GUIZOT, FRANCOIS P. O. 



only in spiritual hut in intellectual and politi- 

 cal mutter.-., iiml whoso principles In- followed 

 till his dying day. At a very early ago ho 

 gave evidence of precocious ability, uml de- 

 voted himself to the study <>f languages with 

 oqual zeal and success. At the age of eighteen 

 iioved to 1'aris, where he became private 

 tutor in a distinguislied family. He was intro- 

 duced into the literary circles of the day, and 

 began to write for periodicals of the higher 

 das-, and finding that one of them, Le Publi- 

 nilering from the protracted illness 

 of Millie. Pauline do Meulan, its editor, he very 

 quietly made her place good l>y his own labors, 

 thiiiigh he had never met the lady. On her 

 recovery, she learned the name of her generous 

 benefactor, and in 1812 she became Madame 

 (iiii/ot, though fourteen years her husband's 

 senior. During the seven years which pre- 

 ceded his marriage he had published several 

 works of considerable merit, and in the year in 

 which he was married (1812) he received the 

 appointment of Professor of Modern History 

 in the Sorbonne. 



Upon the fall of Napoleon I., he became 

 ary to the Minister of the Interior, and 

 at once attracted notice by the public docu- 

 ments of which he was the author. He left 

 this office on the return of Napoleon from Elba, 

 but, after the restoration of the Bourbons, was 

 appointed secretary to the Minister of Justice, 

 M. Barhi-Marbois. Other offices followed in 

 quick succession, and he became one of the 

 recognized leaders of the party of constitu- 

 tional monarchy. His work on " Represent- 

 ative Government and the Present State of 

 France " (1816), was one of the first declarations 

 of the "Doctrinaire" school, which admitted 

 in theory the principle of liberty, so far as was 

 compatible with public order, though without 

 urging its immediate realization. After the 

 death of the Duke de Berri, Guizot again re- 

 tired from office, and devoted himself entirely 

 to literary pursuits. 



In 1827 Guizot had the misfortune to lose 

 his wife, who had been educated as a Catholic, 

 but became a Protestant on her death-bed. 

 She was the author of numerous valuable 

 works of fiction, and of essays on education 

 and the family. The following year he mar- 

 ried a niece of Madame Guizot, who was also 

 a writer of considerable celebrity, but who 

 died about five years after the marriage. In 

 1828 Guizot was restored to his professorship 

 in the Sorbonne, from which he had been re- 

 moved during the Villele ministry, and, in con- 

 junction with Cousin and Villemain, delivered 

 the brilliant courses of lectures which were 

 attended with signal popularity, and cast a 

 wide renown on the ancient university. These 

 lectures were subsequently published. At this 

 time he was returned to the Chamber of Depu- 

 ties, where he took a decided stand against the 

 PoRgnao ministry, and excited a vivid sensation 

 by bis vehement attack. 



Upon the Revolution of 1830, Guizot drew up 



the protest of the deputies, who still adhered 

 King and his dyn.iMy. lie ii.nk .. 

 ,rt, liou ever, in the recnn-truction of the, 

 < .o\ eminent, opposed the claims of Kafir 



cabinet he was a member, and .-tn-ini- 

 ously supported the party of Cufrimir-Pcricr, 

 with all the influence of the constitir 

 monarchists, of whom ho was the chi< I. In 

 connection with Thiers and De Broglie he 

 formed the cabinet of 1832, under the presi- 

 dency of Soiilt, in which he was Minis! i-r of 

 Public Instruction. His services to his country 

 in this capacity were very great. He prepared 

 an excel lent code of laws for promoting primary 

 education, and attended personally to their en- 

 forcement. Had his successors been as faithful 

 as lie was in this matter, the common people 

 of France would now be almost as well edu- 

 cated as the Germans. Upon the dissolution 

 of this cabinet in 1836, after a few months 

 passed in retirement, he resumed the same po-t 

 in the Mali ministry, but soon became dissatis- 

 fied with the plans of his colleagues, and went 

 over in disgust to the opposition. 



In 1840 Guizot took the place of M. Sebas- 

 tian, as minister to the court of St. James. 

 His character was admirably suited to the 

 English taste. His Protestant faith, his repu- 

 tation as a writer, his grave manners, and his 

 social reserve, gave him great personal success. 

 But his policy as a diplomatist was severely 

 criticised by French statesmen. He was re- 

 called after a few months' service, and suc- 

 ceeded M. Thiers in the ministry of Foreign 

 Affairs in the last cabinet of Louis Philippe. 

 Here for seven years he strove with till his 

 ability to maintain the waning fortunes of the 

 King of the French ; and while, personally, 

 one of the purest and most upright of men, a 

 man who, with all the avenues of fortune open 

 to him, left office poor and without income 

 save that derived from his books, yet, in his 

 zeal to preserve the throne to the King, he re- 

 sorted to measures which brought discredit 

 and shame both on his royal master and him- 

 self. Never soiling his own hands with a 

 bribe, he yet bought the venal deputies in the 

 French Assembly, almost in open market, with 

 the lucrative offices at his command. But his 

 worst error, and the one which brought irrep- 

 arable dishonor upon his statesmanship, was 

 his management in regard to the Spanish mar- 

 riages and the Spanish alliance. That the Due 

 de Montpensier (son of Louis Philippe) might 

 not only marry an Infanta of Spain, a daughter 

 of the vile Queen Christina, but that his chance 

 of attaining, either in person or by his child, to 

 the Spanish throne might be increased, the 

 scandalous conduct of the young Queen was 

 encouraged, and the friendship between France 

 and England perilled, while the diplomacy of 

 the wily statesman seemed based upon Mac- 

 chiavelli's maxim, that " words were to be 

 used to conceal thought," and that other max- 

 im, so often reprobated by Guizot's associates, 

 that "the end justifies the means." There 



