If
he was treated with harshness by his political enemies, his
consolation was in the tender affection which filled his home with
sunshine. Though his public life was bracing and stimulating, he
felt, nevertheless, that it was cold and calculating, and neither
filled the soul nor elevated the character. "Man longs for a
happiness," he says in his 'Memoires,' more complete and more
tender than that which all the labours and triumphs of active
exertion and public importance can bestow. What I know to-day, at
the end of my race, I have felt when it began, and during its
continuance. Even in the midst of great undertakings, domestic
affections form the basis of life; and the most brilliant career
has only superficial and incomplete enjoyments, if a stranger to
the happy ties of family and friendship."
The circumstances connected with M. Guizot's courtship and
marriage are curious and interesting. While a young man living by
his pen in Paris, writing books, reviews, and translations, he
formed a casual acquaintance with Mademoiselle Pauline de Meulan,
a lady of great ability, then editor of the PUBLICISTE. A severe
domestic calamity having befallen her, she fell ill, and was
unable for a time to carry on the heavy literary work connected
with her journal. At this juncture a letter without any signature
reached her one day, offering a supply of articles, which the
writer hoped would be worthy of the reputation of the PUBLICISTE.
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