nts only have
been deemed fit for publication. He had written a journal of his
travels, and in particular a set of "Notes on England," which would
have been of much value had they been worked up to a mature form; but
death interrupted him when he was only in the commencement of that
great undertaking. He had begun a history of France under Louis XI.,
which is still extant, though very little progress was made in the
work. The introduction, containing a sketch of the state of Europe at
that period, is said to equal the most brilliant picture left by his
immortal hand. It is written in the terse, epigrammatic style which is
so characteristic of its author; and a few striking expressions
preserved by those who have had access to the manuscript, will convey
an idea of what the work would have been. "He saw only," said he, "in
the commencement of his reign, the commencement of vengeance."
Terminating a parallel of Louis XI. and Richelieu, which he drew much
to the advantage of the latter, he observed, "He made the monarch play
the second part in the monarchy, but the first in Europe--he lowered
the king, but he raised the Kingdom." These and similar expressions
are in Montesquieu's peculiar and nervous style, and they prove that
the work would have contained, if completed, many brilliant passages;
but they do not warrant the conclusion that the history itself would
have been of much value. There is nothing more dangerous to an
historian than great powers of epigrammatic expression; it almost
inevitably leads to the sacrifice of truth and candour to point and
antithesis. It is well for Tacitus that we have not the other side of
his story recounted by a writer of equal power, but less party spirit
and force of expression. In truth, it is probable the world has not
lost much by Montesquieu's numerous unpublished manuscripts having
been left in an incomplete state. There is no end to the writing of
romances, or the annals of human events, but there is a very early
limit to the production of original ideas, even to the greatest
intellects; to Plato, Bacon, Newton, Smith, or Montesquieu, they are
given only in a limited number. Hence their frequent repetition of the
same thoughts, when their writings become voluminous. Montesquieu has
done enough; his mission to man has been amply fulfilled.

In common with other men whose thoughts have made a great and
wide-spread impression on mankind, the originality and value of
Montesquieu's