Alexis Charles Henri Clerel De Tocqueville, a French author, born in Paris, July 29, 1805, died in Cannes, April 10, 1859. He studied law, was appointed a judge in Versailles in 1820, was promoted in 1830, and in 1831 was sent with Gustave de Beaumont on a mission to the United States, to examine the penitentiary system. The report of their . observations was published under the title Du systeme periitcntiaire aux Etats- Unis (8vo, 1832; translated into English by Francis Lieber, 8vo, Philadelphia, 1833). De Tocqueville investigated at the same time the political and social institutions of the country, and wrote his celebrated philosophical work De la democratic aux Etats- Unis (2 vols. 8vo, Paris, 1835), which received the Montyon prize, and procured his admission to the academy (1844). He was elected in 1839 to the chamber of deputies, and became the leader of a moderate wing of the opposition. As a member of the constituent assembly in 1848, he opposed socialistic doctrines and ultra-democratic measures. After attending the diplomatic conferences in Brussels upon Italian affairs,, he became minister of foreign affairs, June 2, 1849. He strongly supported the French expedition to Rome, but, dissatisfied with Louis Napoleon in other respects, he resigned at the end of October. . On Dec. 2, 1851, he protested against the coup d'etat, and was imprisoned, but released after a few days, when he retired to private life.

In 185G he published L'ancien regime et la-revolution (8vo; translated by J. Bonner, 12mo, New York, 1856).. His Oeuxres et correspondance inedites have been published with a biographical notice by G. de Beaumont (2 vols. 8vo, I860; English translation, 2 vols. 8vo, London and Boston, 1861). His complete works are in 9 vols. (Paris, 1860-'65). His "Democracy in America" was translated into English by Henry Reeve, with a preface and notes by John C. Spencer (8vo, New York, 1838; new ed., London, 1875; abridged ed., "American Institutions and their Influence," with notes, 16mo, New York, 1856); and Reeve's translation has been edited by Prof. F. Bo wen (2 vols. 8vo, Cambridge, 1862). - See " Correspondence and Conversations of Alexis de Tocqueville with Nassau William Senior," edited by M. C. M. Simpson (2 vols., London, 1872).