but he rarely used it. His coachman grumbled at having to follow
him at a foot-pace when he took long walks into the country. His
servants did not, like the marshal's, wear gray and scarlet liveries,
but his household arrangements were more dignified and liberal than
those of M. Thiers. He had a curious way of receiving his friends
_sans ceremonie_. Three mornings in the week his old intimate
associates,--artists, journalists, deputies, etc.,--entered the
presidential palace unannounced, and went straight to an apartment
fitted up for fencing. There, taking masks and foils, they amused
themselves, till presently M. Grevy would come in, make the tour
of the room, speak a few words to each, and invite one or two of
them to breakfast with him.

Both M. Grevy and Marshal MacMahon held their Cabinet meetings in
that _salle_ of the Elysee which is hung round with the portraits
of sovereigns. Opposite to M. Grevy's chair hung a portrait of
Queen Victoria; and it was remarked that he always gazed at her
while his ministers discoursed around him. But his happiness, poor
man! was in his private apartments, where his daughter, her husband,
M. Wilson, and his little grandchild made part of his household.

M. Greevy gave handsome dinners at the Elysee, and Madame Grevy
and Madame Wilson gave receptions, and occasionally handsome balls.
Everything was done "decently and in order," much like an American
president's housekeeping, but without show or brilliancy.

Having indulged in this gossip about the courts of the presidents
(for much of which I am indebted to a writer in "Temple Bar"),
we will turn to graver history.

When M. Grevy became president, Gambetta succeeded to his place
as president of the Chamber. He did not desire the post of prime
minister. His new position made him the second man in France, and
seemed to point him out as the future candidate for the presidency.

M. Defavre became chief of the Cabinet, and M. Waddington Minister
for Foreign Affairs. But Gambetta, whether in or out of office,
was the leader of his party, and a sense of the responsibilities
of leadership made him far more cautious and less fiery than he
had been in former days. Yet even then he had said emphatically:
"No republic can last long in France that is not based on law,
order, and respect for property."

In August, 1880, however, eighteen months after M. Grevy's elevation
to the presidency, Gambetta became prime minister. He flattered