The Mirror — Concord, N.H., 1797-11-28 00:00:00, page 2

Is an objeft of attention. Its revolution
has been recorded :—But it has not yet
agreed on a constitution of govern-
ment. The Convention lately agreed
oh a form, and submitted it to the Prim-
ary Assemblies of the Republic tor adop
tion. It has been reje&ed by a consid
erable majority. In the provinces of
Overy Briand Groninguen, it Was accept
ed ; —in those of Holland, Zealand, Gu
eldras, Utrecht, and Dutch Brabant, it
was refufed, The call of a new Conven
tion has been the consequence. The
_ rejeaion of the Constitution has been va
rib^fly accounted for. Same assert it to
/ be a consequence of the influence of the?
Orange party :— Some, beeaufe it was
impeded on the Republic, by the French ;
and others that it was too democratic.—
It appears, fays an account from the
Hague of Aug. 30, that the rejection of
the Constitution, and the abuse lavished
for some time past, by the Anarchists, in
their journals and pamphlets, on the
Members of the Convention, have con
siderably discouraged some of them, and
several, who have been re-eleded into the
new Convention,have already demanded
their difmiffion, #nd others talk of doing
^ the fame. The French retain a decided
influence over the Councils of the Re
public ; and the refuel of the citizens
to ratify the Constitution has been ft
verely remarked on by them. A very
serious dispute has arisen between the
Commissioner of the Convention on
board the Dutch fleet, and Admiral di
Winter.—ln consequence of it, the
latter demanded a hearing or difmiflal ;
the former was granted him, and he is
continued in the command of the fleet.
The force of Admiral Duncan, who
lies off the Texhis confidcred so power
ful, as to render any attempts to engage;
him quixotic; the transports which
were prepared for it naval expeditton have
therefore been hauled up, and the de
6ga of forcing a passage thro' the Eng-
*RUSSIA.'
;Having made peace with Persia, remains
nt pretent tranquil, tho'at war. Since
the Semarjmis of the North, has paid
the debt of nature, the condition of her
vassals, has, it is believed,been ameliora
ted by her successor the Emperor. Paul.
Hiscondua ioStanislaus and Kosci-
osro, was certainly generous and noble ;
and it is (aid, that in a late lift of promo-
tions he negleaed Suwar row, for the
mafl^cres he had beet )guilty of, He is
in alliance with Auftna and Great- Brit
tain, and accounts from Petersburg fay,
if the German Emperor does not conclude
the negotiating Peace with the French
Republic, he will march to his assistance
an army of 180,009 men. This is all we
knoW of Russia, at prtfcnt.
POLAND % #
Is nd more. Its ancient and extensive
territory, divided between Russia and
Prussia and Anuria, has assumed new
names ; which we do not readily reccol
led. In the interior, it is said, a serious
infurredion of the oppressed Poles, has
been suppressed. Among those who
appeared on the frontiers of Buckewine,
were Several Armenians, who wore the
tri coloured cockade. The remainder
of the insurgents passed the Danube, at
Galacz, and joined the army of General
Buonaparte, in Italy. This Gene
ral mentions incorporating a regiment of
Peles with a demi-brigade of his.
Remaining neutre, in the present broils
of Europe, are rapidly advancing in
wealth, and power. Their merchantmen
vifirevery quarter of the globe ; and
tho' many fpoilations have been made on
them, their neutrality has immenfe|y
over balanced their losses. The Kirig of
. Sweden is visiting his dominions incog
nito. , At Leipfic he lately laid, " that
Kings can only fee the truth when mask
ed."—He appears to be much beloved.
PRUSSIA.
The manoeuvres of the monarch who
governs this part ofEurope cannot be cal
culated by any common scale. He readily
joined in the crusade against Fr. & as rea
dily quitted it ; after having handled vast
firms of British money. His conduct
towards Poland is well known ; he has
lately been engaged in a fcrious quarrel
with the Emperor (as head of the Ger
manic body) refpe&iag the possession of
the imperial city of Nuremburg and its
territories : Buta letter from Brussels,
dated Aug. 23, Rates, " that the King,
feeling it his interest to be on good terms
with the Emperor, has determined for
the present not to take possession of the
city." What direction his compass will
now take, we cannot conjedure.:
THE BATAVIAN REPUBLIC
SWEDEN AND DENMAR K
Arrests the most undivided atten-,
tioo. We have lately given the
readers of the MIRROR very am-i
ple details on the fyfya or the
fate Overture therein, tye fall
therefore confine our(elves to a
brief, but we hope, accurate fetch
of iti caufe t rife god progrefer
The firft L/giflarive body, under
the prefect coafticution, was, it
will be well recollected, two thirds
felf elected : At the expiration of
a year, the people had a right of
eleaing a new third to replace
half of the above two thirds. In
this election, the people turned
their eyes on moderate men, the
lover# of peace and public happi
neft. These tpen did not coincide
in opinion with a majority of the
Executive Diredory, litho' they
formed, with others alike in fenti
meaty 4 majority of the Leg;fla
tive Councils. Hence arose w£
oufy, mistrust, and a struggle for
afcendency. In the Dite&ory,
two of it# members (Carnot aou,
Barthelemy) aged in concert with
the Councils. Several'll puffed
the Legislative bodies which the
Ditedory condemned ; particu
larly feme with refpe& to the
priefti, nobles, and others, ^ho
had fled from the Republic more
from tenor, than from enmity of
sentiment. They also txpreffed a
fe'dulbm desire for Peace ; which x
the Directory opposed as infring
ing on their prerogatives. The
Directory represented the finances
as in the most deplorable state;
and called on the Councils to take
them into consideration. The Le
gifluure did so, and refuted many
of the charges. Things ripened
daily to an open rupture between,
the contending parties. The news
papers took lides on the occasion ;
and the most flagitious and inde
cent charges were made against
both. The majority of the Rtf';
refentatives of the People were
branded as returned Emigrants, t
ex nobles, ex-priests, cut-throats of'
Lyons, Chouans and traitors —
While the Directory were Ryled
the Triumvirate, the, Catalines—
and tyrants who aimed at the de
ftruftion of the Republic, by ufur- $
pation. The armies beheld this
war of the interior with aftonilh
ment , and as they communicated^
only with the Diredory, notwith-
Bonding Pichegru addresses them
in a hand-bill, they generally sided
with the Executive.— Addresses
poured in from every division, aft
faring the Directory of the most
unshaken attachment. ^ The at-2
lith fleet, it is fappofed, is abandoned.—
Many and great complaints are made at
Amsterdam of the interruption of their
trade by the English fleet, as no vessels
arrive, except up the Briel. „ All veffcls
bound in, are flopped by the fleet, and
acquainted if they are found making a
second attempt to enter the Texel, they
will be detained. The Republic haft
thirty three ships of various sizes ty^g
in the Texel. Admiral Duncan has 20
fail of the line, including fifty gun ffiips
besides frigates. The " vidory of the
Diredory over its enemies," as it is styl
ed m Holland, has lately been Celebrated
at Amsterdam, in great splendor. Up
wards of 7000 guests were present ; and
the tpafts were every way cordial to the
present, ruling powers in France. We
hear nothing receding the American
Ministers, except that two of them were
in H Hand.
The Dutch Convention has voted an
address to the French government, re
queuing not to be condemned haftdy for
not adopting the Conftitutton. ATrea
ty offenfive and defensive with Spain
was ratified the igth Sept. Itis similar
to the French treaty with Soain.
The FRENCH REPUBLIC
tern pt to march a com m, of troops
jo Paris from Hoche's army, it
well known ;— but is not so well
known, that great desertions took
place in all the armies, counte
nanced, as was declared in the
Council of 500, by the comman
ders. Thete deserters, unarmed,
repaired to Pam, to await the cri
fia which was expeded. The
Councils complained of their pref-
ence ; but they were not ordered
to be apprehended, or to retires
The Councils became alarmed for
their fatety; and organized , guard
of about 1500 grenadieri to pro
ieA them :— But they railed them
with difficulty. At length the
crisis approached. Every thing
had been confuted, and agreed 00,
between a party of the two Coun
cils, end the rhreepirefyri- Ser,
feral military cffire/lw : re effaced,
aod new cuesepp&ted —And at
daylight on the 4th Sept, the blew,
was struck. A large bqdyof citi
zens war armed and marched to
roe halt of the two Council#
Ram I, the commander of the Ie-
giflafirt guard, was srrefied ; and
hit troops joined the' Directory'll
The alarm belli were rung ; and
the Members of the Legislature
proceeded to their pofti, but they
were occupied by foldiefa Maty
bed, and lettered themfelve# :—
Ochers attempted to meet at the
houses in the vicinity : While an
invitation was received from the
Diedory $ for the Council of 500
to meet at the Odeoa (formerly
the French Theatre) and the El
ders at the School ofHealth, both
in the vicinity of the Diredoral
Palace ; and from which the oc
cupiers were required by the Di
reapry tn remove, -"##&, pain of
rebellion." A small number of
each Council met at these places,
and resumed the Legislative func
tions.—lmmediately a decree pag
ed, for bantering from the Repub
lic (to Guiana) about FIFTY
Members of the Councils, two of
the Executive Diredory, and sev
eral of the General Officers. The
lift was declared by Bergoing, of
the Council of 500, " to have
been planned in concert with the
Government, as the Executive
Directory is ftfled. And so pre
cipitate was the measure, that on
reading it a second time, it was
declared to contain the names of
the best of patriots, and the most
early and decisive friends of the
Republic ; and Le Normand,
Thibaudeau, Doolcet, Bailly, Tar
be, and Noguir Malgay, were or
dered to be erased. When the
name of De Tore, was struck off!
In the Council of Elders, the
faftitutionality of the measure
wasQeftioned.
" 1 move," laid Lauffac, " fioce the
extraordinary events have not permitted
us to meet in the usual place, and since
the Constitution declares the mode in
which the place (hall be changed, that
we proceed in the constitutional form."
Girod PouzoL " Perhaps Liberty runs
great riflk-,we must save lift, and not
loose time in vain formalities. I move;
we proceed to butinefs." '
& The Preh&rit declared, that there
were not but iOO members present; that
26 more were 'wanting to form a quo
rums The Council, however, proceed
ed to confider the Message of the Coun
cil of 500, authorizing the Directory to
introduce within the Constitutional cir-
Clt lbe troops necessary which was ap
proved ; The, Council Qhen adjourned 0
for afew hours. At midnight the El
ders received, add approved the Resolu
tion of the 500, returning thanks to the
ti®psfer;heir good conduct. Atfeven
in the morning, they took up the report
on the baniffiment of the Members, and ;
I anaullirg the elt&Ms of toffy eight & b
p&riu@h. Girod Poclol laid, “ >h«
Committee on the t% b fea hare not been
able to procure the original eoctiwo^
.to fer/e as proofs again!! the cenfoua
tors; nevertheless they felt that the fixa
tion of the Republic required on your
part a speed, deliberation.''
Lecoulteux replied—" Ouropinions,"
said he " are required refoeaipg indi
viduals, whom it is proposed to transport.
It seems to me, that befcre we condemn
them, we ought to examine whether
those are any proofs against them r~-I
can fee none thatcanmakeuscompreh^d
many among them in the cep(piracy.-
}Shall we pronounce their banishment
upon the opinions we have beared them
express? Transportation is a terrible
punishment ; tho' it is with pleafuief
dojuftice to the m^nifeft intention of
not /hedding blood, yet I must fay, that
the punishment whichtears a citizen from
hisw^e, children end f^dly, to banish
him 2000 leagues from his ccuutry, is a
pupifliment as terrible as death. I fee
nothing in what has been IHd|>efore ug, .
-ttar&ught ;6 lead us to adopt a determi
nation.'.' ^}^
Market—" Th, quefiion is not
fufcepnbie of much difcuffiua. We are
not to examine opinions. We must
Operate from us the Chiefs of eur ene
mies. Well ! These Chiefs are the
men contained in the lifts proposed to
you. It is not now a question tocol^a
proofs, to examine opionions; it must
be known whether, in your conferences,
you think that these are chiefs of the con
spiracy ? If you do thinkfo, you ought
to save the Republic."
Regnia conjured the council to suspend
the queflion until nocn.
Lacombe St. Michel—" The ronfid
eration of the fafety of the country
ought to silence allother cor ^derations. -
I have heard [the papers read; and! fie,
a plan of conspiracy which is not doubt
ful. We know bow bad the elections
have been in the departments; we know
that assassination is organized in them.
The Directory offer you the means of
saving the country ;—And if you will
not adopt them, r hey will save it without
you. (Murmurs.) The conspiracy of
' Pichegru is clear, he has many accom
plices. No feeblenefs, Citizens, let us
think upon the obligations which the
prefect circumstances impose upon us.—
1 move that we proceed to the vote.'?
The fitting was however adjourned
until noon, during which time the
Council received a message; in which
the Diredory fay, " This day is the 19
Froaidor (Sept. 5) and the people ask
you, Citizens Representatives, where
the Republic is, and what you have done
for its confutation ? The moment is de
cifire :—lf you allow it to paG by—if
'you hesitate on the measures meafuras
which are to be taken—if you put off
your decifibn for a moment, all will be
loft, both you and the Republic." Af
ter urging the Councils to a d^cifion con
clude by faying ; —
"The Diredory has applied itfelf to
point out to you the means of saving
France, buti h^s to exped that you
will avail ycurfelvas of them. The Di
redory has felt a persuasion that you
are sincerely attached to liberty, and the
Republic, and that the consequences of
this firft liberty ought not to terify you.
It lays them before you ; and is obliged
to tell you that you are placed in an un
precedented predicament, and that or
dinary rules cannot apply to an extraor
dinary case, unless you are desirous to
surrender yourselves to your enemies—
If the friends of Kings have friends
among you : if slaves can meet with pro
teders in you ; if you wait an instant,
the fafety of France must be despaired of:
the Conftlu tion will cease to be in force ;
and the Patriots may be told, that the
hour of royalty is proclaimed through
out the Republic. But if, as the Execu
tive Directory is fully persuaded, this ter
rible idea afflias and strikes you, appre
ciate the value of the moment and em
brace it :—Be the\ deliverers of your
country, and lay the eternal foundations
ofits happiness and glory."
The message had $ desired effect,-
The refolutioni were adopted ; and the ;
Directory requeued to teke meaUres to
fee them promptly executed. ^ ^^^
^.„ ^ F°" e d Stares 04 Amen
c#, inquiry wiN readily be made,;
, Wto crimes could feeb men ^&
geneiih, orators, ted pifrioft.