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The President of the Republic, Paul Doumer, whose election broke Aristide Briand's heart, came and stood for a while beside the cheap iron bed in the cheap flat, then, speechless with emotion, went away. Premier Andre Tardieu came and simple men and women came. Some of them knelt and kissed the left hand of Aristide Briand.
"I shaved him this morning, only this morning!" said Frederic. "M. Briand took my hand in his and asked how long I had been his barber. I replied, 'Ten years.' He smiled and said: I hope you will shave me for another ten years, Frederic.' "
"M. Briand died in my arms," said Dr. Emery. "We do not know the exact moment of his passing—he died so peacefully. He did not utter a single word."
In Geneva, where the Master Parliamentarian ruled so long, the League Assembly paused for 15 minutes at news of his death and its president, Belgium's Paul Hymans, said: "He was the glory of France, the incarnation of ideals of peace."
*A foe of German Marxian Socialism, French Jean Jaures said, "Our Socialism is French in origin, French in inspiration, and French in character!" He added, "Si noire patrie est menaces . . . nous serous des premiers a la frontiere pour defendre la France!"