HE GLOBE.--THE ELECTIONS OF
1827.--MY CONNECTIONS WITH THE SOCIETY, 'HELP THYSELF AND HEAVEN
WILL HELP THEE.'--MY RELATIONS WITH THE ADMINISTRATION OF M. DE
MARTIGNAC; HE AUTHORIZES THE REOPENING OF MY COURSE OF LECTURES,
AND RESTORES MY TITLE AS A STATE-COUNCILLOR.--MY LECTURES
(1828-1830) ON THE HISTORY OF CIVILIZATION IN EUROPE AND IN
FRANCE.--THEIR EFFECT.--I AM ELECTED DEPUTY FOR LISIEUX (DECEMBER,
1829).

When I was struck from the list of State-Councillors, with
MM. Royer-Collard, Camille Jordan, and Barante, I received from all
quarters testimonies of ardent sympathy. Disgrace voluntarily
encountered, and which imposes some sacrifices, flatters political
friends and interests indifferent spectators. I determined to resume, in
the Faculty of Letters, my course of modern history. We were then at the
end of July. Madame de Condorcet offered to lend me for several months a
country-house, ten leagues from Paris, near Meulan. My acquaintance with
her had never been intimate; her political sentiments differed
materially from mine; she belonged thoroughly and enthusiastically to
the eighteenth century and the Revolution: but she possessed an elevated
character, a strong mind, and a generous heart, capable of warm
affection; a favour offered by her sincerely, and for the sole pleasure
of conferring it, might be received without embarrassment. I accepted
that which she tendered me, and with the beginning of August I
established myself at the Maisonnette, and there recommenced my literary
labours.

At that time I was strongly attached, and have ever since remained so,
to public life. Nevertheless I have never quitted it without
experiencing a feeling of satisfaction mixed with my regret, as that of
a man who throws off a burden which he willingly sustained, or who
passes from a warm and exciting atmosphere into a light and refreshing
temperature. From the first moment, my residence at the Maisonnette
pleased me. Situated halfway up a hill, immediately before it was the
little town of Meulan, with its two churches, one lately restored for
worship, the other partly in ruins and converted into a magazine; on the
right of the town the eye fell upon L'Ile Belle, entirely parcelled out
into green meadows and surrounded by tall poplar-trees; in front was
the old bridge of Meulan, and beyond it the extensive and fertile
valley of the Seine. The house, not too small, was commodious and neatly