The Sun.
London, England, 1865-11-14 00:00:00

M. Dupin.

The late M. Dupin was born at Varzi (Nievre),
in 1783, and was the son of a former member of the
Legislative Assembly, who had suffered imprison-
ment during the Reign of Terror. He pursued his
law studies in Paris, and was admitted to the bar
in 1800 at the age of 17, and took his degree of
law two years later. In the meantime he had ac-
quired a knowledge of legal procedure as clerk to
an avou6. He had already published several small
works for the use of students, among others being
an Elementary Summary of Law,' which was sup-
pressed by the police, as a passage on Germanicus
and Tiberius was supposed to contain an allusion
to the execution of the Duke d'Enghein. Being
disappointed in his efforts to obtain a vacant
professorship at the Ecole de Droit he turned
his attention more particularly to his profes-
sion 3 as a barrister, and from the brilliancy
of his language, the extent of his learning, and the
lucidity of his understanding, he soon acquired a
great reputation. He sat in the Chamber of Re-
presentatives for Chateati-Chinon for a short time
in 1815, and then formed part of the Liberal Oppo-
sition. Ile, however, failed to be re-elected for the
new Parliament on the second return of Louis
XVIII. Under the Restoration he became the
intrepid defender, before the tribunals, of the vic-
tims of the reaction. With M. Berryer he pleaded
for Marshal Ney ; he defended also the three Eng_
lishmen—Wilson, Hutchimion, and Bruce—accused
as accomplices in the escape of Lavalette ; as also
Generals Aix, Savary, and the Duke de Vicence.
In all the political trials of the time his eloquence
was employed in the support of Liberal opinions,
and aided in the defence of the journals prosecuted
fer their hostility to the Government, among others
being the Debate, for its famous article—' Unhappy
France I Unhappy King ! ' Those political trials
procured for him immense popularity. In 1819 he
refused to accept from Government the post of
Secretary General to the Ministry of Justice, with
a salary of 40,000 fr., and the prospect of an appoint-
ment as Councilor of State. He was in 1829 elected
Blitonnier of the Order of Advocates of Paris. In
the meantime, however, he bad in 1827 re-entered
the Chamber of Representatives as Deputy for
:flamers, and took his seat in the Left Centre.
He warmly opposed the Polignac Ministry,
but evinced some hesitation in the Revolution of
July, as, after declaring, with M. Odillon Barrot
and other jurisconsults, the illegality of the royal
ordinances, and counselling resistance to them by
all means, he declined to take an active part in the
step which he had advised. This want of decision
at the last moment was long made a subject of re-
proach to him in the public journals and in pam-
phlets. He, however, aided in the establishment of
the new dynasty, and he it was who imposed on
Louis Philippe the title of ' King of the French,' in
opposition to that of ' Philip VII., King of France.'
On that occasion M. Dupin remarked 'The Duke of
Orleans is called to the throne, not because, but in
spite of his being a Bourbon.' As a reward for his
assistance in the organisation of the new Government
he was made Procureur-General to the Court of
Cassation. He then became one of the firmest sup-
porters of the Orleans dynasty ; he braved unpopu-
larity, and even risked his life by the courage of his
opinions and the warmth of his language in demand-
ing the suppression of all political associations and
clubs, for after the sacking of the Archbishopric and
the Church of St. Germain l'Auxorrois on the 14th
Feb., 1831, his house was broken into, and he him-
self with difficulty rescued from the hands of the
mob by the national guard. He was elected Presi-
dent of the Chamber in 1832, and during the eight
years which followed occupied the same post at dif-
ferent intervals. His name was also included in
the majority of Ministerial combinations of the time,
but he declined invitations to accept office both in
1839 and 1840. In all the great questions of the
latter years of Louis Philippe's reign he took an
active part ; he denounced the scandalous jobbing
of deputies in railway undertakings, opposed the
Pritchard indemnity, advocated a restricted occu-
pation in Algeria, resisted the motions for exclud-
ing dependent Government functionaries from the
Chamber, brought forward by M. Remaly and sub-
sequently by M. de R6musat, and was reporter of
the bill in 1842 for declaring the Duke de Nemours
Regent. He it was also who presented the Count
de Paris to the Chamber as King of the French and -
the Duchess of Orleans as Regent. In the midst of
the revolution which drove from France the dynasty
to which his political life had been chiefly attached,
M. Dupin still maintained his post of Procureur- Gene-
ral. lie neverthelesslaboured actively in the establish-
ment of the Republic, and was appointed President of
fromban itsahk
ing
pCaoritnimin tttehee
dofistelsgsiisolantioonn.
o
the
Orleans family, and also declined to join in the vote
tlhiee ianbosttiaoinn edt
that Gen. Cavaignac had merited the gratitude of the
country. After the election of the 10th Dec. he sup.
ported the home and foreign policy of Louis Napo-
leon, and, in addition, approved of the expedition to
Rome. Ile was then elected President of the
National Assembly, of which he was a member for
the department of the Nieve. His post of Procu-
reur-General he only resigned on the decree con-
fiscating the property of the Orleans family. His
political career seemed there to have terminated, but
in 1857 he again accepted, at the hands of the Em-
peror, the functions of Procureur-General at the
Court of Cassation. On his resumption of office he
defended his resignation and return to office by the
words, I have always belonged to France and never
to P M. Dupin occupied an exalted position
as irtliel' consult, and his published works are
numerous. As a public speaker his language was
precise, and logical rather than impassioned. He
possessed a bitter irony and a bluntness of manner
which caused him sometimes to be thought to find
a pleasure in saying unpleasant things, but which
rendered him a formidable adversary.

TIIE SECRET OF PHARAOH'S SERPENTS EXPLAINED.
—Mr. C. 11. Wood writes to the Pharmaceutical
Journal: "A very curious toy is now being sold in Paris
under the name of Pharaoh's Serpent. As this toy really
constitutes an interesting chemical experiment, perhaps an
account of it may prove interesting to your readers. It con-
sists of a little cone of tinfoil containing a white powder,
about an inch in height, and resembling a pantile. This
cone is to be lighted at its apex, when there immediately
begins issuing from it a thick serpent-like coil, which
continues twisting and increasing
in length to an almost
incredible extent. The quantity of matter thus produced is
truly marvellous, especially as the coil which so exudes is
solid,
and may be handled, although it is extremely light
and somewhat fragile. Having a little of the white pow-
der with which the'cones are filled placed at my disposal
by a friend, I submitted it to analysis, and found it tocon-
sist of sulphocyauide of mercury. This salt when heated
to a temperature below redness undergoes decom
manner,
swelling or growing in size in a most remarkable
The re-
and nitrogen) with a little sulphide of mteirecusry.l.2o
shape, and is
and producing a mixture of molten (a compound of carbon
sulking mass often assumes a most fantastic
It presents a
sufficiently incoherent to retain ittsis
°black within. The
yellow colour on the exterior, but
in a cone of tinfoil. Both the mercurous rcurio
'des decompose in the same manner; but the
serpent' shape, of course, results from t.hessaaltnd beingraeburn.t
sulphocyant
of furnishing a larger quantity of mellon, and is
capable containing more sulphocyanogen, seems
mercuric salt,
the one used in the French serpents."
TIIE DELIGHT OF TEA-DRINKING had been felt by
the Chinese long before it became common to the
rest of mankind. It was not till the 17th century that
Pokoo and Souchong visited Europe, and nowhere did they
find a more hearty welcome than at English firesides. The
Russians, indeed, get tea in greater perfection than ourselves.
With them it retains the flavour of which a sea-voyage
deprivesthelarge it; a
fairs lld
of IbLing
a k
aCnor
Neyi
jendi-Noovvegrloarnodd,
th through
of the leaves of the olea fragrans, in which the Chinese
pack it for a journey northward. But there is no country
where its use is so general as among us. What Belgian
and Italian dames call tea is nothing but its ghost. Wo
for the most part make it good and drink it often. Plenty
of tea---the water quite boiling—pour it off quickly—that
is the true receipt. It must wind up our breakfast, even
if coffee 'takes the precedence; it must follow the late
dinner, and be served in' every gentleman's boudoir
at five o'clock. To the Englishman it scarcely comes amiss
at any hour. It is the student's stimulant, the
medicine ; and to the lone woman in her old ago it is more
than her spinning-wheel ever was, or her cat and canary
ever can be. It affords "the nice young gentleman for a
small tea-party" an admirable opportunity of displaying
his affectation, and cracking his feeble jokes. It is the
most social of all beverages, and the already immense con-
sum? tiou of it here is decidedly on the increase.—London
Rei kw.
_ _

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