In 1857, Charles Baudelaire published the first edition of Les Fleurs du Mal , or Flowers of Evil . Baudelaire, in defiance of the law, published a second edition in 1861. The lesson here is simple.
Culture is more powerful than law.
The Second Empire fell, eroded by internal problems it was forced to field a professional army that was no match for the Prussian national army. Destroyed from within and with out, the Second Empire fell because, in the end, culture conquers law. And one evil flower is worth a bushel of emperors. Flowers of Evil has been translated into English several times, with the earliest translation published 1909. It was banned by British and Canadian censors while running afoul of the Comstock Law in the United States.