f England." To Jefferson he naturally spoke of that
France from which they had drawn some of their inspirations and their
doctrines.

He thus describes the condition of the people:--

"The revolution (the political change of 1789) has not, however,
been altogether useless. There is a visible improvement in the
agriculture of the country and the situation of the peasantry. The
new generation belonging to that class, freed from the petty
despotism of nobles and priests, and made more easy in their
circumstances by the abolition of tithes, and the equalization of
taxes, have acquired an independent spirit, and are far superior to
their fathers in intellect and information; they are not
republicans and are still too much dazzled by military glory; but I
think that no monarch or ex-nobles can hereafter oppress them long
with impunity."

And again, "Exhausted, degraded, and oppressed as France now is, I do
not despair of her ultimate success in establishing her independence and
a free form of government." But it was not till half a century later
that Gambetta, the Mirabeau of the Republic, led France to the full
possession of her material forces, and reestablished in their original
vigor the principles of 1789. That Gallatin was not blinded by
democratic prejudices appears in the letter he wrote to Lafayette after
Napoleon's abdication, in which he said: "My attachment to the form of
government under which I was born and have ever lived never made me
desirous that it should, by way of experiment, be applied to countries
which might be better fitted for a limited monarchy."

_Minister to France_

Strange as it appears, there is no doubt that Mr. Gallatin was at this
time heartily weary of political life, and seriously contemplated a
permanent retirement to the banks of the Monongahela. He naturally
enough declined a nomination to Congress, which was tendered him by the
Philadelphia district. His tastes were not for the violence and
turbulence of the popular house.

Madison left him full time to decide whether he could arrange his
private affairs so as to accept the mission to Paris. In November he
positively declined. He considered the compensation as incompetent to
the support of a minister in the style in which he was expected to live.
His private income was at this time about twenty-five hundred dollars a
year. Monroe pressed him earnestly not to quit the publi