The Emperor received the address of the Corps Legislatif on
Monday, and informed the deputies that "through the electoral movement and the voice of the tribune and the press France feels that it is free," and that "the labouring and the propertied classes fear the abuse of liberty even more than the abuse of power." The remark is correct, else how does the empire stand ? but His Majesty, as if this were not sufficiently cynical, still promised liberty,—" Let us be content with daily bringing a fresh stone to the edifice, the foundation of which is broad, and cannot be raised too high." When, then, is it to be crowned? Napoleon has evidently heard the Singalese legend about the future of the human race. There is a stone in Kandy twelve feet square, and once a year an archangel, clad in a floating muslin robe, brushes past above the stone. When the touch of that muslin has worn that stone to nothingness the sins of mankind will be remitted, —and France obtain liberty at the hand of Napoleon the Third.
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