_Princes and generations._ There is equal injustice in attributing to
reigning princes the virtues and the vices of the people they actually
govern.
Those virtues and those vices should almost always, as statistics and
logic will show, be attributed to the atmosphere of the preceding
government.
Louis XIV inherits the men of Louis XIII, glory. Napoleon I inherits
the men of the Republic, glory. Louis-Philippe inherits the men of
Charles X, glory. Napoleon III inherits the men of Louis-Philippe,
dishonor.
It is always the preceding government that is responsible for the
customs of the following, in so far as a government can be responsible
for anything.
The sudden suppressions that circumstances bring to a reign do not
allow of absolute exactitude in this law, in regard to time. One
cannot, say precisely where an influence ends, but an influence will
endure in all the generation that was subjected to it in youth.