Star.
London, England, 1802-01-09 00:00:00

FRANCE.

setten 6r CITIZEN CHEMISE, IN THE TRIZUNATI,
IN THE SITTING or ti lIITOSE,pN. t.)
There were two fobjcas before the ouneil—Cea-
Naniov and CivilDratA, or, assve fay, forfeiture and
corruption of blood. Enough had alreadybeenfaid
to prove the impolicy of -the firft. Citizen CHI-
N re remarked, and he contented himfelf with
giving -a fhort recapitulation of the arguments '
which had been advanced againft it by thofe who
went before him. He then proceeded !hall '
not attempt to add to the force of this reafoning,
thinking it irrefragable. I pars on to the emit-
deration of Civil Death. This fyftem (bikes me
•as monfirous and abfurd. We have prefented to
us the contradiaory idea of a man dead according
to law, and whom, for fome purports, the law '
iimporet to be Rill alive. If, legiflators, you were
merely infignificant and defers, Mee that muff be,, ,
it would matter comparatively little. But an ex-
amination of the terrible excommunication which
follows civil death, thews that in agreeing to it '
you would likewife be guilty. It feparates the '
inifband from the wife—the father from his chil- •
dren. An affalionate and virtuous woman re- '
mains conllant to her hufband, and Ai& him to
fupport the miferics of his condition, the is no
longer but a concubine, and the children of this
cou whole misfortunes perhaps have only drawn '
doter the tics which united them, are branded with
baftardy. We have heard much ofreligion. Here
I feel that the gravity of this tribune calls upon
me to weigh well all my expreill'ans. The fame
pi inciple on which I (hall ever boldly oppofe a do-
mineering religion, calls upon me tteadily to de-
fend the perfea liberty of religious opinions. Is
this liberty refpeaed in this protea ? Two indivi.
duals joined at the altar of Ilymen, consider their
marriage as indiltoluble. In defpite of this belief,
in violation of this imperious feutiment, of thofe
iinpretfed by religious ideas, the law tliddenly
'breaks in pieces there eternal ties ; it forces this
woman to Rain her reputation or to-wound her
cculeience, to become a :limpet, or a perfon
guilty of facrilege.—This woman willies to devote
herfelf to the misfortunes of her holt:and, to eat
along with him the bread they have watered with
their tears, to he to him another univerfe : and
you think that from this union nothing can fpring
but illegitimate fruits. After having tried to ex,.
tip uilb cork:gal, filial and paternal love—after
ing violated every dictate of honour, and every
fetniment of nature, you would thus punith in the
Ina the cremes of the father. Legiflators, let us
f.. 1, om us—let us rejea from the civil code
the French this impious regulation. Do not
vent your rage againft that which is not yet in
exiflence. 1 of calling a nor upon the de-
votion of vi to venerate all that is fliblime. I
Mall not ex :mine the collation of celebrated
cafes, to fee e law never punifhes the inno-
cents 1 wifh all Judgeswerelearned,intelligent, and
equitable. I with that noo the ct holm' ever I
were condemned. This is :t miferanle fivtiun. In
trying to give ideal death all the horrors of real
death, the law Nullities an itatocent woman, who
is bound by her rligion, aid the fidelity the has
(worn, to alliil, to comfort, and folace her huf-
band, to follow him, and to live with him through
life, at all 11:alor;, and in all cir:umflances.
gillators, as vena arc lovers ofjultice, in puniluing
vice do not laiaith virtue, do not overwhelm in-
nocence. Who has told you that the child, born
of a condemned hatband and a faithful wife, which
you de..lare illegitimate, may not pne day tikome
a griao. man? Who has told you, that the fon of
an abandoned oi iminal may not one day prove
the favioor of his country ? But it is not enough
to deprive them of the hononr of Citizenlhip.—
TW law firetching its fatal effotls Rill farther than
under the ancient order of things, likewife de-
pi ivcs them of the benefit they might derive from
the indullry and exertions of their condemned fa,.
they. No' dillinaion is made whether the fortune
left by the unhappy wretch is coefiderable or tri-
fling. If it is eontiderable, to confifcate it thews
a clifgraccful cupiditlt nhich degrades the law to
enrich the treafury ; :f trifling, it betrays a fordid
tlifpofition to pillage the widow and her children
of the miferable pittance, on which alone they de-
pend for fu port. It is faid the Government re-
ferves to itfelf the ptiwer of affifting them. The
power !—What ! thall we have what is arbitrary
even in the Civil Code ?. If the Government has
tl.c power of giving, bat it net likewife the power
of withholding ? It can (hew mercy then to the wi-
dow, and none. to the children; to the :children, and
not tolls; widow ; to collateralhand not to thelineal
heirs! It can grant the whole. or deal out only a
pasts If it is patmiil to find penal provifions in the
Civii Code, how Much more painful is it to. find
them when the offences they ire meant to prevent,
.
an Ito punith, are vague and unfpecified, and where
la. catirthot be of a very deep die. Thole con-
'Vied of coon:nom orioles are fintoqed to death,

; , • . • • •• • ' • '

to deportation, and to pirpetual iMprifonment.—
Taunes, let all the guilty fuffer ; but do not erea
defpaiiinto iffyßem ; do not invoke an eternity
of punifittnem ; do, not kindle a hell upon earth.
Hahn to rejea a fyilem of laws fn barbarous and
inhuman. We are told, the people confides, confide
youalfoin the wifdom and intelligence of the com-
pilers of the Civil Code. For my part, I do not
underßand the expreinon I eaajele, which it is pre-
tended is pronounced unanimoully. Lei sr &Ali*.
Let us difcufs without precipitation. Let us difcufs.
Let us difcufs while difcuflion is necetlary. We
(hall then have a Civil Code free from Gothic pre-
judices overturned by philofophy—a Civil Code
worthy of the French Republic.—The projel has
my moll decided negative.
The pmjea was aaually rejeaed by a majority
of 15i to 37.

• Another Paper gives this paffage as follows The peo-
ple confide. confide you in your t..m. No ! we were not fent
here to ceafrile—mre have aU received a conuniff on to misfire fee
Let us cequire.then—let us dike& Let us Meta with
vietbm, with independence-1 do not fay with courage. I be-
lieve that at the prtfent moment we do not Rand in need of
courage to difeharge our duty. if st we than have a Civil Code,
but it Own be free from the prejudiccs which phildophy has ex-
poied, true to the principles coofecrated by the Coaftituent
Aftembly, worthy, in flee, of the talents and virtues of thole
called upon to raifc this Taft monument to the people for whom
it is deilleaL"

LEGISLATIVE BODY, s 3 NIVOSE, (JAN. 3.)
tittsustscso OF LIFEVRE LAROCHE.
_ _

The Prefident read the following !mirage
Tut CONSULS OP Tlll REPUBLIC TO THR LROISLA-

TIVI lODV.

Pads, fa More, (jam a,) year roof the Republic
Leginatnrs l—The Government has refolved to
withdraw the pmjeas of the law of the Civil Code,
and that on the re-c&ablifhmcnt of branding con-
demned criminals. -

It is with pain that it finds itfelf obliged to de-
fer to another period the laws expe&ed with fo
much interefl by the nation. But it is convinced
that the time is not yet come, when that calmnefs
and unanimity will be introduced into .thefe dif-
cuffions which they require. The Fira Conful,
(Signed) lONAPARTt.
By the Fir Conful,
The Secretary of State, (Signed) x. a. MAIM'.
The Legiflative Body decreed that the rneffa;e
of the Confuls should be communicated without
delay to the Tribunate.
. The AlTembly then proceeded to ballol for a
Candidate to be prefented to the Confervative
Senate.

Of 232 voters, General LAPIALTELLIERE had
233 in his favour, and confequently was declared
candidate.

PARIS, JANUARY 3.

Notwithßanding the confiderable increafe of the
waters during yciterday and 1a.4 night, the Seine
having filen lie centimetres (above two inches)
higher than ever it was in the year 1740, no ac-
cident happened in Paris ; precautions had been
taken to cause the apartments in projeCtions next
the river to be emptied, and thole Alb of thti houfe
iitUated in the Marche-Neuf, called commonly
la Pali, and of the houfes in the (beet St. Louis,
near the Palais. The proprietors and tenants ex-
erted themfeives in procuring fo the perfons who
occupied there apartments, every neeeffary
tar.:^, and the removal of the furniture was effeet-
ed the greatell tranquillity. The waters which
decreafe in a fenfible manner, has calmed the un-
eafinefs c.f the inhabitants. Since one o'clock in
the morning the river has decreafed 7 centimetres
(above 6-1 inches).
Jaw. +—The famous brigand, Louis Charles
Theodore Turpin, called le rimy, the moll
dan-
gerous of the accomplices, and the moll intimate
of the confidants ct Lcpelleticrc the elder, has at
length been arrziled in die Commune of Saint-
-I:trentin-de-.llles, department a l'Eure. The Pre-
' feet of the department, and the Sub-Prefect of the
Arrondilfement of Bernay, attached the greateft
importance to tii: arra:lran of tbis tlefperado,and
cauCed him to be purfued With'as mach. ability as
perfeverance. He WaS arrelled juft when ptepar-
ing to repair to Paris, after having employed every
I potlible means to deceive the Police refpeeting his
projca : he is ni.w detained at Evreux With Lepel-
letiere, who has recovered of the wounds he
I revived in the attack when feized.

The Minifler of the interior fet out this morn-
ing for Lyons, accompanied by Citizens Cori t:o
friovacuss, Secretary General of the Minifiry,
and Aucusv us Letje RD, Chief of the Private Of-
fice. Relays have been already polled on all the
roads between Paris and Lyons, for the life of the
nary 'Coitsux, %%hole departure, it is believed, is
fixed for :the !WI Nitofe, ( January )
A letter from Caen, dated the loth ult. far—
it The plain which furrounds oar tommune is
covered with water to the height of five 6r fix feet.
This' inuitd4tioh extends to the diflance ofa leigue
around ns : we are much afraid for the town..
• Tiers coisji.fidi 54 fr. • •