Star. — London, England, 1816-01-08 00:00:00

FRENCH PAPERS; PARIS, JANUARY S. The importance of the question which yesterday occupied the Chamber of Deonties, brought an im mense concourie of speceatcirs, who were generally struck by the tone of wisdom and moderation that pri sided at the discussion. One speaker alone went oUt of his way by a very misplaced digression, which excited murmurs of disepprooation. This error of one man served only to shew to more advantage the rod spirit that animated the majority- At the review on New Year's Day, when the tro Its were preparing to defile before the King, his Majesty made a sign that he wished to speak. The following is what we could heer of his speech, deli erred with the most touching unaffectedness 6% This day is one of the happiest of my life—l confide entirely in my army, it is composed et French men ; I can present- them equally to my friends and to my enemies."—Universal acclamations burst forth on all sides. Several Journalists state that the appointment of M. Fouche, Duke of Otranto, to the embassy at Dre,den, has been recalled, and he himself prohibited to re-enter France. Nothing has yet appeared offi cially on the subject. During the Duke of Wellington's visit to England Lord Hill, it is said, will command in chief, and will hive his head-quarters at Cambray. CHAMBER eof DEPUTIES. SITTINGS or THE 4 211 or JANUARY. • The Duke de Rival:Lieu, Minister of Foreign Af fairs, the Ministers of the Interior, the Police, 'and the Marine, attended this sitting. The Pacsioiter --o s ilefore the discussion on the law of Amnesty opens, the Minister of the Interior is in . vited to ascend the Tribune, to make a communica tion independent of that discussion." M. de VAUBLANC. in a short speech, referred to the situation of the Clergy, as described by the Mi.' mister of the Finances in the details of the Budget, and his announcement that new resources would be employed for its amelioration. He then read the 'levet of a law, by which it is proposed that extinc tions by death in the sum 11 the ecclesiastical life an nuities, And pensions, comprised in the estimate of the public debt, for 181 G, be appropriated to the improve ment of the funds of the Clergy, and the institutions dependent on it ; and that the Royal Treasury shall, from the commencement of January, 1816, keep at the dispesal of the Minister of the Interior the sum of 50,000 francs, on account of the produce of such extinctions. The fanjet will be printed and il;ecussed in the bureaux. The PRESIDENT—" It is usual when Committees have not been unanimous to allow the first hearing to the minority. The minority of the Committee which has reported nn the Amnesty, has chosen M. de Ger 'tiny for its organ." Count De GEIIMINY 44 Far be from ins! the idea of ascribing to my Honourable Colleagues, composing the majority of the Committee, any otter intentions than those whith the love of order and of the public welfare inspire. They have been desirous to impress upon yea truths which themselves have tette but, a:tuated by the same metives, we have differed in opinion from them respecting the means. The amnesty is a measure prescribed by our Inn e dimities, by humanity, the love of peace, and the necessity for exercising clemency, that virtue so oa t Ira] to good kings. That this measure may have its effect, it is requisite that it should go so far as to lorce the really guilty to repent, that it should teach all those who might be tempted to pursue a criminai career. that there is 'uniting to be gained by conspi ring against a Prince who knows how to govern and to pardon. • " I am exceedingly mistaken if the idea which I have formed of the amnesty is not entertainee also by the foist el Kings. The declarations of 1814 and 1813, everlasting monuments of his bounty, have proved to me, that if sovereign justice has an empire over his mind, which we cannot doubt, clemency and mercy sway his heart, " The Ordinance of the 2.4 th July, though incom plete, is of itself sufficient to calm animosities, and to dispel all alarms. The Committee has not in fringed the respect due to the acts which have ema nated from the Royal authority ; it feels the necessity of seeking, in the very terms of the Ordinance, means of extending exceptions. But the 'majoriry has ap peared to me to have deviated from another not less salotary principle. "I shall follow the Reporter step by step. He has told you that the right of amnesty is inherent is the Sovereignty. ln this place such a principle will never be contested. Neither is it examples that are to be sought. The only difficulty lies in the applicae lion of the exceptions to the amnesty. That such a proceeding might be less imperfect, we ought to have lied twenty years less of a revolution, which began with faults of every kind, and ought to finish with pardon. Neither ought the melancholy catastrophe of the month of March to have been so recent, and, above all, the measures already taken ought not to have thrown invincible obstacles in the way of the in troduction of: a new system. France ought not to have received the promise of reposing under the shel ter of the conviction, that the clemency of the King is inexhaustible. -46 If the emendment proposed by the Committee, in Article 3, were to receive your approbation, the Executive Power would have to bear all the weight,) of it. Some object to the insufficiency of the lists. 'I he system of classification proposed to you would but augment the difficulty. Nobhdy doubts th the lists contain the leaders in the conspiracy of th month of Match ; why then introduce new classes why extend those lists which the King himself has foreborne to complete ? • "If these lists are improperly drawn up, it is an irreparable mistortunee—a misfernme which must .be ascribed to the Counsellor valsrait'we cannot but accuse of perfidy, and with the mine reason, as he has lost the few titles that were still left him to (arcs us to silence, you find in these liar names cele brated in the history of our misfortunes—you per ceive is them the principal criminals implicated in' 'the conspiracy. There. are, slonetlees, ethers I but do you intagine ß that those who. halve left any traces of this plot in eanstence, have tvmaincd quietly at • their homes ? .4 The Committee divides WO pill into the, tinee annel.e4 classes i " 1. The Ministers and Counsellors of - State who accepted offices prior to the 23d March. • " Your-severity is already satisfied in regard 'to part otthese persons. S2me of them, for reasons of State which We must not attempt to fathom. have not been placed on the lists ; but the Committee itself acknowledges the necessity of leaving to the Executive Power the task of prosecution. " 2. The Marshals and Generals commanding in chief a division, who declared for the Usurper before his entry into Paris. 66 The first list contains scarcely any other than such names. One of the most guilty among, theni 'has already paid the forfeit of his life to the cAlaini. ties of his country, and the annals of the world will say that this important sentence saved France from ' new danger'. 4 4 S. The Generals in Chief who marched their troops against the Royal Armies. " But why • make a distinction between those who Marched against the King, and those who marched against a Prince of his family? If at every step I. meet with criminals, at every step I also meet my King. who is desirous to pardon them. 46 The Fifth Article proposed in the form of amendment, purports that the Treasury shall act as tho civil party in the prosecutions to be instituted; that on its application indemnities shall be granted out of the property of the guilty towards the expenses of the war. " This indemnity, attended with the loss of pro perty, is a . real confiscation. They may have ac ,qttired this property—they may preserve it at the price of our tears ; but, setting aside all specious ar guments, is not the total loss of this property a con fisdition " Is there any further occasion ft r me to lay be-, fore you my opinion on the persons whom France spurns from her, whom the ashes of our Kings con- I demn, but whom the last words of a dying Bourbon have recommended, not to the justice of the Princes of has 'family, but to their inexhaustible mercy. The sacred shade of the best of Princes, doubtless, forbade his brother to prosecute them ; and it is this august shade, it is the recollection of my King that hovers round me at this tribune, and orders to suppress, say nothing of the horror with which they fill me. " Here ends the 'painful task'which I h;ve under. taken. Oh, that I could but render the truths which are so clear to myself more palpable to all I—l vote for the irrsjd as presented by the Ministers of his Majesty." Count Durvrotnu... It is not in empty sophis try, in a false philanthropy, that we caught to serk remedies for our calamities. The wicked know too well how to assume the mask of virtue when dread ing for themselves and theiradhuents all the severity of the laws. As It is the most egregious folly to be talking incessantly of the Romans; for twenty-five years past we havo aped their vices and their ferocity, without having ever imitated their vilues.' Let us say no mere of that antiquity which gives us few examples which we may petit by. Listen to the voice of reason and sound sense, and you will nit be at a loss what side you ought to take. All he sitation after so many disasters would be a fault, perhaps a weakness. Every body knows that as tyranny provokes resistance and seditions, so weak ness provokes the fall of empires, witu the same effusion of bleind, with the inn= niiaci ie i ..1 cvcry kind. 64 Under existing circumstances, we owe a new proof of our love and devotiln to the King, as of *our profound ret-pect, in intimatiag to hint, ac cording to our consciences, the means that appear to us most pauper tti consolidate the throne of bia august ancestors. This Can result only from a po sitive law man...tint; from our discussions, as we are ruled by a II:1XL and liel)ll2SClltittiVe Gavernment. 44 I vote, witnotit discussing sepinately the articles of the projet of the law, that it be accepted by the Chamber with the amendments proposed by the Committee. I find these amendments founded in the interest of the King of France, and of the respnns,bility we owe to our Constituents and our country." M. Simeox- 4, If it he true that Kings are the images of Goo on earth—that they hold in their hands the life and death o: their subjects, they ought, like him, following the inspiration of their wisdom, to be just, impartial, and merciful. He who can punish, can also pardon—from that proceeds the un disputed right of the Sovereign to extend mercy. Has he also the right of amnesty ? 46 This question might appear absurd, since the King proposes in form the law Of amnesty, and seems to doubt of his own power. However; it will nut be useless to examine the principle in a few words. 64 After having established that amnesty is nothing more than a general favour, while pardon is more particular, the speaker asks if the Chamber ought to adopt the amendments of the Commitiee ? 46 The Committee has not thought it proper to admit the second article, because the Chamber is not competent to judge. But, said he, it is not a judg. meat that is proposed; to judge is to examine, to ab solve, or condemn. -after conviction, and to pro nounce a legal punishment. Here knit/matt is not' contemplated ; that word is improperly introduced. Nothing more is considered than a measure of high police. 44 The law pronounces it only exile, the duration of which is-left to the King's authority. 14 If a Governatent suspected, by its severity and despotisin, were to demand such a measure, you would manifest ' yourselves as the defenders of the' people's rights by relining it ; but it is proposed to you by a Government which can be reproached only for its excessive moderation and clemency. We must, in this case, accordin* . to Montesquieu, throw for a moment a veil over liberty, and conceal the statues of the Gods. 88 To refine 'the exile of thirty-eight individuals would be to take on ourselves the chance of their pu nishment. if they be aecused 4 and the scandal sf int T punity if they be not./ 86 Th Committee excepts from the amnesty (Ive claws of Generals and or Public Functionaries. I am not surprised that *alter the long agitations and , great misfortunes. there should exist some resent %sent, • bet should we perpetuate hatred and jogai,. codes The civil troubles cannot be terminated but by the appearance, in the ptilitical torion is of the emblem of peace, and this emblem ig :tionesty t 46 Are nut 19 critzsistat trials sufficient ? Are sot 5$ captions from the amnesty, and of persons to be teat into exile, sufficient ? Why should we augment indefinitely the umbel' of those who would fear to be comprised in the prosecutions r Let us hesitate to compromise the public credit—let us fear, above all, to excite the avaricious and cruel hopes of those who watch us, and who reckon on our intestine dis cord as the means of their profit. gi With respect to the indemnity which is proposed to affect the property of the condemned, it is ridicie-, lons, k would be a drop of water in the ocean;' moreover, it recalls the odious system of confiscation. ea With regard to the individuals comprised b; the Committee in the second number of the 7th article, I do not mean to commence a dismission on this me lancholy subject. I will express but one sentiment— hoiror I horror a hundred toll for the regicides ! but respect a thousand fold for the will of the sainted Ki:tg ! inviolable respect for his august brother, who could undoubtedly contest this legacy of goodnesz, but who prefers paying it altogether ! I vote for the law without an amendment." M. de la BOURDONNAYE-1( I will not reply to what has been advanqd respecting the right of am nesty. That question is superfluous, since the King has invited us to concur in it : but from this very participation arises our right to discuss and modify it. To support the contrary would be,to pretend, that the law was sent us merely to be regictcted. But, Gentlemen, if such only be our province, why is the discussion opened ? a We are not to examine here one of those laws, which, destined to be submitted to the crucible of time and experience, can have but an inconsiderabt• influence on the lot of the people , ; the law, presented to your deliberation, is irrevocable in its nature, ir revocable in its effect; irrevocable, because it is the expression of your will, and th it %ell becomes in stantly the possession of history. It will fix the judgment of posterity. Thissolema act will apprise Europe, if the demands of a nation will be vain. A century and a half has passed away since a neigh bouring na,tion, celebrated aiso by long calamities, and the crimes of some factious pars-ms, raised her humiliated form, and, by splendid extmples, avenged the blood of her King and the national honour. Se parated,frotu the Continent, delivered by the death of Cromwell and the imbecility of his childien o and more fortueate in her arms, England owed to herself alone the restoration of her honour. ag Rivals in glory and in generosity of sentiment, but betrayed by our fortune, bruised under an iron sceptre, it was from united Europe that we received the pledge of a tranquillity which see hope to be du rable. France, emerging from beneath the-eaverY of tyrant, to pass into the paternal :trnrs of her King, has not been able to man:lest her will, and to. wipe 0 . 11 the disgrace impressed on the nalioaal character by a criminal faction. s Invested with the confidence of our Constituents summoned to pronounce on the fate of the authors of the conspiracy, Divtuo PuoirrogNcE, ever just in is decrees, delivers at length into your hands the cause of our e,rly crimes and late misfortune, as if supreme justice had reserved them to complete our disasters, only to prom. in an irresistible' manner, the vanity of human prudence, and the perfidy of hearts devoid of F ty. In this delineation do you not reco?itiee the murdt rers of your King, the assassins of your families, the eternal oppessors of the liberty of France 44 These men whom a destructive energy and un bridled passions elevated above every consideration, originating in the habitude of respect and obedience, and of every apprehension created by marked and ter. rilying examples ; these men whom clemency found without repentance and without gratitude ; these men whom wild passions, perverse sentiments, deep hatred, and a frequency of crime render so dangerous, appetr now before you, and under the nis ni an unbounded clemency demand the amnesty of the Charter for crimes that were subs - equent to its enactment, as if the first crime merited perpetual impunity; as if the august blood with which they are c. vexed resembled the soil of reprobation placed by the ETERNAL on the forehead of the first fratricide. 66 And you, pusillanimous Magistrates, improvi dent Legislators, you will behold the conspirators, but will not punish them. Will you wait t' declare them criminal, until they again audaciously raise their hands against the Monarch, overturn his power, and raise an illegitimate throne at the expense of the monarchy ? Twenty-five years of experience, twenty. five years of fury, have neither opened your eyes, nor assuaged their violence. 66 Hive you forgotten those appalling cries which signalized the Tyrant's return ? Menaced in your property, threatened in your lives, it is to the pru dence of the victor, and not to his clemency, that you owe your existence. Who were then the Counsellors of the Tyrant, the Ministers of his power ?—The Re 7 gicides I Who were the criminal men that a victo. rious faction placed at its head, and signalized to our indignation ? 'rfie Regicides I—Who were the most perverse of those Representatives to whom any Sove reign was desirable, provided he be not legitimate The Regicides !--;still the Regicides I Such was the party whom the Tyrant served, not as a chief, but as a flag. • 16 Have those Ministers, who recall to you the will of Louis XVI: forgotten his misfortunes—have they forgotten the causes of them ? Do they not remem ber, that at the commencement of these misfortunes, the punishment of some great culprits would have saved the Monarch and his Kingdom ? Do they for, get that the promises contained in the Charter have been religiously.observed on one side and despised on the other ? Have they forgotten these made by them selves on accepting the Ministry, when they swore to defend the Throne against its enemies ?* Are not these promites as sacred as those of the Charter ? Hue they other gnarantees to furnish us, than the Ministry of the Ist of March ? Ah I let them besi. tate, if new troubles should arise, to undertake an ap palling responsibility. Let them take care lest they commit the same errors as their predecessors. Al ready, have they not to reproach themselves for some remissness ? Does not the escape of Lavalette; At tended with so much mystery, inspire them with some inquietude, or urge some reproach ? (Aforamrt of disopisrohation-4evord velar, 14 Us hiss qua !") But et is not as regicides, it is as conspirators that wr would attaintthe guilty. Let us imitate the conduct of the Parliament of Paris, in pais in its refusal to register the anmeety jn favour of the King's assassins. If Sovereigns con pluton their personal injuries t the people cannot pardon them. ments of the Committee." The Count de VAUBLANC, Knitter , 4 4 When the Speaker wanders " attack the King's Ministers, it reply. In what state have we saming the Ministry ? What in 1 / 4 the country ? ff the ' consequences were not such as we could desire, that these negotiations have covered ndur. We have fallen in a moment fortune, but we reckon on the men, the first virtue of individn, has justified our hopes. What. ,the last three months is an explicai The army has been disbanded barrassmeat, or difficulties of any worthy Chief, who presided dnced this miracle, the Ministers , share of glory. 46 Every thing was in progress, laws was in full course, when misfortune occurred. A critic causes at this event are now under will soon be apprised of them, a' none of the Ministers are culpable. 66 Gentlemen, there is but cessity of an amnesty, we all wish essence of an amnesty to reqiii only on the subject of the exceptions are divided. 41 The cause of this difference tor and the Ministers do not " same light. The Legislator sees lie identifies himself with his the Minister sees facts, the app, sequences. Our correspondence tended—we are daily apprised - quainted with public opinion—we probable consequences of is after having neighed and cal we have drawn up the Act of exceptions will be designated, nisters will relax in the proseci They have undertaken to do their complish it." M. GANILIf voted against die Committee. In die exile of he saw only an extraordinary King had a right to take, and might sanction.. His speech (which was long' some murmurs. 44 M. BLONDEL D'AUItERS had found on his re-entrance the soil, the climate, and I nothing could destroy, all w. principles, habits ; and yet . principles, these habits, formed the ancient Government. Ti re-strengthened. " I will frankly say, that the to me incomplete; the plan of dies all that was imperfect does not propose to try in a ma , prized in the different classes: great criminals are to be found Government, in short, in its information, will be able to 1 tribunals within three month, the number of individuals prosecuted to more th a n f ort y-fi v e. In allusion to that eau of the which went to appropriate the the Treasury, he observed— , opinion of all France boat P, gilded saloons, in those f t i , , there is inceseint talk of humanit. kievotc:dness, that we should seek ' it is by looking to those di: ;owns stripped of their opu'i their industry ; it is, in fine, alongside that frightful budget, ask—are we too Severe? Shall M. ROYER CoLLAßl>commem circumstances under which the parate the rebels from the try" them, published the amnesty don there promised was a quired. The addition of a sin ) a retractation of the Prince's, M. COLLARD strongly oppo ed viewed as restoring the print;'' 44 We have not forgotten," he fiscations are the soul .and Alter having confiscated becaui dcmned, men condemn in order: tam of rwslatue mod dirollikrobotion. past and not of the present. '" [sated, cupidity never. Confiscations that the Revolution, which thing else, blushed at them ; of the condemned. And we Live confiscation be an amnest have already undergone car they be protected Irons confii them also ? Make them, then, bind summon them before their they may boar from their me which was not pronounced nesty, I repeat it, was promised caanot be retracted, without disgrace. The King's pardoa is the pardon itself, the who!' kw fulfils the wishes of the ra, yea! No, so 1" M. ROYER-COLLARD.—. 4I If measure destined to the re-esta tranquillity, its responsibility rope and before posterity. the King; laying my personal foot of the throne, 1 vote amendment." M. de RONCHEROLLEE gave the Committee, with a night up of the Report. fie thou] dividuals, deprived of their , peaty which they had acquired no; be stripped of their. lives, titles was a degradation which only by it tribunal. The Satins rose at five a' will be continued to-MOrrCA more than a hundred speakers French Funds, tiO francs ' I vote for the iinisterof the • ; from th e quest s it is permit te d e found Fran ce in our town s ! ices of the. , • ;ire, it is at lei st re covered the F moment of pabb t • ;11 e constancy of F, aals or nations, S t , Sii at has occurred V xplicable p ;d—without p 0, any description, ti at the ope rat j t he a n reser , s u a ni n m g cl e d a n yt y u hal" l o r e u te l ,:l cl4lla i i iila e re:- 11 in iminal ele.p e d, , tli rider inrestiga t i er , • t I ve one oriinina eNt wish for it, but it airy excepeons, el zceptions th at or • II nee is, that tlx t behold thints rr , sees an ideal 10 4 high conceiak ok . aplication, and its . 1 ence is active • su d of events—w e co —we can apprecia very deterisrinatior, calculated all this, °I f Arrinesty.. Wh 3, fear 11,4 that the asecution at the ig their duty, sad ' ti e the amendment d thirty-eight int,' • try measure whid ad which the e el lag) was interrupts . ' la asked what the A r e into France ? French hcliour, was changed t these mannen, red the chief sup •. ?nese principles • he proposed last 3, CI of the Committee • c in it, The Cm... • mass the parsons • i ;it only Flints est h, tad in those claws, s wisdom, and hand them over ' e tbs. On a ca • i °wasted will not • ' „ he plan of the ‘;' le estates of the ▪ Let us not an Paris. It is n•it O. ivolous societies, Immunity, duty, leek to form our ispeopled village!, Litence, their 0.- le, by placing et that behoves' e tall we cease to be jt nenced by review:. the King, wis:iiou raitors %II() had • ! of Camhtay. Th pardon irteencabb Ingle exception you clemency. leased article S. wh it iciple of 0116 • ' he observed, the' . nerve of res.... because they bate 'der to confiscate-4 .440fien.)-1 speak r it. Ferocity may le tfiscations are so • • a never blushed ; it restored the . rould that law of - nesty Great eri . !pita punishments , iscation ' or must it n, arise from their heir judgeetr, in twdel 'oohs that condemn" upon them ! 1 111 omised by the sing. It peril, and even and loa promised or p ..• Ile pardon. The pa he nation—ab r ad e% If the Chamber alto e -establishing of I.', y will be great b:lee I will not be ' 4 ° on a l res ponsibility for the law withae we his opinion in fa ht change in the 4 " ught that the ba_ , W d : . • pensioner oc lived g r at uitously' tuur p si n t _ ✓es. h d iglt could. be p eclock, and tile d. lane CM at woo- ers subscribed in n!' • 44) cents. • !!;r: