M. Taine could not have replied to all these questions. If， twenty years ago， on the morrow after our disasters， just as we once more set about a new organization， putting aside literature， art， and philosophy， noble contemplation and pure speculation， abandoning works already projected， he gave himself up to the technical study of law， political economy and administrative history； if， for twenty years， he secluded himself and devoted himself to his task - at what a cost of prolonged effort， with what a strain his mental faculties， with what weariness and often with what dissatisfaction！ - if he shortened his life， it was to discharge what he deemed a duty to that suffering France which he loved with tender and silent passion， the duty of aiding in her cure by establishing the general diagnosis which a philosopher-historian was warranted in presenting after a profound study of its vital constitution. The examination finished， he felt that he had a right to offer the diagnosis. Not that his modesty permitted him to foretell the future or to dictate reforms. When his opinion was asked in relation to any reform he generally declined giving it. "I am merely a consulting physician，" he would reply； "I do not possess sufficient details on that particular question - I am not sufficiently familiar with circumstances which vary from day to day."In effect， according to him， there is no general principle from which one can deduce a series of reforms. On the contrary， his first recommendation would have been not to try to find simple solutions in political and social matters， but to proceed by experiments， according to temperaments， and accepting the irregular and the incomplete. - One becomes resigned to this course by a study of history and by acquiring "the sense of surrounding facts and developments." Here do we find the general remedy for the destructive effects produced by the brusque progress of science， and she herself furnishes this remedy， when， from the hasty and the theoretical， she becomes experimental and builds on the observation of facts and their relations. "Through psychological narration， through the analysis of psychological conditions which have produced， maintained， or modified this or that institution， we may find a partial solution to each question of reform，" gradually discovering laws and establishing the general conditions that render possible or impossible any given project. When constituted and then developed， reorganized， respected and applied to human affairs， the sciences of humanity may become a new instrument of power and civilization， and， just as the natural sciences have taught us to derive profit from physical forces， they may teach us to benefit by moral forces. M. Taine believed that the French were very well qualified for this order of study： if any other people possess superior mental faculties in respect of memory or a better knowledge of philology， he thought we had in our favor a superiority of the psychological sense.
Except for such beneficial generalities which may provide general hygienic guidelines， could M. Taine have suggested immediate remedies？
It is scarcely probable. In any even， he was not a partisan for hasty decentralization. When， under the influence of a bad system， an organization has contracted a vice that reaches its vital organs， the following treatment nearly becomes mandatory；[6] in any event， no sudden modification of it must be thought of； all that can be done is to lessen its pernicious effect by resorting to make-shift or short term measures. Taking advantage of unforeseen circumstances， using great circumspection， noting favorable symptoms that had impressed him - for example a certain new birth of the spirit of association under the Third Republic - leaving to political authorities the care "of adjusting means" to the diversity and mobility of things， we may believe that M. Taine would have confined himself to indicating in what sense we could， with prudence， lay our course. To do this， it sufficed for him to sum up his diagnosis and lay down the conditions of duration and progress. In a matter of such vital import nobody can speak for him. Accordingly， if the conclusion is not written， whoever knows how to read his thought may divine it. The work， such as it is， is finished； it already contains his ideas in full； the intelligent eye has only to follow them and to note their consequences and combination.
André Chevrillon Menthon， St-Bernard， October， 1893.
