had nothing to regret save that he had not made his journey sooner.  Newton and Locke were dead.  But he had often the honor of paying his respects to their patroness, the celebrated Queen of England, who cultivated philosophy upon a throne, and who properly esteemed and valued M. de Montesquieu.  Nor was he less well received by the nation.  At London he formed intimate friendships with the great thinkers.  With them he studied the nature of the government, attaining profound knowledge of it.

As he had set out neither as an enthusiast nor a cynic, he brought back neither a disdain for foreigners nor a contempt for his own country.  It was the result of his observations that Germany was made to travel in, Italy to sojourn in, England to think in, and France to live in.

After returning to his own country, M. de Montesquieu retired for two years to his estate of La Brede, enjoying that solitude which a life in the tumult and hurry of the world but makes the more agreeable.  He lived with himself, after having so long lived with others; and finished his work ‘On the Cause of the Grandeur and Decline of the Romans,’ which appeared in 1734.

Empires, like men, must increase, decay, and be extinguished.  But this necessary revolution may have hidden causes which the veil of time conceals from us.

Nothing in this respect more resembles modern history than ancient history.  That of the Romans must, however, be excepted.  It presents us with a rational policy, a connected system of aggrandizement, which will not permit us to attribute the great fortune of this people to obscure and inferior sources.  The causes of the Roman grandeur may then be found in history, and it is the business of the philosopher to discover them.  Besides, there are no systems in this study, as in that of physics, which are easily overthrown, because one new and unforeseen experiment can upset them in an instant.  On the contrary, when we carefully collect the facts, if we do not always gather together all the desired materials, we may at least hope one day to obtain more.  A great historian combines in the most perfect manner these defective materials.  His merit is like that of an architect, who, from a few remains, traces the plan of an ancient edifice; supplying, by genius and happy conjectures, what was wanting in fact.

It is from this point of view that we ought to consider the work of M. de Montesquieu.  He finds the causes of the grandeur of the Romans in that love of liberty, of labor, and of country, which was instilled into them during their infancy; in those intestine divisions which gave an activity to their genius, and which ceased immediately upon the appearance of an enemy; in that constancy after misfortunes, which never despaired of the republic; in that principle they adhered to of never making peace but after victories; in the honor of a triumph, which was a subject of emulation among the generals; in that protection which they