If Napoleon in this manner takes precautions against those who think， it is only because their thoughts， should they be written down， might reach the public，[51] and only the sovereign alone has the right to talk in public. Between writer and readers， every communication is intercepted beforehand by a triple and quadruple line of defenses through which a long， tortuous and narrow wicket is the only passage， and where the manuscript， like a bundle of suspicious goods， is overhauled and repeatedly verified after having obtained its free certificate and its permit of circulation. Napoleon declares "the printing-office[52] to be an arsenal which must not be within the reach of everybody. . . It is very important for me that only those be allowed to print who have the confidence of the government. A man who addresses the public in print is like the man who speaks in public in an assembly， and certainly no one can dispute the sovereign's right to prevent the first comer from haranguing the public." - On the strength of this， he makes publishing a privileged， authorized and regulated office of the State. The writer， consequently， before reaching the public， must previously undergo the scrutiny of the printer and bookseller， who， both responsible， sworn and patented， will take good care not to risk their patent， the loss of their daily bread， ruin， and， besides this， a fine and imprisonment. - In the second place， the printer， the bookseller and the author are obliged to place the manuscript or， by way of toleration， the work as it goes through the press， in the hands of the official censors；[53] the latter read it and make their weekly report to the general director of publications； they indicate the good or bad spirit of the work， the "unsuitable or forbidden passages according to circumstances，" the intended， involuntary or merely possible allusions； they exact the necessary suppressions， rectifications and additions. The publisher obeys， the printers furnish proofs， and the author has submitted； his proceedings and attendance in the bureaux are at end. He thinks himself safe in port， but he is not.
Through an express reservation， the director-general always has the right to suppress works， "even after they have been examined， printed and authorized to appear." In addition to this， the minister of the police，[54] who， above the director-general， likewise has his censorship bureau， may， in his own right， place seals on the sheets already printed， destroy the plates and forms in the printing-office， send a thousand copies of the "Germany" by Madame de Sta？l to the paper-mill， "take measures to see that not a sheet remains，" demand of the author his manuscript， recover from the author's friends the two copies he has lent to them， and take back from the director-general himself the two copies for his service locked up in a drawer in his cabinet. - Two years before this， Napoleon said to Auguste de Sta？l，[55]
"Your mother is not bad. She has intelligence， a good deal of intelligence. But she is unaccustomed to any kind of discipline. She would not be six months in Paris before I should be obliged to put her in the Temple or at Bicêtre. I should be sorry to do this， because it would make a noise and that would injure me in public Opinion."It makes but little difference whether she abstains from talking politics： "people talk politics in talking about literature， the fine arts and morality， about everything in the world； women should busy themselves with their knitting，" and men keep silent or， if they do talk， let it be on a given subject and in the sense prescribed.
Of course， the inspection of publications is still more rigorous and more repressive， more exacting and more persistent. - At the theatre， where the assembled spectators become enthusiastic through the quick contagion of their sensibilities， the police cut out of the "Heraclius" of Corneille and the "Athalie" of Racine[56] from twelve to twenty-five consecutive lines and patch up the broken passages as carefully as possible with lines or parts of lines of their own. - On the periodical press， on the newspaper which has acquired a body of readers and which exercises an influence and groups its subscribers according to an opinion， if not political， at least philosophic and literary， there is a compression which goes even as far as utter ruin.
From the beginning of the Consulate，[57] sixty out of seventy-three political journals are suppressed； in 1811， the thirteen that still existed are reduced to four and the editors-in-chief are appointed by the minister of police. The property of these journals， on the other hand， is confiscated， while the Emperor， who had taken it， concedes it， one third to his police and the other two thirds to people of the court or littérateurs who are his functionaries or his creatures.
Under this always aggravated system the newspapers， from year to year， become so barren that the police， to interest and amuse the public， contrive a pen warfare in their columns between one amateur of French music and one of Italian music.
Books， almost as rigorously kept within bounds， are mutilated or prevented from appearing.[58] Chateaubriand is forbidden to reprint his "Essay on Revolutions，" published in London under the Directory.
