results of events are clearly indicated; the actions of individuals are
described in so far as they subserve the author's purpose. The whole book
is marked by a notable impartiality; it is only on rare occasions, as in
the case of Lafayette, that the circumstances in which it was written have
been permitted to colour the judgments passed. Nor is the value of the
work seriously reduced by the fact that modern research compels its
revision in certain particulars, since it is so clearly not intended to be
a final and detailed history of the period. It is a philosophical study of
a great epoch, and as such, however its point of view may be criticised,
it is illuminating and well worthy of preservation. It supplies a
thoughtful and inspiring commentary upon the French Revolution.

L. CECIL JANE.
1915.


BIOGRAPHICAL NOTE.--Francois Auguste Marie Mignet was born at Aix in
Provence in 1796. He was educated at Avignon and in his native town, at
first studying law. But, having gained some literary successes, he removed
to Paris in 1821 and devoted himself to writing. He became professor of
history at the _Athenee_, and after the Revolution of 1830 was made
director of the archives in the Foreign Office, a post which he held until
1848. He was then removed by Lamartine and died in retirement in 1854. His
_Histoire de la Revolution Francaise_ was first published in 1824; a
translation into English appeared in Bogue's European library in 1846 and
is here re-edited. Among Mignet's other works may be mentioned _Antoine
Perez et Philippe II._ and _Histoire de Marie Stuart_. As a journalist, he
wrote mainly on foreign policy for the _Courrier Francais_.