Star.
London, England, 1816-01-03 00:00:00

~

.

NEWCASTLS MEETING, •
ON BEHALF OF THE MINCH PROTESTANTS,

•
On Thursday, pursuant to public advertisement,*
Meeting of the Inhabitants* of this town was held on
the subject of the Persecution of the French Protes-
tants; the-Right Worshipful the Mayor iu the chair.
The business was.opened by the Rev. W. Tuatara's
being called upon to read the 44 Authentic Details?'
published by the Committee of Dissenters.* London;
after which Jesus Lose, Esq. in proposing the first
resolution, observed on the inclination which seemed
to, prevail among some to defend, and among fibers
to palliate the atrocities committed. The facts could
not be controverted, having been distinctly recognised,
by both Governments. But it had been said that
they had notsarisen from disposition to religious per.
vcution, but from political motives, kir for plunder.'
Perhaps all three motives might be mixed ; but could
it be said that .this was not a religious persecution,
when the whole weight of it fell on one den of per.
sons ; and no Catholic friends to the late state of
. things were suffering persecution t If however the
three strong motives, of persecution, politics and'
plunder, were united, the thing was yet more dermal
mg, and more worthy of the interference of the Go-
vernment: of different countries, and of us all to
shew our decided opinion. But it had been said that
it is dangerous to interfere in affairs of government.
Persons who hold this doctrine must be very ignorant
of the principles of our Constitution. One of the
greatest privilegesof British subjects, is to assemble,
express their opinion, and petition the Government :
and it is a privilege in all respects salutary ; if Go-
vernment have mistaken or overlooked any thing,
that they may be set right; if otherwise, it is highly
fur their advantage that they should know they are
acting.in unison with the feelings of the people. In
the present case, our government has in the most ex-
plicit and handsome manner declared its determina-
tion to use the best efforts to secure the rights of the
French Protestants ; and will it not strengthen the
hands of Government to shew that the opinion of
this great and enlightened nation is in perfect har-
mony with their measures ? But it is said to be dan-
gerous to interfere with other countries : this really
appears to be the strangest objection in the present
state of the world. Do Gentlemen forget in what
situation France now is? Do they forget that there
is at this moment a considerable degree of interfer-
ence with its government ? But we have both prin-
ciple and precedent for interference in the case before
us. Without going regularly through a set oC pre-
cedents, did not Queen Elizabeth repeatedly interfere
in support of the. Protestant interest through Europa.
Did not Cromwell interfere through the medium of
his Ambassadors, and by this very mode proposed,
of public contribution ? And as to William 111. was
not the whole course of his reign an interference in
protection of the Protestants of Europe ? It seemed
ueedless to dwell longer, but one thing he must not
forget —it is only a few months since we ourselves
did, in this hall, interfere with the Slave Trade ; and
with what success? The Ministers of the country
hind exerted themselves and failed; but after the sen-
timents of Great Britain at large were expressed,
B snap pie on his return saw its feelings on the sub-
ject, and wishing, as was natural to him, to conciliate
that feeling, immediately did what had not before
been obtained. And we afterwards saw the very
same Government, with whom Lord Castlereagh
bad been unsuccessful, give the Slave Trade up at
once, distinetlAlating that they had great satisfaction in
thus complying with the wishes of the whole British
oaths, ! What a brilliant example of the effect of the
opinion of one nation on the opinion of a neighbour-
ing one ! Certainly it was highly creditable both to
the French and to us, that they should consider
themselves as conferring the highest benefit on us,
nut by giving us territory or treasure, but by con-
sulting the rights of humanity. Now how it could
be more proper to interfere on the behalf of the suf-
fering African, than for our persecuted fellow-Chris-
;Luis, the benevolent speaker could not concetve.
Mr. LasH said, he would only trouble the meeting
with'a few words more, in reference to the resolution
which he was about to move. He trusted that in a
very short time there would be no more differexce of
opinion on persecution than on any other subject.—
An attempts of any kind, however modified, to check
or prevent any individual from communion with his
Creator, in the way most-agreeable. to himself, he
considered as unjust and mischievous. It is impes-,
sible by any restrictions to interfere with the senti-
ments of the heart, to change the real opinions of
men : their necessary tendency is only to make men
hypocrites, and to protect the profligate who cares
not what he professes. Religious persecution can
only affect good and honest men, because bad men
will immediately change round and profess whatever
is required. Mr. Losh concluded by stating his high
satisfaction that these sentiments were becoming fa-
miliar even with those whom we were in the habit of
accusing of holding
.persecuting principles ; and by
swelling to the meeting of the Catholics of the two
neighbouring counties, on the very subject which his
caused the present assembly, on which they came to
certain resolutions, the two first of wjiich he read.
The Rev. Mr. PRINGLE, in seconding the motion,
went into a long and elaborate history of persecution
baneful effects. Recollecting the banishment
;agoras, the death of Socrates, and the perm-
ed the primitive Christians, we felt some on-
to the former part of his speech, which seemed
sent the heathens as fret from the. crime of
lion ; but the speech, on the whole, was able
hly interesting.
ltev. W. TURNER, having already mad the
qhentic Details," simply moved the second reso-
Jounded upon them.
Alderman Rasp moved the third resolution,
,sive of satisfaction in the assurances of Govern-
on the subject.
Rev. D,'M‘lnziort, after some spirited obutr-
, moved the 4th resolution, on the french
'Ordonnance,
Josaaits cLAnI; made an address, highly ere.
to feelings as a span and a Christian, pre-
, to his motion for the commencement of a sub-
Trion; which was seconded by the Rev. Robert
rite, in a very peat speech, expressive of hie hope
we shall pot, like the pre* Ind the Levite, look
414cliPS igelliffor pass by on the other.
Vir. SPA PVC "4 MantiPg• UPPilt of

, 1 -

s
...--: • —O-ealk
;Coabtanders in Chief. the. main object of
ell
of ,
esbotimet the year m4.* -. iii.
-4.77 B°lle -
..;.;... sru to save the city of Paris from total ruin.
The Rev. L Politick'. ,it Inav'Mg the sprite* , President of this Government urgently endea-
red to obtain a general pardon for all and, every
omit of a committee, expreesedbis confident Petina"
'aim that if the cam had .1100 reversed, and by any
1 possibility the Cathotici had been the object instead. of which they might. be
Nachman, Of whatever nature the Crimes Might be
accused; but this was flatly
of the instruments of persecution, we should have been refused by the Allied. Generals; they merely pro-
ofequally ready to hare stretched out our hands to mused to pardon the inhabitants of Paris whatever
their relief. they might have done against the allied armies, and
Oa the preceding day there was a meeting of Re. it was expressly added. 4, If the King designed to
man Catholic Gentlemen at the Queen's Head Inn, adopt some measure against his unfaithful subjects,
in this town, on the same question, Geo. &Ls/Saint, they. the foreign Generals, bad not to interfere in it."
Esq. in the chair. The company was addressed by The provisional Government concealed this ,cir-
the Chairman in an eloquent speech, and the resolu- cunistatice of the negotiations, and thus save occa-
dim.: were seconded by Was. THOMAS SaLvrat, Esq. 'ion to an error which has been very detrimental to
and passed unanimously. The meeting Ws most nu- many persons. The Article (12) of the Capitula-
tnerous, and peculiarly respectable. There wasp for don. as it was clearly explained, has been therefore
at it, besides several gentlemen from Yorkshire the conscientiously observed ; for no inle.bitant of Paris
heads or the representatives of almost every resident was molested. after the entrance of the Allied Armies,
Catholic family of property iii the counties of Nor- on account of actions, that related to these armies.
thumberland and Durham. The morning of the day The King could, therefore, without violating the
vial most stormy. but notwithstanding. several gen- 12th Article of the Capitulation, call to account such
denten came upwards of SO miles. The philanthro- of his subjects as had been guilty of disloyalty to his
py, the benevolence, and the liberality of the resolu. Majesty.
dons, whilst they confer great honour on our Catholic It is affirmed that the Duke of Wellington will de-
brethren, may, it is hoped, silence the voice of slander dare himself publicly on this point.
against that loyal and meritorous class of subjects. The second false ground ot defence was, that the
Marshal was a native of Saarlouis which was ceded
•••••••••••=l=.
to Germany on the 20th of November, and had there-
fore ceased to be a Frenchman ; he could not, there-
fore, be tried by the French laws, and the Counsel.
appealed to the Law of Nations.
The Marshal himself seemechingry that he should
cease to be considered as a Frenchman, and stopped
the defence ; but the Counsel clearly sheaved how ill
he was versed in the L iw of Nations : for, first, the
birth place of the accused, when he became unfaitbfal
to the King, was still a French town, he himself a
French General, and amenable to the French laws ;
2d, a foreigner, who enters the service of another
Government, is subject to the taws of the country
which now is become his second native land, the fo-
reigner is especially responsible to the new Govern.
moot for all the duties which he has taken upon
himself, by accepting a place in another country.
—Marshal Ney therefore, in every case, even if he
were considered as a foreigner, was amenable to the
French lima. as a French General. This principle is
fouaded on (Ammon sen..e and on the law of nations.
This ignorince of the law ot nations proceeds from
the great blank in the public instruction' there not
being in all France any professor of the law of
nations.
We remember on this occasion that some years
ago, and in the Government of Bonaparte, a Processor
at Strasburgh, who was member of the tribunal there,
represented to the Corsican the necessity of founding
a professorship for the law of nations in the French
Universities, as there is in all the German Univer-
sities. When the Strasburgh Professor pronounced
the words droit des gens (law of nations), Napoleon
understood droll: des ionsnate (rights of man), which
were proclaimed with so much ostentation in the
tieginning of the French revolution, and ti which
lionapai to himself bad pretended to be a strenuous
advocate.
But, Bonaparte, who at this time considered all
the rrench as staves, whose persons and property be-
longed wholly to himself, as his hired speecti-makers
had loudly- proclaimed, made a wry face at the words
Right of Nations, which he confounded with Rights
ot Attnt and rejected the proposal with the greatest
indignation. The good Strasburgh Professor but
n trrowly escaped banishment, or even imprisonment,
as a dangerous Jacobin or Republican.

GAR MAN AND BRUSSELS PAPERS.
BRUSSELS, DiCEMBEIt ira. •
It it positively affirmed, that Count Lavalette
passed through this city the day before yesterday.
It is added that he had on the uniform of a Power of
the Mirth, and that during the few instants that he
stopped here, he paid a visit to a foreign Officer, who
has been for a short time here.
DXCILMBER 29.—A report has been in circulation
here since yesterday, that M. Lavalette arrived in
this city two days ago, and that after one hour's con-
ference with a French General, whom circumstances
have brought hither, he continued his route to pro-
ceed to Germany. These reports are uncertain, and
it is proper at this moment, to be on our guard, in
this respect, against the mancouvres of a certain party,
which has ex:ellent reasons for misleading us in re-
gard to their projects. It is thus that they announced
the arrival of Real in Belgium, to seek an asylum
there; yet meta is no truth in it. unless this ancient
procureur of the Cha:elet at Paris, be hid in some
übscure corner. Real is one or the men who, under
Bonaparte, did the most iitjury to our country, by
his inquisitorial measures, by his subaltern tyranny,
by the narrow views of a procuieur in a red cap, and'
who finished by being decorated with all the orders
of the Great Empire, atter having been an incen-
diary journalist, a clubbist, and defender of the
members of the revolutionary tribunal of Nantes,
who were stained with the most odious crimes.
It is remarkable, that the three men who did the
most mischief in the latter part of the Government
Bonaparte, had been journalists. The Duke of Bat-
sano (.ftret) began his political career with writing
for the " Lvografthe." Kell wrote the horrible jour-
nal entitled "La Patriote," in 1789. Regnault de
St. Jean D'Angely, who wrote for a journal. of the
day, at that unhappy epoch, and all these became the
myrmidons of the must insupportable tyranny.
Four hundred French prisoners of war, coming
from Russia, and last from Zwoll, are arrived here
on thert.returu to their own country.
HAGUE DECEMBER 26.

Ile reports on the state of the rivers having been
more or less alarming for some days past, his E.
cellence the Duke Urstl is gone to Gorinchem,
which it the depot of the Waterstadts, to take, in case
of danger, measures adapted to the circumstances.
DEC. 28.--It is said that the budget for 1816 has
bees laid before the Council.of State, and Aliat it will
be presented to the States General in the course• of
the next week.
It is affirmed that his Majesty will visit Brussels
in the month of February.
BALE, DECEMBER 16.
The bridge of boats at Huninguen is not yet sold,
because the Austrian Commissary will not sell it for
'2OOO florins, which have been offered. A great many
new mines are made at Huninguen, but powder is
wanting.

FRENCH PAPARS.

GENEVA, DECEMBER 17.
The French Custom-houses are removed to the
new line beyond the Jara, according to the Treaty
of Paris.

PARIS. DECEMBER 30.
The Duke of WELLINGTON gave another en-
herb Ball yester4ay, which was even more nume-
rously attecded than the former one. Among the
most di4unguished French personages present on the
occasion we noticed, the Duke of BERRI, the Duke of
finalte, the Prince of BESInniNTO) and Marshal
MARMOST. The principal English persons of distinc-
tion were, the Duke of Rtcumono, Sir C. STUART,
Lord LC/WT=4 and Lord MOUSTNORRIS. Madame

HAMUURGH, DXCEMBER 22:
They write from Finland, that the town of HA-
singtors is going to be rebuilt on a vast plan, which
it will require enormous sums to execute ; they are
blowing up rocks and filling immense hollows to level
the ground for the new buildings. The whole ex-
pense is borne by the public treasury. Those persons
who build private houses obtain exemption horn
taxes, and many other advantages ; thus a great
many handsome buildings have been erected, as well
of stone as of wood. ansle Helsingfors will soon be-
come a charming town.

CATALANI WAS also present.
CHAMBER OF DEPUTIES, DEC. IL
M. HYDE DE NOUVILLE ascended the Tribune, and
said—" Gentlemen, it has been observed, in a speech
which appeared to produce a lively sensation, that
the blood of Kings cannot be spilled with impunity.
The '4lst of January was not only a day of mislor,
tune and horror for the French nation : it was a day
of consternation to all civilized people, and became
the horrible signal of the calamities of Europe. It
severe troubles, it .the tyranny of Cromwell, followed
the murder of Charles I. that of our virtuous bia:
narch produced the massacres of September, the ter,
ror of 1793, the factious Governments which suo,,
ceeded, the most odious tyranny, the shame, the sla•
very, the perjury, in fine, the 'violation of the sacred
altar, and the complete overthrow of Europe. You
wish, Gentlemen, that the 21st of January should foe
ever be to France a day of mourning and of expia—
tion. That the recollection of it may be to all people'
a great and eternal lesson, and that a solemn act, is
expressing the sentiments- which animate us, may ,
prove to ages to come that the blood of legitimati',
Sovereigns is always avenged by Hat who only has'
the right to sit in judgment upon Kings, I propose
that on one side of the pedestal of the statue be placed
these words—" France delivered.—To Louis XVIP
And on the other, the following declaration, with 1,
the names of all the Members of the Chamber who
shall sign the original:
" 1a the presence of GOD and of Men, we, the Deputies of
the French Nation, do declare and aKrm, that this nation, so
long unhappy and capthe, was not a party to the etecrable par •
tilde committed on the LIR of January, i 798, (a day of mourn-
lag, of ,grief, and of terror, in all time to come).
•• We swear by the blood of the most august of victims, in
the presence of Goo and of men, for ourseivei, our children,
and our posterity, and for Prince, whom Me rePresent, unshaken
fidelity to our legitimate King, regarding, as a fundamental and
sacred principle, the inalienable and imprtscriptible right of he-
reditary succession, by primovnituie, from male to male, NSW
blurted by Goo in the family of St. Louis, of Henry iV. Ili
Lows XIV.
" That whosoever amongst as ;Nall betray, or speak of be-
traying his oath, shall be declared infamous, and accused of Goo
and men."—(The signatures will follow.)
Several Members delivered their sentiments upon
this proposition, and one or two verbal amendments
were suggested. The proposition waif then referred
to the Commission to report upon it.
A 4 the 21st of Jason/ 1415 NMI a Sunday in

MARSHAL NEY.
Upon the manner in which Marshal Ney was de-
fended.
The sentence in. this important cause is now pro-'
flounced and executed, and re may therefore be al-
lowed to clear up some points without violating the
duty which we owe to the unfortunate.
The counsel tried to save the accused upon two
false grounds, one of which in particular seems to
us not to have been placed in a due light.
One of the Marshal's Counsel alleged the 12th
Article of the Capitulation, concluded under the
walls of Paris, before the Allied troops entered that
city. By this article the Duke of Wellington pro-
mised, in the name of the Allied Sovereigns, that
the inhabitants of Paris should not be molested for
their preceding political opinions and actions. Now,
says the Counsel, • my client was at that time an inha-
bitant .of Paris, therefore the Marshal cannot be,
brought to trial for his preceding actions.
The answer to this, that Louis XVIII. did not
ratify the Convention, seems to us not a proper one,
for the capitulation was executed, and might there-
fore be looked upon as ratified.
We have Tetteived, trom a source that may be
perfectly depended upon, the following explanations,
which place this affair to a clear light.
.Wheq the Allied armies were before Paris, and
threatessed to enter the capital by force, the provi-
*el Govenuntio enlscdPit.Q. Rea°4.4oo with the

111Witib ••••`•
soot clAiltsa
xba;
cution of
jectiOo tC
to repress
perbeCUti
ond high
The
Authe
I.atial gt
Mr.
szpraasii
mint on
The I
vations,
ditable
',ions In
scriptioi
that. we
OR out;
Aide.
°Po