Nuttall Encyclopedia Quotes

Nuttall encyclopedia quote, no. 6646

GAMBETTA, LÉON MICHEL

A French republican leader, born at Cahors, of Italian descent; intended for the Church, to which he evinced no proclivity; he early showed a _penchant_ for politics and adopted the profession of law, in the prosecution of which he delivered a speech which marked him out as the coming man of the French republic, from the spirit of hostility it manifested against the Empire; at the fall of the Empire he stood high in public regard, assumed the direction of affairs, and made desperate attempts to repel the invading Germans; though he failed in this, he never ceased to feel the shame of the loss of Alsace and Lorraine, and strove hard to recover them, but all his efforts proved ineffectual, and he died in Dec. 31, to the grief of the nation (1838-1882).