The Express.
London, England, 1852-04-26 00:00:00

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nutritive authority (see Caseation
Silence at length having been established, heihich fiTaii
" Oentlemen, in order to understand the action submittedd
to the tribunal, and the legal character of the objection
made to its jurisdiction, it is nem-sitar, to explain clearly
what was the origin of the fortune of the Odeon, family
leans ascended
the throne. This fortune was composed of two dist et
"eledmietantsstaleFiinrsitB3°,
by JAWS XLV.
for his brother, in 1661, in return for his renou • ath
succession of their father, Louis XIII. Thin
oaetbs
descended to Louis Philippe, and ended on 9th lean
t"
1830, when the Prince ascended the throne. All the pry
perty which composed it, ali, without exception, returned
at that time to the state. The second element was the
patrimony which Louis Philippe pose:used, not is LIM: he
was prince, but because he was a French (iris. n, icde-
pendently of his quality of royal highness. This patrimony
consisted of property purchus, by him from, awl paid for
from his personal resources to the creditors of his family. It
I also consisted of other property acquired by him in a dif-
ferent way, and also duly paid fur. And what are the
properties with which we ham now to deaf? iag
Monceau:. The estate of Neuilly consists of twe
parts quite distinct by their origin. The fire part
Imes purchased by Louis Philippe previous to Imo;
die second part has been purchased since that
Cri. As to Moneeaux, it was purchased before 1830
Louis l'hilippe and his sister, Mute. Adelaide. This
property was jointly possessed by them, and that joint pee
eassion is formally stipulated in the deed of purchase.
Things were in that state when the 7th of Auras% 1030,
arrived. At that time it pleased, not the Kiug of the
French—ho was not so then—but the Duke ellieleasa, to
dispose, for the advantage of his children, of property be-
longing, not to the domain of the state, or &alined to re.
turn to it, but to him personally, in his quality of French
citizen, of proprietor, and in virtue of the civil code. The
deed which constitutes that act of liberality is most reedit
in form ; every formality was strictly observed: it was only
two days after rivet the donor became K ing of the Freed-.
This change in the quality of 1.01114 l'hilippe is proved by
the most solemn prays verbal that can be imagined—that
of the two chambers. This document shows that Louis
Philippe entered the Chamber of Deputies on the 9th of
August as Duke d'Orleans, and left it as King of the
French. That done, the question arose of court:tering a civil
list for the new king; the condition of it was imposed hp
the new Charter (Art. 19); and it was declared that if the
new king accepted the conditions laid down by the Charter
the throne should be his. fie did accept them, and became
king ; and the Charter, in its turn, had to fulfil the pro-
mise of coastituting a civil list. That was done by the law
of the 2nd March, 1832. Ou that occasion the question
arose if the king could have a private domain. The prin-
ciple of the old monarchy was cited, and it was said that it
was:a principle that, when a prince came to the throat, his
private fortune should be absorbed in that of the state.
Yes; that was so under the old monarchy, and that was
right. When Louis XI V. said, " L'itat, &est mid!' be
said what was true. It wan then not possible to conceive
the person of the • king isolated from the state; there
coidd not be distinct interests; he disposed of all; and
his patrimony could not, therefore, he distinct from that
of the state. It was asked if there was any room for
such a principle in the establishment of a monarchy
constituted as it was by a contract discussed between the
powers of those days and the Prince d'Orletnis. And it
was seen that it would be contrary to common sense to
bring the rules of the old legitimate monarchies to bear in
rub agave. Accordingly the debate, enlightened as it was
by one of oar most eminent juriscansults, M. Dapiu, ended
ba the resolution that it was not possible to relive that old
principle ; that it would be impracticable and absurd to
attempt to apply it to • new monarchy. The principle of
the king having a private domain consequently triumphed;
bat there was no need to create it—it continued to exist.
The law of the 2ud !starch, 1832, therefore enacted—
" Art. 22. The king shall preserve the property which
belonged to him before his accession to the throne; that
poperty and that which he may purchase during his
reign shall compose his private domain."—Art. 23
enacted that "the king may dispose of his private
domain, either by deed during his lifetime, or by his
will, without being subjected to the rules of the civil
law, which limit the portion to be disposed of." Such, gen-
tlemen, was the contract, and the execution of it was com-
plete. In the interval from 1830 to 1848, seven marriage
settlements of the seven children of the donor were toads
on the faith of the donation of the 7th August, on the faith
of the lettimacy of the property in the estates it men-
tioned. produce the marriage settlement of the Queen
of the Belgians ; it is based on the donation of 1830; and
all the others are like it. And there is this further re-
markable point—the marriege contracts of the princes have
tho character of international treaties, and assure the
jointures of the prirecues on the properties of the dona-
tion. Nor is that all, gentlemen. Since 1830 numerous
setter proprietorship have been exercised by exclaimers,
mortgage arrangements, or sales; and sixty-two families
are concerned in those operations, the amount of which
is not lees than 9,000,000 of francs. We now arrive at
the revolution of 1818. That revolution had on the
civil list of the King of the French the same effect
as the revolution of 1830 bad on the apanage of the
Duke d'Orleans. Itcaused it to disappear, and caused it to
return to the domain of the state. But the private domain
remained to the family. It must be proclaimed to the
bums of the revolution of 1848 that the bad idea that in
ISM the state was defrauded of its rights entered the mind
of no one, at least the mind of no member of the provisional
government. Political measures or.ly were adopted; a
sequestration was placed on the present property. There
were rights to preserve, and creditors to protect ; for the
king, who was represented as an avaricious man, fled with-
Out baying the means of retying for the carrinee which con-
veyed him, and be left behind him 30,000,000 f. debts, in-
Gamed for the embellishments of our national properties.
Justice, gentlemen, should be rendered to all when en op-
portunity prevents itself, and I seize that which is offered
Me Vow. On the 26th February, 1848, two days after the re-
ndition, the property of the civil list returned to thestatc;
bat was justice. The personal property of the Orleans family
was placed under sequestration; there was nothing to
say !against that. We thus arrive at the 9th March,
IM; Mad on that day M. Gamier Pages presented the
=°of the Republic, in which I read, "It is
thattoed the private domain is not comprised
bar measure, and that it remains only :provisionally
sequestration." On the Bth July, however, a pro-
=j as w made in the National Assembly, by M. Juice
est the private domain ought to have returned to
tie State, notwithstanding the donation of the 7th August.
That proposition was, however, rejected, on the eloquent
and able report of M. Berryer, after examination by acorn-
' Mittee. The report assigned as a reason for the rejection
1 that it was necessary tompect the rights of property: it
filly demonstrated the legality of the donation of the 7th
August; and it declared that any vilent attempt to take
the property from the Orleans family would antatud to
arbitrary confiscation. The Amenibly subsequentlypawed
a decree for the payment of the debts of the civil
list and the private domain. At a later period, the
4th February, 1850, a decree enacted that the
sequestration of the private domain should cease on
the Ist August following, and that the eststes of the Prince
de Jolnville and the Duke d'Aumele should be restored ter
them. We now arrive at the 2nd December lost. .A ple-
biscite made an appeal to the nation, and you kr.ow what
an immense majority was obtained. I have nothing, how-
ever, to my on that point. When things were in th state,
the Orleans family had a right to feel perfectly assured with
respect to their family property, for it belonged to them
not as princes, but as citizens. Baton the 72nd of January
appeared the two decrees. One, a political measure, re-
quires the Orleans family to sell the property they possess.
As regards that, I admit that you have no jurisdiction. but
it is very different with respect to the other. These decrees
were followed by complete inaction to the 27th of March,
when the sale of certain property belonging, as it was raid,
to the state, was ordered. Included in it were the domains
of Neuilly and Monceau:. On the 10th of April the agents
of the administration went intake possession of these places,
but they were refused admission, and they had to
employ force to effect an entry. The plaintiffs has log been
then expelled from their property, now demand of the tri-
is
sima";:stuehretoef
int.wtitchy
tri-
bunal to have it mitered. But it is objeeted that the tribunal
is syithout jurisdiction if that be so, what judges can the
laintiffb have ? If the tribunal cannot judge the ear. no-
body can. The nature of the action being relative to pro-
that you are without jurisdiction bee/mire the state is
anudc • matter. Can it ha
Paresennd noPlZl'casn"rhareit
tthp
eer tafyud essentially,:cedtn
yoonnwastiitooohrofi
inhen tyhtcerli
clients
jurisdiction,inheritance,
l?
that a king required to be in the right twice over, in order
nFormintly it used to he mid
to gain a process against one of his subjects ; that was a
homage rendered to the independence of the judges. India
is a maxim which should be preserved under ail rOonev,
monarchical, republican, or without a name: the stets
can, in fact, only be considered in this cast as a
private individual, and must be so treated. M. Faillet
here cited the following famous passage from Montesquieu!
" There is no liberty if the judicial power is not separated
from the legislative and the executive power. If
lives it were
the judge would have the strength of an oppressor. Ail
ith
he
r
e
f
would be lost if the same man, or the sonic body of min,
iuwa eo
utr teal
di e eh
ew of citizens
t g alit
IT htb ee orr obwi tejr aro
ir Ynoe dvb ce
ttuhree ece ut
and
whether nobles or commons, should exercise there three
powers, that of making laws, that of executing public ever:
furious, and that of trying crimes and private disputes.'
The Procureur of the Republic has told us that the decree
1 of the ;fled January prevents you from entertaining
the
I Nes ; but how so ? It declares that certain prollettl.°°'
imp to the state, and that point we shall have to examine;
bed it Sees not interdict the tribunal from hearing the cue.
Ire were, it is true, menaced with a decree containing "I
but the government has not dared to itsue
asel
Übleli that it feels you have jurisdiction. The I re;
, Art dos Seine, in his protest, declares that the elecrre of
the land January is "a governmental and ad,ministrat
Measure of great importance," which Me. 1116 too i
worsa.t"ktiilnmfateibua,t b eheas osr te:ri is ny
beena tfi oet
inuo
nfii
„idicon.
ee
bastion. It would be too contrary to our mnoners, ana.'a
would fall on • noble family which has added dignity "11..
they are ;
But no,
thitis
chf.tottrebra. ecru
De
misfortune to its other claims. It would, moreoaari
violation of law ; and we know that the President of the
Republic,
ca t
thtepyuabrolic,toincatises sr:wiechtototothre mgsdt r t, didciltthat
N.
thies. I have to remark that the decree of the 2'2iiill Janus/
atlorcan to all