the abject
despair of others, the ladies of the court seated themselves at gambling
tables, where the choicest refreshments were handed to them. Bands of
musicians and courtezans served to amuse that insensate crowd. Soon its
excesses led to its being expelled from the Place Vendome; it then fixed
itself in the Hotel de Soissons."--(Vol. i. pp. 133-134.)

This exceeds even the joint-stock mania of 1824, or the railway mania of
1845, in this country, of which, in the conclusion of his first volume
of "Tancred," Mr D'Israeli has given a graphic picture. Lady Bertie and
Bellair, whose billet regarding the "_broad gauge_" occasioned her to
swoon, and dispelled the romantic attachment of Lord Montacute, was but
a repetition of the French countesses, who thronged the antechambers of
Law a century before. More vehement in their desires, more mercurial in
their temperament than the English, the French, when seized with any
general mania, push it even into greater excesses, and induce upon
themselves and their country more wide-spread calamities.

M. De Tocqueville frequently says that he is not a military historian;
and although he has considerable powers of description, and, like all
his countrymen, understands something of the art of war, yet it is very
apparent that his inclination does not lie in that direction. We gladly
give a place, however, to his admirable account of the battle of
Fontenoy, and the exploits of the famous "English column," which, though
in the end unsuccessful, displayed a valour on the banks of the Scheldt
which foreshadowed the heroism of Albuera and Waterloo:--

"The King of France passed the Scheldt, and, in spite of the
representations of Marshal Saxe, placed himself on an eminence
commanding a view of the field of battle, and where the balls rolled to
his horse's feet. Many persons were wounded behind him. The English and
the Dutch commenced the attack at the same time at different points. The
former advanced as if nothing could disconcert their audacity. As the
ground contracted, their battalions became more close together, but
still keeping the finest order; and there was formed, partly by design,
partly by accident, that redoubtable column of which the Duke of
Cumberland soon felt the full value. Nothing could withstand that
terrible mass. Steadily it moved on, launching forth death incessantly
from every front. The French regiments in vain strove to impede its
progress; they perished in the