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Collection: The Collected Works of John Stuart Mill

247.: FRENCH NEWS [94] EXAMINER, 13 APR., 1834, PP. 232-3 - 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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Liberty Fund, Inc. is a private, educational foundation established to encourage the study of the ideal of a society of free and responsible individuals.


247.

FRENCH NEWS [94]

EXAMINER, 13 APR., 1834, PP. 232-3

This item is headed “London, April 13, 1834.” For Mill’s bibliographic entry, see No. 246. In the Somerville College set of the Examiner, the item is listed as “Article on France,” with one correction: at 702.6, “restricted” is altered to “restrictive”.

the court of cassation has once more made a stand against the attempts of Louis-Philippe to pervert the laws for purposes of despotism and vengeance. The sentence of the Court Royale of Paris, declaring the National de 1834, identical with the National (and condemning MM. Carrel and Conseil to fine and imprisonment for violating in the new journal the interdict against reporting judicial proceedings, so iniquitously passed upon its predecessor), had been appealed against to the Court of Cassation, and has now, by one of the Chambers which compose that Court, been reversed.1 Thus, for the second time since July, 1830, the highest tribunal in France has interfered to thwart the King in his most cherished and worst purposes.

The struggle, however, is not yet over; for, by the provisions of the French code, the cause must now be reheard before another Cour Royale; and if this should agree with the original decision of the wretched Cour Royale of Paris, the affair must then be carried before, not one Chamber only of the Court of Cassation, as before, but the entire Court;2 who, however, it is to be believed, will abide by the judgment of one section of their body.

We needed a decision like this to convince us that there is still such a thing as law in France, where the government is a party concerned.

The vacancy in the Cabinet, made by the resignation of the Duke de Broglie, has been filled by the transfer of Admiral de Rigny, the Minister of Marine, to the Foreign Department; Admiral Roussin, the Ambassador at Constantinople, being appointed in his absence to succeed M. de Rigny in the ministry of marine, which, however, he is not expected to accept.3 Admiral de Rigny, taken from his peculiar province, is a mere nullity: but this is justly deemed of no consequence, as the prime minister, Louis-Philippe, while he exercises a general control over every department, takes that of foreign affairs under his peculiar care.

The opportunity has been taken of laying on the shelf two other members of the cabinet, MM. Barthe and d’Argoût, whose characters have been used up in Louis-Philippe’s service. To make room for M. Barthe, poor old M. Barbé-Marbois has been jockeyed out of the Presidency of the Cour des Comptes;4 while Napoleon’s old Finance Minister, Gaudin des Ardennes, Duc de Gaête,5 has been removed from the office of Governor of the Bank of France (which, it seems, is in the King’s gift), to make a place for M. d’Argoût. It would be amusing, if, to facilitate a modification in the English Ministry, the King could remove Mr. Horsley Palmer,6 and give his place to Lord Melbourne!

The successor of M. Barthe is M. Persil, probably the most unpopular man in France; the frenzied assailant of the Press, and the same who, in a speech delivered in his official character of Procureur-Général, called for a law to alter the constitution of Jury-trial, by making the Jurors vote in secret without any consultation among themselves, and rendering a bare majority sufficient for condemnation.7

M. d’Argoût is succeeded by M. Thiers, who gives up the department of commerce to M. Tanneguy Duchâtel.8 If the ministers of Louis Philippe had any voice in the determination of their own measures, this would be an admirable appointment. M. Duchâtel is one of the first living political economists, and the author of the celebrated memorial from the vine-growers of the Gironde, the most masterly exposition, in a popular form, of the doctrine of free trade, which has ever been produced. But neither the divided opinions and wishes of the minister, nor the tide of public opinion which has now set in so strongly in favour of relaxing the laws restrictive of commerce, will be able to accomplish anything for a long time to come; and for an excellent reason—Louis-Philippe is personally interested in most of the existing monopolies; and his grasping avarice reigns supreme over the destinies of a great nation.

[1 ]On 5 Apr. (Moniteur, 1834, p. 810). For background, see No. 232.

[2 ]By Livre II, Titre III, Chap. ii, Arts. 428, 429, and 440 of the Code d’instruction criminelle, Bull. 214 bis (17 Nov.-16 Dec., 1808), and Art. 4 of Bull. 161, No. 2791 (16 Sept., 1807), which required that all the sections unite in a second hearing.

[3 ]Albin Reine, baron Roussin (1781-1854), began his naval career under Napoleon, was made a baron in 1822 and a peer in 1832; finally, in 1840, he accepted the Ministry of Marine.

[4 ]François Barbé de Marbois (1745-1837) had been President of the Cour des Comptes since 1808. Ill in 1833, he had tendered his resignation, and failed to withdraw it when, on recovery, he returned to his post, thus making it easier for Louis Philippe to remove him.

[5 ]Martin Michel Charles Gaudin, duc de Gaète (1756-1841), a member of the Treasury before the Revolution of 1789, had become Minister of Finance in 1799, and a duke in 1809. After the Restoration he became a deputy for l’Aisne, 1815-20, and Governor of the Bank of France, 1820-34.

[6 ]John Horsley Palmer (1779-1858), an East India merchant, expert on currency and finance, Governor of the Bank of England, 1830-32, and a senior Director until 1857; William Lamb, Lord Melbourne, was then Home Secretary.

[7 ]For the speech, see No. 232, n10.

[8 ]Charles Tanneguy, comte Duchâtel (1803-67), journalist, one of the founders of Le Globe, was named a conseiller d’état in 1830, representing the King in debates in the Chamber. He had been a deputy since 1833. His “memorial” has not been located.