ted States, and had obtained some circulation there; but the
minds to which they found entrance were not entirely carried away by
them; they did not take root there with their fundamental principles and
their ultimate consequences: the moral gravity and the practical good
sense of the old Puritans survived in most of the admirers of the French
philosophers in America. The mass of the population remained profoundly
Christian, as warmly attached to its creed as to its liberties.

While they rebelled against the authority of the King and the Parliament
of England, they were submissive to the will of God and the precepts of
the Gospel, and while struggling for independence, they were governed by
the same faith which had conducted their ancestors to this land, where
they laid the foundations of what was now rising into a state.

The ideas and passions which now convulse and disorganize society under
the name of democracy, have an extensive and powerful sway in the United
States, and ferment there with all the contagious errors and destructive
vices which they involve. But they have hitherto been controlled and
purified by Christianity, by the excellent political traditions, and the
strong habits of obedience to law, which, in the midst of liberty,
govern the population. Though anarchical principles are boldly
proclaimed on this vast theatre, principles of order and conservation
maintain their ground, and exercise a solid and energetic influence both
over society and over individual minds; their presence and their power
are every where felt, even in the party which especially claims the name
of democratic. They moderate its actions, and often save it, unknown to
itself, from its own intemperance. It is to these tutelary principles,
which presided over the origin of the American revolution, that it owes
it success. May Heaven grant that in the formidable struggle which they
have now to sustain on every side, they may continue to guide this
powerful people, and may be always at hand to warn them in time of the
abysses which lie so near their path!

Three great men, Cromwell, William III., and Washington, stand forth in
history as the heads and representatives of those supreme crises which
have determined the fate of two great nations. For extent and energy of
natural talents, Cromwell is perhaps the most remarkable of the three.
His mind was wonderfully prompt, firm, just, supple, and inventive, and
he possessed a vigor of cha