The Sun.
London, England, 1822-08-09 00:00:00

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6

LAW INTELLIGENCE.

VICE-CHANCELLOR'S COURT, Au°. 8.
Exparte THOMPSON in re ANDRADE.
Mr. HonicE applied to the Court on behalf of the petitioner
Thompson, That the assignees under the firm of Wurswick,
Andrade, and C 0.., might be directed to pay into his hands the
sum of 3,7411. The circumstances under which the petitioner
applied to the Court were these:—Messrs. Wurswick and Co,
were bankers at Lancaster, and had been employed by the pe-
titioner to sell a quantity f stock, amounting to some thou-
sand pounds, for the purpose of purchasing an estate. Messrs.
Wurswick fir this purpose wrote to their. London bankers,
Messrs. Merle and Co.. to sell the stock in question. The stock
wa.4 accordingly sold, and it produced the sum of. 37411.. Of
this amount 2,0001. had been remitted immediately to Messrs.
Wurswick and Co., for the petitioner, but it was not entered in .
the books by the clerk of Messrs. Wurswick and, Co. In the
meantime a rumour was spread. that Messrs. Merle -and Go.
were in difficulties, and were likely to stop payment. Mr.
Andrade immediately came to London, and found that,
the evening previous to his arrival, 'Messrs. Merle and
Co. had actually stopped payment. That firm,howeveregave
Mr. Andrade a parcel containing notes to the amount of 1,7411.
the remaining part of the whole sum of .1',741/., due to Mr.
Thompson, as the produce of his stock. Mr. Andrade took this
parcel with him on his return to,hancaster, and lodged it in the
banking house. The next morning after Mr. Andrade's re-
turn (in consequence of the London bankers having stopped
payment), Messrs. Wurswick and Co. found it necessary also
to suspend their payments. Under these eircUmstances, there-
fore, the petitioner claimed the payment Of the sum of 3,7411.,
maintaining that the money was not paid into the hinds of
Messrs. Wurswick and Co. to be dealt with by them as his
bankers, but was remitted to them on his account for his sole
use. The 2,800/., had been first remitted in four Bank Post
Bills, and had never been inserted in the books, and the 'parcel
which Mr. Andrade carried had never been opened. -Mr. An-
drade, therefore, had been only acting as a confidential mes-
senger for the petitioner.
The COURT thought that the fairest ,way of deciding the
question would be by trying its merits in an action of trover at
the next Lancashire assizes.

Mr. BELL, who Was on the other side, made no objection to
this arrangement.

POLICE INTELLIGENCE.

G ITU DHAL L.—A FOIkT UNE TEL 7.llll:.—Ye4terday, Eliza-
beth Cousens, a matronly looking dame, describing herself as
the wife of a spectacle maker, residing in Little Sutton-street,
Clerkenwell, was brought up yesterday before Mr. Alderman
Warr 11 MAN, charged by Mr. Withers, cabinet-maker, Knight-
rider-street, Doctors',tommons, us an impostor, going about to
different houses pretending to tell fortunes.
• The prisoner, Mr. WitherS stated, affected to be deaf and
dumb, and carried on communications by writing with chalk
upon a board. In addition to her pretended ,Itnowledge of
future events, she professed also to be an adept in me iicane ;
and it was her practice to accost people in the Street, and to
communicate to them that, she could perceive they had
some..compiaint, and professed to be able to cure them of
it. She had thus communicated to him once that he had a
complaint in his heart, and wished him to purchase a dose of
some red liquor she had in a bottle with her, which would re-
move it. In this way, he said, he understood she managed to
pick up a good deal of money, and had obtained but a taw days
ago as much as 14s. at. one.house in his neighbourhood. Her
charge for telling fortunes was, ladies, 25., and gentlemen, 6s.
each. He had three sisters, and the prisoner had called at his
house once or twice, wishing to tell their fortunes, and. to soli-
cit their recommendation among their female friends;. and yes-
terday,i on his return home, he found her there again on the
same errand, and, knowing her to be a shameless impostor, he
felt if his duty to put a stop to her impositions, by bringing
her before: the Magistrate.

,fright• oecisioned by being taken in custody, had, it
seems, already, produced some good effect, in the recovery of
her speech and hearivf ite, when asked by the officer, she gave
her name with an 'audible voice, and When placed at the bar,
appeared to be fully aware that her situation predicted no good
fortune to her.

". Pray, what are you ?" said the Magistrate, addressing her.
" A very bad woman," replied the prisoner. "If your
worship will forgive me this time, I will never do such things
again."
"That must not be," replied di Magistrate; " persons of
your description must not escape without punishment. It is
now my duty to tell your fortune."
Reference was accordingly had to the Book of Fate (the new
Vagrant Act), in which it was laid down, that persons going
about pretending to tell fortunes should be deemed rogues and
vagabonds, and be committed to the House of Ccrrectiun for
any time not exceeding three months.
Mr. PAYNE, the clerk, having read this fatal dec:es, the pri-
soner, in spite of her promises and entreaties, was committed to
Bridewell-for one month.

MAILYLEBONE-QFFlCE.—Yesterday the Sitting Magistrate,
JOHN RAWLINSON, Esq., was occupied the greatest part of the
morning in investigating the cases of 25 women, and two men,
apprehended at an early hour that morning by a party of the
Bow-street patrol, who found them parading thicugh several
streets and squares at the west end of,-the town. It appeared
the women. were not caught in any actual breach of the
peace, but on the contrary were only loitering about, and
this 'coming within the terms of the Police Act, . they
were apprehended as dissolute persons. The Magistrate,
after hearing the charges, 'requested the officers to point out
those of the .prisoners who were guilty of any breach of the
peace. The officers could not-say any of them were break.
ing the peace ;' they were -taken into :custody as being street-
walkers. The Magistrate:then „strongly censured the conduct of
the officers in apprehending persons for walking the streets, and
then not being able to swear to them as disorderly. The worthy
Magistrate asked if they had ever made a similar clearance be-
fore the last act had passed, which gave them ss. for each per-
son they captured ? The intentions of the act. were not that
every person should be taken who walked the street, but those
only who were disorderly, and advised them to be more cautious
who they apprehended' in future. The Magistrate` examined
them all separately,' most of whotn gave a plausible account of
themselves; when 24, after a suitable adniOnifien, were dis-
charged, and three ordered to be detained. One of the females
complained of being struck and ill-treated by one of the officers,
but was Unable to point out • the person. The Magistrate
thought it highly improper conduct of the officer, if she spoke
the truth; and regretted that the individual was not known.—
Another said she was a married,woman, andwas walking with
her son, about 19 years old,' who had merely ran across the
road observing a crowd, when she was seized and taken to the
watch-house. •

ALRI,BOROUGii-STEEETYCSterday the re-examination
of William Reading, charged With being concerned in the ex-
tensive burglary at Mr.Ni estwOod's; jeweller,: of Princes-street,
Golden-scv:zare, took place before -Mr. RoE, the Sitting Ma-
gistrate. -`The Alagistrate, from the Circumstance of six sove-
reigns being found on the prisoner, out of which • two were
identified by the prosecutor, and which he had marked, thought
himself justified in committing t..he'prisoner to take his trial.

IMPROVEMENTS IX ST. GILES'S PARISM—A
Court Leet was held on Wednesday and yester-
day, at the Ditke of Bedford's Office, and also
at the Office in St. Giles's, when the usual
nuisances were presented. Among the rest, that
noted Place • called Dyot-street, now George-
street, which for years past has been the hiding-
place of infamous characterS'; and it was resolved
on the inquiry that, at the expiration of the
leases, which were ahnoSt_out, the whole should
be taken doWn. Among the infended improve-
ments, we understand all the bye lanes and alleys
leading froml George-street, &c. are to 'come
down. Should this take place, it will be a great
improveMent to that part of the town, which
now, from the filth and dirt concentrated to-
gether in those places, is sometimes rendered
almost insupportable to the. respectable inhabit-
ants ; and another great annoyance will be.got
rid of, the nests of 'thieves who haunt those low
places, and very' many depredations will by this
means be pr"eyented.'

PiIICZ SEVENPENCE

ASSIZE INT,ELIAGENUE.

NORTHERN CIRCUIT.-DURHAM, Apo-. 6.

LIBEL ON THE ESTABLISHED CHURCH, AND PAR,-
TICULARLY THE EPISCOPACY OF DURHAM.

THE Kiio V. JOHN AMBROSE WILLIAZIS

. Mr: ScArtt.vii• stated that this was a criminal information
:granted by the Judges of the Court of King's Eench for a libel
on the Established Church of England and Clergy of Durham,:
by the defendant, who is printer and publisher of a newspaperf
entitled The Durham Chronicle. The occasion of the libel in
question arose out of the illustrious, unfortunate,_ and unhappy,
Queen Caroline's death, which the defendant laid hold of for'
the purpose of dealing otitlander upon the Established Chtireh,•
and particularly against the Bishop and other Dignitaries of
the Cathedral Chtirch of Durham. The mischief such slander
was calculated to produce was considerably increased by the
- defendant's choosing Such an occasion to vilify the Esta 2
blished Religion and Clergy. The libel • appeared in The
Durham Chronicle, of 18th August, la2l, and charged the,
Bishop ' and Clergy with brutal enmity to, and as being
athong the persecutors of, that illustrious Princeas ; because,
forsooth, they had, 'it seems. neglected to toll the hells of the
cathedral on the occasion of her Majesty's death. Was it be-
cause these gentlethen did not express that zeal which belonged
only to such as were intolerant, and - because they were not as
violent as himself, that they should not feel as much grief at
the melancholy fate of that Princess as the defendant himself ?
—that they chose, rather as became the peaceable character of
their cloth, to indulge their grief in silence—is this defendant,
to deal out his malevolence against them,' and say, that they
shOuld be considered among her persecutors, and as assisting
in the infliction of the injuries which she sustained? It did
not follow, becatise the respectable members of the Cathedral
of Durham were not so loud or so violent in expressing their
feelings on the occasion, that 'they were less sincere in their
disapprobation of these proceedings against her late Majesty.
Thelibel was as follows :

" So far as we haye been able to judge from the accounts in
the public papers, a mark of respect to 'her late Majesty has.
been almost universally paid throughout the kingdom, when
the painful tidings of her decease was received, by toiling
the 'bens of the cathedrals and churches. But there is one
exception to this very creditable fact, which demands espe-
cial notice. In this episcopal city, containing six churches
independently of the Cathedral, not a single bell tolled to
announce the departure of the Magnanimous spirit of the
most injured of Queens ! the most persecuted of women t
Thtis the brutal enmity of those who embittered her
mortal existence pursues her in her shroud. We know not
whether actual orders were issued to prevent this customary
sign of mourning, but the omission plainly indicates the kind
of spirit 'which predominates among our Clergy. Yet theie
men profess to be the followers of Jails Christ, to walk
in his footsteps, and to teach his precepts, to inculcate his
spirit, and to promote harmony, charity, and Christian
love ! Out upon such hypocrisy ! It is such conduct as
renders the very name of our established clergy odious till it
stinks in the nostrils—that makes our churches Took like desert:
ed sepulchres, rather than temples of the living GOD !--that
raises up conventicles in every corner, and increases-the brood
of wild fanatics and enthusiasts—that causes our beneficed dig:
nitaries to be considered as usurpers of their possessions—that
deprives them of all moral or pastoral influence and respect—
that, in short, haS left them no prop or support in the vc•ne.:' -
ration or attachment of the people. Sensible of
.their decline
in these respects, they cling to temporal power, and lose, in
their officiousness in political matters, even the semblance of
the character of the ministers of religion. It is impossible that
Stich a system can last It is at war with the spirit of the age,
as well as 'with justice and reason ; and the black beetles who
Crawl :'bottt anndit its holes and crevices; act as if they were
striving to provoke and accelerate the bIoW, which, sooner
later, will inevitably crush the whole fabric, and level it with
the dust." • .

•
The Learned Counsel, after commenting with great severity
upon the scandalous, wanton, and malicious motives of the de-
fendant, called John Sutherland, clerk to Mr. Griffiths, who
pro•Ved" that he purchased of the defendant the paper in tiiis2
don.

Cross-examined by Mt. BunuoriAm for the defendant—Do'
you recollect the accounts coming down from London of 1.1..fe
late lamented Majesty's persecution, and which caused her
death ?—yes:
I presume that on the occasion of her death, you heard tat„:-
bells toll in the usual way ?—No.
My Learned Friend has mentioned, that among the people trF
Durharn, and particularly among the clergy, there were greaz
manifestations of grief; the people in Durham and yourself
must Italie heard the bells of the Cathedral if they had hoen
tolled ?—Yes.

On his late Majesty's death you heard them toll, and on ES
present Majesty's birth-day you heard theth ring ?—Yes.
. And at the late Coronation all the bellS and even extra belts'
.
were set a ringing ?—Yes:
Pray on the death of the old Queen, the present King's mo-.
ther, was the usual custom Observed on that occasion ? Yes, f
believe they tolled.
A witness from the Stamp OffiCe, London, proved the pro-
prietorship of The Durham Chronicle to be in the defendant.-
Mr. BROUGHAM (in defence) spoke for an hour and forty
minutes with an energy and copiousness of his peculiar reason-
ing, never equalled even by himself. He appealed to the Jury
whether they had ever known a person standing in the sittiatiol,
of a public prosecutor, stating his case with so much ardour.
having recourse to so much declamation, urging his arg-urnetr,
in so loud and so eloquent a fashion, as his Learned Friend the
Attorney-General of my Lord the Bishop of Dtithain. snt, very
far from complaining of this, he called upon them only to drams
the inference which he had drawn- three quarters of an hon 7
befo're—that his Learned Friend felt what a labouring case hi..
Was, and how different from all he had ever -felt before, when pro-
secuting, and especially for libel. " Gentlemen; he has called
my client that unhappy man. Unhappy he will be, indeed
but he Will not be the only unhappy man in this country,
the doctrines of my learned friend receive the sanction of your
verdict. Such a verdict,' I fearlessly tell you, Would utterly de-
stroy the liberties of us all." The Learned Gentleman after-
wards contended that it was perfectly lawful to question the
very foundation of the established church, and to make all sort,
of animadversions on the Clergy as a body. This doctrine he
contended to be particularly applicable to this country, where
there were three different establishments, and still more in thi.
county, where there was, a church so splendidly endowed. He
represented with indescribable effect the forlorn and pitiable
condition of the Scotch, whom his Majesty was about to visit,
but who, though moral, well educated, religious, and loyal,
had not such a thing as a Bishop from the Tweed to John
O'Groat's, and knew' not the blessing, of paying tithes. The
Learned Gentleman then argued that the writing now in ques-
tion did not at all allude to any discussion respecting the esta-
blishment, but only lamented the fatal tendency of the miscon-
duct of the Clergy. " Who among us has not, within the last
, three weeks, expressed that the flagrant misconduct of an indi-
Vidual brought disgrace upon his Order ?" The statements
respecting the conduct of •the Clergy towards the Queen,' and
the allusion to the fate of that illustrious personage, were power-
ful and pathetic, beyond description. In conclusion; he called
the Jury to give their verdict for the defendant, for the
sake of that Hierarchy who brought the action, but against
whom a verdict of guilty wonld be a fatal blow. "It is your
duty to proclaim that light must continue to visit every recess cf
that Hierarchy, and that by that light its abuses must be cor-
rected."

[The Learned Gentleman's speech was received with re-
peated bursts of applause from the audience, by beating with
the feet, clapping of hands, &c.—Mr. Baron WoOD repeatedly
called out to repress these indecent manifestations of violence :
and desired that whoever should be detected might be taken
into custody, and he would commit them.]
Mr. Baron WOOD then said, the Jury would not be in.
fluenced by the eloquent and emphatic speech they hall heard,
butwould audge soberly and disposi9nately. Ile was directed
by law to tell them his opinion, and he told them, therefore,
that lie was clearly of ()pylon, that was a libel anik a gross
libel. e
Messrs. BROUGHAM and .ALDERSON reminded his Lord-
ship that he was not directed, but empowered, at his discretion,
to give his opinion, as in other criminal cases.'
Mr. Baron WooD.—Then I inform you, Gentlemen of the
Jury, according to that discretion, that this is a libel.
The Jury retired and after being shut up for several hours,
returned the following verdict, at the Judge's lodgings :
That the defindant was guilty of a life on the Clergy of the
City of Durham, and Us suburbs.

FOREIGN INTELLIGENCE.

PARIS, Au ou ST

:CHAMBER OF DEPUTIES, AT:rev. 6. -
Both the Gallery, and body of the Chamber
10re p‘typrnOy crowded, in expectation of the
inuoiun of M.' St. Aulaire., on the conduct of the
Procureur-General of Poitiers.

*?..IS T-A L AIRE being called upon to develop the pro-
position which we formerly stated, vas heard with great atten-
,
anti without the least interruption. When the proposition

{he said) for giving to the Chamber the right of prosecuting
• ana punishing offences against itself, either collectively or in
the person'er any of its members, was first discussed, several
ofators opposed it, as conferring too important a jurisdiction,
and leading to the gravest consequences. He (M. St. Aulaire)
..exiSidered•it.a dangerous innovation on the part of the accused;

he was apprehensive that partial condemnations might some-
times be prenounced by men with irritated feelings, judging in
their ewn cause, and in behalf of their own dignity. He was

Viola that the public voice might not 'always sanction such par-
eial decisions. But considerations of a higher order determined
the Chamber to.invest itself with this power, to take upon itself
the responsibility of guarding the deposit of its own honour and
existenee. It was felt that the 'Chamber would cease to be an
independent power, if it was placed in dependence on a judicial
authority which should have the right to refuse punishment for
attack 4 aimed at its honour, .and consequently at its existence.
I," said the lion. Mover, " now call upon you to make use,
for the first time, of the power which you have accepted; and
I do so with the more confidence, that if in certain circum-
- stances it might be accompanied with danger; in the particular
- instance before us it presents none. The Chamber has suffered
an attack in the persons of several of its Members, who are far
from cemposiug part of the majority. The interest which they
. can inspire will certainly not excite in the minds of a great
-number a very lively sympathy. If you, therefore, pronounce
against.such an offence, your decision will certainly not be sue-
pected of partiality in favour of, those who .have a just right to
complain. lam not afraid of being accused of disrespect to the
Magistracy, or of exercising the least influenee over the persons
tinder prosecution. I hate conspiracies ; I respect the Magi-
strates ; and, animated by these sentiments, I bring forward
with eonfideuce an accusation against the. Procureur-General
of the Court of Poitiers, because' he has committed an.offenee
Against the Chamber in the person of several of its Members,
because he has violated our privileges, and because to attack
the • honour of the Chamber is to expose it to the
hatred of parties, and to annihilate the palladium of the
public liberties. I know not on what , ground my
'motion will be opposed —it will be said, perhaps, that
the Procureur-lieneral of Poitiers has only done his duty ;
that the rigorbus rights which he derived from his place
`imposed upon him the obligation of reporting in the indict-
'silent all the facts and circumstances . which resulted from the
least elements of the procedure. ',formally deny this principle;
deny it, as contrary to reason and the true principles of judi-
, dal order ; I deny it, as contrary to jurisprudence and even to
precedent. The principle, I said, is contrary to reason and ju-
. dicial order ; the criminal code imposes on the Judge of In-
struction the duty Of collecting all the facts, all the means of
, forming a decision, whatever be their importance ehe must
write down all the expressions of the accused and of the wit-
nesses ; but when these unwrought materials are sent to the
Magistrate employed to draw up the charge, it becomes his
duty to make a choice among those materials. The public pro-
secutor should therefore make his selection with a good spirit,
with impartiality and wisdom ; and in combining all the facts
necessary to attain a knowledge of the truth, lie should ex-
punge those which could have no other result but to compro-
mise men whom he is neither employed nor authorized to ac-
cuse. If the Chamber adopts these principles, you must decide
'that the Procureur-general of Poitiers has failed in his dutg, by
doing too much, or by doing too little. Ile has done too little,
if he believed that the persons implicated were guilty, fo,r he
,ought then to have demanded the authority of the Chamber to
prosecute them ; he has done too much, if, believing that there
was no possibility of accusing them, he has directed. against
them arms poisoned by perfidy. I shall not proceed farther in
the dry field of judicial investigation. 1 appeal to the senti-
ments
which animate all Frenchmen. Permit me to recall to
you, that in the times oldie monarchy, Frenchmen entertained
horror at an accusation which attacked a man behind his back.
At all times they viewed with horror the baseness which would
. tie use hands of a man that his enemy might strike him with-
out defence. This is what the indictment has done: It has
so street several of our Hon. Colleagues, since it has put them
,in a situation in which it is impossible to dear themselves. Let
me not be told that such an acte (accusation is conformable to
rules : this would he to say that these rules could be accom-
Splices of the greatest baseness of, a judicial ambuscade. The
uric (accusation goes the length of saying, with respect to
. de la Fayette, that the face of hieconnexion with the conspiracy
is ono ED ; and if it does not go the'same length with respect
to the rest, it employsan artifice.equally dangerous, as it reads
to the same per Suasion. Think what Would be your own rage,
if your names were inserted in the same acts d'accusation, and
agree to the motion for calling the author of the attack to-the
ar of.the Chamber, to be punished for the grave offence'he haS
committea.". '
M. de Maiterioxac defended the conduct of the Procureur-•
..Generad of POitiees, 'aed opposed the proposition A conspiracy
had btcken otit within the. jurisdiction of the Royal Court of
Poitiers; that'corispiracY appeared to. have for its object 'to
overturn the Goternment ot the King, and to substitute another
etlovernmert. External acts manifested the existence of the
. -conspiracy, , public functionaries were displaced, and others ap-
pointed, witliont the authority of 'the King. Proceedings have
..comidenced against a great nuniber of persons—a great number
of witnesses have been heard. It appears from the judiciahpro-
ecedure, that this conspiracy had been directed by a Provisional
Government, of which the accused and the witnesses have them-
-. selves pointed Out the members (MM. Foy, Keratry, B. Con-
stant, and de la Fayette). The Royal Court has ordained the
. mire en accusation of 56 individuals, and the Procureur-Ge-
neral was bound to draw up the indictment. He did so. He
was bound to state facts, and to indicate the names of those
who had been audaciously pointed out by the witnesses and
some of the accused as having formed the pretended Provi-
sional' Government. This document has received publicity ;
die Members who are implicated complain, and demand in-
quiry. We answer—those Members have a right to complain
that their names have been brought forward in an affair where
justice pursues treason, perjury, and felony ; but their re-
proachee should fall, not on the public prosecutor, but upon
those who have compromised honourable names. The propo-
, sition made to call the Procureur•General of Poitiers to the bar
is unreasonable. He has committed no punishable offence.—
Ile has merely arranged the circumstances which appear in the
..first examinations. The acte d'accusation must be read to the
conspirators : it was therefore indispensable that it should corn-
: prebend all the facts connected with the nature of the of-
fence: M. de Dlartignac, after some_further reasoning, pro-
ceeded, by saying—" Some of the Members of this Cham-
ber are indignant at seeing .their names mixed up with those of
corepiretore. Theinindignation is natural, I allow. They wish
to destroy even the slightest suspicion of a participation in so
odious a crime. This sentiment is legitimate. To satisfy it,
, justice should.be allowed to proceed, acid to open for herself all
the gates of truth. (,Movements of approbation on the right.)
,But, to remove a public functionary from his. duties at a trio-
.-enent when he is about to exercise them usefully for society, is
not the way to arrive at truth. No ! doubtless the greatest
:liberty must be given, the greatest security to the examinations
which are about to open at Poitiers. If the Members Impli-
.cated take such a way of justifying thernsebiess is it not to be.
feared that they may arrive at amend diametrically opposite ?
May it nut 'be suspected that the part width they have adopted
has for its real object to create a diversion in favour of those
who arc before the Court at Poitiers ?—(Agitation on the left,
suddenly suppressed.)—May it not be suspected that such an
,attack is intended to rouse against the public prosecutor all the
enemies of the Throne, and to create trouble and uncertainty
'in the minds of the Jury and the• Judges? -I.do not say that.
it is so; but such suspicions may gain ground. Will you
:allow me to mention the only means which I 'think calculated
to repel such odiqus suspicions? It is to come and protest
from this tribunal, and in the face-of France, against such an
accusation."
M. TAYSSERE.—How then ?
Voices2on the left.—Hush !
General FOY (rising up with energy.)—Must we fell down
, on ouelences ?
The PRESIDENT interfered, 'quietness was restored, and not
again disturbed.
M. ire MARTIGNAO thus concluded :eat' I speak of what I
should do if I were so coenpromised. 1 declare that I would
.ascend this tribune—that I would declare in the face of France
and of Europe my respect for legitimacy—my love for the
King—my horror at treason and rebellion—and I would then
wait patiently for the examinations which are to ensue, con-
vinced that truth must be manifest on all sides,"
M. ROYER. Coreeattn.--Gentlernen, this discussion, of so
serious a nature in itself, is rendered further remarkable by an
important circumstance. This is the first time that the Cham-
ber has been called upon to exercise the supreme jurisdiction,
'with which it is invested by the law of the 25th of March. It

stow enters into the full possession of its independence, of its
dignity, of its security, and of that of itarnembers. Time and
reflection were necessary to all of us, and to none more than to
•me, in order to• enter sufficiently into the consideration of ques-
done of so much Importance. I request, therefore, all the in-
dulgence of the Chamber, while 1 briefly. state the motives
'which induce me to supporte the motion of M. de Saint
Ahlaire. The law of the 25th of March last is the nest
considerable innovation which has been made in our pub-
lic law since the promulgation of the Charter, and the
greatest step which we have advanced in the career of Repre-
sentative Government. The right understanding of Article 15
of that lasi, the application of which is now in question, eight
necessarily to be first determined. The object of this article is
to relieve the Chamber from the necessity of recur'rihg to the
jurisdiction of tribunals for the punishment of offences committed
against itself; in a word, it is constituted a judicial authority in
whatever concerns its own dignity and that of its members. It
' exercises an absolute and a responsible power. It is not therefore
against the abuse of the press, but against the tribunals: It is not
their dignity that it avenges, but it is their independence which it
establishes with respect to the judicial authority. Doubtless
the Legislature did not overlook the extraordinary and even
despotic power thus conveyed ; but, taking higher views, look-
ing at the dangers which the Chambers might, incur from the
judicial power, it was considered ehat the stability of our insti-
tutions was to be secured at this price. The law has therefore
created in favour: of the Chambers a formidable but necessary
privilege. This privilege is the complement of Att. 52 of the
Charter. With thateerticle and the law of-the 25th of March,
the Chambers are henceforth placed beyond the reach of any
judicial aggression. They are self-maintained; and protect
themselves as well as their 'Members. Thus, Gentlemen, we
must take for our point of departure this truth equally consti-
tutional and legal, that the judicial power is the natural danger
which the independence of the Chambers has to encounter.
I come then to the proposition of M. de Saint Aulaire. I re-
gard it as an established fact, that the Procureur-General of
the Court of Poitiers has abused his official power by directing
an act of accusation against four Deputies, against whom no
charge has been made by the Royal Court, and who could not
be accused without the permission of the Chamber. When I
say four Deputies, I must observe, thae.l have not in' view that
part of the act of accusation which relates to the proclamation
of a provisional government ; the statement respecting that
government being described as a falsehood, none of the names
mentioned are accused. M. Viscount de Montmorency. was, I
believe, in the same manner, included in the conspiracy of
General Mallet ; but neither the Imperial Government nor
public opinion accused him, and ha had no occasion to defend
himself. The proof that the Procureur-General had made the
:act of accusation attack four Deputies is established on other
grounds, and is incoutestible ; for that act refers to facts con-
cerning them, which form charges against Grandmenil, one of
the accused. .They are charged with being his accomplices ;
and with regard to one of them, the Procureur-General goes the
length of stating that the charge is proved. It has been said
that the Procureur-General has only done his duty; that the
act of accusation ought to contain the whole of the exami-
nations, and even reproduce them in all their -details.—
Yes ! with regard to the accused, but I formally deny the
assertion with regard to other persons. The Procureur-General
has therefore overstepped the limits traced out to him by article
241 of the code of criminal instruction. Instead of direct, he
has established indirect accusations. If lie state that to be
proved which the Court has passed over as insignificant or in-
sufficient, he commits a libel. This, I state it with regret, the
Procureur-General has done. The principal objection against
the proposition of N. de Saint Aulaire, is, that if it be adopted
the Chamber will encroach upon the judicial authority—it will
commit a dangerous usurpation. These, gentlemen, arc high
sounding words ; but when we come to apply them, their foice
entirely vanishes, and there appears to be no common sense in
the objection. The question is not here about the judicial
power : what we have to consider is, the conduct of the Procu.
reursGeneral. I think, then, it may be regarded as an indis-
putable point, that a contempt of the Chamber has been com-
mitted against four of its members; that the Procureur-Gene-
ral of Poitiers, guilty of this offence, should be placed at the
bar of the Chamber, and that he may be so placed without en-
croaching on the authority of the judicial power. If this were
all, gentlemen, I should not, perhaps, have presented myself
before this tribunal. The reason which calls upon me impera-
tively to address you • notwithstanding the daily increasing re-
pugnance to the subject, is thatehe Deputies attacked by,the
Procureur-General of Poitiers are members of the minority.
During the course of a long life, in the midst of such a variety
of events, in the presence of so many catastrophes, I have never
been found to hasten-to the succour of the strong ; I have never
been seen to turn my back upon the helpless : it has been too
often my lot to behold them overwhelmed and crushed, in op-
position to justice and .sound policy, for my sympathy not to
declare itself by preference in their favour, even when their.
cause is not my own. Consider, Gentlemen, how constantly
laborious and frequently perilous is the minority in our repre-
sentative assemblies, and you will perceive that it is to them
that the privileges of the Chamber justly belong ; that it-is for
them they are formed. . The majority do not need them ; they
are not attacked, and if they were, they do not want the means
to defend themselves e for, we: have arrived .at that degree of
improvement in the representative government, when it is no
longer the Aliniatry which 'commands the majority, hut the
majority which conimands the Ministry. Something was said
in the sitting of : Thursday: on the subject of factions; you
must, gentlemen, achuit.equally the supposition, that in an.
elective Chamber, a faction-may penetrate into the mino-
rity, and that it may also establish itself -in the majo-
rity. But, in the former case, all the forces of the govern-
:Merit are in readinessilate the faction already
.' to annihilate
isolated from power ; while, on = the 'contrary, du the
second case, when the faction is established in .the majo-
rity, there remains only the minority to discover it to the
Kiug and the Nation, and this it is not'only in its power, but it
is its duty to do. It is in this public opposition that the ex-
cellence of the Representative Government consists, and it is
this which distinguishes it from all others. 'Who does 'not know
—who has not witnessed, at what risks the minority.has some-
times fulfilled this terrible duty ? We do not need to recur to
the pages of history to learn that there'is no tyrant so full of
artifice, of obstinacy, and crnelty, as faction. There is, Gen-
tlemen, for every majority, a certain and all-powerful mode of
proving that it is free from the spirit of faction, whatever be its
political direction ; it is to be just towards our adversaries; it
is generously to relieve them from oppression, should they be
assailed by it. This method, Gentlemen, is now within your
reach (a lively sensation.) Deputies are accused by the Pro-
.cureur-General of Poitiers, on the hearsay evidence of a person
guilty of contumacy. The first cry of indignation was the de-
mand for a solemn investigation. The Minister of Finance
replied that an investigation would lead to no result. He
was right. Indeed, so long as the person guilty of contumacy
.is absent, his hearsay evidence can neither be confirmed nor
.refuted: the truth cannot be known. The Minister of Finance
added : Let justice. take her course, and every good may be
expected. He was "wrong : judiciary debates will be as barren
as the investigation, so long as the truth cannot be obtained and
established. This situation, Gentlemen, is intolerable, and in
other times it would have been an evil omen. I declare it to be
.my sincere and firm-conviction that there would be injustice,
bad faith, and perfect ignorance of that which Bossuet terms
the varied face of time, in comparing the possible errors and
misfortunes whichmay arise under a legitimate and regular go-
vernment with the excesses which we have witnessed. Yet we
are involuntarily led back to the signs which preceded these ex-
cesses, and prudence teaches us not entirely to despise the warn-
ings they have given us. All proscriptions, Gentlemen, have
begun accusations not admitting of proof, and,by accusers
screened from attack and held inviolable. Thus the persons pro-
scribed on the 310t51 ay were denounced by the sovereign addresses
of the sections of Paris ; the proscribed of Fructidier by those of
the army of Italy. Of what do you complain was then as now
the, inquiry of candid men. There are no proofs. You can-
not be prosecuted. Yet a few months elapsed, and the denun-
ciations served as a title for themselves : condemned be-
cause they had been accused, the heads of some were brought
to, the block, while others yielded up their last breath in
the deserts of Sinamary. (Emotion in the assembly.) I shall
close this dismal discussion by a reflection to which the de-
bates of, the other sitting have led. It has been a matter of sur-
prise that the-Deputies accused should have ascended from the
PrOcureur-General to the Ministry, since they impute to the
latter the popaegation of the odious calumny, of which they are
the objects. In the present state of things it is not easy to com-
prehend the cause of this surprise. 'Tjte Ministers are begin-
ning to reap what they have sown. They caused these accu-
sations, and rendered them legitimate (though they may doubt-
less be unjust), when they declared the political servitude of
functionaries—when, in the face of , France, they placed them
between their consciences and their employments. Is the mini-
ster not aware that by depriving them of moral freedom, on
which personal responsibility rests, he pledged his own responsi-
bilityin all their actions'? They have nothing to give him but
their-labour and the sweat of their brows. Let him then learn,
to his cost, that by aiming so fatal a blow at the honour, digni-
ty, and consideration of the functionaries, he has shaken the
King's government more than all the conspiracies put together.
—(General sensations.)
M. DE COURVOI9IEII.—I did not expect, Gentlemen, the
discussion in which you are now engaeoed. I have not perhaps
bad time to consider it sufficiently; I think, however, that I
can offer to your consideration some points of discussion which
. have not been touched- upon by those, who have preceded me.
(The Speaker here re-stated part of the arguments of M. de
I%lartignae, and of M. 111. Royer Collard and de Saint-Aulaire,
for the purpose of opposing them to each other.) The deputy
. who spoke last pretends, that article 15 of the law of the 25th
of March has been framedi principally in order to secure the
Chamber from aggressions by the judicial order.' He said, that

•
if the article did not effect this object, its operation was null.—
He added,
.that this provision was of an exceptional nature ;
but if it is' a law of exception, it ought to be executed to the
very letter. What hai been the intention of the Legislature in
article 15 of the before-mentioned law ? Why, it has been de-
sirous that the. Chamber should not be obliged to depend upon
the tribunals for the suppression of offences directed against
self, and it is to free it from this;dependence that it hasegiven•
to the Chamber the eight of avenging its own wrongs. Does
the Chamber require more poWer, in Such a case, from article
l 5 of the law of the 25th of March, than it before possessed by
the law of 18111? Can it be said that, this article 15 has swept
front our code all the provisions specially applicable to accusa-
tions directed. against individuals i No, Gentlemen; I.do not
believe it ;- and these laws which'l havteited, prove equally the
necessity of protecting Magistrates from the inculpeeions ct citi-,
tens. Citizens possess powerful guarantes against the miscon-
duct of Magistrates ; the Court of Cessation presents to them
the means of appealing from their decisions. •If you briny the
Procureur-General to your bar, to what would you condemn
him.? The law referred to points out no punishment applicable
to his case, and if you should seek for one in other laWs, you
would not be more successful.- The only authority to which
this magistrate is amenable, and perhaps.with some effet:t, is
that of his own order—thatpf the supreme head of the magi-
tracy, the Minister of Justice.---(Low murmurs on the left, in-
stantly. repressed.)—You cannot, gentlemen, amend what I
say, without at the same time amending the text of the existing
laws. This reason alone ought to be sufficient to overthrow the
proposition which has been made to you, since, if you were to
order the accused magistrate to your bar, you could not inflict
any punishment upon him. If the accused magistrate were
tried by the only competent authority which I have before
pointed out, he might, if it should appear that he had neglect-
ed.his duty, be subjected to censuze, or be suspended from 'his
functions. He might even be deprived of them altogether.—
This, then, is the only course to follow, iu order to obtain satis-
faction, if there exist any offence. If it be desired to subject
the tribunals to the judicial control of the Chamber, the inevi-
table effect of this measure -would be to renew against the
judges who have signed the decree of reference, all the grie-
vances which are alleged against the Procureur-general who has
founded on this decree of rference the act of accusation. Then,
according'ice the hypothesis of the deputy who preceded me,
you would next find offences in the other publication, for it is
probable that the same expressions are to be found there—( M.
Foy made a sign of dissent.)—lt will be necessary, then that
yon should order to your bar the President and the-Members of
the Section, who have co-operated in the drawing up of this
decree, since they have all equally according to the same hypo-
thesis offended the Chamber. The Constitutional order requires
that the magistracy should not be placed under the jurisdiction
of the Chambers ; from the moment the Constituent Assembly
endeavoured' to render 'itself superior to the judicial order,
from that moment royalty disappeared. I will here make
a final observation. on the species of fury—forgive me the word
with which the Procureur-General has been accused of a shift-
ing conduct ; it has been endeavoured to make him pass for
docile and even servile towards the insinuations of the Ministry.
I have long filled the office of public minister, and I declare it
as a solemn truth, that on no occasion, either under the present
ministry, or any other, have the holders of that office, to my
knowledge, been influenced by any injunction of the ministry
in the exercise of their duties. Consider for a moment the
tendency of this accusation. To believe it, it is necessary at
the same time to believe that witnesses have been suborned to
depose to falsehoods. These falsehoods must be repeated 'be-
fpre the Jury, Howe I would ask, can such accusations as
these be coon brought against the Magistrates ; and is it not
more just and more natural to believe that the public Minister
has only retraced the facts which appeared on the informa-
tions ? I will conclude by saying, that if there, has been of-
fence towards Members of this Chamber, they have not
been attacked on the score of their functions ; and that, even
if they had been attacked in their quality of Deputies,
the judgment of that offence oink' not devolve to the Cham-
ber, because the Chamber could not inflict any correctional pu-
nishment, (the only punishment it can inflict.) Lam of opi-
nion, therefore, that the proposition is, neither legal nor ad-
missible. I vote for its rejection.
As 11. de Courvoisier was coming down from the tribune, he
was stopped by General Foy, who, with a very expressive ear-
nestness, showed him a manuscript containing a copy of the
decree of the Royal Court of Poitiers and of the act of accusa-
tion, such as it had been served upon the persons accused in
concert with Gen. Berton.
31. de COININOISIER went up again to the tribune, and
said—A Member has shown me the decree of reference, and.
has pointed out to me the circumstance that no Deputy's name
is included in it. . I did not say that the names were included
in that decree. I only argued upon what I knew to be the
custom,_ and I said it Was possible they might be in in—
( Laughter on the left.)
31. GArezin examined the question under two points of
view—lst, The competence of the Chamber ; 2d, The culpa-
bility of the Procureur-General of Poictiers. He resolved
both of these questions in the affirmative, and voted for the
proposition.
M. DE LA BounnoNN'AYE—lf the Procureur-General of
Poitiers, instead of finding in the procedure the names which
cause so much offence here, had perceived the names of some
of those manufacturers of sedition, of those perpetual agents of
conspiracies, of those chiefs of secret associations, the-ramifica-
tions of which extended over all France, and give them that ex-
-treme facility of correspondenceeof which they avail themselves
to spread the most alarming intelligence, to agitate men's
minds, and prepare them to follow the impulses of faction ; if
he had found the names of those men whose mischievous in-
fluence makes it credible that, furnished with their secret au-
thority, an unknown military man a General, like Berton, who
had never distinguished himself, should have been able to se-
duce well-disposed men into a revolt which no anterior events
had prepared ' • and if by connivance or pusillanimity this
Magistrate had taken., upon himself to suppress these names
in the acts d'accusation, is there any one of you, Gentlemen,
who would hesitate to condemn hint ? I demand of the au-
thor of the proposition. in what respect the insertion of the
name of a Deputy in a criminal proceeding can injure his in-
dependence, or the liberty of exercising his functions ? To
1 pretend that the honour of a Member of the Chamber, and the
dignity of the Chamber itself, can be affected by the deposi-
tion of an accused person, would be to declare that every enun-
ciation of a fact involves of necessity the existence of that fact
and places the Deputy designated, not only under accusa-
tion, which does not of itself- tarnish his charaetet, but under
condemnation, which does dishonour it ; a supposition wholly
inadmissible, which good sense rejects, and experience proves
to be false.- Look around you, Gentlemen, consider your po-
sition, and that of all Europe,.and you will then judge of the
danger which Imprudent language in this Tribune may produce,
and of the character of those who arc likely to avail themselves
of it. Gentlemen, in the midst of general abundance, in the
bosom of peace so long desired ; at a moment when industry
and the arts, resuming their activity, procure labour and com-
petence to the laborious classes of society; tifiten the people,
happy and tranquil, invoke a long repose—a repose calcu-
lated to repair their calamities—some ambitious intri-
guers, men ruined by their vices, and overwhelmed with
debts, who are accustomed to,speculate s on political changes,
are t again in activity ; . secret societies, are organized ; a
vast plan of conspiracy -is preparing ; murmurs, the pre-
cursors of political storms, are heard; frequent plots; and
irregular movements of ill-disciplined Subalterns; break forth
in all parts of the kingdom. Every where the fidelity of the
Army is put to the test, and compelled at once to repel the in-
sinuations of perfidy, and the attacks of revolt. The poli-
tical state of Europe, or rather of the whole world, is shaken,
and seems to threaten us with fresh convulsions. Every where
the laws fail to repress crime, every where the Police, reduced
to inactivity, is compelled to become the passive witness of ex-
Ceases. Conspirators, united by thefirmest bonds, and by ling
habits of confidence, communicate only by emissaries, corre-
spond only by signs. : The more extended plots have become,
the fewer are the traces which they leave behind. Like the
genius of evil, their action is eyery where sensible, while the
springs are invisible, and while, the bonds of social order are
loosened, and the strength of,Governments is relaxed, the con-
nections of crime become more intimate, the power of anarchy
makes daily strides, and-the anti-social organization is strength-
ened by concentrating itself in a small number of adepts.—
Ministers of the King, you have a great task to fulfil ; im-
mense 'duties are imposed on you ; the safety of your country,
the safety of all Europe, is your hands.—(A strong sensation
is visible throughout the Chamber.)—You commenced your
Ministry amidst the hopes of the nation ; you have hitherta
done little to justify them. Free from the yoke under which
you have -hitherto groaned,, a new era is preparing ; let your
measures be so taken that that era may contribute to our re-
pose, and it will contribute to your glory.'
The right side having called for the closing of the discussion,
M. DE LASIETS demanded the appcl nominal.
This method of voting, after some feeble opposition on the
. right, was agreed to by a great niajdrity.
The PRESIDENT—We must now proceed to a scrutiny, and
discharge on this occasion the func-
I call upon the Chamber to di,
-tioni of a Tribunal. Let every Gentleman therefore keep
silence, tranquillity, and his place.—(A laugh.)
The scrutiny was condeicted with great order, and the pro-
position of AI. ST. AunantE was rejected by a majority of 99.
For it 127—Against it 226.
The Ministers did not vote.

"The Courier Frangais states, that accounts had arrived from
Madrid- to the 28th ult. and' that the capital never enjoyed
grater tranquillity. Martinez de la Rosa had• resigned the