“Gentlemen,” cried the Duc de Rhétoré, “let sleeping claws lie.”
“The influence and power of the press is only dawning,” said Finot. “Journalism is in its infancy; it will grow. In ten years’ time, everything will be brought into publicity. The light of thought will be turned on all subjects, and——”
“The blight of thought will be over it all,” corrected Blondet.
“Here is an apothegm,” cried Claude Vignon.
“Thought will make kings,” said Lousteau.
“And undo monarchs,” said the German.
“And therefore,” said Blondet, “if the press did not exist, it would be necessary to invent it forthwith. But here we have it, and live by it.”
“You will die of it,” returned the German diplomatist. “Can you not see that if you enlighten the masses, and raise them in the political scale, you make it all the harder for the individual to rise above their level? Can you not see that if you sow the seeds of reasoning among the working-classes, you will reap revolt, and be the first to fall victims? What do they smash in Paris when a riot begins?”
“The street-lamps!” said Nathan; “but we are too modest to fear for ourselves, we only run the risk of cracks.”
“As a nation, you have too much mental activity to allow any government to run its course without interference. But for that, you would make the conquest of Europe a second time, and win with the pen all that you failed to keep with the sword.”