The Press.
London, England, 1856-04-12 00:00:00

THE PRESS.

nor the calmer heroism of Turenne; although he tho-
roughly knew the human heart, and was an adept in the
management of men, he had not when the storm was at
its height, and when boldness and eloquence were re-
quired, either the coup-d'osil, the rapid instinct, or the
prompt and firm decision of Cardinal Retz ; although he
was a man of expedients, and faithful to his royal mistress,
others, whoever may have been their chiefs, or whatever
their party, were as faithful as be, and as fertile in re-
sources ; but because he had but one object—to keep
power, and but one councillor, himself—because, in-
different to means, a stranger to scruples, he determined
to carry his point at any cost; because neither time (for
he knew how to wait), nor money (for he supplied himself
from the public treasury), nor protestations, nor promises,
were obstacles in his path ; because he could dissimulate,
be patient, and watch for the favorable moment ; he, a
foreigner, without other support than the great name of
his predecessor, without having (up to that time at
least) done anything to give any éclat to his own, defini-
tively got the better of all the most illustrious men of his
time. Regardless of the outcries of the vulgar and the
ballads of the wits, he gagged the parliaments, destroyed
their best work, rallied Turenne and Mole to his cause,
sent Retz to Vincennes, banished Conde to the Low
Countries; and, remaining master of the field, displayed
in the exercise of power the same qualities that he had
shown in obtaining and keeping it. He enjoyed undivided
authority for many years without let or hindrance ; he
reigned over the King, the regent, and the kingdom ;
signed the treaty of the Pyrenees, his real title to glory ;
and left, it must be said, his private fortune in a much
better condition than he did the finances of the State.

The Pays and the Patrie both admit the brilliancy
of M. de Broglie's address, but they denounce it as
" a rehabilitation of the Fronde, and of the political
system established in 1830." "The Academy" con-
tinues the Pays, "should not abandon its great tra-
dition as the foyer of letters, to descend into th•
arena of politics," while the Patrie taunted the duke,
who is a partisan of regulated liberty, with having
signed the ordinances of September. The Siècle
defends the Academyjand M. de Broglie, and com-
pares the alarm of its contemporaries at the use of
the term " liberty," to the nuns of Loudon who fell
into convulsions whenever the names of Behemoth
or Asmodeus were pronounced :
Is it not a mistake (continues the Slide) thus cease-
lessly to declaim against liberal institutions, as though
they were not the crowning piece of the edifice? Is it
consistent with propriety incessantly to attack the repre-
sentative system and deliberative assemblies? Are those
qualifications not those of the Corps Legislatif and of
the Senate ?
The ratifications of the telegraphic treaty con-
cluded at Paris on the 28th of December last by
France, Belgium, Spain, Switzerland, and Sardinia,
have been exchanged. This treaty, which will come
into operation immediately after its promulgation,
will make important reductions in the charge for
telegraphic communications.
The elections for the Legislative Corps are not
expected to take place before 1857.
The Assemblie Nationale, in an article on the
treaties of 1815, attacks the foreign policy of
England since that date. The present war it re-
marks is concluded, but the Eastern question is not
terminated. The health of the Empress and Impe-
rial Prince is satisfactory.