Had this great event occurred even in a land of strangers, unendeared to us by any previous act of kindness, and having no other claim upon our sympathies than that they belonged to the same family of human beings with ourselves, it would still have been cause of private joy to each individual among us; for it would have borne evidence of the progress of liberty in the world. But it is not in a land of strangers, it is not in a country unendeared to us by previous acts of kindness that it has occurred. It is in France, our ancient friend and ally: in France, who stood by _us_ in the darkest days of our own revolution; in France, by the powerful aid of whose fleets and armies, the last ensign of British authority was struck in _our_ land, and we took our undisputed place among the nations of the earth. Yes, it is in France, the land of our benefactors and friends, that this spectacle has been exhibited. And such a spectacle! unparalleled in the history of the world! A nation of more than thirty millions of people emancipated by the efforts of a single city in three days! Not by a great body of lords and barons, cased in armour of iron, and with well appointed hosts of vassals at their backs: but by the common body of the citizens of Paris; the labouring classes--mechanics--manufacturers--merchants--boys from the Polytechnic school; rushing naked and unarmed, upon the armed bands of the king; without a leader to direct their movements, and yet moving with a judgment, a concert, an energy that would have done honor to the ablest general; and, at the same time, with a moderation, a humanity, an integrity, a respect for private property and private feelings that would have graced the noblest school of philosophers in ancient times, or of christians in modern; finishing the whole stupendous operation in three days, and then returning, quietly and peaceably to their respective occupations, and committing the details of their political arrangements to their more experienced friends! In the stern decision, in the rapid and resistless execution, in the thorough accomplishment of the purpose, and in the sudden and perfect calm that succeeded, tyrants may read a lesson that may well make them tremble on their thrones; for they see that it is only for the people to resolve, and it is done. Had this story been told to us by some writer of romance, as the product of his own imagination, there is not a man among us who would not have condemned it as unnatural, improbable, a mere extravagance entirely out of keeping with the human character. And yet the thing has actually taken place; the work has been done, and well and nobly done.