The result is said to have been unexpected. The more
fanatic Socialists did not support M. Brisson, who is a deter- mined Radical of the older type, though they preferred him to all other candidates; and his total support therefore fell short of the anticipations of his friends. On the other hand, H. Waldeck-Roussean, who may be called a Republican Tory, was expected to head the ballot on the Moderate aide, and was, under that belief, threatened in the placards stuck up over Paris, almost as Jules Ferry had been at a previous election. The majority of Moderates, however, at the first ballot voted for M. Felix Faure, who was therefore accepted, rather than chosen, by the entire party. He is little known, even in France, but is liked in the Chamber, which was recently willing to elect him its President. He was born in 1841, and, though originally a working man, entered before he was thirty into the shipping trade, and made a modest fortune. He was elected for Havre, the port in which he lived, attracted the attention of H. Gambetta, who made him Under-Secretary for the Colonies, and in M. Dupuy'a Cabinet he became Minister of Marine. According to some accounts he is a Protestant; but, according to others, he denies this, and the doubt proves that he takes no prominent part in any ecclesiastical discussion. He has evidently some charm for those with whom he comes in contact, but his inner character remains to be revealed.
