James Fenimore Cooper

A Residence in France James Fenimore Cooper

Publisher Marketing: Influence of the late Revolution in France.-General Lafayette-Sketch of his Private Life.-My visits to him.-His opinion of Louis XVI.-Mr. Morris and Mr. Crawford.-Duplicity of Louis XVIII.-Charles X.-Marie Antoinette.-Legitimacy of the Duc de Bordeaux.-Discovery of the Plot of 1822.-Lafayette's conduct on that occasion.-A negro Spy.-General Knyphausen.-Louis-Philippe and Lafayette.-My visit to Court.-The King, the Queen, Madame Adelaide, and the Princesses.-Marshal Jourdan.-The Duke of Orleans.-Interview with the King.-"Adieu l'Amerique!"-Conversation with Lafayette.-The Juste Milieu.-Monarchy not inconsistent with Republican Institutions.-Party in favour of the Duc de Bordeaux. Paris, February, 1832. Dear --, Your speculations concerning the influence of the late revolution, on the social habits of the French, are more ingenious than true. While the mass of this nation has obtained less than they had a right to expect by the severe political convulsions they have endured, during the last forty years, they have, notwithstanding, gained something in their rights; and, what is of far more importance, they have gained in a better appreciation of those rights, as well as in the knowledge of the means to turn them to a profitable and practical account. The end will show essential improvements in their condition, or rather the present time shows it already. The change in polite society has been less favourable, although even this is slowly gaining in morals, and in a healthier tone of thought. No error can be greater, than that of believing France has endured so much, without a beneficial return.