Neglecting to mention translation, ignoring the need or even the presence of translation is common practice in non-literary French writing in the first half of the nineteenth century. Still, in the case of François Guizot (1787-1874) such neglect seems to have a more deliberate motivation. Before becoming prime minister of France or ambassador to England, Guizot had translated several important English texts into French. His later marginalization of linguistic difference appears more rooted in his ideological perspective on history.