Star.
London, England, 1814-12-17 00:00:00

RAMSGATE, DECEMBER 16.

Arrived the Pomona, ANDRES, from Bilboa, with
loss of two anchors and cables ; St. Joze, DEL VALLE,
from Gijon, with loss of two anchors and cables;
Janus, HATER, from Copenhagen, bound to St.
Croix, with loss of anchor and cable; 1-,ng .Tarc!,
L LUND, from I;amburgh for Rouen, wit!, loss of
two anchors and cables ; St. Cruz, NlAcHan,), from
Fayal for Havi with loss of anchor and cable.

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A
PA

JOURNAL of aisliVllßtiON to FRANCE,
IN A SERIES OF LEITERS;

CONTAINING REMARKS MORAL, • HIsTORICAL. TOPOGRA-
PHICAL, ETC.
(Continued from the STAR of Tuesday, Dec. 13).

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la • •

LETTER !X. • PARIS, ••••••••, 1814.
In my last Letter I offered you a few remarks upon
the French Clergy, and on the lamentable decline of
religion, and of religious worship in France..--Per-
haps 1 cannot find a more fit occasion than the pre-
sent ler expressing my belief that all the horrors and
bloodshed which this devoted country suffered by the
Revolution, were, in great measure, owing to the
decay of religion and morality amongst its people.
Tir'ugh religion and government appear to be
thi.2gs very distinct in their nature, yet, on a closer
view, the analogy is more striking, and it will be seen
that they are greatly dependent on each other. Laws
were framed as a rule of life to the community ; to
guide the virtuous, and to restrain and punish the
vicious ; and need I mention the strong parallel
which exists between the Decalogue and other ordi-
nances of the Jewish legislators, written under the
divine authority ; and the primary laws in the code
of our modern European legislation ? Whatever,
therefore, should tend to sap the foundations of reli-
gion and virtue, I think would have an almost equal
tendency to shake the fabric of human laws, that is,
of all government,. When I speak of religion, I
mean, of course, true religion, inseparable as it ever
must be from piety. Long before the bursting forth
of the French Revolution, the religion and the eccle-
siastical establishments of France had grown into
contempt. The enormous riches and revenues of
the Church, and the dangerous ascendancy that the
clergy had attained in the State, naturally produced
jealousies and suspicions among the other orders.
But die cause of Religion had more to tear from
the corruptions, intrigue, and immorality of its own
professors. If we add to this, the fatal attacks which
had been openly made upon the doctrine of Divine
Revelation, and upon the Church itself, by the French
deistical philosophers, about the middle of the last
century, we cannot much wonder at the gradual de-
cay of the clerical character, and at the revolution
which halt oaken place in the religion of the country;
nrir.e.att* doubt the pernicious effect thereby pro-
eluiredin. contributing to overturn those political in-
stitutions, on the preservation of which the general
safety depended. But the Clergy had not attained
thiiirtighest pitch of turpitude till Gobet, Bishop of
Paris, (and many more of the ecclesiastics, both ca.
thiliC.,suad ,protestant, who followed his diabolical
example:in November, 1793) publicly came into the
hetet the National Convention, resigned his sacred
oktkt;ind eiletinly renounced the Christian religion.
A *Free Was cnnsequence passed, amidst the
acciemations of tbal Assembly, to the effect that the,
only .deities thereafter to be worshipped by the FrenCh-
people•Should be those ofibetty, equality, and reason.
I have carried this*odi:farther than I in-
toiled, in order tumark unifeem -degradation of
religion in kta4ce th lot 15 fears. Let us
now hope.thattbe phials efl/se sired? of GOD have
been'ettratsted= epos this unhappy country, to the
full exPiation. of their multiplied mimes ; and that we
shall heniefotth see religion triumphantly resume her
. .
laating,and -peaceful empire over this long,oppressed
int iillicted•people!
PALMS DIT'CORPS .t..,Ectstany.--The new facade
of this palace, fronting the ,bridge, is one of the finest
pieces of architecture in Paris, and is the work of Na.
poleon. The old building, called the Falai, Bourbon,
was founded in 1722 for the residence of a natural
-daughter of Louis XIV. ; the Council of 500 held
fseresduritig the Revolution ; and, since
that pellodpit
.haknndergOne many alterations inter-
nally, according to the several uses to which it has
from tulle to time beenarpropriated. The statues,
and bas reliefs, as well as the devices its, and about
this superb 'fah*, are very fine, and arranged with
classical taste. :; •
The great hall where the senators meet, is very
grand, but has been so well described by others, that
I shall not *eery you *lt.ll4l).accoutit of it. It cer-
lainlY far exceeded my expectations in richness and
beauty, Thepaiutingi *in the different apartments
and divisions of this frectuansion, which represent
aq of the acLievenients.. ot4onaparte, have been
Either removed or the canvas has been covered over
with cloth, to prevent the 'subject from being seen.
A statue of Bonaparte, which stood in the middle of
Sallee des Slants, has been also removed, since
the change of affairs:
FRENCH TI:OOPS.--I have had repeated opportu-
nities cf seeing the French soldiery, both on and off
parade. The dress of the privates, with the excel).-
:ion of the National Guard!, is, in general, not so
good as ours ; and the men are dirty and more so.
only, part:cularly in their undress suits, when not'
du; f —a proof that the French officers attend less
to the minutia of dress than the British. Bonaparte,.
:sea to parade the troops in the Place du Carrousel.:
L:ose to the Millineries ; and it is said, that a British
General Officer,' who had been to see one of those
reviews by the Emperor, being asked his opinion
e the parade, replied, with great contempt, 'it was.
vie worst he had ever seen;' .adding, that he had paid'
particular attention to them; •and found that no two
l. of the soldiers were dressed perfectly alike. This kind
of a:14°0314y was the punctilio which, in the opinion
of our General, constituted the excellence of a sal-
ditr. We have note Wendy seen a very different

system practically itittap into the British army'
on the Peninsula, aricerrik.3ecided advantages.
We have seen battles gloriously fought, and
the military charaiter of Biltain.iaised to a.degree
of proud superiority by a Commander of a different
quality, without any assistance having been derived
from scrupulous attention to uniformity of the sol-
diers' dress, or the colour of their great-coats and
pantaloons. The uniform of the French Officers is
neat, even splendid, and they are, for the most part,
well dressed, genteel in their manners, and better
looking men than their compatriots, in general.
Here and there I meet with officers who have, in
appearance, nothing cf the gentleman about them ;
and who look as if they only waited for an opportunity
to be rude. This is remarkable, because rudeness is
certainly not the old characteristic of the French peo-
ple, in general ; and I can only account for it by sup-
posing that a large proportion of officers in the French
army have been raised from the humblest ranks of
the service, and move in a sphere for which they were
never intended, nor fitted by nature or art. -I do not
recollect the question has yet been well decided, whe-
ther the preferment of persons of this description, from
the very subordinate situations in the army, to the
rank of officers, has been, on the whole, productive of
advantage or disadvantage to the public service ? If
real merit alone were the recommendation to promo-
tion, the benefits would be evident ; but we well know
that, both in civil and military life, acts of subser-
viency and inglorious obsequiousness, in all countries,
are too often recommendations to preferment, and
take place of better and more solid qualifications.
Thus, I have heard its said, you will meet, in the 46,
tish army, even officers, very good kind of men, who
cannot speak or write a sentence or two of good Eng-
' fish, who have been tecommended by their patrons
for commissions, on account of their sobriety and or-
derly conduct as soldiers, and not on account of real
necessary attainments to qualify them.
Hence it happens that worthy men, who were cal-
culated to shine as exemplary serjeants and corporals,
are sometimes inconsiderately removed by indiscreet
patronage, and placed in a new, strange, and awk-
ward sphere, wherein, with all their ability, they can
scarcely reach mediocrity, in regard to the knowledge
of the most important parts of their duty ; and as to
appearance and real respectability, they very rarely
succeed in the difficult task of acquiring the polish
and address of the true Gentleman. The like might
be said of their wives. And hence we may account
for so few of these Officers rising into any great emi-
nence. Indeed, I cannot call to mind an instance of it.

The influence of these mistaken promotions upon
polished society, cannot be always harmless ; and
although some meritorious Non-commissioned Offi-
cers hive been thus rescued from poverty znd obscu-
rity, and their good behaviour has afterwards justi-
fied the opinion entertained of them by their patrons
and creators. lam very doubtful whether the bene.
fits derived from the qualifications of the really de-
serving, are in any army sufficient to outweigh the
faults and defects of the rest. The French cavalry
cut a ♦ery good appearance—l think better than the
infantry. They are mounted on small active horses,
which seem fit to undergo much fatigue, and their
furniture loses very little in comparison with that of
the British.

THE FEVER AT GIBRALTAR.
LAUDABLE PRECAUTION.

PROCLAMATION'.

UT HIS EXCELLENCE, GENERAL GEOKGE DON, LIEUTENANT.
GOY KENO& AND CODS/DANDLE IN CUM' 41, 'IRE TOWN AND