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

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M. Dupin.

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The late M. Dupin was born at Varl4
in 1783, and was the son of a former membraof t
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 avoud. He had already published several small
works for the use of students, among others being,
tfie)iicustNi von, as Elementary Summary of Law,' which was sup-
pressed by the police, as a passage on Germanicus
ando llellerx?u
of
fultlphoe Duke d
supposed to contain an
B
n allusioneiiw
disappointed in his efforts to obt •am a vacant
professorship at. the Ecole de Droit he turned
his attention more particularly to
his profes-
sion, as a barrister, and from the brilliancy
of his language, the extent of his l •e.
earnin, and the
lucidity of his understanding,° •
he soon acquired a
great reputation. lie sat in the Chamber of Re-
presentatives for Chateau-Chinon for a short time
in 1815, and then formed part of the Liberal Oppo-
sition. He, 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, Hutchinson, and Bruce—accused
as accomplices in the escape of Lavalette ; as also
Generals Aix, Savary, and the Duke de Vicenco.
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
for their hostility to the Government, among others
being the Debaty, for its famous article—' Unhappy
France ! Unhappy King ! ' Those political trials
_procured for. Itimejlse 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 Councillor of State. He was in 1829 elected
Batonnier of the Order of Advocates of Paris. In
the meantime, however, he had in 1827 re-entered
the Chamber of Representatives as Deputy for
'Tamers, 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'Auxerrois 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 1810. In all the great questions of the
latter years of Louis Philippe's reign he took au
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. Readily and sub-
sequently by M. de Winusat, and was reporter of
the bill in 1812 for declaritt,...4lic I)slce de Nemours
Regent. lie it was also pre4.tnted 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. D upin still maintained his post of Procureur-Gene-
ral. He nevertheless laboured actively in the establish-
ment of the Republic, and was appointed President of
Committee of Legislation. He abstained front taking
part in the discussion on the motion to banish the
Orleans family, and also declined to join in the vote
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. He was then elected President of the
National Assembly, of which he was a member for
the department of the Nieve. This 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-Gentral 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 parties.' M. Dupin occupied an exalted position
as a jurisconsult, and his published works are
numerous. As a public speaker his language was
precise, and logical rather than impassioned. lie
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.

et
whenll lbll
li
inng gt
h a
ae
THE 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, perhapsan
account of it may prove interesting to your readers. It con-
acs
hoi snot
lies toi
asf
nat
oilit eat
hl e l coneiiga h htea odi
gf
ab
.tt
ti
int
and oiln:
ta p cer
xoe ns, ai white
ml eps. od
wi
aTdt hee
lri
ys,
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 oxtromely light
and somewhat fragile. Having a little of the whdit.osmsai
pow-
der with which the cones are filled
plallfaolunnTit to ol by a friend, 1 submitted it to analysis,haisn
salt when heated
con-
sist of sulphocyanide of mercury.
dT n. es decomposition
to a temperature below redness un er,.,.
oemarkable manner,
swelling or growing in size in a most i
and producing a mixture of mellon (a
of mercury. The re-
(aconipound of carbon
and nitrogen) with a little sulphide
fantastic shape, and is
suiting mass often assumes a mostits
form.
It presents a
sufficiently incoherent to retain
yellow colour on the exterior, but is black within. The
' serpent' shape, of course, results from the salt being burnt
in a cone of tinfoil. Both the mercurous and mercuric
s
ulphocyanides decompose in the same manner; but the
I 1
mercuric salt, containing more su p iocyanogen, seems
capable of furnishing a larger quantity of mellon, and is
the ono used in the French serpents."
TILE 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
Pekoe 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
deprives it ; . and being conveyed overland through
the large fairs of Ladak and Nijni-Novgorod, it tastes
of the leaves of the olea fragraus, in whirl 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. We
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
late
if coffee takes the precedence; it must follow
th
boudoir
dinner, and be served in every gentlem,s.
at five o'clock. To the Englishman it scarce]) comes
amiss
at any hour.
It is the student's stimulant, the invalid's
her old age-it is more
' medicine ; and to the lone woman in
than her spinning-wheel over was, or
her cat and canary
ever can be. It affords " the nice young gentlemanfor 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-
sumption of it here is decidedly on tilt) inereasls.—:London
Revieth. _ . . _

General Beauregard is to be made superintendent
of the New Orleans and Jackson Railroad.

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