June 13, 19 18 
Land & Water 
13 
Clemenceau: By J. Coudurier de Chassaigne 
MY last meeting with M. Clemenceau a few 
months ago — to be exact, on March 15th — 
took place in the library of the French 
Embassy, overlooking the green lawns of 
Hyde Park. 
The appointment was for 10 o'clock. WTien I arrived, a 
few minutes too soon, I was told that the French Prime 
Minister had gone out an hour before to take his morning 
stroll in the park. But a moment later and tlie heavy 
panelled door of the room opened suddenly, and in walked 
the Grand Old Man of France. 
I had not seen him since the beginning of the war — not, 
in fact, since our conversation at the Senate in that delightful 
ante-chamber which is used as a sort of club-room by the 
Senators and their friends. That was about five years ago. 
He appeared to me, then, rather weary, though still as 
vivacious as ever in speech and manners, but distinctly older. 
His eyes were as fiery as of yore, burning like pieces of live 
coal under his bushy eyebrows. But his complexion was 
yellow ; and I remarked to a friend, after M. Clemenceau had 
discussed the policy of the French Government towards 
England with us, in his animated way: "I am afraid 'the 
Tiger' will not last long." I can still see him as he left us to 
join another group of politicians, the shadow of the man 
I remembered a few years previously at the funeral of Sir 
Henry Campbell- Bannerman. 
And after that long space of time, he stands again beside 
me : a small, square, compact figure, slightly bent, as fre- 
quently happens with Frenchmen who ^parc but little time 
for athletics, and spend most of their lives reading or writing 
at their desks. 
He comes towards me with a strong yet delicately shaped 
hand cordially outstretched. His grasp is full of decision — 
the vigour, one might say, of a man of forty. Then; after a 
few words of greeting, M. Clemenceau explains to me in 
little jerky sentences, 
followed now and then 
by ■ a well-balanced' 
period — which reminds 
one that Clemenceau 
is not only an energetic 
polemicist, but also a 
great parliamentary 
orator — why he re- 
fused to be the prin- 
cipal guest at a lun- 
cheon which the 
Foreign Press Associa- 
tion in London had 
the intention of giving 
in his honour. 
"I do not want to 
make speetflies," he re- 
marks. "I speak as 
little as possible — 
only, in fact, when 
it is absolutely ne- 
cessary. I am for 
deeds, not for words 
ij'agis)." 
While listening to 
him I scrutinise, as 
closely as politeness 
permits, the face of 
this marvellous old 
man. It has a rosy 
tinge, as if young and 
healthy blood was cir- 
culating under the 
skin. Maybe this slight 
flush is due to the walk 
in the open air — the 
hour of "footing it," 
as we say in France — 
indispensable to the 
active and ever green 
Senator. The thick 
moustache is white, 
but mixed with many 
dark hairs, " pepper 
and salt," like what is 
left of the hair on his 
head. As for his eyes, 
-Mi - 
S 
M. Clemenceau 
In the French Trenches 
they are brighter than ever. They sparkle wth life, and 
now and then a little flame bursts forth and vanishes in a 
twinkling. They are really wonderful — those eyes of 
Clemenceau. There are times when they laugh with you .' 
but more often they laugh at you. They are in turn malicious, 
ironical, devHish, furious — doors which open pn the ardent 
soul that would have consumed long ago a bodj- more frail. 
When suddenly they dart at you a long penetrating glance 
which enters like a well-pointed shaft, you ieel as if a feline 
of the most powerful tribe was ready to jump on you. Then 
suddenly the storm passes over as rapidly as it came. The 
luminous eyes have relaxed their grip, and again they are 
smiling benevolently. 
The voice of Clemenceau is harmonious, alternately very 
deep and a trifle shrill, when the words become biting. 
Except when a gesture underlines a sentence that is especially 
important, the hands are quite motionless, though never 
for very long. Occasionally, now, he is a little short of 
breath, but this rare halting in his speech is the only sign 
that Clemenceau's body is no longer as ready as his spirit. 
Taken altogether, the French Premier might be a well- 
preserved man between 50 and 60, and he is actually over 77 ! 
Clemenceau, in spite of his constant advocacy of the 
republican regime and of democratic institutions, is nothing 
if not an aristocrat. He comes from an old family of Vendue, 
and he belongs to the class of landed gentry which in France 
unites the nobility to the haide bourgeoisie. If it were possible 
to establish an analogy, one might say that his social position 
approximated to that of the younger son of an English 
county family, well connected, but not rich, and obliged to 
earn his living. He had the choice of a professional career, 
and, like his father, he chose to be a doctor of medicine, 
which, in France, has been a highly honorable calling ever 
since the days of Louis XIV., ranking with the law and the 
Church. Thus through His stormy life, M. Clemenceau has 
naturally preserved 
the charming manners 
which linked the men 
of his time to the 
ancien rSgime. Irideed, 
aspiring statesmen of 
the present generation 
have found it unwise 
to treat the Grand Old 
Man of French politics 
with the vulgar fami- 
liarity so dear to the 
rank and file of the 
Socialist Party, who 
think that democracy 
has nothing to do with 
politeness. 
Now the tide of 
events has turned, and 
at the most difficult 
time of the glorious 
history of France, 
those demagogues who 
are largely responsible 
for the calamity which 
has fallen on their 
country have had to 
own their impotence 
to save themselves and 
the nation they have 
misled for so many 
years. They have been 
obliged to call to the- 
rescue a typical gentle- 
man of France, who 
embodies all the quali- 
ties, and a few of the 
defects, of his race. 
M. Clemenceau is to- 
day the good tyrant 
who, in spite of the 
empty declarations of 
pseudo-equal it arians, 
incarnates that ideal 
statesman which is se- 
cretly cherished by the 
majority of French 
citizens. Notwith- 
French Official 
