bandoned the country, and, when that
could not be obtained, they tried to prevent the creation of the port.

'Very early, however, in his parliamentary life, he had found that an
independent member--a member who supporting no party is supported by no
party---is useless. He allowed himself therefore to be considered a
member of the Gauche; but I never could persuade him to be tolerably
civil to them. Once, after I had been abusing him for his coldness to
them, he shook hands with Romorantin, then looked towards me for my
applause, but I doubt whether he ever shook hands with him again. In
fact almost his only point of contact with them was their disapprobation
of the inactivity of Louis Philippe. Many of them were Bonapartists like
Abbatucci and Romorantin. Some were Socialists, some were Republicans;
the majority of them wished to overthrow the Monarchy, and the minority
looked forward with indifference to its fall.

'They hated him as much as he did them, much more indeed, for his mind
was not formed for hatred. They excluded him from almost all committees.'

'Would it not have been wise in him,' I asked, 'to retire from the
Chamber during the King's life, or at least until it contained a party
with whom he could cordially act?'

'Perhaps,' said Beaumont, 'that would have been the wisest course for
him--and indeed for me. I entered the Chamber reluctantly. All my family
were convinced that a political man not in the Chamber was nothing. So
I let myself be persuaded. Tocqueville required no persuasion, he was
anxious to get in, and when in it was difficult to persuade oneself to go
out. We always hoped for a change. The King might die, or he might be
forced--as he had been forced before--to submit to a liberal Ministry
which might have been a temporary cure, or even to a Parliamentary reform
which might have been a complete cure. Duchatel, who is a better
politician than Guizot, was superseding him in the confidence of the King
and of the Chamber.

'In fact, the liberal Ministry and Parliamentary reform did come at last,
though not until it was too late to save the Monarchy.

'If Tocqueville had retired in disgust from the Chamber of Deputies, he
might not have been a member of the Constituent, or of the Legislative
Assembly. This would have been a misfortune--though the shortness of the
duration of the first, and the hostility of the President during the
second, and also the state of his health, prevented his infl