unities introduced an element of democratic liberty into the
bosom of feudal monarchy; the invention of fire-arms equalized the
villein and the noble on the field of battle; printing opened the same
resources to the minds of all classes; the post was organized so as to
bring the same information to the door of the poor man's cottage and to
the gate of the palace; and Protestantism proclaimed that all men are
alike able to find the road to heaven. The discovery of America offered
a thousand new paths to fortune, and placed riches and power within
the reach of the adventurous and the obscure. If we examine what has
happened in France at intervals of fifty years, beginning with the
eleventh century, we shall invariably perceive that a twofold revolution
has taken place in the state of society. The noble has gone down on the
social ladder, and the roturier has gone up; the one descends as the
other rises. Every half century brings them nearer to each other, and
they will very shortly meet.

Nor is this phenomenon at all peculiar to France. Whithersoever we turn
our eyes we shall witness the same continual revolution throughout the
whole of Christendom. The various occurrences of national existence have
everywhere turned to the advantage of democracy; all men have aided it
by their exertions: those who have intentionally labored in its cause,
and those who have served it unwittingly; those who have fought for
it and those who have declared themselves its opponents, have all
been driven along in the same track, have all labored to one end, some
ignorantly and some unwillingly; all have been blind instruments in the
hands of God.

The gradual development of the equality of conditions is therefore a
providential fact, and it possesses all the characteristics of a divine
decree: it is universal, it is durable, it constantly eludes all human
interference, and all events as well as all men contribute to its
progress. Would it, then, be wise to imagine that a social impulse which
dates from so far back can be checked by the efforts of a generation? Is
it credible that the democracy which has annihilated the feudal system
and vanquished kings will respect the citizen and the capitalist? Will
it stop now that it has grown so strong and its adversaries so weak?
None can say which way we are going, for all terms of comparison are
wanting: the equality of conditions is more complete in the Christian
countries of the present day than it