FOURTOU.
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notices that he would under- •n application, to provide a oof and a wooden floor in national school in Ireland iras thatched and had an i floor. He also subsequently ook to provide every locality school where it should be id that a school was needed, at there were no local funds Id it. In this way, and in ing books, maps, desks, and Eipparatus, he spent out of 1 income more than jgl2,000. . view to introduce a better of teaching writing in the under the care of the Com- lers of Irish Education, he the series of his well-known )ok8. These had an enor- ile, which has since steadily Bd, the demand for them
- ing to about three millions
ly. Mr. Foster also esta- a system of prizes to en- 3 attention to writing, &c., le still continues. A friend
- ed to Mr. Foster that a
Ige of drawing would be an nal boon to the poor people md, and offered his services )f this new enterprise if Mr. would adopt it. He at once with the idea, and with his I assistance secured the ser- if the best artists for his of drawing books. This occupied several years. It successful so far as popular on in Ireland is concerned, 3 a pecuniary loss to himself, he derives no profit what- om the present sales of any mblications.
ETOU, Mabib FBANgois Babdt De, a French states- ►om at Rib6rac (Dordogne), , 1836. After having com- his legal studies at Paris, he \ a member of the local bar gerac, in his native depart- md for some time during the ears of the Empire he was jf ect of the arrondissement, of that town is the chief place.
On being elected a representative of the Dordogne in the National As- sembly, Feb. 8, 1871, he took his place among the Bonapartists in the Eight Centre. On Dec. 7, 1872, M. Thiers appointed him Minister of Public Works, in succession to M. de Larcy. This post he held till May 19, 1873, when he was transferred to the Ministry of Pub- lic Worship : but he resigned with his colleagues on the 24th of May. On the 20th of Nov. following, he again became a member of the Mi- nistry, succeeding M. Batbie in the department of Public Instruction and Public Worship. Marshal Mac- Mahon, the President of the Re- public, advanced M. de Fourtou (May 23, 1874) to the Ministry of the Interior, in the place of the Due de Broglie. He did not fill this import£^t position very long. M. Magne having resigned, M. de Fourtou insisted that he should be succeeded by a member of the same party, viz., by a Bonapartist ; and as this was not the case, M. de Fourtou himself resigned July 19, 1874. On Feb. 20, 1876, he was elected a Deputy for the arrondisse- ment of Riberac, under the auspices of the National Conservative Com- mittee. He again became Minister of the Interior May 17, 1877, and exercised great influence in the de- liberations of the Cabinet. At the elections of Oct., 1877, he was again chosen Deputy for Riberac, but the Chamber declared the election in- valid Nov. 18, 1878. In the debate on the latter occasion, M. Gambetta called M. de Fourtou a liar, and this unparliamentary expression led to their fighting a duel with pistols. The encounter was a perfectly harm- less one, neither of the combatants receiving any injury. Indeed, it was hinted that blank cartridges were used, with the connivance of the seconds. M. de Fourtou was once more chosen Deputy for Ribe- rac' Feb. 2, 1879, when he polled 9,027 votes against 7,687 given to the Republican candidate. He was
