I have had enough of
this freedom of the Press. There are some who would like to see it
established in Paris. You are among them, Talleyrand. For my part I
see no need for any paper at all except the _Moniteur_ by which the
Government may make known its decisions to the people.'
'I am of opinion, Sire,' said the minister, 'that it is better to have
open foes than secret ones, and that it is less dangerous to shed ink
than blood. What matter if your enemies have leave to rave in a few
Paris papers, as long as you are at the head of five hundred thousand
armed men?'
'Ta, ta, ta!' cried the Emperor impatiently. 'You speak as if I had
received my crown from my father the late king. But even if I had, it
would be intolerable, this government by newspaper. The Bourbons
allowed themselves to be criticised, and where are they now? Had they
used their Swiss Guards as I did the Grenadiers upon the eighteenth
Brumaire what would have become of their precious National Assembly?
There was a time when a bayonet in the stomach of Mirabeau might have
settled the whole matter.
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