BY THE COMTE DE MALETROIT

The Strong Men of France. BY THE COMTE DE MALETROIT

THE COUNTRY WHOSE CONTRIBUTION TO MODERN CIVILI¬ ZATION HAS PERHAPS BEEN GREATER THAN THAT OF ANY OTHER PEOPLE, AND THE STATESMEN, THE ADMINISTRATORS, THE SCIENTISTS, THE AUTHORS, AND THE ARTISTS WHO ARE ITS LEADERS AT THE PRESENT DAY.

WHEN mention is made of the strong men of France, one's fancy quick¬

ly turns to thoughts of Charles VII and Louis XI, of Henry IV and Louis XIV, of Duprat and Richelieu, of Talleyrand and Robespierre, of Mirabeau and Dan- ton, of Napoleon. There were giants in those days, and France's contribution to the strong men of history is without rival among the nations.

It is otherwise today, when the direct¬ ors of French affairs are Emile Loubet and Pierre Marie Waldeck-Rousseau, Paul Deschanel and Theophile Delcasse, Paul Deroul&de and Gabriel Hanotaux ; when the leaders of French thought are fimile Zola and Anatole France, Camille Flammarion and Pierre Louys; when the Salon is hung with the works of Bonnat and Benjamin-Constant, Da- gnan-Bouveret and Bouguereau; when the great statues are chiseled bv Au¬ guste Rodin and Bartholdi, and the great plays are written by Edmond Ros¬ tand and Marcel Pr6vost.

The strong men of France are drawn from a dozen different fields of activity. The popular idols are not, as in Great Britain, confined to statesmen and sol¬ diers; in Germany to scientists and phi¬ losophers; in Russia to diplomats; in Italy to churchmen and musicians; in the United States to capitalists and politicians. They are actors and carica¬ turists, pirouetting generals and Anti Semitic mayors, playwrights and bal¬ loonists, astronomers and explorers. In the Catholicism of French taste lies her best claim to individualism.

To the Anglo Saxon mind there is always something remarkable in the sensible choice France makes of her ad¬ ministrators. She? may work herself in¬

to a frenzy of enthusiasm over a Bou¬ langer or a Deroulede, a Marchand or a Max Regis; but it is the simple minded Loubet she elects her president, the capable Waldeck-Rousseau she makes her premier, the stern disciplinarian Galliffet to whom she intrusts her army.

There are not lacking prophets to foretell the speedy disruption of France, to point with exultant finger at her re¬ current crises, at her instability of gov¬ ernment, at her dangerous manifesta¬ tions of popular unrest, at her twenty eight ministries in twenty six years. Those critics forget that, on Septem¬ ber 4 last, the Third Republic conclu¬ ded its thirty first year, exceeding by eleven years the life of the most settled of all the forms of government intro¬ duced into France since the death of Louis XVI. They have not pointed out that the Pope—a power in the councils of Latin nations—acknowledged its per¬ manency when he announced, in 1892, that “ the church is not necessarily op¬ posed to a republican form of govern¬ ment in France.” They have not satis¬ factorily explained the curious condi¬ tions of French political life, conditions that lead to the formation of a multi¬ plicity of parties, that expose the fate of a ministry to a vote upon an interpel¬ lation designed to alienate the support of a majority otherwise in sympathy with the government.

It is only necessary in this connection to recall that since the old monarchy fell with Louis XVI, in 1789, there have succeeded the First Republic, the Con¬ sulate, the First Empire, the restored monarchy, the soi disant constitutional monarchy, the Second Republic, tne Second Empire, the Third Republic.

528 MUNSETS MAGAZINE.

Each and all of these forms of govern¬ ment have in the Chamber of Deputies their convinced and strenuous advo¬ cates, their parties and their policies. In this way there are in the French parliament monarchist and imperialist, ultramontane and republican groups. When one republican party desires to defeat the proposal of another repub¬ lican party, it must obtain the assistance of those other parties whose cardinal principle is opposition to all republican parties. As a consequence, French min¬ istries lack the stability of administra¬ tions in countries where the lines of party division are simpler and more de¬ finitive.

THE STABILITY OP THE REPUBLIC.

By the system of interpellation, any French deputy can force an answer from the responsible minister on any ques¬ tion of legislation, administration, or general policy. The subsequent motion, adopted by the ministry, becomes prac¬ tically a vote of coniidence in the gov¬ ernment. As often happens, the prin¬ ciple involved in the interpellation sends a majority of the chamber into oppo¬ sition on one particular vote who; other¬ wise, are in perfect accord with the policy of the government. By such mo¬ tions or interpellations fifteen ministries have been defeated in the past twenty six years.

In this way a show of instability is given to the French government, and an aspect of wavering sentiment to the French people, that are more apparent than real. They are merely evidences of the differing opinions on matters of detail, common to all countries. France is of conviction republican, and the pre¬ tense of support it has given to recent attempts at a coup d'etat was more be¬ cause of the anticipation of spectacular entertainment than because of any faith in the theories of the conspirators. Neither General Boulanger nor M. De- roulede ever possessed sufficient of the trust of his countrymen to make him a formidable rival of the republic or of its president.

THE PRESIDENT OP FRANCE.

President Loubet is typical of the men to whom France most trustingly

turns when she desires a chief magis¬ trate. A convinced republican, simple of taste and of moderate ambition, there is no danger of his stretching out after a dictatorship. He is a statesman of no distinction, of an assured mediocrity, a man of average attainments, of the mid¬ dle class. The son of a farmer, he was born in the little commune of Marsanne, in the department of Dr6me, on the 31st of December, 1838. Educated as a lawyer, he rose gradually through the various grades of the professional poli¬ tician until, in 1876, he found himself a member of the Chamber of Deputies. In 1880 he was a cabinet minister, in 1885 he was a senator, in 1895 the presi¬ dent of the Senate, in 1899 the presi¬ dent of the republic.

Throughout his career, fimile Loubet has possessed one transcendent virtue, the quality that has carried him over the heads of many more brilliant con¬ temporaries—an imperturbable inertia. Helms yielded to none of his nation's en¬ thusiasms, and has remained the simple country gentleman, a bourgeois in the Ely see. And yet is he a man of singular ease and courtesy of manner, a fitting host for the Czar of all the Russias. His mother, an old woman now on the confines of ninety, still farms the family acres in Marsanne, and wonders with a pathetic wondering at the strange ec¬ centricities of the protocol that doth hedge about the president of the French Republic.

In 1899, when M. Loubet was elected to his present office, the Paris Matin sent a representative to Drome to inter¬ view the relations of the first gentleman of France. He found in the president's brother in law a substantial hardware merchant, whose opinion of the situa¬ tion might be summed up in the words: “ Ironmonger I am, and ironmonger I intend to remain. My brother in law is a good man and an honest gentleman, but I question if he has the money to maintain the position of a president of France. He will be able to spend ex¬ tremely little beyond his salary and the sum awarded him for entertainment.”

Old Mme. Loubet heard of her son’s elevation with unfeigned regret. “Oh, ,piy poor fimilf^” she is said to have Availed. “ A£dt was, I saw but little of

THE STRONG MEN OF FRANCE. 529

him, and now that lu» lias ^oni* still

higher I shall no longer see him at all. Oh, won Dint, mon Pint! "

sense lessens one's respect for the

placid, sad eyed man whom Paul l)e-

rouledc ]>lottcd to oust from tin* presi-

fcMlLE LOUBET, PRESIDENT OF FRANCE, A MAN OF SIMPLE TASTKS AND HUMBLE ORIGIN'.

WHO HAS RECEIVED AND ENTERTAINED THE PRINCIPAL MONARCHY OF EUROPE.

Fr.au a photograph by Petit, Paris.

Out of their peasants' hearts the hard¬

ware merchant and the farmer woman

spoke, and their estimate of the honor

paid a member of their family in no

G m

deney on the night of his election. If report speaks truly. General lioget and

a single regiment of soldiers on the

evening of Fehrifi\i^ze#^y

530 MUNSEY’S MAGAZINE.

have plunged France into a new revo¬ lutionary war. Aeeident and the hesi¬ tancy of plotters saved the situation, and Deroulede went to prison for sedition.

THE MAN WHO SAVED FRANCE.

A man of a wholly different stain]) to the ]iresident is M. Waldeek-Pousseau, the prime minister of France. A man of fifty live, looking younger than his years, he is in very truth a strong man, the one man strong enough to pilot his country through the awful days of the Dreyfus typhoon. When (tenoral Gal- liffet was able to pronounce that won¬

derful amen, L'incident est clos,” a sigh of profound relief went up from every quarter of Europe. In the chan¬ celleries, it was known that the man who had inspired it was Pierre Marie Wal- deek-Kousseau, and to him each foreign minister paid the tribute of his praise.

u Waldeck.*' as he is hailed upon the boulevards, possesses a face that is al¬ most English in its contour, thoroughly oriental in its inscrutability. Even bis colleagues of the ministry know not what lies behind the smiling mask that he presents to them in the cabinet. It alienates nobody, it reveals nothing. It

PIERRE MARIE WAR DECK-ROUSSEAU, PRIME MINISTER OF FRANCE, THE MAN WHOSE STRONG

GRASP OF AFFAIRS SAVED FRANCE AT THE TIME OF THE DREYFUS TRIAL.

/'row ,t photogr.tf>h by /'iron, Piiris. took


is merely the impenetrable screen of the diplomat. The caricaturists, balked by the am¬ biguity of his countenance, de¬ light to represent him Janus- like, with two faces, one labeled

“ Wa block," the other “ Rous¬ seau." And yet is there no

ground for this suggestion of

duplicity. M. Waldeck-Rous-

seau has wrought hard for the

good of the republic, his policy

has been consistent, his patriot¬ ism unswerving, lie remains

today head of a ministry which

not only weathered a crisis that threatened the stability of

Fram e, but which has attained

To a longevity seldom paralleled in the history of the century.

THE MODERN MAN OF AFFAIRS.

President of the French Chamber of Deputies is Raul

Deselianel, one of the most re¬ markable of living Frenchmen.

Born in Brussels on February 13, 1 So!), he is at forty two the

man most frequently named as successor to M. Loubet in the presidency of the republic. He

came to the chamber some sev¬

enteen years ago, when the right of free association was first granted to the workingmen of France, lie realized as none

other did the dangers in the

wave of socialism Hooding the country, and at the same time recognized its benefits. He

studied the industrial question

as no contemporary French¬

man had done, and he hided his time whether the objects of the radicals and

to grapple with Jules Guesde, the of the socialists were not one and the Marxist, and with Professor Jauros, the same. The forces of collectivism wore

socialist, in regular debate. gaining recruits wholly ignorant of the

His opportunity came in November, aims of the collectivists. To them Paul

1SD*2, when he electrified the chamber Deselianel devoted himself, with a remarkably clear, lucid exposi- “ Do you believe.** he asked, *' that

lion of the fallacies of socialism. To the receipt of interest or rent or profit the astonishment of the deputies, they by a private individual is socially harm-

found in him a knowledge of the subject, ful? Do you believe that the wage sy>-

an acquaintance with the speeches and tern at the present moment is a curse programs of the socialists, that success- to France? ’’

fully turned every attempt at interrup- Those were simple questions, but tin*

tion. At the time there was much doubt answers cost the socialists-miany votes, in the minds of Frenchmen as to Their party of 'pie chamber

PAUL DESCHANEL. THE MOST CAPABLE OF THE YOUNG MEN OF

FRANCE, PRESIDENT OF THE CHAMBER OF DEPUTIES, AND

A SPECIALIST ON SOCIALIST LEGISLATION.

/■'rout n photograph by l\tit, /'oris.

532 MUNSEY’S MAGAZINE*

GABRIEL HANOTAIJX, HISTORIAN, STATESMAN, MEMBER OF THE ACADEMY ; THE GREATEST OF

MODERN FOREIGN MINISTERS IN FRANCE.

Jr mu a photograph by J'rtit, I'aris.

sought to question liis statements, but

M. Dcsehanel was ready in every ease

with hook and verse. lie proved his

contention and, in conclusion, averred:

“ Then* are differences between the radical* and the socialists so vital that

only those ignorant of their nature, or

the poorest demagogue. could hesitate to recognize t hem.’*

SOCIALISM ANT) RADICALISM.

At ihe conclusion of his speech M. lV*chanel was hailed as a new force* in

1* rciicb polities. Two Years later, in

180-1, he was the acknowledged oppo¬

nent of collectivism in the chamber.

And yet, according to Anglo Saxon

classification, would Paul Desehanel be

accounted a socialist, lie believes in state intervention on behalf of the la¬

borer, adult or child, man or woman. If

the government can run a great industry profitably, for the good of the people, he

is not withheld by the charge of social¬ ism from advocating it. He believes

that socialism contains a great truth

shroudWl in misconception. To rescue

tj^edf^WptS&l environinont of falsehood


has been hits life's work. One of those accepted no volunteered statements, but

misconceptions, as lie believes, is the sent bis own agents to investigate; and

doctrine of the equal distribution ol* when his returns were prepared he had

property. “ 1 stand for the rights of weapons to rout the forces arrayed

personal private property as at present against him. constituted." he has said emphatically. lit ISOS lie was sufficiently strong to

TllfjOPHILE DKLCASSfi, MINISTER FOR FOREIGN AFFAIRS, TUE STATESMAN WHO ENGINEERED

THE SETTLEMENT OF THE RECENT DIFFICULTY WITH TURKEY.

From it photogrn *h by Ogfruu, Paris.

There is no equivocation in Paul Des-

chaners confession of his political faith.

In that faith he fought Lafargue and

•Tanres when they sought to prove that

capitalistic aggregations were swallow¬

ing up the holdings of peasant proprie¬ tors. He trusted no official statistics.

accept nomination a> the “ moderate "

candidate for the presidency of the chamber in opposition to M. Brisson.

the radical. Brisson had already been

president, and carried to the contest all the prestige of a good stewardship; yet Deschanel beat him bv four votes tin a

Digitized by VjOOQLC

jJ L

td ill.il . J

li M

il

l I.

MUNSEY’S MAGAZINE. r>:-u

PAUL i)6roul6de, poet, patriot, playwright,

THE GREATEST OP ALL FRENCH CHAUVINISTS.

From a fihetogratU by Boyer, Paris.

scene of excitement that was remark¬ able even for the French Chamber of Deputies.

THE GREATEST MODERN MINISTER OF

FRANCE.

A man of a different type, yet akin in his rapid development to M. Des- chanel, is Gabriel Hanotaux. Six years older than the president of the chamber, hanotaux is a Picard, the son of a solici¬ tor of Beau re voir. As a boy, he was de¬ signed by his father for the family pro¬ fession of the law, but Gabriel was ill content with the career it offered. He studied civil law to satisfy his parents, but in private followed the cours dr I'nulr ties diaries. In time he was ap¬ pointed keeper of ancient manuscripts, and while acting as such he one day picked up, in the Bibliotheque Nation- ale, Volume T2 1 of the Glairambault Gulled ion. catalogued as u Miscellanea." Hanotaux glanced over it idly until something in the handwriting attracted his attention. He had found the long lost “ Maximes d'Etat " of Gardina! Richelieu ! It was a find to add his name

to the select list of French scholars. It served as a fitting introduction to the most distinguished mi nisi re (T affaires etramjrres of modern France.

But Hanotaux had still a weary road to travel ere he should find himself in possession of the portfolio of foreign af¬ fairs. He was appointed maitre de con- frimers at the Kcole des Hautes Etudes, and there lectured assiduously upon the dry bones of history. In his leisure lie was writing occasional articles for the fifpublic/ur Franca isr. the journal in¬ spired by Gambetta, then premier of France. One of these contributions was an article upon the sixteenth century, published in the “ Varietes " column. It caught the eye of Gambetta and held him.

Next day the premier sought out the young Hanotaux, talked with him. and offered him a post in the French Foreign Office. So. in 1S8’2, Hanotaux was both a professor and an official of tlie Foreign Office. He was studying, at one and the same time, the colonial policy of England and the statecraft of Cardinal Richelieu, the early days of Louis XIII and tlie kaleidoscopic changes of the Eastern Question.

Gambetta in time made him a member of his cabinet. Under Challemel-Lacour lie occupied the same position. Under .1 ulos Ferry he became chef de cabinet. Meanwhile lie lectured and worked hard at his “ Life of Cardinal Richelieu," the classic history of the period. His name, however, was not known beyond the confines of the Quai d*Orsai and the Bibliotheque Nationalc.

HANOTAUX AS A HISTORIAN.

As a historian, Hanotaux can claim neither the boldness of Taine nor the luminous imagination of Michelet ; but he does possess a marvelous control of facts, a rare capacity for marshaling them and for methodically arranging them. To the reader he leaves the re¬ sponsibility of theory, of deduction. As a result, he attains as nearly to absolute truth as any historian ever has done.

When Jules Ferry fell. Hanotaux was sent to Constantinople as councilor of the French embassy—the position at present held with so much distinction by M. was


chosen by M. Dupuv his minister for foreign affairs. The appointment as¬ tounded France, to whom his name was

Jle knew the latitude and longitude of every tiny French possession, its popu¬ lation. revenue, and water supply. He

GENERAL THE MARQUIS DE GALLIFFET, FORMERLY MINISTER FOR WAR, THE SOLDIER WHOSE FORESIGHT

SAVED PARIS FROM THE COUP D’ETAT DESIGNED BY M. I)6ROmJ:DE.

Front a photograph by Nadar, Paris.

wholly unknown. Then Hanotaux marked himself upon the imagination of his people. In France, lamentably ig¬ norant of geography. incapable of meas¬ uring distance. Hanotaux was a marvel.

knew the jungles of India, the deserts and swamps of Africa, as he knew his own quarter in Paris. The deputies gazed open mouthed at the timid, retir¬ ing ^ibfi^P’bvIVii1O1©0()rth geographieal

MUNSEY’S MAGAZINE. r>.%

data. and softly molding to his purpose the* actions of the great powers of the earth. They speedily recognized in him a horn foreign minister.

sympathy of nations for pity, and had resented it. Hanotaux had faith in the native strength of his country, in her capacity to rehabilitate herself among

EMILE ZOLA, THE MOST FAMOUS OF ALL MODERN FRENCH WRITERS, A NOVELIST OF THE

REALISTIC SCHOOL, THE MOST POWERFUL OF THE ADVOCATES OF DREYFUS.

From a photograph by Xadar, Paris.

When M. Hanotaux took hold of the reins of her foreign policy. France* stood alone, without a friend among the powers. Brui>ed and beaten, she had retired within herself, had mistaken the

the powers, and by that faith he shaped his policy.

He discovered at the first opening of his portfolio that (Heat Britain had con¬ cluded a tn$tyzeWbUC |t$CK?n&° Free

y y (3


State which gave her upon lease a strip of territory, some fifteen miles in breadth, uni¬ ting Lake Albert Edward with Lake Tangan¬ yika. It seemed a small matter, 1) u t Hanotaux had heard of Cec¬ il Rhodes and the Cape to Cairo Rail w a v, had realized the great British ambition to own a continu¬ ous line from north to south of Africa. He de¬ termined to frac¬ ture that line; so lie interposed, im¬ pressed the Con¬ go State with the claims of France,

rAUL BOURGET, A WRITER OK FRANCE, MEMBER OF

THE ACADEMY.

From a photograph by Lombarai, Siru-i.

no small part in the developments of the eastern problem.

So far M. Han- otaux had work¬ ed on tlie basis of an isolated France, but he desired to give her the moral strength o f a powerful ally. He approached Rus¬ sia, mysteriously coquetted with her. entertained her fleet as no foreign deputa¬ tion ever had been entertained i n France, and an¬ nounced to an astonished E u- rope the exis¬ tence of the Dual Alliance—Franco

obtained the abrogation of the treaty with Great Britain, and set about developing his opposition scheme of a French belt from east to west across the continent of Africa. Then ensued that exciting race for the Upper Nile between Lord Kitchener ami Major M archand. That the French agent failed was due neither to misconception on the part of M. Hanotaux nor to any lack of energy on the part of Major Mar- eband.

and Russia united by bonds of mutual interest. France had thrown off her widow's weeds, had emerged from her long seclusion, and was once more a world power, taking status among the nations with the added importance of her partner's prestige.

Most remarkable of all. he made no enemies among foreign powers: he earned the good will of Great Britain, and made it possible for a French fleet to enter a German harbor abreast of the Russian squadron at the opening of tin*

THE EXPANSION OF THE REPUBLIC. Kil>, ,,UJ. Within t|,.rtv v(,,rs of tho

M. Hanotaux is a great expansionist, cession of Alsace and Lorraine, Hano- His own words proclaim, his theory: taux had so manipulated affairs that

Is it not the same with a great nation Frenchmen could toast Germans on a as with individuals? Can she*, in the national fete dav. plenitude of her strength and maturity, sit down by the roadside and go to sleep amidst the activity of the universal life? " He thought not. and set about jockeying for a position whence he might make a descent upon Madagascar. Xothing cleverer has been done in mod¬ ern diplomacy than his manipulation of a matter which ended in France pro¬ claiming Madagascar her colony, garri¬ soning it with her troops, and establish¬ ing there a naval base that mav vet take

As a foreign minister, lie had dem¬ onstrated his ability to differentiate between the great permanent factors of European policy and its transient, er¬ ratic features. He had rehabilitated France in her own esteem as well as in the estimation of the world. On March 24. 1S!>S, he took his seat among the Im¬ mortals as a member of the French Academy. Ilis address on his predeces¬ sor, M. Challemel-Laeour, was one that proclaimed his sc*|W|j|ggW|£ asUplv as

y y O

588 MUNSEY’S MAGAZINE.

ANATOLE FRANCE, ONE OF THE (iRF.ATF.ST OF

MODERN FRENCH LITERARY MEN, A CRITIC

AND A NOVELIST.

/■'rout o />i;otografiu by Reutliuger, Paris.

the success of his policy demonstrated his statesmanship.

M. DELCASSE, THE CHAUVINIST MINISTER.

Classed with llanotaux us a states¬ man. though largely dependent uj)on the astute Picard for his statecraft, is Theo- ]diih‘ Delcasse. the present foreign min- isier of Fra net*. When Brisson followed Meline as prime minister, he took as suc¬ cessor to Jlanotaux the man who had been colonial minist(*r in the Dupuy eahinet of 1 SIM. Delcasse differed from llanotaux in that he was a man of strong j>i'c\jii< 1 ices in international affairs, a vio¬ lent Anglophobe. As colonial minister, lie had wrestled with Lord Rosebery, then at the head of the British Foreign Olliee. and had been worsted in the fiurht. In liis lir-t term as foreign minister. Delcasse again encountered (treat Brit¬ ain in eenneetion with the Fashoda af¬ fair. and perforce had to accept a posi¬ tion that was to him .trail and worm¬ wood. "More recently, in Madagascar, in Western Africa, and in 'Turkey, he has shown his ability to develop the policies

of llanotaux. to take advantage of Brit¬ ain's entanglement in South Africa. 11 is diplomatic victory over the Sultan, with Great Britain as guarantor of Turkisdi integrity, and with Germany keenly alive to her interests in the Otto¬ man Kmpire, is one of the most signifi¬ cant manifestations of France's present day prestige* in Europe.

DEROULEDE, THE POET-AGITATOR.

Before one passes from the considera¬ tion of French politics to other matters, om* more politician demands atten¬ tion. The name of Raul Deroulede, banished from France for treason, has been more on the lips of Frenchmen these* past live years than that of any of his countrymen. Born in Baris fifty live years ago. he has been before the public for more than thirty years as dramatist, soldiers hero, soldier poet, agitator, duelist, Boulangist, anti Drevfu.sard, and ultra (’hauvinist.

In 1S(5!) his drama “dean Streuner “ was produced at the 'Theatre Francois.

JEAN JOSEPH BENJAMIN-CONSTANT, THE LEADER

OF FRENCH PORTRAIT PAINTERS, WHO PAINTED

Tllft PORTRAIT OF QUEEN VICTORIA RE¬

CENTLY PURCHASED BY EDWARD VII.

R mi linger. Paris.


Then the Franco German War broke out, and Deroulede was wounded at Se¬ dan. A prisoner in the hands of the Prus¬ sians, he escaped from Breslau to the

black charger, Deroulede was his most enthusiastic supporter. In 1889 he was elected to the Chamber of Deputies; on •lanuary 20, 1890, he was forcibly eject-

army of the Loire, and fought through¬ out the winter campaign. He wrote his “ Chants du Soldat,” crowned bv the French Academy, and became the poet of the war. In 1882 he founded the “ Ligue des Patriotes ” to keep alive in the breasts of Frenchmen hatred of the Prussians. When General Boulanger pranced upon the platform upon his coal

ed from it. As an anti Dreyfusard, he was a leader in the crisis, of 1898 and 1899. At the election of Emile Lou hot he insulted the presiding officer and dis¬ turbed the ballot. That evening he sought to arrange a coup d'ctai, kid¬ naping the president and occupying the Elvsoe. lie very nearly succeeded.

The greatest of all F|e?icbAM^viu- * Digitized byVjUUvLV

540 MUNSEY’S MAGAZINE,

ists, Deroulede is still a popular idol. When the deputies drove a wav from Versailles on the day of the last presi¬ dential election, Fouhet was greeted with yells of “Resign! Resign!'* Wal- deek-Rousseau, Brisson. and the burly Dupuy were respectfully saluted; but only Paul Deroulede was cheered.

LITERARY FRANCE OF TODAY. .

France has fallen away from its high literary e s t a t e. Renan is dead, and his p 1 a e e among the his¬ torians is taken by H a n o t a u x; d'aine is dead, and his place among critics has not been filled: ITan- cisque Sarcey is dead, and his place is not alto¬ gether occupied by Melchior do Vogue; Dumas is dead, and neither Fdmond Rostand nor Alfred (’apus is able to fill the vacancy a m o n g t ji e dramatists. Finite Zola re¬ mains preeminent among the nov¬ elists, the patri¬ arch of French letters. With him are I bull Bourget and Pierre Loti, Paid Hervieu and

Marcel Prevost — all of them young, all of them enthu¬

siastic, none of them fully formed.

It is different with Anatole France— Jacques Anatole Thibault, as he was christened in Paris fifty seven years ago.

lb* has become an institution of France,

a high water mark of the attainment of

an unliterary age.

THE ART OF THE SALON.

In art. one recognizes the names of the great portrait painters, of ('arolus-Du-

ran. of Bonnat. of Chartran. and of Ben¬ jamin-Constant. The last of these

stands out from the crowd of his con¬ temporaries. lie speaks best for him¬ self. Writing of his great portrait of (Jueen Victoria, he says: “ After pro¬ tracted studies, full of moments of fear and hesitation, L beheld emerging from the gloom, little by little, the luminous figure of the sovereign, serene and dig¬ nified, gazing into the future, as if ob¬ livious of her surroundings, on the throne of state, victorious as her name

indicates. And from this vision of contemporane¬ ous history one must evolve a veritable poem of royalty, to be con¬ sidered with emo¬ tions of admira¬ tion and respect. Have I succeeded in this? ”

Those o f u s who visited the Paris Exposition in the summer of 1900 ran each,

after his o w n manner. supply the answer.

Of the sculp¬ tors.none is great¬ er than Rodin, the rugged cre¬ ator of the mam¬ moth statues dis¬ played in the ex¬ position. The vic¬ tim of his own artistic s p i r i t, there is danger he may succumb to

an excess of adulation, but there is in his native vigor sufficient crudity to save him from tin* onslaughts of flatten*. The well wishers of French art pray that he be not seduced into the paths of af¬ fectation.

STRONG MEN IN CARICATURE, DRAMA,

AND SCIENCE.

Caricaturists are strong men in France—Leandre and Caran (1‘Ache and Willette. Their pencils are the most caustic in the whole realm of caricature, and the lic-enseDiy}gyd^bQ^0; the broad-

AUGUSTE RODIN, THE GREATEST OF MODERN FRENCH

SCULPTORS, WHO CREATED THE STATUE OF BALZAC

WHICH FORMED SO GREAT AN ATTRACTION AT

THE PARIS EXPOSITION OF 1900. From a thotogm f>n by Rcut/ingfr, Fa> is.


CAMILLE FLAMMARION, ASTRONOMER, A LEADER

OF SCIENTIFIC FRANCE AND WRITER OF

SCIENTIFIC ROMANCES.

JULES MASSENET, THE DEAN OF FRENCH COM¬

POSERS, WHO WROTE “ LE Cl I) ” AND “DON

CESAR DE BAZAX.”

From a ph 'tograPh by R ent linger, Paris. From a phe tograph by Foyer, I'aris.

ost. AVi 1 lotto lms conic nearer, with a single cartoon, to causing rupture with Britain than lias any diplomatic inci¬ dent of the past quarter century. Caran d'Aehe, too, has ruhbed much of the acid of the South African war into the wounds of Britain.

The theater also leads in France, hut at the moment its strength is artistic rather than formative. There is noth¬ ing in tk I/Aiglon " or in ** Gyrano de Bergerac," in “ La Bourse on la Vie " or in k* La Re*ine," that affects the opin¬ ion of France.

In science, France is content with Camille Flammarion, the astronomer, who is occupied with the canals of Mars, and with his theories as to the length of life remaining for the earth—a scientist who is part novelist, part visionary, wholly popular. lie is only a degree more scientific and less sensational than Jules Verne, the veteran romancer, whose “ Trip to the Moon M and Jour¬ ney to the Center of the Earth v have made his name known to more people than that of almost any other living

Frenchmen. It is significant that the land of Descartes and of Arago should today he represented by a Flammarion and a Verne.

In music, trance contributes none more forceful than Jules Massenet and Gustave Charpentier. Neither is a name to mark the epoch.

And so. gazing at France across the intervening waters, one is astonished to remark that her strength lies where* slu* had been supposed to be weakest—in her men of affairs, her men of action. The dilettante France of a dozen years ago has given wav to a now France*, forceful, businesslike, ambitious; a France* eager to me*et in the struggle* of nations, a competitor in trade, an ex¬ pansionist. No longer is she hound by the limits of her own sullen brooding. The* cry for revenge lias been replae-cd bv the demand for expansion. And the* one man who has done* most te> inspire the change is the timid countryman ed John Calvin and Camille Desmoulins, the scholar of the ecoh rffP* oA/pe/J'x-— OaDried Ilanotaux?^

BY THE COMTE DE MALETROIT

Documents

Transcript of BY THE COMTE DE MALETROIT