Francisco Ferrer; his life, work and martyrdom, with message written ...

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^^ Francisco Ferrer.
Montniartrc, may still remember their fellow boarder
fv;r"r ."'•^'^'""' ^"'^^ ^^-^^0"s in ^'V^^'^'
his
with manner
ghstening, coal-black eyes, a pointed beard
brushed straight np.-rather
hS
bohemian in aspect'
gave one
He
the impression of mental strength,—composed
^^' ^^^^"^
'^^Z'^h-n''''''''^-
^'^ effected by
without
going
his dinner enabled him to assist countrvmn
his who o
were poorer than he. There were many "mong
je^p^w::ll!:!:;::,f&^^
tional endovyments. His strong voice, which
something retained
of the harsh Catalonian intonation carried fa
aptlv" aptly. The' s"b "•.''; 'fn^'' ^^^--'^ fluen[^ and
subjects for his lectures were
the drawn
works from
of progressive writers, such as Reclus,
he
whom
admired greatly, and better than any one
how else he
to make knew
his conclusions understood and assimilated.
tie lived at this time in two rooms, at No. 47 Rue
Richer, paying a rent of 420 francs ($84) a vear It
Pratim.''' vT'' ^"^ highly esteemed work, "Espagnol
1 ratique, which was published by Gamier, and which
made him known to a very select French circle. It was
through this vo ume that Mile. Ernestine Meunier became
interested in Ferrer.
It IS shameful-not to use a stronger expression-how
vvn t'"/" r'^l,"'^' '"'^^ '^^^ ^"*^^^^^s f
^"d dirty political
work to do have sought to stain the memory of
founder the
of the Modern School. . . . Oite story is tha
Mme. terrer, who was a devout Catholic, left her husband
because she could not longer identify herself with
a man who was an avowed Freethinker; another, that
the sympathetic regard entertained for her teacher by
M le. Meunier irritated Mme. Ferrer and led to scenes
between husband and wife; still another, that she tried
to kill him with a pistol, and that he refused to take any
legal action. None of these tales can affect Ferrer's
reputation. We do know that he and his wife separated
according to the French law-for divorce is
forbidden in
bpain. And we recall that at the time of the Morral
proceedings, in 1907, she desired to testify in favor of
her former husband,