,,correspondence ,,conversations ,,of ,,alexis ,,de ,,tocqueville ,,with ,,nassau ,,william ,,senior ,,from #ahcd ,,to #ahei ,,edited ,,by ,m4,c4,m4 ,,simpson ,,in ,,two ,,volumes ,,volume ,,ii ,,london3 ,,henry ,s4 ,,king ,co41 #fe ,,cornhill #ahgb 99 99 99 99 99 ,,contents ,,of ,,the ,,second ,,volume ,journal #ahea-b4 ,the army master of ,france ,comparison with the #ahth ,brumaire ,aggressive acts of the ,president ,coup d'tat planned for ,march #aheb ,socialism leads to despotism ,war necessary to maintain ,louis ,napoleon ,state prisoners on ,december #b ,louis ,napoleon's devotion to the ,pope ,latent ,bonapartism of the ,french ,president's reception at ,notre ,dame ,frank hypocrites ,mischievous public men ,extradition of ,kossuth ,january #bi1 #ahdi ,stunner's account of it contradicted ,the ,second ,napoleon a copy of the ,first ,relies on ,russian support ,compulsory voting ,life of a cavalry officer ,victims of the ,coup d'tat ,letters in #aheb-c4 ,effect of the ,orleans confiscation on the ,english ,firmness of ,prussia ,mr4 ,greg's writings ,communication from ,schwartzenberg ,new ,reform ,bill ,democracy or aristocracy ,reform ,bill not wanted ,twenty-five thousand men at ,cherbourg ,easier to understand ,lord ,derby than ,lord ,john ,preparations at ,cherbourg a delusion ,conversation with ,king ,leopold ,no symptoms of aristocratic re-action in ,england ,england's democratic tendencies ,idleness of young aristocrats ,death of ,protection ,revolutions leading to masquerades ,tory reforms ,imperial marriage ,new ,reform ,bill a blunder ,journal in #ahec4 ,prosperity in ,paris ,dangers incurred by overbuilding ,discharged workmen effect ,revolutions ,probable monetary panic ,empire can be firmly established only by a successful war ,agents undermining the ,empire ,violence and corruption of the ,government ,growing unpopularity of ,louis ,napoleon ,consequences of his death ,he probably will try the resource of war ,conquest would establish his power ,war must produce humiliation or slavery to ,france ,corruption is destroying the army and navy ,emperor cannot tolerate opposition ,will try a plebiscite ,letters in #ahec4 ,blackstone a mere lawyer ,feudal institutions in ,france and ,england ,gentleman and ,gentilhomme ,life of seclusion ,interference of police with letters ,mrs4 ,crete's conversations at ,st4 ,cyr ,great writers of the eighteenth century ,political torpor unfavourable to intellectual product ,english not fond of generalities ,curious archives at ,tours ,frightful picture they present ,sufficient to account for the ,revolution of #aghi ,la ,marck's memoir of ,mirabeau ,court would not trust ,mirabeau ,the elder ,mirabeau influenced by ,revolution ,revolution could not have been averted ,works of ,david ,hume ,effect of intolerance of the press ,honesty and shortsightedness of ,la ,fayette ,laws must be originated by philosophers ,carried into effect by practical men ,napoleon carried out laws ,too fond of centralisation ,country life destroyed by it ,royer ,collard ,danton ,madame ,tallien ,tocqueville independent of society ,studious and regular life ,influence of writers as compared with active politicians ,journal in #ahed4 ,criticism of the ,journals ,the speakers generally recognised ,aware that they were being reported ,the ,legitimists ,necessity of ,crimean ,war ,probable management of it ,english view of the ,fusion ,bourbons desire ,constitutional ,government ,socialists would prefer the ,empire ,they rejoiced in the ,orleans confiscation ,empire might be secured by liberal institutions ,policy of ,g4 ,english new ,reform ,bill ,dangers of universal suffrage ,baraguay d',hilliers and ,randon ,lent in the ,provinces ,chenonceaux ,montalembert's speech ,cinq ,mars ,appearance of prosperity ,petite culture in ,touraine ,tyranny more mischievous than civil war ,centralisation of ,louis ,,xiv4 a means of taxation ,under ,louis ,napoleon1 centralisation more powerful than ever ,power of the ,prfet ,courts of ,law tools of the ,executive ,prfet's candidate must succeed ,empire could not sustain a defeat ,loss of aristocracy in ,france ,napoleon estranged ,legitimists by the murder of the ,duc d',enghien ,louis ,philippe attempted to govern through the middle classes ,temporary restoration of aristocratic power under the republic ,overthrown by the second ,empire ,legitimists inferior to their ancestors ,dulness of modern society and books ,effects of competition ,letters in #ahed-e4 ,tocqueville attends the ,academy ,proposed visit to ,germany ,return to ,france ,english adulation of ,louis ,napoleon ,mismanagement of ,crimean ,war ,continental disparagement of ,england ,necessity for a conscription in ,england ,disastrous effects of the war for ,english aristocracy ,peace premature ,journals in #ahee4 ,effects of the ,emperor going to the ,crimea ,prince ,napoleon ,discontent in ,england ,disparagement of ,england ,austria alone profited by ,crimean ,war ,despotism of ,louis ,napoleon consolidated by it ,centralisation in ,algeria ,criticism of ,mr4 ,senior's ,article ,places ,louis ,napoleon too high ,english alliances not dependent on the ,empire ,louis ,napoleon will covet the ,rhine ,childish admiration of ,emperor by ,british public ,real friends of ,england are the friends of her institutions ,extracts from ,mr4 ,senior's ,article4 ,description of political parties ,imperialists ,legitimists ,orleanists ,orleanist-,fusionists form the bulk of the ,royalists ,legitimists unfit for public life ,republican party not to be despised ,parliamentarians ,desire only free institutions ,no public opinion expressed in the ,provinces ,power of ,centralisation ,increased under ,louis ,philippe ,power of the ,prfet ,foreign policy of ,louis ,napoleon ,of former ,french ,sovereigns ,invasion of ,rome prepared in #ahdg ,eastern question1 a legacy from ,louis ,philippe ,fault as an administrator ,mismanagement of the war ,his ,ministers mere clerks ,free institutions may secure his throne ,english ,alliance ,russian influence ,revolutions followed by despotism ,lessons taught by history ,letters in #ahee-f4 ,tocqueville burns his letter ,conversation of ,may #bh ,amusing letters from the ,army ,enjoyment of home ,fall of ,sebastopol ,cost of the war ,russia dangerous to ,europe ,how to restrain her ,progress in the ,east ,no public excitement in ,france ,journal in #ahef4 ,the ',ancien ,rgime' ,master of ,paris1 ,master of ,france ,opposition to ,suez ,canal ,mischievous effect of ,english ,opposition ,expenditure under the ,empire ,effect of ,opposition to the ,suez ,canal ,tripartite ,treaty ',friponnerie' of the ,government ,tripartite ,treaty ,suez ,canal ,french floating batteries ,fortifications of ,malta ,emperor's orders to ,canrobert ,a campaign must be managed on the spot ,letters in #ahef-g4 ,the ',ancien ,rgime' ,king ',bomba' ,american ,rebellion ,lord ,aberdeen on the ,crimean ,war ,eccentricities of ,english public men ,remedy for rise in house-rent ,the rise produced by excessive public works ,dulness of ,paris ,mr4 ,senior's ,journal in ,egypt ,chinese war ,journal in #aheg4 ,flatness of society in ,paris ,dexterity of ,louis ,napoleon ,is maintained by the fear of the ',rouges' ,due de ,nemours' letter ,tocqueville disapproves of contingent promises ,empire rests on the army and the people ,slavery of the ,press ,public speaking in ,france ,english and ,french speakers ,american speakers ,length of speeches ,french public men ,lamartine ,falloux ,foreign ,french ,narvaez and ,kossuth ,french conversers ,montalembert ,monsieur1 ,madame1 and ,mademoiselle ,tu and vous ,feeling respecting heretics ,prejudices of the ,ancien ,rgime ,french poetry ,fashion in ,literature ,montalembert's changes of opinion ,increasing population of ,paris ,its dangerous character ,no right to relief ,sudden influx of workmen ,soldiers likely to side with the people ,lamoricire's heroism ,june #ahdh ,french army ,national characteristics ,change in ,french only apparent ,martin's ,history of ,france ,he is a centraliser and an absolutist ,secret police ,letters in #aheg-h4 ,reception in ,england ,indian ,mutiny ,financial question ,unpopularity of ,england ,law of ,public ,safety ,journal in #aheh4 ,talleyrand as a writer ,english ignorance of ,french affairs ,change of feeling respecting ,louis ,napoleon ',loi de suret publique' ,manner in which it has been carried out ,deportation a slow death ,influence of 'hommes de lettres' ,french army ,russian army ,french navy ,napoleon indifferent to the navy ,mr4 ,senior's ,athens journal ,otho and ,louis ,napoleon ,qualities which obtain influence ,character of ,louis ,napoleon ,tocqueville's comments on the above conversation ,tocqueville on ,novels ,intellectual and moral inferiority of the age ,education of ,french women ',messe d'une heure' ,influence of ,madame ,rcamier ,duchesse de ,dino ,letters in #aheh-i4 ,failing health ,mr4 ,senior's visit to ,sir ,john ,boileau ,promise of ,lord ,stanley ,character of ,guizot ,spectacle afforded by ,english ,politics ,tocqueville at ,cannes ,louis ,napoleon's loss of popularity ,death of ,alexis de ,tocqueville ,grief it occasioned in ,england ,journal at ,tocqueville in #ahfa4 ,madame de ,tocqueville house at ,valognes ,chateau de ,tocqueville ,beaumont on ,italian affairs ,piedmontese unpopular with the lower classes ,popular with the higher classes in ,naples ,influence of ,orsini ,subjection of the ,french ,effect of ,universal ,suffrage ,causes which may overthrow ,louis ,napoleon ,popularity of a war with ,england ,condition of the ,roman people ,different sorts of courage in different nations ,destructiveness of war not found out at first ,effect of service on conscript ,expenditure of ,louis ,napoleon ,forebodings of the ,empress ,prince ,napoleon ,ampre on ,roman affairs ,inquisition ,infidelity ,mortara affair ,torpor of ,roman ,government ,interference with marriages ,ampre expects ,piedmont to take possession of ,rome ,does not think that ,naples will submit to ,piedmont ,wishes of ,naples only negative ,ampre's reading ,execution of three generations ,familiarity with death in #agic ,sanson ,public executioners ,the ',chambre noire' ,violation of correspondence ,toleration of ,ennui ,prisoners of ,state ,m4 and ,madame de ,la ,fayette ,mirabeau and ,la ,fayette ,louis ,,xvi4 and ,marie ,antoinette ,evils of ,democratic despotism ,ignorance and indolence of ',la jeune ,france' ,algeria a ,god-send ,family life in ,france ,moral effect of ,primogeniture ,descent of ,title ,shipwreck off ,gatteville ,ampre reads ',le ,bourgeois ,gentilhomme' ,the modern ,nouveau ,riche ,society under the ,republic ,madame ,rcamier ,chateaubriand and ,madame ,mohl ,ballanche ,extensiveness of ,french literature ,french and ,english poetry ,the ',misanthrope' ,tocqueville's political career ,under ,louis ,philippe in #ahce ,independence ,in #ahci and #ahdj ,opposition to ,guizot ,inaction of ,louis ,philippe ,tocqueville would not submit to be a minister without power ,mistaken independence of party ,could not court popularity ,reform came too late ,faults in the ,constitution ,defence of the ,constitution ,tocqueville wished for a double election of the ,president ,centralisation useful to a usurper ,england in the ,american ,war ,defence of ,england ,politics of a farmer ,wages in ,normandy ,evils of ,universal ,suffrage ,influence of the clergy ,prince ,napoleon ,constitutional monarchy preferable to a republic ,republic preferable to a despotism ,probable gross faults of a republic ,evils of socialist opinions ,mischievous effects of strikes ,mistaken tolerance of them in ,england ,tocqueville's tomb 99 99 99 99 99 ,,appendix4 ,mr4 ,senior's report of ,m4 de ,montalembert's speech in #ahed ,,tocqueville ,,during ,,the ,,empire ,,from ,,december #bc1 #ahea ,,to ,,april #bj1 #aheh4 ,,conversations ,,paris1 #ahea-b4 ,the coup d'tat took place on the #bnd1 and ,mr4 ,senior reached ,paris on the #bast of ,december4--,,ed4 ,paris1 ,december #bc1 #ahea4--;,i dined with ,mrs4 ,grot and drank tea with the ,tocquevilles4 #a',this1' said ,tocqueville1 'is a new phase in our history4 ,every previous revolution has been made by a political party4 ,this is the first time that the army has seized ,france1 bound and gagged her1 and laid her at the feet of its ruler4' ',was not the #ahth fructidor1' ,i said1 'almost a parallel case8 ,then1 as now1 there was a quarrel between the executive and the legislature4 ,the ,directory1 like ,louis ,napoleon1 dismissed the ministers1 in whom the legislature had confidence1 and appointed its own tools in their places1 denounced the legislature to the country1 and flattered and corrupted the army4 ,the legislature tried the usual tactics of parliamentary opposition1 censured the ,government1 and refused the supplies4 ,the ,directory prepared a coup d'tat4 ,the legislature tried to obtain a military force1 and failed2 they planned an impeachment of the ,directory1 and found the existing law insufficient4 ,they brought forward a new law defining the responsibility of the executive1 and the night after they had begun to discuss it1 their halls were occupied by a military force1 and the members of the opposition were seized in the room in which they had met to denounce the treason of the ,directory4' ',so far1' he answered1 'the two events resemble one another4 ,each was a military attack on the legislature by the executive4 ,but the ,directors were the representatives of a party4 ,the ,councils and the greater part of the aristocracy1 and the bourgeoisie1 were ,bonapartists2 the lower orders were ,republican1 the army was merely an instrument2 it conquered1 not for itself1 but for the ,republican party4 ',the #ahth brumaire was nearer to this--for that ended1 as this has begun1 in a military tyranny4 ,but the #ahth brumaire was almost as much a civil as a military revolution4 ,a majority in the ,councils was with ,bonaparte4 ,louis ,napoleon had not a real friend in the ,assembly4 ,all the educated classes supported the #ahth brumaire2 all the educated classes repudiate the #bnd of ,december4 ,bonaparte's ,consular ,chair was sustained by all the lite of ,france4 ,this man cannot obtain a decent supporter4 ,montalembert1 ,baroche1 and ,fould--an ,ultramontane1 a country lawyer1 and a ,jewish banker--are his most respectable associates4 ,for a real parallel you must go back #a1hjj years4' ,i said that some persons1 for whose judgment ,i had the highest respect1 seemed to treat it as a contest between two conspirators1 the ,assembly and the ,president1 and to think the difference between his conduct and theirs to be that he struck first4 ',this1' said ,tocqueville1 ',i utterly deny4 ,he1 indeed1 began to conspire from ,november #aj1 #ahdh4 ,his direct instructions to ,oudinot1 and his letter to ,ney1 only a few months after his election1 showed his determination not to submit to ,parliamentary ,government4 ,then followed his dismissal of ,ministry after ,ministry1 until he had degraded theoffice to a clerkship4 ,then came the semi-regal progress1 then the reviews of ,satory1 the encouragement of treasonable cries1 the selection for all the high appointments in the army of ,paris of men whose infamous characters fitted them to be tools4 ,then he publicly insulted the ,assembly at ,dijon1 and at last1 in ,october1 we knew that his plans were laid4 ,it was then only that we began to think what were our means of defence1 but that was no more a conspiracy than it is a conspiracy in travellers to look for their pistols when they see a band of robbers advancing4 ',m4 ,baze's proposition was absurd only because it was impracticable4 ,it was a precaution against immediate danger1 but if it had been voted1 it could not have been executed4 ,the army had already been so corrupted1 that it would have disregarded the orders of the ,assembly4 ,i have often talked over our situation with ,lamoricire and my other military friends4 ,we saw what was coming as clearly as we now look back to it2 but we had no means of preventing it4' ',but was not your intended law of responsibility1' ,i said1 'an attack on your part8' ',that law1' he said1 'was not ours4 ,it was sent up to us by the ,conseil d'tat which had been two years and a half employed on it1 and ought to have sent it to us much sooner4 ,we thought it dangerous--that is to say1 we thought that1 though quite right in itself1 it would irritate the ,president1 and that in our defenceless state it was unwise to do so4 ,the bureau1 therefore1 to which it was referred refused to declare it urgent3 a proof that it would not have passed with the clauses which1 though reasonable1 the ,president thought fit to disapprove4 ,our conspiracy was that of the lambs against the wolf4 ',though ,i have said1' he continued1 'that he has been conspiring ever since his election1 ,i do not believe that he intended to strike so soon4 ,his plan was to wait till next ,march when the fears of ,may #aheb would be most intense4 ,two circumstances forced him on more rapidly4 ,one was the candidature of the ,prince de ,joinville4 ,he thought him the only dangerous competitor4 ,the other was an agitation set on foot by the ,legitimists in the ,conseils gnraux for the repeal of the law of ,may #ca4 ,that law was his moral weapon against the ,assembly1 and he feared that if he delayed1 it might be abolished without him4' ',and how long1' ,i asked1 'will this tyranny last8' ',it will last1' he answered1 'until it is unpopular with the mass of the people4 ,at present the disapprobation is confined to the educated classes4 ,we cannot bear to be deprived of the power of speaking or of writing4 ,we cannot bear that the fate of ,france should depend on the selfishness1 or the vanity1 or the fears1 or the caprice of one man1 a foreigner by race and by education1 and of a set of military ruffians and of infamous civilians1 fit only to have formed the staff and the privy council of ,catiline4 ,we cannot bear that the people which carried the torch of ,liberty through ,europe should now be employed in quenching all its lights4 ,but these are not the feelings of the multitude4 ,their insane fear of ,socialism throws them headlong into the arms of despotism4 ,as in ,prussia1 as in ,hungary1 as in ,austria1 as in ,italy1 so in ,france1 the democrats have served the cause of the absolutists4 ,may #aheb was a spectre constantly swelling as it drew nearer4 ,but now that the weakness of the ,red party has been proved1 now that #aj1jjj of those who are supposed to be its most active members are to be sent to die of hunger and marsh fever in ,cayenne1 the people will regret the price at which their visionary enemy has been put down4 ,thirty-seven years of liberty have made a free press and free parliamentary discussion necessaries to us4 ,if ,louis ,napoleon refuses them1 he will be execrated as a tyrant4 ,if he grants them1 they must destroy him4 ,we always criticise our rulers severely1 often unjustly4 ,it is impossible that so rash and wrong-headed a man surrounded1 and always wishing to be surrounded1 by men whose infamous character is their recommendation to him1 should not commit blunders and follies without end4 ,they will be exposed1 perhaps exaggerated by the press1 and from the tribune4 ,as soon as he is discredited the army will turn against him4 ,it sympathises with the people from which it has recently been separated and to which it is soon to return4 ,it will never support an unpopular despot4 ,i have no fears therefore for the ultimate destinies of my country4 ,it seems to me that the ,revolution of the #bnd of ,december is more dangerous to the rest of ,europe than it is to us4 ,that it ought to alarm ,england much more than ,france4 ,we shall get rid of ,louis ,napoleon in a few years1 perhaps in a few months1 but there is no saying how much mischief he may do in those years1 or even in those months1 to his neighbours4' ',surely1' said ,madame de ,tocqueville1 'he will wish to remain at peace with ,england4' ',i am not sure at all of that1' said ,tocqueville4 ',he cannot sit down a mere quiet administrator4 ,he must do something to distract public attention2 he must give us a substitute for the political excitement which has amused us during the last forty years4 ,great social improvements are uncertain1 difficult1 and slow2 but glory may be obtained in a week4 ,a war with ,england1 at its beginning1 is always popular4 ,how many thousand volunteers would he have for a pointe on ,london8 ',the best that can happen to you is to be excluded from the councils of the great family of despots4 ,besides1 what is to be done to amuse these #djj1jjj bayonets1 his masters as well as ours8 ,crosses1 promotions1 honours1 gratuities1 are already showered on the army of ,paris4 ,it has already received a thing unheard of in our history--the honours and recompenses of a campaign for the butchery on the ,boulevards4 ,will not the other armies demand their share of work and reward8 ,as long as the civil war in the ,provinces lasts they may be employed there4 ,but it will soon be over4 ,what is then to be done with them8 ,are they to be marched on ,switzerland1 or on ,piedmont1 or on ,belgium8 ,and will ,england quietly look on8' ,our conversation was here interrupted by the entrance of the ,abb ,gioberti1 and of ,sieur ,capponi1 a ,sicilian4 ,paris1 ,december #ca1 #ahea4--;,i dined with the ,tocquevilles and met ,mrs4 ,grote1 ,rivet1 and ,corcelle4 ',the gayest time1' said ,tocqueville1 'that ,i ever passed was in the ,quai d',orsay4 ,the lite of ,france in education1 in birth1 and in talents1 particularly in the talents of society1 was collected within the walls of that barrack4 ',a long struggle was over1 in which our part had not been timidly played2 we had done our duty1 we had gone through some perils1 and we had some to encounter1 and we were all in the high spirits which excitement and dangers shared with others1 when not too formidable1 create4 ,from the courtyard in which we had been penned for a couple of hours1 where the ,duc de ,broglie and ,i tore our chicken with our hands and teeth1 we were transferred to a long sort of gallery1 or garret1 running along through the higher part of the building1 a spare dormitory for the soldiers when the better rooms are filled4 ,those who chose to take the trouble went below1 hired palliasses from the soldiers1 and carried them up for themselves4 ,i was too idle and lay on the floor in my cloak4 ,instead of sleeping we spent the night in shooting from palliasse to palliasse anecdotes1 repartees1 jokes1 and pleasantries4 ,c'tait un feu roulant1 une pluie de bons mots4 ,things amused us in that state of excitement which sound flat when repeated4 ',i remember ,kerrel1 a man of great humour1 exciting shouts of laughter by exclaiming1 with great solemnity1 as he looked round on the floor1 strewed with mattresses and statesmen1 and lighted by a couple of tallow candles1 ,voil donc o en est rduit ce fameux parti de l'ordre4 ,those who were kept au secret1 deprived of mutual support1 were in a very different state of mind2 some were depressed1 others were enraged4 ,bdeau was left alone for twenty-four hours2 at last a man came and offered him some sugar4 ,he flew at his throat and the poor turnkey ran off1 fancying his prisoner was mad4' ,we talked of ,louis ,napoleon's devotion to the ,pope4 ',it is of recent date1' said ,corcelle4 ',in ,january and ,february #ahdi he was inclined to interfere in support of the ,roman ,republic against the ,austrians4 ,and when in ,april he resolved to move on ,rome1 it was not out of any love for the ,pope4 ,in fact1 the ,pope did not then wish for us4 ,he told ,corcelle that he hoped to be restored by ,general ,zucchi1 who commanded a body of ,roman troops in the neighbourhood of ,bologna4 ,no one at that time believed the ,republican party in ,rome to be capable of a serious defence4 ,probably they would not have made one if they had not admitted ,garibaldi and his band two days before we appeared before their gates4' ,i mentioned to ,tocqueville ,beaumont's opinion that ,france will again become a republic4 ',i will not venture1' he answered1 'to affirm1 with respect to any form whatever of government1 that we shall never adopt it2 but ,i own that ,i see no prospect of a ,french republic within any assignable period4 ,we are1 indeed1 less opposed to a republic now than we were in #ahdh4 ,we have found that it does not imply war1 or bankruptcy1 or tyranny2 but we still feel that it is not the government that suits us4 ,this was apparent from the beginning4 ,louis ,napoleon had the merit1 or the luck1 to discover1 what few suspected1 the latent ,bonapartism of the nation4 ,the #ajth of ,december showed that the memory of the ,emperor1 vague and indefinite1 but therefore the more imposing1 still dwelt like an heroic legend in the imaginations of the peasantry4 ,when ,louis ,napoleon's violence and folly have destroyed the charm with which he has worked1 all eyes will turn1 not towards a republic1 but to ,henri ,v4' ',was much money1' ,i asked1 'spent at his election8' ',very little1' answered ,tocqueville4 ',the ex-,duke of ,brunswick lent him #cjj1jjj francs on a promise of assistance as soon as he should be able to afford it2 and ,i suppose that we shall have to perform the promise1 and to interfere to restore him to his duchy2 but that was all that was spent4 ,in fact he had no money of his own1 and scarcely anyone1 except the ,duke1 thought well enough of his prospects to lend him any4 ,he used to sit in the ,assembly silent and alone1 pitied by some members and neglected by all4 ,silence1 indeed1 was necessary to his success4 ,paris1 ,january #bnd1 #aheb4--;,i dined with ,mrs4 ,grote and drank tea with the ,tocquevilles4 ',what is your report1' they asked1 'of the ,president's reception in ,notre ,dame4 ,we hear that it was cold4' ',so1' ,i answered1 'it seemed to me4' ',i am told1' said ,tocqueville1 'that it was still colder on his road4 ,he does not shine in public exhibitions4 ,he does not belong to the highest class of hypocrites1 who cheat by frankness and cordiality4' ',such1' ,i said1 'as ,iago4 ,it is a class of villains of which the specimens are not common4' ',they are common enough with us1' said ,tocqueville4 ',we call them faux bonshommes4 ,h4 was an instance4 ,he had passed a longish life with the character of a frank1 open-hearted soldier4 ,when he became ,minister1 the facts which he stated from the tribune appeared often strange1 but coming from so honest a man we accepted them4 ,one falsehood1 however1 after another was exposed1 and at last we discovered that ,h4 himself1 with all his military bluntness and sincerity1 was a most intrepid1 unscrupulous liar4 ',what is the explanation1' he continued1 'of ,kossuth's reception in ,england8 ,i can understand enthusiasm for a democrat in ,america1 but what claim had he to the sympathy of aristocratic ,england8' ',our aristocracy1' ,i answered1 'expressed no sympathy1 and as to the mayors1 and corporations1 and public meetings1 they looked upon him merely as an oppressed man1 the champion of an oppressed country4' ',i think1' said ,tocqueville1 'that he has been the most mischievous man in ,europe4' ',more so1' ,i said1 'than ,mazzini8 ,more so than ,lamartine8' ,at this instant ,corcelle came in4 ',we are adjusting1' said ,tocqueville1 'the palm of mischievousness4' ',i am all for ,lamartine1' answered ,corcelle2 'without him the others would have been powerless4' ',but1' ,i said1 'if ,lamartine had never existed1 would not the revolution of #ahdh still have occurred8' ',it would have certainly occurred' said ,tocqueville2 'that is to say1 the oligarchy of ,louis ,philippe would have come to an end1 probably to a violent one1 but it would have been something to have delayed it2 and it cannot be denied that ,lamartine's eloquence and courage saved us from great dangers during the ,provisional ,government4 ,kossuth's influence was purely mischievous4 ,but for him1 ,austria might now be a constitutional empire1 with ,hungary for its most powerful member1 a barrier against ,russia instead of her slave4' ',i must put in a word1' said ,corcelle1#b 'for ,lord ,palmerston4 ,if ,lamartine produced ,kossuth1 ,lord ,palmerston produced ,lamartine and ,mazzini and ,charles ,albert--in short1 all the incendiaries whose folly and wickedness have ended in producing ,louis ,napoleon4' ',notwithstanding1' ,i said1 'your disapprobation of ,kossuth1 you joined us in preventing his extradition4' ',we did1' answered ,tocqueville4 ',it was owing to the influence of ,lord ,normanby over the ,president4 ,it was a fine succs de tribune4 ,it gave your ,government and ours an occasion to boast of their courage and of their generosity1 but a more dangerous experiment was never made4 ,you reckoned on the prudence and forbearance of ,austria and ,russia4 ,luckily1 ,nicholas and ,nesselrode are prudent men1 and luckily the ,turks sent to ,st4 ,petersburg ,fuad ,effendi1 an excellent diplomatist1 a much better than ,lamoricire or ,lord ,bloomfield4 ,he refused to see either of them1 disclaimed their advice or assistance1 and addressed himself solely to the justice and generosity of the ,emperor4 ,he admitted that ,russia was powerful enough to seize the refugees1 but implored him not to set such an example1 and--he committed nothing to paper4 ,he left nothing1 and took away nothing which could wound the pride of ,nicholas2 and thus he succeeded4 ',two days after1 came a long remonstrance from ,lord ,palmerston1 which ,lord ,bloomfield was desired to read to ,nesselrode1 and leave with him4 ,a man of the world1 seeing that the thing was done1 would have withheld an irritating document4 ,but ,bloomfield went with it to ,nesselrode4 ,nesselrode would have nothing to say to it4 ,mon ,dieu6 he said1 we have given up all our demands2 why tease us by trying to prove that we ought not to have made them8 ,bloomfield said that his orders were precise4 ,lisez donc1 cried ,nesselrode1 mais il sera trs-ennuyeux4 ,before he had got half through ,nesselrode interrupted him4 ,i have heard all this1 he said1 from ,lamoricire1 only in half the number of words4 ,cannot you consider it as read8 ,bloomfield1 however1 was inexorable4' ,i recurred to a subject on which ,i had talked to both of them before--the tumult of ,january #bi1 #ahdi4 ',george ,sumner1' ,i said1 'assures me that it was a plot1 concocted by ,faucher and the ,president1 to force the ,assembly to fix a day for its dissolution1 instead of continuing to sit until it should have completed the ,constitution by framing the organic laws which1 even on ,december #b last1 were incomplete4 ,he affirms that it was the model which was followed on ,december #b2 that during the night the ,palais ,bourbon was surrounded by troops2 that the members were allowed to enter1 but were informed1 not publicly1 but one by one1 that they were not to be allowed to separate until they had fixed1 or agreed to fix1 the day of their dissolution2 and that under the pressure of military intimidation1 the majority1 which was opposed to such a dissolution1 gave way and consented to the vote1 which was actually carried two days after4' ',no such proposition was made to me1' said ,tocqueville1 'nor1 as far as ,i know1 to anybody else2 but ,i own that ,i never understood ,january #bi4 ,it is certain that the ,palais ,bourbon1 or at least its avenues1 were taken possession of during the night2 that there was a vast display of military force1 and also of democratic force2 that the two bodies remained en face for some time1 and that the crowd dispersed under the influence of a cold rain4' ',i too1' said ,corcelle1 'disbelieve ,sumner's story4 ,the question as to the time of dissolution depended on only a few votes1 and though it is true that it was voted two days after1 ,i never heard that the military demonstration of ,january #bi accelerated the vote4 ,the explanation which has been made to me is one which ,i mentioned the other day1 namely1 that the ,president complained to ,changarnier1 who at that time commanded the army of ,paris1 that due weight seemed not to be given to his #f1jjj1jjj votes1 and that the ,assembly appeared inclined to consider him a subordinate power1 instead of the ,chef d'tat1 to whom1 not to the ,assembly1 the nation had confided its destinies4 ,in short1 that the ,president indicated an intention to make a coup d'etat1 and that the troops were assembled by ,changarnier for the purpose of resisting it1 if attempted1 and at all events of intimidating the ,president by showing him how quickly a force could be collected for the defence of the ,assembly4' ,sunday1 ,january #d4--;,i dined with the ,tocquevilles alone4 ,the only guest1 ,mrs4 ,grote1 who was to have accompanied me1 being unwell4 ',so enormous1' said ,tocqueville1 'are the advantages of ,louis ,napoleon's situation1 that he may defy any ordinary enemy4 ,he has1 however1 a most formidable one in himself4 ,he is essentially a copyist4 ,he can originate nothing2 his opinions1 his theories1 his maxims1 even his plots1 all are borrowed1 and from the most dangerous of models--from a man who1 though he possessed genius and industry such as are not seen coupled1 or indeed single1 once in a thousand years1 yet ruined himself by the extravagance of his attempts4 ,it would be well for him if he would utterly forget all his uncle's history4 ,he might then trust to his own sense1 and to that of his advisers4 ,it is true that neither the one nor the other would be a good guide1 but either would probably lead him into fewer dangers than a blind imitation of what was done fifty years ago by a man very unlike himself1 and in a state of society both in ,france and in the rest of ,europe1 very unlike that which now exists4' ,lanjuinais and ,madame ,b41 a relation of the family1 came in4 ,lanjuinais had been dining with ,kissileff the ,russian ,minister4 ,louis ,napoleon builds on ,russian support1 in consequence of the marriage of his cousin1 the ,prince de ,lichtenstein1 to the ,emperor's daughter4 ,he calls it an alliance de famille1 and his organs the ',constitutionnel' and the ',patrie' announced a fortnight ago that the ,emperor had sent to him the ,order of ,st4 ,andrew1 which is given only to members of the ,imperial family1 and an autograph letter of congratulation on the coup d'tat4 ,kissileff says that all this is false1 that neither ,order nor letter has been sent1 but he has been trying in vain to get a newspaper to insert a denial4 ,it will be denied1 he is told1 when the proper moment comes4 ',it is charming1' said ,madame de ,tocqueville1 'to see the ,emperor of ,russia1 like ourselves1 forced to see his name usurped without redress4' ,madame ,b4 had just seen a friend who left his country-house1 and came to ,paris without voting1 and told those who consulted him that1 in the difficulties of the case1 he thought abstaining was the safest course4 ,immediately after the poll was over the ,prefect sent to arrest him for malveillance1 and he congratulated himself upon being out of the way4 ,one of ,edward de ,tocqueville's sons came in soon after2 his brother1 who is about seventeen1 does duty as a private1 has no servant1 and cleans his own horse2 and is delighted with his new life4 ,that of our young cavalry officers is somewhat different4 ,he did not hear of the coup d'tat till a week after it had happened4 ',our regiments1' said ,lanjuinais1 'are a kind of convents4 ,the young men who enter them are as dead to the world1 as indifferent to the events which interest the society which they have left1 as if they were monks4 ,this is what makes them such fit tools for a despot4' ,thursday1 ,january #h1 #aheb4--;,from ,sir ,henry ,ellis's ,i went to ,tocqueville's4 #c';,in this darkness1' he said1 'when no one dares to print1 and few to speak1 though we know generally that atrocious acts of tyranny are perpetrated everyday1 it is difficult to ascertain precise facts1 so ,i will give you one4 ,a young man named ,hypolite ,magin1 a gentleman by birth and education1 the author of a tragedy eminently successful called ,spartacus1 was arrested on the #bnd of ,december4 ,his friends were told not to be alarmed1 that no harm was intended to him1 but rather a kindness2 that as his liberal opinions were known1 he was shut up to prevent his compromising himself by some rash expression4 ,he was sent to ,fort ,bictre1 where the casemates1 miserable damp vaults1 have been used as a prison1 into which about #c1jjj political prisoners have been crammed4 ,his friends became uneasy1 not only at the sufferings which he must undergo in five weeks of such an imprisonment in such weather as this1 but lest his health should be permanently injured4 ,at length they found that he was there no longer3 and how do you suppose that his imprisonment has ended8 ,he is at this instant at sea in a convict ship on his way to ,cayenne--untried1 indeed unaccused--to die of fever1 if he escape the horrors of the passage4 ,who can say how many similar cases there may be in this wholesale transportation8 ,how many of those who are missing and are supposed to have died at the barricades1 or on the ,boulevards1 may be among the transports1 reserved for a more lingering death6' ,a proclamation to-day from the ,prefect de ,police orders all persons to erase from their houses the words ',libert1' 'galit1' and ',fraternit' on pain of being proceeded against administrativement4 ',there are1' said ,tocqueville1 'now three forms of procedure3 judiciairement1 militairement and administrativement4 ,under the first a man is tried before a court of law1 and1 if his crime be grave1 is sentenced to one or two years' imprisonment4 ,under the second he is tried before a drumhead court-martial1 and shot4 ,under the third1 without any trial at all1 he is transported to ,cayenne or ,algiers4' ,i left ,paris next day4 ,footnote #a3 ,i was not able to resist retaining this conversation in the ,journals in ,france4--,,ed4 ,footnote #b3 ,it must be remembered that ,m4 de ,corcelle is an ardent ,roman ,catholic4--,,ed4 ,footnote #c3 ,this conversation was also retained in the ,journals in ,france4--,,ed4 ,,correspondence4 ,kensington1 ,january #e1 #aheb4 ,my dear ,tocqueville1--,a private messenger has just offered himself to me1 a ,mr4 ,esmeade1 who will return in about a fortnight4 ,the debate on ,tuesday night on the ,palmerston question was very satisfactory to the ,government4 ,lord ,john's speech was very well received--,lord ,palmerston's very ill2 and though the constitution of the present ,ministry is so decidedly unhealthy that it is dangerous to predict any length of life to it1 yet it looks healthier than people expected4 ,it may last out the ,session4 ,the feeling with respect to ,louis ,napoleon is stronger1 and it tends more to unanimity every day4 ,the ,orleans confiscation has1 ,i think1 almost too much weight given to it4 ,after his other crimes the mere robbery of a single family1 ruffian-like as it is1 is a slight addition4 ,i breakfasted with ,v4 yesterday4 ,he assures me that it is false that a demand of twenty millions1 or any other pecuniary demand whatever1 has been made in ,belgium4 ,nor has anything been said as to the demolition of any fortresses1 except those which were agreed to be dismantled in #ahcb1 and which are unimportant4 ,the feeling of the people in ,belgium is excellent4 ,mr4 ,banfield1 who has just returned from the ,prussian provinces1 says the same with respect to them--and ,bunsen assures me that his ,government will perish rather than give up a foot of ground4 ,i feel better hopes of the preservation of peace4 ,thiers and ,duvergier de ,hauranne are much fts1 as will be the case with all the exiles4 ,i have been reading ,fiquelmont4 ,he is deeply steeped in all the btises of the commercial1 or rather the anti-commercial school2 and holds that the benefit of commerce consists not1 as might have been supposed1 in the things which are imported1 but in those which are exported4 ,these follies1 however1 are not worth reading2 but his constitutional theories--his belief1 for instance1 that ,parliamentary ,government is the curse of ,europe--are curious4 ,the last number of the ',edinburgh ,review' contains an article on ,reform well worth reading4 ,it is by ,greg4 ,he wrote an admirable article in1 ,i think1 the ,april number1 on ,alton ,locke and the ,english ,socialists1 and has also written a book1 which ,i began to-day1 on the ,creed of ,christendom4 ,i have long been anxious to get somebody to do what ,i have not time to do1 to look impartially into the evidences of ,christianity1 and report the result4 ,this book does it4 ,lord ,normanby does not return to ,paris1 as you probably know4 ,no explanation is given1 but it is supposed to be in compliance with the ,president's wishes4 ,i have just sent to the press for the ',edinburgh ,review1' an article on ,tronson du ,coudray#a and the #ahth fructidor1 which you will see in the ,april number4 ,the greater part of it was written this time last year at ,sorrento4 ,gladstone has published a new ,neapolitan pamphlet1 which ,i will try to send you4 ,it is said to demolish ,king ,ferdinand4 ,kindest regards to ,madame de ,tocqueville4 ,we hope that you will come to us as soon as it is safe4 ,ever yours1 ,n4,w4 ,,senior4 ,p4,s4 and very private4--,i have seen a communication from ,schwartzenberg to ,russia and ,prussia1 of the #aith ,december1 the doctrine of which is that ,louis ,napoleon has done a great service by putting down parliamentaryism4 ,that in many respects he is less dangerous than the ,orleans1 or elder branch1 because they have parliamentary leanings4 ,that no alteration of the existing parties must be permitted--and that an attempt to assume an hereditary crown should be discouraged--but that while it shows no aggressive propensities the policy of the ,continent ought to be to countenance him1 and isoler l',angleterre1 as a foyer of constitutional1 that is to say1 anarchical1 principles4 ,bunsen tells me that in ,october his ,king was privately asked whether he was ready to destroy the ,prussian ,constitution--and that he peremptorily refused4 ,look at an article on the personal character of ,louis ,napoleon in the ',times' of ,monday4 ,it is by ,r----1 much built out of my conversation and ,z4's letters4 ,i have begged ,mr4 ,esmeade to call on you--you will like him4 ,he is a nephew of ,sir ,john ,moore4 #b,kensington1 ,march #ai1 #aheb4 ,my dear ,tocqueville1--,i was very glad to see your hand again--though there is little in ,french affairs on which liberals can write with pleasure4 ,ours are become very interesting4 ,lord ,john's declaration1 at the meeting the other day in ,chesham ,place1 that he shall introduce a larger reform1 and surround himself with more advanced adherents1 and ,lord ,derby's1 on ,monday1 that he is opposed to all democratic innovation1 appear to me to have changed the position of parties4 ,the question at issue is no longer ,free-trade or ,protection4 ,protection is abandoned4 ,it is dead1 never to revive4 ,instead of it we are to fight for ,democracy1 or ,aristocracy4 ,i own that my sympathies are with ,aristocracy3 ,i prefer it to either ,monarchy or ,democracy4 ,i know that it is incident to an aristocratic government that the highest places shall be filled by persons chosen not for their fitness but for their birth and connections1 but ,i am ready to submit to this inconvenience for the sake of its freedom and stability4 ,i had rather have ,malmesbury at the ,foreign ,office1 and ,lord ,derby first ,lord of the ,treasury1 than ,nesselrode or ,metternich1 appointed by a monarch1 or ,cobden or ,bright1 whom ,i suppose we should have under a republic4 ,but above all1 ,i am for the winning horse4 ,if ,democracy is to prevail ,i shall join its ranks1 in the hope of making its victory less mischievous4 ,i wish1 however1 that the contest had not been forced on4 ,we were very well1 before ,lord ,john brought in his ,reform ,bill1 which nobody called for1 and ,i am not at all sure that we shall be as well after it has passed4 ,as to the immediate prospects of the ,ministry1 the next three weeks may change much1 but it seems probable that they will be forced to dissolve in ,april1 or the beginning of ,may1 that the new ,parliament will meet in ,july1 and that they will be turned out about the end of ,august4 ,and that this time next year we shall be discussing ,lord ,john's new ,reform ,bill4 ,i doubt whether our fears of invasion are exaggerated4 ,at this instant1 without doubt1 ,louis ,napoleon is thinking of nothing but the ,empire2 and is kind to ,belgium1 and pacific to ,switzerland in the hope of our recognition4 ,but ,i heard yesterday from ,lord ,hardinge that #be1jjj men are at ,cherbourg1 and that #be1jjj more are going there--and that a large sum is devoted to the navy4 ,we know that he governs en conspirateur1 and this is likely to extend to his foreign as well as his civil relations4 ,i see a great deal of ,thiers1 who is very agreeable and very triste4 ',l'exil1' he says1 'est trs-dur4' ,rmusat seems to bear it more patiently4 ,we hear that we are to have ,cousin4 ,what are your studies in the ,bibliothque ,royale8 ,i have begun to read ,bastide1 and intend to make the publication of my lectures on ,political ,economy my principal literary pursuit4 ,i delivered the last on ,monday4 ,i shall pass the first fifteen days of ,april in ,brussels1 with my old friend ,count ,arrivabene1 #g ,boulevard du ,rgent4 99 99 99 99 99 ,ever yours1 ,n4,w4 ,,senior4 ,march #be1 #aheb4 ,i send you1 my dear ,senior1 an introduction to ,lamoricire4 ,this letter will be short3 you know that ,i do not write at any length by the post4 ,it will contain nothing but thanks for your long and interesting letter brought by ,rivet1 who returned delighted with the ,english in general1 and with you in particular4 ,i see that the disturbed state of politics occasioned by ,sir ,robert ,peel's policy1 is passing away1 and that your political world is again dividing itself into the two great sects1 one of which tries to narrow1 the other to extend1 the area of political power--one of which tries to lift you into aristocracy1 the other to depress you into democracy4 ,the political game will be simpler4 ,i can understand better the conservative policy of ,lord ,derby than the democratic one of ,lord ,john ,russell4 ,as the friends of free-trade are more numerous than those of democracy1 ,i think that it would have been easier to attack the ,government on its commercial than on its political illiberality4 ,then in this great nation1 called ,europe1 similar currents of opinions and feelings prevail1 different as may be the institutions and characters of its different populations4 ,we see over the whole continent so general and so irresistible a reaction against democracy1 and even against liberty1 that ,i cannot believe that it will stop short on our side of the ,channel2 and if the ,whigs become ,radical1 ,i shall not be surprised at the permanence in ,england of a ,tory ,government allied to foreign despots4 ,but ,i ought not to talk on such matters1 for ,i live at the bottom of a well1 seeing nothing1 and regretting that it is not sufficiently closed above to prevent my hearing anything4 ,your visions of #be1jjj troops at ,cherbourg1 to be followed by #be1jjj more1 are mere phantoms4 ,there is nothing of the kind1 and there will be nothing4 ,i speak with knowledge1 for ,i come from ,cherbourg4 ,i have been attending an extraordinary meeting of our ,conseil gnral on the subject of a projected railway4 ,my reception touched and delighted me4 ,i was unanimously1 and certainly freely1 elected president4 99 99 99 99 99 ,a4 ,,de ,,tocqueville4 ,friday evening1 ,april #ag1 #aheb4 ,my dear ,tocqueville1--,my letter is not likely to be a very amusing one1 for ,i begin it on the dullest occasion and in the dullest of towns1 namely at ,ostend1 while waiting for the packet-boat which is to take me to ,london4 ,a thousand thanks for your letter to ,lamoricire4 ,he was very kind to me1 and ,i hope hereafter1 in ,paris or in ,london1 to improve the acquaintance4 ,i saw no other ,french in ,brussels4 ,the most interesting conversation that ,i had was with the ,king4 ,i found him convinced that the decree annexing ,belgium to ,france had been drawn up1 and that it was the interference of ,nicholas1 and his expression of a determination not to suffer the existing temporal limits to be altered1 that had occasioned it to be withdrawn4 ,i am happy1 however1 to think1 as you also appear to think1 that your great man is now intent on peaceful triumphs4 ,he would scarcely have created such a mass of speculative activity in ,france if he intended suddenly to check it by war4 ,i hope that by the time ,masters in ,chancery are abolished1 ,i shall find ,france intersected by a network of railroads and run from ,paris to ,marseilles in a day4 ,i venture to differ from you as to the probable progress of reaction in ,england4 ,i see no symptom of it2 on the contrary1 democracy seems to me to continue its triumphant march without a check4 ,the ,protectionists are in power1 they take for their leader in the ,house of ,commons a man without birth or connection1 merely because he is a good speaker4 ,this could not have been done even ten years ago4 ,they bow to the popular will as to free-trade1 and acknowledge that1 even if they have a majority in the ,houses of ,lords and ,commons1 they will not venture to re-impose a ,corn-law if the people do not ask for it4 ,never was such a homage paid to the world 'without doors4' ,then ,lord ,john says that he objects to the ,ballot1 because those who have no votes have a right to know how those who have votes use them4 ,the example of the ,continent will not affect us1 or if it do affect us1 will rather strengthen our democracy4 ,we are not accustomed to copy1 and shall treat the reaction in ,france1 ,austria1 and ,prussia rather as a warning than as a model4 ,i suspect that ,lord ,john1 who1 though not1 ,i think1 a very wise statesman1 is a clever tactician1 takes the same view that ,i do1 and has selected ,reform for his platform1 believing it to be a strong one4 ,we were delighted with ,rivet1 and hope that he will soon come again4 ,lamoricire tells me that he is going to take the waters of ,aix-la-,chapelle1 but1 if his exile continues1 will probably come to ,england next year4 ,kindest regards to ,madame de ,tocqueville4 ,ever yours1 ,n4,w4 ,,senior4 ,kensington1 ,april #cj1 #aheb4 ,my dear ,tocqueville1--,a thousand thanks for your letter4#c ,i saw ,m4 de ,lamoricire three times1 and had a glimpse of ,madame de ,l4 who seemed very pleasing4 ,i was delighted with his spirit and intelligence1 but understand the criticism that he is soldatesque4 ,i had a long and very interesting conversation with the ,king1 and saw much of my excellent friends ,arrivabene and ,quetelet4 ,but after all ,brussels is not ,paris4 ,i was more than ever struck by the ugliness of the country and the provincialness of the society4 ,i returned on ,april #ah1 sprained my ancle on the #aith1 and have been on my back ever since4 ,i have spent the time in looking through ,fonfrde1 who is a remarkable writer1 and makes some remarkable prophecies1 in finishing ,grote's ninth and tenth volumes1 in reading ,kenrick's ',ancient ,egypt1' which is worth studying1 and in reading through ,horace1 whom ,i find that ,i understand much better after my ,roman experience4 ,i differ from you as to the chances of reaction in this country4 ,i believe that we are still travelling the road which you have so well mapped out1 which leads to democracy4 ,our extreme gauche1 which we call the ,manchester ,school1 employs its whole efforts in that direction4 ,it has great energy1 activity1 and combination4 ,the duties of ,parliament and of ,government have become so onerous1 and the facing our democratic constituencies is so disagreeable1 and an idle life of society1 literature1 art1 and travelling has become so pleasant1 that our younger aristocracy seem to be giving up politics1 and hence you hear the universal complaint that there are no young men of promise in public life4 ,the ,house of ,commons is full of middle-aged lawyers1 merchants1 manufacturers1 and country-gentlemen1 who take to politics late in life1 without the early special training which fitted for it the last generation4 ,i fear that the time may come when to be in the ,house of ,commons may be thought a bore1 a somewhat vulgar spouting club1 like the ,marylebone ,vestry1 or the ,city of ,london ,common ,council4 ,i do not know whether ,lord ,derby has gained much in the last four months1 but ,lord ,john has certainly lost4 ,his ,reform ,bill was a very crude gchis1 without principle1 and ,i think very mischievous4 ,i ventured to say nearly as much to ,lord ,lansdowne1 who sat by my sofa for an hour on ,sunday1 and he did not take up its defence4 ,then his opposition to the present ,ministry has been factious1 and to punish him1 he was left the other day in a minority of fifty per cent4 ,people begin now to speculate on the possibility of ,lord ,derby's reconstructing his minority on rather a larger basis1 and maintaining himself for three or four years2 which1 in these times1 is a good old age for a ,minister4 ,one admirable result of these changes is the death of ,protection4 ,those who defended it in opposition are found to abandon it now they are in power4 ,so it has not a friend left4 ,pray send me word1 by yourself or by ,mrs4 ,grote1 when you leave ,paris4 ,my vacation begins on ,may #h1 but ,i shall not move unless ,i recover the use of my legs1 nor then ,i think1 if ,i find that you will be absent4 ,kindest regards to ,madame de ,tocqueville4 ,ever yours1 ,n4,w4 ,,senior4 ,paris1 ,november #ac1 #aheb4 ,i am unlucky1 my dear ,senior1 about your letters of introduction4 ,you know how much ,i have wished and tried to make the acquaintance of ,lord and ,lady ,ashburton1 but without success4 ,i should also1 ,i am sure1 have had great pleasure in meeting ,mr4 ,greg4 ,this time ,i was prevented by ill health4 99 99 99 99 99 ,two or three months ago1 ,i wrote to you from the country a letter which was addressed to ,kensington4 ,did you receive it8 and if so1 why have you not answered it8 ,i wrote upon politics1 but especially ,i asked you about yourselves1 your occupations and projects1 some questions to which ,i was very anxious to have answers4 ,at any rate1 do now what you ought to have done then--write to me4 ,i do not now write about politics1 because we do not talk1 or at least write about them in ,france any more than in ,naples2 besides1 such subjects are not suitable to an invalid4 ,i will only tell you1 as important and authentic pieces of information1 that the new court ladies have taken to trains and little pages1 and that the new courtiers hunt the stag with their master in the ,forest of ,fontainebleau in dresses of the time of ,louis ,,xiv4 and cocked hats4 ,good-bye6 ,heaven preserve you from the mistakes which lead to revolutions1 and from the revolutions which lead to masquerades4 ,a thousand kind regards4 ,a4 ,,de ,,tocqueville4 ,london1 ,december #d1 #aheb4 ,my dear ,tocqueville1--,your letter of ,november #ac is1 ,i think1 the first that ,i have received from you since ,march4 ,that which you addressed to me at ,kensington1 two months ago1 did not reach me4 ,i have written to you one or two2 ,i do not know with what success4 ,i grieve to hear of rheumatism and pleurisy4 ,you say nothing of ,madame de ,tocqueville1 whence ,i hope that ,i may infer that she1 at least1 is well4 ,we have all been flourishing4 ,we passed the vacation in ,wales and ,ireland1 and brought back a curious journal1#d which ,i hope to send or bring to you4 ,i do not think that ,i shall venture to ,paris at ,christmas1 though ,ellice and ,thiers are trying to persuade me4 ,i have too vivid a recollection of the fog1 cold1 and dirt of last year2 but ,i fully resolve to be with you at ,easter--that is1 about ,march #bd4 ,the present ,government1 with all its want of principle and truth1 and with all its want of experience1 is doing much better than ,i expected4 ,the law reforms are far bolder than any that my friends ever proposed1 and the budget1 which was brought forward last night1 contains more that is good1 and less that is bad1 than was hoped or feared4 ,its worst portion is the abolition of half the malt tax1 which leaves all the expense of collection undiminished1 besides being a removal of a tax on a luxury which ,i do not wish to see cheaper4 ,it is probable1 however1 that the doubling of the house tax will be rejected1 in which case ,disraeli will probably retain the malt tax1 and the budget will sink into a commonplace one4 ,the removal of certain burdens on navigation and the change in the income tax are thought good1 and generally the ,government has gained by the budget4 ,i am now inclined to think that it may last for some months longer--perhaps for some years4 ,in the meantime we are in a state of great prosperity3 high wages1 great accumulation of capital1 low prices of consumable articles1 and high prices of stocks and land4 ,ever yours1 ,n4,w4 ,,senior4 ,february #bg1 #ahec4 ,my dear ,tocqueville1--,i profit by ,sir ,h4 ,ellis's visit to write1 not venturing to trust the post4 ,we are grieved to hear that both you and ,madame de ,tocqueville have been suffering4 ,we have borne this disagreeable winter better than perhaps we had a right to expect2 but still we have suffered4 ,mrs4 ,grote tells me that you rather complain that the ,english newspapers approve of the marriage2#e a marriage which you all disapprove4 ,the fact is that we like the marriage precisely because you dislike it4 ,we are above all things desirous that the present tyranny should end as quickly as possible4 ,it can end only by the general alienation of the ,french people from the tyrant2 and every fault that he commits delights us1 because it is a step towards his fall4 ,to say the truth1 ,i wonder that you do not take the same view1 and rejoice over his follies as leading to his destruction4 ,our new ,government is going on well as yet4 ,as the ,opposition has turned law reformers1 we expect law reform to go on as rapidly as is consistent with the slowly-innovating temper of the ,english4 ,large measures respecting charities1 education1 secondary punishments1 and the transfer of land are in preparation1 and the ,chancellor of the ,exchequer is at work on the difficult--,i suspect the insoluble--problem of an equitable income tax4 ,i foresee1 however1 a rock ahead4 ,this is reform of the constituencies4 ,lord ,john ,russell1 very sillily1 promised two years ago a new ,reform ,bill4 ,still more sillily he introduced one last year1 and was deservedly turned out for it4 ,still more sillily the present ,government has accepted his responsibility1 and is pledged to bring in a measure of reform next year4 ,i have been trying to persuade them to pave the way by a ,commission of ,inquiry1 being certain that the facts on which we ought to agitate are imperfectly known4 ,but ,lord ,john is unfavourable1 and the other ,ministers do not venture to control the leader of the ,house of ,commons4 ,there will1 therefore1 be no previous inquiry2 at least only the indirect one which the ,government can make for itself4 ,the measure will be concocted in secrecy1 will be found open to unforeseen objections2 it will be thrown out in the ,house1 and will excite no enthusiasm in the country4 ,if the ,government dissolve1 the new ,parliament will probably be still more opposed to it than the present ,parliament will be2 and the ,government1 being beaten again1 will resign4 ,such is my prophecy4 ,prenez en acte1 and we will talk it over in ,may #ahed4 ,i hope to be in ,paris either for the ,easter or for the ,whitsun vacation--that is1 either about the #bdth of ,march or the #eth of ,may next--and ,i trust to find you and ,madame de ,tocqueville1 if not quite flourishing1 at least quite convalescent4 ,ever yours1 ,n4,w4 ,,senior4 ,footnote #a3 ,republished in the ,biographical ,sketches4 ,longmans3 #ahfc4--;,,ed4 ,footnote #b3 ,the letter to which this is an answer is not to be found1--,,ed4 ,footnote #c3 ,this letter is not to be found4--,,ed4 ,footnote #d3 ,published in #ahfh4--;,,ed4 ,footnote #e3 ,that of the ,emperor4--,,ed4 ,,conversations4 ,paris1 ,may #i1ahec4--;,i drank tea with the ,tocquevilles4 ,neither of them is well4 ,in ,february they were caught1 on their journey from ,tocqueville to ,paris1 by the bitter weather of the beginning of that month4 ,it produced rheumatism and then pleurisy with him1 and inflammation of the bowels with her2 and both are still suffering from the effects either of the disorder or of the remedies4 ,in the summer ,paris will be too hot and ,tocqueville too damp4 ,so they have taken a small house at ,st4 ,cyr1 about a mile from ,tours1 where they hope for a tolerable climate1 easy access to ,paris1 and the use of the fine library of the cathedral4 ,he entered eagerly on the ,eastern question1 and agreed on all points with ,faucher2 admitted the folly and rashness of the ,french1 but deplored the over-caution which had led us to refuse interference1 at least effectual interference1 and to allow ,turkey to sink into virtual subservience to ,russia4 ,paris1 ,tuesday1 ,may #ag4--,tocqueville and ,i stood on my balcony1 and looked along the ,rue de ,rivoli and the ,place de la ,concorde1 swarming with equipages1 and on the well-dressed crowds in the gardens below4 ,from the height in which we were placed all those apparently small objects1 in incessant movement1 looked like a gigantic ant-hill disturbed4 ',i never1' said ,tocqueville1 'have known ,paris so animated or apparently so prosperous4 ,much is to be attributed to the saving of the four previous years4 ,the parsimony of the ,parisians ended in #ahej2 but the parsimony of the provinces1 always great1 and in unsettled times carried to actual avarice1 lasted during the whole of the ,republic4 ,commercial persons tell me that the arrival of capital which comes up for investment from the provinces deranges all their calculations4 ,it is like the sudden burst of vegetation which you have seen during the last week4 ,we have passed suddenly from winter to summer4 ',i own1' he continued1 'that it fills me with alarm4 ,among the innumerable schemes that are afloat1 some must be ill-founded1 some must be swelled beyond their proper dimensions1 and some may be mere swindles4 ,the city of ,paris and the ,government are spending #aej1jjj1jjjl4 in building in ,paris4 ,this is almost as much as the fortifications cost4 ,it has always been said1 and ,i believe with truth1 that the revolutionary army of #ahdh was mainly recruited from the #dj1jjj additional workmen whom the fortifications attracted from the country1 and left without employment when they were finished4 ,when this enormous extra-expenditure is over1 when the ,louvre1 and the new rue de ,rivoli1 and the ,halles1 and the street that is to run from the ,htel de ,ville to the northern boundary of ,paris1 are completed--that is to say1 when a city has been built out of public money in two or three years--what will become of the mass of discharged workmen8 ',what will become of those on the railways if they are suddenly stopped1 as yours were in #ahdf8 ,what will be the shock if the ,crdit ,foncier or the ,crdit ,mobilier fail1 after having borrowed each its milliard8 ,everything seems to me to be preparing for one of your panics1 and the ,government has so identified itself with the state of prosperity and state of credit of the country that a panic must produce a revolution4 ,the ,government claims the merit of all that is good1 and of course is held responsible for all that is bad4 ,if we were to have a bad harvest1 it would be laid to the charge of the ,emperor4 ',of course1' he continued1 ',i do not desire the perpetuation of the present tyranny4 ,its duration as a dynasty ,i believe to be absolutely impossible1 except in one improbable contingency--a successful war4 ',but though1 ,i repeat1 ,i do not desire or expect the permanence of the ,empire1 ,i do not wish for its immediate destruction1 before we are prepared with a substitute4 ,the agents which are undermining it are sufficiently powerful and sufficiently active to occasion its fall quite as soon as we ought to wish for that fall4' ',and what1' ,i said1 'are those agents8' ',the principal agents1' he answered1 'are violence in the provinces and corruption in ,paris4 ,since the first outbreak there has not been much violence in ,paris4 ,you must have observed that freedom of speech is universal4 ,in every private society1 and even in every caf hatred or contempt of the ,government are the main topics of conversation4 ,we are too numerous to be attacked4 ,but in the provinces you will find perfect silence4 ,anyone who whispers a word against the ,emperor may be imprisoned1 or perhaps transported4 ,the prefects are empowered by one of the decrees made immediately after the coup d'tat to dissolve any ,conseil communal in which there is the least appearance of disaffection1 and to nominate three persons to administer the commune4 ,in many cases this has been done1 and ,i could point out to you several communes governed by the prefect's nominees who cannot read4 ,in time1 of course1 tyranny will produce corruption2 but it has not yet prevailed extensively in the country1 and the cause which now tends to depopularise him there is arbitrary violence exercised against those whom his agents suppose to be their enemies4 ',on the other hand1 what is ruining him in ,paris is not violence1 but corruption4 ',the ,french are not like the ,americans2 they have no sympathy with smartness4 ,nothing so much excites their disgust as friponnerie4 ,the main cause that overthrew ,louis ,philippe was the belief that he and his were fripons--that the representatives bought the electors1 that the ,minister bought the representatives1 and that the ,king bought the ,minister4 ',now1 no corruption that ever prevailed in the worst periods of ,louis ,,xv41 nothing that was done by ,la ,pompadour or the ,du ,barry resembles what is going on now4 ,duchtel1 whose organs are not over-acute1 tells me that he shudders at what is forced on his notice4 ,the perfect absence of publicity1 the silence of the press and of the tribune1 and even of the bar--for no speeches1 except on the most trivial subjects1 are allowed to be reported--give full room for conversational exaggeration4 ,bad as things are1 they are made still worse4 ,now this we cannot bear4 ,it hurts our strongest passion--our vanity4 ,we feel that we are exploits by ,persigny1 ,fould1 and ,abbattucci1 and a swarm of other adventurers4 ,the injury might be tolerated1 but not the disgrace4 ',every ,government in ,france has a tendency to become unpopular as it continues4 ,if you were to go down into the street1 and inquire into the politics of the first hundred persons whom you met1 you would find some ,socialists1 some ,republicans1 some ,orleanists1 c41 but you would find no ,louis ,napoleonists4 ,not a voice would utter his name without some expression of contempt or detestation1 but principally of contempt4 ',if then things take their course--if no accident1 such as a fever or a pistol-shot1 cut him off--public indignation will spread from ,paris to the country1 his unpopularity will extend from the people to the army1 and then the first street riot will be enough to overthrow him4' ',and what power1' ,i said1 'will start up in his place8' ',i trust1' answered ,tocqueville1 'that the reins will be seized by the ,senate4 ,those who have accepted seats in it excuse themselves by saying1 ,a time may come when we shall be wanted4 ,probably the ,corps ,lgislatif will join them2 and it seems to me clear that the course which such bodies will take must be the proclamation of ,henri ,v4' ',but what1' ,i said1 'would be the consequences of the pistol-shot or the fever8' ',the immediate consequence1' answered ,tocqueville1 'would be the installation of his successor4 ,jrme would go to the ,tuileries as easily as ,charles ,x4 did1 but it would precipitate the end4 ,we might bear ,louis ,napoleon for four or five years1 or ,jrme for four or five months4' ',it has been thought possible1' ,i said1 'that in the event of the ,jrme dynasty being overset by a military revolution1 it might be followed by a military usurpation2 that ,nero might be succeeded by ,galba4' ',that1' said ,tocqueville1 'is one of the few things which ,i hold to be impossible4 ,nero may be followed by another attempt at a ,republic1 but if any individual is to succeed him it must be a prince4 ,mere personal distinction1 at least such as is within the bounds of real possibility1 will not give the sceptre of ,france4 ,it will be seized by no one who cannot pretend to an hereditary claim4 ',what ,i fear1' continued ,tocqueville1 'is that when this man feels the ground crumbling under him1 he will try the resource of war4 ,it will be a most dangerous experiment4 ,defeat1 or even the alternation of success and failure1 which is the ordinary course of war1 would be fatal to him2 but brilliant success might1 as ,i have said before1 establish him4 ,it would be playing double or quits4 ,he is by nature a gambler4 ,his self-confidence1 his reliance1 not only on himself1 but on his fortune1 exceeds even that of his uncle4 ,he believes himself to have a great military genius4 ,he certainly planned war a year ago4 ,i do not believe that he has abandoned it now1 though the general feeling of the country forces him to suspend it4 ,that feeling1 however1 he might overcome2 he might so contrive as to appear to be forced into hostilities2 and such is the intoxicating effect of military glory1 that the ,government which would give us that would be pardoned1 whatever were its defects or its crimes4 ',it is your business1 and that of ,belgium1 to put yourselves into such a state of defence as to force him to make his spring on ,italy4 ,there he can do you little harm4 ,but to us ,frenchmen the consequences of war must be calamitous4 ,if we fail1 they are national loss and humiliation4 ,if we succeed1 they are slavery4' ',of course1' ,i said1 'the corruption that infects the civil service must in time extend to the army1 and make it less fit for service4 ',of course it must1' answered ,tocqueville4 ',it will extend still sooner to the navy8 ,the matriel of a force is more easily injured by jobbing than the personnel4 ,and in the navy the matriel is the principal4 ',our naval strength has never been in proportion to our naval expenditure1 and is likely to be less and less so every year1 at least during every year of the rgne des fripons4' ,tuesday1 ,may #bd4--;,i breakfasted with ,sir ,henry ,ellis and then went to ,tocqueville's4 ,i found there an elderly man1 who did not remain long4 ,when he went1 ,tocqueville said1 ',that is one of our provincial prefects4 ,he has been describing to us the state of public feeling in the ,south4 ,contempt for the present ,government1 he tells us1 is spreading there from its headquarters1 ,paris4 ',if the ,corps ,lgislatif is dissolved1 he expects the ,opposition to obtain a majority in the new ,house4 ',this1' continued ,tocqueville1 'is a state of things with which ,louis ,napoleon is not fit to cope4 ,opposition makes him furious1 particularly ,parliamentary opposition4 ,his first impulse will be to go a step further in imitation of his uncle1 and abolish the ,corps ,lgislatif1 as ,napoleon did the ,tribunat4 ',but nearly half a century of ,parliamentary life has made the ,french of #ahec as different from those of #ahjc as the nephew is from his uncle4 ',he will scarcely risk another coup d'tat2 and the only legal mode of abolishing1 or even modifying1 the ,corps ,lgislatif is by a plbiscite submitted by ballot to universal suffrage4 ',will he venture on this8 ,and if he do venture1 will he succeed8 ,if he fail1 will he not sink into a constitutional sovereign1 controlled by an ,assembly far more unmanageable than we deputies were1 as the ,ministers are excluded from it8' ',will he not rather1' ,i said1 'sink into an exile8' ',that is my hope1' said ,tocqueville1 'but ,i do not expect it quite so soon as ,thiers does1' ,,correspondence4 ,st4 ,cyr1 ,july #b1 #ahec4 ,i am not going to talk to you1 my dear ,senior1 about the ,emperor1 or the ,empress1 or any of the august members of the ,imperial ,family2 nor of the ,ministers1 nor of any other public functionaries1 because ,i am a well-disposed subject who does not wish that the perusal of his letters should give pain to his ,government4 ,i shall write to you upon an historical problem1 and discuss with you events which happened five hundred years ago4 ,there could not be a more innocent subject4 ,i have followed your advice1 and ,i have read1 or rather re-read1 ,blackstone4 ,i studied him twenty years ago4 ,each time he has made upon me the same impression4 ,now1 as then1 ,i have ventured to consider him 7if one may say so without blasphemy7 an inferior writer1 without liberality of mind or depth of judgment2 in short1 a commentator and a lawyer1 not what we understand by the words jurisconsulte and publiciste4 ,he has1 too1 in a degree which is sometimes amusing1 a mania for admiring all that was done in ancient times1 and for attributing to them all that is good in his own4 ,i am inclined to think that1 if he had had to write1 not on the institutions1 but on the products of ,england1 he would have discovered that beer was first made from grapes1 and that the hop is a fruit of the vine--rather a degenerate product1 it is true1 of the wisdom of our ancestors1 but as such worthy of respect4 ,it is impossible to imagine an excess more opposite to that of his contemporaries in ,france1 for whom it was enough that a thing was old for it to be bad4 ,but enough of ,blackstone2 he must make way for what ,i really want to say to you4 ,in comparing the feudal institutions in ,england in the period immediately after the conquest with those of ,france1 you find between them1 not only an analogy1 but a perfect resemblance1 much greater than ,blackstone seems to think1 or1 at any rate1 chooses to say4 ,in reality1 the system in the two countries is identical4 ,in ,france1 and over the whole ,continent1 this system produced a caste2 in ,england1 an aristocracy4 ,how is it that the word gentleman1 which in our language denotes a mere superiority of blood1 with you is now used to express a certain social position1 and amount of education1 independent of birth2 so that in two countries the same word1 though the sound remains the same1 has entirely changed its meaning8 ,when did this revolution take place8 ,how1 and through what transitions8 ,have no books ever treated of this subject in ,england8 ,have none of your great writers1 philosophers1 politicians1 or historians1 ever noticed this characteristic and pregnant fact1 tried to account for it1 and to explain it8 ,if ,i had the honour of a personal acquaintance with ,mr4 ,macaulay1 ,i should venture to write to ask him these questions4 ,in the excellent history which he is now publishing he alludes to this fact1 but he does not try to explain it4 ,and yet1 as ,i have said before1 there is none more pregnant1 nor containing within it so good an explanation of the difference between the history of ,england and that of the other feudal nations in ,europe4 ,if you should meet ,mr4 ,macaulay1 ,i beg you to ask him1 with much respect1 to solve these questions for me4 ,but tell me what you yourself think1 and if any other eminent writers have treated this subject4 ,you must think me1 my dear friend1 very tiresome with all these questions and dissertations2 but of what else can ,i speak8 ,i pass here the life of a ,benedictine monk1 seeing absolutely no one1 and writing whenever ,i am not walking4 ,i expect this cloistered life to do a great deal of good both to my mind and body4 ,do not think that in my convent ,i forget my friends4 ,my wife and ,i constantly talk of them1 and especially of you and of our dear ,mrs4 ,grote4 ,i am reading your ,,mss41#a which interest and amuse me extremely4 ,they are my relaxation4 ,i have promised ,beaumont to send them to him as soon as ,i have finished them4 ,st4 ,cyr1 ,december #h1 #ahec4 ,i must absolutely write to you to-day1 my dear ,senior4 ,i have long been wishing to do so1 but have been deterred by the annoyance ,i feel at not being able to discuss with you a thousand subjects as interesting to you as they are to me1 but which one cannot mention in a letter2 for letters are now less secret than ever1 and to insist upon writing politics to our friends is equivalent to their not hearing from us at all4 ,but ,i may1 at any rate1 without making the police uneasy1 assure you of the great pleasure with which we heard that you intended paying us a little visit next month4 ,there is an excellent hotel at ,tours1 where you will find good apartments2 for the rest1 ,i hope that you will make our house your inn4 ,we are near enough to ,tours for me to walk there and back1 and we regulate our clocks by the striking of theirs2 so you see that it is difficult to be nearer4 ,i think that it is a capital idea of yours to visit ,french ,africa4 ,the country is curious in itself1 also on account of the contrasts afforded by the different populations which spread over the land without ever mixing4 ,you will find them materials for some of those excellent and interesting articles which you write so well4 ,when you come ,i shall be able to give you some useful information1 for ,i have devoted much attention to ,algiers4 ,i have here a long report which ,i drew up for the ,chamber in #ahdf1 which may give you some valuable ideas1 though things have considerably changed since that time4 ,kind remembrances1 c41 ,a4 ,,de ,,tocqueville4 ,the following are some more of ,mrs4 ,grote's interesting notes4 ,she preceded ,mr4 ,senior at ,st4 ,cyr4--,,ed4 ,the notes relating to ,st4 ,cyr are memoranda of various conversations which ,i enjoyed during a stay of some ten days or so at ,tours1 in ,february #ahed1 with ,monsieur ,alexis de ,tocqueville4 ,i occupied an apartment in the hotel at ,tours1 and on almost every day passed some hours in the company of this interesting friend1 who at this time lived at ,st4 ,cyr1 in a commodious country-house having its garden1 c1 which he rented4 ,i drove out to dine there frequently1 and ,m4 de ,tocqueville walked over on the intervening days and stayed an hour or two at the hotel with me talking incessantly4--,h4,g4 ,st4 ,cyr1 ,february #ac1 #ahed1--,the ,french allow no author to have a claim to the highest rank unless he joins the perfection of style with the instructiveness of his matter4 ,only four first-rate writers in the eighteenth century--grands crivains1 comme grands penseurs originaux2 these being ,montesquieu1 ,voltaire1 ,j4,j4 ,rousseau1 and ,buffon4 ,helvetius not en premire ligne1 because his forme was not up to the mark4 ,alexis himself is often hung up for days together1 having the thoughts1 yet not hitting off the 'phrases' in a way to satisfy his critical ear as to style4 ,thinks that when a man is capable of originating a belle pense1 he ought to be also capable of clothing that thought in felicitous language4 ,thinks that a torpid state of political life is unfavourable to intellectual product in general4 ,i instanced the case of ,louis ,,xiv4 as contradicting this4 ,not admitted by ,tocqueville4 ,the civil wars of ,louis ,,xiv4's reign had engendered considerable activity in the minds of the educated class4 ,this activity generated speculation and scientific inquiry in all the departments of human thoughts4 ,abstract ideas became the field on which thinkers occupied themselves4 ,no practical outlet under despotism1 but a certain social fermentation nevertheless existing1 and the want of making itself a vent impelled intellectual life and writings4 ,i instanced ,louis ,,xv4 ',at least1' ,i said1 'the torpor of political life was become yet more a habit1' ',yes1' said ,alexis1 'but then there was the principle of discontent very widely diffused1 which was the germ of the revolution of #aghi4 ,this restless1 disaffected state of the national mind gave birth to some new forms of intellectual product1 tending to rather more distinct practical results1 which filtered down among the middle classes1 and became the objects of their desires and projects4' ,rousseau and ,voltaire eminently serviceable in leading the public sentiment towards the middle of the eighteenth century4 ,english writers and statesmen having always enjoyed the power of applying their minds to actual circumstances1 and of appealing through a free press and free speech also to the public of their day1 have never addressed themselves1 as ,french philosophers did1 to the cultivation of abstract speculations and general theories4 ,here and there a writer has been thrown1 by his individual tastes and turn of thought1 upon the study of political philosophy2 but the ,englishman1 taken as a public writer1 commonly addresses himself to practical legislation rather than to recondite studies or logical analysis and investigation of the relations between mankind and their regulations under authorised powers4 ,since ,lord ,bacon there have been few1 excepting in our later times ,mill1 ,bentham1 and his disciples1 who have explored the metaphysics of jurisprudence and moral science in ,england4 ,hume dealt in the philosophic treatment of political subjects1 but did not work them up into anything like a coherent system4 ,english are not fond of generalities1 but get on by their instincts1 bit by bit1 as need arises4 ,alexis thinks that the writers of the period antecedent to the revolution of #aghi were quite as much thrown up by the condition of public sentiment as they were the exciters of it4 ,nothing comprehensive1 in matters of social arrangement1 can be effected under a state of things like that of ,england2 so easy there for a peculiar grievance to get heard1 so easy for a local or class interest to obtain redress against any form of injustice1 that legislation must be 'patching4' ,next to impossible to reorganise a community without a revolution4 ,alexis has been at work for about a year in rummaging amid archives1 partly in those of the capital1 partly in those of the ,touraine4 ,in this last town a complete collection is contained of the records of the old ',intendance1' under which several provinces were governed4 ,nothing short of a continuous and laborious poring over the details of ,government furnished by these invaluable paperasses could possibly enable a student of the past century to frame to himself any clear conception of the working of the social relations and authorities in old ,france4 ,there exists no such tableau4 ,the manners of the higher classes and their daily life and habits are well portrayed in heaps of memoirs1 and even pretty well understood by our contemporaries4 ,but the whole structure of society1 in its relations with the authorised agents of supreme power1 including the pressure of those secondary obligations arising out of coutumes du pays1 is so little understood as to be scarcely available to a general comprehension of the old ,french world before #aghi4 ,alexis says that the reason why the great upheaving of that period has never been to this day sufficiently appreciated1 never sufficiently explained1 is because the actual living hideousness of the social details and relations of that period1 seen from the points of view of a penetrating contemporary looker-on1 has never yet been depicted in true colours and with minute particulars4 ,after having dived into the social history of that century1 as ,i have stated1 his conviction is that it was impossible that the revolution of #aghi should not burst out4 ,cause and effect were never more irrevocably associated than in this terrible case4 ,nothing but the compulsory idleness and obscurity into which ,alexis has been thrown since ,december #ahea would have put even him upon the researches in question4 ,few perhaps could have addressed themselves to the task with such remarkable powers of interpretation1 and with such talents for exploring the connection between thought and action as he is endowed with4 ,also he is singularly exempt from aristocratical prejudices1 and quite capable of sympathising with popular feeling1 though naturally not partial to democracy4 ,february #ae4--;,de ,tocqueville came down in close carriage and sat an hour and a half by fireside4 ,weather horrible4 ,talked of ,la ,marck's book on ,mirabeau2#b said that the line ,mirabeau pursued was perfectly well known to ,frenchmen prior to the appearance of ,la ,marck's book2 but that the actual details were of course a new revelation1 and highly valued accordingly4 ,asked what we thought of it in ,england4 ,i told him the leading impression made by the book was the clear perception of the impossibility of effecting any good or coming to terms in any manner of way of the revolutionary leaders with such a ,court4 ,that we also had long suspected ,mirabeau of being what he was now proved to have been--a man who1 imbued though he was with the spirit of revolutionary action and the conviction of the rightfulness of demanding prodigious changes1 yet who would willingly have directed the monarch in a method of warding off the terrible consequences of the storm1 and who would1 if the ,court had confided to his hands the task of conciliating the popular feelings1 have perhaps preserved the forms of monarchy while affording the requisite concessions to the national demands4 ,but the ,court was so steeped in the old sentiment of divine right1 and moreover so distrustful of ,mirabeau's honour and sagacity 7the more so as he was insatiable in his pecuniary requisitions71 that they would never place their cause frankly in his hands1 nor indeed in anyone else's who was capable of discerning their best interests4 ,lafayette was regarded as an enemy almost 7and was 'jaloused' by ,mirabeau as being so popular7 on account of his popular sympathies4 ,de ,tocqueville said that so diffused was the spirit of revolution at the period preceding the convocation of the tats-gnraux1 that the elder ,mirabeau1 who was a very clever and original-minded man1 though strongly tinctured with the old feudal prejudices1 nevertheless let the fact be seen in the clearest manner in his own writings4 ,he wrote many tracts on public topics1 and ,de ,tocqueville says that the tone in which ,mirabeau 7pre7 handles these proves that he was perfectly cognisant of the universal spread of revolutionary opinions1 and even in some degree influenced by them in his own person4 ,mirabeau 7the son7 was so aware of the absolute necessity of proclaiming himself emancipated from the old feudalities1 that1 among other extravagances of his conduct1 he started as a shopkeeper at ,marseilles for some time1 by way of fraternizing with the bourgeoisie2 affiching his liberalism4 ,de ,tocqueville quoted ,napoleon as saying in one of his conversations at ,st4 ,helena that he had been a spectator from a window of the scene at the ,tuileries1 on the famous ,august #aj1 #agib1 and that it was his conviction 7,napoleon's7 that1 even at that stage1 the revolution might have been averted--at least1 the furious character of it might have been turned aside--by judicious modes of negotiation on the part of the ,king's advisers4 ,de ,tocqueville does not concur in ,napoleon's opinion4 ',cahiers1' published #aghi1 contain the whole body of instructions supplied to their respective delegates by the trois tats 7clerg1 noblesse1 et ,tiers tat71 on assembling in convocation4 ,of this entire and voluminous collection 7which is deposited in the archives of ,france7 three volumes of extracts are to be bought which were a kind of rdig of the larger body of documents4 ,in these three volumes ,de ,tocqueville mentioned1 one may trace the course of the public sentiment with perfect clearness4 ,each class demanded a large instalment of constitutional securities2 the nobles perhaps demanded the largest amount of all the three4 ,nothing could be more thoroughgoing than the requisitions which the body of the noblesse charged their delegates to enforce in the ,assembly of the tats-gnraux--'galisations des charges 7taxation71 responsabilit des ministres1 indpendance des tribunaux1 libert de la personne1 garantie de la proprit contre la couronne1' a balance-sheet annually of the public expenses and public revenue1 and1 in fact1 all the salient privileges necessary in order to enfranchise a community weary of despotism4 ,the clergy asked for what they wanted with equal resolution1 and the bourgeoisie likewise2 but what the nobles were instructed to demand was the boldest of all4 ,we talked of the letters of the writers of the eighteenth century1 and of the correspondence of various eminent men and women with ,david ,hume1 which ,mr4 ,hill ,burton has published in a supplementary volume in addition to those comprised in his life of ,david ,hume1 and which ,i have with me4 ,i said that the works of ,hume being freely printed and circulated caused great pleasure to the ,french men of letters1 mingled with envy at the facility enjoyed by the ,englishman of publishing anything he chose2 the ,french writers being debarred1 owing to the importunity of the clergy with ,louis ,,xv41 from publishing freely their works in ,france1 and only managing to get themselves printed by employing printers at the ,hague1 ,amsterdam1 and other towns beyond the limits of the kingdom4 ,to my surprise1 ,de ,tocqueville replied that this disability1 so far from proving disadvantageous to the esprits forts of the period1 and the encyclopaedic school1 was a source of gain to them in every respect4 ,every book or tract which bore the stamp of being printed at the ,hague or elsewhere1 out of ,france1 was speedily caught up and devoured4 ,it was a passport to success4 ,everyone knowing that1 since it was printed there1 it must be of a nature to give offence to the ruling powers1 and especially to the priesthood1 and as such1 all who were imbued with the new opinions were sure to run after books bearing this certificate of merit4 ,de ,tocqueville said that the savans of #agfj-aghi would not have printed in ,france1 had they been free to do so1 at the period immediately preceding the accession of ,louis ,,xvi4 ,talked of ,lafayette3 said he was as great as pure1 good intentions and noble instincts could make a man2 but that he was d'un esprit mdiocre1 and utterly at a loss how to turn affairs to profit at critical junctures--never knew what was coming1 no political foresight4 ,mistake in putting ,louis ,philippe on the throne sans garantie in #ahcj2 misled by his own disinterested character to think better of public men than he ought to have done4 ,great personal integrity shown by ,lafayette during the ,empire1 and under the ,restoration3 not to be cajoled by any monarch4 ,february #af4--,the current fallacy of ,napoleon having made the important alterations in the laws of ,france4 ,all the eminent new enactments originated in the ,constituent ,assembly1 only that they set to work in such sledgehammer fashion1 that the carrying out their work became extremely troublesome and difficult4 ,too abstract in their notions to estimate difficulties of detail in changing the framework of jurisprudence4 ,de ,tocqueville said philosophers must always originate laws1 but men used to active practical life ought to undertake to direct the transition from old to new arrangements4 ,the ,constituent ,assembly did prodigious things in the way of clearing the ground of past abominations4 ,napoleon had the talent of making their work take effect2 understood administrative science1 but rendered the centralising principle far too predominant1 in the view to consolidate his own power afterwards4 ,france has felt this1 to her cost1 ever since4 ,habit formerly 7i4e4 #cjj years back7 as prevalent in ,france as it is in ,england of gentlemen of moderate fortune residing wholly or by far the greater part of the year on their estates4 ,they ceased to do so from the time when the sovereign took from them all local authority1 from the fifteenth century or so4 ,the ,french country-houses were excessively thickly dotted over the land even up to the year #afjj2 quantities pulled down after that period4 ,country life becoming flat after the gentlemen ceased to be of importance in their political relations with their districts1 they gave up rural habits and took to living in the provincial towns4 ,de ,tocqueville had many conversations with ,m4 ,royer ,collard respecting the events of #aghi4 ,difficult to get much out of men of our period relative to their own early manhood4 ,his own father 7now #hb7 much less capable of communicating details of former rgime than might have been supposed4 ,because1 says ,de ,tocqueville1 youths of eighteen to twenty hardly ever possess the faculty or the inclination to note social peculiarities4 ,they accept what they find going1 and scarcely give a thought to the contemplation of what is familiar to them and of every day's experience4 ,royer ,collard was a man of superior mind3 had a great deal to relate4 ,de ,tocqueville used to pump him whenever an opportunity occurred4 ,knew ,danton well1 used to discuss political affairs with him4 ,when revolution was fairly launched1 saw him occasionally4 ,danton was venal to the last degree2 received money from the ,court over and over again2 'agitated1' and was again sopped by the agents of ,marie ,antoinette4 ,when matters grew formidable 7in #agia7 ,royer ,collard was himself induced to become an agent or go-between of the ,court for buying up ,danton4 ,he sought an opportunity1 and after some prefatory conversations ,royer ,collard led ,danton to the point4 ',no1' said ,danton1 ',i cannot listen to any such suggestions now4 ,times are altered4 ,it is too late4 ',nous le dtrnerons et puis nous le tuerons1' added he in an emphatic tone4 ,royer ,collard of course gave up the hope of succeeding4 ,danton's passion for a young girl1 whom he married1 became his ruin4 ,while he was honeymooning it by some river's margin1 ,robespierre got the upper hand in the ,assembly1 and caused him to be seized--mis en jugement--and soon afterwards guillotined4 ,the woman did not know1 it is affirmed1 that it was ,danton who set the massacres of #agib agoing2 she thought him a good-hearted man4 ,he set all his personal enemies free out of their prisons prior to the commencement of the massacres2 wishing to be able to boast of having spared his enemies1 as a proof that he was actuated by no ignoble vengeance1 but only by a patriotic impulse4 ,he was a low1 mean-souled fanatic1 who had no clear conception of what he was aiming at1 but who delighted in the horrid excitement prevailing around him4 ,it was ,tallien who had the chief share in the deposition of ,robespierre and the transactions of the #ith thermidor4 ,madame ,tallien was then in prison1 and going to be executed in a few days 7she was not yet married to ,tallien then74 ,she wrote1 by stealth of course1 a few emphatic words1 with a toothpick and soot wetted1 to ,tallien which nerved him to the conflict1 and she was saved4 ,talleyrand told ,de ,tocqueville she was beyond everything captivating1 beautiful1 and interesting4 ,she afterwards became the mistress of ,barras1 and finally married the ,prince de ,chimay4 ,de ,tocqueville has been at ,vor1 ,helvetius' chteau in ,la ,perche--a fine place1 and ,helvetius lived en seigneur there4 ,a grand-daughter of ,helvetius married ,m4 de ,rochambeau1 uncle1 by mother's side1 of ,alexis3 so that the great-grandchildren are ,de ,tocqueville's first cousins4 ,in the ',souvenirs' of ,m4 ,berryer 7pre7 he describes the scene of the #ith thermidor1 in which he was actively concerned in the interest of the ,convention1 and saw ,robespierre borne past him with his shattered jaw along the ,quai ,pelletier4 ,also went to the terrace of the ,tuileries gardens to assure himself that ,robespierre was really executed the next day2 heard the execrations and shouts which attended his last moments1 but did not stay to witness them4 ,release of the ,duchess of ,st4 ,aignan1 under sentence of death1 by his father4 ,february #ah4--;,a4 de ,tocqueville came to see me1 and we walked out for half-an-hour4 ,he said he had now spent over eight months in a seclusion such as he had never experienced in his whole life4 ,that1 partly his own debilitated health1 partly the impaired state of his wife's general powers 7nervous system inclusive71 partly the extreme aversion he felt for public affairs and the topics of the day connected with politics2 all these considerations had determined him upon withdrawing himself from society for a certain space1 and that to a considerable distance from all his friends and relations4 ,a physician1 also of widely extended fame 7,dr4 ,brittonneau71 happening to reside close to where they have lodged themselves1 formed an additional link in the chain of motives for settling themselves at ,tours4 ,m4 de ,tocqueville had some misgivings at first as to whether1 after passing twenty years in active public life1 and in the frequent society of men who occupied the most distinguished position in the political world1 as well as of others not less eminent in that of letters2 whether1 he said1 the monotony and stillness of his new mode of life would not be too much for his spirits and render his mind indolent and depressed4 ',but1' said he1 ',i have been agreeably reassured4 ,i have come to regard society as a thing which ,i can perfectly well do without4 ,i desire nothing better than to occupy myself1 as ,i have been doing1 with the composition of a work which ,i am in hopes will travel over somewhat other than beaten ground4 ,i have found many materials for my purpose in this spot1 and the pursuit has got hold of me to a degree which renders intellectual labour a source of pleasure2 and ,i prosecute it steadily1 unless when my health is out of order2 which1 happily1 does not occur so frequently since the last three or four months4 ,my wife's company serves to encourage me in my work1 and to cheer me in every respect1 since an entire sympathy subsists between us1 as you know2 we seem to require no addition1 and our lives revolve in the most inflexible routine possible4 ,i rise at half-past five1 and work seriously till half-past nine2 then dress for djener at ten4 ,i commonly walk half-an-hour afterwards1 and then set to on some other study--usually of late in the ,german language--till two ,p4,m41 when ,i go out again and walk for two hours1 if weather allows4 ,in the evenings ,i read to amuse myself1 often reading aloud to ,madame de ,tocqueville1 and go to bed at ten ,p4,m4 regularly every night4' ',sometimes1' said ,de ,tocqueville1 ',i reflect on the difference which may be discerned between the amount of what a man can effect by even the most strenuous and well-directed efforts1 whether as a public servant or as a leading man in political life1 and what a writer of impressive books has it in his power to effect4 ,it is true that a man of talent and courage may acquire a creditable position1 may exercise great influence over other individuals engaged in the same career1 and may enjoy a certain measure of triumphant success in cases where he can put out his strength4 ,at the same time it strikes me that the best of these exaggerates immensely the amount of good which he has been able to effect4 ,i look back upon prodigiously vivid passages in various public men's lives1 in this century1 with a melancholy reflection of how little influence their magnificent efforts have really exercised over the march of human affairs4 ,a man is apt to believe he has done great things when his hearers and contemporaries are strongly affected1 either by a powerful speech1 or an animated address1 or an act of opportune courage1 or the like4 ,but1 if we investigate the positive amount of what the individual has effected in the way of bettering or advancing the general interests of mankind1 by personal exertion on the public stage1 ,i regret to say ,i can find hardly an instance of more than a transient1 though beneficial1 flash of excitement produced on the public mind4 ,i do not here speak of men invested with great power--princes1 prime ministers1 popes1 generals and the like4 ,of course they produce lasting traces of their power1 whether it be for good or evil2 and1 indeed1 individuals have on their side considerable power to work mischief1 though not often to work good4 ,i begin to think that a man not invested with a considerable amount of political power can do but little good by slaving at the oar of independent political action4 ,now1 on the contrary1 what a vast effect a writer can produce1 when he possesses the requisite knowledge and endowments6 ,in his cabinet1 his thoughts collected1 his ideas well arranged1 he may hope to imprint indelible traces on the line of human progress4 ,what orator1 what brilliant patriot at the tribune1 could ever effect the extensive fermentation in a whole nation's sentiments achieved by ,voltaire and ,jean ,jacques8 ',i have certainly seen reason to change some of my views on social facts1 as well as some reasonings founded on imperfect observation4 ,but the fond of my opinions can never undergo a change--certain irrevocable maxims and propositions must constitute the basis of thinking minds4 ,how such changes can come about as ,i have lived to see in some men's states of opinion is to me incomprehensible4 ,lafayette was foolish enough to give his support to certain conspiracies--certainly to that of ,bfort's1 in ,alsace4 ,what folly6 to seek to upset a despotism by the agency of the soldiery1 in the nineteenth century6' ,h4 ,,grote4 ,footnote #a3 ,mr4 ,senior's ,journals4--,,ed4 ,footnote #b3 ,see ,royal and ,republican ,france1 by ,h4 ,reeve ,esq4 vol4 i4--,,ed4 ,,conversations ,,with ,,mr4 ,,senior4 ,st4 ,cyr1 ,tuesday1 ,february #ba1 #ahed4a--,on the #bjth ,i left ,paris for ,le ,trsorier1 a country-house in the village of ,st4 ,cyr1 near ,tours1 which the ,tocquevilles have been inhabiting for some months4 ,it stands in a large enclosure of about fifteen acres1 of which about ten are orchard and vineyard1 and the remainder are occupied by the house1 stables1 and a large garden4 ,the house has a great deal of accommodation1 and they pay for it1 imperfectly furnished1 #c1jjj francs a year1 and keep up the garden1 which costs about #ejj francs more1 being one man at one and a-half francs a day4 ,this is considered dear2 but the sheltered position of the house1 looking south1 and protected by a hill to the north-east1 induced the ,tocquevilles to pay for it about #a1jjj francs more than its market value4 ,i will throw together the conversations of ,february #bb and #bc4 ,they began by my giving to him a general account of the opinions of my friends in ,paris4 ',i believe1' said ,tocqueville1 'that ,i should have found out many of your interlocutors without your naming them4 ,i am sure that ,i should ,thiers1 ,duvergier1 ,broglie1 and ,rivet2 perhaps ,faucher--certainly ,cousin4 ,i translate into ,french what you make them say1 and hear them speak4 ,i recognise ,dumon and ,lavergne1 but ,i should not have discovered them4 ,the conversation of neither of them has the marked1 peculiar flavour that distinguishes that of the others4 ,you must recollect1 however1 that some of your friends knew1 and most of the others must have suspected1 that you were taking notes4 ,thiers speaks evidently for the purpose of being reported4 ,to be sure that shows what are the opinions that men wish to be supposed to entertain1 and they often betray what they think that they conceal4 ,still it must be admitted that you had not always the natural man4' ',i am sorry1' he added1 'that you have not penetrated more into the salons of the ,legitimists4 ,you have never got further than a ,fusionist4 ,the ,legitimists are not the ,russians that ,thiers describes them4 ,still less do they desire to see ,henri ,v4 restored by foreign intervention4 ,they and their cause have suffered too bitterly for having committed that crime1 or that fault1 for them to be capable of repeating it4 ,they are anti-national so far as not to rejoice in any victories obtained by ,france under this man's guidance4 ,but ,i cannot believe that they would rejoice in her defeat4 ,they have been so injured in their fortunes and their influence1 have been so long an oppressed caste--excluded from power1 and even from sympathy--that they have acquired the faults of slaves--have become timid and frivolous1 or bitter4 ',they have ceased to be anxious about anything but to be let alone4 ,but they are a large1 a rich1 and comparatively well-educated body4 ,your picture is incomplete without them1 et il sera toujours trs-difficile de gouverner sans eux4#b ,i quite agree1' he continued1 'with ,thiers as to the necessity of this war4 ,your interests may be more immediate and greater1 but ours are very great4 ,when ,i say ours1 ,i mean those of ,france as a country that is resolved to enjoy constitutional government4 ,i am not sure that if ,russia were to become mistress of the ,continent she would not allow ,france to continue a quasi-independent despotism under her protectorate4 ,but she will never willingly allow us to lie powerful and free4 ',i sympathise1 too1 with ,thiers's fears as to the result4 ,i do not believe that ,napoleon himself1 with all his energy1 and all his diligence1 and all his intelligence1 would have thought it possible to conduct a great war to which his ,minister of ,war was opposed4 ,a man who has no heart in his business will neglect it1 or do it imperfectly4 ,his first step would have been to dismiss ,st4-,arnaud4 ,then1 look at the other two on whose skill and energy we have to depend4 ,one is ,ducos1 ,minister of ,marine1 a man of mere commonplace talents and character4 ,the other is ,binneau1 ,minister of ,finance1 somewhat inferior to ,ducos4 ,binneau ought to provide resources4 ,he ought to check the preposterous waste of the ,court4 ,he has not intelligence enough to do the one1 or courage enough to attempt the other4 ,the real ,prime ,minister is without doubt ,louis ,napoleon himself4 ,but he is not a man of business4 ,he does not understand details4 ,he may order certain things to be done1 but he will not be able to ascertain whether the proper means have been taken4 ,he does not know indeed what these means are4 ,he does not trust those who do4 ,a war which would have tasked all the powers of ,napoleon1 and of ,napoleon's ,ministers and generals1 is to be carried on without any master-mind to direct it1 or any good instruments to execute it4 ,i fear some great disaster4 ',such a disaster might throw1' he continued1 'this man from the eminence on which he is balanced1 not rooted4 ,it might produce a popular outbreak1 of which the anarchical party might take advantage4 ,or1 what is perhaps more to be feared1 it might frighten ,louis ,napoleon into a change of policy4 ,he is quite capable of turning short round--giving up everything--key of the ,grotto1 protectorate of the orthodox1 even the ,dardanelles and the ,bosphorus--to ,nicholas1 and asking to be repaid by the ,rhine4 ',i cannot escape from the cauchemar that a couple of years hence ,france and ,england may be at war4 ,nicholas's expectations have been deceived1 but his plan was not unskilfully laid4 ,he had a fair right to conjecture that you would think the dangers of this alliance such as to be even greater than those of allowing him to obtain his protectorate4 ',in deciding otherwise1 you have taken the brave and the magnanimous course4 ,i hope that it may prove the successful one4 ',i am sorry1' continued ,tocqueville1 'to see the language of your newspapers as to the fusion4 ,i did not choose to take part in it4 ,i hate to have anything to do with pretenders4 ,but as a mere measure of precaution it is a wise one4 ,it decides what shall be the conduct of the ,royalist party in the event--not an improbable one--of ,france being suddenly left without a ruler4 ',your unmeasured praise of ,louis ,napoleon and your unmeasured abuse of the ,bourbons are1 to a certain degree1 the interference in our politics which you professedly disclaim4 ,i admit the anti-,english prejudices of the ,bourbons1 and ,i admit that they are not likely to be abated by your alliance with a ,bonaparte4 ,but the opinions of a constitutional sovereign do not1 like those of a despot1 decide the conduct of his country4 ,the country is anxious for peace1 and1 above all1 peace with you--for more than peace1 for mutual good-feeling4 ,the ,bourbons cannot return except with a constitution4 ,it has become the tradition of the family1 it is their title to the throne4 ,there is not a vieille marquise in the ,faubourg ,st4-,germain who believes in divine right4 ',the higher classes in ,france are ,bourbonists because they are ,constitutionalists1 because they believe that constitutional monarchy is the government best suited to ,france1 and that the ,bourbons offer us the fairest chance of it4 ',among the middle classes there is without doubt much inclination for the social equality of a ,republic4 ,but they are alarmed at its instability2 they have never known one live for more than a year or two1 or die except in convulsions4 ',as for the lower classes1 the country people think little about politics1 the sensible portion of the artizans care about nothing but cheap and regular work2 the others are ,socialists1 and1 next to the government of a ,rouge ,assembly1 wish for that of a ,rouge despot4' ',in ,london1' ,i said1 'a few weeks ago ,i came across a ,french ,socialist1 not indeed of the lower orders--for he was a ,professor of ,mathematics--but participating in their feelings4 ,i prefer1 he said1 a ,bonaparte to a ,bourbon--a ,bonaparte must rely on the people1 one can always get something out of him4 ,what have you got1 ,i asked1 from this man8 ,a great deal1 he answered4 ,we got the ,orleans confiscation--that was a great step4 ,il portait attente la proprit4 ,then he represents the power and majesty of the people4 ,he is like the people1 above all law4 ,les ,bourbons nous chicanaient4' ',that was the true faith of a ,rouge1' said ,tocqueville ',if this man1' he added1 'had any self-control1 if he would allow us a very moderate degree of liberty1 he might enjoy a reign--probably found a dynasty4 ,he had everything in his favour2 the prestige of his name1 the acquiescence of ,europe1 the dread of the ,socialists1 and the contempt felt for the ,republicans4 ,we were tired of ,louis ,philippe4 ,we remembered the branche ane only to dislike it1 and the ,assembly only to despise it4 ,we never shall be loyal subjects1 but we might have been discontented ones1 with as much moderation as is in our nature4' ',what is the nuance1' ,i said1 'of ,g----8' ',g----1' answered ,tocqueville1 'is an honest man1 uncorrupt and public-spirited2 he is a clear1 logical1 but bitter speaker2 his words fall from the tribune like drops of gall4 ,he has great perspicacity1 but rather a narrow range4 ,his vision is neither distant nor comprehensive4 ,he wears a pair of blinkers1 which allow him to see only what he looks straight at--and that is the ,english ,constitution4 ,for what is to the right and to the left he has no eyes1 and unhappily what is to the right and to the left is ,france4 ',then he has a strong will1 perfect self-reliance1 and the most restless activity4 ,all these qualities give him great influence4 ,he led the centre gauche into most of its errors4 ,h---- used to say1 ,if you want to know what ,i shall do1 ask ,g----4 ',among the secondary causes of ,february #ahdh he stands prominent4 ,he planned the banquets4 ,such demonstrations are safe in ,england4 ,he inferred1 according to his usual mode of reasoning1 that they would not be dangerous in ,france4 ,he forgot that in ,england there is an aristocracy that leads1 and even controls1 the people4 ',i am alarmed1' he continued1 'by your ,reform ,bill4 ,your new six-pound franchise must1 ,i suppose1 double the constituencies2 it is a further step to universal suffrage1 the most fatal and the least remediable of institutions4#c ',while you preserve your aristocracy1 you will preserve your freedom2 if that goes1 you will fall into the worst of tyrannies1 that of a despot1 appointed and controlled1 so far as he is controlled at all1 by a mob4'#d ,madame de ,tocqueville asked me if ,i had seen the ,empress4 ',no1' ,i said1 'but ,mrs4 ,senior has1 and thinks her beautiful4' ',she is much more so1' said ,madame de ,tocqueville1 'than her portraits4 ,her face in perfect repose gets long1 and there is a little drooping about the corners of the mouth4 ,this has a bad effect when she is serious1 as everyone is when sitting for a picture1 but disappears as soon as she speaks4 ,i remember dining in company with her at the ,president's--,i sat next to him--she was nearly opposite1 and close to her a lady who was much admired4 ,i said to the ,president1 looking towards ,mademoiselle de ,montigo1 ,really ,i think that she is far the prettier of the two4 ,he gazed at her for an instant1 and said1 ,i quite agree with you2 she is charming4 ,it may be a bon mnage' ',to come back1' ,i said1 'to our ,eastern question4 ,what is ,baraguay d',hilliers8' ',a brouillon1' said ,tocqueville4 ',he is the most impracticable man in ,france4 ,his vanity1 his ill-temper1 and his jealousy make him quarrel with everybody with whom he comes in contact4 ,in the interest of our alliance you should get him recalled4' ',what sort of man1' ,i asked1 'shall ,i find ,general ,randon8' ',very intelligent1' said ,tocqueville4 ',he was to have had the command of the ,roman army when ,oudinot gave it up2 but1 just as he was going1 it was discovered that he was a ,protestant4 ,he was not so accommodating as one of our generals during the ,restoration4 ,he also was a ,protestant4 ,the ,duc d',angoulme one day said to him1 ,vous tes protestant1 gnral8 ,the poor man answered in some alarm1 for he knew the ,duke's ultra-,catholicism1 ,tout ce que vous voulez1 monseigneur4' ,footnote #a3 ,my conversations with ,m4 de ,tocqueville during this visit were written out after my return from ,paris and sent to him4 ,he returned them with the remarks which ,i have inserted4--,n4,w4 ,,senior4 ,footnote #b3 ,le portrait va plus loin que ma pense4--,a4 de ,tocqueville4 ,the picture expresses more than my idea4 ,footnote #c3 ,cela va plus loin que ma pense4 ,je crois que le vote universel peut se concilier avec d'autres institutions1 qui diminuerait le danger4--,a4 de ,tocqueville4 ,this goes farther than my idea4 ,i think that universal suffrage may be combined with other institutions1 which would diminish the danger4 ,footnote #d3 ,cela aussi va plus loin que ma pense4 ,je crois trs-dsirable le maintien des institutions aristocratiques en ,angleterre4 ,mais je suis lon de dire que leur abolition mnerait ncessairement au despotisme1 surtout si elles s'affaiblissaient peu peu et n'taient pas renverses par une rvolution4--,a4 de ,tocqueville4 ,this also goes farther than my idea4 ,i think the maintenance in ,england of aristocratic institutions very desirable4 ,but ,i am far from saying that their abolition would necessarily lead to despotism1 especially if their power were diminished gradually and without the shock of a revolution4 ,to ,n4,w4 ,senior1 ,esq4 ,st4 ,cyr1 ,march #ah1 #ahed4 ,your letter was a real joy to us1 my dear ,senior4 ,as you consent to be ill lodged1 we offer to you with all our hearts the bachelor's room which you saw4 ,you will find there only a bed1 without curtains1 and some very shabby furniture4 ,but you will find hosts who will be charmed to have you and your ,,mss4 ,i beg you not to forget the latter4 ,my wife1 as housekeeper1 desires me to give you an important piece of advice4 ,in the provinces1 especially during ,lent1 it is difficult to get good meat on ,fridays and ,saturdays1 and though you are a great sinner1 she has no wish to force you to do penance1 especially against your will1 as that would take away all the merit4 ,she advises you1 therefore1 to arrange to spend with us ,sunday1 ,monday1 ,tuesday1 ,wednesday1 and ,thursday1 and to avoid ,friday and ,saturday1 and especially the whole of the ,holy ,week4 ,now you are provided with the necessary instructions4 ,choose your own day1 and give us twenty-four hours' warning4 ,a4 ,,de ,,tocqueville4 ,st4 ,cyr1 ,march #ca1 #ahed4 ,my dear ,senior1--,as you are willing to encounter hard meat and river fish1 ,i have no objection to your new plan4 ,i see in it even this advantage1 that you will be able to tell us de visu what went on in the ,corps ,lgislatif1 which will greatly interest us4 ,the condemnation of ,montalembert seems to me to be certain2 but ,i am no less curious to know how that honourable assembly will contrive to condemn a private letter which appeared in a foreign country1 and which was probably published without the authorisation and against the will of the writer4 ,it is a servile trick1 which ,i should like to see played4 ,do not hesitate to postpone your visit if the sitting of the ,corps ,lgislatif should not take place on ,monday4 ,a4 ,,de ,,tocqueville4 ,,conversations4 ,i passed the #crd and #dth of ,april in the ,corps ,lgislatif listening to the debate on the demand by the ,government of permission to prosecute ,m4 de ,montalembert1 a member of the ,corps ,lgislatif1 for the publication of a letter to ,m4 ,dupin1 which it treated as libellous4 ,as it was supposed that ,m4 de ,montalembert's speech would be suppressed1 ,i wrote as much of it as ,i could carry in my recollection2 the only other vehicle--notes--not being allowed to be taken4#a ,on the evening of the #eth of ,april ,i left ,paris for ,st4 ,cyr4 ,footnote #a3 ,see ,appendix4 ,st4 ,cyr1 ,thursday1 ,april #f1 #ahed4--;,i drove with ,tocqueville to ,chenonceaux1 a chteau of the sixteenth century1 about sixteen miles from ,tours1 on the ,cher4 ,i say on the ,cher1 for such is literally its position4 ,it is a habitable bridge1 stretching across the water4 ,the two first arches1 which spring from the right bank of the river1 and the piers which form their abutments1 are about one hundred feet wide1 and support a considerable house4 ,the others support merely a gallery1 called by our guide the ballroom of ,catherine de ,mdicis1 ending in a small theatre4 ,the view from the windows of the river flowing through wooded meadows is beautiful and peculiar4 ,every window looks on the river2 many rooms1 as is the case with the gallery1 look both up and down it4 ,it must be a charming summer residence4 ,the rooms still retain the furniture which was put into them by ,diane de ,poictiers and ,catherine de ,mdicis2 very curious and very uncomfortable2 high narrow chairs1 short sofas1 many-footed tables1 and diminutive mirrors4 ,the sculptured pilasters1 scrolls1 bas-reliefs and tracery of the outside are not of fine workmanship1 but are graceful and picturesque4 ,the associations are interesting1 beginning with ,francis ,i4 and ending with ,rousseau1 who spent there the autumn of #agdf1 as the guest of ,madame ,dupin1 and wrote a comedy for its little theatre4 ,the present proprietor1 the ,marquis de ,villeneuve1 is ,madame ,dupin's grandson4 ,in the evening we read my report of the debate on ,montalembert4 ',it is difficult1' said ,tocqueville1 'to wish that so great a speech had been suppressed4 ,but ,i am inclined to think that ,montalembert's wiser course was to remain silent4 ,what good will his speech do8 ,it will not be published4 ,yours is probably the only report of it4 ,so far as the public hears anything of it1 the versions coming through an unfavourable medium will be misrepresentations4 ,in a letter which ,i received from ,paris this morning it is called virulent4 ,it was of great importance that the minority against granting the consent should be large1 and ,i have no doubt that this speech diminished it by twenty or thirty4 ,it must have wounded many1 frightened many1 and afforded a pretext to many4 ,perhaps1 however1 it was not in human nature for such a speaker as ,montalembert to resist the last opportunity of uttering bold truths in a ,french ,assembly4' ,friday1 ,april #g4--,we drove to-day along the ,loire to ,langrais1 about twelve miles below ,tours4 ,here is a castle of the thirteenth century1 consisting of two centre and two corner towers1 and a curtain between them1 terminating in a rocky promontory4 ,nothing can be more perfect than the masonry1 or more elegant than the few ornaments4 ,the outside is covered with marks of bullets1 which appear to have rattled against it with little effect4 ,on our return we visited the castles of ,cinq ,mars and ,luynes4 ,langrais1 ,cinq ,mars1 and ,luynes were all the property of ,effiat1 ,marquis of ,cinq ,mars1 who with ,de ,thou conspired against ,richelieu in the latter part of ,louis ,,xiii4's reign1 and was beheaded4 ,the towers of ,cinq ,mars were1 in the words of his sentence1 'rases la hauteur de l'infamie1' and remain now cut down to half their original height4 ,luynes stands finely1 crowning a knoll overlooking the ,loire4 ,it is square1 with twelve towers1 two on each side and four in the corners1 and a vast ditch1 and must have been strong4 ,nearly a mile from it are the remains of a ,roman aqueduct1 of which about thirty piers and six perfect arches remain4 ,it is of stone1 except the arches1 which have a mixture of brick4 ,the peasants1 by digging under the foundations1 are rapidly destroying it4 ,an old man told us that he had seen six or seven piers tumble4 ,a little nearer to ,tours is the ,pile de ,cinq ,mars1 a solid1 nearly square tower of ,roman brickwork more than ninety feet high1 and about twelve feet by fourteen feet thick4 ,on one side there appear to have been inscriptions or bas-reliefs4 ,ampre believes it to have been a ,roman tomb2 but the antiquaries are divided and perplexed4 ,being absolutely solid1 it could not have been built for any use4 ,i am struck during my walks and drives by the appearance of prosperity4 ,the country about ,tours is dotted with country-houses1 quite as numerous as in any part of ,england4 ,in ,st4 ,cyr alone there must be between twenty and thirty1 and the houses of the peasants are far better than the best cottages of ,english labourers4 ,everyone seems to have attached to it a considerable piece of land1 from ten acres to two1 cultivated in vines1 vegetables and fruit4 ,these and green crops are nearly the only produce2 there is very little grain4 ,all the persons whom ,i met appeared to be healthy and well-clad4 ,the soil and climate are good1 and the proximity to ,tours insures a market2 but physical advantages are not enough to insure prosperity4 ,the neighbourhood of ,cork enjoys a good climate1 soil1 and market1 but the inhabitants are not prosperous4 ,after some discussion ,tocqueville agreed with me in attributing the comfort of the ,tourainese to the slowness with which population increases4 ,in the commune of ,tocqueville the births are only three to a marriage1 but both ,monsieur and ,madame de ,tocqueville think that the number of children here is still less4 ,i scarcely meet any4 ,marriages are late1 and very seldom take place until a house and a bit of ground and some capital have been inherited or accumulated4 ,touraine is the best specimen of the petite culture that ,i have seen4 ,the want of wood makes it objectionable as a summer residence4 ,we are now suffering from heat4 ,after eight in the morning it is too hot to walk along the naked glaring roads1 yet this is only the first week in ,april4 ,saturday1 ,april #h4--,the sun has been so scorching during our two last drives that we have given ourselves a holiday to-day1 and only dawdled about ,tours4 ,we went first to the cathedral1 which ,i never see without increased pleasure4 ,though nearly four hundred years passed from its commencement in the twelfth century to its completion in the fifteenth1 the whole interior is as harmonious as if it had been finished by the artist who began it4 ,i know nothing in ,gothic architecture superior to the grandeur1 richness1 and yet lightness of the choir and eastern apse4 ,thence we went to ,st4 ,julien's1 a fine old church of the thirteenth century1 desecrated in the ,revolution1 but now under restoration4 ,thence to the ,htel ,gouin1 a specimen of the purely domestic architecture of the fifteenth century1 covered with elegant tracery and scroll-work in white marble4 ,we ended with ,plessis-les-,tours1 ,louis ,,xi4's castle1 which stands on a flat1 somewhat marshy1 tongue of land stretching between the ,loire and the ,cher4 ,all that remains is a small portion of one of the inner courts1 probably a guard-room1 and a cellar pointed out to us as the prison in which ,louis ,,xi kept ,cardinal de la ,balue for several years4 ,the cellar itself is not bad for a prison of those days1 but he is said to have passed his first year or two in a grated vault under the staircase1 in which he could neither stand up nor lie at full length4 ',it is remarkable1' said ,tocqueville1 'that the glorious reigns in ,french history1 such as those of ,louis ,onze1 ,louis ,quatorze1 and ,napoleon ended in the utmost misery and exhaustion1 while the periods at which we are accustomed to look as those of disturbance and insecurity were those of comparative prosperity and progress4 ,it seems as if tyranny were worse than civil war4' ',and yet1' ,i said1 'the amount of revenue which these despots managed to squeeze out of ,france was never large4 ,the taxation under ,napoleon was much less than under ,louis ,philippe4' ',yes1' said ,tocqueville1 'but it was the want of power to tax avowedly that led them into indirect modes of raising money1 which were far more mischievous2 just as our servants put us to more expense by their jobs than they would do if they simply robbed us to twice the amount of their indirect gains4 ',louis ,,xiv4 destroyed all the municipal franchises of ,france1 and paved the way for this centralized tyranny1 not from any dislike of municipal elections1 but merely in order to be able himself to sell the places which the citizens had been accustomed to grant4' ,sunday1 ,april #i4--;,another sultry day4 ,i waited till the sun was low1 and then sauntered by the side of the river with ,tocqueville4 ',the worst faults of this ,government1' said ,tocqueville1 'are those which do not alarm the public4 ',it is depriving us of the local franchises and local self-government which we have extorted from the central power in a struggle of forty years4 ,the ,restoration and the ,government of ,july were as absolute centralizers as ,napoleon himself4 ,the local power which they were forced to surrender they made over to the narrow pays lgal1 the privileged ten-pounders1 who were then attempting to govern ,france4 ,the ,republic gave the name of ,conseils-gnraux to the people1 and thus dethroned the notaires who had governed those assemblies when they represented only the bourgeoisie4 ,the ,republic made the maires elective4 ,the ,republic placed education in the hands of local authorities4 ,under its influence1 the communes1 the cantons1 and the departments were becoming real administrative bodies4 ,they are now mere geographical divisions4 ,the prfet appoints the maires4 ,the prfet appoints in every canton a commissaire de police--seldom a respectable man1 as the office is not honourable4 ,the gardes champtres1 who are our local police1 are put under his control4 ,the recteur1 who was a sort of local ,minister of ,education in every department1 is suppressed4 ,his powers are transferred to the prfet4 ,the prfet appoints1 promotes1 and dismisses all the masters of the coles primaires4 ,he has the power to convert the commune into a mere unorganised aggregation of individuals1 by dismissing every communal functionary1 and placing its concerns in the hands of his own nominees4 ,there are many hundreds of communes that have been thus treated1 and whose masters now are uneducated peasants4 ,the prfet can dissolve the ,conseil-gnral of his department and1 although he cannot directly name its successors1 he does so virtually4 ',no candidate for an elective office can succeed unless he is supported by the ,government4 ,the prfet can destroy the prosperity of every commune that displeases him4 ,he can dismiss its functionaries1 close its schools1 obstruct its improvements1 and withhold the assistance in money which the ,government habitually gives to forward the public purposes of a commune4 ',the ,courts of ,law1 both criminal and civil1 are the tools of the ,executive4 ,the ,government appoints the judges1 the prfet provides the jury1 and la haute police acts without either4 ',all power of combination1 even of mutual communication1 except from mouth to mouth1 is gone4 ,the newspapers are suppressed or intimidated1 the printers are the slaves of the prfet1 as they lose their privilege if they offend2 the secrecy of the post is habitually and avowedly violated2 there are spies to watch and report conversation4 ',every individual stands defenceless and insulated in the face of this unscrupulous ,executive with its thousands of armed hands and its thousands of watching eyes4 ,the only opposition that is ventured is the abstaining from voting4 ,whatever be the office1 whatever be the man1 the candidate of the prfet comes in2 but if he is a man who would have been universally rejected in a state of freedom1 the bolder electors show their indignation by their absence4 ,i do not believe that1 even with peace1 and with the prosperity which usually accompanies peace1 such a ,government could long keep down such a country as ,france4 ,whether its existence would be prolonged by a successful war ,i will not decide4 ,perhaps it might be4 ',that it cannot carry on a war only moderately successful1 or a war which from its difficulties and its distance may be generally believed to be ill managed1 still less a war stained by some real disaster1 seems to me certain--if anything in the future of ,france can be called certain4 ',the vast democratic sea on which the ,empire floats is governed by currents and agitated by ground-swells1 which the ,government discovers only by their effects4 ,it knows nothing of the passions which influence these great1 apparently slumbering1 masses2 indeed it takes care1 by stifling their expression1 to prevent their being known4 ,universal suffrage is a detestable element of government1 but it is a powerful revolutionary instrument' ',but1' ,i said1 'the people will not have an opportunity of using that instrument4 ,all the great elective bodies have some years before them4' ',that is true1' said ,tocqueville1 'and therefore their rage will break out in a more direct1 and perhaps more formidable1 form4 ,depend on it1 this ,government can exist1 even for a time1 only on the condition of brilliant1 successful war1 or prosperous peace4 ,it is bound to be rapidly and clearly victorious4 ,if it fail in this1 it will sink--or perhaps1 in its terrors and its struggles1 it will catch at the other alternative1 peace4 ',the ,french public is too ignorant to care much about ,russian aggrandisement4 ,so far as it fancies that the strength of ,russia is the weakness of ,england1 it is pleased with it4 ,i am not sure that the most dishonourable peace with ,nicholas would not give to ,louis ,napoleon an immediate popularity4 ,i am sure that it would1 if it were accompanied by any baits to the national vanity and cupidity2 by the offer of ,savoy for instance1 or the ,balearic ,islands4 ,and if you were to quarrel with us for accepting them1 it would be easy to turn against you our old feelings of jealousy and hatred4' ,we saw vast columns of smoke on the other side of the river4 ,those whom we questioned believed them to arise from an intentional fire4 ,such fires are symptoms of popular discontent4 ,they preceded the revolution of #ahcj4 ,they have become frequent of late in this country4 ,monday1 ,april #aj4--,tocqueville and ,i drove this morning to ,azy-le-,rideau1 another ,francis ,i4 chteau1 on an island formed by the ,indre4 ,it is less beautifully situated than ,chenonceaux2 the river ,indre is smaller and more sluggish than the ,cher2 the site of the castle is in a hollow1 and the trees round it approach too near1 and are the tall and closely planted poles which the ,french seem to admire4 ,but the architecture1 both in its outlines and in its details1 is charming4 ,it is of white stone1 in this form1 with two curtains and four towers4 ,the whole outside and the ceilings and cornices within are covered with delicate arabesques4 ,o #j #j #j ,like ,chenonceaux1 it escaped the revolution1 and is now1 with its furniture of the sixteenth century1 the residence of the ,marquis de ,biancourt1 descended from its ancient proprietors4 ,as we sauntered over the gardens1 our conversation turned on the old aristocracy of ,france4 ',the loss of our aristocracy1' said ,tocqueville1 'is a misfortune from which we have not even begun to recover4 ,the ,legitimists are their territorial successors2 they are the successors in their manners1 in their loyalty1 and in their prejudices of caste2 but they are not their successors in cultivation1 or intelligence1 or energy1 or1 therefore1 in influence4 ,between them and the bourgeoisie is a chasm1 which shows no tendency to close4 ,nothing but a common interest and a common pursuit will bring them together4 ',if the murder of the ,duc d',enghien had not made them recoil in terror and disgust from ,napoleon1 they might have perhaps been welded into one mass with his new aristocracy of services1 talents1 and wealth4 ,they were ready to adhere to him during the ,consulate4 ,during the ,restoration they were always at war with the bourgeoisie1 and therefore with the constitution1 on which the power of their enemies depended4 ,when the result of that war was the defeat and expulsion of their leader1 ,charles ,x41 their hostility extended from the bourgeoisie and the constitution up to the ,crown4 ,louis ,philippe tried to govern by means of the middle classes alone4 ,perhaps it was inevitable that he should make the attempt4 ,it certainly was inevitable that he should fail4 ,the higher classes1 and the lower classes1 all equally offended1 combined to overthrow him4 ,under the ,republic they again took1 to a certain extent1 their place in the ,state4 ,they led the country people1 who came to the assistance of the ,assembly in ,june #ahdh4 ,the ,republic was wise enough to impose no oaths4 ,it did not require those who were willing to serve it to begin by openly disavowing their traditionary opinions and principles4 ,the ,legitimists took their places in the ,conseils-gnraux4 ,they joined with the bourgeoisie in local administration1 the only means by which men of different classes can coalesce4 ',the socialist tendencies which are imputed to this ,second ,empire1 the oath which it most imprudently imposes1 its pretensions to form a dynasty and its assertion of the principle most abhorrent to them1 elective monarchy1 have thrown them back into disaffection4 ,and ,i believe their disaffection to be one of our great dangers--a danger certainly increased by the ,fusion4 ,the principal object of the ,fusion is to influence the army4 ,the great terror of the army is division in itself4 ,it will accept anything1 give up anything1 dare anything1 to avoid civil war4 ,rather than be divided between the two branches1 it would have adhered to the ,empire4 ,now it can throw off the ,bonapartes without occasioning a disputed succession4' ',when you say1' ,i asked1 'that the ,legitimists are not the successors of the old aristocracy in cultivation1 intelligence1 or energy1 do you mean to ascribe to them positive or relative inferiority in these qualities8' ',in energy1' answered ,tocqueville1 'their deficiency is positive4 ,they are ready to suffer for their cause1 they are not ready to exert themselves for it4 ,in intelligence and cultivation they are superior to any other class in ,france2 but they are inferior to the ,english aristocracy1 and they are inferior1 as ,i said before1 to their ancestors of the eighteenth century4 ,there existed in the highest ,parisian society towards the end of that century a comprehensiveness of curiosity and inquiry1 a freedom of opinion1 an independence1 and soundness of judgment1 never seen before or since4 ,its pursuits1 its pleasures1 its admirations1 its vanities1 were all intellectual4 ,look at the success of ,hume4 ,his manners were awkward2 he was a heavy1 though an instructive1 converser2 he spoke bad ,french2 he would pass now for an intelligent bore4 ,but such was the worship then paid to talents and knowledge--especially to knowledge1 and talents employed on the destruction of prejudices--that ,hume was1 for years1 the lion of all the salons of ,paris4 ,the fashionable beauties quarrelled for the fat philosopher4 ,nor was their admiration or affection put on1 or even transitory4 ,he retained some of them as intimate friends for life4 ,if the brilliant talkers and writers of that time were to return to life1 ,i do not believe that gas1 or steam1 or chloroform1 or the electric telegraph1 would so much astonish them as the dulness of modern society1 and the mediocrity of modern books4' ,in the evening we discussed the new scheme of throwing open the service of ,india and of the ,government offices to public competition4 ',we have followed1' said ,tocqueville1 'that system to a great extent for many years4 ,our object was twofold4 ,one was to depress the aristocracy of wealth1 birth1 and connexions4 ,in this we have succeeded4 ,the cole ,polytechnique1 and the other schools in which the vacancies are given to those who pass the best examinations1 are filled by youths belonging to the middle classes1 who1 undistracted by society1 or amusement1 or by any literary or scientific pursuits1 except those immediately bearing on their examinations1 beat their better-born competitors1 who will not degrade themselves into the mere slaves of success in the concours4 ,our other object was to obtain the best public servants4 ,in that we have failed4 ,we have brought knowledge and ability to an average2 diminished the number of incompetent employs1 and reduced1 almost to nothing1 the number of distinguished ones4 ,continued application to a small number of subjects1 and those always the same1 not selected by the student1 but imposed on him by the inflexible rule of the establishment1 without reference to his tastes or to his powers1 is as bad for the mind as the constant exercise of one set of muscles would be for the body4 ',we have a name for those who have been thus educated4 ,they are called polytechniss4 ,if you follow our example1 you will increase your second-rates1 and extinguish your first-rates2 and what is perhaps a more important result1 whether you consider it a good or an evil1 you will make a large stride in the direction in which you have lately made so many--the removing the government and the administration of ,england from the hands of the higher classes into those of the middle and lower ones4' ,,correspondence4 ,paris1 ,sunday1 ,may #ad1 #ahed4 ,my dear ,tocqueville1--,i write to you in meditatione fug4 ,we start for ,england in an hour's time4 ,the last news that ,i heard of you was the day before yesterday from ,cousin4 ,he read me your letter1 which sounded to me like that of a man in not very bad health or hopes4 ,i trust that the attack of which ,madame de ,tocqueville wrote to us has quite passed off4 ,thiers1 who asked very anxiously after you to-day1 is earnest that you should be present at the election on the #ahth4 ,the ,academy1 he said1 is very jealous4 ,vous serez trs-mal vu1 if you do not come4 ,you are at last going seriously to work in the war4 ,by the end of the year you will have1 military and naval1 #gjj1jjj men in arms4 ,i wish that they were nearer to the enemy4 ,pray remember us most kindly to ,madame de ,tocqueville1 and let us know where you go as soon as you are decided4 ,ever yours1 ,n4,w4 ,senior4 ,st4 ,cyr1 ,may #ba1 #ahed4 ,i followed the advice which you were commissioned to give me1 my dear ,senior4 ,i have just been to ,paris1 but as ,i stayed there only twenty-four hours ,i have not brought back any distinct impressions4 ,i saw only ,academicians who talked about the ,academy1 and--who knew nothing of politics4 ,it is true that such is now the case with everyone4 ,politics1 which used to be transacted in open day1 have now become a secret process into which none can penetrate except the two or three alchemists who are engaged in its preparation4 ,you heard of course that after your little visit1 which we enjoyed so much1 ,i became very unwell1 and my mind was only less affected than my body4 ,i spent a month very much out of spirits and very much tired of myself4 ,during the last eight or ten days ,i have felt much better4 ,my visit to our friends the ,beaumonts did me a great deal of good1 and ,i owe a grudge to the ,academy for forcing me to shorten it4 ,i still intend to visit ,germany1 but the plan depends on the state of my health4 ,when it is bad ,i am inclined to give up the journey1 when ,i am better ,i take it up again and look forward to it with pleasure4 ,on the whole ,i think that ,i shall go4 ,but it is impossible for me to settle my route beforehand4 ,even if ,i were stronger it would be difficult1 for such an expedition must always be uncertain4 ,i am not going to ,germany to see any place in particular1 but intend to go hither and thither wherever ,i can find certain documents and people4 ,i received yesterday a letter from our friend ,ampre4 ,he is still in ,rome1 still more and more enchanted with the place1 and using every argument to induce us to spend there with him the winter of #ahef4 ,his descriptions are so attractive that we may very likely be persuaded1 especially if we had any chance of meeting you there1 for you are one of the people whose society always increases the happiness of life4 ,however1 we have plenty of time for talking over this plan4 ,adieu1 dear ,senior4 ,a4 ,,de ,,tocqueville4 ,wildbad1 ,september #ai1 #ahed4 ,you gave me great pleasure1 my dear ,senior1 by making me acquainted with ,sir ,george and ,lady ,theresa ,lewis4 ,i must really thank you sincerely for it1 for the time passed with them has been the most agreeable part of our journey4 ,you have no doubt heard of the mischance which has put a stop to our peregrinations3 my wife was seized two months ago at ,bonn by a violent attack of rheumatism4 ,the waters of ,wildbad were recommended to her1 and she has been taking them for more than twenty-five days without experiencing any relief4 ,we are promised that the effects will be felt afterwards2 but these fine promises only half reassure us1 and we shall set out again on our travels in very bad spirits4 ,our original intention was to spend the autumn in the ,north of ,germany1 but in ,madame de ,tocqueville's condition it is evident that there is nothing else to be done but to return home as fast as we can4 ,we are somewhat consoled by the arrival of our common friend ,ampre4 ,he was returning from ,italy1 through ,germany1 and1 hearing of our misfortune1 he has come to look after us in these wild mountains of the ,black ,forest amidst which ,wildbad is situated4 ,he has been with us a week1 and ,i hope that he will accompany us home4 ,our intention is to spend a month or six weeks with my father near ,compigne4 ,towards the first week in ,november we shall establish ourselves in ,paris for the winter4 ,we hope to see you there at the end of this year or the beginning of next4 ,ampre1 my wife1 and ,i constantly talk of you4 ,if you could overhear us ,i think you would not be very much dissatisfied4 ,they insist upon being very particularly remembered to you1 and as for me ,i beg you to believe in my most sincere attachment4 ,a4 ,,de ,,tocqueville4 ,compigne1 ,january #bb1 #ahee4 ,it was a long time since ,i had seen your handwriting1 my dear ,senior1 and ,i was beginning to complain of you2 your letter therefore was a double pleasure4 ,i see that you have resumed your intention of visiting ,algiers1 and ,i am anxious that you should carry it into effect4 ,i hope that we shall be in ,paris when you pass through4 ,we put off our departure from day to day2 not that we are kept by the charms of our present abode2 the house is too small for us and scantily furnished1 but ,i find it such a favourable retreat for study1 that ,i have great difficulty in tearing myself away from it4 ,i hear1 as you do1 with great satisfaction of the mutual good feeling of our armies in the ,crimea4 ,it far exceeds my expectations4 ,but ,i am not equally pleased with your management of the war4 ,the ,english ought to know that what has passed and is passing there has sensibly diminished their moral force in ,europe4 ,it is an unpleasant truth1 but ,i ought not to conceal it from you4 ,i see proofs of it every day1 and ,i have been struck by it peculiarly in a late visit to ,paris1 where ,i saw persons of every rank and of every shade of political opinion4 ,the heroic courage of your soldiers was everywhere and unreservedly praised1 but ,i found also a general belief that the importance of ,england as a military ,power had been greatly exaggerated2 that she is utterly devoid of military talent1 which is shown as much in administration as in fighting2 and that even in the most pressing circumstances she cannot raise a large army4 ,since ,i was a child ,i never heard such language4 ,you are believed to be absolutely dependent on us2 and in the midst of our intimacy ,i see rising a friendly contempt for you1 which if our ,governments quarrel1 will make a war with you much easier than it has been since the fall of ,napoleon4 ,i grieve at all this1 not only as endangering the ,english alliance1 which1 as you well know1 ,i cherish1 but as injuring the cause of liberty4 ,i can pardon you for discrediting it by your adulation of our despotism1 but ,i wish that you would not serve despotism more efficaciously by your own faults1 and by the comparisons which they suggest4 ,it seems also difficult to say what may not be the results of your long intimacy with such a ,government as ours1 and of the contact of the two armies4 ,i doubt whether they will be useful to your aristocracy4 ,remember me to ,lord ,lansdowne and to the ,lewises1 who added such pleasure to our ,german tour4 ,compigne1 ,february #ae1 #ahee4 ,i conclude that this frightful weather is still keeping you in ,london1 my dear ,senior4 ,i am comforted by the fact that ,i myself shall not reach ,paris before the #bhth4 ,i do not wish to act the part of the pedagogue in the fable who preaches to people when his sermon can no longer be of any possible use1 but ,i cannot help telling you that it is a great imprudence on your part to allow yourself to be caught in this way by the winter in ,england4 ,what you now suffer from is only a trifling malady1 but it may become a real illness if you persist in preferring pleasure to health4 ,pray think of this in the future and do not tempt the devil4 ,i have not read the article to which you refer4#a ,i can perfectly understand the reserve which was imposed upon you1 and which you were forced to impose on yourself4 ,i confess that ,i saw with great grief the sudden change in the expressions of the majority of the ,english1 a year ago1 respecting our ,government4 ,it was then ill consolidated1 and in want of the splendid alliance which you offered to it4 ,it was unnecessary that you should praise it1 in order to keep it your friend4 ,by doing so you sacrificed honourable opinions and tastes without a motive4 ,now things are changed4 ,after you have lost your only army1 and our master has made an alliance with ,austria1 which suits his feelings much better than yours did1 he does not depend on you2 you1 to a certain extent1 depend on him4 ,such being now the case1 ,i can understand the ,english thinking it their duty to their country to say nothing that can offend the master of ,france4 ,i can understand even their praising him2 ,i reproach them only for having done so too soon1 before it was necessary4 ,i agree with you that ,england ought to be satisfied with being the greatest maritime ,power1 and ought not to aim at being also one of the greatest military ,powers4 ,but the feelings which ,i described to you as prevalent in ,france and in ,germany1 arose not from your want of an army of #ejj1jjj men4 ,they were excited by these two facts4 ,first1 by what was supposed 7perhaps falsely7 to be the bad military administration of your only army4 ,secondly1 and much more1 by your apparent inability to raise another army4 ,according to continental notions1 a nation which cannot raise as many troops as its wants require1 loses our respect4 ,it ceases1 according to our notions1 to be great or even to be patriotic4 ,and ,i must confess that1 considering how difficult it is to procure soldiers by voluntary enlistment1 and how easily every nation can obtain them by other means1 ,i do not see how you will be able to hold your high rank1 unless your people will consent to something resembling a conscription4 ,dangerous as it is to speak of a foreign country1 ,i venture to say that ,england is mistaken if she thinks that she can continue separated from the rest of the world1 and preserve all her peculiar institutions uninfluenced by those which prevail over the whole of the ,continent4 ,in the period in which we live1 and1 still more1 in the period which is approaching1 no ,european nation can long remain absolutely dissimilar to all the others4 ,i believe that a law existing over the whole ,continent must in time influence the laws of ,great ,britain1 notwithstanding the sea1 and notwithstanding the habits and institutions1 which1 still more than the sea1 have separated you from us1 up to the present time4 ,my prophecies may not be accomplished in our time2 but ,i should not be sorry to deposit this letter with a notary1 to be opened1 and their truth or falsehood proved1 fifty years hence4 ,compigne1 ,february #bc1 #ahee4 444 ,my object in my last letter was not by any means1 as you seem to think1 to accuse your aristocracy of having mismanaged the ,crimean war4 ,it has certainly been mismanaged1 but who has been in fault8 ,indeed ,i know not1 and if ,i did ,i should think at the same time that it would not be becoming in a foreigner to set himself up as a judge of the blunders of any other ,government than his own4 ,i thought that ,i had expressed myself clearly4 ,at any rate what ,i wanted to say1 if ,i did not say it1 is1 that the present events created in my opinion a new and great danger for your aristocracy1 and that it will suffer severely from the rebound1 if it does not make enormous efforts to show itself capable of repairing the past2 and that it would be wrong to suppose that by fighting bravely on the field of battle it could retain the direction of the ,government4 ,i did not intend to say more than this4 ,i will now add that if it persuades itself that it will easily get out of the difficulty by making peace1 ,i think that it will find itself mistaken4 ,peace1 after what has happened1 may be a good thing for ,england in general1 and useful to us1 but ,i doubt whether it will be a gain for your aristocracy4 ,i think that if ,chatham could return to life he would agree with me1 and would say that under the circumstances the remedy would not be peace but a more successful war4 ,kind regards1 c4 ,a4 ,,de ,,tocqueville4 ,footnote #a3 ,an article in the ,north ,british ,review1 see p4 #ajg4--;,,ed4 ,,conversations4 ,paris1 ,htel ,bedford4--,friday1 ,march #b1 #ahee4--,we slept on the #bgth at ,calais1 on the #bhth at ,amiens1 and reached this place last night4 ,tocqueville called on us this morning4 ,we talked of the probability of ,louis ,napoleon's going to the ,crimea4 ,i said1 'that the report made by ,lord ,john ,russell1 who talked the matter over with him1 was1 that he certainly had once intended to go1 and had not given it up4' ',i do not value1' said ,tocqueville1 ',lord ,john's inferences from anything that he heard or saw in his audiences4 ,all ,louis ,napoleon's words and looks1 are1 whether intentionally or not1 misleading4 ,now that his having direct issue seems out of the question1 and that the deeper and deeper discredit into which the heir presumptive is falling1 seems to put him out of the question too1 we are looking to this journey with great alarm4 ,we feel that1 for the present1 his life is necessary to us1 and we feel that it would be exposed to many hazards4 ,he ought to incur some military risks1 if he is present at a battle or an assault1 and his courage and his fatalism1 will lead him to many which he ought to avoid4 ,but it is disease rather than bullets that we fear4 ,he will have to travel hard1 and to be exposed1 under exciting circumstances1 to a climate which is not a safe one even to the strong4' ',but1' ,i said1 'he will not be exposed to it long4 ,i have heard thirty1 or at most forty1 days proposed as the length of his absence4' ',who can say that8' answered ,tocqueville4 ',if he goes there1 he must stay there until ,sebastopol falls4 ,it will not do for him to leave ,paris in order merely to look at the works1 pat the generals on the back1 compliment the army1 and leave it in the trenches4 ,unless his journey produces some great success--in short1 unless it gives us ,sebastopol--it will be considered a failure2 and a failure he cannot afford4 ,i repeat that he must stay there till ,sebastopol falls4 ,but that may be months4 ,and what may months bring forth in such a country as ,france8 ,in such a city as ,paris8 ,in such times as these8 ,then he cannot safely leave his cousin--,jrme ,plon swears that he will not go1 and ,i do not see how he can be taken by force4' ',i do not understand1' ,i said1 ',jerme's conduct4 ,it seemed as if he had the ball at his feet4 ,the rle of an heir is the easiest in the world4 ,he has only to behave decently in order to be popular4' ',jrme's chances1' answered ,tocqueville1 'of the popularity which is to be obtained by decent behaviour were over long before he became an heir4 ,his talents are considerable1 but he has no principles1 and no good sense4 ,he is ,corsican to the bone4 ,i watched him among his ,montagnards in the ,constituent4 ',nothing could be more perverse than his votes1 nor more offensive than his speeches4 ,he is unfit to conciliate the sensible portion of society1 and naturally throws himself into the arms of those who are waiting to receive him--the violent1 the rapacious1 and the anarchical3 this gives him at least some adherents4' ',what do you hear1' ,i asked1 'of his conduct in the ,east8' ',i hear1' said ,tocqueville1 'that he showed want1 not so much of courage1 as of temper and of subordination4 ,he would not obey orders2 he would not even transmit them1 so that ,canrobert was forced to communicate directly with the officers of ,napoleon's division1 and at last required him to take sick leave1 or to submit to a court-martial4' ',i thought1' ,i said1 'that he was really ill4' ',that is not the general opinion1' said ,tocqueville4 ',he showed himself at a ball directly after his return1 with no outward symptoms of ill health4' ,the conversation turned on ,english politics4 ',so many of my friendships1' said ,tocqueville1 'and so many of my sympathies1 are ,english1 that what is passing in your country1 and respecting your country1 gives me great pain1 and greater anxiety4 ,to us1 whom unhappily experience has rendered sensitive of approaching storms1 your last six months have a frightfully revolutionary appearance4 ',there is with you1 as there was with us in #ahdg1 a general malaise in the midst of general prosperity4 ,your people seem1 as was the case with ours1 to have become tired of their public men1 and to be losing faith in their institutions4 ,what else do these complaints of what is called the system mean8 ,when you complain that the ,government patronage is bartered for political support1 that the dunces of a family are selected for the public service1 and selected expressly because they could not get on in an open profession2 that as their places are a sort of property1 they are promoted only by seniority1 and never dismissed for any1 except for some moral1 delinquency2 that therefore the seniors in all your departments are old men1 whose original dulness has been cherished by a life without the stimulus of hope or fear1 you describe a vessel which seems to have become too crazy to endure anything but the calmest sea and the most favourable winds4 ,you have tried its sea-worthiness in one department1 your military organisation1 and you find that it literally falls to pieces4 ,you are incapable of managing a line of operations extending only seven miles from its base4 ,the next storm may attack your ,colonial ,administration4 ,will that stand any better8 ,altogether your machinery seems throughout out of gear4 ,if you set to work actively and fearlessly1 without reference to private interests1 or to private expectations1 or to private feelings1 to repair1 remove and replace1 you may escape our misfortunes2 but ,i see no proofs that you are sufficiently bold1 or indeed that you are sufficiently alarmed4 ,then as to what is passing here4 ,a year ago we probably overrated your military power4 ,i believe that now we most mischievously underrate it4 ,a year ago nothing alarmed us more than a whisper of the chance of a war with ,england4 ,we talk of one now with great composure4 ,we believe that it would not be difficult to throw #ajj1jjj men upon your shores1 and we believe that half that number would walk over ,england or ,ireland4 ,you are mistaken if you think that these opinions will die away of themselves1 or will be eradicated by anything but some decisive military success4 ,i do not agree with those who think that it is your interest that ,russia should submit while ,sebastopol stands4 ,you might save money and men by a speedy peace1 but you would not regain your reputation4 ,if you are caught by a peace before you have an opportunity of doing so1 ,i advise you to let it be on your part an armed peace4 ,prepare yourselves for a new struggle with a new enemy1 and let your preparations be1 not only as effective as you can make them1 but also as notorious4'#a ,footnote #a3 ,note inserted by ,m de ,tocqueville in my ,journal1 after reading the preceding conversation4 ',j'ai entendu universellement louer sans restriction le courage hroque de vos soldats1 mais en mme temps j'ai trouv rpandu cette croyance1 qu'on s'tait tromp de l'importance de l',angleterre dans le monde1 comme puissance militaire proprement dite1 qui consiste autant administrer la guerre qu' combattre1 et surtout qu'il lui tait impossible1 ce qu'on ne croyait pas jusque l1 d'lever de grandes armes1 mme dans les cas les plus pressants4 ,je n'avais rien entendu de pareil depuis mon enfance4 ,on vous croit absolument dans notre dpendance1 et du sein de la grande inimit qui rgne entre les deux peuples1 je vois natre des ides qui1 le jour o nos deux gouvernements cesseront d'tre d'accord1 nous prcipiteront dans la guerre contre vous1 beaucoup plus facilement que cela n'eut pu avoir lieu depuis la chute du premier ,empire4 ,cela m'afflige1 et pour l'avenir de ,alliance anglaise 7dont vous savez que j'ai toujours t un grand partisan71 et non moins aussi1 je l'avoue1 pour la cause de vos institutions libres4 ,ce qui se passe n'est pas de nature la relever dans notre esprit4 ,je vous pardonnerais de dconsidrer vos principes par les louanges dont vous accablez le gouvernement absolu qui rgne en ,france1 mais je voudrais du moins que vous ne le fissiez pas d'une manire encore plus efficace par vos propres fautes1 et par la comparaison qu'elles suggrent4 ,il me semble1 du reste1 bien difficile de dire ce qui rsultera pour vous mme du contact intime et prolong avec notre gouvernement1 et surtout de l'action commune et du mlange des deux armes4 ,j'en doute1 je vous l'avouerai1 que l'aristocratie anglaise s'en trouve bien1 et quoique ,a ,b ait entonn l'autre jour une vritable hymne en l'honneur de celle ci1 je ne crois pas que ce qui passe soit de nature rendre ces chances plus grandes dans l'avenir'--,a de ,tocqueville4 ',i heard universal and unqualified praise of the heroic courage of your soldiers1 but at the same time ,i found spread abroad the persuasion that the importance of ,england had been overrated as a military ,power properly so called--a ,power which consists in administering as much as in fighting2 and above all1 that it was impossible 7and this had never before been believed71 for her to raise large armies1 even under the most pressing circumstances4 ,i never heard anything like it since my childhood4 ,you are supposed to be entirely dependent upon us1 and from the midst of the great intimacy which subsists between the two countries1 ,i see springing up ideas which1 on the day when our two ,governments cease to be of one mind1 will precipitate our country into a war against you1 much more easily than has been possible since the fall of the first ,empire4 ,this grieves me1 both on account of the duration of the ,english ,alliance 7of which you know that ,i have always been a great partisan71 and no less1 ,i own1 for the sake of your free institutions4 ,passing events are not calculated to raise them in our estimation4 ,i forgive you for discrediting your principles by the praise which you lavish on the absolute government which reigns in ,france1 but ,i would have you at least not to do so in a still more efficacious manner by your own blunders and by the comparisons which they suggest4 ,it seems to me1 however1 very difficult to predict the result to yourselves of the long and intimate contact with1 our ,government1 and1 above all1 of the united action and amalgamation of the two armies4 ,i own that ,i doubt its having a good effect on the future of the ,english aristocracy1 and although ,a4,b4 struck up the other day a real hymn in its praise1 ,i do not think that present events are of a nature to increase its chance in the future4' ,paris1 ,saturday1 ,march #c4--,tocqueville called on us soon after breakfast4 ,we talked of the loss and gain of ,europe by the war4 ,we agreed that ,russia and ,england have both lost by it4 ,russia probably the most in power1 ,england in reputation4 ,that ,prussia1 though commercially a gainer1 is humiliated and irritated by the superiority claimed by ,austria and conceded to her4 ',you cannot1' said ,tocqueville1 'estimate the opinions of ,germany without going there4 ,there is a general feeling among the smaller ,powers of internal insecurity and external weakness1 and ,austria is looked up to as the supporter of order against the revolutionists1 and of ,germany against ,russia4 ,austria alone has profited by the general calamities4 ,without actually drawing the sword she has possession of the ,principalities1 she has thrust down ,prussia into the second rank1 she has emancipated herself from ,russia1 she has become the ally of ,france and of ,england1 and even of her old enemy ,piedmont1 she is safe in ,italy4 ,poland and ,hungary are still her difficulties1 and very great ones1 but as her general strength increases1 she can better deal with them4' ',has not ,france1 ,i said1 'been also a gainer1 by becoming head of the coalition against ,russia8' ',whatever we have gained1' answered ,tocqueville1 'has been dearly purchased1 so far as it has consolidated this despotism4 ,for a whole year we have felt that the life1 and even the reign1 of ,louis ,napoleon was necessary to us4 ,they will continue necessary to us during the remainder of the war4 ,we are acquiring habits of obedience1 almost of resignation4 ,his popularity has not increased4 ,he and his court are as much shunned by the educated classes as they were three years ago2 we still repeat que a ne peut pas durer1 but we repeat it with less conviction4' ,we passed the spring in ,algeria1 and returned to ,paris the latter part of ,may4 ,paris1 ,may #bf1ahee4--;,after breakfast ,i went to the ,institut4 ,m4 ,passy read to us a long paper on the ,art of ,government4 ,he spoke so low and so monotonously that no one attended4 ,i sat next to ,tocqueville1 and1 as it was not decent to talk1 we conversed a little in writing4 ,he had been reading my ,algiers ,journal1 and thus commented upon it3-- ',il y a tout un ct1 particulirement curieux1 de l',algrie1 qui vous a chapp parce que vous n'avez pu ou voulu vous imposer l'ennui de causer souvent avec les colons1 et que ce ct-l ne se voit pas en parlant avec les gouvernants2 c'est l'abus de la centralisation4 ,l',afrique peut tre considre comme le tableau le plus complet et le plus extraordinaire des vices de ce systme4 ',je suis convaincu que seul1 sans les ,arabes1 le soleil1 le dsert1 et la fivre1 il suffirait pour nous empcher de coloniser4 ,tout ce que la centralisation laisse entrevoir de dfauts1 de ridicules et absurdits1 d'oppression1 de paperasseries en ,france1 est grossi en ,afrique au centuple4 ,c'est comme un pou vu dans un microscope4' ',j'ai caus1' ,i answered1 'avec ,vialar et avec mon hte aux eaux ferrugineuses4 ,mais ils ne se sont pas plaints de la centralisation4' ',ils ne se sont pas plaints1' he answered1 'du mot que1 peut-tre1 ils ne connaissaient pas4 ,mais si vous les aviez fait entrer dans les dtails de l'administration publique1 ou mme de leurs affaires prives1 vous auriez vu que le colon est plus gn dans tous ses mouvements1 et plus gouvern pour son plus grand bien que vous ne l'avez t quand il s'est agi de votre passeport4 ',violar faisait allusion cela quand il vous a dit que les chemins manquaient parce que le ,gouvernement ne voulait pas laisser les gouverns s'en mler4'#a ,footnote #a3 ',one whole side1 and that a very curious one1 of ,algeria1 has escaped you1 because you could not1 or would not1 inflict on yourself the bore of talking frequently with the colonists1 and this side cannot be seen in conversing with officials--it is the abuse of centralisation4 ,africa may be considered as the most complete and most extraordinary picture of the vices of this system4 ,i am convinced that it alone1 without the ,arabs1 the sun1 the desert and the fever1 would be enough to prevent us from colonising4 ,all the defects of centralisation1 its oppressions1 its faults1 its absurdities1 its endless documents1 which are dimly perceived in ,france1 become one hundred times bigger in ,africa4 ,it is like a louse in a microscope4' ',i conversed1' ,i answered1 'with ,violar and with my landlord at the mineral waters1 and they did not complain of centralisation4' ',they did not complain1' he answered1 'of the word1 which perhaps is unknown to them4 ,but if you had made them enter into the details of the public administration1 or even of their own private affairs1 you would have seen that the colonist is more confined in all his movements1 and more governed1 for his good1 than you were with regard to your passport4 ',this is what ,violar meant when he told you that roads were wanting1 because the ,government would not permit its subjects to interfere in making them4' ,monday1 ,may #bh4--,tocqueville called on me4 ,i asked him for criticisms on my article on the ,state of the ,continent in the ',north ,british ,review' of ,february #ahee4a ,footnote #a3 ,see p4 #ajg4 ',of course1' ,i said1 'it must be full of blunders4 ,no one who writes on the politics of a foreign country can avoid them4 ,i want your help to correct a few of them4' ',since you ask me1' he answered1 'for a candid criticism1 ,i will give you one4 ,i accuse you rather of misappreciation than of misstatement4 ,first with respect to ,louis ,napoleon4 ,after having described accurately1 in the beginning of your paper1 his unscrupulous1 systematic oppression1 you end by saying that1 after all1 you place him high among our sovereigns4' ',you must recollect1' ,i answered1 'that the article was written for the ,edinburgh ,review1 the organ of our ,government1 edited by ,lord ,clarendon's brother-in-law--and that the editor thought its criticisms of ,louis ,napoleon so severe1 that after having printed it1 he was afraid to publish it4 ,i went quite as far as ,i prudently could4 ,i accused him1 as you admit1 of unscrupulous oppression1 of ignorance of the feelings of the people1 of being an idle administrator1 of being unacquainted with business himself1 and not employing those who understand it1 of being impatient of contradiction1 of refusing advice and punishing censure--in short1 ,i have praised nothing but his foreign policy--and ,i have mentioned two errors in that4' ',but ,i have a graver accusation to bring against you1' replied ,tocqueville4 ',you couple as events mutually dependent the continuance of the ,imperial ,government and the continuance of the ,anglo-,gallic ,alliance4 ,i believe this opinion not only to be untrue1 but to be the reverse of the truth4 ,i believe the ,empire and the ,alliance to be not merely1 not mutually dependent1 but to be incompatible1 except upon terms which you are resolved never to grant ,the ,empire is essentially warlike--and war in the mind of a ,bonaparte1 and of the friends of a ,bonaparte1 means the ,rhine4 ,this war is merely a stepping stone4 ,it is carried on for purposes in which the mass of the people of ,france take no interest4 ,up to the present time its burthens have been little felt1 as it has been supported by loans1 and the limits of the legal conscription have not been exceeded4 ,but when the necessity comes for increased taxation and anticipated conscriptions1 ,louis ,napoleon must have recourse to the real passions of the ,french bourgeoisie and peasantry--the love of conquest1 et la haine de l',anglais4 ,don't fancy that such feelings are dead1 they are scarcely asleep4 ,they might be roused in a week1 in a day1 and they will be roused as soon as he thinks that they are wanted4 ',what do you suppose was the effect in ,france of ,louis ,napoleon's triumph in ,england8 ',those who know ,england attributed it to the ignorance and childishness of the multitude4 ,those who thought that the shouts of the mob had any real meaning either hung down their heads in shame at the self-degradation of a great nation1 or attributed them to fear4 ,the latter was the general feeling4 ,il faut1 said all our lower classes1 que ces gens-l aient grande peur de nous4 ',you accuse1 in the second place1 all the ,royalist parties of dislike of ,england4 ',do you suppose that you are more popular with the others8 ,that the ,republicans love your aristocracy1 or the ,imperialists your freedom8 ,the real friends of ,england are the friends of her institutions4 ,they are the body1 small perhaps numerically1 and now beaten down1 of those who adore ,constitutional ,liberty4 ,they have maintained the mutual good feeling between ,france and ,england against the passions of the ,republicans and the prejudices of the ,legitimists4 ,i trust1 as you trust1 that this good feeling is to continue1 but it is on precisely opposite grounds4 ,my hopes are founded1 not on the permanence1 but on the want of permanence1 of the ,empire4 ,i do not believe that a great nation will be long led by its tail instead of by its head4 ,my only fear is1 that the overthrow of this tyranny may not take place early enough to save us from war with ,england1 which ,i believe to be the inevitable consequence of its duration4' ,we left ,paris soon after this conversation4 ,the following are a few extracts from the article in the ',north ,british ,review4'--,,ed4 ',the principal parties into which the educated society of ,paris is divided1 are the ,imperialists1 ,royalists1 ,republicans1 and ,parliamentarians4 ',the ,royalists maybe again subdivided into ,orleanists1 ,legitimists1 and ,fusionists2 and the ,fusionists into ,orleanist-,fusionists1 and ,legitimist-,fusionists4 ',the ,imperialists do not require to be described4 ,they form a small party in the salons of ,paris1 and much the largest party in the provinces4 ',those who are ,royalists without being ,fusionists are also comparatively insignificant in numbers4 ,there are a very few ,legitimists who pay to the elder branch the unreasoning worship of superstition2 who adore ,henri ,v4 not as a means but as an end2 who pray for his reign1 not for their own interests1 not for the interests of ,france1 but for his own sake2 who believe that he derives his title from ,god1 and that when the proper time comes ,god will restore him2 and that to subject his claims to the smallest compromise--to admit1 for instance1 as the ,fusionists do1 that ,louis ,philippe was really a king1 and that the reign of ,henri ,v4 did not begin the instant that ,charles ,x4 expired--would be a sinful contempt of ,divine right1 which might deprive his cause of ,divine assistance4 ',there are also a very few ,orleanists who1 with a strange confusion of ideas1 do not perceive that a title founded solely on a revolution was destroyed by a revolution2 that if the will of the people was sufficient to exclude the descendants of ,charles ,x41 it also could exclude the descendants of ,louis ,philippe2 and that the hereditary claims of the ,comte de ,paris cannot be urged except on the condition of admitting the preferable claims of the ,comte de ,chambord4 ',the bulk1 then1 of the ,royalists are ,fusionists2 but though all the ,fusionists agree in believing that the only government that can be permanent in ,france is a monarchy1 and that the only monarchy that can be permanent is one depending on hereditary succession2 though they agree in believing that neither of the ,bourbon branches is strong enough to seize the throne1 and that each of them is strong enough to exclude the other1 yet between the ,orleanist-,fusionists and the ,legitimist-,fusionists the separation is as marked and the mutual hatred as bitter1 as those which divide the most hostile parties in ,england4 ',the ,orleanist-,fusionists are generally roturiers4 ,they feel towards the noblesse the hatred which has accumulated during twelve centuries of past oppression and the resentment excited by present insolence4 ,of all the noble families of ,france the most noble is that of ,bourbon4 ,the head of that house has always called himself le premier gentilhomme de ,france4 ,the ,bourbons therefore suffer1 and in an exaggerated degree1 the odium which weighs down the caste to which they belong4 ,it was this odium1 this detestation of privilege and precedence and exclusiveness1 or1 as it is sometimes called1 this love of equality1 which raised the barricades of #ahcj4 ,it was to flatter these feelings that ,louis ,philippe sent his sons to the public schools and to the ,national ,guard1 and tried to establish his ,government on the narrow foundation of the bourgeoisie4 ,louis ,philippe and one or two of the members of his family1 succeeded in obtaining some personal popularity1 but it was only in the comparatively small class1 the pays lgal1 with which they shared the emoluments of ,government1 and it was not sufficient to raise a single hand in their defence when the masses1 whom the ,court could not bribe or caress1 rose against it4 ,the ,orleanist-,fusionists are ,bourbonists only from calculation4 ,they wish for the ,comte de ,paris for their king1 not from any affection for him or for his family1 but because they think that such an arrangement offers to ,france the best chance of a stable ,government in some degree under popular control3 and they are ready to tolerate the intermediate reign of ,henri ,v4 as an evil1 but one which must be endured as a means of obtaining something else1 not very good in itself but less objectionable to them than a ,bonapartist dynasty or a ,republic4 99 99 99 99 99 ',the ,legitimists have been so injured in fortune and in influence1 they have been so long an oppressed caste1 excluded from power1 and even from sympathy1 that they have acquired the faults of slaves1 have become timid1 or frivolous1 or bitter4 ,their long retirement from public life has made them unfit for it4 ,the older members of the party have forgotten its habits and its duties1 the younger ones have never learnt them4 ,their long absence from the ,chambers and from the departmental and municipal councils1 from the central and from the local government of ,france1 has deprived them of all aptitude for business4 ,the bulk of them are worshippers of wealth1 or ease1 or pleasure1 or safety4 ,the only unselfish feeling which they cherish is attachment to their hereditary sovereign4 ,they revere ,henri ,v4 as the ruler pointed out to them by ,providence3 they love him as the representative of ,charles ,x4 the champion of their order1 who died in exile for having attempted to restore to them the ,government of ,france4 ,they hope that on his restoration the canaille of lawyers1 and littrateurs1 and adventurers1 who have trampled on the gentilshommes ever since #ahcj1 will be turned down to their proper places1 and that ancient descent will again be the passport to the high offices of the ,state and to the society of the ,sovereign4 ,the advent of ,henri ,v41 which to the ,orleanist branch of the ,fusionists is a painful means1 is to the ,legitimist branch a desirable end4 ,the succession of the ,comte de ,paris1 to which the ,orleanists look with hope1 is foreseen by the ,legitimists with misgivings4 ,the ,fusionist party is in fact kept together not by common sympathies but by common antipathies2 each branch of it hates or distrusts the idol of the other1 but they co-operate because each branch hates still more bitterly1 and distrusts still more deeply1 the ,imperialists and the ,republicans4 ',among the educated classes there are few ,republicans1 using that word to designate those who actually wish to see ,france a republic4 ,there are indeed1 many who regret the social equality of the republic1 the times when plebeian birth was an aid in the struggle for power1 and a journeyman mason could be a serious candidate for the ,presidentship1 but they are alarmed at its instability4 ,they have never known a republic live for more than a few years1 or die except in convulsions4 ,the ,republican party1 however1 though small1 is not to be despised4 ,it is skilful1 determined1 and united4 ,and the ,socialists and the ,communists1 whom we have omitted in our enumeration as not belonging to the educated classes1 would supply the ,republican leaders with an army which has more than once become master of ,paris4 ',the only party that remains to be described is that to which we have given the name of ,parliamentarians4 ,under this designation--a designation that we must admit that we have invented ourselves--we include those who are distinguished from the ,imperialists by their desire for a parliamentary form of government2 and from the ,republicans1 by their willingness that that government should be regal2 and from the ,royalists1 by their willingness that it should be republican4 ,in this class are included many of the wisest and of the honestest men in ,france4 ,the only species of rule to which they are irreconcilably opposed is despotism4 ,no conduct on the part of ,louis ,napoleon would conciliate a sincere ,orleanist1 or ,legitimist1 or ,fusionist1 or ,republican4 ,the anti-regal prejudices of the last1 and the loyalty of the other three1 must force them to oppose a ,bonapartist dynasty1 whatever might be the conduct of the reigning emperor4 ,but if ,louis ,napoleon should ever think the time1 to which he professes to look forward1 arrived--if he should ever grant to ,france1 or accept from her1 institutions really constitutional2 institutions1 under which the will of the nation1 freely expressed by a free press and by freely chosen representatives1 should control and direct the conduct of her governor--the ,parliamentarians would eagerly rally round him4 ,on the same conditions they would support with equal readiness ,henri ,v4 or the ,comte de ,paris1 a president elected by the people1 or a president nominated by an ,assembly4 ,they are the friends of liberty1 whatever be the form in which she may present herself4' 99 99 99 99 99 ',although our author visits the ,provinces1 his work contains no report of their political feelings4 ,the explanation probably is1 that he found no expression of it ,the despotism under which ,france is now suffering is little felt in the capital4 ,it shows itself principally in the subdued tone of the debates1 if debates they can be called1 of the ,corps ,lgislatif1 and the inanity of the newspapers4 ,conversation is as free in ,paris as it was under the ,republic4 ,public opinion would not support the ,government in an attempt to silence the salons of ,paris4 ,but ,paris possesses a public opinion1 because it possesses one or two thousand highly educated men whose great amusement1 we might say whose great business1 is to converse1 to criticise the acts of their rulers1 and to pronounce decisions which float from circle to circle1 till they reach the workshop1 and even the barrack4 ,in the provinces there are no such centres of intelligence and discussion1 and1 therefore1 on political subjects1 there is no public opinion4 ,the consequence is1 that the action of the ,government is there really despotic2 and it employs its irresistible power in tearing from the departmental and communal authorities all the local franchises and local self-government which they had extorted from the central power in a struggle of forty years4 ',centralisation1 though it is generally disclaimed by every party that is in opposition1 is so powerful an instrument that every ,monarchical ,government which has ruled ,france since #aghi has maintained1 and even tried to extend it4 ',the ,restoration1 and the ,government of ,july1 were as absolute centralisers as ,napoleon himself4 ,the local power which they were forced to surrender they made over to the narrow pays lgal1 the privileged ten-pounders1 who were then attempting to govern ,france4 ,the ,republic gave the election of the ,conseils gnraux to the people1 and thus dethroned the notaries who governed those assemblies when they represented only the bourgeoisie4 ,the ,republic made the ,maires elective2 the ,republic placed education in the hands of the local authorities4 ,under its influence the communes1 the cantons1 and the departments were becoming real administrative bodies4 ,they are now geographical divisions4 ,the ,prfet appoints the ,maires2 the ,prfet appoints in every canton a ,commissaire de ,police1 seldom a respectable man1 as the office is not honourable2 the ,gardes champtres1 who are the local police1 are put under his control2 the ,recteur1 who was a sort of local ,minister of ,education in every department1 is suppressed2 his powers are transferred to the ,prfet2 the ,prfet appoints1 promotes1 and dismisses all the masters of the coles primaires4 ,the ,prfet can destroy the prosperity of every commune that displeases him4 ,he can displace the functionaries1 close its schools1 obstruct its public works1 and withhold the money which the ,government habitually gives in aid of local improvement4 ,he can convert it1 indeed1 into a mere unorganised aggregation of individuals1 by dismissing every communal functionary1 and placing its concerns in the hands of his own nominees4 ,there are many hundreds of communes that have been thus treated1 and whose masters are now uneducated peasants4 ,the ,prfet can dissolve the ,conseil gnral of his department1 and although he cannot actually name their successors1 he does so virtually4 ,no candidate for an elective office can succeed unless he is supported by the ,government4 ,the ,courts of law1 criminal and civil1 are the tools of the executive4 ,the ,government appoints the judges1 the ,prfet provides the jury1 and la ,haute ,police acts without either4 ,all power of combination1 even of mutual communication1 except from mouth to mouth1 is gone4 ,the newspapers are suppressed or intimidated1 the printers are the slaves of the ,prfet1 as they lose their privilege if they offend2 the secrecy of the post is habitually and avowedly violated2 there are spies in every country town to watch and report conversation2 every individual stands defenceless and insulated1 in the face of this unscrupulous executive1 with its thousands of armed hands and its thousands of watching eyes4 ,the only opposition that is ventured is the abstaining from voting4 ,whatever be the office1 and whatever be the man1 the candidate of the ,prfet comes in2 but if he is a man who would have been unanimously rejected in a state of freedom1 the bolder electors show their indignation by their absence4 ',in such a state of society the traveller can learn little4 ,even those who rule it1 know little of the feelings of their subjects4 ,the vast democratic sea on which the ,empire floats is influenced by currents1 and agitated by ground swells which the ,government discovers only by their effects4 ,it knows nothing of the passions which influence these great apparently slumbering masses4 ,indeed1 it takes care1 by stifling their expression1 to prevent their being known4 ',we disapprove in many respects of the manner in which ,louis ,napoleon employs his power1 as we disapprove in all respects of the means by which he seized it2 but1 on the whole1 we place him high among the sovereigns of ,france4 ,as respects his foreign policy we put him at the very top4 ,the foreign policy of the rulers of mankind1 whether they be kings1 or ministers1 or senates1 or demagogues1 is generally so hateful1 and at the same time so contemptible1 so grasping1 so irritable1 so unscrupulous1 and so oppressive--so much dictated by ambition1 by antipathy and by vanity1 so selfish1 often so petty in its objects1 and so regardless of human misery in its means1 that a sovereign who behaves to other nations with merely the honesty and justice and forbearance which are usual between man and man1 deserves the praise of exalted virtue4 ,the sovereigns of ,france have probably been as good as the average of sovereigns4 ,placed indeed at the head of the first nation of the ,continent1 they have probably been better2 but how atrocious has been their conduct towards their neighbour6 ,if we go back no further than to the ,restoration1 we find ,louis ,,xviii4 forming the ,holy ,alliance1 and attacking ,spain without a shadow of provocation1 for the avowed purpose of crushing her liberties and giving absolute power to the most detestable of modern tyrants4 ,we find ,charles ,x4 invading a dependence of his ally1 the ,sultan1 and confiscating a province to revenge a tap on the face given by the ,bey of ,algiers to a ,french consul4 ,we find ,louis ,philippe breaking the most solemn engagements with almost wanton faithlessness2 renouncing all extension of territory in ,africa and then conquering a country larger than ,france--a country occupied by tribes who never were the subjects of the ,sultan or of the ,bey1 and who could be robbed of their independence only by wholesale and systematic massacre2 we find him joining ,england1 ,spain1 and ,portugal in the ,quadruple ,alliance1 and deserting them as soon as the time of action had arrived2 joining ,russia1 ,prussia1 ,austria and ,england1 in the arrangement of the ,eastern question1 on the avowed basis that the integrity of the ,ottoman empire should be preserved1 and then attempting to rob it of ,egypt4 ,we find him running the risk of a war with ,america1 because she demanded1 too unceremoniously1 the payment of a just debt1 and with ,england because she complained of the ill-treatment of a missionary4 ,we find him trying to ruin the commerce of ,switzerland because the ,diet arrested a ,french spy1 and deposing ,queen ,pomare because she interfered with the sale of ,french brandies2 and1 as his last act1 eluding an express promise by a miserable verbal equivocation1 and sowing the seeds of a future war of succession in order to get for one of his sons an advantageous establishment in ,spain4 ',the greatest blot in the foreign policy of ,louis ,napoleon is the invasion of ,rome1 and for that he is scarcely responsible4 ,it was originally planned by ,louis ,philippe and ,rossi4 ,the expedition which sailed from ,toulon in #ahdi was prepared in #ahdg4 ,it was despatched in the first six months of his presidency1 in obedience to a vote of the ,assembly1 when the ,assembly was still the ruler of ,france2 and ,louis ,napoleon's celebrated letter to ,ney was an attempt1 not1 perhaps constitutional or prudent1 but well-intentioned1 to obtain for the ,roman people liberal and secular institutions instead of ecclesiastical tyranny4 ',his other mistake was the attempt to enforce on ,turkey the capitulations of #agdj1 and to revive pretentions of the ,latins in ,jerusalem which had slept for more than a century4 ,this1 again1 was a legacy from ,louis ,philippe4 ,it was ,louis ,philippe who claimed a right to restore the dome1 or the portico1 we forget which1 of the ,holy ,sepulchre1 and to insult the ,greeks by rebuilding it in the ,latin instead of the ,byzantine form4 ,louis ,napoleon has the merit1 rare in private life1 and almost unknown among princes1 of having frankly and unreservedly withdrawn his demands1 though supported by treaty1 as soon as he found that they could not be conceded without danger to the conceding party4 ',with these exceptions1 his management of the foreign relations of ,france has been faultless4 ,to ,england he has been honest and confiding1 to ,russia conciliatory but firm1 to ,austria kind and forbearing1 and he has treated ,prussia with1 perhaps1 more consideration than that semi-,russian ,court and childishly false and cunning king deserved4 ,he has been assailed by every form of temptation1 through his hopes and through his fears1 and has remained faithful and disinterested4 ,such conduct deserves the admiration with which ,england has repaid it4 ',we cannot praise him as an administrator4 ,he is indolent and procrastinating4 ,he hates details1 and therefore does not understand them4 ,when he has given an order he does not see to its execution2 indeed1 he cannot1 for he does not know how it ought to be executed4 ,he directed a fleet to be prepared to co-operate with us in the ,baltic in the spring4 ,ducos1 his ,minister of ,marine1 assured him that it was ready4 ,the time came1 and not a ship was rigged or manned4 ,he asked us to suspend the expedition for a couple of months4 ,we refused1 and sailed without the ,french squadron4 ,if the ,russians had ventured out1 and we either had beaten them single-handed1 or been repulsed for want of the promised assistance1 the effect on ,france would have been frightful4 ,we have reason to believe that it was only in the middle of ,february that he made up his mind to send an army to ,bulgaria4 ,they arrived by driblets1 without any plan of operations1 and it was not until ,august that their battering train left ,toulon4 ,it ought to have reached ,sebastopol in ,may4 ,in time1 however1 he must see the necessity of either becoming an active man of business himself1 or of ministering1 like other sovereigns1 through his ,ministers4 ,up to the present time many causes have concurred to occasion him to endeavour to be his own ,minister1 and to treat those to whom he gives that name as mere clerks4 ,he is jealous and suspicious1 fond of power1 and impatient of contradiction4 ,with the exception of ,drouyn de l',huys1 the eminent men of ,france1 her statesmen and her generals1 stand aloof from him4 ,those who are not in exile have retired from public life1 and offer neither assistance nor advice4 ,advice1 indeed1 he refuses1 and1 what is still more useful than advice1 censure1 he punishes4 ',but the war1 though it must last longer1 and cost1 more in men and in money than it would have done if it were managed with more intelligence and activity1 must end favourably4 ,ill managed as it has been by ,france1 it has been worse managed by ,russia4 ,it is impossible that that semi-barbarous empire1 with its scarcely sane autocrat1 its corrupt administration1 its disordered finances1 and its heterogeneous populations1 should ultimately triumph over the two most powerful nations of ,europe1 flanked by ,austria1 and disposing of the fanatical valour of ,turkey4 ,if ,louis ,napoleon pleases the vanity of ,france by military glory1 and rewards her exertions by a triumphant peace2 if he employs his absolute power in promoting her prosperity by further relaxing the fetters which encumber her industry2 if he takes advantage of the popularity which a successful war1 an honourable peace1 and internal prosperity must confer on him1 to give to her a little real liberty and a little real self-government2 if he gradually subsides from a ,greek3 ,trannos to a ,greek3 ,basiles2 if he allows some liberty of the press1 some liberty of election1 some liberty of discussion1 and some liberty of decision2 he may pass the remainder of his agitated life in the tranquil exercise of limited1 but great and secure power1 the ally of ,england1 and the benefactor of ,france4 ',if this expectation should be realised--and we repeat1 that among many contingencies it appears to us to be the least improbable--it affords to ,europe the best hope of undisturbed peace and progressive civilisation and prosperity4 ,an alliance with ,england was one of the favourite dreams of the first ,napoleon4 ,he believed1 and with reason1 that ,england and ,france united could dictate to all ,europe4 ,but in this respect1 as indeed in all others1 his purposes were selfish4 ,being master of ,france1 he wished ,france to be mistress of the world4 ,all that he gave to ,france was power1 all that he required from ,europe was submission4 ,the objects for which he desired our co-operation were precisely those which we wished to defeat4 ,the friendship from which we recoiled in disgust1 almost in terror1 was turned into unrelenting hatred2 and in the long struggle which followed1 each party felt that its safety depended on the total ruin of the other4 ',the alliance which the uncle desired as a means of oppressing ,europe1 the nephew seeks for the purpose of setting her free4 ,the heavy continued weight of ,russia has1 ever since the death of ,alexander1 kept down all energy and independence of action1 and even of thought1 on the ,continent4 ,she has been the patron of every tyrant1 the protector of every abuse1 the enemy of every improvement4 ,it was at her instigation that the ,congress of ,verona decreed the enslavement of ,spain1 and that in the conferences of ,leybach it was determined to stifle liberty in ,italy4 ,every court on the ,continent is cursed with a ,russian party2 and woe be to the ,sovereign and to the ,minister who is not at its head3 all the resources of ,russian influence and of ,russian corruption are lavished to render his people rebellious and his administration unsuccessful4 ,from this peine forte et dure we believe that ,europe will now be relieved2 and if the people or the sovereigns of the ,continent1 particularly those of ,germany and ,italy1 make a tolerable use of the freedom from foreign dictation which the weakness of ,russia will give to them1 we look forward to an indefinite course of prosperity and improvement4 ,unhappily1 experience1 however1 forbids us to be sanguine4 ,forty years ago1 an event1 such as we are now contemplating1 occurred4 ,a ,power which had deprived the ,continent of the power of independent action fell1 and for several years had no successor4 ,germany and ,italy recalled or re-established their sovereigns1 and entrusted them with power such as they had never possessed before4 ,how they used it may be inferred from the general outbreak of #ahdh4 ,a popular indignation1 such as could have been excited only by long years of folly1 stupidity1 and tyranny1 swept away or shook every throne from ,berlin to ,palermo4 ,the people was everywhere for some months triumphant2 and its abuse of power produced a reaction which restored or introduced despotism in every kingdom except ,prussia and ,piedmont1 and even in ,prussia gave to the ,king power sufficient to enable him1 up to the present moment1 to maintain a policy1 mischievous to the interests1 disgusting to the sympathies1 and injurious to the honour of his people4 ,but while the ,anglo-,gallic alliance continues1 the ,continent will be defended from the worst of all evils1 the prevention of domestic improvement1 and the aggravation of domestic disturbance1 by foreign intervention4 ,that alliance has already preserved the liberty of ,piedmont4 ,if it had been established sooner1 it might have preserved that of ,hesse1 and have saved ,europe from the revolting spectacle of the constitutional resistance of a whole people against an usurping tyrant and a profligate minister crushed by brutal1 undisguised violence4 ',we repeat that we are not sanguine1 that we do not expect the tranquil1 uninterrupted progress which would be the result of the timely concession on the part of the sovereigns1 and of the forbearance and moderation on the part of their subjects1 which1 if they could profit by the lessons of history1 would be adopted by both parties4 ,the only lesson1 indeed1 which history teaches is1 that she teaches none either to subjects or to sovereigns4 ,but we do trust that when the ruler and his people are allowed to settle their own affairs between one another1 they will come from time to time to coarse and imperfect1 but useful arrangements of their differences4 ,rational liberty may advance slowly and unequally2 it may sometimes be arrested1 it may sometimes be forced back1 but its march in every decennial period will be perceptible4 ,like an oak which has grown up among storms1 its durability will be in proportion to the slowness of its progress4' ,,correspondence4 ,tocqueville1 ,june #cj1 #ahee4 ,i have only just arrived here1 my dear ,senior1 after wandering for nearly a month from friend to friend all through the ,touraine and the ,maine4 ,as you may think1 ,i am1 on returning home after so long an absence1 overpowered with trifling business4 ,i cannot1 therefore1 comply to-day with your request and write to you the letter you ask for3 ,i will write it after much thought and at length4 ,the subject is well worthy of the trouble4 ,shall ,i at the same time send back to you the conversation which ,i have corrected1 and in what way8 ,the post would be very unsafe and expensive4 ,give me1 therefore1 your instructions on this point4 ,but above all1 give us news of yourselves and of all our friends4 ,my wife has borne the journey better than ,i expected1 and the delight we feel in finding ourselves here once more will completely restore her4 ,this delight is really very great and in proportion to the annoyance of wandering about as we have done for three years without ever finding a place which entirely suited us4 ,as to public news1 ,i have heard none since ,i left ,paris4 ,the only spot which a single ray of light can ever reach is ,paris4 ,all the rest is in profound darkness4 ,if you hear anything important1 pray tell me4 ,adieu1 dear ,senior4 ,remember me to ,mrs4 and ,miss ,senior1 and believe in our long and very sincere affection1 ,a4 ,,de ,,tocqueville4 ,tocqueville1 ,july #be1 #ahee4 ,i wrote to you yesterday1 my dear ,senior1 a long letter according to my promise4 ,but when ,i read it over ,i felt that it was absurd to send such a letter by the post1 especially to a foreigner1 and ,i burnt it4 ,since the assault of the #ahth1#a the interference of the police in private correspondence has become more active4 ,many of my friends as well as ,i myself have perceived it4 ,more letters have been kept back and more have been stopped4 ,two of mine have been lost4 ,you may remember that two letters from me failed to reach you1 three years ago4 ,the danger is greater in the country1 where handwritings are known1 than in ,paris4 ,you advise me to put my letters into a cover directed to your ,embassy1 which will forward them4 ,but this is no security4 ,if a letter be suspected1 it is easy to open and re-seal it1 and still easier simply to suppress it4 ,and1 in fact1 after all1 you have lost little4 ,i wrote to you only what ,i have a hundred times said to you4 ,we have lived so much together1 and with such perfect mutual confidence1 that it is difficult for either of us to say anything new to the other4 ,besides1 on reading over again1 with attention1 your note of our last conversation1#b ,i have nothing to alter4 ,all that ,i could do would be to develope a little more my opinions1 and to support them by additional arguments4 ,i feel more and more their truth1 and that the progress of events will confirm them much more than any reasonings of mine can do4 ,we are annoyed and disturbed1 having the house full of workmen4 ,i am trying to warm it by hot air1 and am forced to bore through very old and very thick walls2 but we shall be repaid by being able to live here during the winter4 ,i am amusing myself with the letters which our young soldiers in the ,east1 peasants from this parish1 write home to their families1 and which are brought to me4 ,this correspondence should be read in order to understand the singular character of the ,french peasant4 ,it is strange to see the ease with which these men become accustomed to the risks of military life1 to danger and to death1 and yet how their hearts cling to their fields and to the occupations of country life4 ,the horrors of war are described with simplicity1 and almost with enjoyment4 ,but in the midst of these accounts one finds such phrases as these3 ,what crop do you intend to sow in such a field next year8 ,how is the mare8 ,has the cow a fine calf8 c4 ,no minds can be more versatile1 and at the same time more constant4 ,i have always thought that1 after all1 the peasantry were superior to all other classes in ,france4 ,but these men are deplorably in want of knowledge and education1 or rather the education to which they have been subjected for centuries past has taught them to make a bad use of their natural good qualities4 ,it seems to me that ,lord ,john's resignation will enable your ,cabinet to stand1 at least for some time4 ,all that has passed in ,england since the beginning of the war grieves me deeply4 ,seen from a distance1 your ,constitution appears to me an admirable machine which is getting out of order1 partly from the wearing out of its works1 partly from the unskilfulness of its workers4 ,such a spectacle is useful to our ,government4 ,i asked you some questions1 which you have not answered4 ,is ,mrs4 ,grote returned from ,germany8 ,is she well8 ,has she received my letter addressed to her at ,heidelberg8 ,the last question is always doubtful when one writes from ,france4 ,i send you a letter from the ,count de ,fnelon1 which ,i think will interest you4 ,you will give it me back when we meet4 ,i am very curious to know what you will think of ,egypt2 and ,i hope that we shall be established in ,paris when you return4 ,a4 ,,de ,,tocqueville4 ,footnote #a3 ,on the #ahth ,june1 #ahee1 the ,french and ,english made an unsuccessful assault on ,sebastopol4--,,ed4 ,footnote #b3 ,that of the #bhth ,may1 #ahee4--;,,ed4 ,tocqueville1 ,september #ai1 #ahee4 ,your letter1 my dear ,senior1 of the #bfth of ,august1 has much interested me4 ,i see that you are resolved on your great journey4 ,i could say like ,alexander1 if the comparison were not too ambitious1 that ,i should wish to be in your place if ,i were not in my own2 but ,i cannot get satiated with the pleasure of being at home after so long an absence4 ,everything is pleasure in this country life1 among my own fields4 ,even the solitude is charming2 but were ,i anywhere else1 ,i should envy you your tour4 ,everything in ,egypt is curious3 the past1 the present1 and the future4 ,i hope to learn much from your ,journal1 which ,i trust that ,i shall have4 ,we shall certainly meet you in ,paris4 ,the noise made by the fall of ,sebastopol has echoed even to this distant corner of ,france4 ,it is a glorious event1 and has delighted every ,frenchman of every party and of every opinion1 for in these matters we are one man4 ,i fear that the victory has been bought dearly4 ,there is not a neighbouring village to which the war has not cost some of its children4 ,but they bear it admirably4 ,you know1 that in war we show the best side of our character4 ,if our civilians resembled our soldiers we should long ago have been masters of ,europe4 ,this war has never been popular1 nor is it popular1 yet we bear all its cost with a cheerfulness admirable when you consider the sorrows which it occasions1 aggravated by the distress produced by the dearness of bread4 ,if1 instead of the ,crimea1 the seat of war had been the ,rhine1 with a definite purpose1 the whole nation would have risen1 as it has done before4 ,but the object of the war is unintelligible to the people4 ,they only know that ,france is at war1 and must be made1 at any price1 to triumph4 ,i must confess1 that ,i myself1 who understand the object for which all this blood is shed1 and who approve that object1 do not feel the interest which such great events ought to excite2 for ,i do not expect a result equal to the sacrifice4 ,i think1 with you1 that ,russia is a great danger to ,europe4 ,i think so more strongly1 because ,i have had peculiar opportunities of studying the real sources of her power1 and because ,i believe these sources to be permanent1 and entirely beyond the reach of foreign attack4 7,i have not time now to tell you why47 ,but ,i am deeply convinced that it is not by taking from her a town1 or even a province1 nor by diplomatic precautions1 still less by placing sentinels along her frontier1 that the ,western ,powers will permanently stop her progress4 ,a temporary bulwark may be raised against her1 but a mere accident may destroy it1 or a change of alliances or a domestic policy may render it useless4 ,i am convinced that ,russia can be stopped only by raising before her powers created by the hatred which she inspires1 whose vital and constant interest it shall be to keep themselves united and to keep her in4 ,in other words1 by the resurrection of ,poland1 and by the re-animation of ,turkey4 ,i do not believe that either of these means can now be adopted4 ,the detestable jealousies and ambitions of the ,european nations resemble1 as you say in your letter1 nothing better than the quarrels of the ,greeks in the face of ,philip4 ,not one will sacrifice her passions or her objects4 ,about a month ago ,i read some remarkable articles1 which you perhaps have seen1 in the ,german papers1 on the progress which ,russia is making in the extreme ,east4 ,the writer seems to be a man of sense and well informed4 ,it appears that during the last five years1 ,russia1 profiting by the ,chinese disturbances1 has seized1 not only the mouth of the ,amoor1 but a large territory in ,mongolia1 and has also gained a considerable portion of the tribes which inhabit it4 ,you know that these tribes once overran all ,asia1 and have twice conquered ,china4 ,the means have always been the same--some accident which1 for an instant1 has united these tribes in submission to the will of one man4 ,now1 says the writer1 very plausibly1 the ,czar may bring this about1 and do what has been done by ,genghis ,khan1 and1 indeed1 by others4 ,if these designs are carried out1 all ,upper ,asia will be at the mercy of a man1 who1 though the seat of his power be in ,europe1 can unite and close on one point the ,mongols4 ,i know more about ,sir ,g4 ,lewis's book#a than you do4 ,i have read it through1 and ,i do not say1 as you do1 that it must be a good book1 but that it is a good book4 ,pray say as much to ,sir ,george when you see him1 as a letter of mine to ,lady ,theresa on the subject may have miscarried4 ,it is as necessary now for friends to write in duplicate from town to town1 as it is if they are separated by the ocean and fear that the ship which carries their letters may be lost4 ,i hear that our friend ,john ,mill has lately published an excellent book4 ,is it true8 at all events remember me to him4 ,adieu1 my dear ,senior4 ,do not forget us any more than we forget you4 ,kindest regards to ,mrs4 ,senior1 and ,miss ,senior1 and ,mrs4 ,grote4 ,a4 ,,de ,,tocqueville4 ,footnote #a3 ,the work referred to was probably that on the ,early ,history of ,rome4--,,ed4 ,paris1 ,april #a1 #ahef4 ,i write a few lines to you at ,marseilles1 my dear ,senior1 as you wished4#a ,i hope that you will terminate your great journey as felicitously as you seem to me to have carried it on from the beginning4 ,the undertaking appears to have been a complete success4 ,i wish that it might induce you next year to cross over the ocean to ,america4 ,i should be much interested in hearing and reading your remarks upon that society4 ,but perhaps ,mrs4 ,senior will not be so ready to start off again2 so1 that ,i may not involve myself in a quarrel with her1 ,i will say no more on the subject4 ,i am longing to see you1 for beside our old and intimate friendship ,i shall be delighted to talk with such an interesting converser1 and1 above all1 to find myself again in the company of 7as ,mrs4 ,grote calls you7 'the boy4' ,you will find me1 however1 in all the vexations of correcting proofs and the other worries connected with bringing out a book4#b ,it will not appear till the end of this month4 ,i can tell you no more about politics than you may learn from the newspapers4 ,peace1 though much desired has caused no public excitement ,the truth is that just now we are not excitable4 ,as long as she remains in this condition ,france will not strike one of those blows by which she sometimes shakes ,europe and overturns herself4 ,reeve has been and ,milnes still is here4 ,we have talked much of you with these two old friends4 ,good bye1 or rather1 thank ,god1 bientt4 ,a thousand kind remembrances to ,mrs4 ,senior4 ,a4 ,,de ,,tocqueville4 ,footnote #a3 ,mr4 ,senior was on his return from ,egypt4--,,ed4 ,footnote #b3 ,the ,ancien ,rgime4 ,,conversations4 ,paris1 ,may #af4--,m4 de ,tocqueville has scarcely been visible since my return to ,paris4 ,madame de ,tocqueville has been absent4 ,she returned yesterday1 and they spent this evening with us4 ,tocqueville is full of his book1 which is to appear in about a week4 ,his days and nights are devoted to correcting the press and to writing notes--which he thought would be trifling1 but which grow in length and importance4 ,the object of the work is to account for the rapid progress of the ,revolution1 to point out the principal causes which enabled a few comparatively obscure men to overthrow in six weeks a ,monarchy of many centuries4 ',i am inclined1' ,i said1 'to attribute the rapidity with which the old institutions of ,france fell1 to the fact that there was no lex loci in ,france4 ,that the laws1 or rather the customs1 of the different provinces were dissimilar1 and that nothing was defined4 ,that as soon as the foundations or the limits of any power were examined1 it crumbled to pieces2 so that the ,assembly became omnipotent in the absence of any authority with ascertained rights and jurisdiction4' ',there is much truth in that1' answered ,tocqueville1 'but there is also much truth in what looks like an opposite theory--namely1 that the ,monarchy fell because its power was too extensive and too absolute4 ,nothing is so favourable to revolution as centralisation1 because whoever can seize the central point is obeyed down to the extremities4 ,now the centralisation of ,france under the old ,monarchy1 though not so complete as its ,democratic and ,imperial tyrants afterwards made it1 was great4 ,power was concentrated in ,paris and in the provincial capitals4 ,the smaller towns and the agricultural population were unorganised and defenceless4 ,the #adth of ,july revealed the terrible secret that the ,master of ,paris is the ,master of ,france4' ,paris1 ,may #ah4--;,i spent the day at ,athy1 the country-seat of ,m4 ,lafosse1#a who had been my companion in our ,egyptian journey4 ',what do you hear1' ,i asked1 'of the ,empress8' ',nothing1' he answered1 'but what is favourable2 all her instincts and prejudices are good4 ,lesseps1 who is nearly related to her1 has many of her letters1 written during the courtship1 in which she speaks of her dear ,louis with the utmost affection1 and dwells on the hope that if ever she should become his wife1 she may be able to induce him to liberalise his ,government4' ',and now1' he said1 'tell me what you heard in ,england about our ,canal8' ',i heard nothing1' ,i answered1 'except from ,maclean4 ,he told me that he thought that the ,maritime ,canal1 if supplied from the sea1 would become stagnant and unwholesome1 and gradually fill4 ,that that plan was formed when the levels of the two seas were supposed to differ1 so that there would be a constant current4 ',now that the equality of their levels has been ascertained1 he said to me1 the only mode of obtaining a current is to employ the ,nile instead of the sea4 ,but can the ,nile spare the water8 ,i asked4 ,certainly1 he answered4 ,an hour a day of the water from the ,nile1 even when at its lowest1 would be ample4 ,and what do the other engineers say8 ,i asked4 ,randall1 he replied1 agrees with me4 ,the others are at present for the salt water4 ,but we are to meet in time and discuss it thoroughly4' ',it is not the opinion of the engineers1' answered ,lafosse1 'that ,i want1 but that of the politicians4 ',we are told that ,lord ,palmerston threatens to prevent it as long as he is ,minister4 ,this makes us very angry4 ,we think that we perceive in his opposition his old hatred of ,france and of everything that ,france supports or even favours--feelings which we hoped the ,alliance had cured4 ',the matter1' he continued1 'was to have been brought before the ,congress4 ,buol had promised to ,nigrelli to do so1 and ,cavour to ,lesseps and ,paleocapa4 ,but after the occupation of ,italy1 and the ,belgian press1 and the rights of ,neutrals had been introduced1 the ,congress got impatient1 and it was thought inexpedient to ask them to attend to another episodical matter4 ,the ,emperor1 however1 did something4 ,he asked ,ali ,pasha1 the ,turkish ,minister1 what were the ,sultan's views4 ,they will be governed1 said ,ali ,pasha1 in a great measure by those of his allies4 ,as one of them1 said the ,emperor1 ,i am most anxious for its success4 ,in that case1 replied ,ali ,pasha1 the ,sultan can have no objection to it in principle1 though he may wish to annex to his firman some conditions--for instance1 as to the occupation of the forts at each end by a mixed garrison of ,turks and ,egyptians4 ,the ,emperor then turned to ,lord ,clarendon4 ,what are your views1 he asked1 as to the ,suez ,canal8 ,it is a grave matter1 answered ,lord ,clarendon1 and one on which ,i have no instructions4 ,but ,i believe it to be impracticable4 ,well1 replied the ,emperor1 but supposing for the sake of the argument1 that it is practicable1 what are your intentions8 ,i cannot but think1 answered ,lord ,clarendon1 that any new channel of commerce must be beneficial to ,england4 ,the real difficulty is the influence which the ,canal may have in the relations of ,egypt and ,turkey4 ,if that be the only obstacle1 replied the ,emperor1 there is not much in it1 for ,ali ,pasha has just told me that if we make no objection the ,sultan makes none4 ,we cannot be more ,turkish than the ,turk4' ',i am most anxious1' added ,lafosse1 'that this stupid opposition of yours should come to an end4 ,trifling as the matter may seem1 it endangers the cordiality of the ,alliance4 ,the people of ,england1 who do not know how jealous and passionns we are1 cannot estimate the mistrust and the irritation which it excites4 ,that an enterprise on which the ,french1 wisely or foolishly1 have set their hearts1 should be stopped by the caprice of a wrong-headed ,englishman1 hurts our vanity2 and everything that hurts our vanity offends us much more than what injures our serious interests4 ',if the engineers and the capitalists decide in favour of the scheme1 you will have to yield at last4 ,you had much better do so now1 when you can do it with a good grace4 ,do not let your acquiescence be extorted4' ,footnote #a3 ,m4 ,lafosse died many years ago4 ,he was a friend of ,m4 de ,lesseps1 by whom he and ,mr4 ,senior were invited to join the expedition to ,egypt--,,ed4 ,paris1 ,may #ai4--;,after breakfast ,i spent a couple of hours with ,cousin4 ',you have been in ,england1' he said1 'since you left ,egypt4 ,what is the news as to our ,canal8 ,will ,palmerston let us have it8 ,you must stay a few weeks in ,paris to estimate the effect of your opposition to it4 ,we consider ,palmerston's conduct as a proof that his hatred of ,france is unabated1 and the acquiescence of the rest of your ,cabinet as a proof that1 now we are no longer necessary to you1 now that we have destroyed for you the maritime power of ,russia1 you are indifferent to our friendship4 ',i know nothing myself as to the merits of the ,canal4 ,i distrust ,lesseps and everything that he undertakes4 ,he has much talent and too much activity1 but they only lead him and his friends into scrapes4 ,i daresay that the ,canal is one1 and that it will ruin its shareholders2 but as ,i am anxious we should not quarrel with ,england1 ,i am most anxious that this silly subject of dispute should be removed4' ',louis ,napoleon1' he continued1 'professed to wish that you should allow the ,sultan to give his consent2 but ,i doubt whether he is sincere4 ,i am not sure that he is not pleased at seeing the ,parisians occupied by something besides his own doings1 especially as it promotes the national dislike of ,england4 ,now that the war is over we want an object4 ,he tries to give us one by launching us into enormous speculations4 ,he is trying to make us ,english2 to give us a taste for great and hazardous undertakings1 leading to great gains1 great losses1 profuse expenditure1 and sudden fortunes and failures4 ,such things suit you2 they do not suit us4 ,our habits are economical and prudent1 perhaps timid4 ,we like the petty commerce of commission and detail1 we prefer domestic manufactures to factories1 we like to grow moderately rich by small profits1 small expenditure1 and constant accumulation4 ,we hate the nouveaux riches1 and scarcely wish to be among them4 ,the progress for which we wish is political progress--not within1 for there we are satisfied to oscillate1 and shall be most happy if in #ahfj we find ourselves where we were in #ahbj--;but without4 ,i believe that our master's sortie against ,belgium was a pilot balloon4 ,he wished to see what amount of opposition he had to fear from you1 and from ,belgium1 and how far we should support him4 ,he has found the two former greater than he expected4 ,i am not sure that he is dissatisfied with the last4' ,i spent the morning at ,h4's4 ,he too attacked me about the ,canal4 ',do entreat1' he said1 'your public men to overrule their ill-conditioned colleague4 ,i told you a year ago1 the mischief that you were doing1 but ,i do not think that you believed me4 ,you may find too late that ,i was right4' ,i repeated to him ,ellice's opinion that the commerce of ,england would not use the canal4 ',i have heard that1' he said1 'from ,ellice himself1 but ,i differ from him4 ,i agree with him1 indeed1 that your sailing vessels will not use the canal1 but ,i believe that a few years hence you will have no purely sailing vessels1 except for the small coasting trade4 ,every large ship will have a propeller2 and with propellers1 to be employed occasionally1 and sails for ordinary use1 the ,mediterranean and the ,red ,sea are very manageable4 ,i believe that the canal will be useful1 and particularly to you4 ,but whatever be the real merits of the scheme1 for ,god's sake let it be tried4 ,do not treat us like children1 and say1 ,we know better what is good for you than you do yourselves4 ,you shall not make your canal because you would lose money by it4' ',what did you hear1' ,i said1 'about the ,congress8' ',i heard1' he answered1 'that ,clarendon was very good1 and was the best1 and that ,walewski was very bad1 and was the worst4' ',can you tell me1' ,i said1 'the real history of the ,tripartite ,treaty8' ',i can1' he answered4 ',there was an old engagement between the three ,powers1 entered into last spring1 that if they succeeded in the war1 they would unite to force ,russia to perform any conditions to which she might submit4 ',this engagement had been allowed to sleep2 ,i will not say that it was forgotten1 but no one seemed disposed to revert to it4 ,but after the twenty-second ,protocol1 when ,piedmont was allowed to threaten ,austria1 and neither ,england nor ,france defended her1 ,buol got alarmed4 ,he feared that ,austria might be left exposed to the vengeance of ,russia on the north and east1 and to that of the ,italian ,liberals on the ,south4 ,an alliance with ,france and ,england1 though only for a specified purpose1 at least would relieve ,austria from the appearance of insulation4 ,she would be able to talk of the two greatest ,powers in ,europe as her allies1 and would thus acquire a moral force which might save her from attack4 ,he recalled1 therefore1 the old engagement to the recollection of ,clarendon and ,louis ,napoleon1 and summoned them to fulfil it4 ,i do not believe that either of them was pleased4 ,but the engagement was formal1 and its performance1 though open to misconstruction1 and intended by ,austria to be misconstrued1 was attended by some advantages1 though different ones1 to ,france and to ,england4 ,so both your ,government and ours complied4' ,tuesday1 ,may #bj4--,the ,tocquevilles and ,rivet drank tea with us4 ,i mentioned to ,tocqueville the subject of my conversations with ,cousin and ,h4 ',i agree with ,cousin1' he said4 ',the attempt to turn our national activity into speculation and commerce has often been made1 but has never had any permanent success4 ,the men who make these sudden fortunes are not happy1 for they are always suspected of friponnerie1 and the ,government to which they belong is suspected of friponnerie4 ,still less happy are those who have attempted to make them1 and have failed4 ,and those who have not been able even to make the attempt are envious and sulky4 ,so that the whole world becomes suspicious and dissatisfied4 ',and even if it were universal1 mere material prosperity is not enough for us4 ,our ,government must give us something more3 must gratify our ambition1 or1 at least1 our vanity4' ',the ,government1' said ,rivet1 'has been making a desperate plunge in order to escape from the accusation of friponnerie4 ,it has denounced in the ,moniteur the faiseurs2 it has dismissed a poor aide-de-camp of ,jrme's for doing what everybody has been doing ever since the coup d'tat4 ,when ,ponsard's comedy1 which was known to be a furious satire on the agioteurs1 was first played1 ,louis ,napoleon took the whole orchestra and pit stalls1 and filled them with people instructed to applaud every allusion to the faiseurs4 ,and he himself stood in his box1 his body almost out of it1 clapping most energetically every attack on them4' ',at the same time1' ,i said1 'has he not forced the ,orleans ,company and the ,lyons ,company to buy the ,grand ,central at much more than its worth8 ,and was not that done in order to enable certain faiseurs to realise their gains8' ',he has forced the ,orleans ,company1' said ,rivet1 'to buy up1 or rather to amalgamate the ,grand ,central2 but ,i will not say at more than its value4 ,the amount to be paid is to depend on the comparative earnings of the different lines1 for two years before and two years after the purchase4' ',but1' ,i said1 'is it not true1 first1 that the ,orleans ,company was unwilling to make the purchase8 and1 secondly1 that thereupon the ,grand ,central shares rose much in the market8' ',both these facts1' answered ,rivet1 'are true4' ',do you believe1' ,i said to ,tocqueville1 ',h4's history of the ,tripartite ,treaty8' ',i do1' he answered4 ',i do not think that at the time when it was made we liked it4 ,it suited you1 who wish to preserve the statu quo in ,europe1 which keeps us your inferiors1 or1 at least1 not your superiors4 ,you have nothing to gain by a change4 ,we have4 ,the statu quo does not suit us4 ,the ,tripartite ,treaty is a sort of chain--not a heavy one1 or a strong one--but one which we should not have put on if we could have avoided it4' ',do you agree1' ,i asked ,tocqueville1 'with ,lafosse1 ,cousin1 and ,h4 as to the effect in ,paris of our opposition to the ,suez ,canal8' ',i agree1' he answered1 'in every word that they have said4 ,there is nothing that has done you so much mischief in ,france1 and indeed in ,europe4 ',i am no engineer2 ,i should be sorry to pronounce a decided opinion as to the feasibility or the utility of the canal2 but your opposition makes us believe that it is practicable4' ',those among us1' ,i answered1 'who fear it1 sometimes found their fear on grounds unconnected with its practicability4 ,they say that it is a political1 not a commercial1 scheme4 ,that the object is to give to ,french engineers and ,french shareholders a strip of land separating ,egypt from ,syria1 and increasing the ,french interest in ,egypt4' ',what is the value1' answered ,tocqueville1 'of a strip of land in the desert where no one can live8 ,and why are the shareholders to be ,french8 ,the ,greeks1 the ,syrians1 the ,dalmatians1 the ,italians1 and the ,sicilians are the people who will use the canal1 if anybody uses it4 ,they will form the bulk of the shareholders1 if shareholders there are4 ',my strong suspicion is1 that if you had not opposed it1 there never would have been any shareholders1 and that if you now withdraw your opposition1 and let the scheme go on until calls are made1 the subscribers1 who are ready enough with their names as patriotic manifestations against you as long as no money is to be paid1 will withdraw en masse from an undertaking which1 at the very best1 is a most hazardous one4 ',as to our influence in ,egypt1 your journal shows that it is a pet project of the ,viceroy4 ,he hopes to get money and fame from it4 ,you imitate both his covetousness and his vanity1 and throw him for support upon us4' ,paris1 ,may #ba--,the ,tocquevilles and ,chrzanowski#a drank tea with us4 ,we talked of the ,french iron floating batteries4 ',i saw one at ,cherbourg1' said ,tocqueville1 'and talked much with her commander4 ,he was not in good spirits about his vessel1 and feared some great disaster4 ,however1 she did well at ,kinburn4' ',she suffered little at ,kinburn1' said ,chrzanowski1 'because she ventured little4 ,she did not approach the batteries nearer than #fjj metres4 ,at that distance there is little risk and little service4 ,to knock down a wall two metres thick from a distance of #fjj metres would require at least #cjj blows4 ,how far her own iron sides would have withstood at that distance the fire of heavy guns ,i will not attempt to say1 as ,i never saw her4 ,the best material to resist shot is lead4 ,it contracts over the ball and crushes it4' ',kinburn1 however1' said ,tocqueville1 'surrendered to our floating batteries4' ',kinburn surrendered1' said ,chrzanowski1 'because you landed #aj1jjj men1 and occupied the isthmus which connects ,kinburn with the main land4 ,the garrison saw that they were invested1 and had no hope of relief4 ,they were not ,quixotic enough1 or heroic enough1 to prolong a hopeless resistance4 ,scarcely any garrison does so4' ,we talked of ,malta2 and ,i said that ,malta was the only great fortification which ,i had seen totally unprovided with earth-works4 ',the stone1' said ,chrzanowski1 'is soft and will not splinter4' ',i was struck1' ,i said1 'with the lightness of the armament2 the largest guns that ,i saw1 except some recently placed in ,fort ,st4 ,elmo1 were twenty-four pounders4' ',for land defence1' he answered1 'twenty-four pounders are serviceable guns4 ,they are manageable and act with great effect within the short distance within which they are generally used4 ,it is against ships that large guns are wanted4 ,a very large ball or shell is wasted on the trenches1 but may sink a ship4 ,the great strength of the land defences of ,malta arises from the nature of the ground on which ,valetta and ,floriana are built1 indeed of which the whole island consists4 ,it is a rock generally bare or covered with only a few inches of earth4 ,approaches could not be dug in it4 ,it would be necessary to bring earth or sand in ships1 and to make the trenches with sand-bags or gabions4' ,i asked him if he had read ,louis ,napoleon's orders to ,canrobert1 published in ,bazancourt's book8 ',i have1' he answered4 ',they show a depth of ignorance and a depth of conceit1 compared to which even ,thiers is modest and skilful4 ,canrobert is not a great general1 but he is not a man to whom a civilian1 who never saw a shot fired1 ought to give lectures on what he calls the great principles or the absolute principles of war4 ,he seems to have taken the correspondence between ,napoleon and ,joseph for his model1 forgetting that ,canrobert is to him what ,napoleon was to ,joseph4 ,then he applies his principles as absurdly as he enunciates them4 ,thus he orders ,canrobert to send a fleet carrying #be1jjj men to the breach at ,aboutcha1 to land #c1jjj of them1 to send them three leagues up the country1 and not to land any more1 until those first sent have established themselves beyond the defile of ,agen4 ,of course those #c1jjj men would be useless if the enemy were not in force1 or destroyed if they were in force4 ,to send on a small body and not to support them is the grossest of faults4 ,it is the fault which you committed at the ,redan1 when the men who had got on to the works were left by you for an hour unsupported1 instead of reinforcements being poured in after them as quickly as they could be sent4 ',in fact1' he continued1 'the horrible and mutual blunders of that campaign arose from its being managed by the two ,emperors from ,paris and from ,st4 ,petersburg1 ,nicholas and ,alexander were our best friends4 ,louis ,napoleon was our worst enemy4 ',there is nothing which ought to be so much left to the discretion of those on the spot as war4 ,even a commander-in-chief actually present in a field of battle can do little after the action1 if it be really a great one1 has once begun4 ',if we suppose #hj1jjj men to be engaged on each side1 each line will extend at least three miles4 ,supposing the general to be in the centre1 it will take an aide-de-camp ten minutes to gallop to him from one of the wings1 and ten minutes to gallop back4 ,but in twenty minutes all may be altered4' ,footnote #a3 ',chrzanowski has passed thirty years fighting against or for the ,russians4 ,he began military life in #ahaa as a sous lieutenant of artillery in the ,polish corps which was attached to the ,french army4 ,with that army he served during the march to ,moscow1 and the retreat4 ,at the peace1 what remained of his corps became a part of the army of the kingdom of ,poland4 ,he had attained the rank of major in that army when the insurrection on the accession of ,nicholas broke out4 ,about one hundred officers belonging to the staff of the properly ,russian army were implicated1 or supposed to be implicated1 in that insurrection1 and were dismissed1 and their places were supplied from the army of the kingdom of ,poland4 ,among those so transferred to the ,russian army was ,chrzanowski4 ,he was attached to the staff of ,wittgenstein1 and afterwards of ,marshal ,diebitsch1 in the ,turkish campaigns of #ahbh and #ahbi4 ,in #ahcj he took part with his countrymen in the insurrection against the ,muscovites1 and quitted ,poland when it was finally absorbed in the ,russian ,empire4 ,a few years after a quarrel was brewing between ,england and ,russia4 ,muscovite agents were stirring up ,persia and ,affghanistan against us1 and it was thought that we might have to oppose them on the shores of the ,black ,sea4 ,chrzanowski was attached to the ,british ,embassy at ,constantinople and was employed for some years in ascertaining what assistance ,turkey1 both in ,europe and in ,asia1 could afford to us4 ,in #ahdi he was selected by ,charles ,albert to command the army of the kingdom of ,sardinia4 ',that army was constituted on the ,prussian system1 which makes every man serve1 and no man a soldier4 ,it was1 in fact1 a militia4 ,the men were enlisted for only fourteen months1 at the end of that time they were sent home1 and were recalled when they were wanted1 having forgotten their military training and acquired the habits of cottiers and artisans4 ,they had scarcely any officers1 or even sous officers1 that knew anything of their business4 ,the drill sergeants required to be drilled4 ,the generals1 and indeed the greater part of the officers1 were divided into hostile factions--,absolutists1 ,rouges1 ,constitutional ,liberals1 and even ,austrians--for at that time1 in the exaggerated terror occasioned by the revolutions of #ahdh1 ,austria and ,russia were looked up to by the greater part of the noblesse of the ,continent as the supporters of order against ,mazzini1 ,kossuth1 ,ledru ,rollin1 and ,palmerston4 ,the ,absolutists and the ,austrians made common cause1 whereas the ,rouges or ,mazzinists were bitterest against the ,constitutional ,liberals4 ,such an army1 even if there had been no treason1 could not have withstood a disciplined enemy4 ,when it fell a victim to its own defects1 and to the treachery of ,ramorino1 ,chrzanowski retired to ,paris4'--7,extracted from ,mr4 ,senior's article in the ',north ,british ,review4'7 ,chrzanowski died several years ago4--,,ed4 ,,correspondence4 ,kensington1 ,august #bj1 #ahef4 ,my dear ,tocqueville1--,a few weeks after my return to ,london your book reached me--of course from the time that ,i got it1 ,i employed all my leisure in reading it4 ,nothing1 even of yours1 has1 ,i think1 so much instructed and delighted me4 ,much of it1 perhaps1 was not quite so new to me as to many others2 as ,i had had the privilege of hearing it from you--but even the views which were familiar to me in their outline were made almost new by their details4 ,it is painful to think how difficult it is to create a ,constitutional ,government1 and how difficult to preserve one1 and1 what is the same1 how easy to destroy one4 99 99 99 99 99 ,mrs4 ,senior is going to ,wales and to ,ireland1 where ,i join her1 after having paid a long-promised visit to ,lord ,aberdeen4 ,i like the conversation of retired statesmen1 and he is one of our wisest4 ,thiers has just left us4 ,i spent two evenings with him1 but on the first he was engrossed by ,lord ,clarendon1 and on the second by the ,duc d',aumale and by ,lord ,palmerston4 ,they were curious rapprochements1 at least the first and third4 ,it was the first meeting of ,palmerston and ,duc d',aumale4 ,i am very much pleased with the latter4 ,he is sensible1 well informed1 and unaffected4 ,kindest regards1 c4 ,a4,w4 ,,senior4 ,tocqueville1 ,september #d1 #ahef4 ,i have read1 my dear ,senior1 your letter with great pleasure4 ,your criticism delights me1 for ,i rely on your judgment and on your sincerity4 ,i am charmed that you have found in my book more than you had learned from our conversations1 on my view of our history4 ,we have known one another so long1 we have conversed so much and so unreservedly1 that it is difficult for either of us to write anything that the other will think new4 ,i was afraid that what may appear original to the public might seem trite to you4 ,the ,reeves have been with us2 we have passed together an agreeable fortnight4 ,i had charged ,reeve to bring you1 whether you would or not4 ,did he make the attempt8 ,i am sure that you would have enjoyed your visit1 and we should have rejoiced to have under our roof two such old friends as you and ,reeve4 ,i am glad that you have printed your article2 pray try to send it to me4 ,it seems that you intend this winter to anchor in ,rome4 ,it increases my regret that ,i cannot be there4 ,it is out of the question4 ,my wife's health and mine are so much improved that the journey is not necessary1 and business of all kinds keeps us at home4 ,if you push on to ,naples1 you will1 perhaps1 enjoy the absence of the rascally king whom you and ,i found there five years ago4 ,i applaud the virtuous indignation of the ,english against this little despot1 and their sympathy with the unhappy wretches whom he detains arbitrarily to die slowly in his prisons1 which1 though not placed in the ,african deserts or the marshes of ,cayenne1 are bad enough4 ,the interest which your great nation takes in the cause of humanity and liberty1 even when that cause suffers in another country1 delights me4 ,what ,i regret is that your generous indignation is directed against so petty a tyrant4 ,i must say that ,america is a puer robustus4 ,yet ,i cannot desire1 as many persons do1 its dismemberment4 ,such an event would inflict a great wound on the whole human race2 for it would introduce war into a great continent from whence it has been banished for more than a century4 ,the breaking up of the ,american ,union will be a solemn moment in the history of the world4 ,i never met an ,american who did not feel this1 and ,i believe that it will not be rashly or easily undertaken4 ,there will1 before actual rupture1 be always a last interval1 in which one or both parties will draw back4 ,has not this occurred twice8 ,adieu1 dear ,senior4 ,do not be long without letting us hear from you1 and remember us affectionately to ,mrs4 ,senior and to your daughter4 ,ashton ,house1 near ,phoenix ,park1 ,dublin1 ,september #bf1 #ahef4 ,my dear ,tocqueville1--,your letter found me at ,haddo ,house1 ,aberdeenshire1 where we have been spending a fortnight with ,lord ,aberdeen4 ,it has been very interesting4 ,lord ,aberdeen is one of our wisest statesmen4 99 99 99 99 99 ,i found ,lord ,aberdeen deprecating the war1 notwithstanding its success1 utterly incredulous as to the aggressive intentions attributed to ,nicholas1 and in fact throwing the blame of the war on ,lord ,stratford and1 to a certain degree1 on ,louis ,napoleon4 ,i found him also much disturbed by our ,naples demonstration1 believing it to be an unwarranted interference with an independent ,government4 99 99 99 99 99 ,ever yours1 ,a4,w4 ,,senior4 ,tocqueville1 ,november #b1 #ahef4 ,i am grateful to you1 my dear ,senior1 for your kindness in telling me what ,i most wished to hear4 ,the judgments of such men as those with whom you have been living1 while they delight me1 impose on me the duty of unrelaxed efforts4 ,your fortnight at ,lord ,aberdeen's amused me exceedingly1 and not the least amusing part were the eccentricities of ,a4,b4 ,there is one point in which the ,english seem to me to differ from ourselves1 and1 indeed1 from all other nations1 so widely that they form almost a distinct species of men4 ,there is often scarcely any connection between what they say and what they do4 ,no people carry so far1 especially when speaking in public1 violence of language1 outrageousness of theories1 and extravagance in the inference drawn from those theories4 ,thus your ,a4,b4 says that the ,irish have not shot half enough landlords4 ,yet no people act with more moderation4 ,a quarter of what is said in ,england at a public meeting1 or even round a dinner-table1 without anything being done or intended to be done1 would in ,france announce violence1 which would almost always be more furious than the language had been4 ,we ,frenchmen are not so different from our antipodes as we are from a nation1 partly our own progeny1 which is separated from us by only a large ditch4 ,i wonder whether you have heard how our illustrious master is relieving the working-people from the constant rise of house-rent4 ,when they are turned out of their lodgings he re-establishes them by force2 if they are distrained on for non-payment of rent1 he will not allow the tribunals to treat the distress as legal4 ,what think you1 as a political economist1 of this form of outdoor relief8 ,what makes the thing amusing is1 that the ,government which uses this violent mode of lodging the working classes1 is the very same ,government which1 by its mad public works1 by drawing to ,paris suddenly a hundred thousand workmen1 and by destroying suddenly ten thousand houses1 has created the deficiency of habitations4 ,it seems1 however1 that the systematic intimidation and oppression of the rich in favour of the poor1 is every day becoming more and more one of the principles of our ,government4 ,i read yesterday a circular from the prefect of ,la ,sarthe1 a public document1 stuck up on the church-doors and in the market-places1 which1 after urging the landed proprietors of the department to assess themselves for the relief of the poor1 adds1 that their insensibility becomes more odious when it is remembered that for many years they have been growing rich by the rise of prices1 which is spreading misery among the lower orders4 ,the real character of our ,government1 its frightful mixture of socialism and despotism1 was never better shown4 ,i have said enough to prevent your getting my letter4 ,if it should escape the rogue who manages our post-office1 let me know as soon as you can4 ,kindest remembrances1 ,a4 ,,de4 ,,tocqueville4 ,tocqueville1 ,february #aa1 #aheg4 ,i must ask you1 my dear ,senior1 to tell me yourself how you have borne this long winter4 ,i suppose that it has been the same in ,england as in ,normandy1 for the two climates are alike4 ,here we have been buried for ten or twelve days under a foot of snow1 and it froze hard during the whole time4 ,how has your larynx endured this trial8 ,i assure you that we take great interest in that larynx of yours4 ,give us therefore some news of it4 ,your letter gave us fresh pleasure by announcing your intention of passing ,april and ,may in ,paris4 ,we shall certainly be there at the same time1 and perhaps before4 ,i hope that we shall see you continually4 ,we are1 you know1 among the very many people who delight in your society2 besides1 we have an excellent right to your friendship4 ,i am looking forward with great pleasure to your ,egypt4 ,what ,i already know of that country leads me to think that of all your reminiscences it will afford the most novelty and interest4 ,i do not think that your visit to ,paris will be a very valuable addition to your journals4 ,if ,i may judge by the letters which ,i receive thence1 society there has never been flatter1 nor more insipid1 nor more entirely without any dominant idea4 ,i need not tell you that your opinion of our statesmen is the same as that which prevails in ,paris1 but it is of such an ancient date1 and is so obvious1 that it cannot give rise to interesting discussions4 ,a-propos of statesmen1 we cannot understand how a man who made1 inter pocula1 the speech of ---- on his travels can remain in a government4 ,i think that even ours1 though so long-suffering towards its agents1 could not tolerate anything similar even if it should secretly approve4 ,absolute power has its limits4 ,the ,prince de ,ligne1 in a discourse which you have doubtless read1 seems to me to have described it in one word by saying that it was the speech of a gamin4 ,i am1 however1 ungrateful to criticise it1 for ,i own that it amused me extremely1 and that ,i thought that ,morny especially was drawn from life2 but ,i think that if ,i had the honour of being ,her ,britannic ,majesty's ,prime ,minister1 ,i should not have laughed so heartily4 ,how could so clever a man be guilty of such eccentricities8 ,in my last letter to our excellent friend ,mrs4 ,grote1 ,i ventured to say that there was one person who wrote even worse than ,i did1 and that it was you4 ,your last letter has filled me with remorse1 for ,i could actually read it1 and even without trouble4 ,i beg1 therefore1 to make an amende honorable1 and envy you your power of advancing towards perfection4 99 99 99 99 99 ,i still think of paying a little visit to ,england in ,june4 ,adieu1 dear ,senior4 ,do not be angry with me for not writing on politics4 ,indeed ,i could tell you nothing1 for ,i know nothing1 and besides1 just now politics are not to be treated by ,frenchmen1 in letters4 ,a4 ,,de ,,tocqueville4 ,tocqueville1 ,march #h1 #aheg4 ,i still write to you1 my dear ,senior1 from hence4 ,we cannot tear ourselves away from the charms of our retreat1 or from a thousand little employments4 ,we shall scarcely reach ,paris1 therefore1 before you4 ,you will1 therefore1 yourself bring me the remainder of your curious journal4 ,what ,i have already seen makes me most anxious to read the rest4 ,i have never read anything which gave me more valuable information on ,egypt and ,oriental politics in general4 ,as soon as ,i possibly can1 ,i look forward to continuing its perusal4 ,the papers tell us that your ,ministry has been beaten on the ,chinese ,war4 ,it seems to me to have been an ill-chosen battle-field4 ,the war was1 perhaps1 somewhat wantonly begun1 and very roughly managed2 but the fault lay with distant and subordinate agents4 ,now that it has begun1 no ,cabinet can avoid carrying it on vigorously4 ,the existing ,ministry will do as well for this as any other4 ,as there is no line of policy to be changed1 the upsetting is merely to put in the people who are now out4 ,if the ,ministry falls1 the man least to be pitied will be our friend ,lewis4 ,he will go out after having obtained a brilliant triumph on his own ground1 and he will enjoy the good fortune1 rare to public men1 of quitting power greater than he was when he took it1 and with the enviable reputation of owing his greatness1 not merely to his talents1 but also to the respect and the confidence which he has universally inspired4 ,all this delights me2 for ,i feel towards him1 and towards all his family1 a true friendship4 ,to return to ,china4 ,it seems to me that the relations between that country and ,europe are changed1 and dangerously changed4 ,till now1 ,europe has had to deal only with a ,chinese government--the most wretched of governments4 ,now you will find opposed to you a people2 and a people1 however miserable and corrupt1 is invincible on its own territory1 if it be supported and impelled by common and violent passions4 ,yet ,i should be sorry to die before ,i have seen ,china open to the eyes as well as to the arms of ,europe4 ,do you believe in a dissolution8 ,if so1 when8 ,a thousand regards to ,mrs4 ,grote1 to the great historian1 to the ,reeves1 and generally to all who are kind enough to remember my existence4 ,i delight in the prospect of meeting you in ,paris2 yet ,i fear that you will find it dull4 ,all that ,i hear from the great town shows me that never1 at least during the last two hundred years1 has intellectual life been less active4 ,if there be talent in the official circles1 it is not the talent of conversation1 and among those who formerly possessed that talent1 there is so much torpidity1 such want of interest on public affairs1 such ignorance as to what is passing1 and so little wish to hear about it1 that no one1 ,i am told1 knows what to talk about or to take interest in4 ,your conversation1 however1 is so agreeable and stimulating that it is capable of reanimating the dead4 ,come and try to work this miracle4 ,a thousand remembrances4 ,a4 ,,de ,,tocqueville4 ,,conversations4 ,paris1 ,hotel ,bedford1 ,april #i1 #aheg4--,we reached this place last night4 ,the ,tocquevilles are in our hotel4 ,i went to them in the evening4 ,tocqueville asked me how long ,i intended to remain4 ',four weeks1' ,i answered4 ',i do not think1' he replied1 'that you will be able to do so4 ,paris has become so dull that no one will voluntarily spend a month here4 ,the change which five years have produced is marvellous4 ',we have lost our interest not only in public affairs1 but in all serious matters4' ',you will return then to the social habits of ,louis ,quinze1' ,i said4 ',you were as despotically governed then as you are now2 and yet the salons of ,madame ,geoffrin were amusing4' ',we may do so in time1' he answered1 'but that time is to come4 ,at present we talk of nothing but the ,bourse4 ,the conversation of our salons resembles more that of the time of ,law1 than that of the time of ,marmontel4' ,i spent the evening at ,lamartine's4 ,there were few people there1 and the conversation was certainly dull enough to justify ,tocqueville's fears4 ,april #aj4--,tocqueville drank tea with us4 ,we talked of the ,empress1 and of the possibility of her being ,regent of ,france4 ',that supposes1' ,i said1 'first1 that ,celui-ci holds his power until his death2 and1 secondly1 that his son will succeed him4' ',i expect both events1' answered ,tocqueville4 ',it is impossible to deny that ,louis ,napoleon has shown great dexterity and tact4 ,his system of government is detestable if we suppose the welfare of ,france to be his object2 but skilful if its aim be merely the preservation of his own power4 ',such being his purpose1 he has committed no great faults4 ,wonderful1 almost incredible1 as his elevation is1 it has not intoxicated him4' ',it has not intoxicated him1' ,i answered1 'because he was prepared for it--he always expected it4' ',he could scarcely1' replied ,tocqueville1 'have really and soberly expected it until #ahdh4 ',boulogne and ,strasbourg were the struggles of a desperate man1 who staked merely a life of poverty1 obscurity1 and exile4 ,even if either of them had succeeded1 the success could not have been permanent4 ,a surprise1 if it had thrown him upon the throne1 could not have kept him there4 ,even after #ahdh1 though the ,bourbons were discredited1 we should not have tolerated a ,bonaparte if we had not lost all our self-possession in our terror of the ,rouges4 ,that terror created him1 that terror supports him2 and habit1 and the dread of the bloodshed and distress1 and the unknown chances of a revolution1 will1 ,i think1 maintain him during his life4 ',the same feelings will give the succession to his heir4 ,whether the heir will keep it1 is a different question4' ,sunday1 ,april #ab4--,tocqueville drank tea with us4 ,i asked him if he had seen the ,due de ,nemours' letter4 ',i have not seen it1' he answered4 ',in fact1 ,i have not wished to see it4 ,i disapprove of the ,fusionists1 and the anti-,fusionists1 and the ,legitimists1 and the ,orleanists-in short1 of all the parties who are forming plans of action in events which may not happen1 or may not happen in my time1 or may be accompanied by circumstances rendering those plans absurd1 or mischievous1 or impracticable1' ',but though you have not read the letter1' ,i said1 'you know generally what are its contents4' ',of course ,i do1' he replied4 ',and ,i cannot blame the ,comte de ,chambord for doing what ,i do myself--for refusing to bind himself in contingencies1 and to disgust his friends in the hope of conciliating his enemies4' ',do you believe1' ,i asked1 'that the mere promise of a ,constitution would offend the ,legitimists8' ',i do not think1' he answered1 'that they would object to a ,constitution giving them what they would consider their fair share of power and influence4 ',under ,louis ,philippe they had neither1 but it was in a great measure their own fault4 ',they have neither under this ,government1 for its principle is to rest on the army and on the people1 and to ignore the existence of the educated classes4 ',you see that in its management of the press4 ',montalembert1 or ,guizot1 or ,falloux1 or ,i may publish what we like4 ,we are not read by the soldier or by the proletaire4#a ,but the newspaper press is subject to a slavery to which it was never reduced before4 ,the system was first elaborated in ,austria1 and ,i daresay will be copied by all the ,continental autocrats1 for no inventions travel so quickly as despotic ones4 ',the public avertissements are comparatively unimportant4 ,before a journal gets one of those its suppression has probably been decided on4 ,every day there are communications between the literary police and the different editors4 ,such or such a line of argument is altogether forbidden1 another is allowed to be used to a certain extent4 ,some subjects are tabooed1 others are to be treated partially4 ',as the mental food of the lower orders is supplied by the newspapers1 this paternal ,government takes care that it shall not be too exciting4' ,footnote #a3 ,the lowest class4--,,ed4 ,paris1 ,monday1 ,april #ac4--,tocqueville1 ,jobez1 ,marcet1 ,st4-,hilaire1#a ,charles ,sumner1 and ,lord ,granville breakfasted with us4 ,the conversation turned on public speaking4 ',very few indeed of our speakers1' said ,tocqueville1 'have ever ventured to improvise3 ,barrot could do it4 ,we have told him sometimes that a speech must be answered immediately2 and when he objected that he had nothing to say1 we used to insist1 and to assure him that as soon as he was in the tribune1 the ideas and the words would come2 and so they did4 ,i have known him go on under such circumstances for an hour2 of course neither the matter nor the form could be first rate1 but they were sufficient4' ',in fact1' said ,lord ,granville1 'much of what is called improvisation is mere recollection4 ,a man who has to speak night after night1 gets on most subjects a set of thoughts1 and even of expressions1 which naturally pour in on him as soon as his argument touches the train which leads to them4 ',one of our eminent speakers1' he continued1 ',lord ,grey1 is perhaps best when he has not had time to prepare himself4 ,he is so full of knowledge and of inferences1 that he has always enough ready to make an excellent speech4 ,when he prepares himself1 there is too much2 he gives the ,house more facts and more deductions than it can digest4' ',do you agree with me1' ,i asked1 'in thinking that ,lord ,melbourne was best when he improvised8' ',i agree with you1' answered ,lord ,granville1 'that his set speeches were cold and affected4 ,he was natural only when he was quite careless1 or when he was much excited1 and then he was admirable4' ',did not ,thiers improvise8' ,i asked4 ',never1' answered ,tocqueville4 ',he prepared himself most carefully4 ,so did ,guizot4 ,we see from the ,revue rtrospective that he even prepared his replies4 ,his long experience enabled him to foresee what he should have to answer4 ,pasquier used to bring his speech ready written4 ,it lay on the desk before him1 but he never looked at it4' ',that seems to me1' ,i said1 'very difficult4 ,it is like swimming with corks4 ,one would be always tempted to look down on the paper4' ',it is almost equally difficult1' said ,tocqueville1 'to make a speech of which the words are prepared4 ,there is a struggle between the invention and the memory4 ,you trust thoroughly to neither1 and therefore are not served thoroughly by either4' ',yet that1' said ,marcet1 'is what our ,swiss pastors are required to do4 ,they are forbidden to read1 and forbidden to extemporise1 and by practice they speak from memory--some well1 all tolerably4' ',brougham1' said ,lord ,granville1 'used to introduce his most elaborately prepared passages by a slight hesitation4 ,when he seemed to pause in search of thoughts1 or of words1 we knew that he had a sentence ready cut and dried4' ',who1' ,i asked ,sumner1 'are your best speakers in ,america8' ',the best1' he said1 'is ,seward2 after him perhaps comes ,winthrop4' ',i should have thought it difficult1' ,i said1 'to speak well in the ,senate1 to only fifty or at most sixty members4' ',you do not speak1' answered ,sumner1 'to the ,senators4 ,you do not think of them4 ,you know that their minds are made up4 ,except as to mere executive questions1 such as the approval of a public functionary1 or the acceptance or modification of a treaty1 every senator comes in pledged to a given1 or to an assumed1 set of opinions and measures4 ,you speak to the public4 ,you speak in order that #ejj1jjj copies of what you say1 as was the case with my last speech1 may be scattered over the whole ,union4' ',that1' ,i said1 'must much affect the character of your oratory4 ,a speech meant to be read must be a different thing from one meant to be heard4 ,your speeches must in fact be pamphlets1 and that ,i suppose accounts for their length4' ',that is true1' replied ,sumner4 ',but when you hear that we speak for a day1 or for two days1 or1 as ,i have sometimes done1 for three days1 you must remember that our days are days of only three hours each4' ',how long1' ,i asked1 'was your last speech8' ',about five hours1' he answered4 ',three hours the first day and two hours the second4' ',that1' ,i said1 'is not beyond our remotest limit4 ,brougham indeed1 on the amendment of the law1 spoke for six hours1 during the greater part of the time to an audience of three4 ,the ,house was filled with fog1 and there is an ,h4,b4 which represents him gesticulating in the obscurity and the solitude4' ',he1' said ,lord ,granville1 'put his speech on the ,reform ,bill at the top4' ',the speech1' ,i said1 'at the end of which he knelt to implore the ,peers to pass the bill1 and found it difficult to rise4' ,footnote #a3 ,barthlemy de ,st-,hilaire is now ,thiers' private secretary and right hand4--,,ed4 ,tuesday1 ,april #ad4--,z41 ,sumner1 ,lord ,granville1 ,tocqueville1 ,m4 ,circourt1 ,st4-,hilaire1 and ,corcelle breakfasted with us4 ,the conversation took the same turn as yesterday4 ',may ,i venture1' said ,lord ,granville to ,z41 'to ask whom of your opponents you feared the most8' ',beyond all comparison1' answered ,z41 ',thiers4' ',was not ,d4' ,i asked1 'very formidable8' ',certainly1' said ,z4 ',but he had not the wit1 or the entranement of ,thiers4 ,his sentences were like his action4 ,he had only one gesture1 raising and sinking his right arm1 and every time that right arm fell1 it accompanied a sentence adding a link to a chain of argument1 massive and well tempered1 without a particle of dross1 which coiled round his adversary like a boa constrictor4' ',and yet1' said ,m41 'he was always languid and embarrassed at starting2 it took him ten minutes to get en train4' ',that defect1' said ,lord ,granville1 'belonged to many of our good speakers--to ,charles ,fox--to ,lord ,holland4 ,indeed ,fox required the excitement of serious business to become fluent4 ,he never made a tolerable after-dinner speech4' ',among the peculiarities of ,d41' said ,m41 'are his perfect tact and discretion in the tribune1 and his awkwardness in ordinary life4 ,in public and in private he is two different men4' ',it is impossible1' said ,tocqueville1 'to deny that ,d4 was great in a deliberative body1 but his real scene of action is the bar4 ,he was only among the best speakers in the ,constituent ,assembly4 ,he is the greatest advocate at the bar4' ',although1' said ,m----1 'at the bar1 where he represents only his client1 one of the elements of his parliamentary success1 his high moral character1 does not assist him4 ,do you remember how1 on the debate of the ,roman expedition1 he annihilated by one sentence ,jules ,favre who had ventured to assail him8 ,les injures1 he said1 sont comme les corps pesants1 dont la force dpend de la hauteur d'o ils tombent4' ',one man1' said ,z41 'who enjoys a great ,european reputation1 ,i could never think of as a serious adversary1 that is ,lamartine4 ',he appeared to me to treat the sad realities of political life as materials out of which he could compose strange and picturesque scenes1 or draw food for his imagination and his vanity4 ,he seemed always to be saying to himself3 ,how will the future dramatist or poet1 or painter1 represent this event1 and what will be my part in the picture1 or in the poem1 or on the stage8 ',il cherchait toujours poser4--,he could give pleasure1 he could give pain--he could amuse1 and he could irritate1--but he seldom could persuade1 and he never could convince4 ,even before the gate of the ,htel de ,ville1 the most brilliant hour of his life1 he owed his success rather to his tall figure1 his fine features1 attractive as well as commanding1 his voice1 his action--in short1 to the assemblage of qualities which the ,greeks called ,greek3 hupokrisis than to his eloquence4' ',was not1' ,i said1 'his contrast between the red flag and the tricolor eloquent8' ',it was a fine bit of imagery1' said ,z41 'and admirably adapted to the occasion4 ,i do not deny to him the power of saying fine things--perhaps fine speeches1 but he never made a good speech--a speech which it was difficult to answer4' ',if anyone1' he continued1 'ever takes the trouble to look into our ,parliamentary debates1 ,lamartine will hold a higher comparative rank than he is really entitled to4 ,most of us were too busy to correct the reports for the ,moniteur4 ,lamartine not only corrected them but inserted whole passages4' ',he inserted1' said ,m1 'not only passages but facts4 ,such as applaudissements1 vive motion1 hilarit1 often when the speech had been received in silence1 or unattended to4' ',i remember1' said ,corcelle1 'an insertion of that kind in the report of a speech which was never delivered4 ,it was during the ,restoration1 when written speeches were read1 and sometimes were sent to the ,moniteur in anticipation of their being read4 ,such had been the case with respect to the speech in question4 ,the intended orator had inserted1 like ,lamartine1 vifs applaudissements1 profonde sensation1 and other notices of the effect of his speech4 ,the ,house adjourned unexpectedly before it was delivered1 and he forgot to withdraw the report4' ',could a man like ,lord ,althorp1' ,i asked1 'whom it was painful to hear1 hold his place as leader of a ,french ,assembly8' ',impossible1' said ,tocqueville1 'unless he were a soldier4 ,we tolerate from a man who has almost necessarily been deprived of a careful education much clumsiness and awkwardness of elocution4 ,soult did not speak much better than the ,duke of ,wellington1 but he was listened to4 ,he had1 like the ,duke1 an air of command which imposed4' ',was there1' ,i said1 'any personal quarrel between ,soult and ,thiers8' ',certainly there was1' said ,z41 'a little one4 ,i will not say that ,soult was in ,spain a successful commander1 or an agreeable colleague1 or an obedient subordinate1 but whenever things went wrong there1 ,soult was the man whom the ,emperor sent thither to put them to rights4 ,great as ,thiers may be as a military critic1 ,i venture to put him below ,napoleon4' ',i have been reading1' ,i said1 ',falloux's reception speech1 and was disappointed by it4' ',in his speech and ,brifault's1' said ,circourt1 'you may compare the present declamatory style and that of thirty years ago4 ,brifault has1 or attempts to have1 the lgret and the prettiness of the ,restoration4 ,falloux is grandiose and emphatic1 as we all are now4' ',falloux1' said ,z41 'made an excellent speech the first time that he addressed the ,chamber of ,deputies4 ,the next time he was not so successful1 and after that he ceased to be listened to4 ',but in the ,constituent ,assembly1 and indeed in the ,legislative1 he acquired an ascendency4 ,in those ,assemblies1 great moral qualities and a high social position were rarer than they were among the ,deputies1 and in the dangers of the country they were more wanted4 ,falloux possesses them all4 ,he is honest and brave1 and in his province employs liberally and usefully a large fortune4' ',were those the merits1' ,i asked1 'which opened to him the doors of the ,academy8' ',certainly1' answered ,z4 ',as a man of letters he is nothing1 as a statesman not much4 ,we elected him in honour of his courage and his honesty1 and perhaps with some regard to his fortune4 ,we are the only independent body left1 and we value in a candidate no quality more than independence4' ',i am told1' ,i said1 'that ,falloux is now an ultra-,legitimist4' ',that is not true1' said ,z4 ',he is a ,legitimist1 but a liberal one4 ,he would tolerate no ,government1 whatever were its other claims1 that was not constitutional4' ',your ,academic ceremonies1' ,i said 'seem to me not very well imagined4 ,there is something fade1 almost ridiculous1 in the literary minuet in which the rcipiendaire and the receiver are trotted out to show their paces to each other and to the ,academy4 ,the new member extolling the predecessor of whom he is the unworthy successor1 the old member lauding his new colleague to his face1 and assuring him that he1 too1 is one of the ornaments of the ,society4' ',particularly1' said ----1 'when1 as was the case the other day1 it is notorious that neither of them has any real respect for the idol which he is forced to crown4 ,then the political innuendoes1 the under-currents of censure of the present conveyed in praise of the past1 become tiresome after we have listened to them for five years4 ,we long to hear people talk frankly and directly1 instead of saying one thing for the mere purpose of showing that they are thinking of another thing4 ,the ,emperor revenged himself on ,falloux by his antithesis3 que le dsordre les avait uni1 et que l'ordre les avait spar4' ',how did ,falloux reply to it8' ,i asked4 ',feebly1' said ----4 ',he muttered something about l'ordre having no firmer adherent than himself4 ,in these formal audiences our great man has the advantage4 ,he has his mot ready prepared1 and you cannot discuss with him4' ,we talked of the ,french spoken by foreigners4 ',the best1' said ,circourt1 'is that of the ,swedes and ,russians1 the worst that of the ,germans4' ',louis ,philippe1' said ,z41 'used to maintain that the best test of a man's general talents was his power of speaking foreign languages4 ,it was an opinion that flattered his vanity1 for he spoke like a native ,french1 ,italian1 ,english1 and ,german4' ',it is scarcely possible1' said ,tocqueville1 'for a man to be original in any language but his own2 in all others he is forced to say what he can1 and that is generally something that he recollects4' ',i was much struck by that1' said ,z41 'when conversing with ,narvaez4 ,he had been talking sensibly but rather dully in ,french1 ,i begged him to talk ,spanish1 which ,i understand though ,i cannot speak4 ,the whole man was changed4 ,it was as if a curtain had been drawn up from between us4 ,instead of hammering at commonplaces1 he became pointed1 and spirited1 and eloquent4' ',is he an educated man8' ,i asked4 ',for a ,spaniard1' answered ,z41 'yes4 ,he has the quickness1 the finesse1 and the elegance of mind and of manner which belong to the ,south4 ,the want of book-learning contributes to his originality4' ',the most wonderful speaker in a foreign language1' said ,sumner1 'was ,kossuth4 ,he must have been between forty and fifty before he heard an ,english word4 ,yet he spoke it fluently1 eloquently1 and even idiomatically4 ,he would have made his fortune among us as a stump-orator4' ,tuesday1 ,april #bh4--,tocqueville drank tea with us4 ,we talked rather of people than of things4 ',circourt1' said ,tocqueville1 'is my dictionary4 ,when ,i wish to know what has been done or what has been said on any occasion1 ,i go to ,circourt4 ,he draws out one of the drawers in his capacious head1 and finds there all that ,i want arranged and ticketed4 ',one of the merits of his talk1 as it is of his character1 is its conscientiousness4 ,he has the truthfulness of a thorough gentleman1 and his affections are as strong as his hatreds4 ,i do not believe he would sacrifice a friend even to a good story1 and where is there another man of whom that can be said8' ',what think you of ,mrs4 ,t-----8' ,i inquired4 ',i like her too1' he replied1 'but less than ,i do ,circourt4 ,she has considerable talent1 but she thinks and reads only to converse4 ,she has no originality1 no convictions4 ,she says what she thinks that she can say well2 like a person writing a dialogue or an exercise4 ,whether the opinion which she expresses be right or wrong1 or the story that she tells be true or false1 is no concern of hers1 provided it be bien dit4' ',the fault of her conversation1' ,i said1 'seems to me to be1 that while she is repeating one sentence she is thinking of the next1 and that while you are speaking to her1 she is considering what is to be her next topic4 ,i have noticed this fault in other very fluent conversers4 ,they are so intent on the future that they neglect the present4' ',it is rather a ,french than an ,english fault1' said ,tocqueville4 ',the ,english have more curiosity and less vanity1 than we have2 more desire to hear and less anxiety to shine4 ,they are often1 therefore1 better causeurs than we are4 ,le grand talent pour le silence1 or1 in other words1 the power of listening which has been imputed to them1 is a great conversational virtue4 ,i do not believe that it was said ironically or epigrammatically4 ,the man who bestowed that praise knew how rare a merit silence is4' ',may we not owe that merit1' ,i asked1 'to our bad ,french8 ,we shine most when we listen4' ',a great talker1' ,i continued1 ',montalembert1 is to breakfast with us4 ,whom shall ,i ask to meet him8' ',not me1' said ,tocqueville1 'unless you will accept me as one of the chorus4 ,i will not take a premier rle1 or any prominent rle1 in a piece in which he is to act4 ,i like his society2 that is1 ,i like to sit silent and hear him talk1 and ,i admire his talents2 and we have the strong bond of common hatreds1 though perhaps we hate on different1 or even opposite grounds1 and ,i do not wish for a dispute with him1 of which1 if ,i say anything1 ,i shall be in danger4 ,if we differed on only one subject1 instead of differing1 as we do1 on all but one1 he would pick out that single subject to attack me on4 ,i am not sure that even as host you will be safe4 ,he is more acute in detecting points of opposition than most men are in finding subjects of agreement4 ,he avoids meeting you on friendly or even on neutral ground4 ,he chooses to have a combat en champ clos4 ',take care1' he added1 'and do not have too many sommits4 ,they watch one another1 are conscious that they are watched1 and a coldness creeps over the table4' ',we had two pleasant breakfasts1' ,i said1 'a fortnight ago4 ,you were leader of the band at one1 ,z4 at the other1 and the rest left the stage free to the great actor4' ',as for me1' he answered1 ',i often shut myself up1 particularly after dinner1 or during dinner if it be long4 ,the process of digestion1 little1 as ,i can eat1 seems to oppress me4 ',z4 is always charming4 ,he has an aplomb1 an ease1 a verve arising from his security that whatever he says will interest and amuse4 ,he is a perfect specimen of an ex-statesman1 homme de lettres1 and pre de famille1 falling back on literature and the domestic affections4 ,as for me1 ,i have intervals of sauvagerie1 or rather the times when ,i am not sauvage are the intervals4 ,i have many1 perhaps too many1 acquaintances whom ,i like1 and a very few friends whom ,i love1 and a host of relations4 ,i easily tire of ,paris1 and long to fly to the fields and woods and seashore of my province4' ,we passed to the language of conversation4 ',there are three words1' said ,tocqueville1 'which you have lost1 and which ,i wonder how you do without1--,monsieur1 ,madame1 and ,mademoiselle4 ,you are forced always to substitute the name4 ,they are so mixed in all our forms that half of what we say would appear abrupt or blunt without them4 ',then the tutoyer is a nuance that you want4 ,when husband and wife are talking together they pass insensibly1 twenty times perhaps in an hour1 from the vous to the tu4 ,when matters of business or of serious discussion are introduced1 indeed whenever the affections are not concerned1 it is vous4 ,with the least soupon of tenderness the tu returns4' ',yet1' ,i said1 'you never use the tu before a third person4' ',never1' he answered1 'in good company4 ,among the bourgeoisie always4 ,it is odd that an aristocratic form1 so easily learned1 should not have been adopted by all who pretend to be gentry4 ,i remember being present when an ,englishman and his wife1 much accustomed to good ,french society1 but unacquainted with this nuance1 were laboriously tutoyering each other4 ,i relieved them much by assuring them that it was not merely unnecessary1 but objectionable4' ,may #b4--,tocqueville dined with us4 ,a lady at the table d'hte was full of a sermon which she had heard at the ,madeleine4 ,the preacher said1 sinking his voice to an audible whisper1 ',i will tell you a secret1 but it must go no farther4 ,there is more religion among the ,protestants than with us1 they are better acquainted with the ,bible1 and make more use of their reading3 we have much to learn from them4' ,i asked ,tocqueville1 when we were in our own room1 as to the feelings of the religious world in ,france with respect to heretics4 ',the religious laity1' he answered1 'have probably little opinion on the subject4 ,they suppose the heretic to be less favourably situated than themselves1 but do not waste much thought upon him4 ,the ignorant priests of course consign him to perdition4 ,the better instructed think1 like ,protestants1 that error is dangerous only so far as it influences practice4 ',dr4 ,bretonneau1 at ,tours1 was one of the best men that ,i have known1 but an unbeliever4 ,the archbishop tried in his last illness to reconcile him to the ,church3 ,bretonneau died as he had lived4 ,but the archbishop1 when lamenting to me his death1 expressed his own conviction that so excellent a soul could not perish4 ',you recollect the duchesse in ,st4-,simon1 who1 on the death of a sinner of illustrious race1 said1 ,on me dira ce qu'on voudra1 on ne me persuadera pas que ,dieu n'y regarde deux fois avant de damner un homme de sa qualit4 ,the archbishop's feeling was the same1 only changing qualit into virtue4 ',there is something amusing1' he continued1 'when1 separated as we are from it by such a chasm1 we look back on the prejudices of the ,ancien ,rgime4 ,an old lady once said to me1 ,i have been reading with great satisfaction the genealogies which prove that ,jesus ,christ descended from ,david4 a montre que notre ,seigneur tait ,gentilhomme4' ',we are somewhat ashamed1' ,i said1 'in general of ,jewish blood1 yet the ,lvis boast of their descent from the ,hebrew ,levi4' ',they are proud of it1' said ,tocqueville1 'because they make themselves out to be cousins of the ,blessed ,virgin4 ,they have a picture in which a ,duc de ,lvi stands bareheaded before the ,virgin4 ,couvrez-vous donc1 mon cousin1 she says4 ,c'est pour ma commodit1 he answers4' ,the conversation passed to literature4 ',i am glad1' said ,tocqueville1 'to find that1 imperfect as my knowledge of ,english is1 ,i can feel the difference in styles4' ',i feel strongly1' ,i said1 'the difference in ,french styles in prose1 but little in poetry4' ',the fact is1' said ,tocqueville1 'that the only ,french poetry1 except that of ,racine1 that is worth reading is the light poetry4 ,i do not think that ,i could now read ,lamartine1 though thirty years ago he delighted me4' ',the ,french taste1' ,i said1 'in ,english poetry differs from ours4 ,you read ,ossian and the ,night ,thoughts4' ',as for ,ossian1' he answered1 'he does not seem to have been ever popular in ,england4 ,but the frequent reference to the ,night ,thoughts1 in the books and letters of the last century1 shows that the poem was then in everybody's memory4 ,foreigners are in fact provincials4 ,they take up fashions of literature as country people do fashions of dress1 when the capital has left them off4 ,when ,i was young you probably had ceased to be familiar with ,richardson4 ,we knew him by heart4 ,we used to weep over the ,lady ,clementina1 whom ,i dare say ,miss ,senior never heard of4 ',during the first ,empire1 we of the old rgime abandoned ,paris1 as we do now1 and for the same reasons4 ,we used to live in our chteaux1 where ,i remember as a boy hearing ,sir ,charles ,grandison and ,fielding read aloud4 ,a new novel was then an event4 ,madame ,cottin was much more celebrated than ,george ,sand is now4 ,for all her books were read1 and by everybody4 ,notwithstanding the great merits of ,george ,sand's style1 her plots and her characters are so exaggerated and so unnatural1 and her morality is so perverted1 that we have ceased to read her4' ,we talked of ,montalembert1 and ,i mentioned his sortie the other day against the clergy4 ',i can guess pretty well1' said ,tocqueville1 'what he said to you1 for it probably was a rsum of his article in the ,correspondant4 ,like most men accustomed to public speaking1 he repeats himself4 ,he is as honest perhaps as a man who is very passionn can be2 but his oscillations are from one extreme to another4 ,immediately after the coup d'tat1 when he believed ,louis ,napoleon to be ,ultramontane1 he was as servile as his great enemy the ,univers is now4 ,ce sont les nuances qui se querellent1 non les couleurs2 and between him and the ,univers there is only a nuance4 ,the ,bishop of ,agen has oscillated like him1 but began at the other end4 ,the other day the ,bishop made a most servile address to the ,emperor4 ,he had formerly been a furious anti-,bonapartist4 ,how is it possible1 said ,montalembert1 that a man can rush so completely from one opinion to another8 ,on the #dth of ,december in #ahea this same ,bishop denounced the coup d'tat with such violence that the ,president sent me to the ,nuncio to request his interference4 ,now he is on his knees before him4 ,such changes can scarcely be honest4 ,montalembert does not see that the only difference between them is that they have trod in opposite directions the very same path4' ,thursday1 ,may #e4--,tocqueville and ,i dined with ,m4 and ,madame de ,bourke1 and met there ,general ,dumas and ,ary ,scheffer4 ,we talked of ,delaroche's pictures1 and ,scheffer agreed with me in preferring the smaller ones4 ,he thought that ,delaroche improved up to the time of his death1 and preferred his ,moses1 and ,drowned ,martyr1 painted in #ahec and #ahee1 to the other large ones1 and his ,girondins1 finished in #ahef1 to the earlier small ones4 ,we passed on to the increased and increasing population of ,paris4 ',the population of ,paris1' ,i said1 'is only half that of ,london1 while that of the ,british ,islands is not three-fourths that of ,france4 ,if you were to double the population of ,paris1 therefore1 it would still be proportionally less than that of ,london4' ',that is true1' said ,tocqueville1 'but yet there are many circumstances connected with the ,parisian population each of which renders it more dangerous than the ,london one4 ,in the first place1 there is the absence of any right to relief4 ,the ,english workman knows that neither he nor his family can starve4 ,the ,frenchman becomes anxious as soon as his employment is irregular1 and desperate when it fails4 ,the ,english workmen are unacquainted with arms1 and have no leaders with military experience4 ,the bulk of the ,frenchmen have served1 many of them are veterans in civil war1 and they have commanders skilled in street-fighting4 ,the ,english workmen have been gradually attracted to ,london by a real and permanent demand for their labour4 ,they have wives and children4 ,at least #ajj1jjj men have been added to the working population of ,paris since the coup d'tat4 ,they are young men in the vigour of their strength and passions1 unrestrained by wives or families4 ,they have been drawn hither suddenly and artificially by the demolition and reconstruction of half the town1 by the enormous local expenditure of the ,government1 and by the fifty millions spent in keeping the price of bread in ,paris unnaturally low4 ,the #dj1jjj men collected in ,paris by the construction of the fortifications are supposed to have mainly contributed to the revolution of #ahdh4 ,what is to be expected from this addition of #ajj1jjj8 ,then the repressive force is differently constituted and differently animated4 ,in ,england you have an army which has chosen arms as a profession1 which never thinks of any other employment1 and indeed is fit for no other1 and never expects any provision except its pay and its pension4 ,the ,french soldier1 ever since #aghi1 is a citizen4 ,he serves his six years because the law and the colonel force him to do so1 but he counts the days until he can return to his province1 his cottage1 and his field4 ,he sympathises with the passions of the people4 ,in the terrible days of ,june1 the army withstood the cries1 the blessings1 the imprecations and the seductions of the mob1 only because they had the ,national ,guards by their side4 ,their presence was a guarantee that the cause was just4 ,the ,national ,guards never fought before as they did in those days4 ,yet at the ,chteau d',eau1 the miraculous heroism and the miraculous good luck of ,lamoricire were necessary to keep them together4 ,if he had not exposed himself as no man ever did1 and escaped as no man ever did1 they would have been broken4' ',i was there1' said ,scheffer1 'when his fourth horse was killed under him4 ,as the horse was sinking he drew his feet out of the stirrups and came to the ground without falling2 but his cigar dropped from his mouth4 ,he picked it up1 and went on with the order which he was giving to an aide-de-camp4 ',i saw that1' said ,tocqueville4 ',he had placed himself immediately behind a cannon in front of the ,chteau d',eau which fired down the ,boulevard du ,temple4 ,a murderous fire from the windows in a corner of the ,rue du ,temple killed all the artillerymen4 ,the instant that ,lamoricire placed himself behind it1 ,i thought that ,i saw what would happen4 ,i implored him to get behind some shelter1 or at least not to pose as a mark4 ,recollect1 ,i said1 that if you go on in this way you must be killed before the day is over-and where shall we all be8' ',i see the danger of what ,i am doing1 he answered1 and ,i dislike it as much as you can do2 but it is necessary4 ,the ,national ,guards are shaking2 if they break1 the ,line follows4 ,i must set an example that everyone can see and can understand4 ,this is not a time for taking precautions4 ,if ,i were to shelter myself1 they would run4' ',how does ,lamoricire1' ,i asked1 'bear exile and inactivity in ,brussels8' ',very ill1' said ,scheffer4 ',he feels that he has compromised the happiness of his wife1 whom he married not long before the coup d'tat4' ',changarnier at ,malins1 who lives alone and has only himself to care for1 supports it much better4' ,tocqueville and ,i walked home together4 ',scheffer1' he said1 'did not tell all that happened at the ,chteau d',eau4 ,men seldom do when they fight over their battles4' ',the insurgents by burrowing through walls had got into a house in the rear of our position4 ,they manned the windows1 and suddenly fired down on us from a point whence no danger had been feared4 ,this caused a panic among the ,national ,guards1 a force of course peculiarly subject to panics4 ,they turned and ran back #bej yards along the ,boulevard ,st4 ,martin1 carrying with them the ,line and ,lamoricire himself4 ,he endeavoured to stop them by outcries1 and by gesticulations1 and indeed by force4 ,he gave to one man who was trying to run by him a blow with his fist1 so well meant and well directed that it broke his collar bone4' ',at length he stopped them1 re-formed them1 and said3 ,now you shall march1 ,i at your head1 and the drummer beating the charge1 as if you were on parade1 up to that house4 ,they did so4 ,after a few discharges1 which miraculously missed ,lamoricire1 the men in the house deserted it4' ',what were you doing at the ,chteau d',eau8' ,i asked4 ',we were marching1' he said1 'with infantry and artillery on the ,boulevard du ,temple1 across which there was a succession of barricades1 which it was necessary to take one by one4 ',as we advanced in the middle1 our sappers and miners got into the houses on each side1 broke through the party walls1 and killed the men at the windows4' ',those three days1' he continued1 'impress strongly on my mind the dangers of our present state4' ',it is of no use to take up pavements and straighten streets1 and pierce ,paris by long military roads1 and loop-hole the barracks1 if the ,executive cannot depend on the army4 ,ditches and bastions are of no use if the garrison will not man them4' ',the new law of recruitment1 however1 may produce a great change4 ,instead of #hj1jjj conscripts1 #abj1jjj are to be taken each year4 ,this is about all that are fit for service4 ,they are required to serve for only two years4 ,if the change ended there our army would be still more a militia than it is now4 ,it would be the ,prussian ,landwehr4 ,but those entitled to their discharge are to be enticed by higher pay1 promotions1 bounties1 and retiring pensions--in short1 by all means of seduction1 to re-enter for long periods1 for ten1 or fifteen1 or perhaps twenty years4 ,it is hoped that thus a permanent regular army may be formed1 with an esprit de corps of its own1 unsympathising with the people1 and ready to keep it down2 and such will1 ,i believe1 be the result4 ,but it will take nine or ten years to produce such an army--and the dangers that ,i fear are immediate4' ',what are the motives1' ,i asked1 'for the changes as to the conscription1 the increase of numbers1 and the diminution of the time of service8' ',they are parts1' he answered1 'of the system4 ,the ,french peasant1 and indeed the ouvrier1 dislikes the service4 ,the proportion of conscripts who will re-enlist is small4 ,therefore the whole number must be large4 ,the country must be bribed to submit to this by the shortness of the term4 ,the conscript army will be sacrificed to what is to be the regular army4 ,it will be young and ill-trained4' ',but your new regular army1' ,i said1 'will be more formidable to the enemy than your present force4' ',i am not sure of that1' he answered4 ',the merit of the ,french army was the impetuosity of its attack1 the furia ,francese1 as the ,italians called it4 ,young troops have more of this quality than veterans4 ,the ,maison du ,roi1 whose charge at ,steenkirk ,macaulay has so well described1 consisted of boys of eighteen4' ',i am re-editing1' ,i said1 'my old articles4 ,among them is one written in #ahda on the ,national ,character of ,france1 ,england1 and ,america1#a as displayed towards foreign nations4 ,i have not much to change in what ,i have said of ,england or of ,america4 ,as they have increased in strength they have both become still more arrogant1 unjust1 and shameless4 ',england has perhaps become a little more prudent ,america a little less so4 ,but ,france seems to me to be altered4 ,i described her as a soldier with all the faults of that unsocial character4 ,as ambitious1 rapacious1 eager for nothing but military glory and territorial aggrandisement4 ,she seems now to have become moderate and pacific1 and to be devoted rather to the arts of peace than to those of war4' ',france is changed1' answered ,tocqueville1 'and when compared with the ,france of ,louis ,,xiv41 or of ,napoleon1 was already changed when you wrote1 though the war-cry raised for political purposes in #ahdj deceived you4 ,at the same time1 ,i will not deny that military glory would1 more than any other merit1 even now strengthen a ,government1 and that military humiliation would inevitably destroy one4 ,nor must you overrate the unpopularity of the last war4 ,only a few even of the higher classes understood its motives4 ,que diable veut cette guerre8 said my country neighbour to me2 si c'tait contre les ,anglais--mais avec les ,anglais1 et pour le ,grand ,turc1 qu'est-ce que cela peut signifier8 ,but when they saw that it cost only men1 that they were not invaded or overtaxed1 and that prices rose1 they got reconciled to it4 ',it was only the speculators of ,paris that were tired of it4 ,and if1 instead of the ,crimea1 we had fought near our own frontiers1 or for some visible purpose1 all our military passions1 bad and good1 would have broken out4' ,footnote #a3 ,this article is republished in the ,historical and ,philosophical ,essays4 ,longmans3 #ahfe4--;,,ed4 ,wednesday1 ,may #ac4--,tocqueville came in after breakfast1 and ,i walked with him in the shade of the green walls or arcades of the ,tuileries chestnuts4 ,we talked of the ,montijos1 which led our conversation to ,mrime and ,v4 ',both of them1' said ,tocqueville1 'were the friends of ,countess ,montijo1 the mother4 ',v4 was among the last persons who knew ,eugnie as ,countess ,thba4 ,he escorted her to the ,tuileries the very evening of her marriage4 ,there he took his leave of her4 ,you are now1 he said1 placed so high that ,i can only admire you from below4 ,and ,i do not believe that they have met since4 ',mrime took a less sentimental view of the change4 ,he acknowledged his ,empress in his former plaything1 subsided from a sort of stepfather into a courtier1 and so rose to honour and wealth1 while ,v4 is satisfied to remain an ex-professor and un homme de lettres4' 99 99 99 99 99 ,we met ,henri ,martin1 and ,i asked ,tocqueville what he thought of his ,history4 ',it has the merit of selling1' he said1 'which cannot be said of any other ,history of ,france4 ,martin is laborious and conscientious1 and does not tell a story ill2 but he is a partisan and is always biassed by his own likings and dislikings4 ,he belongs to the class of theorists1 unfortunately not a small one1 whose political beau idal is the absence of all control over the will of the people-who are opposed therefore to an hereditary monarchy-to a permanent ,president--to a permanent magistracy-to an established ,church--in short1 to all privileged classes1 bodies1 or institutions4 ,equality1 not liberty or security1 is their object4 ,they are centralisers and absolutists4 ,a despotic ,assembly elected by universal suffrage1 sitting at most for a year1 governing1 like the ,convention1 through its committees1 or a single despot1 appointed for a week1 and not re-eligible1 is the sort of ruler that they would prefer4 ,the last five years have perhaps disgusted ,martin with his ,asiatic democracy1 but his earlier volumes are coloured throughout by his prejudices against all systems implying a division of power1 and independent authorities controlling and balancing one another4' ,we talked of the ,secret ,police4 ',it has lately1' said ,tocqueville1 'been unusually troublesome1 or rather it has been troublesome to a class of persons whom it seldom ventures to molest4 ,a friend of mine1 ,m4 ,sauvaire ,barthlemy1 one of ,louis ,philippe's peers1 was standing at the door of his hotel reading a letter4 ,a gentleman in plain clothes addressed him1 announced himself as an agent de police1 and asked him if the letter which he was reading was political4 ,no1 said ,barthlemy1 you may see it4 ,it is a billet de mariage4 ,i am directed1 said the agent1 to request you to get into this carriage4 ,they got in and drove to ,mazas4 ,there ,barthlemy was shown into a neat room with iron bars to the windows1 and ordered to wait4 ,after some time ,louis ,pietri1 the ,prfet de ,police1 arrived4 ',i am grieved1 he said1 at giving you so much trouble1 but ,i have been commanded to see you in this place1 and to inform you that the ,emperor cannot bear that a man in your high position should systematically misrepresent him4 ',l',empereur fait tout ce qu'il peut pour le bonheur de la ,france1 et il n'entend pas supporter une opposition aussi constante et aussi violente4 ,effectivement il ne veut pas d'opposition4 ,voulez-vous le tenir pour dit1 ,monsieur1 et recevoir de nouveau mes excuses du drangement que j'ai d vous causer8 ,pour le prsent vous tes libre4' ,mr4 ,senior left ,paris on the next day4 ,m4 de ,tocqueville paid his promised visit to ,england in ,june1 and was received with a perfect ovation4--,,ed4 ,,correspondence4 ,london1 ,july #aj1 #aheg4 ,i was too ill1 my dear friend1 to go to you yesterday4 ,dr4 ,ferguson tells me that ,i have been doing too much1 and prescribes perfect rest4 ,i have already read half your journal of #aheg4 ,it is very curious2 but ,i am glad that you have disguised me4 ,it is terrible to be in ,london1 and to see so little of you2 but the force of circumstances is greater than the force of wishes4 ,ever yours1 ,a4 ,,de ,,tocqueville4 ,tocqueville1 ,august #f1 #aheg4 ,you may already have had news of me through some of our common friends1 my dear ,senior1 but ,i wish1 besides1 to give you some myself1 and to thank you again for the kind welcome ,i received from you and in your house during my stay in ,london4 ,i regret only that ,i was unable to be more with you1 and that1 in spite of myself1 ,i was drawn into a whirlpool which carried me away and prevented me from following my inclinations4 ,i have returned1 however1 full of gratitude for the marks of consideration and affection showered upon me in ,england4 ,i shall never forget them4 ,i found my wife already installed here1 and in good health2 and ,i have resumed my busy and peaceful life with a delight which does honour to my wisdom4 ,for ,i had been so spoiled in ,england that ,i might have been afraid of finding my retreat too much out of the way and too quiet4 ,but nothing of the sort has happened4 ,the excitement of the past month appears to have added charms to the present4 ,nevertheless1 ,i have not yet set to work again1 but ,i am full of good resolutions1 which ,i hope to execute as soon as ,i have completely returned to my usual habits4 ,these first days have been devoted to putting everything into its regular order4 ,in ,france we are almost as much interested as you in ,england in the affairs of ,india4 ,everyone1 even in the country1 asks me for news of what is going on there4 ,there is a natural disposition to exaggerate the evil and to believe that your dominion is overturned4 ,for my part1 ,i am waiting with the utmost and most painful anxiety for the development of the drama1 for no good can possibly result from it2 and there is not one civilised nation in the world that ought to rejoice in seeing ,india escape from the hands of ,europeans in order to fall back into a state of anarchy and barbarism worse than before its conquest4 ,i am quite sure that you will conquer4 ,but it is a serious business4 ,a military insurrection is the worst of all insurrections1 at least in the beginning4 ,you have to deal with barbarians1 but they possess the arms of civilised people given to them by yourselves4 ,my wife1 who has preserved her ,english heart1 is particularly affected by the spectacle which ,bengal at present affords4 ,if you have any more particular news than is to be found in the newspapers1 you will give us great pleasure by communicating them4 ,remember me to ,mrs4 and ,miss ,senior1 and to your daughter-in-law4 ,my wife sends many kind regards to them1 as well as to you4 ,adieu1 dear ,senior4 ,believe in my sincere affection4 ,a4 ,,de ,,tocqueville4 ,p4,s4--,i fancy that the first effect of the ,indian affair will be to draw still closer the alliance between ,england and ,france4 ,tocqueville1 ,november #ae1 #aheg4 ,i am somewhat angry with you1 my dear ,senior1 for not having yet given us your news4#a ,it is treating our friendship unfairly1 ,i have not written to you because ,i doubted your following exactly your intended route1 but ,i will write to you at ,athens1 as ,i think that you must now be there4 ,if you have followed your itinerary your travels must have been most interesting to you1 and they will be equally curious to us4 ,i conclude that you only passed quickly through the ,principalities in following the course of the ,danube4 ,i1 however1 had depended on you for furnishing me with clear ideas of a country which is at present so interesting to ,europe1 and which ,i think is destined to play an important part in the future4 ,and what say you of our friends the ,turks8 ,was it worth while to spend so much money and to shed so much blood in order to retain in ,europe savages who are ill disguised as civilised men8 ,i am impatient to talk to you1 and almost equally so to read you4 ,i shall have little to tell you4 ,i have not stirred from home since ,i left ,england1 and am leading the life of a gentleman-farmer2 a life which pleases me more and more every day1 and would really make me happy1 if my wife were not suffering from an obstinate neuralgic affection in the face4 ,i fear that she may have to go to some mineral waters1 which she would be sorry to do2 for1 as you know1 she hates travelling1 and does no justice to the reputation for wandering possessed by the ,english race4 ,i can tell you nothing on politics which you will not find in the newspapers4 ,the great question at present for all civilised ,governments seems to be the financial4 ,the crisis from which ,america and ,england are suffering will probably extend everywhere4 ,as for ,india1 you are out1 not perhaps of your difficulties1 but of your greatest dangers4 ,this affair1 and that of the ,crimea1 show how little sympathy there is for ,england abroad4 ,there was everything to interest us in your success--similarity of race1 of religion1 and of civilisation4 ,your loss of ,india could have served no cause but that of barbarism4 ,yet ,i venture to affirm that the whole ,continent1 though it detested the cruelties of your enemies1 did not wish you to triumph4 ,much of this is1 without doubt1 to be attributed to the evil passions which make men always desire the fall of the prosperous and the strong4 ,but much belongs to a less dishonourable cause--to the conviction of all nations that ,england considers them only with reference to her own greatness2 that she has less sympathy than any other modern nation2 that she never notices what passes among foreigners1 what they think1 feel1 suffer1 or do1 but with relation to the use which ,england can make of their actions1 their sufferings1 their feelings1 or their thoughts2 and that when she seems most to care for them she really cares only for herself4 ,all this is exaggerated1 but not without truth4 ,kindest regards from us both to you and to ,mrs4 ,senior4 ,a4 ,,de ,,tocqueville4 ,footnote #a3 ,mr4 ,senior was at this time in the ,east4--,,ed4 ,tocqueville1 ,february #aj1 #aheh4 ,i was delighted1 my dear ,senior1 to receive a letter from you dated ,marseilles4 ,you are right in remaining till the spring in the ,south4 ,we trust to meet you in ,paris in ,march4 ,i say no more1 for ,i cannot write to you on what would most interest you--,french politics4 ,much is to be said on them2 but you will understand my silence if you study our new ,law of ,public ,safety1 and remember who is the new ,home ,minister4#a ,for the first time in ,french history has such a post been filled by a general--and what a general6 ,i defer1 therefore1 until we meet1 the expression of feelings and opinions which cannot be safely transmitted through the post1 and only repeat how eager ,i am for our meeting4 ,kind regards to ,mrs4 ,senior4 ,a4 ,,de ,,tocqueville4 ,footnote #a3 ,general ,espinasse4 ,tocqueville1 ,february #ba1 #aheh4 ,i received your letters with great pleasure1 my dear ,senior1 and ,i think with still greater satisfaction that ,i shall soon be able to see you4 ,i shall probably arrive in ,paris1 with my wife1 at about the same time as you will1 that is to say1 about the #aith of next month4 ,i should have gone earlier if ,i were not occupied in planting and sowing1 for ,i am doing a little farming to my great amusement4 ,i am delighted that you intend again to take up your quarters at the ,htel ,bedford1 as ,i intend also to stay there if ,i can find apartments4 ,i hope that we shall be good neighbours and see each other as frequently as such old friends ought to do4 ,a bientt6 ,a4 ,,de ,,tocqueville4 ,mr4 ,senior ran over to ,england for a few weeks instead of remaining in ,paris4 ,the meeting between the two friends did not1 therefore1 take place till ,april4--,,ed4 ,,conversations4 ,paris1 ,saturday1 ,april #ag1 #aheh4--,we had a discussion at the ,institut to-day as to a bust to fill a niche in the anteroom4 ,rossi was proposed4 ,his political merits were admitted1 but he was placed low as to his literary claims as an economist and a jurist4 ,dupin suggested ,talleyrand1 which was received with a universal groan1 and failed for want of a seconder4 ,ultimately the choice fell on ,dumont4 ',nothing that is published of ,talleyrand's1' said ,tocqueville to me as we walked home1 'has very great merit1 nor indeed is much of it his own4 ,he hated writing1 let his reports and other state papers be drawn up by others1 and merely retouched them4 ,but in the archives of the ,affaires trangres there is a large quarto volume containing his correspondence with ,louis ,,xviii during the ,congress of ,vienna4 ,nothing can be more charming4 ,the great ,european questions which were then in debate1 the diplomatic and social gossip of ,vienna1 the contemporary literature--in short1 all that one clever homme du monde could find to interest and amuse another1 are treated with wit1 brilliancy1 and gaiety1 supported by profound good sense4 ,when that volume is published his bust will be placed here by acclamation4' ,monday1 ,april #ai4--;,i dined with ,lanjuinais1 and met ,tocqueville1 ,rivet1 ,dufaure1 ,corcelle1 ,freslon1 and one or two others4 ,they attacked me about the change of sentiment in ,england with respect to ,louis ,napoleon4 ',while he was useful to you1' they said1 'you steadily refused to admit that he was a tyrant1 or even an usurper4 ,you chose to disbelieve in the #c1jjj men1 women1 and children massacred on the ,boulevards of ,paris--in the #bj1jjj poisoned by jungle fever in ,cayenne--in the #be1jjj who have died of malaria1 exposure1 and bad food1 working in gangs on the roads and in the marshes of the ,metidja and ,lambressa4' ',we did not choose'1 ,i answered1 'to disbelieve any thing4 ,we were simply ignorant4 ,i knew all these facts1 because ,i have passed a part of every year since #ahdg in ,paris2 because ,i walked along the ,boulevards on the #bjth of ,december #ahea1 and saw the walls of every house1 from the ,bastille to the ,madeleine1 covered with the marks of musket-balls2 because ,i heard in every society of the thousands who had been massacred1 and of the tens of thousands who had been dports2 but the untravelled ,english1 and even the travelled ,english1 except the few who live in ,france among the ,french1 knew nothing of all this4 ,your press tells nothing4 ,the nine millions of votes given to ,louis ,napoleon seemed to prove his popularity1 and therefore the improbability of the tyranny of which he was accused by his enemies4 ,i knew that those nine millions of votes were extorted1 or stolen by violence or fraud4 ,but the ,english people did not know it4 ,they accepted his election as the will of the nation1 and though they might wonder at your choice1 did not presume to blame it4' ',the time1' they answered1 'at which light broke in upon you is suspicious4 ,up to the #adth of ,january #aheh the oppression under which thirty-four millions of people within twenty-four miles of your coast1 with whom you are in constant intercourse1 was unknown to you4 ,their ruler insults you1 and you instantly discover that he is an usurper and a tyrant4 ,this looks as if the insult1 and the insult alone1 opened your eyes4' ',what opened our eyes1' ,i answered1 'was not the insult but the loi de sret publique4 ,it was the first public act which showed to ,england the nature of your ,government4 ',when we found1 erected in every department1 a revolutionary tribunal1 empowered to banish and transport without trial2 when we found a rude soldier made ,home ,minister1 and the country divided into five districts to be each governed by a marshal1 we saw at once that ,france was under a violent military despotism4 ,until that law was passed the surface was smooth4 ,there was nothing in the appearance of ,france to show to a stranger that she was not governed by a ,monarch1 practically1 indeed1 absolute1 but governing as many absolute ,monarchs have done1 mildly and usefully4 ',of course we might have found out the truth sooner if we had inquired4 ,and perhaps we ought to have inquired4 ,we busy ourselves about our own affairs1 and neglect too much those of other countries4 ,in that sense you have a right to say that we chose to be ignorant1 since our conduct was such as necessarily to make us ignorant4 ,but it was not because ,louis ,napoleon was our ally that we chose to be ignorant1 but because we habitually turn our eyes from the domestic affairs of the ,continent1 as things in which we have seldom a right to interfere1 and in which1 when we do interfere1 we do more harm than good4' ,we talked of the manner in which the loi de sret publique has been carried out4 ,and ,i mentioned #fjj as the number of those who had suffered under it1 as acknowledged to me by ,blanchard in the beginning of ,march4 ',it is much greater now1' said ,lanjuinais4 ',berryer on his return from ,italy1 a week ago1 slept in ,marseilles4 ,he was informed that more than #ijj persons had passed through ,marseilles1 dports under the new law to ,algeria4 ,they were of all classes3 artisans and labourers mixed with men of the higher and middle classes4 ,to these must be added those transported to ,cayenne1 who were sent by way of ,havre4 ,as for the number expulss and interns there are no data4' ',in the ,department of ,var1 a man was found guilty in #ahdh of joining in one of the revolutionary movements of that time4 ,his complete innocence was soon proved2 he was released1 and has lived quietly on his little estate ever since4 ,he was arrested under the new law and ordered to be dport to ,algeria4 ,his friends1 in fact all his neighbours1 remonstrated1 and sent to ,paris the proof that the original conviction was a mistake4 ,qu'il aille tout de mme1 was ,espinasse's answer4 ',in ,calvados the ,prfet1 finding no one whom he could conscientiously arrest1 took hold of one of the most respectable men in the department4 ,if1 he said1 ,i had arrested a man against whom there was plausible ground for suspicion1 he might have been transported4 ,this man must be released4' ',has he been released8' ,i asked4 ',i have not heard1' was the answer4 ',in all probability he has been4' ',in my department1' said ,tocqueville1 'the sous-prfet1 ordered by the ,prfet to arrest somebody in the arrondissement1 was in the same perplexity as the ,prfet of ,calvados4 ,i can find no fit person1 he said to me4 ,i believe that he reported the difficulty to the ,prfet1 and that the vacancy was supplied from some other arrondissement4 ',what makes this frightful1' he added1 'is that we now know that deportation is merely a slow death4 ,scarcely any of the victims of #ahea and #aheb are living4' ',i foretold that1' ,i said1 'at the time1 as you will find if you look at my article on ,lamartine1 published in the ,edinburgh ,review4'#a ,footnote #a3 ,see ,journals in ,france and ,italy4--,,ed4 ,april #bj4--,we talked of the political influence in ,france of the hommes de lettres4 ',it began1' said ,tocqueville1 'with the ,restoration4 ,until that time we had sometimes1 though very rarely1 statesmen who became writers1 but never writers who became statesmen1' ',you had hommes de lettres1' ,i said1 'in the early ,revolutionary ,assemblies--,mirabeau for instance4' ',mirabeau1' he answered1 'is your best example1 for ,mirabeau1 until he became a statesman1 lived by his pen4 ,still ,i should scarcely call a man of his high birth and great expectations un homme de lettres4 ,that appellation seems to belong to a man who owes his position in early life to literature4 ,such a man is ,thiers1 or ,guizot1 as opposed to such men as ,gladstone1 ,lord ,john ,russell1 or ,montalembert4' ,wednesday1 ,april #ba4--;,i dined with ,d4 and met1 among several others1 ,admiral ,matthieu the ,imperial ,hydrographer1 and a general whose name ,i did not catch4 ,i talked to the general about the army4 ',we are increasing it1' he said1 'but not very materially4 ,we are rather giving ourselves the means of a future rapid increase1 than making an immediate augmentation4 ,we are raising the number of men from #ced1jjj to #cib1djj1 in round numbers to #djj1jjj2 but the principal increase is in the cadres1 the officers attached to each battalion4 ,we have increased them by more than one third4 ,so that if a war should break out we can instantly--that is to say in three months1 increase our army to #fjj1jjj or even #gjj1jjj men4 ,soldiers are never wanting in ,france1 the difficulty always is to find officers4' ',i hear1' ,i said1 'that you are making great improvements in your artillery4' ',we are1' he answered4 ',we are applying to it the principle of the ,mini musket1 and we are improving the material4 ,we hope to make our guns as capable of resisting rapid and continued firing as well and as long as the ,english and the ,swedish guns1 which are the best in ,europe1 can do4 ,and we find that we can throw a ball on the ,mini principle with equal precision twice as far4 ,this will double the force of all our batteries4' ',are you1' he asked me1 'among those who have taken shares in the ,russian railways8' ',no1' ,i said4 ',they are the last that ,i wish to encourage4' ',englishmen or ,frenchmen1' he answered1 'who help ,russia to make railways1 put me in mind of the ,dutch who sold powder to their besiegers4 ',the thinness of her population--that is1 the vast space over which it is scattered--alone prevents ,russia from being the mistress of ,europe4 ,if her #fd1jjj1jjj were as concentrated as our #cd1jjj1jjj are1 she would be irresistible4 ,she loses always far more men in marching than in fighting4' ',the events of the war1' ,i said1 'lead me to believe that the goodness of the ,russian soldier is exaggerated4 ,they were always beaten1 often by inferior numbers4' ',in the first place1' he answered1 'those who were beaten at ,sebastopol were not the best ,russian soldiers4 ,they were short small men1 generally drawn from the neighbouring provinces4 ,the ,russian ,imperial ,guards and the ,russian ,army in ,poland are far superior to any that we encountered in the ,crimea4 ,in the second place1 they were ill commanded4 ,the improvements of weapons1 of science and of discipline1 have raised the privates of all the great military nations to about the same level4 ,success now depends on numbers and on generalship4 ,with railways ,russia will be able to bring quickly a preponderating force to any point on her frontier4 ,her officers are already good1 and for money she can import the best generals2 indeed1 ,i do not see why she should not breed them4 ,russia is civilised enough to produce men of the highest military qualities4' ,i asked ,admiral ,matthieu about the naval preparations of ,france4 ',the ,moniteur1' ,i said1 'denies that you are making any4' ',the ,moniteur1' he answered1 'does not tell the truth4 ,we are augmenting largely1 both the number and the efficacy of our fleet4 ',four years ago1 at the beginning of the ,russian war1 we resolved to build a steam fleet of #aej steam ships of different sizes for fighting1 and #gd steam ships for the transfer service1 and to carry fuel and stores4 ,though we set about this in the beginning1 as we thought1 of a long war1 we have not allowed the peace to interrupt it4 ,we are devoting to it sixty-five millions a year 7#b1fjj1jjjl47 of which from fifteen to seventeen millions are employed every year in building new ships1 and from forty to forty-two in adding steam power to the old ones4 ,we hope to finish this great work in fourteen years4' ',what1' ,i asked1 'is the amount of your present fleet of steamers8' ',we have thirty-three screws1' he answered1 'fifty-seven paddles1 and sixty-two sailing vessels in commission1 and seventy-three1 mostly steamers1 en rserve1 as you would say1 in ordinary4' ',manned by how many men8' ,i asked4 ',by twenty-five thousand sailors1' he answered1 'and eleven thousand marines4 ,but our inscription maritime would give us in a few months or less one hundred thousand more4 ,since the times of ,louis ,,xvi4 the ,french ,navy has never been so formidable1 positively or relatively4' ',how1' ,i asked1 'has your ,napoleon succeeded8' ',admirably1' he answered4 ',i have not seen the ,wellington1 but she is a much finer ship than the ,agamemnon4 ,her speed is wonderful4 ,a month ago she left ,toulon at seven in the morning1 and reached ,ajaccio by four in the evening4 ,but the great improvement is in our men4 ,napoleon knew nothing and cared nothing about sailors4 ,he took no care about their training1 and often wasted them in land operations1 for which landsmen would have done as well4 ',in #ahad he left ,toulon absolutely unguarded1 and sent all the sailors to join ,augereau4 ,you might have walked into it4 ',in #ahaj or #ahaa ,i was on board a ,french corvette which fought an action with an ,english vessel1 the ,lively4 ,we passed three times under her stern1 and raked her each time4 ,we ought to have cleared her decks4 ,not a shot touched her4 ,the other day at ,cherbourg ,i saw a broadside fired at a floating mark three cables off1 the usual distance at which ships engage4 ,ten balls hit it1 and we could see that all the others passed near enough to shake it by their wind4 ',a ship of eighty guns has now forty canonniers and forty matres de pices4 ,all practical artillerymen1 and even the able seamen1 can point a gun4 ,nelson's manoeuvre of breaking the line could not be used against a ,french fleet1 such as a ,french fleet is now4 ,the leading ships would be destroyed one after another1 by the concentrated fire4 ,formerly our officers dreaded a maritime war4 ,they knew that defeat awaited them1 possibly death4 ,now they are confident1 and eager to try their hands4' ,in the evening ,l4 took me into a corner1 and we had a long conversation4 ,he had been reading my ',athens ,journal4' ',what struck me1' he said1 'in every page of it1 was the resemblance of ,king ,otho to ,louis ,napoleon4' ',i see the resemblance1' ,i answered1 'but it is the resemblance of a dwarf to a giant4' ',no1' he replied4 ',of a man five feet seven inches high to one five feet eleven inches4 ,there are not more than four inches between them4 ,there is the same cunning1 the same coldness1 the same vindictiveness1 the same silence1 the same perseverance1 the same unscrupulousness1 the same selfishness1 the same anxiety to appear to do everything that is done1 and above all1 the same determination to destroy1 or to seduce by corruption or by violence1 every man and every institution favourable to liberty1 independence1 or self-government4 ,in one respect ,otho had the more difficult task4 ,he found himself1 in #ahdc1 subject to a ,constitution carefully framed under the advice of ,england for the express purpose of controlling him4 ,he did not attempt to get rid of it by a coup d'tat1 or even to alter it1 but cunningly and skilfully perverted it into an instrument of despotism4 ,louis ,napoleon destroyed the ,constitution which he found1 and made a new one1 copied from that which had been gradually elaborated by his uncle1 which as a restraint is intentionally powerless and fraudulent4 ',a man1' he continued1 'may acquire influence either by possessing in a higher degree the qualities which belong to his country and to his time1 or by possessing those in which they are deficient4 ',wellington is an example of this first sort4 ,his excellences were those of an ,englishman carried almost to perfection4 ',louis ,napoleon belongs to the second4 ,if his merits had been impetuous courage1 rapidity of ideas1 quickness of decision1 frankness1 versatility and resource1 he would have been surrounded by his equals or his superiors4 ,he predominated over those with whom he came in contact because he differed from them4 ,because he was calm1 slow1 reserved1 silent1 and persevering4 ,because he is a ,dutchman1 not a ,frenchman4' ',he seems1' ,i said1 'to have lost his calmness4' ',yes1' answered ,l4 ',but under what a shock6 ,and observe that though the greatest risk was encountered by him1 the terror was greatest among his entourage4 ,i do not believe that if he had been left to himself he would have lost his prudence or his self-possession4 ,he did not for the first day4 ,passions are contagious4 ,everyone who approached him was agitated by terror and anger4 ,his intrepidity and self-reliance1 great as they are1 were disturbed by the hubbub all round him4 ,his great defects are three4 ,first1 his habit of self-contemplation4 ,he belongs to the men whom the ,germans call subjective1 whose eye is always turned inwardly2 who think only of themselves1 of their own character1 and of their own fortunes4 ,secondly1 his jealousy of able men4 ,he wishes to be what you called him1 a giant1 and as ,nature has not made him positively tall1 he tries to be comparatively so1 by surrounding himself with dwarfs4 ,his third defect is the disproportion of his wishes to his means4 ,his desires are enormous4 ,no power1 no wealth1 no expenditure would satisfy them4 ,even if he had his uncle's genius and his uncle's indefatigability1 he would sink1 as his uncle did1 under the exorbitance of his attempts4 ,as he is not a man of genius1 or even a man of remarkable ability1 as he is ignorant1 uninventive and idle1 you will see him flounder and fall from one failure to another4 ',during the three years that ,drouyn de ,l',huys was his minister he was intent on home affairs--on his marriage1 on the ,louvre1 on the artillery1 on his bonnes fortunes1 and on the new delights of unbounded expenditure4 ,he left foreign affairs altogether to his minister4 ,when ,drouyn de ,l',huys left him1 the road before him was plain--he had only to carry on the war4 ,but when the war was over1 the road ended2 neither he nor ,walewski nor any of his entourage know anything of the country in which they are travelling4 ,you see them wandering at hazard4 ,sometimes trying to find their way to ,russia1 sometimes to ,england4 ,making a treaty with ,austria1 then attempting to injure her1 and failing2 attempting to injure ,turkey1 and failing2 bullying ,naples1 and failing2 threatening ,switzerland1 threatening ,belgium1 and at last demanding from ,england an ,alien ,bill1 which they ought to know to be incompatible with the laws and hateful to the feelings of the people4 ',he is not satisfied with seeing the country prosperous and respected abroad4 ,he wants to dazzle4 ,his policy1 domestic and foreign1 is a policy of vanity and ostentation--motives which mislead everyone both in private and in public life4 ',his great moral merits are kindness and sympathy4 ,he is a faithful attached friend1 and wishes to serve all who come near him4 ',his greatest moral fault is his ignorance of the difference between right and wrong2 perhaps his natural insensibility to it1 his want of the organs by which that difference is perceived--a defect which he inherits from his uncle4' ',the uncle1' ,i said1 'had at least one moral sense--he could understand the difference between pecuniary honesty and dishonesty1 a difference which this man seems not to see1 or not to value4' ',i agree with you1' said ,l4 ',he cannot value it1 or he would not look complacently on the peculation which surrounds him4 ,every six months some magnificent hotel rises in the ,champs lyses1 built by a man who had nothing1 and has been a minister for a year or two4' ,on my return ,i found ,tocqueville with the ladies4 ,i gave him an outline of what ,l4 had said4 ',no one1' he said1 'knows ,louis ,napoleon better than ,l4' ',my opportunities of judging him have been much fewer1 but as far as they have gone1 they lead to the same conclusions4 ,l4 perhaps has not dwelt enough on his indolence4 ,probably as he grows older1 and the effects of his early habits tell on him1 it increases4 ,i am told that it is difficult to make him attend to business1 that he prolongs audiences apparently to kill time4 ',one of the few of my acquaintances who go near him1 was detained by him for an hour to answer questions about the members of the ,corps lgislatif4 ,louis ,napoleon inquired about their families1 their fortunes1 their previous histories4 ,nothing about their personal qualities4 ,these are things that do not interest him4 ,he supposes that men differ only in externals4 ,that the fond is the same in everyone4' ,april #bf4--,tocqueville spent the evening with us4 ,we talked of ,novels4 ',i read none1' he said1 'that end ill4 ,why should one voluntarily subject oneself to painful emotions8 ,to emotions created by an imaginary cause and therefore impelling you to no action4 ,i like vivid emotions1 but ,i seek them in real life1 in society1 in travelling1 in business1 but above all in political business4 ,there is no happiness comparable to political success1 when your own excitement is justified by the magnitude of the questions at issue1 and is doubled and redoubled by the sympathy of your supporters4 ,having enjoyed that1 ,i am ashamed of being excited by the visionary sorrows of heroes and heroines4 ',i had a friend1' he continued1 'a ,benedictine1 who is now ninety-seven4 ,he was1 therefore1 about thirteen when ,louis ,,xvi4 began to reign4 ,he is a man of talents and knowledge1 has always lived in the world1 has attended to all that he has seen and heard1 and is still unimpaired in mind1 and so strong in body that when ,i leave him he goes down to embrace me1 after the fashion of the eighteenth century1 at the bottom of his staircase4' ',and what effect1' ,i asked1 'has the contemplation of seventy years of revolution produced in him8 ,does he look back1 like ,talleyrand1 to the ancien rgime as a golden age8' ',he admits1' said ,tocqueville1 'the material superiority of our own age1 but he believes that1 intellectually and morally1 we are far inferior to our grandfathers4 ,and ,i agree with him4 ,those seventy years of revolution have destroyed our courage1 our hopefulness1 our self-reliance1 our public spirit1 and1 as respects by far the majority of the higher classes1 our passions1 except the vulgarest and most selfish ones--vanity and covetousness4 ,even ambition seems extinct4 ,the men who seek power1 seek it not for itself1 not as the means of doing good to their country1 but as a means of getting money and flatterers4 ',it is remarkable1' he continued1 'that women whose influence is generally greatest under despotisms1 have none now4 ,they have lost it1 partly in consequence of the gross vulgarity of our dominant passions1 and partly from their own nullity4 ,they are like ,london houses1 all built and furnished on exactly the same model1 and that a most uninteresting one4 ,whether a girl is bred up at home or in a convent1 she has the same masters1 gets a smattering of the same accomplishments1 reads the same dull books1 and contributes to society the same little contingent of superficial information4 ',when a young lady comes out ,i know beforehand how her mother and her aunts will describe her4 ,elle a les gots simples4 ,elle est pieuse4 ,elle aime la campagne4 ,elle aime la lecture4 ,elle n'aime pas le bal4 ,elle n'aime pas le monde1 elle y ira seulement pour plaire sa mre4 ,i try sometimes to escape from these generalities1 but there is nothing behind them4' ',and how long1' ,i asked1 'does this simple1 pious1 retiring character last8' ',till the orange flowers of her wedding chaplet are withered1' he answered4 ',in three months she goes to the messe d'une heure4' ',what is the messe d'une heure8' ,i asked4 ',a priest1' he answered1 'must celebrate ,mass fasting2 and in strictness ought to do so before noon4 ,but to accommodate fashionable ladies who cannot rise by noon1 priests are found who will starve all the morning1 and say ,mass in the afternoon4 ,it is an irregular proceeding1 though winked at by the ecclesiastical authorities4 ,still to attend it is rather discreditable2 it is a middle term between the highly meritorious practice of going to early ,mass1 and the scandalous one of never going at all4' ',what was the education1' ,i asked1 'of women under the ancien rgime8' ',the convent1' he answered4 ',it must have been better1' ,i said1 'than the present education1 since the women of that time were superior to ours4' ',it was so far better1' he answered1 'that it did no harm4 ,a girl at that time was taught nothing4 ,she came from the convent a sheet of white paper4 ,now her mind is a paper scribbled over with trash4 ,the women of that time were thrown into a world far superior to ours1 and with the sagacity1 curiosity1 and flexibility of ,french women1 caught knowledge and tact and expression from the men4 ',i knew well1' he continued1 ',madame ,rcamier4 ,few traces of her former beauty then remained1 but we were all her lovers and her slaves4 ,the talent1 labour1 and skill which she wasted in her salon1 would have gained and governed an empire4 ,she was virtuous1 if it be virtuous to persuade every one of a dozen men that you wish to favour him1 though some circumstance always occurs to prevent your doing so4 ,every friend thought himself preferred4 ,she governed us by little distinctions1 by letting one man come five minutes before the others1 or stay five minutes after4 ,just as ,louis ,,xiv4 raised one courtier to the seventh heaven by giving him the bougeoir1 and another by leaning on his arm1 or taking his shirt from him4 ',she said little1 but knew what each man's fort was1 and placed from time to time a mot which led him to it4 ,if anything were peculiarly well said1 her face brightened4 ,you saw that her attention was always active and always intelligent4 ',and yet ,i doubt whether she really enjoyed conversation4 ,tenir salon was to her a game1 which she played well1 and almost always successfully1 but she must sometimes have been exhausted by the effort4 ,her salon was perhaps pleasanter to us than it was to herself4 ',one of the last1' he continued1 'of that class of potentates was the ,duchesse de ,dino4 ,her early married life was active and brilliant1 but not intellectually4 ,it was not till about forty1 when she had exhausted other excitements1 that she took to bel esprit4 ,but she performed her part as if she had been bred to it4' ,this was our last conversation4 ,i left ,paris the next day1 and we never met again4 ,,correspondence4 ,tocqueville1 ,june #cj1 #aheh4 ,i must complain1 a little of your silence1 my dear ,senior4 ,i hear that before you left ,paris you suffered a great deal from your throat4 ,is it true1 or have you recovered8 ,i have not either much to boast of on the score of health since we parted4 ,the illness which ,i had in ,paris became still worse1 and when ,i got a little better in that way ,i had a violent bronchial attack4 ,i even began to spit blood1 which had not happened to me for many years1 and ,i am still almost reduced to silence4 ,still ,i am beginning to mend1 and ,i hope1 please ,god1 to be able to speak to my friends when they visit me4 ,you are aware that ,i wished to induce my wife to accompany me to the ,south2 but the length of the journey1 the difficulties of transport1 the heat1 and indeed the state of my health1 were reasons which she brought forward with so much force that we have remained here1 and shall not leave till the end of ,september4 ,we still hope that you and ,miss ,senior will join us the first week in that month4 ,we shall be very happy to have you both with us4 ,this is no compliment 444 ,i hope soon to be able to enjoy more frequent communication with my ,english friends4 ,a steamboat is about to run from ,cherbourg to the coast of ,england4 ,we shall then be able to visit each other as neighbours 7voisiner74 ,between ourselves1 ,i do not think that the events in ,england during the last six months are of a nature to raise the reputation of ,parliamentary ,government in the rest of the world4 ,a bientt6 ,a4 ,,de ,,tocqueville4 ,kensington1 ,july #e1 #aheh4 ,my dear ,tocqueville1--,if ,i had written to you three days ago1 ,i should have talked of the pleasure which my daughter and ,i expected from our visit to ,tocqueville4 ,but our plans are changed4 ,edward ,ellice is going to pay a last visit to ,america1 and has begged me to accompany him4 ,he is a great proprietor in both ,america and ,canada--knows everybody in both countries1 and is besides a most able and interesting companion4 ,so ,i have accepted the proposal1 and start on the #cjth of this month for ,boston4 ,we shall return in the beginning of ,november4 ,i am very sorry to lose the visit to ,normandy1 but ,i trust that it is only deferred4 ,we are grieved to hear that neither you nor ,madame de ,tocqueville are as well as your friends could wish you to be4 ,my grippe1 after lasting for three months1 has gradually subsided1 and ,i look to the voyage to ,america as a cure for all remains of it4 ,i have most punctually carried your remembrances to all the persons honoured by being inscribed on your card4 ,though ,i have often seen ,gladstone1 it has always been among many other persons1 and he has been so full of talk1 that ,i have never been able to allude to your subject4 ,i mentioned it to ,mrs4 ,gladstone on ,saturday last3 she said that there was not a person in all ,france whom her husband so much admired and venerated as you--therefore1 if there was any appearance of neglect1 it could have arisen only from hurry or mistake4 ,i shall see him again on ,thursday1 when we are going all together to a rehearsal of ,ristori's1 and ,i will talk to him3 we shall there be quiet4 ,things here are in a very odd state4 ,the ,government is supported by the ,tories because it calls itself ,tory1 and by the ,whigs and ,radicals because it obeys them4 ,on such terms it may last for an indefinite time4 ,kindest regards from us all to you both4 ,ever yours1 ,n4,w4 ,,senior4 #i ,hyde ,park ,gate1 ,kensington1 ,august #b1 #aheh4 ,my dear ,tocqueville1--,i ought1 as you know1 to be on the ,atlantic by this time2 but ,i was attacked1 ten days ago1 with lumbar neuralgia1 which they are trying1 literally1 to rub away4 ,if ,i am quite well on the #acth1 ,i shall go on the #adth to ,america4 ,i was attacked at ,sir ,john ,boileau's1 where ,i spent some days with the ,guizots1 ,mrs4 ,austin1 and ,stanley and ,lord ,john ,russell4 ,guizot is in excellent spirits1 and1 what is rare in an ex-premier1 dwells more on the present and the future than on the past4 ,mrs4 ,austin is placid and discursive4 ,lord ,john seems to me well pleased with the present state of affairs--which he thinks1 ,i believe with reason1 will bring him back to power4 ,he thinks that ,malmesbury and ,disraeli are doing well1 and praises much the subordinates of the ,government4 ,considering that no one believes ,lord ,derby to be wise1 or ,disraeli to be either wise or honest1 it is marvellous that they get on as well as they do4 ,the man who has risen most is ,lord ,stanley1 and1 as he has the inestimable advantage of youth1 ,i believe him to be predestined to influence our fortunes long4 ,the world1 ,i think1 is gradually coming over to an opinion1 which1 when ,i maintained it thirty years ago1 was treated as a ridiculous paradox--that ,india is and always has been a great misfortune to us2 and1 that if it were possible to get quit of it1 we should be richer and stronger4 ,but it is clear that we are to keep it1 at least for my life4 ,kindest regards from us all to you and ,madame de ,tocqueville4 ,ever yours1 ,n4,w4 ,,senior4 ,tocqueville1 ,august #ba1 #aheh4 ,my dear ,senior1--,i hear indirectly that you are extremely ill4 ,your letter told me only that you were suffering from neuralgia which you hoped to be rid of in a few days1 but ,mrs4 ,grote informs me that the malady continues and has even assumed a more serious character4 ,if you could write or dictate a few lines to me1 you would please me much4 ,i am inconsolable for the failure of your ,american journey4 ,i expected the most curious results from it ,i hoped that your journal would enable me once more to understand the present state of a country which has so changed since ,i saw it that ,i feel that ,i now know nothing of it4 ,what a blessing1 however1 that you had not started6 ,what would have become of you if the painful attack from which you are suffering had seized you #b1jjj miles away from home1 and in the midst of that agitated society where no one has time to be ill or to think of those who are ill8 ,it must be owned that ,fortune has favoured you by sending you this illness just at the moment of your departure instead of ten days later4 ,i have been much interested by your visit to ,sir ,john ,boileau4 ,you saw there ,m4 ,guizot in one of his best lights4 ,the energy with which he stands up under the pressure of age and of ill-fortune1 and is not only resigned in his new situation1 but as vigorous1 as animated1 and as cheerful as ever1 shows a character admirably tempered and a pride which nothing will bend4 ,i do not so well understand the cheerfulness of ,lord ,john ,russell4 ,for the spectacle now exhibited by ,england1 in which a party finds no difficulty in maintaining itself in power by carrying into practice ideas which it has always opposed1 and by relying for support on its natural enemies1 is not of a nature to raise the reputation of your institutions1 or of your public men4 ,i should have a great deal more to say to you on this and other subjects if ,i were not afraid of tiring you4 ,i leave off1 therefore1 by assuring you that we are longing to hear of your recovery4 ,remembrances1 c4 ,a4 ,,de ,,tocqueville4 ,cannes1 ,december #ab1 #aheh4 ,i wish1 my dear friend1 to reassure you myself on the false reports which have been spread regarding my health4 ,far from finding myself worse than when we arrived1 ,i am already much better4 ,i am just now an invalid who takes his daily walks of two hours in the mountains after eating an excellent breakfast4 ,i am not1 however1 well4 ,if ,i were ,i should not long remain a citizen of ,cannes4 ,i have almost renounced the use of speech1 and consequently the society of human beings2 which is all the more sad as my wife1 my sole companion1 is herself very unwell1 not dangerously1 but enough to make me anxious4 ,when ,i say my sole companion1 ,i am wrong1 for my eldest brother has had the kindness to shut himself up with us for a month4 ,adieu1 dear ,senior4 ,a thousand kind remembrances from us to all your party4 ,a4 ,,de ,,tocqueville4 ,cannes1 ,march #ae1 #ahei4 ,you say1 my dear ,senior1 in the letter which ,i have just received1 that ,i like to hear from my friends1 not to write to them4 ,it is true that ,i delight in the letters of my friends1 especially of my ,english friends2 but it is a calumny to say that ,i do not like to answer them4 ,it is true that ,i am in your debt3 one great cause is1 that a man who lives at ,cannes knows nothing of what is passing4 ,my solitary confinement1 which is bad enough in every way1 makes me a bad correspondent1 by depressing my spirits and rendering every exertion painful4 ,mrs4 ,grote1 in a very kind and interesting letter1 which ,i received from her yesterday1 says1 that ,lord ,brougham1 on his late arrival in ,london1 gave a lamentable description of my health4 ,if he confined himself to ,january1 he was right4 ,it is impossible to exaggerate my sufferings during that month4 ,but1 since that time1 all has changed1 as if from day to night1 or rather from night to day4 ,to talk now of what ,i was in ,january is like making a speech about the ,spanish marriages4 ,i am grieved to find that you have suffered so much this year from bronchitis4 ,i fear that your larynx can scarcely endure an ,english winter4 ,but it is very hard to be obliged to expatriate oneself every year4 ,i fear1 however1 that such must be my fate for some winters to come1 and the pain with which ,i anticipate it makes me sympathise more acutely with you4 ,we know not1 as yet1 whether we are to have peace or war4 ,whichever it be1 a mortal blow has struck the popularity of ,louis ,napoleon4 ,what maintained him was the belief that he was the protector of our material interests3 interests to which we now sacrifice all others4 ,the events of the last month show1 with the utmost vividness1 that these very interests may be endangered by the arbitrary and irrational will of a despot4 ,the feelings1 therefore1 which were his real support are now bitterly hostile to him4 ,i feel1 in short1 that a considerable change in our ,government is approaching4 ,even our poor ,corps lgislatif1 a week ago1 refused to take into consideration the ,budget1 until it was informed whether it were to be a war budget or a peace budget4 ,great was the fury of those who represented the ,government4 ,they exclaimed that the ,chamber misapprehended its jurisdiction1 and that it had nothing to do with political questions4 ,the ,chamber1 however1 or rather its committee on the ,budget1 held its ground1 and extorted from the ,government some explanations4 ,adieu1 my dear ,senior4 ,say everything that is kind to the ,grotes1 the ,reeves1 the ,lewises--in short1 to all our common friends1 and believe in the sincerity of my friendship4 ,a4 ,,de ,,tocqueville4 ,this was ,m4 de ,tocqueville's last letter to ,mr4 ,senior4 ,he died on the #afth of ,april4--,,ed4 ,hotel ,westminster1 ,rue de la ,paix1 ,april #be1 #ahei4 ,my dear ,madame de ,tocqueville1--,i was in the country1 and it was only last ,friday1 as ,i was passing through ,london on my way to ,paris1 that ,i heard of the irreparable loss that we1 indeed that ,france and ,europe1 have suffered4 ,it cannot alleviate your distress to be told how universal and deep is the sympathy with it--quite as much in ,england as in ,france4 ,it has thrown a gloom over society1 not only over that portion which had the happiness and the honour of intimacy with ,m4,a4 de ,tocqueville1 but even of his acquaintances1 and of those too whose acquaintance was only with his works4 ,i have1 as you know1 been for about a year1 the depositary of a large packet confided to me by ,m4 de ,tocqueville last spring4 ,about six months ago he begged me to return it to him1 in ,paris1 when ,i had a safe opportunity4 ,no such opportunity offered itself1 so that the packet remains in my library awaiting your orders4 ,since ,i began this letter ,i have been informed by ,m4 de ,corcelle that you are likely to be soon in ,paris4 ,i shall not venture to send it by the post1 lest it should cross you on the road4 ,i shall anxiously inquire as to your arrival1 in the hope that you will allow one who most sincerely loved and admired your husband1 morally and intellectually1 to see you as soon as you feel yourself equal to it4 ,believe me1 my dear ,madame de ,tocqueville1 with the truest sympathy1 yours most truly1 ,,nassau ,w4 ,,senior4 ,mr4 ,senior continued an active correspondence with ,madame de ,tocqueville1 and we saw her whenever we were in ,paris4 ,our long-promised visit to ,tocqueville took place in #ahfa4--;,,ed4 ,,journal4 ,tocqueville1 ,sunday1 ,august #aa1 #ahfa4--,we left ,paris on ,saturday evening1 got to ,valognes by the ,cherbourg railway by six the next morning1 and were furnished there with a good carriage and horses1 which took us1 and our servants and luggage1 in three hours to ,tocqueville4 ,valognes has been immortalised by ,le ,sage in ,turcaret4 ,it is a town of about #f1jjj inhabitants1 built of granite1 and therefore little altered from what it was #bjj years ago4 ,over many of the doors are the armorial bearings of the provincial nobility who made it a small winter capital3 the practice is not wholly extinct4 ,i asked who was the inhabitant of an imposing old house4 ',m4 de ,nridoze1' answered our landlady1 'd'une trs-haute noblesse4' ,i went over one in which ,madame de ,tocqueville thinks of passing the winter4 ,it is of two stories4 ,the ground floor given up to kitchen1 laundry1 and damp-looking servants' rooms2 the first floor in this form3-- ,illustration3 ,bedroom4 ,door ,stairs ,bedroom4 ,bedroom4 ,drawing-room4 ,dining-room4 ,hall4 ,bedroom4 ,the longer side looks into the street1 the shorter1 which is to be ,madame de ,tocqueville's bedroom1 into a small garden4 ,august #aa4--;,at ,tocqueville we find ,m4 and ,madame de ,beaumont1 their second son--a charming boy of ten years old1 and ,ampre4 ,it is eleven years since ,i was here4 ,nothing has been done to the interior of the house4 ,this is about the plan of ground floor4 ,illustration3 ,offices ,tower staircase ,offices4 ,drawing-room4 ,billiard-room4 ,dining-room4 ,hall4 ,tower ,the first floor corresponds to the ground floor1 except that on the western sides a passage runs1 into which the library1 which is over the drawing-room1 and the bedrooms open4 ,the second consists of garrets4 ,my room is on the first floor of the eastern tower1 with deep windows looking south and east4 ,the room dedicated by ,tocqueville to ,ampre is above me4 ,creepers in great luxuriance cover the walls up to the first floor windows4 ,the little park consists of from thirty to forty acres1 well wooded and traversed by an avenue in this form1 leading from the road to the front of the house4 99 99 99 99 99 99 99 99 99 99 99 99 99 99 99 99 99 99 99 99 99 99 99 99 99 99 ,to the west the ground rises to a wild common commanding the sea1 the lighthouses of ,gatteville1 ,barfleur1 ,la ,hogue1 and a green plain covered with woods and hedgerow trees1 and studded with church towers and spires of the picturesque forms of the eleventh1 twelfth1 and thirteenth centuries4 ,it has no grand features1 except the sea and the rocky coast of the ,cherbourg peninsula1 but it is full of variety and beauty4 ,i can understand ,tocqueville's delight in the house and in the country4 ,the weather is perfect2 the thermometer in my bedroom1 the walls of which are about six feet thick1 is #ga1 in the sun it is #hj2 but there is a strong breeze4 ,august #abth4--,madame de ,beaumont1 my daughter1 and ,ampre drove1 and ,beaumont and ,i walked1 to the coast about three miles and a half off4 ,our road ran through the gay wooded plain which ,i have described4 ,we talked of ,italian affairs4 ',up to the annexation of ,tuscany1' said ,beaumont1 ',i fully approve of all that has been done4 ,parma1 ,modena1 and ,tuscany were eager to join ,piedmont4 ,during the anxious interval of six months1 while the decision of ,louis ,napoleon was doubtful1 the conduct of the ,tuscans was above all praise4 ,perhaps the general wish of the people of ,romagna justified the ,piedmontese in seizing it4 ,though there the difficult question as to the expediency of stripping the ,pope of his temporal power rises4 ',perhaps1 too1 the facility with which ,sicily submitted was a justification4 ,but ,i cannot pardon the seizure of ,naples4 ,it is clear to me that if the ,neapolitans had been left to themselves they would have driven out the ,garibaldians4 ,garibaldi himself felt this3 nothing but a conviction of its necessity would have induced him to call for the assistance of the ,piedmontese4 ,i do not believe that in defiance of all international law-indeed in defiance of all international morality--,cavour would have given that assistance if the public opinion of ,piedmont had allowed him to refuse it4 ,and what is the consequence8 ,a civil war which is laying waste the country4 ,the ,piedmontese call their adversaries brigands4 ,there are without doubt among them men whose motive is plunder1 but the great majority are in arms in defence of the independence of their country4 ,they are no more brigands now than they were when they resisted ,king ,joseph4 ,the ,piedmontese are as much foreigners to them as the ,french were3 as much hated and as lawfully resisted4 ,they may be conquered1 they probably will be conquered4 ,an ignorant corrupt population1 inhabiting a small country1 unsupported by its higher classes--its fleet1 its fortresses1 and all the machinery of its government1 in the hands of its enemies--cannot permanently resist2 but the war will be atrocious1 and the more cruel on the part of ,piedmont because it is unjust4' ',you admit1' ,i said1 'that the higher classes side with ,piedmont8' ',i admit that1' he answered2 'but you must recollect how few they are in number1 and how small is the influence which they exercise4 ,in general1 ,i detest universal suffrage1 ,i detest democracy and everything belonging to it1 but if it were possible to obtain honestly and truly the opinion of the people1 ,i would ask it and obey it4 ,i believe that it would be better to allow the ,neapolitans1 ignorant and debased as they are1 to choose their own sovereign and their own form of government1 than to let them be forced by years of violence to become the unwilling subjects of ,piedmont4' ',do you believe1' ,i said1 'that it is possible to obtain through universal suffrage the honest and true opinion of a people8' ',not1' he answered1 'if the ,government interferes4 ,i believe that in ,savoy not one person in fifty was in favour of annexation to ,france4 ,but this is an extreme case4 ',the ,bourbons are deservedly hated and despised by the ,neapolitans1 the ,piedmontese are not despised1 but are hated still more intensely4 ,there is no native royal stock4 ,the people are obviously unfit for a ,republic4 ,it would be as well1 ,i think1 to let them select a ,king as to impose one on them4 ,the ,king whom ,piedmont1 without a shadow of right1 is imposing on them is the one whom they most detest4' ',if ,i go to ,rome1' ,i asked1 'in the winter1 whom shall ,i find there8' ',i think1' he answered1 'that it will be the ,piedmontese4 ,the present state of things is full of personal danger to ,louis ,napoleon4 ,as his policy is purely selfish1 he will1 at any sacrifice1 put an end to it4 ,that sacrifice may be the unity of ,catholicism4 ,the ,pope1 no longer a sovereign1 will be under the influence of the ,government in whose territory he resides1 and the other ,catholic ,powers may follow the example of ,greece and of ,russia1 and create each an independent ,spiritual ,government4 ,it would be a new excitement for ,celui-ci to make himself ,head of the ,church4' ',assassinations1' ,i said1 'even when successful have seldom produced important and permanent effects1 but ,orsini's failure has influenced and is influencing the destinies of ,europe4' ',if ,i were an ,italian liberal1' said ,beaumont1 ',i would erect a statue to him4 ,the policy and almost the disposition of ,louis ,napoleon have been changed by the attentat4 ,he has become as timid as he once was intrepid4 ,he began by courting the ,pope and the clergy4 ,he despised the ,french assassins1 who were few in number and unconnected1 and who had proved their unskilfulness on ,louis ,philippe2 but ,orsini showed him that he had to elect between the ,pope and the ,austrians on one side1 and the ,carbonari on the other4 ,he has chosen the alliance of the ,carbonari4 ,he has made himself their tool1 and will continue to do so4 ',they are the only enemies whom he fears1 at least for the present4 ',france is absolutely passive4 ,the uneducated masses from whom he holds his power are utterly indifferent to liberty1 and he has too much sense to irritate them by wanton oppression4 ,they do not know that he is degrading the ,french character1 they do not even feel that he is wasting the capital of ,france1 they do not know that he is adding twenty millions every year to the national debt4 ,they think of his loans merely as investments1 and the more profligately extravagant are the terms and the amount1 the better they like them4' ',ten years ago1' ,i said1 'the cry that ,i heard was1 a ne durera pas4' ',that was my opinion1' he answered2 'indeed1 it was the opinion of everybody4 ,i thought the ,duc de ,broglie desponding when he gave it three years4 ,we none of us believed that the love of liberty was dead in ,france4' ',it is not1' ,i said1 'dead1 for among the higher classes it still lives1 and among the lower it never existed4' ',perhaps1' he answered1 'our great mistakes were that we miscalculated the courage of the educated classes1 and the degree in which universal suffrage would throw power into the hands of the uneducated4 ,not a human being in my commune reads a newspaper or indeed reads anything3 yet it contains #cjj electors4 ,in the towns there is some knowledge and some political feeling1 but for political purposes they are carefully swamped by being joined to uneducated agricultural districts4 ',still ,i think ,i might enter the ,corps lgislatif for our capital ,le ,mans4 ,perhaps at a general election twenty liberals might come in4 ,but what good could they do8 ,the opposition in the last session strengthened ,louis ,napoleon4 ,it gave him the prestige of liberality and success4' ',you think him1 then1' ,i said1 'safe for the rest of his life8' ',nothing1' he answered1 'is safe in ,france1 and the thing most unsafe is a ,government4 ,our caprices are as violent as they are sudden4 ,they resemble those of a half-tamed beast of prey1 which licks its keeper's hand to-day1 and may tear him to-morrow4 ,but if his life be not so long as to enable the fruits of his follies to show themselves in their natural consequences--unsuccessful war1 or defeated diplomacy1 or bankruptcy1 or heavily increased taxation--he may die in the ,tuileries4 ',but ,i infer from his conduct that he thinks an insurrection against his tyranny possible1 and that he is preparing to meet it by a popular war-- that is to say1 by a war with ,england4 ',i found my opinion not so much on the enormous maritime preparations1 as on the long-continued systematic attempts to raise against ,england our old national enmity4 ,all the provincial papers are in the hands of the ,government4 ,the constantly recurring topic of every one of them is1 the perfidy and the malignity of ,england4 ,she is described as opposing all our diplomacy1 as resisting all our aggrandisement1 as snarling and growling at our acquisition of ,savoy1 as threatening us if we accept ,sardinia1 as trying to drive the ,pope from ,rome because we protect him1 as trying to separate the ,danubian provinces because we wish to unite them1 as preventing the ,suez ,canal because we proposed it--in short1 on every occasion and in every part of the world as putting herself in our way4 ,to these complaints1 which are not without foundation1 are added others of which our ignorant people do not see the absurdity4 ,they are told that the enormous conscription1 and the great naval expenditure1 are rendered necessary by the aggressive armaments of ,england4 ,that you are preparing to lay waste all our coasts1 to burn our arsenals1 to subsidise against us a new ,coalition1 and perhaps lead its armies again to ,paris4 ',the ,emperor's moderation1 his love of ,england1 and his love of peace1 are said to be the only obstacles to1 a violent rupture4 ,but they are prepared for these obstacles at length giving way4 ,the ,emperor1 they are told1 is getting tired of his insolent1 and hostile1 and quarrelsome allies4 ,he is getting tired of a peace which is more expensive than a war4 ,some day the cup will flow over4 ',il en finira avec eux1' will dictate a peace in ,london1 will free the oppressed ,irish nationality1 will make ,england pay the expense of the war1 and then having conquered the only enemy that ,france can fear1 will let her enjoy1 for the first time1 real peace1 a reduced conscription1 and low taxation4 ',such is the language of all the provincial papers and of all the provincial authorities1 and it has its effect4 ,there never was a time when a war with ,england would be so popular4 ,he does not wish for one1 he knows that it would be extremely dangerous1 but he is accustomed to play for great stakes1 and if submitting to any loss of his popularity1 or to any limitation of his power is the alternative1 he will run the risk4 ,he keeps it1 as his last card1 in reserve1 to be played only in extremity1 but to be ready when that extremity has arrived4' ,tuesday1 ,august #ac4--,we drove to ,la ,prenelle1 a church at the point of a high table-land running from ,tocqueville towards the bay of ,la ,hogue1 and commanding nearly all the ,cherbourg peninsula4 ,on three sides of us was the sea1 separated from us by a wooded1 well-inhabited plain1 whose churches rose among the trees1 and containing the towns and lofty lighthouses of ,gatteville1 ,barfleur1 ,vast1 and ,la ,hogue4 ,we sat on the point from whence ,james ,,ii4 saw the battle of ,la ,hogue1 and admired the courage of his ,english rebels4 ,ampre has spent much of his life in ,rome1 and is engaged on a work in which its history is to be illustrated by its monuments4 ,we talked of the ,roman people4 ',nothing1' said ,ampre1 'can be more degraded than the higher classes4 ,with the exception of ,antonelli1 who is charming1 full of knowledge1 intelligence1 and grace1 and of the ,duke of ,sermoneta1 who is almost equally distinguished1 there is scarcely a noble of my acquaintance who has any merits1 moral or intellectual4 ',they are surrounded by the finest ancient and modern art1 and care nothing for it4 ,the eminent men of every country visit ,rome--the ,romans avoid them for they have nothing to talk to them about4 ',politics are of course unsafe1 literature they have none4 ,they never read4 ,a cardinal told me something which ,i doubted1 and ,i asked him where he had found it4 ,in certi libri1 he answered4 ',another1 who has a fine old library1 begged me to use it4 ,you will do the room good1 he said4 ,no one has been there for years4 ,even scandal and gossip must be avoided under an ,ecclesiastical ,government4 ',they never ride1 they never shoot1 they never visit their estates1 they give no parties2 if it were not for the theatre and for their lawsuits they would sink into vegetable life4' ',sermoneta1' ,i said1 'told me that many of his lawsuits were hereditary1 and would probably descend to his son4' ',if ,sermoneta1' said ,ampre1 'with his positive intelligence and his comparative vigour1 cannot get through them1 what is to be expected from others8 ,they have1 however1 one merit1 one point of contact with the rest of the world--their hatred of their ,government4 ,they seem to perceive1 not clearly1 for they perceive nothing clearly1 but they dimly see1 that the want of liberty is a still greater misfortune to the higher classes than to the lower4 ',but the people are a fine race4 ,well led they will make excellent soldiers4 ,they have the cruelty of their ancestors1 perhaps ,i ought to say of their predecessors1 but they have also their courage4' ',they showed1' said ,beaumont1 'courage in the defence of ,rome1 but courage behind walls is the commonest of all courages4 ,no training could make the ,spaniards stand against us in the open field1 but they were heroes in ,saragossa4 ,the caprices of courage and cowardice are innumerable4 ,the ,french have no moral courage1 they cannot stand ridicule1 they cannot encounter disapprobation1 they bow before oppression2 a ,french soldier condemned by a court-martial cries for mercy like a child4 ,the same man in battle appears indifferent to death4 ,the ,spaniard runs away without shame1 but submits to death when it is inevitable without terror4 ,none of the prisoners taken on either side in the ,spanish civil war asked for pardon4' ',indifference to life1' ,i said1 'and indifference to danger have little in common4 ,general ,fnelon told me that in ,algeria he had more than once to preside at an execution4 ,no ,arab showed any fear4 ,once there were two men1 one of whom was to be flogged1 the other to be shot4 ,a mistake was made and they were going to shoot the wrong man4 ,it was found out in time1 but neither of the men seemed to care about it2 yet they would probably have run away in battle4 ,the ,chinese are not brave1 but you can hire a man to be beheaded in your place4' ',so1' said ,ampre1 'you could always hire a substitute in our most murderous wars1 when in the course of a year a regiment was killed twice over4 ,it was hiring a man1 not indeed to be beheaded1 but to be shot for you4' ',the destructiveness1' said ,beaumont1 'of a war is only gradually known4 ,it is found out soonest in the villages when the deaths of the conscripts are heard of1 or are suspected from their never returning2 but in the towns1 from which the substitutes chiefly come1 it may be long undiscovered4 ,nothing is known but what is officially published1 and the ,government lies with an audacity which seems always to succeed4 ,if it stated the loss of men in a battle at one half of the real number1 people would fancy that it ought to be doubled1 and so come near to the truth2 but it avows only one-tenth or only one-twentieth1 and then the amount of falsehood is underestimated4' ',marshal ,randon1' ,i said1 'told me that the whole loss in the ,italian campaign was under #g1jjj men4' ',that is a good instance1' said ,beaumont4 ',it certainly was #ej1jjj1 perhaps #gj1jjj4 ,but ,i am guilty of a dlit in saying so1 and you will be guilty of a dlit if you repeat what ,i have said4 ,i remember the case of a man in a barber's shop in ,tours1 to whom the barber said that the harvest was bad4 ,he repeated the information1 and was punished by fine and imprisonment for having spread des nouvelles alarmantes4 ,truth is no excuse2 in fact it is an aggravation1 for the truer the news the more alarming4' ',in time of peace1' ,i asked1 'what proportion of the conscripts return after their six years of service8' ',about three-quarters1' answered ,beaumont4 ',then1' ,i said1 'as you take #ajj1jjj conscripts every year even in peace1 you lose #be1jjj of your best young men every year8' ',certainly1' said ,beaumont4 ',and are the #ge1jjj who return improved or deteriorated8' ,i asked4 ',improved1' said ,ampre2 'they are dgourdis1 they are educated1 they submit to authority1 they know how to shift for themselves4' ',deteriorated1' said ,beaumont4 ',a garrison life destroys the habits of steady industry1 it impairs skill4 ,the returned conscript is more vicious and less honest than the peasant who has not left his village4' ',and what was the loss1' ,i asked1 'in the late war8' ',at least twice as great1' said ,beaumont1 'as it is in peace4 ,half of those who were taken perished4 ,the country would not have borne the prolongation of the ,crimean ,war4' ',these wars1' ,i said1 'were short and successful4 ,a war with ,england can scarcely be short1 and yet you think that he plans one8' ',i think1' said ,beaumont1 'that he plans one1 but only in the event of his encountering any serious difficulty at home4 ,you must not infer from the magnitude of his naval expenditure that he expects one4 ',you look at the expense of those preparations1 and suppose that so great a sacrifice would not be made in order to meet an improbable emergency4 ,but expense is no sacrifice to him4 ,he likes it4 ,he has the morbid taste for it which some tyrants have had for blood1 which his uncle had for war4 ,then he is incapable of counting4 ,when he lived at ,arenenburg he used to give every old soldier who visited him an order on ,viellard his treasurer for money4 ,in general the chest was empty4 ,viellard used to remonstrate but without effect4 ,the day perhaps after his orders had been dishonoured he gave new ones4' ',is it true1' ,i asked1 'that the civil list is a couple of years' income in debt8' ,i know nothing about it1' said ,beaumont2 'in fact1 nobody knows anything about anything1 but it is highly probable4 ,everybody who asks for anything gets it1 everybody is allowed to waste1 everybody is allowed to rob1 every folly of the ,empress is complied with4 ,fould raised objections1 and was dismissed4 ',she is said to have a room full of revolutionary relics3 there is the bust of ,marie ,antoinette1 the nose broken at one of the sacks of the ,tuileries4 ,there is a picture of ,simon beating ,louis ,,xvii4 ,her poor child has been frightened by it1 and she is always dwelling on the dangers of her position4' ',so1' ,i said1 'did ,queen ,adelaide--,william ,,iv4's ,queen4 ,from the passing of the ,reform ,bill she fully expected to die on the scaffold4' ',there is more reason1' he answered1 'for the ,empress's fears4' ',not1' ,i said1 'if she fears the scaffold4 ,judicial murder1 at least in that form1 is out of fashion4 ,cayenne and ,lambressa are your guillotines1 and the ,empress is safe from them4' ',but there are other modes of violent death1' he answered2 'from one of which she escaped almost by miracle4' ',how did she behave1' ,i asked1 'at the attentat8' ',little is known1' he answered1 'except that the ,emperor said to her1 as he led her upstairs to her box3 ,allons1 il faut faire notre mtier4' ',then she is disturbed by religious fears4 ,the little prince has been taught to say to his father every morning3 ,papa1 ne faites pas de mal mon parrain4 ,the ,pope was his godfather4' ',if the ,emperor dies1 the real power will pass into the hands of ,prince ,napoleon4 ,and very dangerous hands they will be4 ,he has more talent than the ,emperor1 and longer views4 ,louis ,napoleon is a revolutionist from selfishness4 ,prince ,napoleon is selfish enough1 but he has also passion4 ,he detests everything that is venerable1 everything that is established or legal4 ',there is little value now for property or for law1 though the ,government professes to respect them4 ,what1 will it be when the ,government professes to hate them8' ,wednesday1 ,august #ad4--,we talked at breakfast of ,rome4 ',is there1' said ,beaumont to ,ampre1 'still an ,inquisition at ,rome8' ',there is1' said ,ampre1 'but it is torpid4 ,it punishes bad priests1 but does little else4' ',if a ,roman1' ,i asked1 'were an avowed infidel1 would it take notice of him8' ',probably not1' said ,ampre1 'but his cur might--not for his infidelity1 but for his avowing it4 ,the cur who has always the powers of a commissaire de police1 might put him in prison if he went into a caf and publicly denied the ,immaculate ,conception1 or if he neglected going to church or to confession3 but the ,inquisition no longer cares about opinions4' ',is there much infidelity1' ,i asked1 'in ,rome8' ',much1' said ,ampre1 'among the laity4 ,the clergy do not actively disbelieve4 ,they go through their functions without ever seriously inquiring whether what they have to teach be true or false4 ,no persons were more annoyed by the ,mortara#a business than the clergy1 with the exception of ,antonelli4 ,he hates and fears the man who set it on foot1 the ,archbishop of ,bologna1 and therefore was glad to see him expose himself1 and lose all hope of the ,secretaryship1 but he took care to prevent the recurrence of such a scandal4 ,he revived an old law prohibiting ,jews from keeping ,christian nurses4 ,but he could scarcely order restitution4 ,according to the ,church it would have been giving the child to the ,devil1 and1 what is worse1 robbing ,god of him4 ,the ,pope's piety is selfish4 ,his great object is his own salvation4 ,he would not endanger that1 to confer any benefit upon1 or to avert any evil from ,rome2 or indeed from the whole world4 ,this makes him difficult to negotiate with4 ,if anything is proposed to him which his confessor affirms to be dangerous to his soul1 he listens to no arguments4 ,as for ,mortara himself1 he is a poor creature4 ,a friend of mine went to see him in his convent4 ,all that he could get from him was3 ',sono venuti i ,carabinieri4 ',and what did they do to you8 ',m' hanno portato qu4 ',what more8 ',m' hanno dato pasticci2 erano molto buoni4 ',what is most teasing1' continued ,ampre1 'in the ,roman ,government is not so much its active oppression as its torpidity4 ,it hates to act4 ,an ,englishman had with great difficulty obtained permission to light ,rome with gas4 ,he went to the ,government in ,december1 and told them that everything was ready1 and that the gas would be lighted on the #ast of ,january4 ',could you not1 they answered1 put it off till ,april8 ',but it is in winter1 he replied2 that it is wanted4 ,every thing is ready4 ,why should we wait8 ',it is a new thing1 they replied2 people will be frightened4 ,it may have consequences4 ,at least put it off till ,march4 ',but they will be as much frightened in ,march1 he replied4 ',if it must be done1 they said1 as a kindness to ,his ,holiness and to us put it off till ,february4 ',there is1 however1 one sort of oppression which even we should find it difficult to tolerate4 ',a ,monsignore has a young friend without money1 but an excellent ,catholic and an excellent politician1 a fervid believer in the ,immaculate ,conception and in the excellence of the ,papal ,government4 ,he wishes to reward such admirable opinions3 but the ,pope has little to give4 ,monsignore looks out for some young heiress1 sends for her father1 describes his pious and loyal protg1 and proposes marriage4 ,her father objects--says that his daughter cannot afford to marry a poor man1 or that she does not wish to marry at all--or that he or she has some other preference4 ',monsignore insists4 ,he assures the father that what he is proposing is most favourable to the salvation of his daughter1 that he suggests it principally for the benefit of her soul1 and that the father's objections are inspired by the ,evil ,one4 ,the father breaks off the conversation and goes home4 ,he finds that his daughter has disappeared4 ,he returns furious to ,monsignore1 is received with the utmost politeness and is informed that his daughter is perfectly safe under the protection of a cardinal who himself did her the honour of fetching her in his gilded coach4 ,you have only1 the ,monsignore says1 to be reasonable1 and she shall be returned to you4 ',the father flies to the cardinal4 ',the same politeness and the same answer4 ',do not oppose1 he is told1 the will of the ,pope1 who1 in this matter1 seeks only your daughter's happiness here and hereafter4 ,she is now with me4 ,if you will give up your sinful obstinacy she shall be restored to you to-day4 ,if not1 it will be our duty to place her in a convent1 where she will be taken the utmost care of1 but she will not leave it except to marry the person whom ,his ,holiness thinks most fitted to promote the welfare of her soul4 ',i have known several cases in which this attempt has been made4 ,with such timid slaves as the ,roman nobility it always succeeds4' ,footnote #a3 ,the ,jewish child who was taken away from his parents and converted4--,,ed4 ,thursday1 ,august #ae4--,this is the fte of ,st4 ,louis--the great fte of ,tocqueville4 ,madame de ,tocqueville and ,madame de ,beaumont spent much of the morning in church4 ,beaumont and his son walked to the coast to bathe4 ,minnie1 ,ampre1 and ,i strolled among the deep shady lanes of the plateau above the castle4 ,throughout ,normandy the fields are small and are divided by mounds planted with trees4 ,the farmhouses1 and even the cottages1 are built of primitive rock1 granite1 or old red sandstone4 ,at a distance1 peeping out of the trees that surround them1 they look pretty1 but they1 have more than the usual ,french untidiness4 ,the outhouses are roofless1 the farmyards are full of pools and dung heaps1 which often extend into the road2 and the byroads themselves are quagmires when they do not consist of pointed stones4 ,i was struck by the paucity of the children and the absence of new houses4 ,the population of ,normandy is diminishing4 ,we conversed on the subject of ,italy4 ',if we are in ,rome next winter1' ,i asked1 'shall we find the ,french there8' ',i think not1' said ,ampre2 ',i think that you will find only the ,piedmontese4 ',every day that ,louis ,napoleon holds ,rome is a day of danger to him1 a danger slight perhaps now1 but serious if the occupation be prolonged4 ,the ,anti-papal party1 and it includes almost all that are liberal and all that are energetic1 are willing to give him time1 but not an indefinite time4 ,they are quiet only because they trust him4 ,he is a magician who has sold himself to the ,devil4 ,the ,devil is patient1 but he will not be cheated4 ,the ,carbonari will support ,louis ,napoleon as long as he is doing their work1 and will allow him to do it in his own way and to take his own time1 as long as they believe he is doing it4 ,but woe to him if they believe that he is deceiving them4 ,i suspect that they are becoming impatient1 and ,i suspect too1 that he is becoming impatient4 ,this quarrel between ,mrode and ,goyon is significative4 ,i do not believe that ,goyon used the words imputed to him4 ,we shall probably keep ,civita ,vecchia1 but we shall give up ,rome to the ,piedmontese4' ',and will the ,pope1' ,i asked1 'remain8' ',not this ,pope1' said ,ampre1 'but his successor4 ,nor do ,i see the great evil of the absence of the ,pope from ,rome4 ,popes have often been absent before1 sometimes for long periods4' ',most of my ,french friends1' ,i said1 'are opposed to ,italian ,unity as mischievous to ,france4' ',i do not believe1' he answered1 'in the submission of ,naples to this ,piedmontese dynasty1 but ,i shall be delighted to see all ,italy north of the ,neapolitan territory united4 ',i do not think that we have anything to fear from the kingdom of ,italy4 ,it is as likely to be our friend as to be our enemy4 ,but the ,neapolitans1 even if left to themselves1 would not willingly give up their independence1 and ,celui-ci is trying to prevent their doing so4' ',what do they wish1' ,i asked1 'and what does he wish8' ',i believe1' he answered1 'that their wishes are only negative4 ',they do not wish to recall the ,bourbons1 and they are resolved not to keep the ,piedmontese4 ,his wish ,i believe to be to put his cousin there4 ,prince ,napoleon himself refused ,tuscany4 ,it is too small1 but he would like ,naples1 and ,louis ,napoleon would be glad to get rid of him4 ,what would ,england say8' ',if we believed1' ,i said1 'in the duration of a ,bonaparte dynasty in ,france1 we should1 of course1 object to the creation of one in ,naples4 ,but if1 as we think it probable1 the ,bonapartists have to quit ,france1 ,i do not see few we should be injured by their occupying the throne of ,naples4 ',i should object to them if ,i were a ,neapolitan4 ,all their instincts are despotic1 democratic1 and revolutionary4 ,but even they are better than the late king was4 ,what chance have the ,murats8' ',none1' said ,ampre4 ',they have spoiled their game1 if they had a game1 by their precipitation4 ,the ,emperor has disavowed them1 the ,neapolitans do not care for them4 ,the ,prince de ,leuchtenberg1 grandson of ,eugne ,beauharnais1 has been talked of4 ,he is well connected1 related to many of the reigning families of the ,continent1 and is said to be intelligent and well educated4' ',if ,naples1' ,i said1 'is to be detached from the kingdom of ,italy1 ,sicily ought to be detached from ,naples4 ,there is quite as much mutual antipathy4' ',would you like to take it8' he asked4 ',heaven forbid6' ,i answered4 ',it would be another ,corfu on a larger scale4 ,the better we governed them1 the more they would hate us4 ,the only chance for them is to have a king of their own4' ,august #ae4--;,in the evening ,ampre read to us a comedy called ',beatrix1' by a writer of some reputation1 and a member of the ,institut4 ,it was very bad1 full of exaggerated sentiments1 forced situations1 and the cant of philanthropic despotism4 ,an actress visits the court of a ,german grand duke4 ,he is absent4 ,his mother1 the duchess1 receives her as an equal4 ,the second son falls in love with her at first sight and wishes to marry her4 ,she is inclined to consent1 when another duchy falls in1 the elder duke resigns to his brother1 he becomes king1 presses their marriage1 his mother does not oppose1 and thereupon ,beatrix makes a speech1 orders her horses1 and drives off to act somewhere else4 ,ampre reads admirably1 but no excellence of reading could make such absurdities endurable4 ,it was written for ,ristori1 who acted ,beatrix in ,french with success4 ,friday1 ,august #af4--,we talked at breakfast of #agic4 ',it is difficult1' said ,madame de ,beaumont1 'to believe that the ,french of that day were our ancestors4' ',they resembled you1' ,i said1 'only in two things3 in military courage1 and in political cowardice4' ',they had1' she replied1 'perhaps more passive courage than we have4#a ,my great-great-grandmother1 my great-grandmother1 and my great-aunt1 were guillotined on the same day4 ,my great-great-grandmother was ninety years old4 ,when interrogated1 she begged them to speak loud1 as she was deaf4 'crivez1' said ,fouquier ,tinville1 'que la citoyenne ,noailles a conspir sourdement contre la ,rpublique4' ,they were dragged to the ,place de la ,rpublique in the same tombereau1 and sat waiting their turn on the same bench4 ',my great-aunt was young and beautiful4 ,the executioner1 while fastening her to the plank1 had a rose in his mouth4 ,the ,abb de ,noailles1 who was below the scaffold1 disguised1 to give them1 at the risk of his life1 a sign of benediction1 was asked how they looked4 ',comme si1' he said1 'elles allaient la messe4' ',the habit1' said ,ampre1 'of seeing people die produces indifference even to one's own death4 ,you see that among soldiers4 ,you see it in epidemics4 ,but this indifference1 or1 to use a more proper word1 this resignation1 helped to prolong the ,reign of ,terror4 ,if the victims had resisted1 if1 like ,madame du ,barry1 they had struggled with the executioner1 it would have excited horror4' ',the cries of even a pig1' said ,madame de ,beaumont1 'make it disagreeable to kill it4' ',sanson1' ,i said1 'long survived the ,revolution2 he made a fortune and lived in retirement at ,versailles4 ,a lady was run away with between ,versailles and ,paris4 ,an elderly man1 at considerable risk1 stopped her horse4 ,she was very grateful1 but could not get from him his name4 ,at last she traced him1 and found that it was ,sanson4' ',sanson1' said ,beaumont1 'may have been an honest man4 ,whenever a place of bourreau is vacant1 there are thirty or forty candidates1 and they always produce certificates of their extraordinary kindness and humanity4 ,it seems to be the post most coveted by men eminent for their benevolence4' ',how many have you8' ,i asked4 ',eighty-six1' he answered4 ',one for each department4' ',and how many executions8' ',about one hundred a year in all ,france4' ',and what is the salary8' ',perhaps a couple of thousand francs a year4' ',really1' said ,ampre1 'it is one of the best parts of the patronage of the ,minister of the ,interior4 ,m4 le ,bourreau gets more than a thousand francs for each operation4' ',we pay by the piece1' ,i said1 'and find one operator enough for all ,england4' ',a friend of mine1' said ,beaumont1 had a remarkably good ,swiss servant4 ,his education was far above his station1 and we could not find what had been his birth or his canton4 ',suddenly he became agitated and melancholy1 and at last told my friend that he must leave him1 and why4 ,his father was the hereditary bourreau of a ,swiss canton4 ,to the office was attached an estate1 to be forfeited if the office were refused4 ,he had resolved to take neither1 and1 to avoid being solicited1 had left his country and changed his name4 ,but his family had traced him1 had informed him of his father's death1 and had implored him to accept the succession4 ,he was the only son1 and his mother and sisters would be ruined1 if he allowed it to pass to the next in order of inheritance1 a distant cousin4 ,he had not been able to persist in his refusal4' ',the husband of an acquaintance of mine1' said ,madame de ,beaumont1 'used to disappear for two or three hours every day4 ,he would not tell her for what purpose4 ,at last she found out that he was employed in the chambre noire1 the department of the police by which letters passing through the post are opened4 ,the duties were well paid1 and she could not persuade him to give them up4 ,they were on uneasy terms1 when an accident threw a list of all the names of the employs in the chambre noire1 into the hands of an opposition editor1 who published them in his newspaper4 ',she then separated from him4' ',if the ,post-office1' ,i said1 'were not a ,government monopoly1 if everyone had a right to send his letters in the way that he liked best1 there would be some excuse4 ,but the ,state compels you1 under severe penalties1 to use its couriers1 undertaking1 not tacitly but expressly1 to respect the secrecy of your correspondence1 and then systematically violates it4' ',i should have said1' answered ,ampre1 'not expressly but tacitly4' ',no1' ,i replied2 'expressly4 ,guizot1 when ,minister for ,foreign ,affairs1 proclaimed from the tribune1 that in ,france the secrecy of correspondence was1 under all circumstances1 inviolable4 ,this has never been officially contradicted4 ',the ,english ,post-office enters into no such engagements4 ,any letters may be legally opened1 under an order from a ,secretary of ,state4' ',are prisoners in ,england1' asked ,beaumont1 'allowed to correspond with their friends8' ',i believe1' ,i answered1 'that their letters pass through the ,governor's hands1 and that he opens them1 or not1 at his discretion4' ',among the tortures1' said ,ampre1 'which ,continental despots delight to inflict on their state prisoners the privation of correspondence is one4' ',in ordinary life1' ,i said1 'the educated endure inaction worse than the ignorant4 ,a coachman sits for hours on his box without feeling ennui4 ,if his master had to sit quiet all that time1 inside the carriage1 he would tear his hair from impatience4 ',but the educated seem to tolerate the inactivity of imprisonment better than their inferiors4 ,we find that our ordinary malefactors cannot endure solitary imprisonment for more than a year--seldom indeed so long4 ,the ,italian prisoners whom ,i have known1 ,zucchi1 ,borsieri1 ,poerio1 ,gonfalonieri1 and ,pellico1 endured imprisonment lasting from ten to seventeen years without much injury to mind or body4' ',the spirit of ,pellico1' said ,madame de ,beaumont1 'was broken4 ,when released1 he gave himself up to devotion and works of charity4 ,perhaps the humility1 resignation1 and submission of his book made it still more mischievous to the ,austrian ,government4 ,the reader's indignation against those who could so trample on so unresisting a victim becomes fierce4' ',if the ,austrians1' ,i said1 'had been wise1 they would have shot instead of imprisoning them4 ,their deaths would have been forgotten--their imprisonment has contributed much to the general odium which is destroying the ,austrian ,empire4' ',it would have been wiser1' said ,beaumont1 'but it would have been more merciful1 and therefore it was not done4 ,but you talk of all these men as solitarily imprisoned4 ,some of them had companions4' ',yes1' ,i said1 'but they complained that one permanent companion was worse than solitude4 ,gonfalonieri said1 that one could not be in the same room1 with the same man1 a year without hating him4 ',one of the ,neapolitan prisoners was chained for some time to a brigand4 ,afterwards the brigand was replaced by a gentleman4 ,he complained bitterly of the change4 ',the brigand1' said ,minnie1 'was his slave1 the gentleman had a will of his own4' ',how did ,m4 de ,la ,fayette1'#b ,i asked ,madame de ,beaumont1 'bear his five years' imprisonment at ,olmutz8' ',his health1' said ,madame de ,beaumont1 'was good1 but the miseries of his country and the sufferings of his wife made him very unhappy4 ,when my grandmother came to him1 it was two days before she had strength to tell him that all his and her family had perished4 ,i was once at ,olmutz1 and saw the one room which they had inhabited4 ,it was damp and dark4 ,she asked to be allowed to leave it for a time for better medical treatment and change of air4 ,it was granted only on the condition that she should never return4 ,she refused4 ,the rheumatic attacks which the state of the prison had produced1 continued and increased3 she was hopelessly ill when they were released--and died soon afterwards4 ,the sense of wrong aggravated their sufferings1 for their imprisonment was a gross and wanton violation of all law1 international and municipal4 ,my grandfather was not an ,austrian subject2 he had committed no offence against ,austria4 ,she seized him simply because he was a liberal1 because his principles had made him the enemy of tyranny in ,america and in ,france2 and because his birth and talents and reputation gave him influence4 ,it was one of the brutal stupid acts of individual cruelty which characterise the ,austrian despotism1 and have done more to ruin it than a wider oppression--such a one1 for instance1 as ours1 more mischievous1 but more intelligent1--would have done4' ',freedom1' said ,ampre1 'was offered to him on the mere condition of his not serving in the ,french army4 ,at that time the ,jacobins would have guillotined him1 the ,royalists would have forced duel after duel on him till they had killed him4 ,it seemed impossible that he should ever be able to draw his sword for ,france4 ,in fact he never was able4 ,america offered him an asylum1 honours1 land1 everything that could console an exile4 ,but he refused to give up the chance1 remote as it was1 of being useful to his country1 and remained a prisoner till he was delivered by ,napoleon4' ',he firmly believed1' said ,madame de ,beaumont1 'that if the ,royal ,family would have taken refuge with his army in #agia he could have saved them1 and probably the ,monarchy4 ,his army was then in his hands1 a few months after the ,jacobins had corrupted it4' ',two men1' said ,ampre1 ',mirabeau and ,la ,fayette1 could have saved the ,monarchy1 and were anxious to do so4 ,but neither the ,king nor the ,queen would trust them4 ',louis ,,xvi4 and ,marie ,antoinette are among the historical personages who have most influenced the destinies of the world4 ,his dulness1 torpidity and indecision1 and her frivolity1 narrow-minded prejudices and suspiciousness1 are among the causes of our present calamities4 ,they are among the causes of a state of things which has inflicted on us1 and threatens to inflict on all ,europe1 the worst of all ,governments--democratic despotism4 ,a ,government in which two wills only prevail--that of the ignorant1 envious1 ambitious1 aggressive multitude1 and that of the despot who1 whatever be his natural disposition1 is soon turned1 by the intoxication of flattery and of universal power1 into a capricious1 fantastic1 selfish participator in the worst passions of the worst portion of his subjects4' ',such a ,government1' ,i said1 'may be called an anti-aristocracy4 ,it excludes from power all those who are fit to exercise it4' ',the consequence1' said ,beaumont1 'is1 that the qualities which fit men for power not being demanded1 are not supplied4 ,our young men have no political knowledge or public spirit4 ,those who have a taste for the sciences cultivated in the military schools enter the army4 ,the rest learn nothing4' ',what do they do8' ,i asked4 ',how they pass their time1' said ,madame de ,beaumont1 'is a puzzle to me4 ,they do not read1 they do not go into society--,i believe that they smoke and play at dominos1 and ride and bet at steeple-chases4 ',those who are on home service in the army are not much better4 ,the time not spent in the routine of their profession is sluggishly and viciously wasted4 ,algeria has been a ,god-send to us4 ,there our young men have real duties to perform1 and real dangers to provide against and to encounter4 ,my son1 who left ,st4 ,cyr only eighteen months ago1 is stationed at ,thebessa1 #cjj miles in the interior4 ,he belongs to a bureau arabe1 consisting of a captain1 a lieutenant1 and himself1 and about forty spahis4 ,he has to act as a judge1 as an engineer1 to settle the frontier between the province of ,constantine and ,tunis--in short1 to be one of a small ruling aristocracy4 ,this is the school which has furnished1 and is furnishing1 our best generals and administrators4' ,we talked of the interior of ,french families4 ',the ties of relationship1' ,i said1 'seem to be stronger with you than they are with us4 ,cousinship with you is a strong bond1 with us it is a weak one4' ',the habit of living together1' said ,beaumont1 'has perhaps much to do with the strength of our feelings of consanguinity4 ,our life is patriarchal4 ,grandfather1 father1 and grandson are often under the same roof4 ,at the ,grange#c thirty of the family were sometimes assembled at dinner4 ,with you1 the sons go off1 form separate establishments1 see little of their parents1 still less of their cousins1 and become comparatively indifferent to them4' ',i remember1' ,i said1 'the case of an heir apparent of seventy2 his father was ninety-five4 ,one day the young man was very grumpy4 ,they tried to find out what was the matter with him2 at last he broke out1 ,everybody's father dies except mine4' ',an acquaintance of mine1' said ,beaumont1 'not a son1 but a son-in-law1 complained equally of the pertinacious longevity of his father-in-law4 ,je n'ai pas cru1 he said1 en me mariant1 que j'pousais la fille du ,pre ternel4 ,your primogeniture1' he continued1 'must be a great source of unfilial feelings4 ,the eldest son of one of your great families is in the position of the heir apparent to a throne4 ,his father's death is to give him suddenly rank1 power1 and wealth2 and we know that royal heirs apparent are seldom affectionate sons4 ,with us the fortunes are much smaller1 they are equally divided1 and the rank that descends to the son is nothing4' ',what regulates1' ,i asked1 'the descent of titles8' ',it is ill regulated1' said ,beaumont ',titles are now of such little value that scarcely anyone troubles himself to lay down rules about them4 ',in general1 however1 it is said1 that all the sons of dukes and of marquises are counts4 ,the sons of counts in some families all take the title of ,count4 ,there are1 perhaps1 thirty ,beaumonts4 ,some call themselves marquises1 some counts1 some barons4 ,i am1 ,i believe1 the only one of the family who has assumed no title4 ,alexis de ,tocqueville took none1 but his elder brother1 during his father's life1 called himself vicomte and his younger brother baron4 ,probably ,alexis ought then to have called himself chevalier1 and1 on his father's death1 baron4 ,but1 ,i repeat1 the matter is too unimportant to be subject to any settled rules4 ,ancient descent is1 with us1 of great value1 of far more than it is with you1 but titles are worth nothing4' ,footnote #a3 ,this incident is described in a little book published last year1 the ,memoirs of ,madame de ,montaign4--,,ed4 ,footnote #b3 ,m4 de ,la ,fayette was ,madame de ,beaumont's grandfather4--,,ed4 ,footnote #c3 ,the chteau of ,m4 de ,la ,fayette4--,,ed4 ,saturday1 ,august #ag4--,we drove to the coast and ascended the lighthouse of ,gatteville1 #he metres1 or about #bhj feet high4 ,it stands in the middle of a coast fringed with frightful reefs1 just enough under water to create no breakers1 and a flat plain a couple of miles wide behind1 so that the coast is not seen till you come close to it4 ,in spite of many lighthouses and buoys1 wrecks are frequent4 ,a mysterious one occurred last ,february3 the lighthouse watchman showed us the spot--a reef just below the lighthouse about two hundred yards from the shore4 ,it was at noon--there was a heavy sea1 but not a gale4 ,he saw a large ship steer full on the reef4 ,she struck1 fell over on one side till her yards were in the water1 righted herself1 fell over on the other1 parted in the middle1 and broke up4 ,it did not take five minutes1 but during those five minutes there was the appearance of a violent struggle on board1 and several shots were fired4 ,from the papers which were washed ashore it appeared that she was from ,new ,york1 bound for ,havre1 with a large cargo and eighty-seven passengers1 principally returning emigrants4 ,no passenger escaped1 and only two of the crew3 one was an ,italian speaking no ,french1 from whom they could get nothing2 the other was an ,englishman from ,cardiff1 speaking ,french1 but almost obstinately uncommunicative4 ,he said that he was below when the ship struck1 that the captain had locked the passengers in the cabin1 and that he knew nothing of the causes which had led the ship to go out of her course to run on this rock4 ,the captain may have been drunk or mad4 ,or there may have been a mutiny on board1 and those who got possession of the ship may have driven her on the coast1 supposing that they could beach her1 and ignorant of the interposed reefs1 which1 as ,i have said1 are not betrayed by breakers4 ,our informant accounted for the loss of all1 except two persons1 by the heavy sea1 the sharp reefs1 and the blows received by those who tried to swim from the floating cargo4 ,the two who escaped were much bruised4 ,a man and woman were found tied to one another and tied to a spar4 ,they seemed to have been killed by blows received from the rocks or from the floating wreck4 ,in the evening ,ampre read to us the ',bourgeois ,gentilhomme4' ,his reading is equal to any acting4 ,it kept us all1 for the first two acts1 which are the most comic1 in one constant roar of laughter4 ',the modern nouveau riche1 said ,beaumont1 'has little resemblance to ,m4 ,jourdain4 ,he talks of his horses and his carriages1 builds a great hotel1 and buys pictures4 ,i have a neighbour of this kind2 he drives four-in-hand over the bad roads of ,la ,sarthe1 visits with one carriage one day1 and another the next4 ,his jockey stands behind his cabriolet in top-boots1 and his coachman wears a grand fur coat in summer4 ,his own clothes are always new1 sometimes in the most accurate type of a groom1 sometimes in that of a dandy4 ,his talk is of steeple-chases4' ',and does he get on8' ,i asked4 ',not in the least1' answered ,beaumont4 ',in ,england a nouveau riche can get into ,parliament1 or help somebody else to get in1 and political power levels all distinctions4 ,here1 wealth gives no power3 nothing1 indeed1 but office gives power4 ,the only great men in the provinces are the prfet1 the sous-prfet1 and the maire4 ,the only great man in ,paris is a minister or a general4 ,wealth1 therefore1 unless accompanied by the social talents1 which those who have made their fortunes have seldom had the leisure or the opportunity to acquire1 leads to nothing4 ,the women1 too1 of the parvenus always drag them down4 ,they seem to acquire the tournure of society less easily than the men4 ,bastide1 when ,minister1 did pretty well1 but his wife used to sign her invitations ,femme ,bastide4 ',society1' he continued1 'under the ,republic was animated4 ,we had great interests to discuss1 and strong feelings to express1 but perhaps the excitement was too great4 ,people seemed to be almost ashamed to amuse or to be amused when the welfare of ,france1 her glory or her degradation1 her freedom or her slavery1 were1 as the event has proved1 at stake4' ',i suppose1' ,i said to ,ampre1 'that nothing has ever been better than the salon of ,madame ,rcamier8' ',we must distinguish1' said ,ampre4 ',as great painters have many manners1 so ,madame ,rcamier had many salons4 ,when ,i first knew her1 in #ahbj1 her habitual dinner-party consisted of her father1 her husband1 ,ballanche1 and myself4 ,both her father1 ,m4 ,bernard1 and her husband were agreeable men4 ,ballanche was charming4' ',you believe1' ,i said1 'that ,bernard was her father8' ',certainly ,i do1' he replied4 ',the suspicion that ,rcamier might be was founded chiefly on the strangeness of their conjugal relations4 ,to this1 ,i oppose her apparent love for ,m4 ,bernard1 and ,i explain ,rcamier's conduct by his tastes4 ,they were coarse1 though he was a man of good manners4 ,he never spent his evenings at home4 ,he went where he could find more license4 ',perhaps the most agreeable period was at that time of ,chateaubriand's reign when he had ceased to exact a tte--tte1 and ,ballanche and ,i were admitted at four o'clock4 ,the most illustrious of the partie carre was ,chateaubriand1 the most amusing ,ballanche4 ,my merit was that ,i was the youngest4 ,later in the evening ,madame ,mohl1 ,miss ,clarke as she then was1 was a great resource4 ,she is a charming mixture of ,french vivacity and ,english originality1 but ,i think that the ,french element predominates4 ,chateaubriand1 always subject to ennui1 delighted in her4 ,he has adopted in his books some of the words which she coined4 ,her ,french is as original as the character of her mind1 very good1 but more of the last than of the present century4' ',was ,chateaubriand himself1' ,i said1 'agreeable8' ',delightful1' said ,ampre2 'trs-entrain1 trs-facile vivre1 beaucoup d'imagination et de connaissances4' ',facile vivre8' ,i said4 ',i thought that his vanity had been difficile et exigeante8' ',as a public man1' said ,ampre1 'yes2 and to a certain degree in general society4 ,but in intimate society1 when he was no longer posing1 he was charming4 ,the charm1 however1 was rather intellectual than moral4 ',i remember his reading to us a part of his memoirs1 in which he describes his early attachment to an ,english girl1 his separation from her1 and their meeting many years after when she asked his protection for her son4 ,miss ,clarke was absorbed by the story4 ,she wanted to know what became of the young man1 what ,chateaubriand had been able to do for him4 ,chateaubriand could answer only in generals3 that he had done all that he could1 that he had spoken to the ,minister1 and that he had no doubt that the young man got what he wanted4 ,but it was evident that even if he had really attempted to do anything for the son of his old love1 he had totally forgotten the result4 ,i do not think that he was pleased at ,miss ,clarke's attention and sympathy being diverted from himself4 ,later still in ,madame ,rcamier's life1 when she had become blind1 and ,chateaubriand deaf1 and ,ballanche very infirm1 the evenings were sad4 ,i had to try to amuse persons who had become almost unamusable4' ',how did ,madame de ,chateaubriand1' ,i asked1 'take the devotion of her husband to ,madame ,rcamier8' ',philosophically1' answered ,ampre4 ',he would not have spent with her the hours that he passed at the ,abbaye au bois4 ,she was glad1 probably1 to know that they were not more dangerously employed4' ',could ,i read ,chateaubriand8' ,i asked4 ',i doubt it1' said ,ampre4 ',his taste is not ,english4' ',i have read1' ,i said1 'and liked1 his narrative of the manner in which he forced on the ,spanish war of #ahbb4 ,i thought it well written4' ',it is1 perhaps1' said ,ampre1 'the best thing which he has written1 as the intervention to restore ,ferdinand1 which he effected in spite of almost everybody1 was perhaps the most important passage in his political life4 ',there is something revolting in an interference to crush the liberties of a foreign nation4 ,but the expedition tended to maintain the ,bourbons on the ,french throne1 and1 according to ,chateaubriand's ideas1 it was more important to support the principle of legitimacy than that of liberty4 ,he expected1 too1 sillily enough1 that ,ferdinand would give a ,constitution4 ,it is certain1 that1 bad as the effects of that expedition were1 ,chateaubriand was always proud of it4' ',what has ,ballanche written8' ,i asked4 ',a dozen volumes1' he answered4 ',poetry1 metaphysics1 on all sorts of subjects1 with pages of remarkable vigour and finesse1 containing some of the best writing in the language1 but too unequal and too desultory to be worth going through4' ',how wonderfully extensive1' ,i said1 'is ,french literature6 ,here is a voluminous author1 some of whose writings1 you say1 are among the best in the ,french language1 yet his name1 at least as an author1 is scarcely known4 ,he shines only by reflected light1 and will live only because he attached himself to a remarkable man and to a remarkable woman4' ',french literature1' said ,ampre1 'is extensive1 but yet inferior to yours4 ,if ,i were forced to select a single literature and to read nothing else1 ,i would take the ,english4 ,in one of the most important departments1 the only one which cannot be re-produced by translation--poetry--you beat us hollow4 ,we are great only in the drama1 and even there you are perhaps our superiors4 ,we have no short poems comparable to the ,allegro or to the ,penseroso1 or to the ,country ,churchyard4' ',tocqueville1' ,i said1 'told me that he did not think that he could now read ,lamartine4' ',tocqueville1' said ,ampre1 'could taste1 like every man of genius1 the very finest poetry1 but he was not a lover of poetry4 ,he could not read a hundred bad lines and think himself repaid by finding mixed with them ten good ones4' ',ingres1' said ,beaumont1 'perhaps our greatest living painter1 is one of the clever cultivated men who do not read4 ,somebody put the ,misanthrope into his hands1 ,it is wonderfully clever1 he said1 when he returned it2 how odd it is that it should be so totally unknown4' ',let us read it to-night1' ,i said4 ',by all means1' said ,madame de ,tocqueville2 'though we know it by heart it will be new when read by ,m4 ,ampre4' ,accordingly ,ampre read it to us after dinner4 ',the tradition of the stage1' he said1 'is that ,climne was ,molire's wife4' ',she is made too young1' said ,minnie4 ',a girl of twenty has not her wit1 or her knowledge of the world4' ',the change of a word1' said ,ampre1 'in two or three places would alter that4 ,the feeblest characters are as usual the good ones4 ,philinte and ,eliante4 ',alceste is a grand mixture1 perhaps the only one on the ,french stage1 of the comic and the tragic2 for in many of the scenes he rises far above comedy4 ,his love is real impetuous passion4 ,talma delighted in playing him4' ',the desert1' ,i said1 'into which he retires1 was1 ,i suppose1 a distant country-house4 ,just such a place as ,tocqueville4' ',as ,tocqueville1' said ,beaumont1 'fifty years ago1 without roads1 ten days' journey from ,paris1 and depending for society on ,valognes4' ',as ,tocqueville1' said ,madame de ,tocqueville1 'when my mother-in-law first married4 ,she spent in it a month and could never be induced to see it again4' ',whom1' ,i asked1 'did ,climne marry8' ',of course1' said ,ampre1 ',alceste4 ,probably five years afterwards4 ,by that time he must have got tired of his desert and she of her coquetry4' ',we know1' ,i said1 'that ,molire was always in love with his wife1 notwithstanding her lgrt4 ,what makes me think the tradition that ,climne was ,mademoiselle#a ,molire true1 is that ,molire was certainly in love with ,climne4 ,she is made as engaging as possible1 and her worst faults do not rise above foibles4 ,her satire is good-natured4 ,arsino is her foil1 introduced to show what real evil-speaking is4' ',all the women1' said ,ampre1 'are in love with ,alceste1 and they care about no one else4 ,climne's satire of the others is scarcely good-natured4 ,it is clear1 at least1 that they did not think so4' ',if ,climne1' said ,minnie1 'became ,madame ,alceste1 he probably made her life a burthen with his jealousy4' ',of course he was jealous1' said ,madame de ,beaumont1 'for he was violently in love4 ,there can scarcely be violent love without jealousy4' ',at least1' said ,madame de ,tocqueville1 'till people are married4 ',if a lover is cool enough to be without jealousy1 he ought to pretend it4' ,footnote #a3 ,under the ancien rgime even the married actresses were called ,mademoiselle4--,,ed4 ,sunday1 ,august #ah4--;,after breakfast when the ladies were gone to church1 ,i talked over with ,ampre and ,beaumont ,tocqueville's political career4 ',why1' ,i asked1 'did he refuse the support of ,m4 ,mol in #ahce8 ,why would he never take office under ,louis ,philippe8 ,why did he associate himself with the ,gauche whom he despised1 and oppose the ,droit with whom he sympathised8 ,is the answer given by ,m4 ,guizot to a friend of mine who asked a nearly similar question1 ,parce qu'il voulait tre o je suis1 the true one8' ',the answers to your first question1' said ,beaumont1 'are two4 ,in #ahce ,tocqueville was young and inexperienced4 ,like most young politicians1 he thought that he ought to be an independent member1 and to vote1 on every occasion1 according to his conscience1 untrammelled by party connections4 ,he afterwards found his mistake4 ',and1 secondly1 if he had chosen to submit to a leader1 it would not have been ,mol4 ',mol represented a principle to which ,guizot was then vehemently opposed1 though he was afterwards its incarnation--the subservience of the ,ministry and of the ,parliament to the ,king4 ,in that house of #dej members1 there were #bbj placemen2 #bjj were the slaves of the ,king4 ,they received from him their orders2 from time to time1 in obedience to those orders1 they even opposed his ,ministers4 ',this1 however1 seldom occurred1 for the ,king contrived always to have a devoted majority in his ,cabinet4 ',it was this that drove the ,duc de ,broglie from the ,government and prevented his ever resuming office4 ',i could not bear1 he said to me1 to hear ,sebastiani repeat1 in every council and on every occasion1 ',ce que le ,roi vient de dire est parfaitement juste4' ,the only ,ministers that ventured to have an opinion of their own were those of the #abth of ,may #ahci1 of which ,dufaure1 ,villemain1 and ,passy were members1 and that of the #ast of ,march #ahdj1 of which ,thiers was the leader2 and ,tocqueville supported them both4 ',when ,guizot1 who had maintained the principle of ,ministerial and ,parliamentary1 in opposition to that of ,monarchical ,governments1 with unequalled eloquence1 vigour1 and ,i may add violence1 suddenly turned round and became the most servile member of the ,king's servile majority1 ,tocqueville fell back into opposition4 ',in general it is difficult to act with an opposition systematically and1 at the same time1 honestly4 ,for the measures proposed by a ,government are1 for the most part1 good4 ,but1 during the latter part of ,louis ,philippe's reign1 it was easy1 for the ,government proposed merely to do nothing--either abroad or at home4 ,i do not complain of the essence of ,m4 ,guizot's foreign policy1 though there was a want of dignity in its forms4 ',there was nothing useful to be done1 and1 under such circumstances1 all action would have been mischievous4 ',but at home every thing was to be done4 ,our code required to be amended1 our commerce and our industry1 and our agriculture required to be freed1 our municipal and commercial institutions were to be created1 our taxation was to be revised1 and1 above all1 our parliamentary system--under which1 out of #cf1jjj1jjj of ,french1 only #bjj1jjj had votes1 under which the ,deputies bought a majority of the #bjj1jjj electors1 and the ,king bought a majority of the #dej deputies--required absolute reconstruction4 ',louis ,philippe would allow nothing to be done4 ,if he could have prevented it we should not have had a railroad4 ,he would not allow the most important of all1 that to ,marseilles1 to be finished4 ,he would not allow our monstrous centralisation1 or our monstrous protective system1 to be touched4 ,the owners of forests were permitted to deprive us of cheap fuel1 the owners of forges of cheap iron1 the owners of factories of cheap clothing4 ',in some of this stupid inaction ,guizot supported him conscientiously1 for1 like ,thiers1 he is ignorant of the first principles of political economy1 but he knows too much the philosophy of ,government not to have felt1 on every other point1 that the ,king was wrong4 ',if he supposed that ,tocqueville wished to be in his place1 on the conditions on which he held office1 he was utterly mistaken4 ',tocqueville was ambitious2 he wished for power4 ,so did ,i4 ,we would gladly have been real ,ministers1 but nothing would have tempted us to be the slaves of the pense immuable1 or to sit in a ,cabinet in which we were constantly out-voted1 or to defend1 as ,guizot had to do in the ,chamber1 conduct which we had disapproved in the ,council4 ',you ask why ,tocqueville joined the ,gauche whom he despised1 against the ,droit with whom he sympathised8 ',he voted with the ,gauche only where he thought their votes right4 ,where he thought them wrong1 as1 for instance1 in all that respected ,algeria1 he left them4 ,they would have abandoned the country1 and1 when that could not be obtained1 they tried to prevent the creation of the port4 ',very early1 however1 in his parliamentary life1 he had found that an independent member--a member who supporting no party is supported by no party---is useless4 ,he allowed himself therefore to be considered a member of the ,gauche2 but ,i never could persuade him to be tolerably civil to them4 ,once1 after ,i had been abusing him for his coldness to them1 he shook hands with ,romorantin1 then looked towards me for my applause1 but ,i doubt whether he ever shook hands with him again4 ,in fact almost his only point of contact with them was their disapprobation of the inactivity of ,louis ,philippe4 ,many of them were ,bonapartists like ,abbatucci and ,romorantin4 ,some were ,socialists1 some were ,republicans2 the majority of them wished to overthrow the ,monarchy1 and the minority looked forward with indifference to its fall4 ',they hated him as much as he did them1 much more indeed1 for his mind was not formed for hatred4 ,they excluded him from almost all committees4' ',would it not have been wise in him1' ,i asked1 'to retire from the ,chamber during the ,king's life1 or at least until it contained a party with whom he could cordially act8' ',perhaps1' said ,beaumont1 'that would have been the wisest course for him--and indeed for me4 ,i entered the ,chamber reluctantly4 ,all my family were convinced that a political man not in the ,chamber was nothing4 ,so ,i let myself be persuaded4 ,tocqueville required no persuasion1 he was anxious to get in1 and when in it was difficult to persuade oneself to go out4 ,we always hoped for a change4 ,the ,king might die1 or he might be forced--as he had been forced before--to submit to a liberal ,ministry which might have been a temporary cure1 or even to a ,parliamentary reform which might have been a complete cure4 ,duchtel1 who is a better politician than ,guizot1 was superseding him in the confidence of the ,king and of the ,chamber4 ',in fact1 the liberal ,ministry and ,parliamentary reform did come at last1 though not until it was too late to save the ,monarchy4 ',if ,tocqueville had retired in disgust from the ,chamber of ,deputies1 he might not have been a member of the ,constituent1 or of the ,legislative ,assembly4 ,this would have been a misfortune--though the shortness of the duration of the first1 and the hostility of the ,president during the second1 and also the state of his health1 prevented his influencing the destinies of the ,republic as much as his friends expected him to do1 and indeed as he expected himself4' ',i have often1' ,i said1 'wondered how you and ,tocqueville1 and the other eminent men who composed the committee for preparing the ,constitution1 could have made one incapable of duration1 and also incapable of change4' ',what1' he asked1 'are the principal faults which you find in the ,constitution8' ',first1' ,i said1 'that you gave to your ,president absolute authority over the army1 the whole patronage of the most centralised and the most place-hunting country in the world1 so that there was not one of your population of #cf1jjj1jjj whose interests he could not seriously affect2 and1 having thus armed him with irresistible power1 you gave him the strongest possible motives to employ it against the ,constitution by turning him out at the end of his four years1 incapable of re-election1 unpensioned and unprovided for1 so that he must have gone from the lyse ,bourbon to a debtor's prison4 ',next1 that1 intending your ,president to be the subordinate ,minister of the ,assembly1 you gave him the same origin1 and enabled him to say1 ,i represent the people as much as you do1 indeed much more4 ,they all voted for me1 only a fraction of them voted for any one of you4 ,then that origin was the very worst that could possibly be selected1 the votes of the uneducated multitude2 you must have foreseen that they would give you a demagogue or a charlatan4 ,the absence of a second ,chamber1 and the absence of a power of dissolution1 are minor faults1 but still serious ones4 ,when the ,president and the ,assembly differed1 they were shut up together to fight it out without an umpire4' ',that we gave the ,president too much power1' said ,beaumont1 'the event has proved4 ,but ,i do not see how1 in the existing state of feeling in ,france1 we could have given him less4 ,the ,french have no self-reliance4 ,they depend for everything on their administrators4 ,the first revolution and the first empire destroyed all their local authorities and also their aristocracy4 ,local authorities may be gradually re-created1 and an aristocracy may gradually arise1 but till these things have been done the ,executive must be strong4 ',if he had been re-eligible1 our first ,president would virtually have been ,president for life4 ,having decided that his office should be temporary1 we were forced to forbid his immediate re-election4 ',with respect to his being left unprovided for1 no man who had filled the office decently would have been refused an ample provision on quitting it4 ,as for this man1 no provision that we could have made for him1 if we had given him three or four millions a year1 would have induced him to give up what he considered a throne which was his by descent4 ,he swore to the ,constitution with an ide fixe to destroy it4 ,he attempted to do so on the #bith of ,january #ahdi1 not two months after his election4 ',i agree with you that the fault of the ,constitution was that it allowed the ,president to be chosen by universal suffrage2 and that the fault of the people was that they elected a pretender to the throne1 whose ambition1 rashness1 and faithlessness had been proved4 ',no new ,constitution can work if the ,executive conspires against it4 ,but deliberating and acting in the midst of meutes1 with a ,chamber and a population divided into half a dozen hostile factions1 the two ,royalist parties hating one another1 the ,bonapartists bent on destroying all freedom1 and the ,socialists all individual property1 what could we do8 ,my wish and ,tocqueville's was to give the election to the ,chamber4 ,we found that out of #fej members we could not hope that our proposition would be supported by more than #bjj4 ,you think that we ought to have proposed two ,chambers4 ,the great use of two ,chambers is to strengthen the ,executive by enabling it to play one against the other2 but we felt that our ,executive was dangerously strong1 and we believed1 ,i think truly1 that a single ,chamber would resist him better than two could do4 ,the provision which required more than a bare majority for the revision of the ,constitution was one of those which we borrowed from ,america4 ,it had worked well there4 ,in the general instability we wished to have one anchor1 one mooring ring fixed4 ,we did not choose that the whole framework of our ,government should be capable of being suddenly destroyed by a majority of one1 in a moment of excitement and perhaps by a parliamentary surprise4 ',with respect to your complaint that1 there being no power of dissolution1 there was no means of taking the opinion of the people1 the answer is1 that to give the ,president power of dissolution would have been to invite him to a coup d'tat4 ,with no ,chamber to watch him1 he would have been omnipotent4 ',i agree with you that the ,constitution was a detestable one4 ,but even now1 looking back to the times1 and to the conditions under which we made it1 ,i do not think that it was in our power to make a good one4' ',tocqueville1' ,i said1 'told me that ,cormenin was your ,solon1 that he brought a bit of constitution to you every morning1 and that it was usually adopted4'#a ',tocqueville's memory1' answered ,beaumont1 'deceived him4 ,cormenin was our president4 ,it is true that he brought a bit of constitution every morning4 ,but it scarcely ever was adopted or capable of being adopted4 ,it was in general bad in itself1 or certain to be rejected by the ,assembly4 ,he wished to make the ,president a puppet4 ,but he exercised over us a mischievous influence4 ,he tried to revenge himself for our refusal of all his proposals by rendering our deliberations fruitless4 ,and as the power of a president over a deliberative body is great1 he often succeeded4 ',many of our members were unaccustomed to public business and lost their tempers or their courage when opposed4 ,the ,abb ,lamennais proposed a double election of the president4 ,but of thirty members1 only four1 among whom were ,tocqueville and ,i1 supported him4 ,he left the committee and never returned to it4 ,tocqueville and ,i were anxious to introduce double election everywhere4 ,it is the best palliative of universal suffrage4' ',the double election1' ,i said1 'of the ,american ,president is nugatory4 ,every elector is chosen under a pledge to nominate a specified candidate4' ',that is true1' said ,beaumont1 'as to the ,president1 but not as to the other functionaries thus elected4 ,the senators chosen by double election are far superior to the representatives chosen by direct voting4 ',we proposed1 too1 to begin by establishing municipal institutions4 ,we were utterly defeated4 ,the love of centralisation is almost inherent in ,french politicians4 ,they see the evil of local government--its stupidity1 its corruption1 its jobbing4 ,they see the convenience of centralisation--the ease with which a centralised administration works4 ,feelings which are really democratic have reached those who fancy themselves aristocrats4 ,we had scarcely a supporter4 ',we should perhaps have a few now1 when experience has shown that centralisation is still more useful to an usurper than it is to a regular ,government4' ,footnote #a3 ,see ,vol4 ,i4 p4 #bab4--;,,ed4 ,august #ah4--,we drove in the afternoon to the coast1 and sat in the shade of the little ricks of sea-weed1 gazing on an open sea as blue as the ,mediterranean4 ,we talked of ,america4 ',i can understand1' said ,madame de ,tocqueville1 'the indignation of the ,north against you4 ,it is1 of course1 excessive1 but they had a right to expect you to be on their side in an anti-slavery war4' ',they had no right1' ,i said1 'to expect from our ,government anything but absolute neutrality4' ',but you need not1' she replied1 'have been so eager to put the ,south on the footing of belligerents4' ',on what other footing1' ,i asked1 'could we put them8 ,on what other footing does the ,north put them8 ,have they ventured1 or will they venture1 to hang a single seceder8' ',at least1' she said1 'you might have expressed more sympathy with the ,north8' ',i think1' ,i answered1 'that we have expressed as much sympathy as it was possible to feel4 ,we deplore the combat1 we hold the ,south responsible for it1 we think their capricious separation one of the most foolish and one of the most wicked acts that have ever been committed2 we hope that the ,north will beat them1 and we should bitterly regret their forcing themselves back into the ,union on terms making slavery worse1 if possible1 than it is now4 ,we wish the contest to end as quickly as possible3 but we do not think that it can end by the ,north subjugating the ,southerns and forcing them to be its subjects4 ',the best termination to which we look forward as possible1 is that the ,north should beat the ,south1 and then dictate its own terms of separation4 ',if they wish to go farther than this1 if they wish us to love or to admire our ,northern cousins in their political capacity1 they wish for what is impossible4 ',we cannot forget that the ,abolitionists have been always a small and discredited party2 that the ,cuba slave trade is mainly carried on from ,new ,york2 that they have neglected the obligations formally entered into by them with us to co-operate in the suppression of the slave trade2 that they have pertinaciously refused to allow us even to inquire into the right of slavers to use the ,american flag2 that it is the capital of the ,north which feeds the slavery of the ,south2 that the first act of the ,north1 as soon as the secession of the ,south from ,congress allowed it to do what it liked1 was to enact a selfish protective tariff2 that their treatment of us1 from the time that they have felt strong enough to insult us1 has been one unvaried series of threats1 bullying1 and injury2 that they have refused to submit their claims on us to arbitration1 driven out our ambassadors1 seized by force on disputed territory1 and threatened war on every pretence4' ',it is true1' said ,beaumont1 'that during the last twenty years ,american diplomacy has not been such as to inspire affection or respect ,but you must recollect that during all that time ,america has been governed by the ,south4' ',it is true1' ,i said1 'that the presidents have generally been ,southerns1 but ,i am not aware that the ,north has ever disavowed their treatment of us4 ,this is certain1 that throughout the ,union1 insolence to ,england has been an ,american statesman's road to popularity4' ,monday41 ,august #ai4--,we walked in the afternoon over the commons overlooking the sea1 and among the shady lanes of this well-wooded country4 ,we came on a group of about twelve or thirteen reapers taking their evening meal of enormous loaves of brown bread1 basins of butter1 and kegs of cider4 ,m4 ,roussell1 the farmer in whose service they were1 was sitting among them4 ,he was an old friend and constituent of ,tocqueville1 and for thirty years was ,maire of ,tocqueville4 ,he has recently resigned4 ,he rose and walked with us to his house4 ',i was required1' he said1 'to support the prefect's candidate for the ,conseil gnral4 ,no such proposition was ever made to me before4 ,i could not submit to it4 ,the prefect has been unusually busy of late4 ,the schoolmaster has been required to send in a list of the peasants whose children1 on the plea of poverty1 receive gratuitous education4 ,the children of those who do not vote with the prefect are to have it no longer4' ,i asked what were the wages of labour4 ',three francs and half a day1' he said1 'during the harvest1 with food--which includes cider4 ,in ordinary times one franc a day with food1 or a franc and a half without food4' ',it seems then1' ,i said1 'that you can feed a man for half a franc a day8' ',he can feed himself1' said ,m4 ,roussell1 'for that1 but ,i cannot1 or for double that money4' ,the day labourer is generally hired only for one day4 ,a new bargain is made every day4 ,the house was not uncomfortable1 but very untidy4 ,there are no ricks1 everything is stored in large barns1 where it is safe from weather1 but terribly exposed to vermin4 ,a bright-complexioned servant-girl was in the kitchen preparing an enormous bowl of soup1 of which bread1 potatoes1 and onions were the chief solid ingredients4 ',roussell1' said ,beaumont1 'is superior to his class4 ,in general they are bad politicians4 ,it is seldom difficult to get their votes for the nominee of the prefect4 ,they dislike to vote for anyone whom they know1 especially if he be a gentleman1 or be supported by the gentry4 ,such a candidate excites their democratic envy and suspicion4 ,but the prefect is an abstraction4 ,they have never seen him1 they have seldom heard of his name or of that of his candidate1 and therefore they vote for him4 ',lately1 however1 in some of my communes1 the peasants have adapted a new practice1 that of electing peasants4 ,i suspect that the ,government is not displeased4 ',the presence of such members will throw discredit on the ,conseils gnraux1 and1 if they get there1 on the ,corps lgislatif1 much to the pleasure of our democratic master1 and they will be easily bribed or frightened4 ,besides which the fifteen francs a day will be a fortune to them1 and they will be terrified by the threat of a dissolution4 ,i do not think that even yet we have seen the worst of universal suffrage4' ',what influence1' ,i asked1 'have the priests8' ',in some parts of ,france1' said ,beaumont1 'where the people are religious1 as is the case here1 much4 ,not much in the north-east1 where there is little religion2 and in the towns1 where there is generally no religion1 their patronage of a candidate would ruin him4 ,i believe that nothing has so much contributed to ,louis ,napoleon's popularity with the ouvriers as his quarrel with the ,pope4 ,you may infer the feelings of the lower classes in ,paris from his cousin's conduct4' ',i study ,prince ,napoleon1' said ,ampre1 'with interest1 for ,i believe that he will be the successor4' ',if ,louis ,napoleon1' ,i said1 'were to be shot tomorrow1 would not the little prince be proclaimed8' ',probably1' said ,ampere1 'but with ,jrme for regent1 and ,i doubt whether the regency would end by the little ,napoleon ,,iv4 assuming the sceptre4 ',louis ,napoleon himself does not expect it4 ,he often says that1 in ,france1 it is more than two hundred years since a sovereign has been succeeded by his son4 ',on the whole1' continued ,ampre1 ',i had rather have ,jrme than ,louis ,napoleon4 ,he has more talent and less prudence4 ,he would bring on the crisis sooner4 ',on the #cast of ,october1 #ahdi1' said ,madame de ,tocqueville1 ',i was in ,louis ,napoleon's company1 and he mentioned some matter on which he wished to know my husband's opinion4 ,i could not give it4 ,it does not much signify1 he answered1 for as ,i see ,m4 de ,tocqueville every day1 ,i will talk to him about it myself4 ,at that very time1 the ordonnance dismissing ,m4 de ,tocqueville had been signed1 and ,louis ,napoleon knew that he would probably never see him again4' ',i do not1' said ,ampere1 'give up the chance of a republic4 ,i do not wish for one4 ,it must be a very bad constitutional monarchy which ,i should not prefer to the best republic4 ,my democratic illusions are gone4 ,france and ,america have dispelled them3 but it must be a very bad republic which ,i should not prefer to the best despotism4 ,a republic is like a fever1 violent and frightful1 but not necessarily productive of organic mischief4 ,a despotism is a consumption3 it degrades and weakens1 and perverts all the vital functions4 ',what is there now in ,france worth living for8 ,i find people proud of our ,italian campaign4 ,why should the ,french be proud that their master's soldiers have been successful in a war as to which they were not consulted2 which1 in fact1 they disapproved1 which was not made for their benefit1 which was the most glaring proof of their servility and degradation8 ,we knew before that our troops were better than the ,austrians4 ,what have we gained by the additional example of their superiority8 ',i fear1' ,i said1 'that a republic1 at least such a republic as you are likely to have1 would begin by some gross economical enormities--by the droit au travail1 by the impt progressif sur la fortune prsumte1 by a paper currency made a legal tender without limitation of its amount4' ',the last republic1' said ,ampere1 'did some of these things1 but very timidly and moderately4 ,it gave to its paper a forced currency1 but was so cautious in its issue1 that it was not depreciated4 ,it created the ateliers nationaux1 but it soon dissolved them1 though at the expense of a civil war4 ,its worst fault was more political than economical3 it was the #de centimes1 that is to say1 the sudden increase by #de per cent1 of the direct taxes4 ,it never recovered that blow4 ,of all its acts it is the one which is best recollected4 ,the ,provisional ,government is known in the provinces as ces gredins des quarante-cinq centimes4 ,the business of a revolutionary government is to be popular4 ,it ought to reduce taxation1 meet its expenditure by loans1 abolish octrois and prohibitions1 and defer taxation until it has lasted long enough to be submitted to as a fait accompli4' ',i fear1' said ,madame de ,tocqueville1 'that our working classes are in a much worse frame of mind than they were in #ahdh4 ,socialist opinions--the doctrine that the profits of capitalists are so much taken fraudulently or oppressively from the wages of labourers1 and that it is unjust that one man should have more of the means of happiness than another--are extending every day4 ,the workpeople believe that the rich are their enemies and that the ,emperor is their friend1 and that he will join them in an attempt to get their fair share1 that is1 an equal share1 of the property of the country--and ,i am not sure that they are mistaken4' ',nor am ,i1' said ,beaumont ',celui-ci fully sympathises with their feelings1 and ,i do not think that he has intelligence enough to see the absurdity of their theories4' ',you do not deny him1' ,i said1 'intelligence8' ',not1' said ,beaumont1 'for some purposes1 and to some extent1 practical intelligence4 ,his ends are bad1 but he is often skilful in inventing and pertinacious in employing means for effecting those bad ends4 ,but ,i deny him theoretic intelligence4 ,i do not think that he has comprehension or patience to work out1 or even to follow1 a long train of reasoning2 such a train as that by which economical errors and fallacies are detected4' ',are there strikes1' ,i asked1 'among your workmen8' ',they are beginning1' said ,beaumont4 ',we have had one near us1 and the authorities were afraid to interfere4' ',i suppose1' ,i said1 that they are illegal8' ',they are illegal1' he answered1 'and ,i think that they ought to be so4 ,they are always oppressive and tyrannical4 ,the workman who does not join in a strike is made miserable4 ,they are generally mischievous to the combined workmen themselves1 and always to those of other trades4 ,your toleration of them appears to me one of the worst symptoms of your political state of health4 ,it shows among your public men an ignorance or a cowardice1 or a desire of ill-earned popularity1 which is generally a precursor of a democratic revolution4' ',it is certain1' said ,ampre1 'that the masters are becoming afraid of their workmen4 ,preire brings his from their residences to the ,barrire ,malesherbes in carriages4 ,you are not actually insulted in the streets of ,paris1 but you are treated with rude neglect4 ,a fiacre likes to splash you1 a paveur to scatter you with mud4 ,louis ,napoleon began with ,chauvinism4 ,he excited all the bad international passions of the multitude4 ,he has now taken up ,sansculotteism4 ,repulsed with scorn and disgust by the rich and the educated1 he has thrown himself on the poor and ignorant ,the passions with which he likes to work are envy1 malignity1 and rapacity4 ',i do not believe that he feels them4 ,he is what is called a good-natured man4 ,that is to say1 he likes to please everyone that he sees4 ,but his selfishness is indescribable4 ',no public interest stands in the way of his slightest caprice4 ,he often puts me in mind of ,nero4 ,with the same indifference to the welfare of others with which ,nero amused himself by burning down ,rome1 he is amusing himself by pulling down ,paris4' ,n4,w4 ,,senior4 99 99 99 99 99 99 ,we left ,tocqueville on the following day with great regret ,the same party was never to meet again--the only survivors are ,madame de ,beaumont and myself and the ,beaumonts' son1 then a very intelligent boy of ten years old4 ,one day my father and ,i visited the little green churchyard on a cliff near the sea where ,tocqueville is buried4 ,the tomb is a plain grey stone slab--on it a cross is cut in bas-relief1 with these words only3-- ,,ici ,,repose ,,alexis ,,de ,,tocqueville4 ,n #bd ,,fevrier #ahje4 ,,mort #af ,,avril #ahei4 ,my father laid a wreath of immortelles on the tomb4--,,ed4 ,,appendix4 ,,montalembert',s speech was afterwards published in the ,moniteur but with considerable alterations4 ,in ,mr4 ,senior's journal in #ahed 7which has not been published71 he says1 under the date of ,april #bf1 ,i called on ,montalembert and took him my report of his speech4 ,he has promised to add to it any notes that it may require4 ,the printed report1 he said1 is intentionally falsified4 ,before it was struck off ,i asked to see the proofs4 ,i was told that1 as such an application was new1 the ,president of the ,bureau would meet and decide on its admissibility4 ,they decided that it could not be granted4' ,the following is ,mr4 ,senior's report1 with ,m4 de ,montalembert's own corrections and additions in ,french4--,,ed4 ,at length ,montalembert rose4 ,he stood near the extreme right1 with his side towards the tribune1 and his face towards the centre gallery1 in which ,i sat4 ,his voice and delivery are so good1 and the house was so silent1 that ,i did not lose a word4 ,i believe that the following report is a tolerably accurate abridgment of his speech4 ',gentlemen1 ,i must begin by expressing to you my deep gratitude for the attention which you have paid to this unhappy business4 ,i am grieved at having occasioned the waste of so much public time4 ,i am still more grieved at having been the occasion of division among my colleagues4' ,note by ,montalember4--',j'aurais voulu faire plus qu'exprimer le regret3 j'aurais voulu me prter tous les arrangements qui m'ont t suggrs par des voix amies pour mettre un terme cette discussion4 ,je n'aurais recul devant aucun sacrifice qui et t compatible avec l'honneur4 ,mais vous comprenez tous que sous le coup d'une poursuite1 d'un danger1 je ne puis rien dsavouer1 rien rtracter1 rien retirer de ce que j'ai crit1 de ce que j'ai pens4 ,si j'agissais autrement il vous resterait un collgue absous1 mais dshonor et dont vous ne sauriez que faire4' ',more than all ,i am grieved when ,i think of the time at which this has occurred4 ,a time when we are engaged in an honourable and serious war--a war in which1 with the great and faithful ally whom ,i have always desired1 and the sympathy of all ,europe1 we are defending civilisation against an enemy1 barbarous indeed1 but so formidable as to require our undivided energy and our undivided attention4 ,but you must recollect when that letter was written4 ,it was in last ,september1 in profound peace1 when our whole thoughts were employed1 and were properly employed1 on our internal affairs4 ',aujourd'hui il en est autrement2 l'tat de guerre impose tous les citoyens des devoirs spciaux3 il doit aussi imposer un certain frein l'esprit de critique4 ,aucun ,franais1 quel que soit sa foi politique1 ne peut vouloir discrditer le pouvoir des dissidents1 des mcontents1 mais il n'y a plus d'migrs1 ni l'intrieur1 ni l'extrieur4' ,note by ,n4,w4 ,senior4--,this seems to be an allusion to a passage in ,thiers's celebrated speech of the #agth of ,february1 #ahea4 ',i#a ne faut migrer1 ni au dehors1 ni au dedans4' ',j'aurais su contenir les sentiments les plus passions de mon me1 plutt que de paratre affaiblir en quoi que ce soit la main qui porte l'pe et le drapeau de la ,france4 ,ce n'est pas toutefois que j'admette que toute libert de parole ou de presse soit incompatible avec l'tat de guerre4 ,l',angleterre a conserv toutes ses liberts en faisant la guerre aux plus redoutables ennemis3 aujourd'hui encore l'opposition1 d'accord avec le gouvernement sur la question extrieure1 maintient les rsistances et les critiques l'intrieur4 ,et certes personne ne dira que l',angleterre1 pour avoir conserv la libert de discussion la plus entire1 n'ait pas dploy pour le moins autant de prvoyance et d'nergie que nous dans la conduite de la guerre o nous entrons4 ,il n'y a que les nations o la vie publique circule dans toutes les veines du corps social1 qui sachent rsister aux preuves et aux chances d'une guerre prolonge4 ,la libert de la contradiction centuple le prix d'une libre adhsion2 et force de mettre une sourdine toutes les motions du pays1 il faut prendre garde qu'on ne se trouve un jour dans l'impossibilit de faire vibrer les cordes les plus essentielles quand le moment des dangers et des sacrifices sera arriv4' ',i deeply regret the publication of that letter4 ,but with that publication ,i repeat that ,i am utterly unconnected4 ,i never sanctioned it1 ,i never wished for it1 ,i never even thought it possible4 ,there are passages in the letter itself which ,i might modify if ,i were to re-write it1 but it would rather be by adding to them than by taking from them4 ,two accusations have been directed against its substance4 ,one that it is hostile to the ,emperor2 the other that it is hostile to this assembly4 ,no one who knows my character1 and knows my history1 will believe that ,i can have intended to injure the ,emperor4 ,our relations have been such as to make it impossible4 ',j'ai eu l'occasion de dfendre le chef actuel de l'tat dans des circonstances infiniment difficiles1 et o rien n'tait plus douteux que le succs4 ,je ne prtends pas l'avoir constitu par cela mon dbiteur1 car en le dfendant1 je ne voulais servir1 comme toujours1 que la justice1 l'intrt du pays1 la libert modre qui se personnifiaient en lui mes yeux1 mais enfin1 aux yeux du public il est mon oblig1 et je ne suis pas le sien4 ,si j'avais eu la pense d'offenser publiquement l',empereur1 et si j'y avais cd1 nous serions quittes4 ,or1 je tiens beaucoup ce que nous ne le soyons pas4 ,il n'y aurait pour moi ni honneur ni avantage ce changement de position4 ,tous les hommes de bon got1 tous les coeurs dlicats1 me comprendront4' ',it is equally impossible that ,i should have wished to offend this assembly4 ,it contains men by whose sides ,i have fought the great battles of property and law4 ,i love many of its members4 ,i respect almost all4 ,if ,i have offended any1 it was done unconsciously4 ,again1 it is said that the tone of my letter is violent4 ,expressions may be called violent by some which would be only called passionns by others4 ,now ,i admit that ,i am passionn4 ,it is in my nature4 ,i owe to that quality much of my merit1 whatever that merit may be4 ,were ,i not passionn1 ,i should not have been1 during all my life1 la sentinelle perdue de la libert4 ,i should not have thrown myself into every breach3 sometimes braving the attacks of anarchy1 sometimes heading the assault on tyranny1 and sometimes fighting against the worst of all despotisms1 the despotism that is based on democracy4' ',allons plus au fond1 et vous reconnatrez que les opinions nonces dans la lettre ne sont autres que celles toujours professes par moi4 ,elles peuvent toutes se ramener une seule1 mon loignement pour le pouvoir absolu4 ,je ne l'aime pas3 je ne l'ai jamais aim4 ,si j'ai tant combattu l'anarchie avant et aprs #ahdh1 si j'ai suscit contre moi dans le parti dmagogique ces haines virulentes qui durent encore et qui ne perdent jamais une occasion d'clater contre moi1 c'est parce que j'ai compris de bonne heure les affinits naturelles du despotisme et de la dmocratie2 c'est parce que j'ai prvu et prdit que la dmocratie nous conduirait au pouvoir absolu4 ,oui1 je crois1 comme je l'ai dit1 que le despotisme abaisse les caractres1 les intelligences1 les consciences4 ,oui1 je dplore le systme qui rend un seul homme tout-puissant et seul responsable des destines d'une nation de #cf millions d'hommes2 et trouve que cela ressemble trop au gouvernement russe1 contre lequel nous allons en guerre1 et trop peu au gouvernement anglais1 dont nous prisons si haut l'alliance4' ',i am told again1 and the accusation is sanctioned by the rquisitoire of the ,procureur-,gnral1 that my letter is inconsistent with the fidelity which ,i have sworn to the ,emperor and to the constitution4 ,when a man swears fidelity to a sovereign and to a constitution1 his oath engages him only as to matters within his own power4 ,he swears not to conspire against them4 ,he swears not to attempt to subvert them4 ,he cannot swear to approve the acts of the sovereign1 or the working of the constitution1 for he cannot foresee what either of them will be4 ,i have kept1 and ,i shall keep1 my oath to the ,emperor and my oath to the constitution4 ,i have not attempted1 and ,i shall not attempt1 to overthrow either of them4 ,but my approbation of either of them does not depend on me4 ,i accepted the coup d'tat1 comme vous l'avez tous fait1 comme notre seule chance de salut dans les circonstances d'alors4 ,i expected a ,government honnte et modr4 ,i have been disappointed4' ,here a violent exclamation ran through the assembly4 ,baroche rose and cried out1 ',you hear him1 gentlemen4 ,he says that he expected honesty and moderation from the ,government1 and that he has been disappointed4 ,i appeal to you1 ,mr4 ,president1 to decide whether we are to sit and listen to such infamies4' ,voix diverses3--',expliquez vos paroles4' ',retirez vos paroles4' ,m4 de ,montalembert4--',je les maintiens et je les explique4' ',i expected un gouvernement honnte et modr4 ,i have been disappointed4 ,its honnt may be judged by the confiscation of the ,orleans property4' ,here was another hubbub1 and another protest of ,baroche's4 ',what is going on before you1' continued ,montalembert1 'is a sample of its moderation4 ,it is now attempting in my person to introduce into our criminal law a new dlit1 communication4 ,until now it was supposed that nothing was criminal until it was published4 ,it was believed that a man might write his opinions and his reflections1 and might exchange them with his friends2 that nothing was libellous that was confidential4 ,now this ,government holds a man responsible for every thought that an indiscreet or an incautious friend1 or a concealed enemy1 or a tool of power reveals4 ,if it succeeds in this attempt1 it will not rest satisfied with this victory over the remnant of our freedom4 ,it is not in the nature of things that it should4 ,a ,government that will not tolerate censure must forbid discussion4 ,you are now asked to put down writing4 ,when that has been done1 conversation will be attacked4 ,paris will resemble ,rome under the successors of ,augustus4 ,already this prosecution has produced a malaise which ,i never felt or observed before4 ,what will be the feelings of the nation when all that is around it is concealed1 when every avenue by which light could penetrate is stopped2 when we are exposed to all the undefined terrors and exaggerated dangers that accompany utter darkness8 ,the misfortune of ,france1 a national defect which makes the happiness enjoyed by ,england unattainable by us1 is1 that she is always oscillating between extremes2 that she is constantly swinging from universal conquest to la paix tout prix1 from the desire of nothing but glory to the desire of nothing but wealth1 from the wildest democracy to the most abject servility4 ,every new ,government starts with a new principle4 ,every ,government in a few years perishes by carrying that principle to an extreme4 ,the ,first ,republic was destroyed by the intemperance with which it trampled on every sort of tradition and authority1 the ,first ,empire by its abuse of victory and war1 the ,restoration by its exaggerated belief in divine right and legitimacy1 the ,royalty of ,july by its exaggerated reliance on purchased voters and ,parliamentary majorities1 the ,second ,republic by the conduct of its own ,republicans4 ,the danger to the ,second ,empire--its only internal danger1 but ,i fear a fatal one--is its abuse of authority4 ,with every phase of our sixty years' long revolution1 we have a new superstition1 a new culte4 ,we are now required to become the worshippers of authority4 ,i lament that with the new religion we have not new priests4 ,our public men would not be discredited by instantaneous apostasy from one political faith to another4 ,i am grieved1 gentlemen1 if ,i offend you2 though many of you are older in years than ,i am1 not one probably is so old in public life4 ,i may be addressing you for the last time1 and ,i feel that my last words ought to contain all the warnings that ,i think will be useful to you4 ,this assembly will soon end1 as all its predecessors have ended4 ,its acts1 its legislation1 may perish with it1 but its reputation1 its fame1 for good or for evil1 will survive4 ,within a few minutes you will do an act by which that reputation will be seriously affected2 by which it may be raised1 by which it may be deeply1 perhaps irrevocably1 sunk4 ,your vote to-night will show whether you possess freedom1 and whether you deserve it4 ,as for myself1 ,i care but little4 ,a few months1 or even years1 of imprisonment are among the risks which every public man who does his duty in revolutionary times must encounter1 and which the first men of the country have incurred1 soit en sortant des affaires1 soit avant d'y entrer4 ,but whatever may be the effect of your vote on my person1 whatever it may be on your reputation1 ,i trust that it is not in your power to inflict permanent injury on my country4 ,among you are some who lived through the ,empire4 ,they must remember that the soldiers of our glorious army cherished as fondly the recollection of its defeats as of its victories4 ,they must see that the lessons which those defeats taught1 and the feelings which they inspired1 are now among the sources of our military strength4 ,your ,emperor himself1 in one of his earlier addresses1 talked hopefully of the period when ,france would be capable of more liberty than he now thinks good for her1 ,un jour1 he exclaimed1 mon oeuvre sera couronne par la libert4 ,i join in that hope4 ,i look sanguinely towards the time when she will be worthy of the ,english constitution1 and she will obtain it4 ,vous tenez le corps de la ,france1 mais vous ne tenez pas son me4 ,cette me1 aujourd'hui effraye1 engourdie1 endormie1 cette me c'est la libert4 ,elle se rveillera un jour et vous chappera4 ,la certitude de ce rveil suffit pour consoler et fortifier ses vieux et fidles soldats traverser la nuit de l'preuve4 ,cette libert honnte et modre1 sage et sainte1 j'y ai toujours cru1 et j'y crois encore4 ,je l'ai toujours servie1 toujours aime1 toujours invoque1 tantt pour la religion1 tantt pour le pays2 hier contre le socialisme1 aujourd'hui contre un commencement de despotisme2 et1 quelle que soit votre dcision1 je me fliciterai toujours d'avoir eu cette occasion solennelle de la confesser encore une fois devant vous1 et1 s'il le faut1 de souffrir un peu pour elle4' ,these concluding words were drowned in universal murmurs4 ,n4,w4 ,,senior4