I hope that they will live long enough to see the fall of the barriers that separate the hearts as well as the interests of the peoples.

Frédéric Bastiat
Complete Works, Volume 7, pages 122 to 124 (in French)
Courrier français, August 19th, 1846

The general election of August 1st, 1846 brought a certain number of liberal MPs to the National Assembly and Frédéric Bastiat takes the opportunity of Cobden’s visit to congratulate them. He also congratulates all the liberals who stood for election but were not elected, crediting them for an intellectual integrity without which they could have simply misled the electorate in order to obtain their votes.

Today’s quote is the mark of optimism that is always present and refreshing with Frédéric Bastiat. The fall of protectionist barriers will happen to a certain extent during the following 180 years after this toast but the struggle in their favour is certainly not finished. During this timeframe, we have indeed observed a progress of liberal ideas but certainly not to the extent that Frédéric Bastiat would have wished for. Moreover, the 20th century has given us a fair share of policies that were completely opposite to liberalism along with the associated miseries. It is high time that we learn from this!