I asked in what respect unscrupulous.

'He seemed to me,' answered Tocqueville, 'to interfere in the affairs of the Continent for the purpose of serving his own personal or party interest at home, with little regard to the consequences on the rest of Europe. He ought to have known in 1847 that he could not stir the inflammable elements of Rome and Naples without risking a general conflagration.'

'The conflagration,' I answered, 'was caused by your revolution, and who in 1847 foresaw that? I remember your saying to me in October in that year that Louis Philippe was the most autocratic sovereign that had reigned over France since Charlemagne-that he approached nearer to absolute power than Louis XIV.'

'Yes,' replied Tocqueville, 'he was nearly absolute; but it was of the extent, not of the durability, of his power that I spoke. He had so thoroughly corrupted the Chamber that he had no parliamentary opposition to fear. He had so thoroughly corrupted the 200,000 electors that he had nothing to fear from an electoral opposition. With his 200,000 or rather 400,000 places, all the middle classes, on whom his government rested, were his tools. But, by abusing for these purposes the gigantic means conferred by our system of centralisation, he had rendered those middle classes, on whom his throne was built, unfit to sustain its weight. His monarchy was constructed with great skill and great solidity, but its foundation was a quicksand. He made the middle classes objects of hatred and contempt, and the people trampled them and him under foot. I never

1850.]

Popularity of Lord Normanby.

79

thought him during the latter years of his reign safe from a revolution.'

'No,' said Madame de Tocqueville, 'you prophesied one three years before it occurred.'

'Well,' said Tocqueville, 'this is what Lord Palmerston must have perceived. He must have known that all the Continent was mined. And he had no right to presume on his insular position and throw combustibles over the rest of the world.'

I asked how he liked Lord Normanby.

'Very much indeed,' he said. 'It was impossible for a minister to cultivate more anxiously a good understanding between the two countries. He pushed his endeavours to consult the feelings of France to the utmost extent that his duty to England would allow. Lately, however, he has excited much jealousy by his intimacy with Mrs. Howard. I once,' continued Tocqueville, 'encountered her at St. Cloud. I went there unexpectedly, and was introduced into the room where she was dining with a party of men. Lord Normanby frequents these parties. That perhaps is unavoidable; but he also visits her familiarly in her own house. He has the grandes and the petites entrées there.1 Of course the motive is a wish to influence the President through her, and this we do not like. Lady Normanby delights everybody.'

We talked of a retreat for the winter. 'Hyères,' said Tocqueville, 'is charming. You live among groves

'I afterwards ascertained that M. de Tocqueville was quite misinformed. -N. W. S.

of oranges and lemons, with a fine sea and a pretty country; and you are safe, or nearly safe, from the scourge of the northern coast of the Mediterranean-the Mistral.'

'My delight,' said Madame de Tocqueville, 'is Algiers. The sky, the light, the mountains, and the sea are like nothing in Europe. Our sun is pale, our air is fog, our sea is muddy compared to those of Africa. But I cannot promise you comfort there. Your food will be good, but, whatever pains you take, your bed will be alive.' 1

'On the whole,' said Tocqueville, 'my choice is Palermo. You have there a fine town, a delightful climate and country, plenty of society, and all Sicily for excursions.'

He left the room for a minute, and Madame de Tocqueville said, 'I don't tease him now about passing the winter out of France, but I think that he must do it. He cannot bear to quit the Assembly in such times as these; but, if he is not to speak, if he is not to write, if he is not to read or even to think about politics-and such are the orders of his physician-what is the use of his staying here?'

'Well,' he said when he came back, 'you have seen. Madame de Cirourt. Did you remember that I begged you to let her know que je lui trouve infiniment de l'esprit. I see that you did not. You were anxious to promote your own interests in that quarter, and forgot mine. Pray remember it next time.'

'My experience was the reverse. The bed was good, the food was bad. -N. W. S.

1850.]

Conspiracies on all Sides.

81

He soon came back to politics. 'With the exception of the Montagnards,' and of a few really moderate members of the Opposition, everybody is conspiring against everybody. The Legitimists, the Orleanists, and the Bonapartists, are each furious against the two others, and all three are determined to overthrow the Republic. "Ils veulent en finir," they say, " avec ces gens-là.” "En finir!" as if it were possible to kill, imprison, transport, or in any way to drive out of Paris 100,000 men. There will be no fin in our time, or in the time of our children. It must be confessed, however, that this revolutionary regimen does not suit us ill. Every interval of convulsion has been succeeded by one of

1

1 Il y a certainement là une nuance de ma pensée qui a échappé à M. Senior.

Il est impossible que j'ai dit que les Montagnards ne conspiraient pas. Ils ne conspirent pas pour détruire la forme républicaine, comme les trois autres partis nommés ensuite, mais ils conspirent assurément pour faire servir la République à une révolution sociale.—A. de Tocqueville.

Mr. Senior has not seized the exact shade of my idea. I cannot have said that the Montagnards were not conspiring. They are not conspiring, in order to overturn the Republic, like the three parties afterwards mentioned, but they certainly are conspiring to effect a social revolution by means of the Republic.

2 Tout ce qui suit, jusqu'à la fin de la page, me paraît plus approbatif que ce que j'ai dû dire, et fondé sur des raisons non pas contraires à celles qui motivent mon opinion, mais un peu différentes.

L'expérience, en effet, nous a appris que chaque révolution change beaucoup de positions, développe beaucoup de besoins, fait naître beaucoup de désirs, répand un grand mouvement et une grande activité dans toutes les intelligences.

Quand le calme renaît dans le monde politique momentanément, toute cette agitation ne cesse pas entièrement, elle change seulement d'objet ; elle passe dans le monde industriel et commercial, et y fait faire des efforts plus grands et des tentatives plus hardies que si on était toujours resté dans une société calme.-A. de Tocqueville.

All that follows, to the end of the page, seems to me to express more VOL. I. G

increased prosperity. Old prejudices are weakened, the experience of years is gained in months, and the most acute intellects and the most decided wills assume power. This revolution, however, has as yet been an exception. It has brought forward nobody except some militaires, and they came from Algiers. They are nearly the sole produce of that soil. We sow soldiers there broadcast, and we reap from time to time a general.'

Saturday, May 18.-After Gioberti left us I went to Tocqueville's. He is as puzzled as ever by the Greek affair, but warns me not to believe the Government papers. The moderate party are resolved to turn out Lord Palmerston, and, if possible, the Whigs. No ministry that we could have in England would be Tory enough for them; but they think they could get a neutral one-one that, if it gave them no assistance, would, at least, interpose no obstacle to their restoring in Europe what they call order; that is, destroying every

approbation than I intended, and to be founded on reasons which are not contrary to those which influenced me, but different from them.

Experience, indeed, teaches us that every revolution changes many positions, developes many wants, rouses many desires, and excites great animation and activity in every mind. When calm is once more restored to the political world, all this agitation does not at once cease—but its object changes; it passes into the industrial and commercial world, and induces greater efforts and bolder schemes than would have been the case had the tranquillity of society remained undisturbed.

1 The dispute with Greece arose out of demands made by our Foreign Minister for damages for certain injuries to British subjects (Mr. Finlay and Don Pacificos). These demands not being satisfied, Admiral Parker proceeded to blockade the Piræus. A misunderstanding with the French Government ensued which led to the recall of M. Drouyn de l'Huys fro m the Court of St. James'.-ED.