wunder · Library

Part 2

Correspondence & Conversations of Alexis De Tocqueville With Nassau William Senior From 1834 to 1859, Volume 2 · Alexis de Tocqueville — chapter 2 of 51 · ~1,443 words · public domain

Read in the Wunder reader — free

The 'Ancien Régime' Master of Paris, Master of France Opposition to Suez Canal Mischievous effect of English Opposition Expenditure under the Empire Effect of Opposition to the Suez Canal Tripartite Treaty 'Friponnerie' of the Government Tripartite Treaty Suez Canal French floating batteries Fortifications of Malta Emperor's orders to Canrobert A campaign must be managed on the spot

Letters in 1856-7.

The 'Ancien Régime' King 'Bomba' American Rebellion Lord Aberdeen on the Crimean War Eccentricities of English public men Remedy for rise in house-rent The rise produced by excessive public works Dulness of Paris Mr. Senior's Journal in Egypt Chinese war

Journal in 1857.

Flatness of society in Paris Dexterity of Louis Napoleon Is maintained by the fear of the 'Rouges' Due de Nemours' letter Tocqueville disapproves of contingent promises Empire rests on the army and the people Slavery of the Press Public speaking in France English and French speakers American speakers Length of speeches French public men Lamartine Falloux Foreign French Narvaez and Kossuth French conversers Montalembert Monsieur, Madame, and Mademoiselle Tu and vous Feeling respecting heretics Prejudices of the Ancien Régime French poetry Fashion in Literature Montalembert's changes of opinion Increasing population of Paris Its dangerous character No right to relief Sudden influx of workmen Soldiers likely to side with the people Lamoricière's heroism June 1848 French army National characteristics Change in French only apparent Martin's History of France He is a centraliser and an absolutist Secret police

Letters in 1857-8.

Reception in England Indian Mutiny Financial question Unpopularity of England Law of Public Safety

Journal in 1858.

Talleyrand as a writer English ignorance of French affairs Change of feeling respecting Louis Napoleon 'Loi de sureté publique' Manner in which it has been carried out Deportation a slow death Influence of 'hommes de lettres' French army Russian army French navy Napoleon indifferent to the navy Mr. Senior's Athens journal Otho and Louis Napoleon Qualities which obtain influence Character of Louis Napoleon Tocqueville's comments on the above conversation Tocqueville on Novels Intellectual and moral inferiority of the age Education of French women 'Messe d'une heure' Influence of Madame Récamier Duchesse de Dino

Letters in 1858-9.

Failing health Mr. Senior's visit to Sir John Boileau Promise of Lord Stanley Character of Guizot Spectacle afforded by English Politics Tocqueville at Cannes Louis Napoleon's loss of popularity Death of Alexis de Tocqueville Grief it occasioned in England

Journal at Tocqueville in 1861.

Madame de Tocqueville house at Valognes Chateau de Tocqueville Beaumont on Italian affairs Piedmontese unpopular with the lower classes Popular with the higher classes in Naples Influence of Orsini Subjection of the French Effect of Universal Suffrage Causes which may overthrow Louis Napoleon Popularity of a war with England Condition of the Roman people Different sorts of courage in different nations Destructiveness of war not found out at first Effect of service on conscript Expenditure of Louis Napoleon Forebodings of the Empress Prince Napoleon Ampère on Roman affairs Inquisition Infidelity Mortara affair Torpor of Roman Government Interference with marriages Ampère expects Piedmont to take possession of Rome Does not think that Naples will submit to Piedmont Wishes of Naples only negative Ampère's reading Execution of three generations Familiarity with death in 1793 Sanson Public executioners The 'Chambre noire' Violation of correspondence Toleration of Ennui Prisoners of State M. and Madame de La Fayette Mirabeau and La Fayette Louis XVI. and Marie Antoinette Evils of Democratic despotism Ignorance and indolence of 'La jeune France' Algeria a God-send Family life in France Moral effect of Primogeniture Descent of Title Shipwreck off Gatteville Ampère reads 'Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme' The modern Nouveau Riche Society under the Republic Madame Récamier Chateaubriand and Madame Mohl Ballanche Extensiveness of French literature French and English poetry The 'Misanthrope' Tocqueville's political career Under Louis Philippe in 1835 Independence In 1839 and 1840 Opposition to Guizot Inaction of Louis Philippe Tocqueville would not submit to be a minister without power Mistaken independence of party Could not court popularity Reform came too late Faults in the Constitution Defence of the Constitution Tocqueville wished for a double election of the President Centralisation useful to a usurper England in the American War Defence of England Politics of a farmer Wages in Normandy Evils of Universal Suffrage Influence of the clergy Prince Napoleon Constitutional monarchy preferable to a republic Republic preferable to a despotism Probable gross faults of a republic Evils of socialist opinions Mischievous effects of strikes Mistaken tolerance of them in England Tocqueville's tomb

* * * * *

APPENDIX.

Mr. Senior's report of M. de Montalembert's speech in 1854

TOCQUEVILLE DURING THE EMPIRE

FROM DECEMBER 23, 1851 TO APRIL 20, 1858.

CONVERSATIONS

PARIS, 1851-2.

Paris, December 23, 1851.--I dined with Mrs. Grot and drank tea with the Tocquevilles.

'This,' said Tocqueville, 'is a new phase in our history. Every previous revolution has been made by a political party. This is the first time that the army has seized France, bound and gagged her, and laid her at the feet of its ruler.'

'Was not the 18th fructidor,' I said, 'almost a parallel case? Then, as now, there was a quarrel between the executive and the legislature. The Directory, like Louis Napoleon, dismissed the ministers, in whom the legislature had confidence, and appointed its own tools in their places, denounced the legislature to the country, and flattered and corrupted the army. The legislature tried the usual tactics of parliamentary opposition, censured the Government, and refused the supplies. The Directory prepared a coup d'état. The legislature tried to obtain a military force, and failed; they planned an impeachment of the Directory, and found the existing law insufficient. They brought forward a new law defining the responsibility of the executive, and the night after they had begun to discuss it, their halls were occupied by a military force, and the members of the opposition were seized in the room in which they had met to denounce the treason of the Directory.'

'So far,' he answered, 'the two events resemble one another. Each was a military attack on the legislature by the executive. But the Directors were the representatives of a party. The Councils and the greater part of the aristocracy, and the bourgeoisie, were Bonapartists; the lower orders were Republican, the army was merely an instrument; it conquered, not for itself, but for the Republican party.

'The 18th brumaire was nearer to this--for that ended, as this has begun, in a military tyranny. But the 18th brumaire was almost as much a civil as a military revolution. A majority in the Councils was with Bonaparte. Louis Napoleon had not a real friend in the Assembly. All the educated classes supported the 18th brumaire; all the educated classes repudiate the 2nd of December. Bonaparte's Consular Chair was sustained by all the élite of France. This man cannot obtain a decent supporter. Montalembert, Baroche, and Fould--an Ultramontane, a country lawyer, and a Jewish banker--are his most respectable associates. For a real parallel you must go back 1,800 years.'

I said that some persons, for whose judgment I had the highest respect, seemed to treat it as a contest between two conspirators, the Assembly and the President, and to think the difference between his conduct and theirs to be that he struck first.

'This,' said Tocqueville, 'I utterly deny. He, indeed, began to conspire from November 10, 1848. His direct instructions to Oudinot, and his letter to Ney, only a few months after his election, showed his determination not to submit to Parliamentary Government. Then followed his dismissal of Ministry after Ministry, until he had degraded the·office to a clerkship. Then came the semi-regal progress, then the reviews of Satory, the encouragement of treasonable cries, the selection for all the high appointments in the army of Paris of men whose infamous characters fitted them to be tools. Then he publicly insulted the Assembly at Dijon, and at last, in October, we knew that his plans were laid. It was then only that we began to think what were our means of defence, but that was no more a conspiracy than it is a conspiracy in travellers to look for their pistols when they see a band of robbers advancing.

'M. Baze's proposition was absurd only because it was impracticable. It was a precaution against immediate danger, but if it had been voted, it could not have been executed. The army had already been so corrupted, that it would have disregarded the orders of the Assembly. I have often talked over our situation with Lamoricière and my other military friends. We saw what was coming as clearly as we now look back to it; but we had no means of preventing it.'

← Previous chapterAll chaptersNext chapter →

Correspondence & Conversations of Alexis De Tocqueville With Nassau William Senior From 1834 to 1859, Volume 2 · The Wunder Library — complete classics, free to read, with narration.

© 2026 Wunder Learning LLC · Terms & Privacy