossy from use, a pair of clumsy butcher boots, and a hat worthy of a place in the cabinet of an antiquary. His face was tanned a deep brown, and a pair of brass trimmed spectacles GOV cred half his face
 very unpromising start for a career hich was to go down in history. He
 had hoped to be called to the bar in
 Paris; but as his want of height had
 kept him out of the army, so his want
 of money barred his way to be admitted
 to the bar of the capital The council
 wLich recommends such admissions re- iuuired that the person seeking admittance should show himself possessed of a we'll
 furnished domicile and a sufficient in
 come If this prevailed in Alabama l am
 afraid the supply of young lawyers might
 be curtailed.
 It seems strange that a man destined
 to leave his mark not only in the annals lof his own country, but in the world S
 history, should have been put to paint ing fans to keep the wolf from the door, for the s12O although it went much further in Paris then than it does now, co uld not keep him alive always, or un- til he got enough capital to satisfy the council that he would not be a menace to society if allowed to follow his pro- fession as a lawyer. Despairing of get ting well enough established in Paris to be admitted he returned to Aix and passed, and returned later to take up his struggle with poverty.
 I We have talked much in the last few t years about preparedness. But with us
 it related itself to war. It is true that
 big business took up the idea, and that
 the educationists adopted it, so that a , college bred man or woman is looked upon as being ready to lead prepared life, but Thiers was an individual up-
 holder of preparedness long before 1t
 got to be a fad. He actually prepared himself before writing speaking. Jus'
 think of it.
 But the strangest thing about him, and something which gives evidence that he , was not the stuff of which ward poli- ticians are made. was when Louis Phil l lippe became King of the French. he r wanted to make Thiers one of his min l isters, but he declined so high an of I flee until he should have served an ap- 3 prenticeship to ministerial work in an t under secretaryship, and knew the ma , chinery and the workings of all the de ipartments of government. This would be
 a strange doctrine in Washington ano
 would cause the official world to doubt
 his sanity.
 He took his own time to get ready be
 fore he would bear the heavy burdens
 of office, but from 1881 to 1886, he was e one of Louis Phillippe's ministers, ane S from 1886 to 1S40 he was prime minister or president Of the council. He was get u ting prepared for the great service whicf he was to do his country in the houl II when the upstart Emperor led France y into a foolish war, and it became hi'
 task to deal with men of blood an( d iron for terms at Versailles.
 ' But this is to be another story. ! hays f set down this bit of gossip and biograph, z so that YOU may know something of tn d man who led France out of the valle, = of defeat and set up a republic whicl V Fhas endured and which, pray God, ma. q +bo a,,d ir, SDite Of the rlIt h