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

PRIVATE CORRE,PONDENCE.

PARIS, D, c. 3, 1815.-1" have at length arrived at this
noted city, notwithstauding the inclemency of the season,
for we have had some sharp frosts and snow I hate, on
more accounts than one, reason to be gratified at having
undertaken the journey ; my object was of course to see
every thing, and I this morning heard mass celebrated in
the King's chapel. which was attended by Louis and all the
Royal Family. Nothing could exceed the devotion of the
King and the Duchess D'An.,:ouleme, but the Duke de B--
seemed to stare about him a little. On the whole, the.
appeared to be eacerdinglv respected ; but the feeling, as
faras I could ascertain, was ratner that of sympathy aril 11
admiration. i however, is the case only with the better,
I mean the more virtuous sort of people ; thuu4h f.ven the
canaille often clamour openly trgAinstßonaparte, and load!
him with the most opprobrious epitheti. One mun told me
he bad no doubt that the cold hearted villain; Napoleon was

inGTSTER.

791

the. AFioleon,' or destroyer, spoken of by St. John, in the
Apocalypse. By the bye, I remember reading sometling
of the sort alledged against bim, in his first campaigns in
Italy. The same person told me, it was generally feared
his work Was not yet doge ; that much precaution was
n..cessatv, as well on the part of the Allies as on that of the
Bourbons, and he ended his speech with a shrug of the
shoulders, and a "mais en fin, destine', which made
me think he was a sincere believer in what he had been
advancing.
Notwithstanding the misfortunes that have befallen the
nation so lately the state of religion and morality Is daily
improving ; nor can I see any reason to be persuaded that
the relaxation in that respect is any thing equal to what we
had been given to understand.
Dr. Poynter, the Catholic Bishop of the Londan district,
is expected here every day ; two other prieits of eminence,
one of them Mr. Oandolphi, the controversial preacher, is
also stayinz here ; they are come it is said, to redeem some
church property.
There has been a spar in the cabinet emit making pro.
Der toilette:. This is truly French. It was observed, you
recollect, that the late Governor of Canada found great
fault with some of Wellington's troops, that had been
transported thither from the Peninsula, because some wore
short gaiters, some ton; and some hardly any at all, and
wore therefore declared unfit for service; to which the
Commanding Officer of the regiment replied, they had just
been reviewed by that Noble Duke, and that he had no
such apprehension about him. The truth is, the Duke's
judgment of a soldier is guided rather by the bone and
muscle of the man, than the cut or condition of his clothes;
and he perhaps believes that the starsand cordons with whisk
conquerors are invytted, are too much matters of course to
carry with them any intrinsic importance. Be this as it
may, he certainly forgot to put them on the other day,
contrary to the etiquette (mind we have no English word
for this), and it is equally certain that the King reminded
/rim of the circumstance.--Adieu.

ON THE PICTURES AND OTIIE[t WORKS OF ART RE.
GAINED By THE ALLIED POW Cas FROM FRANCE..

MOTE DELTVERCD IN BY VISCOUNT CASTLEREAGH TO TILE Alf Tr n
MINISTERS, AND PLACED UFOS THEIR PROTOCOL—PARIS, SLY-.
TEXIIER 11, 1815.
Representations Wing been laid before the ministers of the
Allied Powers from the Pope, the Grand Duke of Tuscany, the
King of the Netherlands, and otter Sovereigns, claiming, through
the intervention of the high Allied Powers, the restoration of the
statutes, pictures, and other works of art, of which their respective
states have been successively and systematically stripped by the late
revolutionary governmna of Prance,' contrary to every - principle
of justice, and to the usages of modern warfare, and the same having
been referred for the consideration of his court, the undersigned
has received the commands of the Prince Regent to submit for
the consideration of his Allies, the following remarks upon this
interresting subject :
It is now the second time that the powers of Europe have been
compelled, in vindication of their own liberties, and for the Aettic-
ment of the world, to invade France, and twice their armies baize
possessed themselves of the capital of dip state, in which these, the
spoil of the greater part of Europe, are accumulated.
The legitimate Sovereign cif France has, as often, under the
tection of those armies, been enabted to resume his throne, and to
mediate for his people a peace with the Allies, to the marked in-
dulgence of which neither their conduct to their own monarch nor
towards other states, hid given them just pretensions to aspire.
That the purest sentiments of regard for Loeb; XVIII. de
fc,iiucc ler his =tett and ilit.strious House, and respect INT his-

• 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 makiagl 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 studiously framed to serve as a bond
of reconciliation, etiveen ttie eation and the King. They had also
reason to expects, 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 anyfirticles 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 4ivt.
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 middle 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.tiklp.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 *Orco the ate' ne* of Oac countries N'vli.Lll have bees;

. • •
THE NATIONAL REGISTER: tEC. 10.
.
—: -- - -: .777-.-77-- --,,....-...,
7-7--r-.
Allied Councils, ha., given up, the 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