Star.
London, England, 1831-05-09 00:00:00

FOR THE STAR.

PARIS, May 7.

S I It —On the sth of May, the anniversary of the death
of Napoleon, it was feared by the timid part of the authorities, that
some commotion might take plain, in consequence of the worshippers of
the Military God expressing their respect for his memory. It had been
whispered, that some young men had subscribed, and caused a figure
of oak to be carved after the model of the one of Napoleon, which for.
merly graced the summit of the column Vendome, and that on the an.
tannery of his death, they intended to march in procession, and sub-
stitute it for the one which had been destroyed. This business coming
to theme of Government, was the °melon of the Ordinance proclaim.
log, that the statue of Napoleon would be replaced upon the co-
luaus, for the purpose of anticipating and preventing any popular ezdte.
meat and proceedings on the anniversary. Of course, this Ordinance
gave assurance to the admirers of the Hero, and bad the desired effect.
Neverheless, on the sth, a party of the troops of the Line were on duty
at an early hour in the Place Vendome, and strong detachments of the
National Guards were stationed in the vicinity, in case the public tran-
quillity should be disturbed. All these precautions were, however,
unnecessary; for no attempt whatever was made to disturb the public
pace; but many thousands in the course of the day came and ex-
pressed their devotion, and presented offerings at the shrine of the Hero
of Austerlitz. Thousands of floral crowns, as well as splendid bouquets
were placed at the foot of the column, with religious respect, the
diets within the railing which surrounded the glorious trophy of the
French nation, having no other duty to perform than to receive these to.
kens, and employ themselves in festooning them about the base of the co-
lumn. Around the necks of the eagles which ornament the four comers,
were placed wreaths of black and white, to which were attached pieces of
black crape. Whilst this ceremony was performing, I observed the
soldiers presented arms. In the evening the spot was illuminated, to
show the tributes which had been offered to the great warrior. And
thus passed over quietly another day, which bad been looked forward
to with some uneasiness. In the evening the King and Royal family
left for Saint Cloud, where they were received with every mark of loy-
alty and affection. Arches of lowers having been erected on the
route, and the damsels of Saint-Cloud, habited in white, met their
Majesties, and presented them with bouquets of the choicest flowers.
The royal family in the morning had a painful ceremony to undergo,
that of parting with the young Prince Joinville, who has left for
Toulon, to commence his maritime studies in a practical manner.
He left the Peals Royal at seven o'clock in the morning, and was
accompanied to the carriage by the King and Queen, and the whole of
the royal family, many of whom I saw shed tears at the separation.
What I hinted to you in my last, as being likely to occur, has really at.
mined, I allude to a meeting of the patriots, whose names figured la
the Monitestr, as having deserved the decoration of July.
Yesterday between 11 and 12 a meeting took place in the Penes
du Salmon, where there is a large room used as a ball rommTble nest
which is capable of holding from 1,000 to 1,300, was completely Mak
and during the whole of the discussions the greatest order and
prevailed It was a singular assemblage. Persons of all rant MOS
Mdiscriminately mixed, as they were on the "great days of the radial,
and many of them carrying MANG marks of the struggle to whisk die,
had been engaged. The business commenced by their
against the Ordonnance relative to the words" Given by XV.
and the oath required—which changed the national; recompense Ws a
Royal favour, and they decided against taking the oath which
the ordonnance exacted, and which the law did not Im-
pose. That men like them who had shed their blood to resist illegal
ordoonanoes would not obey ordonnances which were contrary to law.
The following resolutions were put from the chair, and carried anent-
moody :—That the oath in France cannot be demanded but by a law;
That no article of the law of the 13th of December, 1830, whish Med-
itated the decoration of July, prescribed such an oath ; dun to recog-
nise in the Government the right to impose any condition whatever
eat of the law of the 13th of December,lB3o, would be recogniiing
In it the right to modify arbitrarily that law, and consequently the
power of refusing the decorations acquired. without prescribing to
the required forms. That the King, as representative of the nation,
may remit the &mations to those who have merited them, who will
then receive hem his hand the star width they will carry, but nothing
authorbes him to give them la his name; that the wards--" Ginn by

the King"—cbanges the nature of the reereupence, to fbecome
a royal favour. That the facts in right of which -the
decoration was instituted, are anterior to the =MUM t f
the Govanment of the Sing; that the only oath to execs in that
we, would be that of fidelity to the principles which put am a
in their hands to obtain the national decoration. By these motive...,
the citizens, at present in deliberation, engage themselves not to t•uh-
mit to the condition of the oath, which they consider as illegal. They
engage themselves besides to carry immediately after the decision taken
by the assembly, the special decoration, such as that indicated from
the model given by the commission." When the question of the riband
was put, the assembly nod 'early unanimously, fur the adoption
of the riband p by the government, stating that men, and
especially the men of July, should not attach any importance to the
colour of a riband. At the moment when the resolution respecting the
oath was put, a very great sensation was caused in the assembly, by its
being announced that a citizen, who carried the decoration of the Sas.
tile, wished to address the meeting. When silence was obtained, the
old citizen, whose life comprehends the two glorious epochs of 1789 and
1830, mounted the Tribune, and said, " Citizens, I was happy enough
to assist at the taking of the Beadle; I received the decorauon of that
memorable event, and I was never asked to take any other oath than the
oath to the Tiers./hat--tbat is to say, to the people." Immense ap-
plause followed this trite address. It was decided that the riband should
be instantly distributed to those present by the old patriot of the two re-
volutions, which was complied with as far as the stock would allow .and
towards the close of the business, whilst this distribution was going for-
ward, it was decided to open a subscription immediately at the oeesof
the liberal journals, to palliate the decorations for those brave men of
July, who could not spare the least sums from the wants of their fami-
lies. The meeting ended by a subscription for those CODfilled in prison
for political offences, which produced more than three hundred francs.
In the evening, I met several carrying the July Abend at their button-
hole. It remains to be seen what the Government will say to this pro.
test and defiance. -

On Monday a dinner will be given to the nineteen patriots who were
lately acquitted for the attempt to establish a Republic. Some of their
names figure in the list of the Momiteur as having rendered themselves
worthy of the decoration of July.
Great uneasiness prevails upon the affairs of Poland, which proves
that the public appreciate the critical situation in which that country is
at present. The cheek sustained by General Uminski, the disaster ex-
perienced by the corps of General Sierawaki, were already sniSciendy
grave calamities for the Poles, victorious until now in nearly all the
partial combats which have taken place ; a defeat of General Dwer-
nicki, in the adven:urons position where he had placed himself, is an-
nounced this day by the German journals. It was known, that besides
the corps of Rudiger, against whom be had obtained advantages, ano-
ther corps had been detached from the army of Diebitsch, to follow him
into Volhynia. It appears that he could not resist the simultaneous
action of these two corps. This event will be much more dismal, if it
should prove that Dwernicki does not and in the insurrection of Vol-
hynia the resources he reckoned upon finding.--. 1 can add no more.
J. L.