The Sun.
London, England, 1824-03-30 00:00:00

PARIS PAPERS.

CHAMBER OF DEPUTIES.
SITTING OF MAItCII 26.
After some time had been occupied in hearing the reports of
various Bureaux, respecting the qualifications of Members—.
The Reporter of the Bth Bureau proposed the admission of
M. Benjamin Constant.—M. Dudon demanded and obtained
leave to address the Chamber.—(Lively movement of curiosity.
Profound silence.)
M. Dvnox.—l believe we have a right to be astonished at
so succinct a report respecting the election of M. Benjamin
Constant. It was not concealed in the bureau, that some seri-
ous questions had arisen with regard to his admission, and M.
Benjamin Constant himself was informed of it. However, it
appears that there is no one in this assembly, excepting himself
and me, who knows that he has not the qualities requisite to
be a Deputy.—(Prolonged laughter. M. Benjamin Constant
did not laugh.)—lt is not for the purpose of denouncing, as has
been done already, mere irregularities in the electoral proceed-
ings, that I rise to attack the election of M. Benjamin Con-
stant. It is with the law in my hand, that I declare that he
has not the necessary_qualities to be admitted to the honour of
a seat in this Charnber.—(Lively sensation.)—l hope that th e
Assembly will do me the justice to believe that I am anr
mated by no feelings of malignity in thus attacking the eli-
gibility of M. Benjamin Constant—(Movement of impatience
on the extreme left.)—For if we are reduced to see in this
Chamber any persons-who profess the same political opinions
as he—

M. GIRARDIN.—You have so arranged it that they might

not be very nurnerous.
DUDON.—Does what I say disturb you ?—(Laughter.)
11i. DE GIILAIMIN.—Nothing that you can say can discon-

cert me.
M. DuDom.—Do not, I beg, increase the difficulty of speak-
ing at this tribune by your sarcastic jokes. If, continued M.
Dudon, we are reduced to see here any persons 'who profess the
same political opinions as M. B. Constant, I prefer him to any
other, for, in the preceding Sessions, he never indulged in those
declamations which led to measures of severity 'against other
Members.—(Murmurs on the left.)—Besides M. B. Constant
is an adversary very easy to deal with, for he has written so
much, that his own productions always supply an answer to
what he may advance, and perhaps we shall find a proof of
this in the present circumstance.—(Sensation.)—l, maintain that
M. Benjamin Constant does not possess the qualities to en-
title him to a seat in this Assembly, because to be admitted to
this honour he must be a Frenchman. Now this must be the
case in three ways—by birth, origin, or naturalisation. You
cannot admit him without attacking one of the prerogatives of
the Crown, for it is the King alone who can confer letters
of plenary naturalisation. M. Benjamin Constant is not a
Frenchman by birth. He was born at Lausanne in 1767.
—But is he a Frenchman by origin ? On this point I can
consult no other document than those furnished by himself;
for, on this occasion, he has enjoyed the very innocent, but
perhaps aristocratical pleasure, of producing to the bureau
his genealogy—(bursts of laughter)—and this is what we leart)
from this said genealogy, viz.: M. Benjamin Constant is de-
scended from M. Augustin Constant de Rebeque, who left.
France in 1605, and established his family at Geneva. He had
a son born there in 1633, named David Constant, who filled
several important posts at Geneva. This David had him-
self two sons, one of whom entered into the service of Hol-
land, suet we I,..vee eeee. wwe .£ these descendants commanding
the Allies, under the walls of Paris. The other remained
Geneva, and likewise there filled some important otEce hate
was living in 1792, and died in 1800. Thus M. Constant de
Rebeque finds in ail his ancestors citizens of Geneva established
in that place since 1605. The proof that he has not I>y his origin
the right of sitting in French assemblies is, that in 1796, M.
B. Constant addressed an application to the Directory, to ob-
tain his recognition as a French citizen. Ilis demand was re-
jected. M. B. Constant then presented a petition to the Coun-
cil of Five Hundred, praying to be declared a French citizen,
which was not granted. M. Dudon then proceeded to exa-
mine the reports presented to the Chamber of Deputies, when
M. Benjamin Constant took his seat in the Chamber in 1817
and 1819, and contended that the Chamber had been led into
error by those reports; and after adverting to the causes which
occasioned the emigration of his ancestors in the year 1605,
You wished for notoriety ; let it
arel3-" not a Frenchman, and you can-
notfall concluded
upon
your with
; vroy ro:
,1
sit in this Chamber. —(Strong sensation.)
M. the Reporter : I must justify the Bth Bureau from the
reproach .which has been cast upon it. (Many voices on the
right, 4lt was not intended to attack the Bureau !') The llth
Reporter), after having eAmined the
eo
it by M. B. Constant, determined to
dßoucroenalu e
n(continued
submitted
propose his adrnission. However, being apprised that M.
Dudon had made researches touching this affair, I asked him
for them
M. DUDON 'When was that ?
M. the Reporter : Yesterday.
M. DUDON : I could not then give them to you.
M. the Reporter.—ln the absence of these researches, the
bureau felt itself bound to act under an authentic proceeding
which proved that M. B. Constant presented himself before the
proper authorities, to obtain the sanction of the law. We were
ignorant that his ancestors had quitted France on any other
Dudon. in the course of his
thaeenchr,elaigffiiorumsedgrtgautnts7he ancestor of M. B. Constant quitted
France because he was accused of the crime of high treason."]
[Profound sensation--consternation on the left]. And this
fact, continued M. Dudon, is disclosed to us by M. B. Constant
himself. Claiming the honour of being admitted among French-
men, he stated in his petition that he was descended from an
ancestor who had been banished from France for a cause of
which he could not but approve, inasmuch as he was impli-
cated in a project formed by the Protestants, tending to esta-
blish a republic in France.—]Renewed sensation].
M. B. CONSTANT demanded to be heard.--[A great many
voices, " To-morrow, to-morrow !" Others, "No ! no !
speak now."]
M. B. CONSTANT—Gentlemen, the Assembly will excuse
the details into which I shall be obliged to enter to .prove the
inaccuracies of the assertions of the Honourable Member who
spoke last. It will excuse also my,want of preparation, for I
only vaguely anticipated the attack that was to be made upon
me, and I scarcely thought that it would really take place. I
have, besides, placed all my documents in the bureau, and I
am thus disabled from bringing forward a great deal of matter
with which 1 could oppose what has been addressed to you.
Many voices, "-To-morrow ! to-morrow !" A great many,
Members quitted their seats and left the Hall, when the Pre-
sident declared the discussion adjourned to the following day.
SITTING OF THE 27TH MANCH.
This sitting had attracted a throng of spectators ; the privi-
leged and public tribunes were occupied before the President
had taken his seat. MM. Mechin, Casimir-Perrier, and De-
vaux, all three en costume, had a long and animated conver-
sation.
MM. Fo•s- and B. CONSTANT entered during the reading
of the proces verbal. The fatter carried udder his ann an enor-
mous mass of papers. M. Devaux accosted him, and spoke to
him for some time with considerable warmth.
After some preliminary business had been gone through, M.
B. CONSTANT ascended the Tribune, and began by thanking
the Assembly for the delay which they had granted him on the
preceding day. He confessed that delay was necessary to him.
Attacked in his capacity of a French citizen—attacked in his
honour, for they had accused him of having deceived the Cham-
ber and the Reporter of 1819—attacked in the memory of his
father, whom, said he, they have insulted in the grave, he
could not have controlled an emotion which might have been
injurious to him. Any excess from that cause, however, was
no longer to be feared, and he thanked the Chamber for having
given him time to investigate the facts of the discussion ; be-
cause from those facts must result his justification, and the
proof that he possessed the rights for which he contended.
M. B. CONSTANT then mentioned, in answer to the asser-
tion of M.. Dudon, that no foreigner could sit in the Legisla-
tive Chambers without letters of naturalisation—that M. Du-
mont, at this moment a Peer of France, had been a Swiss Of-
ficer, had never received letters of naturalisation, and did not
need them, because he was the descendant of French Protes-
tants, who were obliged to quit France in consequence of poli-
tical troubles. N. B. Constant then quoted Article 22 of the
Law of Dec. 15, 1799, which is thus worded :—" Every per-
son born in a foreign country, related in whatsoever degree to
exiles banished on account of their religion, are declared natu-
ralised Frenchmen." M. Constant then proceeded to enume-
rate various facts and circumstances in support of the right
he claimed, and was left
,speaking when the Etoile went to
press. '

INDIA.

( Extracts from the Madras Courier of Sept. 16, 1823.)
LOCALITIES.

The hot weather, which we had hoped Ind
taken its departure for the season, has again partially returned,
and for many days the atmosphere has been extremely oppres-
sive, the wind blowing pretty constantly from the westward.—
The rains have fallen very partially throughout the Peninsula,
but to the nothward, and in the Bengal provinces, the country
has been deluged. A famine, it is dreaded, will be the conse-
quence, as all the rice crops are destroyed ; and an appeal to
public commiseration is already spoken of. We trust the cala-
mity is not so serious as to require this aid to the inhabitants.