When
I say or do a thing which seems to me to be perfectly right, I
read immediately in Marie's countenance an expression of proud
satisfaction which elevates me. And so, when my conscience
reproaches me, her face instantly clouds over. Although I have
great power over her mind, I see with pleasure that she awes me;
and so long as I love her as I do now, I am sure that I shall
never allow myself to be drawn into anything that is wrong."
In the retired life which De Tocqueville led as a literary man--
political life being closed against him by the inflexible
independence of his character--his health failed, and he became
ill, irritable, and querulous. While proceeding with his last
work, 'L'Ancien Regime et la Revolution,' he wrote: "After sitting
at my desk for five or six hours, I can write no longer; the
machine refuses to act. I am in great want of rest, and of a long
rest. If you add all the perplexities that besiege an author
towards the end of his work, you will be able to imagine a very
wretched life. I could not go on with my task if it were not for
the refreshing calm of Marie's companionship. It would be
impossible to find a disposition forming a happier contrast to my
own. In my perpetual irritability of body and mind, she is a
providential resource that never fails me." (13)
M. Guizot was, in like manner, sustained and encouraged, amidst
his many vicissitudes and disappointments, by his noble wife.
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