I not foreseen remedy it; and mplete, at some and of leading re you, by the attentive and t which I now the attainment nce the course - of European ail that which passing over fore was gone dy the history of the princi eveloped, and be the better phases of their career; a work which is evidently almost impossible, and certainly so in the time which we could spend upon it. It appears to me, that by studying the history of civilization in one great European nation, I shall arrive more quickly at the desired result. The unity of the narrative will then, indeed, be compatible with details; there is in every country a certain national harmony, which is the result of the community of manners, laws, language, and events, and this harmony is imprinted in the civilization. We may pass from fact to fact without losing sight of the whole picture. And lastly, though I will not say that it can easily be done, it is yet possible to combine the knowledge necessary for such a work. I have therefore decided upon this second method, upon that of abandoning the general history of European civilization, in all the nations which have contributed thereto, and confining myself to the civilization of one country, which, if we note the differences between it and other countries, may become, for our purpose, an image of the whole destiny of Europe. The choice of method being once made, that of a nation easily follows; I have taken the history and civilization of France. I shall certainly not deny having experienced a sensation of pleasure while making this choice. No one will deny that the emotions of patriotism are legitimate, provided they be sanctioned by truth and reason. Some there are, in the present day, who seem to fear that patriotism suffers much from the enlargement of ideas and sentiments, arising from the actual state of European civilization; they predict that it will become enervated, and lose itself in cosmopolitism. I cannot share such fears. In the present day, it will be with patriotism as with all human actions, feelings, and opinions. It is condemned, I admit, incessantly to undergo the test of publicity, of inquiry and discussion; it is condemned no longer to remain a mere prejudice, habit, or a blind and exclusive passion; it must give a reason for itself. It will be oppressed by this necessity no more than any natural and legitimate feelings are; on the contrary, it will become refined and elevated. These are the tests to which it must submit, and it will soar above them. I can truly say, if any other history in Europe had appeared to me greater, more instructive, or better suited to represent the general course of civilization than that of France, I should have But I have reasons for selecting France; indepe the special interest which its history has for us, F long since been proclaimed by all Europe the mos of its nations. Whenever the opinion of the strug been between the national all-love, when one seek and disinterested opinion of people in the ideas a wherein it manifests itself indirectly, without takin of a controversy, we find that France is acknowled the country in which civilization has appeared i complete form, where it has been most communic where it has most forcibly struck the European im And we must not suppose, that the superiorit country is solely attributable to the amenity of our lations, to the gentleness of our manners, or to that animated life which people so often come to seek a There can be no doubt that it partly arises from th butes; but the fact of which I speak has more pro universal causes: it is not a fashion, as might h supposed when the question was concerning the ci of the age of Louis XIV., neither is it a popular as a view of our own times would lead us to suppo preference which the disinterested opinion of Europ to French civilization is philosophically just; it is t of an instinctive judgment, doubtless in some mea fused, but well based, upon the essential elements and nature of civilization. do You will call to mind the definition of civilizat tempted to give in the commencement of the forme of lectures. I there sought to discover what idea themselves to this word in the common use of men. peared to me, on a reference to general opinion, that tion essentially consists of two principles; the impr of the exterior and general condition of man, and tha inward and personal nature; in a word, in the impr both of society and of humanity.gem Mat And it is not these two principles of themselves, wh stitute civilization; to bring it to perfection, their intin rapid union, simultaneousness, and reciprocal action, solutely necessary. I showed that if they do not arrive conjointly that if, at one time, the improver society, and at another, that of individual man, pr more quickly or extends further, they are not the les ave chosen it. dependently of s, France has most civilized ruggle has not eeks the true s and actions king the form vledged to be d in its most nicative, and imagination. ority of this Our social reand at easy - among us. these attri rofound and have been civilization r ebullition, pose. The Ope accords s the result easure con nd general ation I at er course eas attach 1. It ap- ich conate and are ab. always ment of gresses neces sary the one to the other; they excite each other, and sooner or later will amalgamate. When one progresses for any length of time without the other, and when their union is long interrupted, a feeling of regret, and of a painful hiatus and incompleteness, seizes the spectators. If an important social improvement, a great progress in material well being, is manifested among a people without being accompanied by intellectual improvement, or an analogous progression in mind; the social improvement seems precarious, inexplicable, and almost unjust. One asks what general ideas have produced and justified it, or to what principles it attaches itself. One wishes to assure oneself that it will not be limited to particular generations, to a single country; but that it will spread and communicate itself, and that it will fill every nation. And how can social improvement spread and communicate itself but by ideas, upon the wings of doctrines ? Ideas alone mock at distance, pass over oceans, and everywhere make themselves received and comprehended. Besides, such is the noble nature of humanity, that it cannot see a great improvement in material strength, without aspiring to the moral strength which should be joined with it and direct it; something subordinate remains imprinted on social improvement, as long as it bears no fruit but mere physical prosperity, as long as it does not raise the mind of man to the level of his condition. So, on the other hand, if any great intellectual improvement appears, unaccompanied by a social progress, one feels uneasy and surprised. It seems as if we saw a beautiful tree devoid of fruit, or a sun bringing with it neither heat nor fertility. One feels a kind of disdain for ideas thus barren, and not seizing upon the external world. And not only do we feel a disdain for them, but in the end we doubt their reasonable legitimacy and truth; one is tempted to believe them chimerical, when they show themselves powerless and incapable of governing human condition. So powerfully is man impressed with the feeling that his business upon earth is to transform the ideal into the actual, to reform and regulate the world which he inhabits according to the truth he conceives; so closely are the two great elements of civilization, social and intellectual development, bound to one another; so true is it that its perfection consists, not only in their union, but in their simultaneousness, and in the extent, facility, and rapidity with which they mutually evoke and produce themselves. Let us now endeavor to regard from this point of view the 2 several nations of Europe: let us investigate th I begin with England. English civilization ha cially directed towards social perfection; towards t tion of the external and public condition of men; amelioration, not only of their material but also of condition; towards the introduction of more ju prosperity into society; towards the development well as of happiness. Nevertheless, all things considered, in England ment of society has been more extensive and m than that of humanity; social interest and social in England, maintained a more conspicuous plac exercised more power than general ideas: the n greater than the individual. This is so true, th philosophers of England, men who seem devoted fession to the development of pure intelligenceLocke, and the Scotch philosophers-belong to wh call the practical school of philosophy; they co selves, above all things, with direct and positive re trust themselves neither to the flights of the imag to the deductions of logic: theirs is the genius sense. I turn to the periods of England's greatest activity, the periods when ideas and mental move pied the most conspicuous place in her history: Ita tical and religious crisis of the sixteenth and seven turies. No man is ignorant of the mighty move was going on at that time in England. ever, tell me of any great philosophical system, o general doctrines since become law in Europe, Can an born of this movement? It has had immense and results; it has established rights, manners; it h powerfully influenced social relations, it has infl souls of men; it has made sects and enthusiasts, hardly exalted or extended-at all events directly zon of the human mind; it has not ignited one of |