|
|
Front Page  Titles (by Subject) TO M. FRESLON. - Memoir, Letters, and Remains of Alexis de Tocqueville, vol. 2
TO M. FRESLON. - Alexis de Tocqueville, Memoir, Letters, and Remains of Alexis de Tocqueville, vol. 2 [1861]Edition used:Memoir, Letters, and Remains of Alexis de Tocqueville. Translated from the French by the translator of Napoleon’s Correspondence with King Joseph. With large Additions. In Two Volumes (London: Macamillan, 1861). 2 vols.
About Liberty Fund:Liberty Fund, Inc. is a private, educational foundation established to encourage the study of the ideal of a society of free and responsible individuals. Copyright information:The text is in the public domain.
Fair use statement:
This material is put online to further the educational goals of Liberty Fund, Inc. Unless otherwise stated in the Copyright Information section above, this material may be used freely for educational and academic purposes. It may not be used in any way for profit.
- Memoir, Letters, and Remains of Alexis De Tocqueville, Vol. Ii
- Letters of Alexis De Tocqueville.
- 1835: To M. De Corcelle.
- To Count MolÉ.
- To Lord Radnor. *
- To Henry Reeve, Esq.
- To John Stuart Mill, Esq.
- To the Same.
- 1836: To the Same.
- To Henry Reeve, Esq.
- To the Same.
- To M. De Corcelle.
- To M. Gustave De Beaumont.
- To M. De Corcelle.
- To J. S. Mill, Esq.
- 1837: To N. W. Senior, Esq.
- To H. Reeve, Esq.
- To the Same.
- To Count MolÉ. President of the Cabinet ( Prime Minister. )
- Answer From Count MolÉ to M. De Tocqueville.
- To Count MolÉ.
- To M. Gustave De Beaumont.
- 1838: To the Same.
- To the Same.
- To the Same.
- 1839: To the Same.
- To the Same.
- To the Baron De Tocqueville.
- To M. J. J. AmpÈre.
- To J. S. Mill, Esq.
- To M. J. J. AmpÈre.
- 1840: To H. Reeve, Esq.
- To the Same.
- To M. J. J. AmpÈre.
- To H. Reeve, Esq.
- To M. De Corcelle.
- To M. J. J. AmpÈre.
- To the Baron De Tocqueville.
- To J. S. Mill, Esq.
- 1841: To the Baron De Tocqueville.
- To M. J. J. AmpÈre.
- To the Same.
- 1843: To M. Gustave De Beaumont.
- To Lord Radnor.
- To M. De Corcelle.
- 1844: To the Same.
- 1846: To Charles Buller, Esq. *
- To M. De Corcelle.
- 1847: To M. Dufaure.
- To N. W. Senior, Esq.
- To M. De Corcelle.
- 1848: To Mademoiselle Denise De Tocqueville.
- To N. W. Senior, Esq.
- To the Comtesse Louis De Kergorlay.
- To Lord Radnor.
- To M. Gustave De Beaumont (in London).
- To the Same.
- 1849: To G. Grote, Esq.
- To Lord Radnor.
- 1850: To the Comtesse De Circourt.
- Extract From the Journal Kept By Mr. Senior In the Spring of 1850.
- To Mrs. Grote.
- To M. De Corcelle.
- Extracts From the Journal Kept By Mr. Senior During His Visit to Normandy.
- To M. Dufaure.
- To M. De Corcelle.
- To M. G. De Beaumont.
- To M. Dufaure.
- To the Comtesse De Circourt.
- 1851: To M. Gustave De Beaumont.
- To the Comtesse De Circourt.
- To M. Dufaure.
- To N. W. Senior, Esq.
- To M. Gustave De Beaumont.
- To M. De Corcelle.
- To N. W. Senior, Esq.
- To the Editor of the “times.”
- “ the High Court of Justice,
- Extracts From Mr. Senior’s Journal.
- 1852: To N. W. Senior, Esq.
- To M. Gustave De Beaumont.
- To the Comte De Circourt.
- To M. Dufaure.
- To the Comtesse De Circourt.
- To Henry Reeve, Esq.
- To the Comtesse De Circourt.
- 1853: To Baron Bunsen.
- To Henry Reeve, Esq.
- To M. Gustave De Beaumont.
- To Baron Bunsen.
- To W. R. Greg, Esq.
- T. M. Freslon (formerly Minister of Public Instruction).
- To N. W. Senior, Esq.
- To W. R. Greg, Esq.
- To M. Freslon.
- To the Comte De Circourt.
- To M. De Corcelle.
- To the Comtesse De Circourt.
- To M. Freslon.
- To M. Rivet.
- To M. Gustave De Beaumont.
- To M. Freslon.
- To the Comtesse De Circourt.
- To Mrs. Grote.
- To the Comte De Circourt.
- To M. De Corcelle.
- 1854: To the Comtesse De Circourt.
- Extract From Mr. Senior’s Journal.
- To Baron Edouard De Tocqueville.
- Extract From Mr. Senior’s Journal.
- To the Comte De Circourt.
- To the Same.
- To M. De Corcelle.
- To the Comtesse De Circourt,
- To M. Gustave De Beaumont.
- To M. De Circourt.
- To M. Gustave De Beaumont.
- To M. De Corcelle.
- To the Same.
- To the Same.
- 1855: To N. W. Senior, Esq.
- To Mrs. Grote.
- To N. W. Senior, Esq.
- To Mrs. Grote.
- To M. Gustave De Beaumont.
- Extracts From Mr. Senior’s Journal.
- To Madame Swetchine.
- To N. W. Senior, Esq.
- To M. De Corcelle.
- To Mrs. Austin.
- To M. De Circourt.
- To N. W. Senior, Esq.
- To Madame Swetchine.
- To M. De Corcelle.
- To the Comte De Circourt.
- To M. De Corcelle.
- To the Same.
- 1856: To Madame Swetchine.
- To M. De Corcelle.
- To the Same.
- To Baron Bunsen.
- To M. Charles De RÉmusat.
- To Madame Swetchine.
- To M. Victor Lanjuinais (formerly Minister of Commerce).
- To Prince Albert De Broglie.
- To Madame Swetchine.
- To M. De RÉmusat.
- To Mrs. Grote.
- To M. Duvergier De Hauranne.
- To N. W. Senior, Esq.
- To Madame Swetchine.
- To Mrs. Grote.
- To M. Lanjuinais.
- To Madame Swetchine.
- To N. W. Senior, Esq.
- To Henry Reeve, Esq.
- To Madame Swetchine.
- To M. Gustave De Beaumont.
- To Madame Swetchine.
- 1857: To M. A. Rivet.
- To M. J. J. AmpÈre.
- To Mrs. Grote.
- To M. Freslon.
- To Henry Reeve, Esq.
- To Madame Swetchine.
- To N. W. Senior, Esq.
- To M. J. J. AmpÈre.
- To the Comtesse De Circourt.
- To Lady Theresa Lewis.
- Extracts From Mr. Senior’s Journal.
- To Henry Reeve, Esq.
- To Mrs. Grote.
- To N. W. Senior, Esq.
- To Lord Radnor.
- To M. J. J. AmpÈre.
- To M. De Corcelle.
- To M. De Corcelle.
- To Lord Hatherton.
- To Mrs. Hollond.
- To M. J. J. AmpÈre.
- To the Same.
- To M. Freslon.
- To the Comtesse De Circourt.
- To Lady Theresa Lewis.
- To M. Freslon.
- To M. Gustave De Beaumont.
- To N. W. Senior, Esq.
- To Lord Hatherton.
- 1858: To M. J. J. Ampere.
- To Henry Reeve, Esq.
- To Sir James Stephen.
- To N. W. Senior, Esq.
- To Lord Hatherton.
- To Henry Reeve, Esq.
- To M. Freslon.
- To the Same.
- Extract From Mr. Senior’s Journal.
- To M. Gustave De Beaumont.
- To M. Freslon.
- To M. De Circourt.
- To Mrs. Grote.
- To N. W. Senior, Esq.
- To Lord Hatherton.
- To Sir G. C. Lewis.
- To W. R. Greg, Esq.
- To M. Freslon.
- To the Comte De Circourt.
- To M. De Corcelle.
- To M. J. J. AmpÈre.
- To the Same.
- 1859: To M. Lanjuinais.
- To J. S. Mill, Esq.
- To the Comte De Circourt.
- To M. C. Rivet.
- To M. De Corcelle.
- To the Vicomte Édouard De Tocqueville.
- To the Comtesse Hippolyte De Tocqueville.
- To Henry Reeve, Esq.
- To M. Freslon.
- To M. J. J. AmpÈre.
- To M. Gustave De Beaumont.
- To Baron Bunsen.
- To M. Lanjuinais.
- To N. W. Senior, Esq.
- To the Comte De Circourt.
- To M. De Corcelle.
- To M. J. J. AmpÈre.
TO M. FRESLON.
Tocqueville, September 11, 1857.
Your friendship makes you anxious as to the inferences which I shall draw from my long study of the Revolution. You fear that I shall end by despair of the future.
It is true that I have often to struggle against it. I own that I cannot see how, with such a past history and with such results, we shall ever create permanent institutions, with which you or I can be satisfied. I confess that my inability to find a remedy for such inveterate evils throws me sometimes into a dark despondency as to politics which can lead to no good.
But I can assure you that, in the first place, I am resolved to fight with all my strength against this melancholy; and secondly, that I am certain that the black horizon which bounds our view conceals something far better beyond it. Society with us is tired—exhausted, if you choose to say so—but not worn out. It is sick, but its constitution is strong. I do not believe that we are to be compared to the Romans. We have Christianity, modern knowledge, energy, though latent; we have no slaves; we belong to one country. In all these things we differ. We no more resemble the Romans of the age of Augustus, of whom we hear so much, than we resembled twenty-five years ago the English of 1688, though there was some resemblance in the two Revolutions, and though Louis Philippe seemed to be the ghost of William the Third. Nothing is more deceitful than historical resemblances. No; we shall have something better than Rome under the Cæsars; and because I see no such dawn, I do not believe that we have sunk into a similar night.
Observe, too, that I do not blame the destruction of the ancien régime, but the mode of destruction. I am not opposed to democracies. They may be great, they may be in accordance with the will of God, if they be free. What saddens me is, not that our society is democratic, but that the vices which we have inherited and acquired make it so difficult for us to obtain or to keep well-regulated liberty. And I know nothing so miserable as a democracy without liberty.
Such is the state of my mind on these matters. I do not fear that it will give a mischievous colour to my book. Believe me when I assure you that all my efforts will be to raise men, not to depress them. But I must preserve my identity. Only feelings and opinions that belong to the very depths of the soul have the vigour and the warmth which rouse and stimulate the reader. A writer must beware of weakening the strength of his thoughts, above all in their first expression. I am far from the end of my work, and of course my friends will see it and judge it before the public does. What will it be? Really I cannot tell.
|
