Mr. Gladstone, in the preface to his collected edition of
"Essays on Vaticanism," complains that the Due Decazes has refused to allow his book to be sold on railway-stalls, in kiosks, and on the public highways in France. M. Buffet, when asked about this by the Committee of Twenty-five, which represents the Assembly, denied all knowledge of the prohibition, but said it was not usual to allow to controversial works the right of colport- age. A clerical member argued that works approved by 33,000,000 of people ought not to be placed on the same footing with works approved by only a few thousands—a beautiful principle, which, if acted on logically, would prohibit Christ to circulate Con- fucius—and the matter dropped, apparently without a thought of the state of affairs which it reveals. France is the head of civilisation, and establishes a censorship worse than that of Russia, and entrusts it to a clerk so obscure, that the Minister knows nothing of his exercise of his discretion—a discretion which induces him to sanction any rubbishy tract about miraculous appearances, and prohibit Mr. Gladstone.
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