AUTHOR'S PREFACE. IS historical study of American democracy, por THIS tions of which have appeared in the 'Revue de Deux Mondes' between 1857 and 1860, was written before the formidable outbreak which now desolates the United States. It is not, therefore, a work got up for the occasion; but, though not written for the purpose of explaining the actual crisis, it nevertheless contains a variety of particulars tending to throw light upon the nature of the evils to which the United States. have been subject from their very beginning, and which, I think, will not be unacceptable to those who concern themselves about the fate of democratic societies. The sources from which I have principally derived my materials are these: The collection of Jefferson's papers published by order of Congress.* The two apologetic biographies of Jefferson, published successively by Mr. Tucker† and Mr. * Jefferson's complete Works, New York, 1853-54, 9 vols. Life of Jefferson, by George Tucker, London, 1837, 2 vols. [Mr. Tucker, related to the Jeffersons, appears to have written his work, at the request of the family, as an indirect answer to the severe |