Star.
London, England, 1824-12-15 00:00:00

THE ARMY.

/

One company belonging to the Royal Star Corps arrived yeSter-
day at Gravesend from Canada. It has received orders to march
from Gravesend, to-day, for Hythe, where it will arrive on the
iSth instant.
Saturday, the 98th Regiment of Foot arrived at Chatham, where
they are to remain preparatory to their embarkation for the Cape
of Good Hope. This Regiment, although so newly raised, appears
to he an effective and well disciplined force. Previous to leaving
Chichester, the above Regiment received the thanks of the Magis-
trates of that city, for the very orderly conduct the meta invariably
displayed whenever they appeared.
Nearly the whole of the Regiments which are ordered to New
South Wales, go out by detachments, the Officers and men of
whicl are allowed full pay on the passage: that is to say, the same
rate of pay as when on shore—an allowance which is not made in
aa7 other case.
It is reported that four new Departments of the Ordnance are
to he established ; one of them in the Mediterranean, another in
rhe Wot Indies, and a third in North America. the head-quarters
of which is to be in Halifax. The fourth station is supposed to be
in the East Indies.
Dom-rms.—The clause of the Mutiny Act authorising the pay-
ment of twenty shillings, under the warrant of the committing
Magistrate, for the apprehension of deserters from the Army, has
been repealed, and the whole reward, amounting at present to forty
shillings, which %sill be made payable by the Agent or Paymaster
of the Regiment, or by a District Paymaster, will be issued from
the War-office, through the Magistrate by whom the deserter was
committed, as /Don as it Shall be ascertained that the person appre-
hended is really a deserter, and that the claim is well founded. The
109th clause of the 42d Gee. 111. cap. 90, allowing the reward of
twenty shillings for the apprehension of deserters from the Militia,
applies to that force in its disembodied state.
MILITARY PROMOTIONS. _ _ _

------- -
OFFICE OF/ORDNANCE, DEC. 11, 1824.
Corps of Royal Engineers—Lieutenant-Colonel Sir Howard El-
phinstone, Bart. to be Ceonel, vice Rowley, deceased; Brevet
ALajor John By, to be eutenant-Colonel; Captain Alexander
Cheyne, from the half-pay, to be Captain; First Lieutenant
Thomas Howard Fenwick, to be Second Captain; First Lieute-
nant Henry Fowell Wulff, from half-pay, to be First Lieutenant;
Second Lieutenant Alexander Gordon to be First Lieutenant.

PROPOSED NECROPOLIS; oa, CITY OF THE

DEAD.

Many of our Readers have visited the celebrated bu •
vial-ground of the Pere Lachaise, near Paris. It is a
spot just without the walls, where the ashes of Jew and
Christian, Catholic and Protestant, repose in charitable
vicinity. The ground is laid oat with taste and ele-
gance, diversified in poition, beautified with shrubs
and flowers, and appropriately adorned with monu-
ments,some interesting from their historical recollections,
some touching from the simplicity and tenderness of
their inscriptions; but all neat, decent, and appropriate
to the solemnity of the scene.
Lord Stowell, in his elaborate judgment on tie Irint
Coffin case, thus speaks of the London Church-yards—
" They cannot be made commensurate to the demands
of a large and increasing population: the period of de-
cay and dissolution does not arrive fast enough, in the
accustomed mode of deposiiing bodies in the earth, to
evacuate the ground for the use of succeeding claim-
mants." Indeed most of these cemeteries ate narrow,
close, filthy, and almost indecent; and though new
crypts have been formed in building the new Churches,
yet for the most part no monuments can be raised in the
burial-grounds, nor even be affixed to the walls of the
sacred edifices.

Struck with the contrast which our City Church-
yards present to the burial-ground of the Pere Lachaise,
some indiv id ualsh:rve projected a scheme for a receptacle
of the dead on a large scale in the vicinity of London.
They propose to give it the name of the Necropolis, or
" City of-the Dead ;" and mean that it shall be laid out
in a style which for solemnity, taste, and magnificence,
may surpass anything yet undertaken. To what expense
cio not our opulent individuals often go to erect in their
clemesires some monumental record of a friend, perhaps
even of a faithful dog, on the banks of a limpid rivulet,
near a grotto overhung with weeping willows or sha-
dowed by the mournful cypress! And would they not
'much rather adorn a spot of consecrated ground,
which might always be kept neat and clean, well
watched and guarded against violent intrusion, and
resorted to by those only whose sentiments were in
unison with the melancholy sanctity of the place?-
-The taste for gardening and for everything rural is
proverbially prevalent among the English; and those
who may chance to visit a country Church-yard " under
the shade of melancholy boughs," looking forth upon
the richness and beauty of an extensive landscape, can
scarcely fail to breathe a wish that they themselves may
repose hereafter amid such still and tranquil scenery.
Many sites may doubtless be found within three or four
miles of town, which, if properly laid out on the plan
here suggested, would far exceed, in point of interest,
any existing cemetery ; and would, in moral effect, be
productive of most beneficial consequences.
It is a mistake to suppose that Church-yards are the
only' proper places for Christian burial. On the con-
trary, the origin of their use in England for that purpose
is not of earlier date than the year 750; and agreeably
to the old Roman Law of the Twelve Tables, the place
of inhumation was ordered to be not within the City,
but without its walls. Certainty ground destined for
sepulture should, according to the Laws of the Church,
Le duly consecrated ; and the parochial right of burial
should be provided for in any Statute which might be
necessary for such an institution as we have described.
In this age of speculation, no public undertaking can
Le mentioned, but the questions immediately arise—
what is the capital required R how many shares is it
divided into? are they transferable? and when will
they be brought into the Market?—To speak of the
ACcropolis as a matter cf mere pecuniary profit and loss
would be somewhat revolting. It may, however, be
observed, that the Municipality of Paris derive a profit
from their Necropolis, without excluding from it the
poor ; and :hough we should not wish to see " Necio-
pnlitan Bonds" hawked about upon 'Change, or to hear
of great fluctuations in the premium on " Burial. Scrip;"
yet there might be no impropriety in the Legislature's
:Lowing, out of the fees for sepulture, a certain per
centage on the capital advsinced by private individuals
die purchase of the ground ; while the surplus would
batuially go to the parish where the deceased person
died, or to which he belonged.

It appears from a paragraph in the Journal des De-
-6til-v, that the DAUPHIN of FRANCE ran great risk of.
lienig killed during the last bunt in the Forest of Fon;
tiliket,leau. Whilst be was galloping at full spced, the
stag soddenly turned and crossed him so closely, that
1,:h2. not his horse mechanically-turned aside his head;
aid ais neck, both he and his rider would have been
tiasted to the ground and probably killed.
Last week an old house fell in the Champs tlysee;,
in Paris, which was near destroying thel hopes of a great nation.
Tiie consort of his Highness the Cazique of Poyais occupied the
:end had on the morning or the same day given
birth to a Prince, and for some mitintes great fears were entertained
114 the august infant would be destroyed. Happily the calamity
te.ts averted, and the illustrious hoe of the itl•Ciregors has Just
been interrupted!

:PARISIAN A IIUSEMENTS.

PARIS, DECEMBER 10.

Amusement is the business of the French—give me
leave to sav it is equally that of the Engliih residents
in Paris, and, indeed, throughout all France ; for I have
pevar yet seen the English person who would deny
himself any pleasure in which the French indulge, even
on days and at seasons which in England are observed
with religious solemnity. It is true that the Oratoire
(the Protestant Church of Paris) is crowded on the fore-
noons of-Sundays and holidayi by English, who com-
port themselves decently, but who are found on the
evening of the same day enjoying the Pirouette of
Noblet and the Pas de Zephyr of Paul, at the Grand
Opera, or the grotesque contortions of Measrier at the
Theatre de la Porte .St. Martin. The ball rooms ate
crowded with English, who enter into the Quadrille
with as much vivacity as the Parisians themselves.
lEcarte attracts the English equally with the French—and
Tivoli and the Beaujon ale on Sundays as much fre-
quented by the moral, religious English, as by the people
who are notoriously the most licentious:and impious in
the universe.

The Theatie Francais is crowded on the nights when
Talma plays, and he continues in as high favour with
the Parisians as ever. The egotism of the French is
proverbial ; but their opinion of Talma is the supreme
of the ridiculous. " There never was such an actor !"
said a Lady to me the other night ; 6. do you think
Gatrick approached near to him ?" The report of his
intention to perform for twelve nights in L" radon, in the
course of next spring, is not credited by any Parisian.
"He will not—he dares not quit rails." Unhappy
England, vehete actors are permitted to dispose of them-
selves as they think proper !

Mars is still at this Theatre. She is the most natural
performer I ever saw, with the exception, perhaps, of
Mrs. Jordan. Though 50 years of age, she looks in some
characters to be under 30. But I have given you enough
of Theatricals, and will break off for the present.

The English Ladies, - however, display most com-
mendable spirit, and a majestic disregard of all consi-
derations of economy :.-athe rage for gaming amongst
them would be frightful to vulgar persons—many of
them risk thirty, nay fifty Napoleons on the turn up of
a single card at Ecarte. What a school for female virtue !
I have pone the round pretty nearly of the private
cabinets of pictures aild curiosities in Paris; amongst
which those that struck me most were the collections of
Marshal Soult (Duc de Dalmatia) and M. Denon, the
father, I believe, of the Institute. Soult occupies a fine
hotel in the Rue de l'Universite ; his gallery of paintings
is superb, comprising several splendid specimens of
Murillo, " picked up" during the period of the Marshal's
command in Spain. Most of the pictures are on Scrip-
tural subjects, and—shall I tell the truth ?—are said to
have been plundered from the Spanish churches, and
are irrevocably destined for the English market by the
Marshal, a black looking person, whom I took for a
servant. They are valued at 200,0001.
The Cabinet of M. Deno's is, perhaps,_ better worth a
visit from the antiquary, on account of the numerous
and invaluable Egyptian relics which it contains. M.
Denon is said to be 90 years of age, and is not the least
interesting of the antiquities here displayed. He is mild,
polite, and playful, and he appears to fear nothing from
avowing his attachment to Bonaparte, busts of whom
meet your eye in every direction, with portraits of all sorts
and sizes of himself and all the members of his
family. A model of the Princess Borghese's hand hangs
at the- foot of the old man's bed, and is of the finest
symmetry. The Collection of Paintings is capital and
extensive. Amongst the Prints are portraits of Mr.
Pitt and Mr. Fox. The former hangs behind the door,
and is almost hidden from view, but the latter is placed
in an escellent light. As you will easily believe, the
collection of antiquities and curiosities is the principal
object of attraction.—Egyptian mummies, sphynxes,
apis, heathen gods and goddesses, goats, elephants, and
idols of all ages and countries, with an immense pto..
fusion of Porcelain china, etc.