The French Ministry seems as secure as ever. The King
has not yielded to the clamour of the Liberals ; and the Liberals are now forced to postpone their hopes of triumph till the meeting of the Cham- bers shall give them another arena, in which they may renew the con- test on somewhat different terms. But though 'repulsed hitherto in their assaults upon Government, they have been victorious in turn when Ministers have ventured to wage offensive war upon their organs. The Ministerial prosecutions of the Liberal press have failed. The Church, too, has been baffled in its attempt to guard theological tenets from free discussion ; and the consequence of the late trials has been to secure a prouder rank for the press of France than any other in Europe enjoys. To Frenchmen, the privilege of political and reli- gious discussion is almost new, yet they enjoy it unrestrained and in perfection ; while we, as it might seem, after a century and a half of struggles, run some risk of losing the imperfect degree of freedom which we have hitherto possessed.
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