The proceedings of the French Legislature are such almost as
would have disgraced our Star Chamber tribunal in the days of the STUARTS. Their principal occupation seems to be the trial of men for offences unknown to the law of the land, and the inflic- tion of cruel punishments. The Chamber of Peers is going on slowly with the" monster process ;" and the Chamber of Deputies having slavishly agreed to permit one of their Members, M. PUY- MAVEAU, to be summoned before the Peers to answer for an offence which no human being supposes him to have committed, has wreaked its vengeance on the nominal editor of a Republican paper, the Reformateur, who had styled some of its members "legislative bullies." The circumstances which provoked the newspaper-writer to use such language, were these. In the course of the discussion on the demand of the Peers to have M. PUYRA- "[MAU brought to their bar, there was some laughter in one of the galleries; and a Deputy, M. JAUBERT, said the disturbance came from the Journalists' Gallery. On this, the President, Dupisr, ordered the gallery to be cleared. But in France, in order to make a sitting of the Legislature public, the reporters must be present. DUPIN soon ordered the gallery-doors to be reopened; but the reporters would not return. It was then remarked by DUPIN, that the reporters for the Moniteur, who have places on the floor of the Chamber, were present ; but the Opposition Members refused to consider the sitting as public, and left the Chamber. The sitting then broke up; and as the mem- bers were departing, several of the reporters advanced to M. JAUBERT, with the view of- assuring him that he was mis- taken in supposing that the disturbance he complained of arose from the Journalists' Gallery. An altercation ensued ; and then a scuffle between the reporters and M. JAUBERT, the latter being assisted by several of his brother Deputies. The soldiers on duty interfered, and took several reporters into custody ; but in the course of the day they were all liberated. It was in comment- ing on this disgraceful transaction, that the Reformateur called the Deputies, who really seem to have been the aggressors, " legislative bullies ;" and for this offence the nominal editor was sentenced to a month's imprisonment and ten thousand francs line—the object being to suppress the journal. But instead of this being the consequence of these proceedings, the circulation of the paper, which was about 500 before, has been raised to 5000 daily. Out of 459 Deputies, only 302 consented to act as judges in their own cause; and of these 39 voted the defendant not guilty. Among the foremost of those who condemned the pro- ceedings, were ARAGO, the astronomer, °DILLON BARROT, BIGNON, GEORGE LAFAYETTE, BERRYER, and the Duke DE BITZJAMES.
M. PUYRAVEAU has written a letter to DUPIN, requesting him to inform the Chamber of Peers, that they must forcibly drag him to their bar, for he cannot submit to their jurisdiction. PUYRA- VEAU is a very old man, who lost nearly all his fortune in the Revolution of July 1830; and public feeling is outraged in no slight degree by the proceedings against him. Indeed, we must have a very low opinion of the French nation, before we can sup- pose them to regard the conduct of their Government with feel- ings other than those of hatred and contempt combined. It is surely impossible that Frenchmen should long submit to these violations of law and justice ; and we are fully prepared to hear, any day, of a violent reaction, which shall sweep the present dynanty from the throne, and destroy completely the existing System.
Previous page
