ew,
but according as men sympathized with or were hostile to the political
principles it advocated. It was not the merit of the work that came
under consideration, but the merit of the cause. This at once destroyed
almost entirely the value of any criticism which the story received.

A little while before "The Bravo" appeared, Cooper was unwillingly led
to take part in a controversy which, according to his own view, was the
remote cause of the hostility he afterwards encountered in his own land.
It was at the time that the movement began on the part of Louis Philippe
to separate himself from the liberals, of whom Lafayette was the chief
representative. A discussion had arisen, in the French Chamber of
Deputies, on the desirability of a reduction in the expenses of
government. It gave rise to a controversy which extended much beyond the
body in which it originated. Lafayette had advocated greater economy. In
the course of the debate mentioned, he had referred to the United States
as being a country which was cheaply governed, and at the same time well
governed. The periodical press at once took up the question. M. Saulnier,
one of the editors of the "Revue Britannique," came out with an article,
the direct object of which was to prove that a government of three
powers, such as was the limited monarchy recently established, was not
so expensive as that of a republic. In particular, he claimed that (p. 112)
the tax levied per head on the citizens of France was less than that
similarly levied on the citizens of the United States. This was a direct
attack upon Lafayette, who had for forty years been maintaining that the
government of this country was the cheapest known. The attention of
Cooper was called to this article, and he was asked to reply. He
declined. A little later it was made clear to him that the object with
which it was written was to injure Lafayette. The matter then assumed
another aspect. To that statesman Cooper was bound by ties of intimate
personal friendship and by a common love of this country. At a public
dinner, which had been given to Lafayette on the 8th of December, 1830,
by the Americans in Paris, Cooper had presided, and in a speech of
marked fervor and ability, he had dwelt upon the debt due from the
United States to the gallant Frenchman, who had ventured fortune and
life to aid a nation struggling against great odds to be free. It was
not in his nature to have his deeds give the lie to his words