They observed the very small additions of territory which all
the power of Prance, actuated by all the ambition of France, had
acquired in two centuries. The Romans had frequently acquired more in a
single year. They severely and in every part of it criticized the reign
of Louis the Fourteenth, whose irregular and desultory ambition had
more provoked than endangered Europe. Indeed, they who will be at the
pains of seriously considering the history of that period will see that
those French politicians had some reason. They who will not take the
trouble of reviewing it through all its wars and all its negotiations
will consult the short, but judicious, criticism of the Marquis de
Montalembert on that subject. It may be read separately from his
ingenious system of fortification and military defence, on the practical
merit of which I am unable to form a judgment.
The diplomatic politicians of whom I speak, and who formed by far the
majority in that class, made disadvantageous comparisons even between
their more legal and formalizing monarchy and the monarchies of other
states, as a system of power and influence. They observed that France
not only lost ground herself, but, through the languor and unsteadiness
of her pursuits, and from her aiming through commerce at naval force
which she never could attain without losing more on one side than she
could gain on the other, three great powers, each of them (as military
states) capable of balancing her, had grown up on the Continent.
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