The National Register. — London, England, 1815-12-10 00:00:00

• 1 Misfilhinnei, have guided invaviably the bean proved beyond a questicn, by their Ziae toe fruity of I"aris expressly on tin basis its copplete integrity, end still wore, after _ _ _ tient, ov the etidea%eurs they are again makiag l ultimately„ combine the substantial integrity of FraJee, with such an 'adequate xylem of to uporary precantiop as may satity What they owe to the . seenritv their ctxvn subjects 'Rut it would be the heigth of weakness as welt as of injustice, anJ in its effects much Inure iikciv to mislead than to bring back the people of France to moral and peaceful habits; if the Allied Sovereigie:, to whom the world is anxiously looking up fat' protec tion and r:-pose, were tcecleity that principle of integrityin its just and lificrai apnlica.lou to other nations their Allies (more especially to the fei-ble and to the helpless), which they are abort, for the second time;thconeedo.. a nation against Whoin they`-have hid oc casion 'so long to contend in war. what principle can Franc: , ., at the close of such a war, ex pect to sit down with the same extent of possessions witich she held before- the Revolution, keg desire, a‘ the same time to retain the ornamental spoils of all other countries ? Is it; that there calf exist - ft dottbr of the issee ef the ceateSt, Or of the Power of the Allies, to lieffegmte what justice and policy - require ? It' not, upon what xplirnekle deprive France of her late territorial acquisitions, and primerrNe to her the poliation4 appertaining to those territories, xvhieh all.iuodern teniinerors have invaeiably requested, as in4e- , • paraii;e' from the country to which they- belonged ? 'clie.Allied - Sovereigns have perba ;is something to attone for to Palione. in consequence of the course pursued by them, when at Paris, 'during the last year. It is true, they never did so far make themselves parties in the canduality of this mass of plunder, as to sanction it by acy stiimiathn iii 'their Treaties ; such a recognition has been on their part unifortily refused ; but they ceetaiiily did use their influence to reps , ss at that moment, any agitation of their claims, in the hopes that France, not less' subdued by their generossity than by their arins,inioht be disposed to preserve invio like. a peace which had beta stud iously framed to serve as a bond of reconciliation, etiveen ttie eation and the King. They had also reason to expect s , that his Majesty would ,he advised voluntarily to restore a considerablo proportion at least of these spoils to their lawful owners. Bitt the question is a very different one now, and to pursue the fiam,e conrse iiivier circumstance; so essentially altered, would he, e juqgement of the Prince Regent, equally unwise towards Prallce, and unjust towards our Allies, wins have a direct interest iv tbis question. His Royal Highness, in stating . this opinion, feels . it necessary to guard igainst the possibility of ii.isreoresentation. WhiCt he deems.lt to be tie duty of the Allied Sovereigns, not orlynoftoobitruct,biii to Cicili!ate, upon the present occasion, the retina' of then objects, to the pkces trout whence they were torn, it' cems not 16s coniisteut. with lea delicacy, not to 611ffer the position of their drinies in France, or the removal of these works from the Louvre, tobecoine the means, either directly or indirectly" of bring,o , .. wnia n their own donunions a single article which did rot of ri4la, arthe pet sod of their comuteit; belong either to theirl respective fa,mly collections, or to the e,ountries over which they now actir.liay reign. Whatever value the Prince Regent.might attach to such exqui .site spee.mens of the fine arts, ifotherv:ise acquired; he has no wish to becOuie c-sset.seo tlt'Aiicm at the in:ill:rise of France, or rather of the Countries to which . they aright belong, more especially by fol lowing ILI. a priOcilile hi iy . ar which he considers as it reProach to the it has been adopted; and so fat from wiihingtei take itdi'antage of the occa.sion to purchase from the riglitfnl owned any f irticles they might, from pecuniary Consideratio4 be • ditpbsid to pait r ith, his Roy al Highness would on the contrary b dispeSed ratti.er to anon! . the means ofrePlacing them in those very* tern2lek4zidtti;eries of which they were so long the ornaments. Vete it pOksible tint( his Royal Highuess's sediments towards the. person and cause of Louis XVIII. could be brought into doUbt, drllifit•the position of WS Most Christian Majesty Would be in jured in.the eyes of his own people, the Prince Regent would . not cewit'tolhis conelitsiOn without the most nainfui rehiciariee • but le r- helix either is this opinion given with any disposition on the pert the Prince Regent to humiliate the French nation. Its Rolla 4i v t. Hess's general policy, the denieanonr of his troops in France, itt ha. ins seized the first moment of Blionaparte's surrender to re- Store to France the freedom of her commerce, and, above all, the desire he has recently evinc..4 to preserve ultimately to France her territorial integrity, with certain modifications essential to the !inert rity of neighbouring states, are the best proofs that, consideration of justice toothrrs, a desire to heal the wounds indicted hOlte.re volution, and not any illiberal sentiment toward* Prance, have alone dictated this decision. The whole question resolves itself intn_this :—Are the Power of Foinpe now forming in sincerity a permanent settlement with the King? And if so, upon what principles shall it be conelndeil? Shall it be upon the conversation or the abandonment of rgvalt• tionary spoliations? Can the King left his own dignity exalted, or his title improved, in being Surrounded by monuments of :tit, which recoed not lose the suffering, of his own Illustrious House, than of the other nit tions of Europe ? If the French people be desirons of treading hack their steps, can they rationally desire to preserve this source' of animosity between them :ld all other nations ; and, if they, are not, is it politic to flatter their vanity, and to keep alive the hopes which the contemplation of these trophies are calculated to excite? Can even the army reasonably desire it ? The recollection of their campaigns can never perish. They are recorded in the military annals of lurope. They are emblazoned on the public monuments of their own country : why is it.necessary to associate their glory in the field with a s, tem of plunder, by the adoption Of which, in contravention of the laws of modern war, the Chief that led them to battle, in fact, tarnished the lustre of their arms ? If we are really to return to peace and to anctcnt rnaxims, it can not be wise to prescve just so much of the causes of the past ; nor can the King desire, out of the wrecks of the revolution, of Which his family has been one of the chief victims, to perpetuate in his house this odious monopoly of the arts. The splendid collection which Fiance possessed previous to the revolution, augmented by the Borghese collection which has since been purchased (one of the finest in the world), will aflbrd to the King ample .neans of orna menting, in its ihir proportion, the capital of his empire ; and his Majesty may divest himself' of this tainted source of distinction, without pi ejudice to the due cultivation of the arts in France. In applying a remedy to this Offensive evil, it does not appear that any mid dle line can be adopted, which 'does nut go to re cognize a variety of_ spoliations, under the cover of treaties, if.pos sible more flagrant in their character than the acts of undisguised rapine, by which those remains were in general brought together. The principle of property regulated by the claims of the terri tories from whence those works were taken, is the sorest and only guide to justice ; and perhaps* there is nathing which would more tend to settle the public mind of Europe .a.t this day, than Foch an homage, on the part of the King of Trance., to a prineiple of virtue, conciliation, and peace: (Signed) CASTLEITAGFI. DRAMATIC - REGISTER. DRURY-LANE. Tobiti's Comedy of the Honey Moen, was on Twesclay performed at this ThPatre; the part of Duke Aratiza, far the first time, by Mr. Kean. We have on all occasions, been most ready to pay our tribute to the talents of this excellent actor; and we should, indeed, be surprised to see him fail entirely, in any task, however difficult, which he may undertake; but to expect that he should excel in all, in an equal degree, would be, indeed, to expect mere ,than we can reasonably hope to meet with. We had anti cipated that Mr. Kean would not entirely succi , ed in the 'performance of the part assigned t.i him ; and our antici. pations were correct ; tor thouAtt in some scen• ahe was ,higlkly successful, yet taken as a whole, it was by no means equal to his former efforts. The character of thoiDoke is frcliffeeekrt in its catiA, from those best suited to Mr. itetw's talehts, The towers relttired to give effect to the passions ou the ctintrayylifi 1{441 Itiihnesst.ealti ielieves that hii Majesty - ,n:ilVrise in the Love and itiipcct of 111 . . own subjects, in piopurtion as ht ieparates bun :elf froth thi'se rente'mbracces of reyOiutionary warfare. Tht2e sptills, Ng, hieh impede a mural revincdiatiOnaetween Fratfie - ait'd the cotintrOislie hus invaded; are'ript ttedeittry tv re- tOrd tk . i . xpinkti alai iininii.ti k lp . kehniit*ithstalidiq th - ca . intein ..chi(4h , tite,e*:" . ievo ; In 4441T:i liiii4' the arAl3 of kOA‘tj,°Ti w6: , .pect4ll - 0 - 00; 4 . ut iilrt4ilizko,§444 oiiiin it .443, eok, ttiLetiu . g, as it *Orc o the ate' ne* of Oac countries N'vli.Lll have bees; . • • THE NATIONAL REGISTER: tEC. 10. . —: -- - -: .777-.-77-- --,,....-..., 7 - 7 -- r -. Allied Councils, ha., give n up, th e trentimo.nti! of reAvaithlt *lei MP** 11, $ 4 ? laving, last year, framed Prance, will never be altogether extinct ; nor *ill ttte genius the of preserving to France French people ever completely associate itself with tlie inhi:elimited their late dissappoint- existence assigned to the nation under the Bourbons. i niakiutt, ultimately, to Neither is this opinion given with any disposition on the 144 of