Econlib

The Library

Other Sites

 Front Page arrow Titles (by Subject) arrow 127.: FRENCH NEWS [34] EXAMINER, 6 NOV., 1831, PP. 712-13 - The Collected Works of John Stuart Mill, Volume XXIII - Newspaper Writings August 1831 - October 1834 Part II

Return to Title Page for The Collected Works of John Stuart Mill, Volume XXIII - Newspaper Writings August 1831 - October 1834 Part II

Search this Title:

Also in the Library:

Subject Area: Political Theory
Collection: The Collected Works of John Stuart Mill

127.: FRENCH NEWS [34] EXAMINER, 6 NOV., 1831, PP. 712-13 - John Stuart Mill, The Collected Works of John Stuart Mill, Volume XXIII - Newspaper Writings August 1831 - October 1834 Part II [1831]

Edition used:

The Collected Works of John Stuart Mill, Volume XXIII - Newspaper Writings August 1831 - October 1834 Part II, ed. Ann P. Robson and John M. Robson, Introduction by Ann P. Robson and John M. Robson (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, London: Routledge and Kegan Paul, 1986).

Part of: Collected Works of John Stuart Mill, in 33 vols.

About Liberty Fund:

Liberty Fund, Inc. is a private, educational foundation established to encourage the study of the ideal of a society of free and responsible individuals.


127.

FRENCH NEWS [34]

EXAMINER, 6 NOV., 1831, PP. 712-13

For the entry in Mill’s bibliography see No. 116. The item, headed “London, November 6,” is listed as “Paragraphs on France” and enclosed in square brackets in the Somerville College set.

the only circumstance of any considerable interest afforded by the French papers of the week, is the trial of the author and publishers of an article in the newspaper La Tribune, imputing to MM. Soult and Casimir Périer, the receipt of a corrupt consideration for a contract, concluded by them in England some months ago for the purchase of muskets.1 Enough was established to account for the general belief of this rumour, though not to prove it well-founded. The French Ministers, or their confidential agents, appear clearly to have paid a high price for bad fire-arms, when good ones were offered at a lower price. But they plead, in justification, that the necessity of immediately supplying the National Guard with arms, obliged them to close with the persons who could furnish them with the greatest number in the shortest time.

The Peerage Bill2 is not yet introduced into the Chamber of Peers, which is ascribed to the great difficulty found in securing a majority.

[1 ]Périer and Soult had brought charges against Ferdinand Bascans (1801-61), manager of La Tribune 1829-35, Armand Marrast (1801-52), author of an article, “Situation grave,” written for La Tribune, of 9 Sept., 1831, and Vincent Ferrare François Antony Thouret (1807-71), manager of the Révolution de 1830, which printed it after the authorities had prevented its appearance in La Tribune. The article asserted that Périer and Soult had each received a gift of wine during the purchase of some English guns. The trial took place at the end of October; only Marrast was found guilty, and sentenced to six months’ imprisonment, a 3,000-franc fine, and expenses. The affair is described in Le National, 31 Oct., pp. 2-4.

[2 ]For background, see No. 115, n1.