The Sun.
London, England, 1852-11-08 00:00:00

FRANCE.

The majority of the committee of the Senate which
had to examine and report on the Senatus Consultum,
was opposed to the introduction of the names of the
ex-King Jerome and his family into the act of settle-
ment. In its sitting of Friday evening, the commit-
tee divided on the question, when a majority of the
committee formally voted against the introduction of
the names of Jerome Bonaparte and of his family
t
into the Senatus Consultum, as presumptive heirs to
empire. On the division, it appeared that seven
were against the Jerome family, and three In its
favour. The three members who voted in its favour
are—M. Troplong, Count d'Argout, and General
d'Hautpoul.
On being informed of the decision of the committee,
the Prince President called a Council of his Ministers
on the subject, and the Council decided that in pre-
sence of the declared opinion of the committee of the
Senate, that the family of Jerome Bonaparte ought
not to be included by name among the heirs to the
throne—an opinion in which,
no doubt, the majority
of the Senate coincided--it was not right to persist
in the matter, and Louis Napoleon ultimately gave
his consent. This put an end to all the difficulties.
M. Troplong returned to Paris, and informed his col-
leagues that the President had yielded to their wishes,
and the report was drawn up accordingly.
On Saturday, at two o'clock a general sitting of
the Senate took place, when M. Troplong read his
report. The report simply recommends that the
empire should be conferred on Louis Napoleon and
the heirs male of his body, whom failing, to any per-
son whom Louis Napoleon may choose to adopt as
his heir. Ultimately the adoption of the draft of the
Senatus Consultum presented on Friday—with the
exclusion, however, of the parts relating to the suc-
cession of Jerome Bonaparte and his family—was
postponed until yesterday, when the Senate was to
hold a meeting for the purpose.
On Saturday morning, the ex-king Jerome, ac-
companied by his son Napoleon Bonaparte, went to
St. Cloud, when the ex-king declared to Louis Napo-
leon that he felt the exclusion of his family from the
succession as so great an insult to himself and his
son, that he was determined to resign not only the
office of President of the Senate, but that of Governor
of the Invalides, and the only dignity he would con-
tinue to hold was that of Marshal of France. Louis
Napoleon endeavoured to calm the irritation of the
old man, and to induce him to change his mind. He
stated that although he and his family were not to be
mentioned in the Senatus Consultum, they were not
therefore excluded from all hopes of the succession.
He (Louis Napoleon) would still have the power of
adopting Napoleon Bonaparte if he should have no
family of his own ; and his intention was to do so if
he showed that he was deserving of the trust, and
could by his conduct gain the confidence of the
country. Louis Napoleon added, that in the mean-
time he was willing to place Napoleon Bonaparte in
a position of trust and dignity.
Thus matters stand for the present. We think it
to be hardly a gracious act thus pointedly to exclude
the name of the sole surviving brother of the great
Emperor.
A curious incident occurred at the meeting of
the Senate on Friday. Among the Senators who
entered the hall of the Senate was the Marquis de
Turgot, tinv late Minister of Foreign Affairs. He
was in full costume as a senator, but it being the first
time he had appeared as a senator, he presented his
credentials, and was about to take his seat. Upon
this the President informed l'il. de Turgot that I e
must retire while his credentials were examined. A
short time afterwards he was called in and informed
that his commission as a senator was quite regular,
but that by the terms of the Constitution the number
of senators during the first year was limited to eighty,
and as he (M. de Turgot) nas the eighty-first on the
list, he could not take his seat till after the 14th of
January next. M. de Turgot was consequently
obliged to retire, not a little astonished at the difficulty
thrown in his way, and no less ehagrined to find that
he was to be deprived for three months longer, not
only of his seat in the Senate, but of the pleasure of
displaying the handsome costume in which he had that
day bedecked his person for the first time. As M. de
iTurgot is not very popular, his discomfiture created
no little mirth among his colleagues.
M. Portalis, irst president of the Court of Camp