Star. — London, England, 1811-07-11 00:00:00

one h'undrea millions, three hundred leagues of coast, with all their maritime means. The mouths of-the Rhine, the .Meuse, and the Scheldt, were not then Freilch: the circulation of the interior of the Empire was circumscribed; the productions of its central de partments could not reach the sea unl•lss they were submitted tb the inspection of foreign custom-houses. These inconveniences have for ever disappeared: The maritime arsenal of the Scheldt, whereon so imirly hopes are founded, has thereby received all the developenient which it needed. The mouths of . the Ems, the Weser, and the Elbe, place in our hands all the wood which Germany furnishes. The frontiers of the Empire are supported on the Baltic ; and thus. having a direct communication with the North, it will be easy for us thence to draw masts, hemp, iron, and such other naval stores as we may want. We at this moment unite all that Prance Germany, and Italy proL'oce, as materials 0 Thefiii 5 r • construction of ships. The Simplon, become part of France,. sisures us a new lommunication with Italy. . . I The union of Rome has removed that troplolesome 1 intermediacy which subsisted between our arm ie s in the north and in the south of Italy, and has given us new coasts on the Mediterranean, as useful and ne cessary to Tonlon, as those of the. Adriatic are to Venice. This union also brings with it this double , advantage—that the Popes are no longer sovereign Princes, and in the relation of strangers to France. To bring to our recollection all the evils which reli gion has sustained, by the confounding of temporal , with spiritual power, we have only to look into his tory. The Popes have invariably sacrificed eternal temporal things. The divorce of Henry VIII. was not the cause of ''England's separation from the Church of Rome. The pence 91 St. Peter occasioned that event. , , ' if it be advantageous to the State and to R eli g ion that the Pope should not continue to be a Sovereign Prince, it is equally desirable that the Bishop of Rome, the head of our Church, should ,not be a stranger to', us ; but that he should unite in his heart, with the love of religion, that lore for this country which cha racterises elevated minds. Besides, it is the only means whereby that proper influence which the Pope ought to posiess over spiritual concerns can be ren dered compatible with the principles of the Empire, I' which cannot suffer any foreign Bishop to exercise an authority therein. . BFlactox. The Emperor is satisfied with the spirit which ani mates all his clergy. The cares of Administration have been directed to the wants cf the dioceses. The establishment of se condary ecclesiastical schools, commonly called mail rekoVr ; the founding of many large seminaries for higher studies ; the re-establishment of churches wherever they had been destriyed ; and the puschasel -of several grand cathedrals, of which the revolution bad into rupted the construction ; are manifest proofs of the intere..t which the Government takes in the splendour of religious worship, and the prosperity of religion. Religious dissentions, the effect of our political troubles,• have entirely disappeared ; there are no longer in France any priests but those in communion with their bishops, and as united in their religious principles as in Their attachment to Government. Twenty-seven hishopricks having been for a lout; time vacant, and the Pope having refused at two dif ferent periods, from 1805 to 1807, and from 1808 up to the present mcment, to execute the clauses of the Concordat which hind him to institute the Bishops nominated by the Emperor ; this refusal has nullified the Concordat—it no longer exists. The Emperor has been, therefore, obliged to convoke all the Bishops of the Empire, in order that they may deliberate about the means of supplying the vacant sees, and of nominating to those that may become vacant in fu ture, conformably to what was done under Charle magne, under St. Louis, and in all the ages which preceded the Concordat of Francis I. and Leo X. ; for it is of the essence of the Catholic religion not to be able to dispense with the ministry and the mission Of Bishops. Thus has ceased to exist that famous transaction between Francis I. and Leo X.. against which the Church, the University, and the Supreme Cartes, so long protested, and which made the Publicists and Magistrates of that period say, that the King and the Foise had mutually ceded that which belonged nei ther to the one nor the other. Henceforward it is to the deliber...;ions of the Council of Paris, that the fate of episcopacy is attached, which will have so much influence upon that of religion itself. The Council will decide whether France, like Ger many, shall be without episcopacy. As for the rest' if there have existed other causes of disunion between . tl;e Emperor - and the temporal Sovereign of Rome, there ex's . s none between the Eii:pzror and the Pope, as the head of religion ; and theme is none which can cause the least inquietude to ;be most timorous souls. 4 J ono AL ciavEn. Civil justice had been separated from criminal jns. Lice ; the Magistracy did n' pursue crimes till they; bad been mat kcd <ut by the Police. The late code which you have adopted, h";s united civil to criminal kistice-; it has erected imp'eri.cl cc f urts, invested with the right of pursuing and of accusing, and has armed them with all the force necessary to cause the laws to be executed ; the jury system maintained and brcught to ;petfection ; the conlrou,ting of the witnesses, and the publicity of examination, have united all that was good in the old and the new system. in appointjttg to different offices, his Majesty has souifit MK the, men who still remained of the old Parliament4,land - whom their age and their know. ledge capacitated for being employed in the Imperial Court 6 i hiitiTifo them of his own accord, thus gist , ing pew p roof 'of his constant wish.tu see the French forget thete ancient quarrels, and finish by embody? ing amselves with the interests alone of the country and of flu dime. ADMINISTRATION. Many reclamations have been presented with regard to the limits of different departments. Opinions have been listened to, which went to substitute great pre fectures is the room of those at present existing ; but his Majesty has rejected them,' and has adopted as a principle, to consider as established and permanent, what has been already done. Instability destroys every thing. A great revolution has passed over, under the existing-organization cf the departments ; it is become like a species of property, which his Ma jesty does not wish to touch. These departments have been formed and consoli dated amidst •imptrious circumstances, which have brought together their inhabitants, and they shall I ever remain united as they are. Tho administration of Communes-is every where brought to perfection. The bn2gets examined in the Council of State, direct and check the administration of all the Communes of the Empire, which have a revenue of more than 10,000 francs. Already the Mass of these revenues amounts to more than eighty millions. Ncver, in any time, or in any country, were the Communes so rich. Every where else the tax called the octroi is an impost of the Sovereign ; his Majesty has left it to the Communes ; in consequence of which all their establishments are in the best state, and in almost all of them the erection of town halls, has been set about, of market places, of public maga- I zines, and of other works, which must embellish or augment their prosperity. The hospitals are every where ameliorated ; it may be said, that never at any time were they better kept. The acts of charity arc copious, and the legacies ac cepted by the Council of State for the hospitals amount to several millions annually. His Majesty has sanctioned and endowed a great number of congregations of Charitable Sisters, whose object is to wait upon the sick, and serve in the hos pitals. The intention of his Majesty is, that all these Shiers should, in respect to religious matters, be un der the direction of their Bishops, who alone have the power of interfering in spirituals, through the extent . of their diocese. Depots of mendicity have been established in 65 departments ; in 32 they are already in activity ; and in these 32 departments, begging is no longer per mitted. These depots still require to be improved, in such a way that different kinds of labour may be there carried on, and thus they may provide for the greater part of their expences. PUBLIC INSTRUCTION. The University has made some progress. Several Lyceums were ill constituted ; the principles of reli gion, the basis of every institution as of all morality, were either discarded or feebly inculcated. The Grand Master and Council of the University have remedied the greatest part of these abuses. Much, however, still remains to be done, to realize the hopes and the views of the Emperor, in this grand creation. Domestic education is that which merits the greatest encouragement—but since parents are so often ob liged to entrust their children to colleges or places of education, it is the intention of the Emperor, that the organization of the University should be extended to all colleges and places of education of all degrees, in order that education may no longer resemble a manufacture or a branch of commerce, followed from views of pecuniary interest. To direct education is one of the noblest functions of the father of a family, or one of the principal ends of national institutions. The number of Lyceums and of Communal Colleges, shall be augmented, and the number of private seminaries shall be gradually diminished, till the moment when they shall ail be slut up. All public education ought to be regulated on the j principles of military discipline, and not on those of! civil or ecclesiastical police. The halthude of mili tary discipline is the most useful, since at all periods of life it is requisite for the citizen to be able to defied' his property against internal or external enemies. Ten years more are still requisite for realising all the benefit which his Majesty expects from the Uni versity, and fcr accomplishing his views ; bat already . great advantages are obtained, and what exists is pre terable to that which has ever existed. For the primary instruction of children his Majesty perceives with pleasure the establishment of small schools ; he desires their increase. Besides the houses of St. Denis and --, six houses have been established for the education of girls whose fathers have been devoted to the service of the State. - ; [The Report proceeds to enumerate other works constructed 'at Ostend, Boulogne, Cherbourg, and Havre. Of the latter place, it says, " Havre had been constructed by Vauban.. Some years before the Revolution, it was thought proper, under foolish pre. tences, to destroy the fortificatiors. That city was left dismantled and exposed, which is the key of the Feine, and which may properly be called the port of Paris. It is now fortified, and in a state to support a siege."] At Corfu, a place already very strong, great works have been constructing for the last four years. New plans have been adopted, and this key of the Adriatic is guarded by 12,000 troops, having provisions for two -years, and a numerous artillery provided for a siege of the longest duration. [The Report then mentions new additions to the fortresses on the Rhine, and thus proceeds :---] On seeing the activity which has reigned for these eight years in the works' on all our frontiers, one would say that France was menaced by an approach ing invasion. I shall have no occasidn to place before your eyes, by way of contrast to this idea, the situa tion of all our neighbours who are our allies, and who are united to our system, and the preponderance which the late campaigns have given us ; but I shall only say, that since, under such circumstances, more than 100 millions have been devoted within a few years to an expenditure which interests only the fu ture, we ought to render thanks to the Government which, not content with securing the happiness of the present generation, wishes also to guarantee the tran lquillity of posterity, and thus provides against even the most remote chances of fortune. PORTS. At our ports the labours go on with the same acti vity. At Antwerp, since the end of the last year, ' they have removed the dam him) the bason. Eighteen ships of the line, even three-deckers, ran enter, and go out fully equipped. In the beginning of this year, two eighty-gun ships have been coppered and refitted there. The works are going on with great activity. Before the end of next September, the bason will be able to hold thirty ships. Ships of the line can only enter the bason of Flush ing without their guns. The sluice is now dried and insulated, and they are busied in lowering it, so that 20 ships will be able to enter it with their guns. The quays which the English damaged are now restored. They are labouring now at reconstructing the maga zine, and in making it bomb-proof. The ground has already been chosen for the bason of Terneuse; its foundations are now laying. Twenty ships of the line, fully equipped, will be able to leave this bason in one tide. Ic will be able to hold forty. The sluice of the race of Ostend is finished ; it has been of the greatest service to the fort : that of Dun kirk will be finished by the end of the year. Great advantages are expected from deepening the channel. The sluice of Havre is finished, and has been of great advantage. At Cherburgh, the expences of the road are of two sorts. The first operation is to raise the dyke above the low water marl:, and this will be accomplished in the course of the present year ; the second, is to construct forts at the extremities of this dyke, to de fend the road : the fort of the centre is just finished. The road being in this manner securei, it remained to dig the port of this great work ; nine-tenths are executed. Thirdly, ships of the line will be able to lie in the port and bason ' • already a vessel which had received damage at sea has entered the bason, and been refitted there. The avanttort and bason will be finished in 181'2. The building docks and frames already exist. The works of Cherbourg alone re quire snore than three millions yearly. Works are carrying on at all the ports of the second or third order ; and all are improving with great rapidity. CANALS. • The Canal of St. Quintin is finished. From the be r• e , , s innin of this year navigation has been in great acti vity upon it; its effect has already been felt in the prices of wood and coal in the metropolis. The Canal of the North, to unite the Rhine and the Scheldt, was one third part finished, but the union of Holland having made it useless, these works have been suspended. The Canal Napoleon, which joins the Rhine, and the Saone, will be finished in four years. Three mil lions a year are applied to it. The Canal of Burgun dy, which joins the Saone and the Seine, is continued with spirit. In the course of this year a million and a half will be expended upon it. The Canal of Arles, which brings the Rhone to the Pont-du-Bout, is one third part executed. That which cuts the peninsula of Bretany, in joining the Ronce to LaVilaine,is now going on. The Canal of Blouet, which joins Napo leonville to L'Orient, and which will one day lead from Napoleonville to Brest, is almost finished. Many either canals, of less importance, are either finished or going on with the greatest activity. ROADS. , 1 . ......—.......al FRENCri PAPERS. .-- PARIS, JULY 1. rnsmoN ru• TILE STATE OF THE EMPIRE, PRESENTED TO THE LEGISLATIVF. BODY AT ITS SITTING (F JUNE 29, BY HIS EXCELLENCY COUNT HISNTALIVEI, MINI- , i STER F:Ht THE INTERIOR. -. . GENTLESI EN—Since your last Session, the Empire has received an addition of sine n departments, live iMillions of people, a territory yielding a revenue of SCIENCES AND ARTS. The discovery of the magnetised-needle produced a revolution in commerce ; the use of honey gave way to that of sugar, the use of woad to that of in.. digo. The progress of chemistry is operating at this moment a revolution in an inverse direction : it has arrived at the extraction of sugar from the grape, the maple, and the beet-root : woad, 'which had enriched Languedoc, and part of Italy, but which was unable in the infancy of art, to support the competition with indigo, resumes the superiority in its turn ; chemistry at this day :sxtracti from it a residuum which gives it over indigo the advantage of price and of quality. All the branches of science and of art are advancing in improvement. In the improvement of the roads the distances are lessened. It has been computed that Turin has al ready been brought 36 hours nearer Paris, 24 hours by the passage of Mont Cenis, and 12 hours more by the new road of Maurienne. His Majesty has decreed the establishment of a new road from Paris to Cham berry by Tourness. This road, by avoiding the, 1 mountains, will be shorter by eight •hours. In this PUBLIC WORKS. ma nner * Turin will be brought nearer to Paris by 44 Great works have been undertaken within the last hours, which is almost half the distance. ten years, and are advancing every year with new Milan is by the road of Simplon brought nearer zeal, and a new increase of means. In 1810, 138 , Paris by more than a march of 50 hours, if the pre millions were appropriated for these works; 155 mil -1 sent road is compared with that which existed ten lions are appropria:ed in 1811. (Here there is a ta-1 years ago. ble, shcNsing the different sums appropriated to each Bayonne and Spain have been brought nearer to branch, such as toads, bridges, &c.) Paris by 18 hours, by the road which has been made' In the must of Wars, of expences required by im- through the sandy plains between . Bourdeaux and mense at mies, by the creation and organisation of nu- I Bayonne. nierous fleets, the sacrifices which the Imperial Treas Mayence and Germany.have been brought 12 hours sury has made for the public works are such, that A nearer, by the road which has been made in the sands they surpass in a single year all that was emplo)eu `from Mayence to Metz. Hamburgh will be nearer on them under the cld government forone generation. by more than sixty hours in the course of the next • POItTIrICATIONS. 1 year, by the road made across the sands of Maestricht Great part of these expences his for its object the 1 to Wesel, and from that to Hamburgh ;'and this will creation of new strong places ; these are labours en- be the first example in history of eighty leagues of I gaged in for the benefit of fatureitimes, in order to i wads made in the course of twrTears. Ten sets. of consolidate and fortify the empire.—(Here several 1 workmen are employed ; and before the end of the I works in the 'reset ; at Antwerp, Cadsaad, &c. Arel year 1811, much more than half of it will be finished. enumerated:) • • (Amsterdam will be brought twelve hours nearer Pa- In l 1810 and 181 l more than eight millions were I tis b the road through the sands of Antwerp to Am expended on the forts of the Scheldt ; it was natural t swim*, a which they are labouring at many points. to bestow great labour upon a point which will ever New roads are opened from Spezia to Parma, from be the objet of the jdalottry and the fears of our na. horence to Rimini, and from Nice to Genoa. two enemies. 411 the Councils-Gedkrai 'of thidePanizentc rival - . ._ .; • •.. . . , one another in zeal to second the intentions of the Sovereign, and every where roads are opening to es tablish communications between the different points in the departments. The construction of a great number of bridges is begun. Those of Bordeaux, Rouen, Avignon upon the Rhone, of Turin on the Po, are the most remark. able. Those at Bordeaux and Rouen, as well as that over the Durance, which was finished last year, were considered as impr• sible. A great , number of other bridges are also finished. 1! WORKS AT PARIS. The canal of l'Ourcque, and the distribution of its waters in the different parts of Paris, are attended with an expence of two millions and an half of francs a year. In a few years these works will be completely finished. Already sixty fountains spread the waters of the Ourcque in the different quarters of Paris. The water arrives there constantly. The Seine, the Marne, the Yonne, and the Oise, have considerable works con. structing on them to improve the navigation. The cut of St. Maure, which will be finished in the next year, will shorten the navigation of the Marne by five leagues, and will spread its waters by sumerous channels. The sluices constructed at Port d'Arche, at Vernon, and at -, will facilitate the navigation of the Seine ; and other sluices will con tinue it to Troyes and l'Aube. The bridges of Choisy, Besen, and Jena, facilitate the communications, or concur in the embellishment of the capital. The Louvre is finishing ; they are pulling down that quantity of houses which was between the Lou• vre and the Thuilleries. A second gallery re-unites the two palaces. MARINE. We have lost Guadaloupe and the Isle of France. The wish to relieve these colonies would have been no sufficient reason for trying to send nut our squadrons in the state of relative inferiority in which they are. Since the annexation of Holland, that country has furnished us with 10,000 seamen, and 13 ships of the line. 'We have considerable fleets in the Scheldt and at Toulon—squadrons of ships of the line, more or less strong, are in the different ports, and fifteen ships on the stocks at Antwerp. Every thing there is so arranged as to add every year a great number of ships of war to our squadron in the Scheldt. Two ships of the line are building at Cherbourg, and the magazines of timber, and other materials of every kind, are there so considerable, that we may put five on the stocks before the close of 1811.— L'Orient, Rochefort, and Toulon, have all their Iframes occupied. Numerous ships are constructinz I at Venice. . Naples ought, in pursuance of treaties, to have this year six ships of the l►ne and six frigates. That king dom has them not—but its Government will be con vinced, of the necessity of repairing this negligence. Our resources, our interior navigation, :!re suffi cient to advance the material part of our marine to the same point as that of our enemies. The experiments made of a maritime conscription have succeeded—young men of 18, 19, and 20, sent on board our ships, display the best incl►nation, and are rapidly forming. The frequent sorties of our squadrons, the cruizing on the coast, the evolutions of our fleets and flotillas in the ZuyderZee, the Scheidt and in all our Roads, have enabled our young con scripts to make a progress which justifies our enter taining the best hopes. WAR. In one year the greater part of the strong places in Spain have been taken, after sieges which do honour to the genius of the artillery of the French army.— More than 200 colours, 80,000 nrisoncrs, and hun dreds of pieces of cannon, have been taken from the Spaniards in a number of pitched battles. This war was verging to its close, wh,en England, departing from her tonal policy, came to present herself in rho front line. It is easy to foresee the result of this struggle, and to comprehend all its effects upon the destiny of the world. The population of England not being able to suf. fice for the occupation of the two Indies, of America, and of a variety of establishments in the Mediterra. nean ; for the defence of Ireland, and of her own coasts ; for garrisons, and the manning of her im mense fleets —fig the consumption of men in an obsti, nate war, supported against France on the Spanisla Peninsula ; the chances are greatly on our side, and England has placed herself between the ruin or her population, if she persist in supporting this war, or, disgrace if she abandon it, after having put herself forward so strongly. France has 800,000 men under arms ; and while new forces, new armies, march into Spain ta con 'aat there our eternal enemies, 400,000mcn, and 50,000 horses, remain in our interior, or on our coasts,rea..iy to march in defence of our rights wherever they shall be menaced. The Continental system, whichis followed up with the greatest constancy, saps the basis of the Enances of Englaqd. Already her exchange loses 3S per cent. ; her colonies are destitute of outlets tor their produce; the greater part of her manufactories are shut: and the Continental system has oniy just arsen I Followed up for ten years, it alone will be sufficient to destroy the resources of England. Her revenues are not founded on the prolate of her soil, but on the produce of the commerce of the world ; even already her courting-houses are half closed. The English hope in vain, that from the ad, vantages of time, and of events which their passioes light up, some markets will be opened to their cox.- r coerce. With regard to France, the Continental system !lasi produced no change in her position ; we have been, for ten years past without maritime commerce, and! we shall still he without maritime commerce. The prohibition cf English merchandise upon the Conti nent has opened_ an outlet for our manufactures ; but should that be wanting, the consumption ot the Em pire presents a reasonable market ; it is for our ma ' nufactures to be regulated by the wants of more than sixty millioni of consumers. The prosperity of the Imperial Treasury is nct founded on the commerce of the universe. Mute than 900 Millions, which are necessary to meet the expences of the empire, are the result of home taxei, direct or. indirect. England must have two milliards, in order to pity her expences ; and her proper revenue could not'furni'sh more than a third of it, We shall -believe that England will be able to support this struggle as lo Is as we can, when she shall hive passed I ,