Daily Richmond Whig. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1828-1831, 1830-11-24
FRANCE
IMPEACHMENT OF THE EX-MINIsrERs.

temo1f
0sstfeweM The Committee whom you charged to
examius the proposition for iu,peaching the Ex-
Ministers who signed the Ordonuances OF July sS'
have given to tho examination oil the considera
ton required by subject upon which general at
tcntiou is 90 strongly fixed Al the momont Of en-
tcrinr into the path which the Charter opens before
you 10 obtain the exposition Of facts which have SO
deeply compromised socsl order you must be desi
rous that a religious scrupu'osity should be united
with elevated views of policy in the exercise Of
right derived from institutions. This desire i'm
posed upon your committee duties, Of the full extent
Of which they have been conscious. They felt that
principal characteristic which should be impariuty
L vas TO tho confidence you reposed in them
that at the commencement Of these proceedings they
determined to ask you to delegate to them part Of
bly, to render regular the detention OF such OF the
Ministers a. had been arrested, solely the author
isaton of the public voice. 10 fix by the concur
renee Of their declarations, and the testimony Of
witnesses, the real point OF view IN which this I'M
parchment ought to be regarded.
An investigation. therefore. vas commenced
Four Of the ex Ministers, At Tours and ST. Lo. were
Transferred to Vncennes, in virtue of variants issued
by the Committ @; they Immediately examined,
and the warrants Of transfer forthwith convert
cd into warrants of detention. Witnesses
hcard the documents which might serve for elements
ofthe impea chment were sent for 10 the different Gov
eminent Offices. and examined with scrupuous
The orders issued by the Commission, and executed
BY the ush.rs of the Chamber, were every where
unhcsitaingly oheycd. This preliminary invcstigs-
ton, which establishes aud consccrates your rights
had equally for its object to furaish you with the
means Of forming correct Judgment, and to afford
to the accused all tine means of defence they have
right to claim.
Nevertheless the documents obtained at the differ
ent public Offices arc incomrlete Ii is ascertainrd
that at the moment Of the catastrophe. the
portnnt Of them were destroyed, thot a veil still
covers most Of the projects, tho developement Of
which was to have secured the execution of the fatal
1rdo mi Look in AZ nrJnn -,
their ensemble, your committee could not bring
themselves to the resolution to consider them
az incidentai'-that Is 10 say, rs an isolated
fact, springng from circumstances of the momcnt.
and destitute OF connection with the past.
They therefore took a survey Of several yeors
preceding, and acquired the deplorabe certainty that
the ORDINANCES Of July 25 wero the fllfment of
plan which the Crown had long contemplated
Louis XVIII. had scarcely been restored to the
throne Of his ancestors, when he able to appre-
catc the projects Of the courcrs and those OF the
members Of his own family What they were when
at the beginning Of our revolution. they had quilted
the soil Of France, they remained when he returned
with them fr"m exile.
Their lcng sojourn in a foreign land and the days
Of adversely, which for many others would have been
fruitful lessons. had been sterile for them. Louis
XVIII strove hard agains. their cfRorts-sometines
with, and often without success. Councils were
formed independent Of his Government. which were
sensibly felt IN oil the branches Of the Administra
tim. and parnlysed its movcmcni thus two Govern
uehts were sHcduy existing IN inc state.
The extreme ago Of Louis XVIII felt the melan
ChOly influence vi these councils; under him began
that six years Administration whose mission appeared
TO be to accomplish the Counter under
this Monarch. and perhaps in opposition his incl-
nation. Spain bcheld French army s0e her aspiro-
tions for ibory; and the celebrated Ordonnance of
AnduJar annhlated it at the moment of its pubica-
tioD.
At tho death of that Monarch. the projects con-
ceived under his reign began TO be brought into
practice. Pho new King fastened TO give sa,isfac-
ton 10 the Clergy by the Law of Sacrlege, and to
the Emigrants by the Indemnity Law; he led
to abolish the ircednra of the Press bv the Law Pro-
ject which excited against the Ministers who were
the authors of il such Just resentment lie tried to
onslave tho profession most useful to mankind nv
another Law Project affecting Medical Juries and
Schools Of Medicine, and endeavoured to prepare
the public mind for the suppression Of the jury by
proposing its suppression fur tho crimes Of Baratry
and Piracy. At length the Counter Revolution was
openly avowed and the futurity reserved for France
was M longer mystery, and every interest was
threatened at once.
However. i'll this Chamber, where Ministers had
made themselves SO many partisans, an opposition
was formed, which, warmly seconded by public opin.
ion, began to render Itself formidable Alarmed at
the prospect Of losing the majority in tie Chambers
government formed tho hardy resolution of convo-
King new Colleges: they hoped by moons of threats
fraud, and corruption, 10 obtain Chamber favorable
to them. and by these measures completed the dis
gust Of eryupright mind and honest heart through
At the same time, in order to secure the Chamber
of Peers, they filed that assembly with their crca-
lures, and inboured to change its majority by a Sc.
ries Of the most numerous and unpopular creations
Happily the elections did not answer their hopes
and before the new Chamber they were forced to
adjourn tho projects which they had in contemsla-
ton.
No nation is more conGdng than France: when
ut the opening the Session OF 1895 il heard from
the lip: of its King the promise Of happier future
It credited, and forgot the past. Although SO often
deceived, it again permitted itself ts hope. There
would be lngratitndc in not acknowledging tic ser
vices which the new administration rendered TO the
country in the course OF the first session. The law
destined TO rcpress electoral frauds and that ON the
press, although the absence ola jury was 10 be re-
GREETED, are monuments which attest n desire to
give to the country the guarantees so long looked
for. But even this desire was subject of ds rust
TO a court equally suspicious and nsncer.. The md
mnistration Of that period maintained its GROUND
with difficulty. and suffered the second session 20
pass away without ony useful result for Tic dcvc.
iopcmcnt OF our institutions. The Chambers sopa.
rated; gloomy prcsoniinents filed tho public mind.
nlos! they were too soon discovered to be well
founded. "