in peace. If I die before you, you will be the father of my children; if you die before me, I will be the father of yours; and if we both die before they are of an age to provide for their own wants, they will have for father, the Father who is in heaven."

LAMENNAIS, "Paroles d'un Croyant."

ARMAND CARREL.

Armand Carrel was one of those men who have no ancestors and who leave no posterity. Their name rises, shines, and dies with them, like those meteors which, in the night, light up the horizon and then pass away. Soldier in the army, of whom not a victory is recorded;3 champion of the press, of whom not a work remains. He was nevertheless more illustrious than generals and than writers. But his fame was the effect of circumstances.4 Yet a few more5 years, yet a few more waves of that great stream of time which bears us all away, and Carrel will exist only in the half-torn records of our stormy revolutions. He will live no longer except in the memory of his friends, a memory affectionate and faithful, which will never forget him; for he had a noble heart, a grand character, and was an admirable writer. Alas! who would have said that Carrel, so full of life, endowed with such great talents, would have been so soon snatched away from the hopes of his country? He fell struck by a bullet in a miserable encounter, caused by a quarrel which was not his own. A

1 Of an age to, en âge de.

2 And then pass away, et puis qui s'effacent-3 of whom not......is recorded, sans qu'il reste de lui...... - the effect of circumstances, circonstancielle yet a few more, encore quelques-6 records, feuillets— 7 endowed with such great, si riche de-8 caused by, pour.

village burial-ground received his remains, and a bronze statue, for which we are indebted to the renowned chisel of David, henceforth honours the memory of this heroic and ill-fated young man.

An immense crowd assisted at his obsequies. There were seen following behind the funeral car two venerable and illustrious old men who were his friends, and who were weeping: who, indeed, would not have wept for a man so generous and so deserving of regret, so glorious in1 his past and so full of promise for the future ?2-so full of promise for the future as a statesman, for he was on the eve of being made a3 Deputy, and what a position in the Chamber would not have secured for him1 the irresistible ascendancy of his character, to which all who knew him could not but yield;5-so full of promise as an orator, for he had that vehement power of apostrophe which overwhelms and throws into despair its opponents; that graphic, spontaneous, passionate eloquence, which was that of action, not of words; the emanation of a warm heart, not the fruit of study;so full of promise also as a writer, for he was about to write the history of Napoleon as it ought to be written, in a simple, manly, firm, and vivid style; not too florid, bold but not to excess, full of sense and grandeur; in a word, worthy of the life and deeds of the hero.

CORMENIN," Les Orateurs."

1 In, de-2 so full of promise for the future, si plein d'avenir3 made a, nommé- what a, etc...... for him, quelle place ne lui eût pas faite sur les bancs de la Chambre-5 to which.....could not but yield, dont......ne pouvaient se défendre-6 of action, des mouvements -the emanation, etc...... fruit of, de la chaleur de l'âme, et non des préparations des vivid, coloré- not too florid, sans trop d'éclat.

THE FALL OF NAPOLEON.

On the 11th of April, 1814, Napoleon renounced for himself and for his children the thrones of France and of Italy, and received in exchange for his vast sovereignty, which but lately1 extended from Cadiz to the Baltic Sea, the little island of Elba. On the 20th, after an affecting farewell to his old soldiers, he departed for his new principality.

Thus fell this man, who alone, for fourteen years, had filled the world. His enterprising and organizing genius, his power of life and will, his love of glory, and the immense available force which the revolution had placed in his hands, have made him? the most gigantic being of modern times. That which would render the destiny of another man extraordinary, scarcely counts in his. Having risen from an obscure to the highest rank; from a simple artillery officer having become3 the chief of the greatest of nations, he dared to conceive the idea of universal monarchy, and for a moment realized it. After having obtained the empire by his victories, he wished to subdue Europe by means of France, and reduce England by means of Europe; and he established the military system against the continent, the blockade against Great Britain. This design succeeded for some years; from Lisbon to Moscow he subjected people and potentates to his word of command as general, and to the vast sequestration which he had prescribed. But in this way he failed

4

1 But lately, naguère encore-2 have made him, ont fait de lui3 having become, devenu- his word of command as general, son mot d'ordre de général.

in discharging his restorative mission of the 18th Brumaire. By exercising on his own account the power he had received, by attacking the liberty of the people by despotic institutions, the independence of states by war, he excited against himself the opinions and interests of the human race; he provoked universal hostility; the nation forsook him;' and, after having been long victorious, after having planted his standard on every continental capital, after having during ten years augmented his power, and gained a kingdom with every battle, a single reverse combined the whole world against him, proving by his fall how impossible in our days2 is despotism.

Yet Napoleon, amidst all the disastrous results of his system, has given a prodigious impulse to the continent; his armies have carried with them the ideas, the customs, and the more advanced civilization of France. European societies were shaken on their old foundations; nations were mingled by frequent intercourse; bridges thrown across boundary rivers, high roads made over3 the Alps, Apennines, and the Pyrenees, brought territories nearer to each other; and Napoleon effected for the material condition of states what the revolution had done for the minds of men. The blockade completed the impulse of conquest it brought continental industry to perfection, enabling it to take the place of that of England, and replaced colonial commerce by the produce of manufactures. Thus Napoleon, by agitating nations,

1 Forsook him, s'est retirée de lui-2 in our days, de nos jours3 made over, pratiquées au milieu de brought......nearer to each other, ont rapproché......

2

contributed to civilization. His despotism rendered him counter-revolutionary with respect to France; but his spirit of conquest made him a regenerator with respect to Europe, of which many nations, in torpor till he came,' will live henceforth with the life he gave them. But in this Napoleon obeyed the dictates of his nature. The child of war-war was his tendency, his pleasure; domination, his object; he wanted to master the world, and circumstances placed it in his hand, in order that he might make use of it to fulfil his destiny.3

MIGNET, “Histoire de la Révolution Française."

THE PROGRESS OF VIRTUE.

In ages, happily far removed from us, sages deemed it sufficient that man should do no harm. They placed the height of virtue in the proud satisfaction of remaining free from impurity. They founded a school, the first precept of which was negative.5 It is Stoicism, as far removed from good as from evil, at once courageous, austere, and useless. It is liberty without fraternity, it is reason devoid of heart. God did not form us for that barren innocence. He only lends what He gives. Riches, intelligence, feelings, powers, treasures of humanity that man holds in trust, it is in being liberally spread that you are sanctified. The era of charity came after the proud

1 In torpor till he came, assoupies avant sa venue-2 with, de-3 that he might, etc......destiny, afin qu'il s'en aidât à exister.

4 It sufficient, etc......harm, qu'il suffisait de ne pas nuire-5 negative, l'abstention-6 devoid of, sans-7 it is by being, etc......sanctified, c'est en vous répandant qu'on vous sanctifie.