The Sun.
London, England, 1866-12-06 00:00:00

M. JULES FAVRE

(From the Paris Correspondent of the Times.)
M. Jules Favre, famous for his eloquence in the
Legislative Chamber, and at the Bar, of which he 1
the pride and ornament, has just published ill °lie
volume his inaugural discourses as head of the Order
of Advocates (Batonnier), his memorable pleading
for Orsini, and four speeches which he pronounced
in the Chamber last Session. He is one of the fell
public speakers whose orations might be printed off
hand without altering a phrase, a word, or eye°
the punctuation. His diction is distinguished for
purity, propriety, and precision. He employ's ri°
words but what belong to the idiom of the lan-
guage, and they are those which are appropriated
by usage to the ideas he has to express. Ile
takes his phraseology purely from the French lan-
guage, and his selection of words is the hapPiet
His style is elegant, flowing, and transparent. -1-"
would be impossible for the severest critic to Puy
any expression in place of the one which be
employs ; and his diction, even when exteraPe;
rising, might be imitated by the most careful and
fastidious writer. Few exercise to a greater degree
of perfection the art which, when the speaker has t°
express some particularly vigorous sentiment, gives
to impassioned language its more finished form. 9
delivery is always slow, sometimes too much so, an',
his pauses have now and then the appearance of
being too studied. His intonation is soft and
silvery, even when uttering the most cutting or
casms, and it is never more musical than when be,
most tortures his victim. In what has been well
called passionless invective he is a consunnuatfe
master. Of his general powers as a speaker and
his peculiar style of oratory, well as his speeches
read, no one who has not heard him can form all ade-
quate idea. The ear alone can enable one to feel
the effect produced by that gentle and flexible voice'
In his introductory remarks to the present vol3ule
M. Jules Favre expresses his regret that the speakers
in the Legislative Body, bound as they are by W"
rules of the House to the literal reproduction of their
speeches in the Illoniteur, cannot recast them as the
deputies and peers of other days could do, and thus
lop off what is redundant, correct and polish whet
is defective in style, and fit them for future tilde!.
How many of these discourses would, even in their
most elaborate shape, go down to posterity, I can-
not say ; but of all men he is the one who 1e35
needs such a process.
M. Jules Favre long ago pointed out, in his Placet
as deputy, what he considered to be the dangers th,3o
would result to France from the policy of M. ut
Bismark. The victory of Sadowa has assuredly 131
modified his opinions. In the preface to his w°.,..r
he still expresses his uneasiness at the aggrandl'ei
ment of Prussia, and he praises the perspicacity
the majority of the Chamber in having foreseen Iva
Nor is he partial to an alliance between France an
He says in his preface,—
" My opinion on the situation of France with rs'a
spect to Germany is far from being so simple ; a°ll
I understand that; after the terrible events %Olc
o.
have occurred, its expression may have lost its
Nevertheless, it will be an honour for the maierjtp
of the Chamber to have listened to the warning 0
which only acquired their full forcewhen the powej
ful voice of my hon. colleague, M. Thiers, secon,'a
mine, and to have adopted an amendment settilliv,
before the Government the perils to which the gre
ing ambition of Prussia exposed France and Europe'
I was deeply engrossed with it during the preco-11o,;
session, when earnestly urged efficacious diPii
matic interference in favour of our unhapPY oi
Denmark, Who now thinks of that sad triunlili
force over weakness and right ? The coraPisloto of
of betrayed States are stifled under the ruins .ea
the Germanic Confederation, and of monarehir,
overthrown or partitioned. The map of Gr.eci..
many has been remodelled without our par
pation and in spite of us. A formidable flati°l'.
(Ds
and military unification menaces us. We are de'
dained until the time comes for us to be openly
va,
fled. We have an answer to make to those Pro 1.0
cations which prove how well founded were our fesero
It is, then, useful to repeat them such as theY 11103,,
uttered before the terrible lesson which justifies tb
in order that every man may meditate on the inlPeolo
ous necessity imposed upon France by the sllPre
law of her own safety. And it is here that the .dis-
cussion of our internal liberties, the demoustran,
of the narrow bond which unites them to the great
ness and security of the country, appears to me 4.0 Do a
especially opportune. Perhaps never was there
more solemn occasion for a nation to reflect ond, lteto
situation, to invigorate itself, and to call to ta—
tte°'
old manly virtues which it has too much forgo
ao,
Trials and reverses have this compensatory adv,sich
tage that they force us back to the good from w;o),.
the dazzling splendour of success has led us al an
To be content with illusions would be criminal
foolish. Let us look stedfastly at the way w 11
e let
passed over, on that which opens before us ;
us march unflinchingly to the point where We
truth, justice, right, and liberty." a
His account of the thoughts which agitate
when called upon to defend Orsini is worth guy

ing :
" This defence bears the trace of the strong rti;
inns which agitded me when I was brought 'l3oa
contact with this man, who was legitimately desti°.'o
to a supreme expiation, and to whom,
magnitude of his crime, one could not refuse D.
sympathy. When he called upon me to assist the
I was at first appalled, for .1 well understood
i3tio
struggle which two opposing feelings excited Wit"
me. The assassin I looked upon with horror,
11P0
patriot with admiration ; and I divined that the
shadow of the scaffold must, as it came nearer, Ce".o
face the one to transform the other. In the fro
and painful struggle of my conscience I hsd
in spite of the
d 0 the
le
other design than to make allowance for this
situation, placing above that lamentable dratnay_la
superior interest of the two nations to which it I°`
pleased God to give this formidable lesson."
Lady Emily Peel arrived in town last evel3l.
from Geneva, on her way to Drayton Manor, Stil°l
shire.