DEATH OF M. THIERS.

Samoa Times and South Sea Gazette, Issue 2, 13 October 1877, Page 3

DEATH OF M. THIERS.

Onk of the most remarkable men of the present century has, we leam by cable, passed to his rest. The name of M. Thiers has been associated with the history of France for more than half a century. The following biography from "Men of The Time, will be read with interest : " Thiers, Louis-Adolphe., President of the French Republic, bori: April 1(1, L7D7, at Marseilles, where his father was a working locksmith i obtained admission to the public school, in which he made marked progress, ar.d studied geometry with a view to t'ne military profession. His friends decided to bring him up to the law, and he was sent to Aix, where he studied under M. Arnaud. In due time he made, his appearance at the bar, but with very

indifferent success, and this disajif ointment in.hired liim to turn his attention to literature, and lie accordingly sec out for Paris. By great perscveram o lie gained a footing in literary society, and having obtained an introduction to the conductor of the "Constitutional,'' was engaged to write political articles.. The first volume of his •• History of the French Revolution," appeared hi 182;); and the tenth completing the work in 1832. In the "National," lie. opposed the unconstitutional proc -i dings of Charles X., and his minister Hoiignac ; and, after the revolution of July, °IS3O, held various minor otiicial posts, and was made Under-Secretary of .Stale under . Latitte's administration. About this period ho was elected LVputv for Aix, -ml :iv.Cin,vm:;hcd h'lr. !i 1 . h-> (inaneial ability and orulorical power. In 1832 he was nppointoc'i vJinister of the Interior, which he soon exchanged for the portfolio of Commervo and°Public Work.. In 183U he was I 'resident of the 1 •■nii.il ;ud J. : ,r.iater ci liir ! ;n Ur \.-.v:: and in March, 1840, again held that office. It was during his ministry that the Syrian question assun e I, through his manoeuvres, such a threr.tening aspect as nearly to involve I-'i.ui :u in war with the other great IWcrs. The king soon afterwards requested his retirement. He employed his leisu v. in willing his " History .if the Consulate and Empire," in continuation of 1 is former work: of which the lirsl volume appeared in IM+.I, and tin; twentieth, (ovnpleting the work, in |B(J2. The resellution of February, 1818, l'..iind him imp -epared, and when the republic was proelah 1 > Thiers was a National (iiuu .1. with a musket on his shoulder. His Miletus and caution. however, seemed him a position ; first in the C'onstitlltii n, and then in the National Assembly. On the elevation of Louis Napoleon \,, the Presidency, it was thought by umnj that Thiers, whom the prince had proclaimed as his minister, in the abortive o qieditionof Boulogce, in ISM, Would tak liee; but though he professed to ace. pt the Republic, heartily, he was banished during the conn d' etttt of He,-. 2, 1851 ; and, after living some lime in Switorzl ind, was permitted to return to Paris. M. Thiers busied himself exclusively with painting and the line arts diirinj; the Bret twelve years of the empire, t-iough it. is not easy to discover why lie should not have become one of Napoleons ministers. Napoleon 111., who was .me of liisudinircrs. did his utmost to achiuvo in politics, the arts. , and in municipal matters all that lie had s.eii attempted by M. Thiers; and it has been asked whether it was the emperor or M. Thiers who was unwilling to form an alliance, Whatever may have been the cause of their estrangement, M. Thiers did nol W . nl. i the ('lumber till 1863, when lie Was elected Deputy for the department of the Seine by the

Qppoattiou. Me successively attacked tin administi ition of the finances the municipal administration of Baron Haussmann, and die foreign policj of tin emperor. " The empire has no more faults to commit," he sarcastically said, after Satiowa. All the speeches ho delivered afterwards taunted the Government with the loss of its foreign "prestige, 1 and may be considered among the principal instigators to the disastrous war of 1870. It is true that when the conflict became inevitable he made a tine speech, in which he proved that the Government was not ready, and was rushing headlong to defeat; but the warning came too late. The early disasters of the w:u; brought M. Thiers into a very prominent position. (in Aug. 17, 1870, he delivered a remarkable speech in the Corps Legislntif, expressing a hope that Paris would, in ease of necessity, oppose an invincible resistance to the enemy ; and for that purpose, he said, it would be necessary to make a waste around Paris for the enemy, and to cause abundance in capital by allowing the inhabitants of the surrounding country to take refuge in the citv with all their produce. Ten days later lie was appointed a member ~f the Paris Defence Committee ; and although he declined to become a member of the Government of the National Defence, formed on the downfall of tho empire, he voluntarily undertook diplomatic journeys to, the courts of Englaud, Russia, Austria, and Italy, to implore aid for Fiance, He arrived in London, Sept. 13, 1870, and after being visited at the French Embassy by Earl Granville and Mr. Gladstone, left ~„ the 18th, for St. Petersburg, Vienna, and Florence. This self-imposed mission was unsuccessful, and in Oct. M. Thiers returned to Tours, whence he proceeded to the headquarters of the King of Prussia at Versailles to open negotiations for peace in accordance with the suggestions of the four netural Powers." The authority with which he had been invested by the Dele-ate Government at lours to treat with the enemy on behalf of the French Republic, was ratified by the Government of the National Defence in Paris, and the veteran statesman had several interviews with Count Bismarck, N'ov. J-IJ, in order to obtain an armistice of twenty-five days, so as to enable elections to be held throughout the country, and a Nation,.! Government to be in this way regularly established; but the negotiations fell through in consequence "of the German ( haneellor's stern refusal to permit the rcvictualling of Paris and the other besoiged fortresses. Returning to Tours, M. Thiers again placed his services at the disposal of the Delegate Government, which, on Dec. !>. removed to llordeaux. The efforts of M. Thiers to restore peace acquired for him the gratitude of his countrymen, as was proved, after the capitulation,,!' Paris, by bis being elected to the National Assembly by

- one-third of the nation. This immense popularity naturally pointed him out to the Assembly as tie- future head of the Provisional Uovernment, and one of the first acts of tin- Chamber was to confer that dignity upon him. February 17. 1871. liesides the prerogatives of • -Chief of the Executive Power," he also . possessed the privileges of a deputy, and ; was allowed to take part in the deliberations of the Assembly whenever he pleased. The latter facility was precious ' while the Assembly held "its sittings at ; Bordeaux, for without the good sense - 'Hi ■!■:: ■ I !■! I hi: is IV;,. s to t;i. cp.v-.u ; siastic advocates of a ' guerre a outrance,' ■ and to the passionate appeals of such de- ; puties as M.Keller not to abandon Alsace . and Lorraine, it is by no means certain , that the Assembly would have accepted . the terms of peace offered by Prussia. : On Feb. 2S, M.Thiers introduced to the • Assembly the preliminaries of the Treaty of Pear-, which he had concluded two days previously at Versailles, subject to ; the ratification of the National Assembly. . After a very animated debate these prc- ■ liuiinaries were sorrowfully voted ('March ; I; by 5-1 (j "Ayes" lagainst 107 " Noes." By this memorable treaty France re- ■ lioiuieed. in favour of the German Km- [ [lire, the fifth part of Lorraine, includin r : Mctz and Thionville, and Alsace, less . Belfort : France binding herself also to ' pay to Germany five milliards of francs, of which one milliard was to he paid in , 1871, and the remaining four milliards . by instalments extending over three , veins. It was stipulated tliat as soon as the treaty was rat died the! lermaii trooi.s i should begin to evacuate the interior of Paris and some departments lying in the , western region, the evacuation of the ether departments to take place gradu- ■ ally after payment of the first milliard. and proportionately to the payment of the other four milliards. In March, 1871, the National Assembly removed to Versailles, and on the (Bth of that month Paris fell into the hands of the Communists, who, about, the (ith of April, destroyed M. Thiers' house, and it was not till May 22 that the capital was re'ovcied to the Government by the army under Marshal MacMalioii. The supplementary elections of July gave additional power to the policy of M. Thiers in the Assembly, which, on Aug, 31, by a very huge majority, prolonged his tenure of office "until it shall have concluded its labours," increased his powers, and changed his designation from " Chief of the Executive Power" to " President of (be Fieneh Republic." M. Thiers chiefly directed his energies to hasten the • vacu- ■ ation of the occupied districts by paying off the instalments of the indemnity, and to the reorganisation of the F It army. <m May 2f, 1873, having on the previous day n majority against him in ■ the Assembly he resigned the Presidency ' of the Republic, nnd was lUCCewteU by

Marshal Mae Mahon who s:r,nud»ate!\ pfiittHHltvi t»» tonu a iVniM rvaiivu admin istmtiou. Two days later M. Thiers n*suiucd his place as auu tr.U rof t | 4t * Xational Assembly. He was made Clraiui Olheer of the Legion of Honour. * April -*■ 1st?), and has received several foreign orders.”