The Southern Press

A FEW SUGGESTIONS, SUGGESTED BY THE STATE OF THINGS IN FRANCE.-Suppose the head of the executive, or the minister for the time being, were to take into his head one morning to abolish the Houses of Parliament:

Suppose some of the members elected by large constituencies, were to think it a duty to go and take their seats, and were to be met at the doors by swords and bayonets, and were to be wounded and taken off to prison for the attempt:

Suppose the minister, having been harassed by a few Parliamentary debate and discussions, were to send off to Newgate or the house of correction, a few of the most eminent members of the Opposition, such as the D'Israelis, the Grahams, the Gladstones, the Baringa, and a sprinkling of the Humes, the Wakeleys, the Walmsleys, the Cobdens, and the Brights:

Suppose the press having been found not to agree with the policy of the minister, he were to peremptorily stop the publication of the Times, Herald, Chronicle, Post, Advertiser, Daily News, Globe, &c, &c., and limit the organs of intelligence to the government Gazette, or one or two other prints that would write or omit just what he, the minister, might please;

Suppose, when it occurred to the public that these measures were not exactly in conformity with the law, the minister were to go or send some soldiers down to Westminster Hall, shut up the Courts, send the Lord Chancellor about his business, and tell Lords Campbell, Cranworth, and all the rest of the high judicial authorities, to make the best of their way home:

Suppose a few members of Parliament were to sign a protest against these proceedings; and suppose the documents were to be torn down by soldiers, and the persons signing them packed off to Coldbath fields or Pentonville:

Suppose all these things were to happen with a Parliament elected by universal suffrage, and under a republican form of government:

And lastly-

Suppose we were to be told that this sort of thing is liberty, and what we ought to endeavor to get for our own country;--should we look upon the person telling us so, as a madman, or a knave, or both? and should we not be justified in putting him speedily and as unceremoniously as possible--outside our doors?--Punch.