Star.
London, England, 1814-03-28 00:00:00

GERMAN SUFFERERS.

On Saturday a Meeting took plate at the Free-
masons'-Hall, for the relief of the sufferings of the
inhabitants of Germany, let consequence of the ra-
vages of mar. His Royal Highness the Duke of
YORK was in the Chair. The Duke of SUSSEX, the
Archbishops of Yoert and CANTERBURY, and several
o the Bishops and Nobility, with a great number of
distinguished persons of both sexes, were present.
The Duke of YORK opened the business of the Meet-
ing by saying, that the respectable company present
were too well acquainted with the state in which Eu-
rope had existed fur the last ten years, to need many
words in explanation of the purpose fur which they
were met. Germany, after many years of oppression
under a foreign yoke, had liberated herself; but this
had been effects d after a severe struggle, which had
bet n attended with all the calamities consequent on
war. During this arduous contest, by the event of
which we had been so benefited, we had escaped from
all the calamities which Germany had laboured under;
nothing, therefore, was more natural and just, than
that we who had suffered nothing-should endeavour
to assist those who had suffered so much. He should
say no more, and he thought no more need be said to
excite the generosity of :t British audience. He con-
cloded by desiring the Secretary to read the Report
of the Committee.
Mr. MARTEN, one of the Socretaries, read the Re-
pent of the Commiz.tee, tkitich contained a statement,
Of the sufferings which had been caused in Germany
by the war, alai an appeal to'the British public for
rebel. It :also contained an extract of a letter from'
Prague, in which the misery of that city and- its neigh-
bourhood was pathetically described, and in which it
was J a eu that the emienvours of the benevolent in
. Germany lawre directed to the of the sufferers
with straw and food, and c, rn for sowing the ground.
The Committee had sent some assistance to these suf.
firers. The Report also gitve.an account of the exer-'
tons of the Ladies of Berlin, w 1),!, when the French;
left that city 6 M.trch, tfil3, made the utmost efforts
for the xelief of the sick and wounded in the hospitals
—some tmploy.ing themselves in fine .works, the pro-
duce of which was employed to purchase necessaries
for -the sufferer.—some in prepaling lint and ban-
dages, and washing the wounds. The Princess Wil-
liam of Prussia joined this benevolent association.—
the exertions of the Ladies of Berlin, thousands
wile would othei wise have perished had been pre-
-o:rued to the state, and were fighting the battles of:
their country with the gallant 131tioher. The Com-
mittee had t ranstni tied Rum% to spat its the dis-
pcoal of the Ladies at Berlin.
The Report having bees read, the Secretary pro-
posed the ltesolutions of support to Umumigghrs. anti
-,--•-••• 6

' 4.i

for a subscription, which were unanimously agreed to.
The Committee was then nominated, and the.
names, especially those of Messrs. Wilberforce and
Thornton, and of his Royal Highness the Duke of
York, were received with great applause.
The Secretary then read a letter from Lord Sid-
mouth to the Chairman, informing him of the Prince
Regent's gracious intention of subscribing 4500.
(4pplause.)
Lord KENYON also delivered the Secretary a letter
which lie had received from that Noble Lord, de-
siring him to set down his name for £lOO.
Mr. G. RO:qi: then proposed that a subscription
should be immediately entered into.
The Archbishop of CANTERBURY said, that after
the Resolutions which had been adopted, the next
step was to raise a subscription for the purposes
which had been stated. The Company would bear in
mind one thing—that from the efforts of Germany
we had derived great advantages, without having ex-
perienced the horrors which had fallen on that coun-
try
iti consequence. It was therefore our duty to exert
ourselves to the utmost . in the restoration of that
country which had.suffered from the ever which had
raged in its bowels (applause). On this ground they
we called on to support the subscription.
'The Duke of ibSSEX rose amidst loud bursts of,
applause, and said that he should not have offered!
himself to the notice of the Meeting, after the excel- '
lent address they had heard , from the head of the
Church, but that he had the honour to belong to a
Committee which had been established for some time
in the city for the same purpose for which the present
Meeting was called. It had been well observed that
the sufferings in Germany had procured us•great ad-
vantages ; and many misfortunes which we now only
heard of, had thus been prevented from falling on
our heads. One of the best uses we coed make of
the state which we enjoyed, was to alleviate the suf-
ferings of those who had felt calzmities in the pursu-
ance of the grand cause in which we were engaged.
The female part of the Meeting must have heard
with pride and satisfaction of the conduct of the
Ladies of Berlin, who had spared no pecuniary or
personal exertions, but had even risked /heir health
and lives in administering to the afflicted in the hos-
pitals (applause). They must have felt pride to have
seen amongst these benevolent females a person of ,
Roeai birth—the Princess William of Prussia, who
had been the first to set the example of divesting her-
self of her ornaments, which had been followed by
all the females in that country (applause). To the '
credit of the City of London, 4.312,000 had already
been subscribed by its inhabitants—a fact which re.
fleeted honour on the exertions of the Committee and
the Secretaries, to one of whom (Mr. Wilberforce)
he could not refrain from paying a tribute of his
respect (applause). According to the regulations of
the Committee, there was not only a regular account
published of the sums received, but also of those ex-
pended, which removed all unpleasant doubts from
the minds of the subscribers. It had been vaguely
argued by some, in opposition to charitable bodies
like the present, that there were sufficient objects of
charity in this country, without going to the other
side of the water. This objection seemed to him, to
be totally groundless, as they were not attempting to
remedy the unavoidable misery existing in Germany,
but merely to enable the inhabitants to make use of
the advantages which PROVIDENCE had given thew..
(applause).
The Earl of BUCKINGHAM proposed a vote of thanks
to the Duke of York, observing that a charitable in-
stitution seldom occurred in which that Royal Duke
was not conspicuous.
This proposition was received with great applause,
hut not put, owing, we suppose? to the Royal Duke
tip t having then lett the Chair.
Mr. WILBERFORCE was sure that what distress he
felt on the present occasion, and it was impossible for
him to conceal from them that he felt a considerable
degree of distress, did not arise from his not partici-
pating fully in the sentiments expressed by the Noble
Earl—sentiments so just, that they found an echo in
every breast—nor from any wish in him to delay the
expression of this common feeling of thanks which
was ready to burst from the assembly ; but from the
consciousness of his inadequacy to do justice to the
wish expressed by some friends beside him, that he
would second the motion of the Noble Earl. In
truth, it was not his wish to remain silent when an
opportunity was proposed to do that to which he was
strongly led by the best feelings of the heart. He felt,
however, that he would be abusing their patience if
he delayed for a single moment the expression of
their thanks. They were now called together on a
great. occasion, for the display of national generosity
and benevolence ; and on occasions of such a nature,
they were always accustomed to see his Royal High-
ness take the lead—(afriztaure). When by the kind-
ness of PitoviDENee they were spared the sufferings
and calamities which had fallen to the lot of other
nations, it was highly gratifying to see what they wit-
nessed that ddy ; ehatever was highest in rank and
dignity came f)rward to contribute their countenance
and aid in the relief and alleviation of distress-(ap-
ideuse). They lived in a country which was in the
enjoyment of many and high distinctions, distinctions
a Inch none knew better or felt more strongly than him-
self, for few men had been more favoured by l'nov iDENCE
than himself; but he had never felt more highly
what it was to be an Englishman than that day,
when he saw the Dignitaries of the Church setting a
bright example of Christian virtue, in relieving the
1 necessities of the destitute, and softening, if they could
not cure, the distresses of the sick. While he had
satisfied himself by yielding to his own wishes and
those cf his frieuds, he was convinced that he had
never done such feeble justice to his feelings as then
when lie contributed his feeble exertions in seconding
the motion.

After the speech of the Mover and Seconder, the
subscriptions which in the meantime had been re-
ceived, were read over and the question for thanks
was now put.
Mr. SCIIWASIE, a German Clergyman, rose to ex-
press his most hearty thanks to h►s Royal Hienesi
the Duke of York and the Dignitaries of tbe Church,
for what they had done for his country% He felt a
difficulty in expressing the gratitude of suffering Ger-
many for this relief; but the duty was of so pleasing a
nature, that it would inspire my span with confidence,
He begged leave to say that the Germans were re:ally
in want of assistance, and that alley deserved it. He
wished some more able Man than himself would give
an ideqnste sketch of the sufferings of his country.
mud I:lo4lndiAiiiilAtto hal boeP downed* pad

thousands of Germans driven from their homes.—
Their attachment to this country, and to English
Princes,•was well known. He felt happy and proud
as a German, as he should feel happy and proud in
being an Englishman. As a Hanoverian, he might
say that no nation, except the English, had better
notions of public virtue, morality, and religion, than
the Germans. lie concluded with praising the exer-
tions of the Committee.

Mr. MART ENT, the Secretary, rose to express shortly
what had been done by the Committee. The rule
and scale of their gift had alone been the scale of
misery. Since the 27th of hinuary, 5e.52,000 haS
been received, and there was tour or £5OOO more, of
which they knew ; and he was convinced that this
was not the half of what the subscriptions would yet
be. He felt proud to belong to a nation which, after
twenty years' war,• could still find means to relieve
other countries. He had on other occasions seen
most of those now near him ready to send abroad
the word of Got, without comment ; and now they
were ready to send out the best comment upon it—
that of practical humanity (ufsplaute). He conclud-
ed with proposing the thanks of the Meeting to his
Royal Highness the Prince Regent, for his liberal
donation of £5OO.

The motion was seconded, and die thanks were
unanimously voted. _ _ _

General TARLETON wished to address a few sen-
tences to the assembly. En one of the last, speeches
he had made in Parliament, be had spoken against
the Germans, but he now came forward to do justice
to them." He had not calumniated them, because he
spoke what were his sincere sentiments at the time.—
He had said two years ago that tile Germans were
overrun, because they were 40ased ; and he now
confessed, that greater virtue, liatriotism, and valour,
had never been displayed on the face of the earth thin
lately by all the inhabitants of Germany. The G.:-
neral, after praising. General Blucher and the Ladies
of Berlin, was proceeding by way of compliment, it
is supposed, to the Ladies present, to mention the
saying of an Orator, respecting the power of the King,
U'ine and Women, when the hisses of the Assembly in-
duced him to close his speech rather abruptly.
The Thanks of the Meeting were then voted to his
Royal Highness the Duke of Sussex, after which the
Meeting broke up.

DUTCH PAP ARS.

BREMEN, MARCH C.

Accounts from Holstein, which may be considered
as authentic, -state as foilows The most consider.
able persons in Norway have made an address to the
King, in which they thank him for the benefits they
have enjoyed under his Government; but add, that
if he is obliged to renounce his sovereignty over Nor
way, he has no right to dispose of this independent.
kingdom in favour of a third. That a Congress shall
be held at lirontheim, to consider of the conditions
under which they would consent to the union with
Sweden ; and that till these were fully accepted, no
Swedish garrisons should be admitted into any Nor-
wegian fortresses. Resident Kau passed through
Lubeck on the 21st, going to the head-quarters of
the Crown Prince of Sweden, with assurances that
Prince Christian, whom the Norwegians desired for
their chief; should immediately return to Copenhagen,
and that Denmark will do every thing to promote the
cession to Sweden."