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 Front Page arrow Titles (by Subject) arrow 137.: FRENCH NEWS [44] EXAMINER, 22 JAN., 1832, P. 56 - The Collected Works of John Stuart Mill, Volume XXIII - Newspaper Writings August 1831 - October 1834 Part II

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

137.: FRENCH NEWS [44] EXAMINER, 22 JAN., 1832, P. 56 - 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.

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137.

FRENCH NEWS [44]

EXAMINER, 22 JAN., 1832, P. 56

For the entry in Mill’s bibliography, see No. 116. The item, headed “London, January 22, 1832,” is listed as “Article on France” and enclosed in square brackets in the Somerville College set of the Examiner.

the civil list of louis philippe is at length finally voted by the Chamber of Deputies. It amounts to twelve millions of francs (480,000l.)1 It is therefore a trifle less than the Civil List of our own King; who, however, has not a private fortune, amounting to about half as much more; who, unlike Louis Philippe, thinks himself bound to pay to the richest noblemen of the land, salaries worth the acceptance of such persons, for consenting to be officers of his household; and who never said any thing about surrounding his throne with republican institutions,2 nor ever claimed or affected to call himself a Citizen King.

Even this large sum, however, is no more than two-thirds of that which was originally proposed, and which Louis Philippe has received provisionally up to this time. The Chamber has decided that he shall not be called upon to refund, although the disbursement was made without any legal authority.

Several young men, members of the Société des Amis du Peuple, have been tried for circulating some republican pamphlets. On the trial they avowed, and even ostentatiously proclaimed, their political opinions; for which conduct, although they were acquitted by the jury, the judge took upon himself to pass sentences of six, twelve, and fifteen months imprisonment on several of their number.3The Times is as abusive on the occasion, as every one who knows the habits and character of that journal would naturally expect.4 Its indignation against the principles professed by these “fellows,” as it calls them, in that elegant and polished style of vituperation for which it is celebrated, renders it utterly blind to the flagrant injustice of which they are the victims. These young men were not conspirators; they were not put on their trial for conspiracy, but simply for publishing opinions in disapprobation of the existing form of government. When the jury have declared by their verdict, that men ought not to be punished for publishing republican opinions, is the judge to set aside the verdict of the jury, and condemn the prisoners, on his own authority, to sentences even more severe than would have been the consequences of conviction, on the pretext that they have adopted an improper course of defence?—The defence of some of them was intemperate and silly; probably the original publications were so: but a prisoner on his trial is, by the laws of all countries, privileged to enjoy a great latitude, both in the topics he brings forward, and in the language he employs. And we solemnly affirm, that if some of those who have been thus nefariously treated, afforded some colour at least for such treatment, others, if the report we have read is correct,5 were absolutely innocent of using a single expression which ought to have subjected them even to a reprimand.

[1 ]For background, see No. 135, n18. The vote on 12 Jan. is in Moniteur, 1832, p. 122.

[2 ]Lafayette reported that when he made a comment to this effect on 31 July, 1830, Louis Philippe agreed with him. See his Letter to the Electors of Meaux (13 June, 1831), in Mémoires, correspondance et manuscrits du général Lafayette (Brussels: Hauman, 1839), p. 525.

[3 ]For the Society, see No. 57, n3. The accused were Louis Auguste Blanqui (1805-81), who had joined the staff of Le Globe in 1829 and, after fighting in the July Revolution, had become bitterly disappointed by its outcome; Henri Bonnias (b. 1800), publicist and dramatist; François Guillaume Gervais de Caen (1803-67), doctor and administrator; François Vincent Raspail (1794-1878), chemist, who, after participating in the July Revolution became President of the Society; and Vincent Thouret, also active in and then disappointed by the July Revolution. Tried for their collection entitled Au peuple, they were sentenced by the judge Simon Edme Paul Jacquinot-Godard (1779-1858), Bonnias and Raspail to fifteen months’ imprisonment and 500 francs fine, Blanqui to one year and 200 francs, and Gervais and Thouret to six months and 100 francs. See “Cour d’Assises de la Seine: Affaire de la Société des Amis du Peuple,” La Tribune, 13 Jan., 1832, pp. 1-4, which gives the defendants’ speeches.

[4 ]Leading article, The Times, 17 Jan., 1832, p. 2.

[5 ]Mill is probably referring to the account in La Tribune, but would have seen Paul Rochette, “Procès des quinze,” Le Globe, 14 Jan., 1832, pp. 1-2, which includes Blanqui’s speech.