ver forget. Some great rights of immense value were secured, and
many grievous privileges passed away forever. Neither Louis XVIII., nor
Charles X., nor Louis Philippe, nor Louis Napoleon, ever attempted to
restore feudalism, or unequal privileges, or arbitrary taxation. The
legislative power never again completely succumbed to the decrees of
royal and imperial tyrants. The sovereignty of the people was
established as one of the fixed ideas of the nineteenth century, and the
representatives of the people are now the supreme rulers of the land. A
man can now rise in France above the condition in which he was born,
and can aspire to any office and position which are bestowed on talents
and genius. Bastilles and _lettres de cachet_ have become an
impossibility. Religious toleration is as free there as in England or
the United States. Education is open to the poor, and is encouraged by
the Government. Constitutional government seems to be established, under
whatever name the executive may be called. France is again one of the
most prosperous and contented countries of Europe; and the only great
drawback to her national prosperity is that which also prevents other
Continental powers from developing their resources,--the large standing
army which she feels it imperative to sustain.

In view of the inexperience and fanaticism of the revolutionists, and
the dreadful evils which took place after the fall of the monarchy, we
should say that the Revolution was premature, and that substantial
reforms might have been gained without violence. But this is a mere
speculation. One thing we do know,--that the Revolution was a national
uprising against injustice and oppression. When the torch is applied to
a venerable edifice, we cannot determine the extent of the
conflagration, or the course which it will take. The French Revolution
was plainly one of the developments of a nation's progress. To
conservative and reverential minds it was a horrid form for progress to
take, since it was visionary and infidel. But all nations are in the
hands of God, who is above all second causes. And I know of no modern
movement to which the words of Carlyle, when he was an optimist, when he
wrote the most original and profound of his works, the "Sartor
Resartus," apply with more force: "When the Phoenix is fanning her
funeral pyre, will there not be sparks flying? Alas! some millions of
men have been sucked into that high eddying flame, and like moths
con