The Sun.
London, England, 1848-09-27 00:00:00

IVHD

_ E.
DEFENCE OF LAMAR.' 1N

(Continued from 2he Sun of yestaday.)
EIGHTH ACCUSATION.
It is not, however, in these explanations that case
be recognised the true motives
for the syste 211 of non
exclusion recommended to the National Assembly
by M. de Lamartine, in regard to the formation of the
•
Executive Commission. Those motives, otherwise
inexplicable, are discernible in the mysterious fact of
the complicity existing between two men.
Let us throw aside all feelings of modesty,and dare
to copy the words which have been actually printed.
" The Minister of the Interior found among the
papers of his Administration written proofs of the
venality of his colleague under the Government of
Louis Philippe. M. de Lamartine was a stipendiary
of M. Duchatel. During the last year alone he re-
ciived no less than forty thousand francs. Tile re-
ctipt is still preserved. Threatened, no doubt, with
the disclosure of such a transaction, one can read;ly
understand that M. de Lamartine had only the
illternative of alliance or infamy. This is nut all.
M. de Lamartine has dilapidated the public fot tone.
On the very morrow of the 24th of February he
abstracted twelve hundred thousand francs, or two
millions of money, from the Treasury. With the
fruits of this exaction he has managed to liquidate
his debts after the manner of Caesar or Cataline. Ile
has purchased lands in France and houses in London."
I condescend to reply to this accusation, not on my
own account, but for the sake of the Republic. The
whole secret of the existence of the enemies of states-
men is, the dark determination sometimes formed to
destroy the men in order to render the institutions
impossible.
Let us at once throw some light upon the first cir-
cumstance. I was a writer. Oppressed with re-
sponsibilities, I earned my subsistence by my la
hours. In 1844 I wrote a tragedy in the furtherance
of a cause which has always been a subject of sacred
interest to myself—the emancipation of the black
slaves in our colonies. I wished, through the me-
dium of sentiment, to gain over, before public
opinion, a cause which had so often failed before the
law.
In the year 1848, a month anterior to the Revolu-
tion of February, M. Buloz, the manager of the
French Theatre, offered to purchase my work for the
purpose of displaying it in the most brilliant light
possible, first in his capacity as manager of the French
Theatre, and secondly as editor of the Revue des
Deux Monde:. The full amount verbally decided
upon between ourselves was forty thousand francs.
When we were on the very point of writing out
the agreement, M. Buloz said to me, " I will write
immediately to M. Duchatel ; for the funds of the
Theatre Francais are derived from two sources—the
proceeds of the theatre itself, and the pecuniary aid
given to the establishment by the Chamber of Depu-
ties. This allowance from the Chamber obliges me
to obtain the approval of the Minister of the Interior
a: to the employment of these funds in regard to all
my theatrical engagements." I was until then igno•
rant of this very natural connexion of compatibility,
existing between the Minister of the Interior and the
Director of the French Theatre. But, fearing lest this
might give rise even to so much as the appearance of
a relation, of a monetary kind (remote though it un-
doubtedly was), between me (a Deputy of the People)
and the Government, I refused, on the instant, to con•
elude any agreement in which the funds of the Go-
vernment and the authority of the Minister seemed
to have a participation. The contract between us was
consequently at an end. If, therefore, there is the
testimony which Calumny declares she can produce
in proof of my venality, let her make her disclosure !
She can only convict me of an excess of scruple, of
delicacy, and of susceptibility. M. Buloz is here to
speak.