Star.
London, England, 1818-01-21 00:00:00

BRUSSELS, JANUARY 19.

It seems that the States General will remain alter-
nately five years at the Hague and at Brussels, to di-
minish the expenses of removal.
The organization of the Royal Guard is put off
indefinitely, till the King shall be able to diminish
the taxes and expenses incident to the establishment
of a new kingdom. The States General agreed with
the King on several plans of economy, and are bu-
sily employed on this subject.

• .

shelf, as it was i❑ Germany horn the year476l to
nve. We will not deny that some particArthings
.were not what they ought to have betas bUt. choose,
' whatever government you will, it will alwayste im-
perfect in the details as long as it is directed by men,"
It has. been remarked, that a great many French
have been to Frankfort, to see Mrs Las Casas. He
passed two evenings at the house of the Countess de
Burr!Biers, the wife of Joseph Bonaparte.
VIENNA, JANUARY 6.
There has fallen such a great quantity of men;
within these few days in the neighbourhood of this
capital, that the carriers have been obliged to leave
their waggons on the road and load their goods upon'
sledges.
GHENT, JANUARY ts.•
The King has by a late decree ordered the levy of
two regiments of marines. The strength of each re-
giment will be 2000 men, and two battalions ; each
battalion will be commanded by, a Major, and thel
regiment by a Navy Captain, who will have the rank
of Colonel. The organization of these new corps is
on the model of the artillery. There are one huts
dred men in a company, tight Serjeants, and sixteen
Corporals. These new troops will be placed in gar-
rison in the sea-ports of the first class. On shore
they will act as infantry, and at sea as cannoneers.
•

FRENCH PAPERS.
The Path Papers of Sunday arrived this morning.
The Report which was made on Thursday to the
Chamber of Peers, in the name of the Special Com-
mission, charged with the examination of the project
of law relative to the Liberty of the Press, has been
published.

The general scope of it is to recommend the adop-
tion of the Project, with only one amendment, on
the article which proposes to hold the fact of publi-
cation, as established by the distribution of the
whole, or part of a work, air by the deposit which
is required to be made of copies of it, in the hands of
the Police. The Commission are of opinion, that a
deposit which is made in obedience to the law in the
hands of a Magistrate, who is invested with the ne-
cessary power of preventing the distribution, since he
can, by ♦irtue of same law, sequestrate the work,
cannot, with any propriety, be regarded as a publi-
cation ; and they concur with the Chamber of Depu-
ties in the principle maintained by them, that until
publication is made, the author is not liable to pro-
wooden.

Of the proposition for introducing trial by jury.
in the case of delicts of the press, which occupied so
much of the attention of the Deputies, and which
our Readers may recollect was only got rid of by a
very small majority on the previous question, the
Commission have not been pleased to take any notice
whatever ; but, on the contrary, indirectly condemn
it, by justifying, in the fullest terms, the order of
procedure which proposes to consign the press to the
absolute controul of the police.
The Report concludes in the following terms :
We have terminated, Gentlemen, the examina-
tion of the Articles of the Project of Law. It offers
numerous ameliorations. The responsibility of Prin-
ters is limited ; indirect cease to be confounded with
direct provocations ; the prosecution of offences is
made more prompt—the liberty of the accused is
better secured—the 'form of judgment is rendered
more favourable—the mere errors of a work will not
henceforth entail upon • its author the imputation of
crime, and the pains of a rigorous condemnation.
A greater amelioration is still, however, necessary :
and we cordially concur in the wish so well expressed
by the Noble Peer who was Reporter on the Law re•
specting the Journals, that France may, ere long, enjoy
a complete and durable law upon the exercise of the
freedom of the Press, and the repression of its abuse.
It is without doubt a difficult work ; and the more
the heart of man and the science of legislation are
studied, the more the difficulty is felt. Many salu-
tary provisions on this subject are scattered through-
out the laws of different people—but a complete
Code remains still to be devised. Notwithstanding
all the excellent thingrthat have been written on the
subject, social order is still in want of this great be-
nefaction. May it owe it to France 1"
The discussion in the Chamber of Deputies on the
Recruitment of the Army still continues. In the
Sitting of Saturday, the Members who spoke in fa-
vour of the proposed law were MM. BIGNON and
CMIILLE JOURDAN, but both of them under the
qualification that the army, like the taxes, should be
voted annually. The only opponent of the Project
on this day was M. de CARDONNEL, who declaimed
with .Sesne vehemence against the fatality which
places, as he affirms, the most tried friends of the.
King under the cruel necessity of repairing, day
after day, to the Tribeee, to oppose measures
brought forward by the Wroaisters of the King._
The grounds of his opposition were the same as cos-
tended for by the preceding speakers on the same side
—namely, the identity of the plan proposed with the
system of Conscription, which had been solemnly
abolished by the Charter, and the interference of the
details of the plan with the prerogatives of the Crown.
Among the Members who still remain to be heard
arc MM. BEUGNOT, DUPONT, SIMEON and SmtraLost.'
in favour of the project ; and MM. RONALD DE VW.
LELE, DE CORSIERES, BENOIST, and CORNET DIEF
COURT, against it. From this formidable array of
talent, it is not txperfte4 that,,.the matter can be

brought to a condission sooner than the end of this
week.—French 5 per Cents, Saturday, Mfr. Wc.
PRIT4TE LETTER.
" PAius, J*YVAIY IS.
" The slisgrace of the Duke of Fitzjames still 'cond. -
slues to create a great sensation in Paris. It is gene-
rally said that the discourse of, this Peer, which has
given occasion to his banishment from Court, is from
the On of M. de Chateaubriand. It is stated that,
Monsieur has been extremely affected with the blow
which has fallen upon his First Gentleman, and has
obstinately refused to deprive him oftils rank as Co-
lonel of the National Guards a cheral of Paris. His
Royal Highness was even so much affected on Sun-
day, that it was necessary, according to' report, for
the King to send for him twice to attend him to mass.
Other disgraces of an inferior order have pceurredat
Court. One of them affects an Usher of the Cham-
ber of the King, called Barthelon de Bellefoncle, who'
was one of the most active hawkers of the ultra-
Royalist pamphlets. In general, the King has not
belied his character for firmness in these circumstances,

which cannot fail of producing the happiest results.
" The Duke of Fitzjames is the great grandson of
the Duke of Berwick, who was the natural son of the
' Duke of York (afterwards James IL) and Arabella,
Churchill. He emigrated at the commencement of
tho revolution, and joined the army of the French
Princes in Germany. After that army was disban-
ded he went to England, where he married Miss de la
Fouche, the maternal sister of Madame Bertrand,
who was a Miss Dillon. He returned to France
under Bonaparte, who, on ascending the throne,
offered him the place of Chamberlain, which the
Duke of Fitzjames refused, under the pretext of hav-1
ing too small a fortune. After the restoration he was
created a Peer of France by the King, on the 14th of
June, 1814. In 1815 he followed the King to
Ghent. Since then he has been intimately connected
with M. de Chateaubriand, with whom Irlaas always
voted in the House of Peers."

We learn from the American Papers, the receipt of
which we announced yesterday, that the District At-
torney having presented to the Grand Jury, bills
against the British Officers imprisoned in Philadel-

phis, on the warrant of Judge WASHINGTON, as
stated in our columns some time ago, the Grand Jury,
on the following day pronounced, that there appeased
to be no cause for their detention and trial :—a deci-
sion which fully justifies the remarks we made on the
illegal conduct of the Judge, in arresting and detain-
ing British subjects, who were peaceably passing
through the territories of the United States, on their
way to the West Indies.
From the same Papers we learn, that a Represen-
tative Government of nine Members has just been
formed at Amelia Island. The election of the Re-
presentatives has been announced in the following
PROCLAMATIGN.
" Locts MIRY, Conunander-in-Chief of the Florida'.
" Whereas an election was held in the City antic 19th and
40th November of the present year, 1817, the result of which
has been the choice of representatives of the people, for the pur-
pose of constituting the provisional Government of the Republic.
The following persons were elected --Pietro Gaul Murdin, J.
Irvin, J. Forbes, Chapelle, Vicente Pazos, Comte, Livignac,
and M.ibrity.
" I hereby convoke by these presents the said Represemathes
to hold the Sessions on the lit day of December neat ensuing,
to take the necessary oaths, and to fulfil the duties with fidelity
and impartiality-, which are committed to their charge by the
people of the free State of Florida.
" Given in the city of Fernandina, In the island of Amelia,
Nov. 27, 11117-112 year of Independence.
(Signed) " Loins AUllr."

With this document before us we ask, what right
can the United States, or any Power whatever, have
to take possession of a country whicl► has declared

itself independent ? They have no right to seize it as
a Spanish possession, not being at war With Spain.
They have no right to buy it from Spain, the latter
not being defacto in possession. To seize it-from the
Independents would be to enter into a war with
them. Even were the territory still under the Spa-
nish Monarchy, the right of the KING to sell his 'peo-
ple is not, nor cannot be admitted—they are not, nor
ever were his property.
The following are extracts fronfeharleston Papers
to the 16th ultimo:
SAVANNAH, DECEMBER 10.

Report says that Saturday next, thg 19th instant,
is the day pitched upon fot the purpose of taking
possession of Amelia by the American forces, which
are numerously assembling for the purpose.
A Guir.eaman, with 124, negroes on board, prize
to the Patriot brig Morgiana, arrived at St. Mary's
on the night of the 30th November. She is detained
by the United States gun-boat No. 168, Lieutenant
M'Call.
A large amount of property imported for Amelia
was seized by the United States at St. Mary's, on the
4th instant.

CHARLESTON, DECEMBER Is.

Fifty-four sail of vessels
.are now employed in the
India Trade, from the town of Salem, amounting to
14,030 tons.