He may yet play so considerable a part in the history of France as a potent representative of the political philosophy of De tocqueville-that is, of Liberal principles incompatible with the absolute power either of a sovereign or a populace, and resolutely opposed to experiments on the foundations of civilised society-that it would be unfair to himself and his partisans if, in a work like this, a word were said that could lead malignant conjecture to his identity with any special chief of the opinions of which I here present him only as a type.
"The Parisians, Book 11."
Edward Bulwer-Lytton
As tocqueville said fifty years ago, "the farther south we go the less active does the business of the township or parish become; the population exercises a less immediate influence on affairs; the power of the elected magistrate is augmented and that of the election diminished, while the public spirit of the local communities is less quickly awakened and less influential."
"American Political Ideas Viewed From The Standpoint Of Universal History"
John Fiske
This processional, "this gradual and continuous progress of the European race toward the Rocky Mountains," says the vivid pen of De tocqueville, "has the solemnity of a providential event.
"The French in the Heart of America"
John Finley
