htened classes congratulated themselves. The vices
of the sovereign had opened in every heart an incurable wound. Neither
the virtues of Louis XVI., nor the glory acquired during the American
war; nor the sight of France restored to its rank among the nations; nor
the love of the King for his subjects; nor the liberal institutions
which he bestowed on them, could heal that fatal wound. The stains of
the crown could be washed out only by the blood of the just ascending to
Heaven by the steps of the scaffold."[4]--(Vol. ii. pp. 531, 533.)

After these quotations, it is needless to say what the merits of M. De
Tocqueville's work are. He possesses the abstract thought, the
philosophic temperament, the reflecting mind, which enable him to
follow, with a correct and discerning eye, the _general_ course of
events. He does not attach himself to individual men,--he is no
hero-worshipper. His narrative has not the interest of biography, or of
histories framed on its model. It has not the dramatic air of Thierry,
the genius of Chateaubriand, or the pictorial powers of Michelet. It is,
on that account, not likely to be so generally popular as the works of
any of these eminent writers. It resembles more nearly the admirable
"Sketches of the Progress of Society," to be found in the works of
Guizot and Sismondi. As such, it possesses very high merit, and will
doubtless take its place among the standard works of French history.
Perhaps his work is more worthy of study, and more likely to be esteemed
by thinking men in other countries than his own: for France has gone
through the convulsions consequent on the social and moral evils which
he has so well portrayed; but other nations are only in their
commencement. What to the one is history, to the other, if not averted,
may be prophecy.

FOOTNOTES:

[1] _Histoire Philosophique du Regne de Louis XV._ Par M. Le Comte DE
TOCQUEVILLE. 2 Vols. Paris, 1847.

[2] _Histoire Philosophique du Regne de Louis XV._

[3] The Duchess de Berri was an apt scholar in the lessons which her
father taught her. One evening, after copious libations, a fancy seized
them to represent the Judgment of Paris. The Princess played the part of
Venus; two of the Regent's mistresses those of Minerva and Juno. "_The
three Goddesses appeared in the costume in which those in the tale
displayed themselves to the son of Priam._" DE TOCQUEVILLE. Vol. i. p.
26--note.

[4] Alluding to the sublime words of the Father Edge