perils, a wisdom more than man's, which sees the end from the beginning, and beholds alike the invisible track of safety over these pathless waters, and the quiet harbor where it ends. Let all men pray, that when, the crew and the steersmen having been faithful to their part, that hour of rejoicing and rest at last arrives, the black and thunder-bearing cloud that has threatened us ever since the entrance of our career shall have been broken and scattered forever.

In estimating the actual progress which we have made as a nation, and in measuring the proportion of results which have been arrived at with those which might justly have been expected of us, it is not altogether fair to compare ourselves with others by periods of time. For, in some respects, we were placed at the very outset at a point which was only attained by others after centuries of preparation; nay, in some respects, as has been already hinted, we were in front of their utmost development. But we may be deceived by this way of reasoning. The difference lies in the nature of the elements, rather than in the degree of their assimilation. The truly national life is only commenced, and the great process of development, as something by itself, lies all before it. The form of government is such as will render this process more sure and rapid than in the case of any other nation, for it is more in harmony with the nature and real wants of man. No other, except that of the Hebrews, was ever formed with so distinct and beneficent a purpose. Its object is not merely to hold men in order, but to secure order in such a manner as shall consist with the highest liberty and personal welfare of the individual; and while it thus provides for a more easy, it expects also, and makes way for a far more thorough and perfect development, a more entire assimilation of material than has been elsewhere accomplished. Thus it will not have done its work for a long time to come. It were indeed a bad omen for any nation, that its best fruits were produced within the first century of its existence, but especially for a nation that has so much business before it as ours. What we do, indeed, in the way of mere imitation, may perhaps be as well done now as at any time; but of those things which are to be the genuine and spontaneous fruits of our own national character, each must come in its time. The fig-tree, indeed, has its

early figs; but they are not like those of the summer, when the ripened sap has tasted the full influences of the sun. So we begin to prove not without relish and exultation, some early products of our own native genius and culture, in whose abundance and excellence we already see the promise of the great harvest to come. But we are willing to let them go at whatever estimate may be put upon them either by friends or foes, being so confident that the day will come when we shall have no need to praise, but all shall willingly acknowledge the goodness of some new gift even now slowly and secretly preparing for the enrichment of all. And now it will not be amiss to remember how many nations have had to wait for centuries before they could give forth anything very valuable of their own; in how many some of their best fruits were only produced on the of their decline; a mere bequest, a memorial of what they were, by which, when about to perish, they secured that the world should not forget their existence. Not that there was any necessary connection between this maturity and decay; but the fact illustrates the necessity of such maturity, such thorough and complete nationalization, before the evidences of national genius and power can be put forth in any marked abundance.

verge

Here, then, we stand, among the beginnings of things, and not among things completed. Our work is the work of the spring-time, the work of the morning. It is not our part to gather in the harvest, nor can we sit down at leisure, as if the day's business were over. Nor can any of us say, It is nothing to me. I have nothing to do with all this. For such is the importance of epochs, and especially of those which are initiatory, that they make heroes of the most common-place individuals. They throw on every one who lives in them a responsibility which at other times could only be conferred by some marked and conspicuous gift of nature. To do one's duty, however simple, at such a period, is to drop a seed of good that shall multiply a thousand fold; to be idle and careless becomes a great and positive sin; to do evil, is to lay the foundations of a great and terrible retribution.

Let us, then, all remember this; and striving to know the time in which we live, the place in which God has put us, and what he requires of us in it, let us not despise any, the meanest

part assigned to us; but taking it up manfully, and going forward in it with courage and hope, rejoice with thankful hearts, that a day has fallen to our lot when the motives are so great for doing our utmost with whatever measure of strength has been granted us; but rejoicing above all, that it is God who is working in us and by us; that the plan and the fulfilment are only his, who has been working from the beginning, is working still, and whose hand will not weary until the end.

ARTICLE VII.

ALEXIS DE TOCQUEVILLE.

Memoir, Letters, and Remains of Alexis De Tocqueville. Translated from the French. Two vols., 12mo. Boston: Ticknor & Fields. 1862.

WE give these volumes a cordial welcome. They are issued in attractive style, and call attention to a name held in high estimation both in Europe and America, — a name destined, without doubt, to rise higher in consideration and influence, in this and the other hemisphere.

M. de Tocqueville - we are willing frankly to avow it - has quite won our Puritan heart. Gallic though he be in origin, and Roman Catholic in faith, we find in him such measures of tolerance and charity, and such justness and magnanimity of spirit, that, despite race and creed, it is impossible not to fraternize with him; and we gladly recognize in his career that of a benefactor of the race. His works are beneficent in spirit, and doubtless they will abide; and now that, too soon alas! he has joined the ranks of the immortals, his shade will still linger to bless the nations and communities to whose welfare he devoted the energies of his life. We regard him as entitled to the high consideration of all Americans.

One of the noblest encomiums we recollect, is that bestowed by Sydney Smith on Sir James Mackintosh, the moral philoso

pher and historian. "Those that lived with him," said the sharp-sighted dean, "found they were gaining upon doubt, correcting error, enlarging the boundaries, and strengthening the foundations of truth. Whatever could promote peace, knowledge, and industry; whatever could exalt human character and enlarge the human understanding, struck at once to his heart, and roused all his faculties." These words are justly applicable to Tocqueville. His life-long efforts were made for the elevation of his fellow-men; and those who felt his influence found themselves emerging from error, gaining upon doubt, and resting more securely upon foundations of truth. In fact, the eminent Frenchman bears closer resemblance to Sir James than to any other marked character of the present century whom we recall. He possessed the philanthrophic spirit and love of truth, which characterized the Briton. There was the like capable and candid intellect, with yet greater strength of will; and, if there was less range in the sphere of abstract thought, there was greater compactness in the quality of thought; and in the management of topics within his chosen field, there was a more thorough and exhaustive treatment. His auditors too, it is to be noticed, were nations rather than classes, or individuals. He exerted his influence upon France and America, upon Great Britain and the world. Like that inevitable democracy, which he saw advancing with portentous power to conquer Europe and the world, his own power, because associated with that mighty social movement, must extend to distant ages and to the ends of the earth.

Tocqueville, more fully than any other writer, has revealed the American Republic to the world, and given candid inquirers in other lands the means of knowing the laws and social life existing under it. The governing classes of Europe have ever been slow to understand America. And how much it behooves them and us that the requisite knowledge be fully and immediately imparted, heaven only knows. For if, in the enor mous rebellion that convulses the land, Providence shall consummate the triumph of loyal power, and if the bearing of England shall not be speedily altered, peace for more than the briefest period we regard as utterly impossible, and men quite unused to the voice of war will be ready to shout the cry," To

arms!" The whole people will join in one mighty uprising to humble a haughty power that looked on with selfish hate under our calamity and in the anguish of our soul.

Without doubt, each nation, by its character and acts, must disclose itself to the world; still the pen has its great office. And Tocqueville, while he has flashed a vivid light upon the impotence and inanity of the effete French noblesse for our benefit, has also portrayed, for this supreme era, the spirit and institutions of the Republic, that Europe and the world may behold them. Henceforth men cannot shut their eyes upon America. Macbeth hath murdered sleep. As the revolution of 1789 rendered it impossible that France should ever again be overlooked on the field of Europe while history survives, so the events of 1861-2 will challenge, in behalf of the United States, the awakened and perpetual attention of the world. The gallant nation that interposed in our behalf, in the crisis of the Revolutionary struggle, with the power of the sword, has again become the benefactor of America in the person of Tocqueville, by the mightier power of the pen.

We propose to furnish, as far as our resources will permit, the history and social characteristics of Tocqueville, gathering our materials from the volumes before us, and from his works already in possession of the public.

The "Memoir," by M. de Beaumont, contained in the first of these volumes, disappoints us. Appreciative in spirit and graceful in style, it is animated with a certain elevated tone of sentiment, which renders it highly attractive to the reader. But as a presentment of Tocqueville's life, it is entirely inadequate. Even as a résumé of the events of his career, it neglects, in numerous instances, to make reference to facts, opinions, and influences by which sections of his life must have been determined. In apology for this, something is due, doubtless, to the writer's consideration for friends yet living; and something to the fact that the work was given to the public under the sway of the present Emperor of the French, a ruler jealously alive to all characters and influences antagonist to his power. But what should hinder M. de Beaumont from giving us the personal appearance of his friend? What should prevent reference to the moral alchemy by which this heir to