n these, to present the whole as
vividly as possible to his readers. No one again is more thoroughly
master of a certain rather vague but telling eloquence which deals
chiefly with the moral feelings and the domestic affections, and
exercises an amiably softening influence on those who submit themselves
to it. M. Renan in style is rather an orator than a writer, though the
extreme care and finish which he bestows on his work give him a high
place in literature proper.

[Sidenote: Historians. Thierry.]

In history a group of distinguished names, besides a still larger number
of names only less individually distinguished, deserve notice. First
among these, in order of time, may be mentioned the two brothers Amedee
and Augustin Thierry, the former of whom was born in 1787, and died in
1873, while the latter, born in 1795, died in 1856. Both devoted
themselves to historical studies. But, while Amedee employed himself
almost wholly on the history of Gaul during Roman times and on Roman
history, Augustin, who was by far the more gifted of the two, took a
wider range. He was born and educated at Blois, and for some time
devoted himself to politics and sociology, being a disciple of Saint
Simon, and a fellow-worker of Comte. He soon, however, betook himself to
history, and in 1825 published his 'History of the Norman Conquest in
England.' Blindness followed, but he was able to continue his work. In
1835 he published _Dix Ans d'Etudes Historiques_, and in 1840, what is
perhaps his best work, _Recits des Temps Merovingiens_, a book which has
few rivals as exhibiting in a fascinating light, but without any
sacrifice of historical accuracy to mere picturesqueness, the
circumstances and events of an unfamiliar time. His last work of
importance was an essay on the Tiers Etat and its origin. Thierry is an
excellent example of an historian handling, with little guidance from
predecessors, a difficult and neglected but important age.

[Sidenote: Thiers.]

Far less important as a historian, but distinguished by his double
character of statesman and _litterateur_, in which he was more fortunate
than his two rivals in the same double career, Guizot and Lamartine, was
Louis Adolphe Thiers, who was born at Marseilles, of the lower middle
class, in 1797. He was brought up for the law, being educated at
Marseilles and at Aix. Then he went to Paris, and after a short time
obtained work on the _Constitutionnel_ as supporter of the liberal
o