Note 149 — BOOK V. FROM THE EDICT OF TOLERATION TO THE PRESENT TIME. (1787-1851.) (continued 2)

The hopes of the author, raised by the enlightened political views of the amiable and upright Lamartine, have not been realized. The coup-d’état of December, 1851, by which Louis Napoleon rejected the opportunity of displaying to the world that he could sacrifice personal ambition to the patriotic observance of the oath he had sworn, to maintain the Constitution inviolably, has induced a policy of intimate alliance with the Romish priesthood. Passing events daily show that whatever advantage the sacerdotal order of the (Roman) Catholics may be supposed to derive from a State connection, that union deeply injures the vitality of Protestantism. As stated in Louis Napoleon’s proclamation promulgating his constitution, “It is still the Concordat that regulates the relations of the State with the Church.” The 20th article of the Constitution makes the cardinals ex officio members of the senate.—Transl.