The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1848-06-27 00:00:00

FRANCE.

MADAME LAFARGE.—A committee is about to be
formed in the,Paris house of representatives, to inquire
into the state of prisons in Paris and the departments,
with a view to the release of prisoners who can establish
any claim to that preference on doubts of their guilt, or
other favourable cause. Amongst those whose chances of
favour are considered the most sure, is Madame Lafarge,
and the measure is suspected to have originated with a
view to her benefit. She had been reckoning upon this be-
fore the revolution of February, in her prison at Montpe-
lier, where she is regarded as a saint and martyr. Six
months ago an official persotage was sent to visit her on
the part of the queen, to whom she had applied for some
prints and books to relieve her solitude, she basing her
claim upon the relationship between them. The gentle-
man employed found her engaged in forming a hortussic-
cus, composed entirely of all the poisonous plants used in
medicine. Around lay some odoriferous flowers, some
fresh and some faded, and the gentleman, with French
gallantry, endeavoured to turn a compliment by congratu-
lating her upon being thus surrounded with flowers. Ah,
monsieur," exclaimed she, with a deep sigh, " do you not
perceive that they are withered ones ?', She took up a
bunch of the beautiful belladonna which lay near her, and
handed it towards him with so much grace, that he who
came to reprimand became from that moment her devoted
slave, and seized the gift with avidity, declaring that be
would keep it as long as he should live ! It is now this
very official who has drawn up the report on the " dossier
Lafarge," and who is to take that special case in hand be-
fore the Assembly. The Paris correspondent of the Atlas,
from whom these curious facts are derived, furnished a cu-
rious account of the apartments, or " cells," occupied by
the lady; one of them replete with every article of ele-
gance and luxury, including many of her own paintings
and drawings, and amongst others a likeness of her hus-
band (for the alleged poisoning of whom she is now con-
fined), with his own autograph at the bottom. This looks
out upon a beautiful country, embracing the chateau where
the crime took place. The other, containing her little bed,
is gloomy and austere in furniture, having an air of the
most rigid monastic penance. The writer of the article
exclaims—" Is this woman guilty or is she innocent ? is
she a most injured martyr, or a most fiendish and con-
summate comedian ? The debates upon her future fate
are expected to be carried on with as much passion, and
to excite as great a curiosity as those to which her trial
itself gave rise. The mysteries of social life in France are
too deep to fathom ; and it would be presumptuous to
dare to condemn even those against whom the most mi-
nute proofs of guilt can be brought -with success in a court
of justice.
M. Marrast presented the draft .of the constitution,
which occupied nearly an hour in the reading, It must
be borne in mind that this is only a. project, which may
fill the greater part of the session before it is settled.
There is to be a president for four years, -_to which every
French citizen, thirty years of age, and ot fair character,
is eligible. A vice-president is to be elected by the Na-
tional Assembly, which is to consist of 150 • members.
There ie to be but one chamber. Pleuinisters-are to In

nominated by Ole president, laird are dismissible at his
will and pleasure. A couneilzdf state is to be appointed
out of the members of the arsembly, to consist of 40 per-
sons at least, and chosen by the assembly itself, the office
of thatbody being to topsider and draw up the laws which
it may be deemed advisable to bring in. The punishment
of death is interdicted for political offences; slavery is
abolished in all the French colonies ; the press is to be
free, and every man has a right to print, or cause to be
printed, whatever he pleases, subject to such guarantees
to the state as 'may be deemed necessary ; all religions to
be allowed in France, and the various ministers are to be
paid by the state. Public instruction is to be free, but
subject to the superintendence of the state. Substitutes
are to be interdicted in the army and navy. The national
debt is declared sacred property, and is inviolable. Gra-
tuitous education is to be given to the working classes, so
as to prepare them for their different callings ; and the
right of the people to have work is proclaimed. Algeria
is declared an integral part of the French soil, and is to
be administered by laws peculiar to itself. The same is
to take place in the other French colonies. Trials are to
be public; the judges, when once appointed, are to be
irremovable. Each department is to have a prefect, &c.