The political ideas that helped to bring about the French
Revolution have often been studied, but their variety and significance are emphasized afresh in Mr. Kingsley Martin's carefully written volume on French Liberal Thought in the Eighteenth Century (Benn, 16s.). He begins with a sketch of the reign of Louis XIV. to show why, as a reaction from despotism, there came a demand for liberty. He traces the development of the philosophers under the inefficient rule of Louis XV. and then discusses their doctrines from Bayle to Condorcet. Rousseau and Kant seem very near to us with their plan for lasting peace. Condorcet was equally modern with his dislike of trade barriers, and his proposal for national insurance schemes such as we now have. Books like this remind the reader that politicians seldom have any really new cry the philosophers of long ago have always anticipated them.
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