Jean-Baptiste Teste
Encyclopedia
Jean-Baptiste Teste was a French politician of the July Monarchy
. He fell from grace in the Teste-Cubières
scandal.
in Lyon
. He distinguished himself early in his education, according to Joseph Marie Portalis, in the "Demosthenic
forms" of his oratorical debut (noted by others for his elocution difficulties).
. Acquiring a great reputation in Nîmes, during the Hundred Days
Napoleon
made him Lyon's police chief. He was elected on 17 May 1815 as deputy to the Hundred Days Chamber for Gard
(50 votes out of 73) but was unable to attend the parliament due to his administrative duties. Proscribed on the Second Restoration
, he sought refuge in Liège
, where he again practiced as a lawyer until being expelled and forbidden to return for 22 months after defending the anti-Russian and anti-Austrian journal Le Mercure surveillant. During that time he tried to set up again in Paris, but failed since he was refused entry to the Paris bar, and thus after the 22 months stayed on practising in Liège until 1830, building up a large client base.
King William I of the Netherlands
charged him with managing the royal lands and estates. He also pleaded for the house of Orléans
in a trial with the Rohans about the duchy of Bouillon, merged into the kingdom of the Netherlands in 1814. It was during that trial that he met André Dupin (Dupin aîné), lawyer to the house of Orléans. He was able to return to Paris and re-enrol at the Paris bar after the July Revolution
, and soon came to reach the top jobs such as lawyer to the royal lands and to the treasury.
) (217 votes out of 375 voters et 488 inscribed, as against 145 for M. Madier de Montjau). He sat with the liberal Tiers Party of his friend Dupin aîné, and from there hotly defended the new regime. With discretion and skill, he participated most especially in debates on legislation, commerce and public works. He was re-elected on 21 June 1834 (227 votes of 349 voters and 464 inscribed against 111 to M. de Dreux-Brézé) and was made Minister for Commerce
and of Public Works
, all the while being the interim Minister for National Education and for Cults
(i.e. Religion), in the temporary Maret
government (10–18 November 1834).
He was then elected vice-president of the Chambre des députés and won re-election on 13 December 1834 (243 votes out of 253 voters and 591 inscribed). He thus voted with the majority but entered into the coalition which, in 1839, led to the fall of Molé's first ministry. He was re-elected as a député on 2 March 1839 (256 of 418 votes) and was made minister for Justice and Cults
in Soult's second ministry (12 Mary 1839 to 1 March 1840). He was re-elected as a député on 22 June 1839 (280 of 289 votes). During his time as minister, he formed a committee to look into ways of suppressing bribery in government ministries. Soult appreciated him and made him minister of public works in his third ministry of 29 October 1840. Teste voted for the "grande loi" of 1841 on expropriation for the cause of public use, the law of 1842 on roads, and the law of 1843 on industrial property.
On 16 December 1843, Guizot
removed Teste from the ministry but gave him major compensation, including making him a peer of France and head of the Cour de cassation. A member of the royal family even intervened in his favour by requesting the retiring president of the civil chamber to name Teste as his successor. Becoming a grand officer of the Légion d'honneur
in 1846, he had thus reached the highest honours.
, temporary Minister for War
in 1839 and 1840, in need of money, speculated in various areas, particularly a mining operation. In 1843, to get the concession for a salt mine at Gouhenans
renewed, he and his associates bribed Teste (as minister of public works) with 94,000 francs. The affair came out in May 1847 during a trial of Despans-Cubières's associates before the civil tribunal of the Seine. The company director, a certain Parmentier, produced in his defence several letters from general Despans-Cubières mentioning bribes.
The affair received huge publicity and the scandal stuck. King Louis-Philippe of France
decided to have the case tried before the Chambre des pairs, and on 8 July 1847, Teste, Despans-Cubières, Parmentier and a certain Pellapra (former receiver-general, who had acted as the general's intermediary to Teste) came before it on corruption charges. It is said the king criticised his chancellor, duc Pasquier
, for imprisoning Teste, telling him "What? Haven't you already got enough of my ministers? He will need a second! Also, I've spent 17 years to resurrect France's power, and in one day, in one hour, you have let it fall back down."
Dismissed from all his offices the day before the trial began, Teste began by denying everything before later breaking down, beaten by the evidence brought before the court by Pellapra's ex-wife and by the testimony of the agent de change who had converted the funds into treasury bills. He attempted suicide on 12 July by shooting himself twice in the head and chest with a pistol brought to him by his son, but was only lightly wounded. The following day he refused to present himself before the court since, as he wrote to the chancellor, "the documents produced no longer leave any room for contradiction". On 17 July the Chambre des pairs condemned him to three years in prison, to return the 94,000 franc bribe and to pay a fine of the same amount to the Hospice de Paris. He was incarcerated in the prison du Luxembourg, which he had had built himself, and remained there until 13 August 1849. President Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte then authorised him to spend the rest of his sentence in a nursing home at Chaillot and reduced the fine to be paid to 44,000 francs. He left the nursing home in July 1850 and died two months later.
July Monarchy
The July Monarchy , officially the Kingdom of France , was a period of liberal constitutional monarchy in France under King Louis-Philippe starting with the July Revolution of 1830 and ending with the Revolution of 1848...
. He fell from grace in the Teste-Cubières
Amédée Despans-Cubières
General Amédée Louis de Cubières , known as Despans-Cubières, was a French general and politician.-Youth:...
scandal.
Early life
The son of Antoine Teste, lawyer to the Parliament of Provence, and of his wife Élisabeth Boyer, Jean-Baptiste Teste studied under the JoséphitesJosephites
Josephites may refer to one of the following religious movements:* the Russian followers of Joseph Volotsky who advocated the church's ownership of land;* Josephites , a 20th-century movement in the Russian True Orthodox Church....
in Lyon
Lyon
Lyon , is a city in east-central France in the Rhône-Alpes region, situated between Paris and Marseille. Lyon is located at from Paris, from Marseille, from Geneva, from Turin, and from Barcelona. The residents of the city are called Lyonnais....
. He distinguished himself early in his education, according to Joseph Marie Portalis, in the "Demosthenic
Demosthenes
Demosthenes was a prominent Greek statesman and orator of ancient Athens. His orations constitute a significant expression of contemporary Athenian intellectual prowess and provide an insight into the politics and culture of ancient Greece during the 4th century BC. Demosthenes learned rhetoric by...
forms" of his oratorical debut (noted by others for his elocution difficulties).
Legal career
He was received as a lawyer in Paris and at first enrolled at the Paris bar, where he pleaded successfully several times, before returning to set up as a lawyer in NîmesNîmes
Nîmes is the capital of the Gard department in the Languedoc-Roussillon region in southern France. Nîmes has a rich history, dating back to the Roman Empire, and is a popular tourist destination.-History:...
. Acquiring a great reputation in Nîmes, during the Hundred Days
Hundred Days
The Hundred Days, sometimes known as the Hundred Days of Napoleon or Napoleon's Hundred Days for specificity, marked the period between Emperor Napoleon I of France's return from exile on Elba to Paris on 20 March 1815 and the second restoration of King Louis XVIII on 8 July 1815...
Napoleon
Napoleon I of France
Napoleon Bonaparte was a French military and political leader during the latter stages of the French Revolution.As Napoleon I, he was Emperor of the French from 1804 to 1815...
made him Lyon's police chief. He was elected on 17 May 1815 as deputy to the Hundred Days Chamber for Gard
Gard
Gard is a département located in southern France in the Languedoc-Roussillon region.The department is named after the River Gard, although the formerly Occitan name of the River Gard, Gardon, has been replacing the traditional French name in recent decades, even among French speakers.- History...
(50 votes out of 73) but was unable to attend the parliament due to his administrative duties. Proscribed on the Second Restoration
Bourbon Restoration
The Bourbon Restoration is the name given to the period following the successive events of the French Revolution , the end of the First Republic , and then the forcible end of the First French Empire under Napoleon – when a coalition of European powers restored by arms the monarchy to the...
, he sought refuge in Liège
Liège
Liège is a major city and municipality of Belgium located in the province of Liège, of which it is the economic capital, in Wallonia, the French-speaking region of Belgium....
, where he again practiced as a lawyer until being expelled and forbidden to return for 22 months after defending the anti-Russian and anti-Austrian journal Le Mercure surveillant. During that time he tried to set up again in Paris, but failed since he was refused entry to the Paris bar, and thus after the 22 months stayed on practising in Liège until 1830, building up a large client base.
King William I of the Netherlands
William I of the Netherlands
William I Frederick, born Willem Frederik Prins van Oranje-Nassau , was a Prince of Orange and the first King of the Netherlands and Grand Duke of Luxembourg....
charged him with managing the royal lands and estates. He also pleaded for the house of Orléans
Goods of the House of Orléans
Under the Ancien Régime, the goods of the House of Orléans comprised two distinct parts : the apanage and the "biens patrimoniaux".-The "apanage d'Orléans":...
in a trial with the Rohans about the duchy of Bouillon, merged into the kingdom of the Netherlands in 1814. It was during that trial that he met André Dupin (Dupin aîné), lawyer to the house of Orléans. He was able to return to Paris and re-enrol at the Paris bar after the July Revolution
July Revolution
The French Revolution of 1830, also known as the July Revolution or in French, saw the overthrow of King Charles X of France, the French Bourbon monarch, and the ascent of his cousin Louis-Philippe, Duke of Orléans, who himself, after 18 precarious years on the throne, would in turn be overthrown...
, and soon came to reach the top jobs such as lawyer to the royal lands and to the treasury.
Political career
In the general elections of 5 July 1831, Jean-Baptiste Teste was elected député by the first electoral college of Gard (UzèsUzès
Uzès is a commune in the Gard department in southern France.It lies about 25 km north-northeast of Nîmes.-History:Originally Ucetia, Uzès was a small Gallo-Roman oppidum, or administrative settlement. The town lies at the source of the Eure, from where a Roman aqueduct was built in the first...
) (217 votes out of 375 voters et 488 inscribed, as against 145 for M. Madier de Montjau). He sat with the liberal Tiers Party of his friend Dupin aîné, and from there hotly defended the new regime. With discretion and skill, he participated most especially in debates on legislation, commerce and public works. He was re-elected on 21 June 1834 (227 votes of 349 voters and 464 inscribed against 111 to M. de Dreux-Brézé) and was made Minister for Commerce
Minister of Commerce and Industry (France)
The Minister of Commerce and Industry was a cabinet member in the Government of France.The position was sometimes combined with Minister of Posts, Telegraphs and Telephones...
and of Public Works
Minister of Public Works (France)
The Minister of Public Works was a cabinet member in the Government of France. Formerly known as "Ministre des Travaux Publics" , in 1870, it was largely subsumed by the position of Minister of Transportation. Since the 1960s, the positions of Minister of Public Works has reappeared, often...
, all the while being the interim Minister for National Education and for Cults
Minister of National Education (France)
The Ministry of National Education, Youth, and Sport , or simply "Minister of National Education," as the title has changed no small number of times in the course of the Fifth Republic) is the French government cabinet member charged with running France's public educational system and with the...
(i.e. Religion), in the temporary Maret
Hugues-Bernard Maret, duc de Bassano
Hugues-Bernard Maret, 1st Duc de Bassano was a French statesman and journalist.-Early career:Born at Dijon , he received a solid education, and then entered the legal profession – becoming a lawyer at the King's Council in Paris...
government (10–18 November 1834).
He was then elected vice-president of the Chambre des députés and won re-election on 13 December 1834 (243 votes out of 253 voters and 591 inscribed). He thus voted with the majority but entered into the coalition which, in 1839, led to the fall of Molé's first ministry. He was re-elected as a député on 2 March 1839 (256 of 418 votes) and was made minister for Justice and Cults
Minister of Justice (France)
The Ministry of Justice is controlled by the French Minister of Justice , a top-level cabinet position in the French government. The current Minister of Justice is Michel Mercier...
in Soult's second ministry (12 Mary 1839 to 1 March 1840). He was re-elected as a député on 22 June 1839 (280 of 289 votes). During his time as minister, he formed a committee to look into ways of suppressing bribery in government ministries. Soult appreciated him and made him minister of public works in his third ministry of 29 October 1840. Teste voted for the "grande loi" of 1841 on expropriation for the cause of public use, the law of 1842 on roads, and the law of 1843 on industrial property.
On 16 December 1843, Guizot
François Guizot
François Pierre Guillaume Guizot was a French historian, orator, and statesman. Guizot was a dominant figure in French politics prior to the Revolution of 1848, a conservative liberal who opposed the attempt by King Charles X to usurp legislative power, and worked to sustain a constitutional...
removed Teste from the ministry but gave him major compensation, including making him a peer of France and head of the Cour de cassation. A member of the royal family even intervened in his favour by requesting the retiring president of the civil chamber to name Teste as his successor. Becoming a grand officer of the Légion d'honneur
Légion d'honneur
The Legion of Honour, or in full the National Order of the Legion of Honour is a French order established by Napoleon Bonaparte, First Consul of the Consulat which succeeded to the First Republic, on 19 May 1802...
in 1846, he had thus reached the highest honours.
The Teste-Cubières scandal
The Teste-Cubières scandal erupted in 1847. General Despans-CubièresAmédée Despans-Cubières
General Amédée Louis de Cubières , known as Despans-Cubières, was a French general and politician.-Youth:...
, temporary Minister for War
Minister of Defence (France)
The Minister of Defense and Veterans Affairs is the French government cabinet member charged with running the military of France....
in 1839 and 1840, in need of money, speculated in various areas, particularly a mining operation. In 1843, to get the concession for a salt mine at Gouhenans
Gouhenans
Gouhenans is a commune in the Haute-Saône department in the region of Franche-Comté in eastern France.-References:*...
renewed, he and his associates bribed Teste (as minister of public works) with 94,000 francs. The affair came out in May 1847 during a trial of Despans-Cubières's associates before the civil tribunal of the Seine. The company director, a certain Parmentier, produced in his defence several letters from general Despans-Cubières mentioning bribes.
The affair received huge publicity and the scandal stuck. King Louis-Philippe of France
Louis-Philippe of France
Louis Philippe I was King of the French from 1830 to 1848 in what was known as the July Monarchy. His father was a duke who supported the French Revolution but was nevertheless guillotined. Louis Philippe fled France as a young man and spent 21 years in exile, including considerable time in the...
decided to have the case tried before the Chambre des pairs, and on 8 July 1847, Teste, Despans-Cubières, Parmentier and a certain Pellapra (former receiver-general, who had acted as the general's intermediary to Teste) came before it on corruption charges. It is said the king criticised his chancellor, duc Pasquier
Étienne-Denis Pasquier
Étienne-Denis, duc de Pasquier , Chancelier de France, , was a French statesman...
, for imprisoning Teste, telling him "What? Haven't you already got enough of my ministers? He will need a second! Also, I've spent 17 years to resurrect France's power, and in one day, in one hour, you have let it fall back down."
Dismissed from all his offices the day before the trial began, Teste began by denying everything before later breaking down, beaten by the evidence brought before the court by Pellapra's ex-wife and by the testimony of the agent de change who had converted the funds into treasury bills. He attempted suicide on 12 July by shooting himself twice in the head and chest with a pistol brought to him by his son, but was only lightly wounded. The following day he refused to present himself before the court since, as he wrote to the chancellor, "the documents produced no longer leave any room for contradiction". On 17 July the Chambre des pairs condemned him to three years in prison, to return the 94,000 franc bribe and to pay a fine of the same amount to the Hospice de Paris. He was incarcerated in the prison du Luxembourg, which he had had built himself, and remained there until 13 August 1849. President Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte then authorised him to spend the rest of his sentence in a nursing home at Chaillot and reduced the fine to be paid to 44,000 francs. He left the nursing home in July 1850 and died two months later.
Sources
- Adolphe Robert et Gaston Cougny, Dictionnaire des Parlementaires français, Paris, Dourloton, 1889