THIERS cal reforms, but not a republic. Yet when this became an accomplished fact (Feb. 24), he accepted it as a protection against monarchi- cal factions, and in June was elected to the constituent assembly. When Cavaignac asked for extraordinary powers against the socialists, he was the first to concede them ; but subse- quently he supported Louis Napoleon for the presidency, and fought a duel with Bixio for repeating a rumor, which he denied, that he had previously disparaged such an election. Elected to the legislative assembly, he was one of the most active leaders of the reactionary majority. In January, 1851, however, after the removal of Changarnier, he raised his warning voice against a new Napoleonic empire. In November he adjured the assembly to adopt Baze's resolution for its military protection, and in vain admonished the radicals that the rejection of this measure threatened the safety of the most truly representative body which France ever had. He was arrested on the coup d'etat of Dec. 2, imprisoned till Jan. 9, and banished till Aug. 7, 1852. He kept aloof from politics until the apparent relaxation of the autocratic regime encouraged him in 1863 to solicit the suffrages of Paris liberals, who returned him (May 31), despite governmental opposition. In 1865 he referred in his great speech on the budget to the extravagant ex- penditures for the Italian war, the Mexican expedition, and Haussmann's stupendous en- terprises. In 1866 and 1867 he exposed the blunders of the emperor in permitting e aggrandizement of Prussia and the unifica- ion of Italy, to the detriment of the grandeur of France. In 1870 he opposed the declara- tion of war against Prussia, maintaining that the government, being unprepared, was rush- ing to a certain defeat ; and his influence rose with the verification of his predictions. He urged the vigorous defence of Paris, and visit- ed the principal foreign courts to secure their influence in favor of an armistice. On his re- turn in October, he had several interviews with Bismarck, but without results excepting that his efforts increased his popularity and the universal confidence in his statesmanship. On Feb. 8, 1871, he was elected to the assem- bly in 26 departments, and selected that of Seine-Inferieure. On Feb. 17 he was chosen by the assembly as chief of the executive. His great measures were the immediate negotia- tion of the preliminary treaty of peace, his (crushing of the commune, and the wonder- fully successful national loan for paying the German indemnity and the redemption of the territory. On Aug. 31 his term of office was prolonged by the assembly for three years, with the title of president of the republic. He was always a protectionist, and on the rejec- tion of the tariff bill he resigned (Jan. 20, 1872) ; but he was finally induced to remain, and his subsequent intention to withdraw was arrested (Nov. 29) by the appointment of a commit- tee for regulating his relations with the as- THIERSCH 707 sembly. In foreign affairs he favored peace and non-intervention. After he had succeeded in substituting Verdun for Belfort as a pledge in German hands, he concluded in March, 1873, a new convention providing for the whole in- demnity and for the final withdrawal of the remaining German troops in September, for which he received the thanks of the legislature as one "who deserved well of his country." But on May 24 he was baffled in his attempt to make the republic permanent by legislative enactment, and therefore resigned, and was succeeded by MacMahon. He has ever since upheld the republican form of government, which he advocated with great force at Arca- chon, Oct. 17, 1875. On Jan. 30, 1876, he was elected to the new senate for Belfort, and on Feb. 20 to the assembly for Paris; and in March he took his seat in the latter body. His literary fame rests upon his historical works. His other publications include Histoire de Law (1826 ; new ed., 1858 ; English translation by F. S. Fiske, New York, 1859) ; Le monarchic de 1830 (1831) ; De la propriete (1848) ; and ISHomme et la matiere (1875 et seq.). Late- ly he has visited Italy to gather additional materials for a long projected history of art, and has also been engaged upon his memoirs. As a speaker his vivacity, parliamentary ex- perience, and perfect mastery of the questions discussed make him exceedingly effective. His house in the place St. Georges, destroyed under the commune, has been restored by the gov- ernment, and is still the centre of the most in- fluential society. TBIERSCH. I. Friedrich Wilhelm, a German phi- lologist, born at Kirchscheidungen, near Frei- burg, June 17, 1784, died in Munich, Feb. 25, 1860. He studied in Leipsic and Gottingen, and in 1809 became professor at the gymnasium in Munich. Being looked upon as a foreigner by the Bavarians, he wrote a vigorous pam- phlet entitled Ueber die angenommenen Unter- schiede zwischen Sud- und NorddeutscJiland (1810). Soon after its publication an attempt was made to assassinate him. In 1811 he founded a philological institute, which in the following year was incorporated with the uni- versity of Munich, and from 1811 to 1829 he edited the Acta PMlologorum Monacemium. He took a special interest in the Hellenic strug- gle for independence and in the amelioration of education in Greece, and published in 1833, af- ter a two years' sojourn in that country, Vetat actuel de la Grece, et des moyens d'arriver a sa restauration. In his work Ueber die neuesten Angriffe auf die Universitaten (1837) he ex- pressed anew his conviction of the importance of classical studies, and in 18*38 initiated a bit- ter literary warfare against Diesterweg, Linde, Schmitthenner, and others, by his Ueber den gegenwdrtigen Zmtand des offentliclien Unter- richts in den westlicJien Staaten von Deutsch- land, in Holland, Frankreich und Belgien. He wrote a Greek grammar, with special ref- erence to the Homeric dialect, which passed
