THIS LATE M. THIERS.

Dunstan Times, Issue 807, 5 October 1877, Page 4

THIS LATE M. THIERS.

Louis Adolphe Thiers was born on Apiil 16, 1797, at Marseilles, where his father was a working locksmith. He obtained admission to the public school, in which ho made marked progress, and studied geometry with a view to the military profession. His friends took him in hand and determined to bring him up to the law, ai d in due time ho made his appearance at the bar, but with very indifferent success, and suffering from disappointment he turned his attention to literature. He went to Paris, and by great perseverance, he managed to get an appointment cn the staff of the Constitutionnel as political leader writer. The first volume of the “ History of the French Revolution” appeared in 1823, and the tenth in 1862. After the revolution of 1830 he was made Under-Secretary of State under Lafitte’s administration. In 1832 he was appointed Minister of the Interior, which he soon exchanged for the portfolio of Commerce and Public Works. In 1836 he was President of the Council, and in March, 1840, he again held that office. It was during his Ministry that the Syrian question, through his manoeuvres, assumed such a threatening aspect as nearly to involve France in wav with other great Powers. The King requested his retirement, when be engaged his leisure in writing his “ History of the Consulate and Empire.” The revolution of 1848 found him unprepared, and when the Republic was proclaimed Thiers was a National Guard, with a musket on his shoulder. In the expedition of Boulogne in 1830, Thiers was proclaimed Louis Napoleon’s Minister, and it was thought he would take office, but he was banished during the coup d’etat of 1851, and after living in Switzerland some time was permitted to return to Paris. After spending twelve years in retirement, engaged exclusively in painting and the fine arts, Napoleon 111, who was one of his admirers, endeavored to induce Thiers to join his Ministry. In 1863 he re-entered the Chamber, when he was elected Deputy for the department of Seine. The war of 1870 brought Thiers into a prominent position, and after being appointed a member of the Paris Defence Committee he voluntarily undertook diplomatic journeys to the Courts of England, Russia, Austria, ond Italy to implore aid for France. His mission was unsuccessful, and he then proceeled to the head quarters of the King of Prussia at Versailles to open negotiations for peace, in accordance with the suggestion of the four neutral powers. The efforts of M. Thiers to restore peace acquired for him the gratitude of his countrymen, as was proved after the capitulation of Paris, by his being elected to the National Assembly by one-third ot the nation. On Feb. 17, 187], his popularity was such that he was appointed head ot the Provisional Government, and besides the prerogative of “ Chief of the Executive Power,” he possessed the privileges of a deputy, and was allowed to take part in the deliberations of the Assembly. On February 28, M. Thiers introduced to the Assembly the preliminaries of the Treaty of Peace, which he had assisted in concluding two days previously at Versailles. On March Ist these were voted. In March, 1871, the National Assembly I'emoved to Versailles, and it was on the 6th of April VI. Thiers’ house was destroyed. On May 24, 1»78, having on the previous day a majority against him in the Assembly, he resigned the Presidency of the Republic, and was succeeded by Marshal MacMahon. Two days later, M. Thiers resumed his place as a member of the National Assembly. He was made a grand •officer of (he Legion of Honor, April 27th, 1840, and has received several foreign Orders. M. Thiers was eighty years of age at his death.