THE LIBERTY OF MAN.

299

Raised in his own estimation1 by the sentiment of his liberty, man judges himself superior to the things by which he is surrounded; he deems them to have no 2 other value than that which he awards them, because they belong not to themselves. He recognises in himself 3 the right to occupy them, to apply them to his use, to change their form, to alter their natural arrangement,—in a word, to do with them what he pleases,1 without any remorse ever entering 5 his soul.

3

The first moral fact, then, which conscience seizes hold of, is the dignity of man's person in relation to things, and this dignity more peculiarly lies in liberty.

Liberty, which raises man above things, imposes obligations upon himself. While assuming 10 the right to do what he pleases with things,11 he does not feel that he has a right to pervert his own nature; on the contrary, he feels bound to 12 sustain it, and of constantly labouring to perfect the liberty that is within him. Such is the first law,13 the most general duty, that reason imposes upon 14 liberty. Thus capriciousness, violence, pride, envy, idleness, intemperance, are all passions which reason orders man 15 to combat, because they all strike heavy blows at 16 liberty, and degrade the dignity of human nature.

VICTOR COUSIN, "Justice et Charité."

1 In his own estimation, à ses propres yeux-2 he deems them to have no, il estime qu'elles n'ont d'-3 he......in himself, il se...... - what he pleases, ce qu'il lui plaît-5 without any... ......ever entering, sans qu'aucun...... pénètre dans-6 then, donc-7 seizes hold of, recueille lies, réside-9 imposes obligations upon himself, l'oblige par rapport à lui-même-10 while assuming, s'il s'attribue-11 "to do of the things what it pleases him"-12 he feels bound to, il se sent le devoir de 13 the first law, la loi première-14 "to"-15 "orders to man". 16 they all strike heavy blows at, elles portent atteinte à.

QUEEN ELIZABETH AND LOUIS XIV.

Elizabeth, like Louis XIV., brought to1 the throne the genius of order and the instinct of power, after long disorders which rendered the concentration of great strength in firm and dreaded hands desirable to the people. She, like him, knew how to appreciate merit, and to make use of it; to select ministers, and to keep them; to gather around her great men, and yet continue to be great herself.

Both these 5 royal natures were puffed up with 6 the 7 same pride; there was in both the same intolerance, the same disregard for the rights of others, the same uncontrollable desire to concentrate everything in themselves, and to domineer over everything. But the miseries of the human heart are much more apparent in Elizabeth, in whom we find dissimulation carried to hypocrisy, vanity to madness, severity in religious persecution without even the excuse of superstition or fanaticism, and a depth 10 of littlenesses side by side with traits of the most supreme grandeur. There was in Louis XIV., considered in his double capacity, as a man 11 and as a king, a better balance, and a greater evenness of character;12 there is to be found 13 in his disposition and conduct a better sustained harmony, and an unalloyed dignity. Yet he committed more faults than Elizabeth, to whom fortune remained faithful to the last. The reason is 14 that

1 To, sur- 2 construe : "which rendered desirable to the people the, etc."- 3 to gather around her, s'entourer de-4 continue to be, "remain"-5 both these, "these two"-6 puffed up with, pétries de-7 the, "a"-8 uncontrollable desire, besoin-9 carried to, poussée jusqu'à 10 depth, abîme- capacity as a man, qualité d'homme-12 a better, etc.......character, plus d'équilibre et d'unité -13 there is to be found, on trouve-14 the reason is, c'est.

QUEEN ELIZABETH AND LOUIS XIV.

6

301

Elizabeth was on the throne in a very different position from that of continental kings. She felt herself, notwithstanding all her haughtiness, under the pressure1 of necessities from which it was impossible for her to escape. She had neither a standing army to compel obedience, nor the means of maintaining one. She reigned over a people who, in the gloomiest days, endured all from their tyrants but one thing-viz., the imposition of permanent and arbitrary taxes without any limit but that of their good pleasure; and to vanquish resistance on that point she could not, in default of an7 army, array one class of her subjects against another—the fusion between them was complete, and there was but one voice throughout England to declare that the right of British citizen was to be taxed with the consent of the Parliament only. Hence Elizabeth was compelled to be prudent-not to disregard her people—to win the affections of her subjects-to be sparing 10 of their blood and wealth. Her authority had thus salutary bounds, which her reason acknowledged, and which were wanting to Charles V.,11 Philip II., and Louis XIV.; and while the latter 12 destroyed, 13 in every constituted body, and in the institutions, everything which was an obstacle to him,14 or which appeared to maintain some force independent of his own, Elizabeth restrained all without disturbing anything,15 and compressed without destroying. She was not unmindful 16 that Parliament

every

8

1 Pressure, joug-2 from which......to escape, auxquelles......de se soustraire (see note, p. 30)-3 standing, permanente- see note ", p. 11-5 see note a, p. 10-6 one, une seule-7 in default of an, à défaut d'-8 not to disregard, de compter avec-9 sing.-10 sparing, ménagère- Charles V., Charles-Quint-12 the latter, celui-ci13 destroyed, brisait-14 "which made obstacle to him"-15 with out disturbing anything, sans rien renverser- was not unmindful, se souvint.

16

had proclaimed her right to the throne-she humoured them while1 bending them to her plans—and it was by affecting a profound respect for traditional and popular institutions that she transformed them into instruments of despotism. She thus attained, without accident, the end of her long reign, leaving the people at her death much more numerous, more powerful, and more wealthy than at her accession to the throne,3 and a memory which has never ceased to be revered by all classes of the English nation.

E. DE BONNECHOSE, "Histoire d'Angleterre."

5

THE BEARS' HOLIDAY.

6

I remember that some seven or eight years ago I had been to Claye, a few leagues from Paris. I was returning on foot. I had started tolerably early, and about noon, the fine trees of the forest of Bondy tempting me,7 at a place where the road makes a sharp turn,8 I sat down, with my back against an oak, on a hillock of grass, my feet hanging over a ditch, and I began to scribble 10 on my green book.

9

As I was finishing the fourth line I vaguely raised my eyes, and I perceived on the other side of the ditch, at the edge of the road, straight before me only a few paces off, a bear staring at me fixedly. In broad daylight 11 one does not have the nightmare; one cannot be deceived by 12 a form, by an appearance, by a queer

1 She humoured them while, elle le ménagea en-2 the end, au terme accession to the throne, avénement.

A few, at some❞—5 I was returning, je m'en revenais-6 tolerably early, d'assez grand matin-7 tempting me, m'invitant-3 makes a sharp turn, tourne brusquement-with my back against, adossé à-10 I began to scribble, je me mis à crayonner-11 in broad daylight, en plein jour-12 be deceived by, être dupe de.

THE BEARS' HOLIDAY.

303

At noon,

shaped1 rock, by an absurd log of wood. under a May-day sun,2 one is not subject to hallucinations. It was indeed 3 a bear, a living bear, a real bear, and moreover perfectly hideous. He was gravely seated on his haunches, showing me the dusty underneath of his hind paws, all the claws of which I could distinguish, his fore paws softly 5 crossed over his belly. His jaws were partly open; one of his ears, torn and bleeding, was half hanging off; his lower lip, half torn away, showed his well-bared tusks;7 one of his eyes was gone, and with the other he was looking at me with9 a serious air.

8

There was not a woodman in the forest, and what little 10 I could see of the road just there,11 was entirely deserted.

13

I was not without experiencing a certain emotion. One may sometimes get out of a scrape 12 with a dog by calling him Soliman or Azor, but what could one say to a bear? Where did he come from? What could it mean,14 this bear in the forest of Bondy, on the high road from Paris to Claye! What business could this new sort of vagabond have here ? 15 It was very strange, very ridiculous, very unreasonable, and after all anything but pleasant.16 I was, I confess, much perplexed. However, I remained immovable; 17 I must say the bear for his part remained immovable also; he

1 Queer-shaped, difforme-2 under a May-day sun, par un soleil de mai-3 indeed, bien-4 on his haunches, sur son séant-5 softly, mollement-6 was half hanging off, pendait à demi-7 showed his wellbared tusks, laissait voir ses crocs déchaussés-8 gone, crevé-9 with, "of”—10 what little, "the little "—" just there, à cet endroit-là12 one may sometimes get out of a scrape, on se tire parfois d'affaire 13 what could one say, que dire-14 what could it mean, que signifait-15 what, etc.......have here? à quoi rimait ce vagabond d'un nouveau genre?-16 anything but pleasant, fort peu gai-17 however, etc......immovable, je ne bougeais pas cependant.