ed things," said
he, "must be laid aside; they are well enough for
kings by the grace of God."]

This last concession was unquestionably the greatest, that Napoleon
could make to public opinion. A press in the general interest of the
people is the surest protection of their rights. It is the most noble
conquest liberty can gain over despotism: to honest men it gives
dignity; it inspires them with the love of their country, and of the
laws; in fine, according to the English definition, it is the mother
of all liberty: but in times of trouble and of revolution, it is a
dangerous weapon in the hands of the wicked; and the Emperor foresaw,
that the royalists would employ it in the cause of the Bourbons; and
the Jacobins, to calumniate his sentiments, and render his designs
suspected. But, a declared enemy of half-measures, he resolved, since
he had set thought at liberty, that it should circulate
unshackled[81].

[Footnote 81: Never, in fact, at any period of the
revolution, did writers enjoy such complete liberty
and impunity. The seizure of the _Censeur
Europeen_, which made such noise, was the work of
M. Fouche. The Emperor knew nothing of this
infringement of the law, till it had been carried
into effect; and he immediately ordered, that the
copies seized should be returned to the editors of
the _Censeur_, and that they should be at liberty
to circulate them freely.]

This decree, and those that preceded it, were undoubtedly sufficient
to testify to the nation the liberal disposition of Napoleon: but no
speech from the throne had yet declared with solemnity the positive
intentions of the Emperor.

At length he fixed on Sunday, the 26th of March, as the day, on which
he would make his new profession of faith in the face of the
nation[82].

[Footnote 82: The audience was to take place at
noon; and at nine o'clock his Majesty had not
prepared his answers. They were dictated in haste,
and we had scarcely time to copy them out fairly.]

The ministers, the council of state, the court of cassation, the court
of accounts, the imperial court, the prefect, and the municipal
council of Paris, were admitted to the foot of the