The Sun.
London, England, 1858-11-15 00:00:00

M. DE MONTALEMBE_RT.

(From the Times.)

If the walls of Jericho do not fall down before
M. Montalembert's trumpet, it is from no want
of strenth in the instrument, for a prouder blast of
oratory was never blown. It is indeed a speech in
writing ; we forget the pen • it is M. de Montalem-
bert speaking to us, speaking to Europe. But
what is the secret of his strength ; what is the
source of his inspiration ? One word will express
it. We in this country are so fortunate in the
enjoyment of liberty that we almost forget some-
times that there is such a thing as a passion for
liberty or, if we think of it at all, we confound it
with th• ravings and nonsense of Chartists, or
Italian demagogues. We appreciate thoroughly
liberty as an advantage, but when we hear of it
as a passion it sounds a revolutionary thing
to us. A person could not possibly pick out
a.. subject which would sound colder to Eng-
lish ears as a matter of rhetorical declamation
than this very subject of liberty. Three or four
magnificent sentences in praise of liberty would be
enough any day to empty half the House of Com-
mons and send hon. members to their mutton chops.
We pass over sonnets to liberty, describing her as
a mountain maid drinking from sparkling rills.
The truth is, we have got liberty, and therefore our
appetite is satisfied. If we want to see what the
passion of liberty is we must take somebody who
has not got it, but feels the want of it. Such a
man is M. de Montalembert. He and his friends,
and the whole class which they represent—i. e., the
educated thinking class in France—find themselves
now simply gagged and bound hand and foot.
They can't speak, they can't write, they can't move
for any political purpose ; the whole world of action
is taken away from them ; they cannot exercise any
one gift or power as public men ; and this after
they have been used to public life. They have not
a single vent; the whole educated class in France
has its mouth stopped. Conceive the tremendous
irritation which must by the simplest laws of nature
be going on under such circumstances. Men must
have occupations, and they must have occupations
suited to their tastes and interests and understand-
ings. It is a mockery to give a political mind a
military occupation, and say, " Go and fight, if you
want something to do," or to offer it a scientific
occupation or a literary occupation, and say, "Go
and lecture on the schoolmen, if you want to do
something. Get up the physical philosophy of the
Arabians, Egyptian hieroglyphics,. Greek chrono-
logy ; compare the systems of Zoroaster and Pyth-
agoras ; elucidate the Platonic, Aristotelian, the
lonic, and the Stoic systems, and bring out in pro-
per relief the differences of the Albertists, the
Thomists, the Scoticists, and the Occamists."
Political minds must have political occupations.
The whole educated thinking class in France,
after having had these occupations, and got
to them, is now deprived of them. Of course
the Tare mad with irritation,—the irritation of forced
torpor and inertia, all their powers pent up, and
preying on themselves. What wonder that M. de
Montalembert should now declare that he must
either speak or die s "He is attacked by a ma-
lady," " his ears tingle," " he is stifled." " maniacs,
if you will have it so, like myself," must vent them-
selves.

M. de Montalembert, then, appears as the cham-
pion of this class. He represents the rights of
education and intelligence in France ; he claims a
share of political action for this class ; he demands
a field for the simple exertion of their minds as
citizens. These are the rights which M. de Mon-
talembert represents. There are many other rights
belonging to other classes in a State,—there are
the rights of the poor to fair treatment, there are
religious rights of communion, there are rights of
justice which belong to all, but there are the rights
of the intelligent class to act and use their faculties
as citizens. The educated class has it claims in-
herent in its very condition, just as the poor un-
educated mass has ; these are the rights of which
M. de Montalembert is the champion. These men
cannot help having minds, but their minds are a
simple curse to them if they are shut up without a
particle of ground for play. " Oh, but we will
save you the trouble of self-government," says our
efficient despotism ; " we will govern you, and we
will do it as well as or better than you can your-
selves." That is the plea of all despotisms, but it
is a gross evasion of the point at issue. The ques-
tion is not whether power is used well or ill, whe-
ther it is successful on points of finance, commerce,
police, &c., or the opposite ; but whether you have
a right to monopolise all this power, and allow
nobody else any share of it. These men do not
want to be saved the trouble of self-government ;
they do not thank you for such kindness; that is

the very thing they do not want. They want the
vent, the occupation, the interest, the legitimate ex-
citement, the play of intellect, feelings, and power,
which political life, or a share in the national go-
Vernment, affords. They feel it to be simple
hypocrisy in your benevolent despot telling them
that he benignantly relieves them of this arduous
task; at all events, they reject the gift—they want
nothing of the sort. What they want is to govern
themselves in such a way and degree as constitutional
ends allow. That is to say, they want liberty.
Liberty is this very composition that has been just
mentioned—it is action, vent, play, use of powers,
use of thought, use of speech, use of feelings, use
of everything that we have, and especially that use
of them in our capacity as citizens and members of
the commonwealth. That is liberty., and that is
half of the advantage and fruit of liberty, though
there Is also a further advantage in liberty—viz.
that it is in the end the surest road to prosperity.
A despotism may point to the despatch and com-
pactness
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