Star.
London, England, 1825-11-14 00:00:00

M. DE VILLELE.

'lle following are some particulars rif the rise of the
present Fiends Minister of State. Joseph de Villele wd
born at Too louse, in 1773. Ili. father WAS neither noble
nor rotoffrier—neither rich ton pow.. In.- 1791 he ac-
companied his *elation, M. d St. Felix, to the Isle of
Bout wt ere tit:• latter had been narsod to the co4l-
- of a station. Sho•tly after their -arrival As the Lie
of 13, urht'n, the inlial!itants formed 4 d.ib, in which M.
de St. Felix, the Orclated enemy of the new order of
things, had himself ol:en represented by M. ee Villele.
When further oppo.:ti,in became useless, M. de St. Felix
quitted (he is:e, wish all th •se under his command, ex-
cept M. de Villele, who remained behind, and it is said,
-shear conditi.ms with the triumphant par,y. Ile en-
tered into the employment of M. Deshassins, a rich
plaiiTer, and ,o,ti bee Imo manager of his estases, and in
the end mars ieJ his claug'iter. He then became a man
of impotance, and was named Member of the Colonial
A •se:obly. Atter al .ng sojourn in ;he isle ot Bourbon,
he b came desirous of se. in, his native country, and
having tie.gi.tei a vessel with sugar and coffo, and ar-
rived in Fiance with it at a favourable moment—that
of the ru,,tuie of the Poace of Aoliens—his coffee and'
sugar siiecul ,tiott wined out so well, that he was ena-
bled to cl. ar off the incumhrances of a small paternal
property, and, by well-directed improvements, to double
its v lite. Notwithstanding his enterpti ing and busi-
ness-like habits, he art ived at no higliei functions under
tlo Empire, than tho.e ot Member of the Gentral Coun-
cil of the Depar.ment of the Upuer Garonne. Until
1814, his name figured only in the Almanack of the
Department. On the entrance into France of the Anglo-
Spanish armies, he was one of the first to congratulate
Lord Wellington on his success. Shortly after the Royal
Declaration of St.Ouen, which contained the basis of the
Charter, M. de Villele published a kind of protest against
the principLs contained in it, and denounced nomina-
tively, a, fraught with danger, the existence of a Cham-
ber of Deputies, and the irrevocability of national pro.
perty. On Napoleon's return from Elba, M. deVillele was
an active supporter of the Baron de Vitroles, in his exer-
:ions in favour of the Royal cause at Toulouse, but still
he was insignificant ensugh at the time to escape arrest.
After the hundred days, M. de Villele was named
Mayor of Toulouse, and soon after elected a Member of
the Chamber of Deputies, where he took his seat in the
extreme grate, voted in favour of the exceptions to the
Amnesty Bill, and other ultra measures. Being re-
elected in 1817, he voted against the suspension of per-
sonal liberty, and the censorship of the press; declared
himself in favour of trial by Jury in case of libel, and
stated it to be his opinion that the safety of France and
legitimacy was compromised by the existence of those
very lass of exceptinn which lie had but a short time
before suppos Led. He even, during the Scsion, :hewed
himself one of the most zealous partisans of the Charter,
against which lie had formerly protested. In 1818
he was dismissed from his place as M.syor of Toulousr.
In the Session of 1820 and 1321, M. de Villele again
changed his tactics, and voted fur the laws suspending
personal liberty and against the liberty of the press; he
even demanded that the Ministers should be endowed
wails full end mire arbitrary power. Soon after lie was
named SeCteLity of State and Member of the Council.
On the 21st December,lB2l, be was name:! Minister of
Finance, and in the course of the following year raised
to the dignity of Count, and named President of the
Council. Since then, cordons and cio.ses have rained
upon him ; but Isis public acts since that period are too
recent and well known to require recapitulation.