The Sun.
London, England, 1860-11-08 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON, THURSDAY EVENING, NOVEMBER 8, 1860.

goods and the certificate of origin, an invoice
stating the real price at the place where purchased.

Emperor in his letter to the Minister of State, and
the Treaty of Commerce with Great Britain, are
the solemn manifestations of principles and tenden-
cies which must henceforth be developed in the re-
lations of France with other countries. It is the
duty of the officers of customs to impress these
principles and tendencies on their minds, and to
carry them out in their daily operations. Vigilant
i
in preventing fraud aid assuring the revenue of the
Treasury, they must show themselves conciliatory
in their relations with upright commercial men,
and liberal in the interpretation of regulations and
the solution of doubtful questions. I have no need
to remind the chiefs of the service that the rapid
movement of affairs increases receipts, and that the
public revenue profits definitively by all that favours
the development of commerce and manufactures.
" DE FORCADE, Director-General of Customs."

This invoice, which must come from the manufac-

turer or seller, shall be vised by the consul or con-
sular agent of France. The customs authorities may
also demand the production of the bills of lading.
"It was but just that the value &dared and
I admitted on entering the port of importation might
1)e afterwards modified if, instead of being imme-
aately delivered to the consumer, the goods paying
ad 'alorem duties were put in bond, or forwarded
in tnesit, or removed to another bonded warehouse

on anoher point of the territory to be cleared at a
subsequeit period. This is effected by Art. 5 of the
convention, Thus it will always be the actual
value at the sioment of the declaration of payment
which will be he basis for the application of the
duty ; but the .-slue fixed at the port of debarka-
tion must alwaysle, accurately stated on the re-
gisters of the bonald warehouse, and, if necessary,
on the permits for trsA sit or change of warehouse
which may be delivermso that it may serve as a DUBLIN, WEDNESDAY MORNING.
starting point in the valuasoo.
THE KIDNAPPING CASES.—THE QUEEN V. MAR-
" According to the terms se Art. 6, the importer GARET AYLWARD.
against whom the French custnas may decide on Justice has at length been to some extent vindi.
exercising the right of pre-eention may, if he cated in this matter. Yesterday Miss Margaret
pleases, insist on having his goodsvalued by com- Aylward came before the Court of Queen's Bench to
petent men. The same facility is a.o accorded to receive whatever sentence might be passed upon her
the French customs' authorities, when they may for failing to produce the child, Mary Mathews,
not think proper to have recourse at on, to pre- whose abstraction and concealment from her mother
emption. have been the subject of tedious proceedings in the
"If the official valuation shows, says Art. ', that court for the past three years. In reply to the
the goods are not worth above 5 per cent. sore Chief Justice—
than the value declared, the duty shall be lev.d Mr. Brereton, Q.C. (who appeared for the prose-
on the amount declared. If worth above 6 pe, cution), said—lt is my painful duty, my lords, to
cent. over the declared value, the customs have the press for sentence in this case. The matter now
option of either exercising the right of pre-emp-
comes before the court in this shape, that after the
least and most patient investigation—after every
oioor
tion or of levying the duty on the value determined
by the appraisers. This duty shall be augmented by
tunity having been given, both by time and
She ablest legal advice and assistance, and even
50 per cent., as a fine, if the valuation of the ap- the luggestion of the court itself, this
slady has
praisers is 10 per cent. above the declared value.
« Lastly, Art. S declares that, in the cases pro- °rafted or pretermitted the opportunities so offered
to hes of making some effort to recover this child.
The laly has had ample opportunity of satisfying
vided for by Art. 6, the two appraisers shall be the Court as to any exertions that might have been
named, the one by the importer, the other by the
principal Custom-house official of the locality ; and made b 3 her to ascertain where the child was. She
has not hid a single matter before the Court through-
in case of divided opinions, or even when the ap-
out the entire of those proceedings, now going on
praisers are appointed if the importer desires it, for more than two years, which could show the Court
or any person that she made the slightest exertions,
the appraisers shall choose an umpire, and if they used the slightest influence, or, in fact, endeavoured
should not be able to agree in their choice, the in any way to ascertain where the child was taken
umpire shall be named by the President of the to. These are the circumstances of the case ; and
Tribunal of Commerce of the locality, or, in his de- Ido submit that if ever there was a case in which
fault, by the President of the Tribunal of Com- the strong arm of the Court is required to teach
and deter them from such acts
other persons
merce of the nearest town. as have been here proVed, it is the present case. The
" The decision shall be given within the 15 days mother is, I suppose we must now take it, not only
that follow the appointment of the appraisers. for the present but for the future deprived of her
" Whenever the customs of the importer demand child. The thing has been done in the most flag-
a valuation, one or the other, as the case may be, rantly open manner, in defiance of law and justice,
and right and reason.
shall give written notice of his intentions to the Mr. Curran (who appeared for Miss Aylward)
opposite party, immediately after the declaration said—Wherever the child may be she cannot find
of the merchandise. This notification, which nest it, nor can she inform the Court in any way about
be within 24 hours after the goods are declared for it. In her answers to the interrogatories which
entry, shall be made in the administrative form by were discussed last term, and to which I do not
the receiver of the office where the declaration has mean to refer, Miss Aylward denied in the fullest
and strongest terms her participation in, or conni-
been registered. If an umpire is to be named, to vance at, the abstraction of the child, and her know-
the receiver also belongs the duty, after conferring ledge of where the child was taken to. The only
with the chief landing-waiter, of presenting the affidavit she could make now would be an affidavit
request to the President of the Tribunal of Corn-
reiterating these facts, which were, as I said, set
out in her former affidavit. Unfortunately, she is
merce. This request shall be written on stamped held to be legally responsible in this case, although
paper, but is not subject to registration. On the she believes in her conscience that at the moment
contrary, the order of the judge appointing the she was obeying what she considered to be the dying
umpire shall be registered, and pay a fixed duty injunctions of the father of the child. The child
of 3fr. was taken from. her ; she then had no means, nor
" The directors and inspectors shall see that every has she had since any means, of producing the child
to the Court. I have only to say that on the ground
care is taken to select appraisers combining the re- of this lady being—l don't say legally, but morally
quisite guarantees of capacity and probity. The —innocent of the abstraction or the child, I hope
preference is to be given to manufacturers of, or and trust that her affidavit and her denial of all
dealers in, articles of the same kind as those to be participation in the matter will be taken by the
Court into consideration, into their merciful consi-
valued. deration, when they are adjudicating upon the case.
" The decision of the appraisers shall be given Chief Justice—This lady is not in court ?
within a fortnight of their appointment. This de- Mr. Curran—She is within the precincts of the
cision, which must be on stamped paper, shall not court, and will be here in a few moments.
be liable to the formality of registration, unless it Chief Justice—We will retire for some time, and
-u can inform of her arrival.
should be necessary to produce it in a court of jus- o Their lordshipsus then retired, and remained absent
about three quarters of an hour.
Miss Aylward, accompanied by a friend and Mr.
Kane, her solicitor, having entered the court, was
accommodated with a seat at the side bar.
On the judges again taking their seats on the
bench,
Mr. Curran said—Miss Aylward is now in court;
my lord.
Chief Justice--Bring her forward.
Clerk of the Crown—Let Miss Aylward. come
forward to the bar.
Miss Aylward having come to the bar,
The Clerk of the Crown said—Margaret Aylward
is now at the bar.
The Chief Justice said—Margaret Aylward, the
Court upon the last day you appeared here, after
considering all that was offered by you in answer
to the interrogatories, which gave you an opportu-
nity of explaining or of excusing, if there was any
excuse, the contempt with which you stood charged
in disobeying the authority of the Court, by which
you were required to produce the child, which it
appeared came into your possession, and has been
since withheld under the circumstances that ap-
peared before us on that occasion—the Court, I say,
were of opinion that you were guilty of a contempt
of its jurisdiction, and they have since considered
deliberately, after hearing what was offered this
day in your behalf, the sentence which it was their
duty to pronounce for that contempt. The sentence
of the Court is that you be committed to prison for
six calendar months, and that you pay all the costs
of the proceedings. You therefore stand committed
to prison. The Court directs that you be committed
to the Richmond Bridewell.
Mr. Nagle then called the Sheriff of the City of
Dublin, and desired Miss Aylward to wait his ar-
rival.
Mr. Curran applied to the Court to name the
Marshalsea as the place of confinement for Miss
Aylward, instead of the Richmond Bridewell. The
Marshalsea was, he said, the usual place of confine-
ment for persons guilty of contempt, The rules of
the Richmond prison were very stringent, and the
discipline was very unpleasant upon prisoners. The
Kilmainham prison would be better than the Rich-
mond, as the air was good.
Judge Hayes—Under the attachment the lady
was in custody of the sheriff, but she is now under
sentence. In the case of O'Connell and others the
parties were sent to Richmond Bridewell.
Mr. Curran—But it was not for contempt.
Judge Hayes—They were under sentence.'
Mr. iCurran—But (not for contempt. I never
knew a case where a party guilty of contempt was
committed to a criminal prison.
Judge Hayes—Can you show a case where the
party was not ?
Mr. Curran—l have no case at hand; but I cer-
tainly do not recollect a case where a party held to
be guilty of contempt was sent to a criminal prison.
Judge Hayes—The Court has jurisdiction to com-
mit the party under sentence to any prison in Ire-
land. :In the case of Eneas M'Donnell and
O'Connell, and others, the parties were sent to
Richmond Prison.
Mr. Curran—They were committed for a specific
offence, and not for contempt. Contempt of Court
is:not an offence within the criminal law.
Mr. Brereton—lt is held that contempt is in the
nature of a criminal offence.
The Chief Justice—We cannot forget what Lord
Campbell said in reference to an offence of this sort.
He said that if he found any person before him per-
severed in his contempt he would think it his duty
to inflict condign punishment upon him. That was
the species of punishment which, he said, would be
the -result if Roberts persevered in withholding the
children in that case.
Mr. Curran—Agreeing fully with your lordship,
yet I would submit that in such a case as the pre?
sent, where the lady, although legally guilty, has
committed no moral offence, but has exculpated
herself from complicity in the proceedings con-
demned by the Court, your lordship ought not to
place her in a prison where she will be deprived of
the comforts of life, obliged to take prison diet, and
be subject to separate confinement, unless your lord-
ship should make an order to the contrary. That
would be very severe indeed, and, lam sure, not
what your lordship would wish to inflict on this
lady, I would suggest that the Marshalsea would
be the best place in which to confine this lady, as
she will be allowed to maintain herself there and
have a sleeping apartment to herself. The sen-
tence itself is very severe as regards the length of
the term of imprisonment.
The Chief Justice—l must beg to interrupt you
in commenting on the sentence of the Court. It is
a sentence which the Court, in the exercise of mercy
and justice, thought it right to impose. It is
punishment, and not merely committal to the Mar-1
shalsea. This is now a criminal proceeding, and
this lady is therefore to be confined in the place to
which the Court has been in the habit of commit-
ting persons under sentence.
Mr. Justice Haves—l confess I for one should
be extremely sorry to commit this lady to a prison
in which she would be treated with cruelty ; but
you must bear in mind, Mr. Curran, that Richmond
prison, like all other prisons in the city of Dublin,
Is regulated by the Board of Superintendence, and
if there is anything illegal in the conduct of the

IRELAND.

" The liquidation shall take place on the value
declared, if the declaration is recognised to be cor-
rect, or if the valuation shows it to be less than 5
per cent. too low. If more than 5 per cent. and less
than 10 per cent., the customs shall have the option
of pre-emption or of charging the duty on the as-
certained value.

" When the result of the appraisement shows a
misrepresentation on the part of the person mak-
ing the declaration, of 10 per cent. or upwards, the
customs will be at liberty, either to take the goods
at the declared value, or to receive the duty on the
appraisement value with the addition of 50 per
cent. by way of fine.

"The Administration must rely on the discern-
ment of the chiefs for the choice of one or other of
those plans, which is thus left to their decision by
the above-named hypotheses. They will understand
that in such a case recourse ought not to be had to
taking the goods, unless the service shall have seri-
ous reasons for thinking that it will lead to more
advantageous results than the immediate settlement,
or that it is necessary in order to defeat abusive
speculations.
" When goods are taken it shall be done in the
form prescribed by the general regulations for such
matters. It shall be notified within 24 hours after
either the examination—if there has not been any
appraisement—or the arbitration of the ap-
praisers if recourse has been had to their inter-
ference. The customs will afterwards have,
according to Art. 4, par. 3, of the treaty of Jan. 23,
1860, 15 days in which to pay to the importer the
value of the merchandise stated in his declaration,
and the additional twentieth.

" With regard to the additional duty of 50 per
cent. exacted by way of fine, the same course shalt
be followed as is prescribed with regard to the
double duty for surplus. The merchandise may be
detained until the importer shall Rave paid the fine
or furnished security.
" Art. 7, par. 4, enacts that, if the value deter-
mined by the decision of arbitration shall exceed
the declared value by 5 per cent., the expense of the
appraisement shall be borne by the importer; in
the contrary hypothesis, it will be at the charge of
the French customs. In case of dispute as to the
amount of these expenses, it shall be decided by
the president of the tribunal.
" Article 9 of the convention contains a special
clause relative to objects of goldsmiths' work and
jewellery in gold, silver, platina, or other metals.
These articles must be submitted to the regimes of
control or mark established in France for similar
articles of national manufacture, and pay on the
same basis as the latter the mark and guarantee
duties. Particular explanations relating to Art. 9
are moreover given to the service in the second
part of the present circular, which specially relates
to the tariff. _ _

" Art. 10 makes known that, independently of
the productions already admissible in virtue of the
treaty of Jan. 23, 1860, the tariff annexed to the
convention will be immediately applicable to refined
sugar, to works in metals, machinery, detached parts
of machines, tools, and mechanical instruments of
all kinds. A decree of the 26th Oct. contains the
detailed and complete list of these articles, and fixes
for the 13t Nov. next the period at which they will
be admitted at the duties determined by the new
tariff. .

" I enclose a copy. of this decree. The merchan-
dise which are not named in the annexed table will
not enjoy the benefit of the treaty until a period
which will be hereafter fixed. In consequence, car-
riages and coachmakers' work, cutlery, turnery
ware, skins varnished and otherwise prepared,
works in skin and in wood, furniture, &c., although
comprised in the conventional tariff decided by the
convention of the 12th Oct. last, will remain sub-
ject to the present conditions of the general tariff
until the conventional tariff shall have been made
applicable to them in virtue of decrees to that
effect. I call the particular attention of the service
to this essential distinction."
The document then proceeds to discuss its second
part, which relates to the tariffs properly so called,
Rd to a great number of details connected with
those on metals, such as iron, steel, copper, zinc,
lead, as well as all the works manufactured from
them. It terminates in these words : .

it In concluding these instructions, I must call the
attention of the service to the spirit which must
preside over the application of the new tariff.
" The economic programme summed up by the

officers of that prison, I am sure the Board will
correct it. We cannot, without any affidavit, assume
that there are illegal austerities practised in that
prison.
Mr. Curran—l never said there were any, my
lord.

Mr. Justice .Hayes—No, no ; but you said she
ought to be placed in one prison lud not in another,
where there would be great severities practised
towards her.

and criticism on the acts of Government is exposed
to the risk of being travestied into an outrage or an
attack on the Chief of the State, from whom all
emanates and to whom all goes ; when the favours
of advancement corrupt the principle of the irre-
movable character of the magistracy; when, in the
impatience for the success of prosecutions, the
moderation or the indulgence of judges is accused
of enervating the power of repression and accom-
plishing moral destruction ;—when all this exists,
then it is that the independence of the Bar is for
every citizen a rampart against the rage and usur-

Mr. Curran—l did not sa! severities, but rigid
austerities, according to the rules of the prison. I
did not say they were illeg 1, but that they were
more austere than in the Marshalsea. I should be
very far from alluding to the sentence in the man-
ner in which your lordship seemed to think. I was
only speaking with respect to the prison itself.
One is in the city of Duhin, and convenient. The
other is on the Circular-load, and its rules are very
rigidly adhered to, and would subject this lady to
much inconvenience and. hardship. I would appeal
to the merciful feeling of the Court to make the
order which I have asked.
The Chief Justice intimated that the sentence
remained as it was.
Some interval elapsed before the *arrant of
committal was finally made out, and Miss Aylward
was finally removed. to Richmond Bridewell in
custody of the sub-sheriff. Sir Simon Bradstreet
and some Roman Catholic clergymen remained with
her while in court.
ABSTRACTION OF THE SHERWOOD CHILDREN.—THE
QUEEN V. THOMAS JAMES M`ROBINS.
Mr. Devitt applied on the part of Thomas James
M'Aobins, brought to the bar of the court in cus-
tody of the tipstaff, Mr. Walker, that he might be
discharged from the custody of the tipstaff and of
the Marshal, on the ground that he had been ar-
rested so longago as the 19th of June without being
committed to custody. Counsel proceeded to submit
that the man was entitled to his discharge, on the
ground that the prosecutor had been guilty of laches
in not obtaining an order for his committal, and
procuring a rule for the exhibition to him of inter-
rogatories.
The Chief Justice observed that the person was
in custody of the tipstaff, tinder the authority of an
order A* attachment from the Court. He had been
arrested under the attachment, and was now in
Court ender that attachment; and what was the
precise nature of the motion ?
Mr. Devitt submitted that his client was entitled
to be discharged, owing to the prosecutor nothaving
taken any steps for five or six months since his
arrest.
Mr. Brereton, Q.C., in opposition to the applica-
tion, observed that it was the duty of tho tipstaff to
make his return to the writ, and there was no affi-
davit on tie other side—no petition for the dis-
charge of the man ; and the tipgtaff would have
made his return to the writ on the day.named for
that purpose—the 2d November—but that a request
was made on M‘Robins's part to stay the doing so
pending the present motion.
The Chief Justice said the writ being returnable
only on the 2d November, how could the person be
finally committed before the return day ?
Judge Hayes—The prisoner was only in the Mar•
shalsea for safe custody, as the tipstaff had no place
of his own in which to detain him, and he is now
brought up in pursuance of the exigency of the

patio- ns of authoriti." -
We have transcribed this noble protest, not only
as a tribute to its intrinsic merits as a composition
which we rate very high, but as the last unavailing
utterance on behalf of the last institution in France

which has preserved even the semblance of former
liberty. We learn thus, on authority which we can-
not for a moment question, that the independence
of the French advocates is sapped and undermined;
that they are called upon to exercise their duty in
defence with a degree of deference towards the pro-
secuting counsel which seriously interferes with
their efficiency ; and they are exposed to be over-
ruled and oppressed by officers of the Government
removable at pleasure, determined to succeed in their
prosecutions at whatever cost. No one can read
this sad picture, drawn by the hand of so great a
master, without agreeing with M. Berryer that in
such a state of society the only rampart behind
which a private citizen can defend his life or his pro-
perty is an independent bar; but every one•must
also feel what M. Berryer does not so clearly perceive
—that under conditions so unfavourable the exist-
ence of an independent bar is sureto become impos-
sible. Men committed to a profession like that of
advocacy have often discharged their duty in evil
times with courage and constancy, but few men
bring their children up to the profession of a martyr;
and, when it once comes to be understood that the
only condition under which an advocate can prac-
tise his profession with safety is the delivering
over his clients bound hand and foot to the
mercy of an incensed Government, the profession
of an advocate will cease to be resorted to by men
of honour and independence. M. Berryer has,
no doubt, proved his case when he asserts that in
the present state of France an advocate is the only
refuge left to the victims of power ; but he has also
proved that the profession of advocates cannot hope
alone to stand erect in the midst of a community
perpetually on its knees, and that the overpower-
ing will of the central authority will crush this
slight obstacle to its irresistible march with the
same ruthless ease with which it has already crushed
every other. Burke might dream of institutions
which kept alive in the midst of servitude itself a
spirit of the most exalted freedom, but the sober
good sense of history repudiates such anomalies,
and teaches us that, if freedom cannot extinguish
despotism; despotism will inevitably extinguish the
ast lingering vestige of freedom.— inzes.

writ.
Judge O'Brien inquired why the prisoner had
not himself applied for liberty to enter into recog-
nisances to answer interrogatories.
Judge Hayes remarked that there appeared no
lathes, and that it was for the prisoner himself, if
he wished to purge his contempt, to tender himself
to be sworn and answer interrogatories.
Judge O'Brien—Supposing you have a good
ground of complaint against some one or other,
show.us any authority establishing that the pri-
soner is now entitled to be discharged, he being in
contempt.
Mr. Devitt referred to several authorities which,he
contended, indicated that it was the duty of the pro-
secutor to have the party promptly committed, and
to tender to him interrogatories.
The Chief Justice intimated that these cases had
no application to the one before the Court.
Mr. Brereton referred to the decision by Lord
Earlsfort, in this country, showing that the prose-
cutor could not oblige the prisoner to answer in-
terrogatories, and that it was for the latter to (Afar
to do so, if he wished to purge his contempt.
Judge Hayes remarked that that case had been
confirmed by the House of Lords.
After some discussion, it was held that the motion
for M'llobins's discharge was untenable and should
be refused.
The prisoner was then sworn, at his counsel's
request, to answer interrogatories, and in the mean-
time to be admitted to bail, on entering into recog-
nisances, himself in £lOO and two sureties in £5O
each.
Two men named O'Connor, also charged with the
abstraction of the Sherwood children, have also
been sworn to answer interrogatories ; and
Mr. 'Walsh, an attorney, applied on the part of
two women, also in the Marshalsea for contempt,
that they might be brought up for the same purpose.

IN 1) EP le''N DENC_E OF TIIFT J N (;Ii

BAR.

The recorder of passing events has no more me-
lancholy task to perform than to take notice from
time to time of the advancing stages of decline and
decrepitude. Society is not all progress. If we
see in some places a notable improvement,-that im-
provement is counteracted in others by as notable
a retrogression ; as the sea presses on the land in
one part of the coast of Lincolnshire and retires
from it in another, so we may see nations and in-
stitutions wane and decay in the midst of what we
justly consider substantial improvement. But per-
haps of all melancholy spectacles there is none sadder
than to contemplate the gradual destruction of free
institutions as they perish one by one under the
withering influence of despotism. It is like
watching the struggles of a bird in an air pump,
unassailed by any visible or tangible force, but
perishing from the very worst of all privations
—the withholding of the breath of life. When
despotism is once established, the institutions
which it inherits from a state of freedom are like
flowers that have been gathered—they do not
perish immediately, they retain their colour and
form a while, but the nutriment on which they live
has been cut off, and the chan.ge has begun which
will surely annihilate them. Sometimes they have
a harder fate, and, instead of perishing with the
liberty which was their parent, are distorted to the
uses of the servitude which is their mortal enemy.
Thus the Caesars found the power of the Tribune
and the Censor their readiest pretext, and the Senate
of Rome, once the bulwark of freedom, their most
obsequious instrument. France has given herself
over to a master, and it is vain to deny that in doing
so she has increased her influence over Europe.
Her councils are more enterprising and aggressive,
her armies are better organized and commanded,
and her name is more constantly in the mouths of
men. Let France make the most of these advantages,
for she has bought them dearly. The voice of her
Legislature, in the debates of which Europe used to
look for and find instruction, is silent. Her press
is reduced to a state that often makes those who
have any regard for the dignity of their calling in-
clined to wish that it was silent also. Her litera-
ture is in a gradual state of decadence, and the
barrenness which was the curse of the First Empire
is descending on the Second. In the admirable
letter of M. Berryer which appeared in our columns
two days ago, our readers will see another symptom
of this benumbing and paralyzing influence. In the
history of French civilization her courts of justice
have ever played a distinguished part. Among
her judges have sat men whose names every
Frenchman must recall with pride and admiration ;
and her advocates, from the days of Le Maistre and
Patru to the present time, have held a place sin-
gularly honourable and distinguished.
It has been M. Berryer's fate to witness, in the
course of a life not yet extended to the ordinary age
of man, a vast number of political changes. He has
been on the side least favourable to what has been
called the popular cause, and if he now breaks
silence it can be free no overstrained love for a
licentious use of the right of speech. But M.
Berryer, though a Legitimist, is not an Absolutist,
and in the evening of his life he is preparing
to bequeath to his profession• the sacred legacy of
his counsel and his protest. lie states that "an
attempt is made to introduce new principles, to have
them predominate in criminal or correctional pro-
cedure, in order to regulate the conditions of the
contest, and in some sort even the forms of lan-
guage, between the accwsers and defenders. The
extreme deference and the attitude of subordina-
tion which it is pretended to impose on Advocates
with respect to their adversaries, and the as•
cendancy of authority attributed to these, would
ettevely affect the rights of defence, the inde-
pendeence and dignity of the Bar, the indispen-
sable guarantees of an honest administration of
justice. To enslave speech is to violate the
liberty of thought, to stifle just complaints,
the cry of conscience, the life of memories. Advo-
cates, said the First Napoleon, are factious. They
are the artisans of crimes and of treasons. I wish
we could cut out the tongue of an advocate who
used it against the Government." M. Berryer gives
this picture of the state of France "at a moment
when Parliament is mute or its -voice only caught
in imperfect echoes. When the censorship of the
press, ill-disguised, is practised by means of warn-
ings, official or unofficial; when journals are edited
under the constant dread of suspension or *suppres-
sion without trial ; when the exercise of the right
of petition is put under protection of the Senate ;
when Ministerial responsibility no longer exists,