a tendency on the part of governments to
extend their powers," he said; "the administration therefore must be
under constant surveillance." His motto was "Foi systematiqtie a la
libre activite de I'individu; defiance systematique vis-a-vis de l'Etat
concu abstraitement,--c'est-a-dire, defiance parfaitement pure de toute
hostilite de parti." [Systematic faith in the free activity of the
individual; systematic distrust of the State conceived abstractly,--that
is, a distrust entirely free from prejudice.]

His work with his pen seems to have been begun about 1830, and from the
first was concerned with matters of economy and government. A year later
he was chosen to local office, and every opportunity which offered was
seized upon to bring before the common people the true milk of the
economic word, as he conceived it. The germ of his theory of values
appeared in a pamphlet of 1834, and the line of his development was a
steady one; his leading principles being the importance of restricting
the functions of government to the maintenance of order, and of removing
all shackles from the freedom of production and exchange. Through
subscription to an English periodical he became familiar with Cobden and
the Anti-Corn-Law League, and his subsequent intimacy with Cobden
contributed much to broaden his horizon. In 1844-5 appeared his
brilliant 'Sophismes economiques', which in their kind have never been
equaled; and his reputation rapidly expanded. He enthusiastically
espoused the cause of Free Trade, and issued a work entitled 'Cobden et
la Ligue, ou l'Agitation anglaise pour la liberte des echanges' (Cobden
and the League, or the English Agitation for Liberty of Exchange), which
attracted great attention, and won for its author the title of
corresponding member of the Institute. A movement for organization in
favor of tariff reform was begun, of which he naturally became a leader;
and feeling that Paris was the centre from which influence should flow,
to Paris he removed. M. de Molinari gives an account of his debut:--"We
still seem to see him making his first round among the journals which
had shown themselves favorable to cause of the freedom of commerce. He
had not yet had time to call upon a Parisian tailor or hatter, and in
truth it had not occurred to him to do so. With his long hair and his
small hat, his large surtout and his family umbrella, he would naturally
be taken for a reputable countryman looking at the sights of t