The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1858-12-15

IHE MONIAENbERT lklAL-A Resi- DANGER
FOR THE ENTENTE CoRpIALE.-The result of the
Montalembert trial has thrown the English jour
mails into state of great excitement, and for the
moment the good understanding between the
two countries seems again in peril. 1t is not be-
cause the freedom of the press or individual
liberty is invaded in the person of this gentleman
that our English contemporaries are so moved
to wrath. His case exhibits no fresh feature in
the system which, aided, it must be owned, by
the countenance and friendship of England, has
reduced the French nation TO q condition of sla-
very more abject than that of the Russian serf
instance aroused by the fact that the pamphlet
which brought NJ de Montalembert within the
tolls of the Procureur Imperial was remarkable
less for its patriotism than for its exaggerated
estimate of English Institutions Some Of
our American journalists have fallen into
the same error of apotheosizing NJ de
Montalembert as martyr to liberty
Little as we admire the despotc system
by which France is at present governed, we can
not see any great personal hardships or injury to
the principles Of popular freedom in the muz-
cling Of this gentleman. English writer's, In the
fullness of their qualification at the eulogiums
bestowed by him on their country forget that he
expresses in the same breath his regret that their
institutions are no longer regulated by the sys-
TEN Of ecclesiastical polity which, previous to
the revolution, placed English liberties in as
complete condition of subsection to the Roman
Pontiff as are those of the French at the present
moment to Louis Napoleon.
OF all men in France NJ de Montalembert il.
perhaps the least entitled to complain of the re-
strictions placed upon the free expression of
opinion under the present rtgimc With antcce-
dents which should have kept him aloof from the
author Of the comp d'tdt, he and his party have
been the great instruments 10y which the latter
has been enabled TO subjugate the popular
impulses to his will. II is undeniable
that, without the aid and support Of the priests,
Louis Napoleon could never have succeeded in
sitting the moral sense Of the French people.
shocked as II was by the violation Of al his
pledges and the inordinate aims Of his ambition.
At time when the army was known TO be, al
most to man. dsalfected towards him, the only
means LEFT him OF influencing the popular mind
was through the clergy. and 1t was VIGOROUSLY
by the promises made 10 them and the adhesion
Of such men as N. de Montalembert, eager only
to advance the interests Of the priesthood that
be succeeded in consolidating the despotism Of
which this latter gentleman Is now a self made
victim. 1t must not be forgotten, moreover, that
NJ. de Montalembcrt is one of the most Jealous
and energetic leaders Of that rabid section Of the
French church which Acknowledges implicit de-
ference TO ultramontane sway. il seems TO us,
poor logicians that we arc, that the advocate Of
a system which has act up the Luder EP,rya-
toris as the limit Of free publication has but
listle right to complain when the French
Emperor chooses TO impose similar bounds
to the expression Of sentiments deprcca-
tory Of his policy and dangerous to the
stability Of his dynasty. If the trcnchant blade
Of NJ de Montalcmbert's eloqucncc cuts both
ways, he must be resigned to bear the consc-
quences; but men Of consistent opinions and
more especially republicans, should not be called
upon to effer the homage Of their admiration to
the firmness Of a mistaken courage, or to regard
the principles Of free discussion as at all endan-
gered in his person.
The only result that has the least interest for
us in this prosecution is the effect which il Is
likely TO produce on the popular mind in Eng
land. If the sentiments expressed by the Lon
don journals at all reflect the prevailing ideas in
regard to It, 1t seems TO us that Lord Malmes-
bury viii have some trouble in keeping he rela-
tions Of the two countries straight.