Glorious Fourteenth

On July 14, 1789, the Bastille fell and almost each year for 135 years the French have celebrated the event, for to them it symbolized Liberty.

This year, throughout France, the usual delirious festivities were held. At Paris the people danced upon the pavements and at night the sky was lit with fireworks.

President Doumergue drove from the Palais d'Elysees to the Arc de Triomphe at the top of the Champs Elysees. Here, in the presence of the Ministers, he deposited a wreath on the tomb of the Unknown Poilu, instead of attending the usual military revue.

The records of la mairie d'Aigues-Vives (Mayor's office in small village in the Department of Ariege) aver that M. Doumergue was christened Pierre-Paul-Henri-Gaston. His family have apparently been Calvinists (Protestants) since the 16th Century, when the Picardian Jean Calvin caused a commotion by publishing his Institutio Christianae religionis.

M. Gaston is a bachelor, a fact which caused his sister to remark: "Gaston will be the last of the Doumergues. He never would marry. He always said that our mother and I were enough and that my children were as his; but they don't bear the name of Doumergue, and for such a long, long time there have been Doumergues in this house!"

In Aigues-Vives, the villagers call him "Gastounet." They celebrated his election to the Presidency with a bullfight, of which sport M. Gaston is a devotee.

Accident more than anything placed the erstwhile President of the Senate in the Presidential Chair; but something worth while caused him to rise from a village school boy, from an obscure lawyer, to un homme d'Etat and a respected Senator. In Indo-China as Magistrate, in Algeria as Justice of the Peace, as Minister at various times of the Colonies, of Commerce, of Education, or of Foreign Affairs, his low, slow and simple voice never failed to impress men. He speaks with a certain ardor that compels, and with a knowledge of his subject that only brings forth admiration from friends and enemies. The French call him sympathigue, which says much for his character. In appearance he resembles a jovial and prosperous farmer; his features are hardly handsome, for, like his Premier, he is inclined to corpulency and is below medium height. But his iron-grey hair, his penetrating eyes and his smiling countenance go far to give him I'air distingue. Of him his intimates say: "He is the President of the French Republic, but he is also the most simple and modest of its citizens."

In politics, he is what may conveniently be termed a moderate radical, and thereby represents a traditional policy of he Midi (Southern France). For many years he has represented Nimes (Department of the Gard) first as Depute and then as Senateur. In a recent speech to "les enfants du Gard," thanking them for their support, M. Gaston said:

"I am sure that foreigners will understand that the chief of the State doesn't wish to be separated from the whole body of his fellow-citizens. I am convinced that what has enlarged us is to have seen so many of my predecessors, yesterday at the summit of honors, becoming, once they have stepped down from them, simple and wise men. A Latin, a Roman remembrance? Perhaps. There are such remembrances in the heart of the people of Le Gard, among those born in the region about Nimes, that city with seven hills, one of whose children was Antoninus*. These great Latins, from whom came the grandeur and strength of Rome, were simple men, preferring labor to glory. For my part that is what I wish to keep on doing. This is a profession of faith."

It is unquestionably true that the President is an energetic man, and, unlike most cosmic luminaries, he prefers to work rather than shine.

*In France, the President, unlike the British King, can do alot of wrong. Here is a prime Presidential error: The Roman Emperor known as Titus Aurelius Fulvus Boionius Arrius Antoninus was born near Lanuvium in Latium, not at Nemausus (Nimes) as stated by M. Doumergue, although it is true that his family came from that region.

Titus Antoninus, Whose title was Pius (dutiful), reigned with great wisdom, displayed a proclivity for peace and a sincere regard for the welfare of his people. He was adopted by the great Emperor Hadrian, succeeded the latter in 138 A.D., died in 161.