The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1858-12-15
Tne Freedom or the Press In France
TRIAL OF Count de MontaIems
bert.

DeHt.
Inc trial and conviction of NJ. dc Nontalem
oert 10 Paris, has excited interest proportions
70 the bodness Of the course which Louis Napoleo,
seems bent upon pursuing,-thas Of puttiag dow,
and extinguishing freedom Of thought, and ex
preston on the part of the hunbest, as vel! a
the most Influential and intellectual, Of his sub
jects. The London Herald, from its Paris CORES
pondent, has the following interesting report Q
the trial:
At quarter before twelve precisely, NM. Ber
ryer and Montaembert entered the court, tn.
public paying them the compliment to rise on theft
entrance. The Count took his seat between nj
Berger and Nj. Dufaure. Soon after the Judge,
took their seats, NJ. de Cordouen occupying Che
chair reserved for the public prosecutor Procureu,
Imperial.)
The President, II. Berthein, inquired the names
and ages Of the defendants,
N. de Montalembert replied-"Charles Comte
de .Montalemtert, ex.peer OF France, member OF
the French Academy" and added be was As years
old.
The President then asked NJ Daunoil If he admit.
ted having published 10 his periodical, the C,rres
pondent, an article entitled "Un Debat sur fInde
au Parchment ADglais.'
NJ. Daunoil replied that he had inserted the
article without having read it, relying entirely in
the prudence of the editorial board.
The President then proceeded to question M. de
Nontalembert.
President: You acknowledge you are the
author OF the article entitled "Debat sur rInde, y
&c?
NJ. de Montalembert: do
President: The prosecution charges you with
having written the whole of the article in spirit
of hostility, of hatred of our laws Institutions apf
OF the lights of the Emperor.
d. de Montaembert: had no idea of the Kind.
wished simply to trace picture Of political life
In England, and it, 10 the contrast it presents with
the present state of things in France it is sought
to discover on my part desire to attack the gov.
ernment, the iauit Is not mine. but that of these
figure them according to their fancy
Presidents The Court will appreciate your an.
swea. viii now read to you the incriminated
passages. The President here read over the in
eliminated passages In the passage at the com.
mencement ofthe article the prosec ution charges
You with having attacked our institutions, by Te-
presenting them infected with an atmosnbere
of servile and corruptiDg miasmas
NJ de Montaiembert: This is an Interpretation.
me correctness OF which do not admit. Iu evc1
~ country, and at all times, there are yarjons
kinds OF atmosphere-some good, some bad. and
think was justified, without Infringing IN.
laws, in saying there existed in our country sers
vile and corrupting miasmas.
President: The Court will appreciate vopr an
swer. Inow pass to another paragranb. TIL.
prosecution considers that you attacked our AVIS
and our government in speaking of 'salt the no.
litcal aud municipal liberties which France has
repudiated"
ID. de Montalembert: IL it not a fact. Mon.;e,r
lie President, that France, under the varions gov.
ernments which have existed in the country sinca
1889, has possessed liberties which she doe. NOT
enjoy at PRESENT. Yes, assuredly, that isa fact
so self-evIdent, 50 obvious to all the world, that
would never have imagined that to state It was an
offence against the laws.
President: In another passage the prosecution
considers that the manner in which Won charac.
terize certain Royalist and Catholic writer's Who
daily pour cut the food Of their venom agains,
the greatness and liberty of England constitutes
the offence of exciting the hatred of citizens
against each other.
NJ. de Montaenbert protest against such an
interpretation.
President: In another passage where you char.
acterse the bourgeoise (middle clssses) in France
as "alwsys induIging in teasing and envous pre-
tensions, and charge 1t withc 'owardiy abdica.
tious," and "inexcnsable psnics," you attack a
whole class of citi2sus, and even the whole of your
country, and seek to humiliate it by drawing
parallel with England.
n de Montaiembert: cannot admit this sys,
tenn of persevering interpretations, which goes tc
the extent of precirding one from forming az opin
ion in q moral point Of view on what takes place
in any country, and with all the goodwill of the
world il is impossible for me to discover in the
phrase you have just quoted any attack asaips,
any law whatever.
President: At ths close of your article you pu,
England on her guard against the Gauaers which
may threaten her in the future in consequence OF
the breaking up OF her alliances, and appear Go
side with England against Fraace. In the passage
in question, the prosecution charges you with su
attack against our institutions and against the 60
vernment of the Emperor.
NJ. de Montslembert: 1 leave it to my counsel to
to you the want Of foundation of that
accusation.
At this point of the examination a rather loud
exclamation was uttered by person among the
public. The interrupter was NJ. vilemain
President Such interruptions are scandaious
I To the huissier. Point out the culprit! Great
silence.) Should such an interruption be renewed,
will have the Court cleared.
This closed the examination.
H. Berryer's iising was the signal for q hush of
attention throughout the court. Gentlemen, (he
said,) VI. ds Monta.embert, with a voice far more
he possesses to such an eminent degree, might
have undertaken his own defencs, and enabled you
not merely TO fathom, but even weuld have made
bodily apparent to you the idea, the feeling,
prompted him to write that article which now
brings him before you as defendant But of that
right, which the law comedies to him. we, his
couns 81, refused to allow him to avail himself to
be able to express, ourselves, the opinion which
France-nsy, Europe-entertains of that great
citizen and his unrvaled powers. In a few words,
gentlemen, will attempt to lay before you a
sketch of the existence of my iilustrious client
an existence devoted wholly and exclusively to one
principle and one conviction, from which it has
never for a moment swerved--the principle of lib
erty achieved through religion, and religion
through liberty. In 1S31-ha was then in his 10th
the death of his father summoned
him to the hereditary seat in the Chamber OF
Peers. He had hardly taken that seat when
he had to appear before his peers rs a Defend
an.-and for what motive? for having opened,
or, rather, attempted to open, a free school,
and commence that campaign in favcr of the
freedom of education, the establishment of which
is mainly due to him. In 1885, when, after an
ecrable attempt, the government wished to in.
duldgs in blind reaction against liberty, the
cause of liberty in danger was undertaken by
Count de Montaemhert in the Chamber of Peers.
Ia 1S4S, il was again Count ds Montalembert who,
in neverto beforgotten speech, protested against
the incorporate zeal of the Republicans the prin-
ciple of the immuvebiiity Of the Judges--t was 70
the eloquence cf n. ds Montalembert-and that
eloqnence was then not without danger-that we
the preservation of that most salutary princi.
pie in our institutions. Has the Beuch already
forgotten 60 important service? No, do not, /
can not, will net believe in the possibility of such
(Profouad seHsation) The Procireur
Imperial has s!atsd tEat We ere guilty, because
we expressed regret for the freedom We had lost.
We guilty because we believed, because we at
tempted to defond that which France has unceas
ipgly pursued for sixty years. at the cost of such
sacrifices and 30 much bioodshed, we guilty
for having carried cat mission imposed ry our
deep rooted CONVICTION, by the duty, by tho right
of defending the liberties We longer rossess!--
Deep sensation, ths President is corDpnlied tn
threaten once more to have the Court cleared.
But to condemn NJ. de ticrtalembert, what law.
aro adduced against him? Why, tha laws of 1s4s
and 1919; the very laws which were passed for the
protection of thoss Institutions which re defend
and which have disappeared.
Tho President: NJ. Bsrrrsr, cannot permit You
to proceed in such tone. Franco has not lost any
of her liberties.
~ Berryer protested ersinst the interruption
of the President, and observed that there were
scne facts 30 obvious that .o deny them cannot
blind the world to their existence, while It cannot
be done with comfort TO cne's conscience.
President: NJ. Berryer, you will not disturb
the peace of your conscience by respecting the
present institution. of your country, and remain.
ing faithful to ycur post. Did you not in 1S11 ai
your entrance into that profession over which
your talents have shed so much lustre, swear te
respect those institutionsf
M Berger: cannot foiiow:M. le President on
that ground, which is so remote from the cause
am pleading. France has undergone three pc
riods Of despotism Convention, the Directory
and the Empire She submitted to them 10 order
tn obtain that era of liberty which she enjoyed fol