revolutionary foreign policy. But the liberty of
debate showed that there was a powerful minority opposed to them, and this
minority enjoyed the sanction of the greatest statesmen of the age. In the
Senate, notwithstanding the absence of every member of the Legitimist
party, as well as that of Messrs. de Montalembert and de Fallou, whom a
coalition of the despotism of the day with radicalism had caused to lose
their seats, a tolerable number of the most devoted partisans of the
empire showed a boldness of language, together with well-defined
statesmanlike views, to which the Imperial _regime_ was not accustomed.
Several of the ablest orators concurred in presenting an amendment to the
address to the throne in favor of the Pope's temporal sovereignty. It was,
of course, opposed by the government, but was supported, nevertheless, by
sixty votes to seventy-nine. In the legislative assembly, notwithstanding
all the ability displayed by the representatives of the government, the
Emperor's Italian policy could obtain the support of only 161 votes,
whilst it was condemned by the powerful minority of ninety-one. The
radical leaders of the majority now thought the time opportune for
demanding the recall of the French troops from Rome. The government went
dead against it, and invited the deputies to join with it in condemning
the inordinate and persistent ambition of the revolution. This the
assembly did by a solid vote of the whole house to five. Of this precious
quintet, Jules Favre and Emile Olivier, the leaders of the government,
were two.

Such national demonstrations in favor of the sovereignty which he had done
his best to crush were very irritating to the Emperor Napoleon; and
although he endeavored to appear wholly absorbed by his life of Caesar, he
could not avoid showing by his acts how profoundly he was disturbed by
being thwarted. Everywhere throughout France the Catholics were made to
suffer. The clergy were persecuted as far as the laws of the country would
allow, and the Imperial anger went so far as to wreak its vengeance on the
poor by suppressing that benevolent and non-political institution, the
Association of St. Vincent de Paul. Needless to say that, at the same
time, the Catholic press was held in fetters. There was no relaxation in
its favor till the year 1867, when the law extending the liberty of the
press became available to Catholic as well as all other writers. The
Emperor even sacrificed the best sup