The Sun.
London, England, 1849-11-24 00:00:00

mission was effected, and I conceived that I had a right
to return home. General Herbillon was perfectly
aware, as wore the President of the Republic, and the
Minister of War, that, apart from my right of represen-
tative, it had been agreed before my departure that I was
to return when it suited me.—(Murmurs.) I bad con-
sidered it my duty to insist on that condition in the in-
dependence of my mandate of representative, which I
prize above all.—(Murmurs.) But whether that was so
or not, I maintain that I was the best judge of the course
which I ought to hare adopted, since, in accepting a
mission for the purposes of the Government, I had
by no means abdicated my character of representative.
I have reason to know that the Governor- General was of
precisely the same opinion as General Herbillon as to
my right to withdraw when I pleased ; and further, I
have been informed that, in a dispatch which he sent to
the Minister of War, he has expressed himself to that
effect. I believe also that the Minister of War ex-
pressed himself at first, immediately after my return,
perfectly satisfied with my conduct. A dismis-
sal such as has fallen upon me cannot be justified, ex-
cept by a grave cause, and I cannot, I repeat, see that
I was guilty of any offence in coming to France when
I found that the reinforcements which were ex-
pected were already on their way, and that my journey to
Algiers was unnecessary. The moral effect affects me
but little, for I attach no importance to a rank which
was conferred on me in my native country as a stranger.
I am prcud of, as a representative of the people, the
independence which I have displayed on this occasion,
and I shall, as I have already mentioned, at the end of
the discussion, present an order of the motive, expressive
of that feeliag.—(Movement.)
General d'Hautpoul, the Minister of War, said, the
question just raised has two distinct characters. The
first is this—is a member of the Assembly, who has do-
mended or received a mission from the Government,
at liberty to desert it when he thinks proper ? Is he
to consider himself judge of the propriety of abandoning
such mission after having freely.accepted it ? That 1
peremptorily deny .—(Cheers.) For the time during
which his mission lasts, he ceases to be representative
of the people, and I feel convinced that not a Member
of the Assembly will be found to support the extraor-
dinary doctrine laid down by M. Pierre Bonaparte. Tho
mission which he received on his own application, ema-
nated altogether from the Executive Power, and not
trom the Legislative one, so that his Parliamentary ohs-
rawer is altogether out of the question. Such is my re-
ply to the first point of the case.—(Hear, hear.) I now
come to the second. M. Pierre Bonaparte was appointed
Chef de Bataillon of the Foreign Legion by the Provi-
sional Government. He is not a foreigner, but he could
not be Chef de Bataillon under any other title.—(Hear,
hear.) As such, M. P. Bonaparte was bound to comply
with the usual subordination of the military service. He
was the more bound to such a course that he had never
filled the subaltern grades—had never been Captain
nor Lieutenant. In place of showing such an example
of discipline, M. Pierre Bonaparte acted coutrary to all
the rules of the service. When sent at his own request
on a mission to Algeria, he was, of course, at the or-
ders of the Governor-General of the colony. The
latter, remembering that the name of Bonaparte was
attached to every idea of military gallantry, had assigned
him the post of honour; in place of keeping it, he thouht
fit to abandon it.—(Movement.) I do not mean to im-
ply that M. Bonaparte did not behave with courage—on
the contrary, he acted well, and killed an Arab with his
own hand. But I mean to say that he did not remain to
the end, until regularly freed from duty, at the post as-
signed to him. Had I been in his place I would have
forgotten that I was representative, and in presence of
the enemy only thought of being a soldier.—(Applause.)
M. P. Bonaparte—l left the place on service.
The Minister of War—General Herbillon gave M.
Bonaparte an order to go to Algeria for reinforcements.
M. Bonaparte has shown me that order, and I think it
right to inform yogi, M. Pierre Bonaparte, that if you
had not been in a position to do so I should have sub-
nutted to this Assembly a demand for leave to proceed
against you—l would have had you arrested and taken
back to Constantina to be tried by a court-martial.—
(Sensation and applause.) M. Bonaparte met the re-
inforcements on the way, and told them to proceed
onwards. Well, then, what I should have done had I
bean in his place, would be to place myself at their head
and led them against the enemy! —(Loud applause.)
But M. Bonaparte looked at the matter otherwise, and
returned to France. He presented himself to me, and I
was astonished to see him. He then showed me General
Herbillon's order, and I told him he ought to be at
Zaatcha, and that he had abandoned a military post.
M. Bonaparte showed me a draft of a letter : I told him
I could not accept it; that, were I to do so, it would be
to place the Government in the impossibility of ever
giving any mission to a member of the Assembly.—
(Hear, hear.) Notwithstanding my observations
M. Bonaparte wrote a letter to the journals, and the
Government, being called on to reply to the defiance
there thrown out, did so by the decree inserted in the
Moniteur. It was perfectly justified in so acting, and no
one can blame it for having done so.—(Hear, hear.) As
to the influences of which the Honourable Representa-
tive speaks as existing round the President of the
Republic, I have to say that he is counselled by his
Ministers only. We bring hero Bills before you ; we
discuss them with you; we accept the will of the majority;
we deduce the line of conduct which we ought to follow
from its votes, and we shall always be happy to advance
hand in hand with it.—(Loud applause.)
M. P. Bonaparte—l will only remark on one point of
the Hon. Minister's speech; it is that part where he says
that if I had not been able to show him General
Herbillon's order he would have sent me before a court-
martial. My opinion is, that had the Assembly ac-
corded such an authorization, it would have abdicated
its rights.—(" Oh 1 oh !" and laughter.)
A voice—You were very lucky to be the President's
cousin.
A Representative—A representative could so be got
rid of, when become so formidable as to be a cause of
fear!—(Loud laughter.) It is in your interest I make
the observation.—(" Along done !")
The President—M. Pierre Bonaparte has presented
an order of the day motive, thus, worded :—" The
Assembly, considering that all temporary missions with
which representatives are invested, by Art. 85 of the
electoral law, are quite independent of and inferior to
the functions of representative of the people, and cannot
be considered as in any way of such value as to prevent
the execution of this latter mandate, passes to the order
of the day."—(oh! oh!)
Voices—The previous question.
The Assembly, being consulted, adopted by an im-
mense majority the previous question.
The President—The order of the day motive of M. P.
Bonaparte is rejected.