propaganda in the country around. The force of his character seems to have spent itself in oratorical effort. He could preach revolution but not suggest reform, denounce existing abuses, but do nothing towards the remodelling of social institutions, and in after years he failed, as so many leading men in his profession have failed, to make any impression as a speaker in Parliament. The author of Lélia was overwhelmed, if not all at once converted, by the tremendous rhetorical power of this singular man. She was a proselyte worth the trouble of making, and Michel was bent on drawing her more closely into active politics, with which hitherto she had occupied herself very little. He began a correspondence, writing her long epistles, the sum of which, she says, may thus be resumed:—"Your scepticism springs from personal unhappiness. Love is selfish. Extend this solicitude for a single individual to the whole human race." He certainly succeeded in inspiring her with a strong desire to share his passion for politics, his faith, his revivifying hopes of a speedy social renovation, his ambition to be one of its apostles. To Michel, under the sobriquet of "Everard," are addressed several of the Lettres d'un Voyageur of the spring and summer of 1835, letters which she defines as "a rapid analysis of a rapid conversion."
But Michel's work was a work of demolition only; and when his earnest disciple wanted new theories in
