Minister of Public Works_.--Of course the government sent you
out of the country.

_M. de Sallenauve_.--No, Monsieur le ministre. I do not attribute
my absence to either your influence or your suggestions; it was
necessitated by imperious duty, and it had no other instigation or
motive. But, as to the part you have really taken in the
denunciation set on foot against me, I am about to tell the facts,
and the Chamber will consider them. [Close attention.] The law, in
order to protect the independence of the deputy, directs that no
criminal prosecution can be begun against a member of the national
representation without the preliminary consent of the Chamber;
this fact has been turned with great adroitness against me. If the
complaint had been laid before the magistrates, it could not have
been admitted even for an instant; it is simply a bare charge, not
supported by evidence of any kind; and I have never heard that the
public authorities are in the habit of prosecuting citizens on the
mere allegation of the first-comer. We must therefore admire the
subtlety of mind which instantly perceived that, by petitioning
you for leave to prosecute, all the benefits of the accusation,
politically speaking, would be obtained without encountering the
difficulty I have mentioned in the courts. [Excitement.] Now, to
what able parliamentary tactician must we ascribe the honor of
this invention? You know already, gentleman, that it is due
ostensibly to a woman, a peasant-woman, one who labors for her
living; hence the conclusion is that the peasant-women of
Champagne have an intellectual superiority of which, up to this
time, neither you nor I were at all aware. [Laughter.] It must be
said, however, that before coming to Paris to lodge her complaint,
this woman had an interview with the mayor of Arcis, my opponent
on the ministerial side in the late election. From this conference
she obtained certain lights. To which we must add that the mayor,
taking apparently much interest in the charge to be brought
against me, agreed to pay the costs, not only of the
peasant-woman's trip to Paris, but also those of the village
practitioner by whom she was accompanied. [Left: "Ha! ha!"] This
superior woman having arrived in Paris, with whom did she
immediately communicate? With the special agent sent down to Arcis
by the government to ensure the success of the ministerial