Recollections (Souvenirs)

Alexis de Tocqueville

Langue:

anglais

État:

Complete work

Paternité:

Written by the author

ALEXIS DE TOCQUEVILLE There have been printed of this book 14 copies on Japanese vellum^ of which 10 only are for sale. I o^ THE RECOLLECTIONS OF ALEXIS DE TOCQUEVILLE EDITED BY THE COMTE DE TOCQUEVILLE AND NOW FIRST TRANSLATED INTO ENGLISH BY ALEXANDER TEIXEIRA DE MATTOS WITH A PORTRAIT IN HELIOGRAVURE LONDON H. HENRY & CO. LTD. 93 SAINT MARTIN'S LANE W.C. MDCCCXCVI U PREFACE ' ' C'est tousiours plaisir de veoir les choses escriptes par ceulx qui ont essay^ comme il les faut conduire." Montaigne. Alexis de Tocqueville made his entrance in poli- tical life in 1839.^ At the outbreak of the Revolu- tion of February he was in the prime of his age and in the maturity of his talent. He threw himself into the struggle, resolving to devote himself to the interests of the country and of society, and he was one of the first among those whole-hearted, single-minded men who endeavoured to keep the Republic within a wise and moderate course by steering clear of the two-fold perils of Csesarism on the one hand and revolution on the other. A dangerous and thankless enterprise, of which the * At the age of 34. Alexis Clerel de Tocqueville was born in 1805 at Verneuil. His father was the Comte de Tocqueville, who was made a peer of France and a prefect under the Restoration ; his mother, nie Mile, de Rosambo, was a grand-daughter of Malesherbes. Alexis de Tocqueville was appointed an assistant judge, and in 1831 was sent to America, in company with G. de Beaumont to study the penal system in that continent. On his return he published a treatise on this subject ; and in 1835 appeared his great work on American Democracy, which secured his election to the Academy of Moral Science in 1839 and to the French

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