d to an imbecile love of pleasure,
and from whose minds the grand motive of Duty was altogether absent.

De Tocqueville himself had the good fortune to be blessed with an
admirable wife: [2010] and in his letters to his intimate friends, he
spoke most gratefully of the comfort and support he derived from her
sustaining courage, her equanimity of temper, and her nobility of
character. The more, indeed, that De Tocqueville saw of the world and of
practical life, the more convinced he became of the necessity of healthy
domestic conditions for a man's growth in virtue and goodness. [2011]
Especially did he regard marriage as of inestimable importance in regard
to a man's true happiness; and he was accustomed to speak of his own
as the wisest action of his life. "Many external circumstances of
happiness," he said, "have been granted to me. But more than all, I have
to thank Heaven for having bestowed on me true domestic happiness, the
first of human blessings. As I grow older, the portion of my life which
in my youth I used to look down upon, every day becomes more important
in my eyes, and would now easily console me for the loss of all the
rest." And again, writing to his bosom-friend, De Kergorlay, he said:
"Of all the blessings which God has given to me, the greatest of all in
my eyes is to have lighted on Marie. You cannot imagine what she is in
great trials. Usually so gentle, she then becomes strong and energetic.
She watches me without my knowing it; she softens, calms, and
strengthens me in difficulties which disturb ME, but leave her serene."
[2012] In another letter he says: "I cannot describe to you the happiness
yielded in the long run by the habitual society of a woman in whose soul
all that is good in your own is reflected naturally, and even improved.
When I say or do a thing which seems to me to be perfectly right, I read
immediately in Marie's countenance an expression of proud satisfaction
which elevates me. And so, when my conscience reproaches me, her face
instantly clouds over. Although I have great power over her mind, I see
with pleasure that she awes me; and so long as I love her as I do now,
I am sure that I shall never allow myself to be drawn into anything that
is wrong."

In the retired life which De Tocqueville led as a literary
man--political life being closed against him by the inflexible
independence of his character--his health failed, and he became ill,
irritable, and querulous. While proc