National gazette. — Philadelphia [Pa.], 1793-04-20 00:00:00, page 1

To the Editor of the National Gazette.
S I R,
THE mercury of republicanism in thV
city seems to rife and tall with the
good fortune of France, and hef
liieufuofs are approved or condemned ac
cording to her victories or defeats—abfiird
as this may appear.it is too notorious to ad
mit of doubt ; but what is llill more ftrik
ingly abominable and di {graceful, is. that
the follies of the deranged and apoftati
Burke ;:.ould be acted among us, without
' even exciting that ;iu, ./nation, or contempt
v. h > t :ey txperi teed in hi own conn
try Some Envji,nmeu among us who arc
pia, r Burke in miniature forget that
they are iu thi rep'rbli: of America ; they
so. ,et that Great-Britain was the enemj
of this country and endeavoured so eliflavc
lis; they forget that the interposition of
France saved us from the chains which
England had forged for us, or they would
not dare to call our faithful allies '• out
throats and robbers."—ls the re
publican spirit of America extinguilhed,
that we will permit such language ? Are
Dot Frenchmen aflerting the fame natural
rights whichjie claimed, for which we
fought, 'jt\ to obtain which the best
blood olWjr country was Ihed ? arc w<
not fufFering a reflection upon ourselves to
alloy a set of men, wno have emigrate:
Irotn Britain to anfwtr their own private
purpoles, and to gain a coufejuence which
they had not at home, and who e,ive a pre
ference to everything that is Britilh, to vili
fy-a nation that has rendered us inestima
ble services ? Ungrateful American -, to
take those into your bosoms who would
have extirpated you but a few year ago,
and to Ihow abhorrence for men who have
alli'ted in ranking you among freemen 1
If for decapitating their king the Fie.ich
are to be branded with the character of
cutthroatswhat character do Britons
merit who set the example in the Jecolla
tion of Charles the fit ? what epithet
lhall we apply to them for the bahjlhment
of che Stuart', and the murder of Mary
Queen of Scots? if Frenchmen are to be
called " robbers'' 1 tor seizing upon property
which belonged to the nation, what (hall we
call Briton:, fa( seizing upon tkk pro
perty of the Dutch at St. eu
st at IA during the .American war. pre
vioully to any declaration of hostilities ?
Americans, Who cut the throats of your
brethren during the resolution ? Who de
stroyed them by (low and lingering tor mints
in prison flips and jails f Who burned your
tnw is, Laid ivafie your country, and rioted
upon your mijeries ? Let it be engraven on
the immortal tablets of fame, that
tons equalled savages in barbarity, and
tygers in their thirst for blood ! The pr;(on
fhipsof New-York, the jails of Philadel
phia and Charleston,' :he massacre at Pajli
&c. willatteTtthefe inhuman truths—The
French have been, they are the friends of
this country, and by admitting the applica
tion of '• tut throats, robbers, a den of
theives" we cIT ourfel-cs with them a
frientls to their cause. ai.d having, a£ted the
* fame thin j.on a finail'-.v theatre—lhatl we
fui-"er fucb v'lt language to be echoed
againlt our brethren republicans without
the notice it-defcrves j .aanld b'mih for
my country coul.j 1 for a mom it fttppofe
It. No.—America:** will no longer fuller a
set of upj'artsto t.fe the most coutunvli
ons language agai/ift a nation who are
afferjin-fthe cause of mankind, and who
arefo far the superior of Br,tons in point
of humanity, urbanity, intellect, and re
publicanifm, that the French would be in
sulted by a comparison.
THE SPIRIT OF MDCCLXXVI.
April 16—93.
XJ—a. "■*-
from the (Bojion) Independent Chronicle.
THE !atj king of France is no more !—
When the Marquis la Fayette, and the
w men, who -with him. h :d caught the fire ol
liberty in America, and had kindled the sa
cred flame infhe French nation, we exulted
inthecooqnetts of reason & common fenft
—and rrjoiced that mankind began to at
tend to their own happir.tfs. We law the
mobility of Europe—tiie clergy of na
tions, and the monarch; of all the earth
engaged against the rights of mankind.
'We were not difcour 1 ged when we beheld
every effort of the nation baffled by the in
ti i; ues of the kirg, the queen, and tfie
p. incefs Lan'deile; becanfe vye affttred
ourselves that the desperate exigencies of
liberty would find resources for them
fclvcs.
Nums. 50 of Vol. 11.]
By P. FRENEAU'. Publijlicd Wednesdays and Saturdays, at Three Dollars per annum.
When the nation had divided itfelf into
two deliberative depirtmrnts—the one at
thc Jacobin Convent, and the other at the
Dome of the Fuelliers—the former for the
support of a republic, and the latter for the
refloration of mon rchy, we were alarm
er' ;it the zeal of the Jacobins ; and though
ue liad so lately palled through the bloody
and diftrefiing of a revolution, yet
we fondly hoped to have a crown cast tc
(lie earth—a throne undermined—a nobil
ity deflroyed-—ftri execrable priefthootl ex
tirpated, wifhout a ltrUggle, or a sanguin
ary process.
The patriots of France were at last con
vinced that the king was fiipporting with
the money of the nation, the armies of the
x-princesj fie was making an attempt to
join them : It was evident that he consi
dered the oaths which he fyad taken, as by
no means obligatory. They (awth.it he
iigned all a£b, but those which tended to
the support of the partial revolution which
had been effected. No alternative was left
but those of the abolition of monarchy, pr
the deltruefion of freedom ; the former
neceflarily involved the definition of the
sing, and the latter, as neceflarily that of
theßational Assembly, with the liberty o!
rhe pewple. Thu- situated, the conftitu
ion, which the king was secretly under
lining, was openly overthrown by the peo
jle, and a conuituiidnpropofed, which w a:
rounded in the true principles of philofu
}hy. That prodticlion dot v honour to hi!
nan nature ; it is the mo'.l perfect mode
■if civil government that can ever appeal
imong men. The king at that time was
nade a prisoner. We fKH rejoiced in thf
Drogref- of freedom. Oar pulpits were
is rapt in adoration, because kings were lain
'« chains, and princes in fetters of iron.
Our papers were full of exultation at the
\irth cfafifter Republic- We openly gave
t as our opinion, that there would not be
i king in Europe at the end of ten year .
Yet we knew th it all the monarchs in j i.
ope, all the nobility of the world, and all
:hc clergy"of (hii'Jcniom, were tngagicl
igainft the French. It was the cause of
■oya'ty and hereditary dignity, that urged
hem on. What is the language of some
jf the men now, w ho w ere so very zealous,
hen -? They saw without tears or emotion,
:he (laughter in Paris, which hurried 150 c
:itizens, in an instant, from this to another
world. But when the news of the death
as the man who was unfortunately the
cause of this, is brought to us, we give up
all for 1011, and even blush at the name of
iberty. What is It that renders his blood
so very precious," but the love of royalty ?
But it is (aid that he h . d done nothing wor
thy of death—and that his tiial was not
fair. — How do we know this ? The trial
could never have been Jis it (land . ih our
newspapers.—Shall we condemn fever
hundred men, nay, a whole nation, with
i: their being heard ? A million of peo
ple, at leal, were witnefies of the unfor*
tun ate exit of Louis the Sixteent'h.
Are we to believe that a majority of those
u ere in favour of his dea:h. when thai
death was unnecefiary ? Let the m m whe
-Ondemns the measure as cruel, fanguina
•y, or unneceflary come forth an<l fliew
.hat Louis the SixteiH.t/l.was determined ta
th into private life, to become a common
itizen,' and to abandon the throne for him
" If and posterity ; and that monarchs of
iirop'e had given over the idea of reftor
ng France to monarchy, and he will fup
ioi t his objection. He ought to do this,
jr to censure the measure only, because he
loVcs monarchy, delights in royalty, and
[tefpifes republicanism.
BRUTUS.
LOUIS CAPET has loft his CAPUT. *
pROM my use of a pun, if may seem that
I think lightly ot his fate. I certainly
do. It affects me no more than tli§ execution
of another malefactor. Lefs'indeed ; be
cause knowing the comniiferation which
will ensue oil the falfe principle ofeftimat
ing highly the misfortunes' of great per
sonages, I f eel a contempt of this distinc
tion in favour of rank, and ant disposed to
commiserate less than in the cafe of some
obfeure and imp.tied rogue that goes to
the gallows* without a thought to survive
him. Because few pity him, I will be one
of those few : but in the cafe of Louis,
because therfi are so many kings, and
qiieens, and arilfocrats throughout the
wot Id to make a mountain of the matter,
I disdain to join with them, or feel pity
at all.
* Caput is the Latin word for head.
SATURDAY, April 20, 1793.
Thii tile was guilty there ran be no doubt.
It was Scarcely in human nature that he
itioulcfcnot be guilty. — Who, ever parted
with pi v'-r when he could kee it ? Some
have parted with life : fouje.witli power.
Voluntarily ? Marcus Brutus and Atticus.
wilh life : Dioclelian and Charles, with
pOwei : filicide in the one cafe, and relig
nafiqii. in the'other. But give me an ex
ample of one acquiescing l'rom the heari
in an abridgment of power, and retaining
the remainder. Pride and ambition wil
be nothing, rather than half what it .was.
A man that has been in the habit of dictat
ing every ti :ngl»ut the power of rhoughi
to tliofe of m.irtklml around him, caOim
have become fiich 3 philosopher, as to re
ducehis mind with his (late, and be fatis
lied with a refiricted controul. You inaj
as Well tame a grown up wolf, or a bear
To a terrain extent Louis wasfincere. Hf
was willing; nay anxiou to procure foi
the p. f \ .!e all the h ip;>:,"efs he could giv<
hen. . .i'er civ» that is, a cfinven
:ion ol the ftat-es, ill order to choose then
)'.va 'w. iys and means of supplying bin
i'.ith money. But he-had 110 idea of re
:rendu ig his prerogative. He was 1101
incere in the adopting the constitution
hlisoath was falfe ; his councils insidious ;
lis object subjugation by the afiifhmce 01
111biother kings, it was at stake whe
.her lis should succeed, and Lrucidatehali
1 million of fubje£ts ; or whether his fub
etfs . iould tic-capitate him. Had he fuc
eedfcl, would his "brother kings, and arif
ocra.s, have felt commiseration at a reci
il oi the tr 11 dilation of democrats ? ]S'o :
liey would have fnuffed the air that
,1 ought tile account, as if fragrant Yvilf
jdor f'-rous odours. Why then such s
i«ife even with republicans aboiutliedeath
if Louis ?
Pittfourgh, April 1, 1793.
Vfrom tkefitu-Yorfi JDI^RY.y
T OBSERVED fo:ue tlmefince, in ail ex
*• trait from the proceedings of the Houft
>f Commons in England, a l'peech of Mr.
Surke's, in'which he drew a comparifoi
jctween the revolutions of France anc
America, and aflerted, that—" There ne
rer was one deliberate murder committer
Itiring the American war." And L alfc
jbferved in one of yjnr papers an extra£l
rom an F.nglifh paper, in following
,1 ords—" A Choitaw or a Cherokee, only
wreck their vengeance npon tliofe wlic
have been found in open arms againfl
Lliem, and that only during war ; womer
*nd children are refpefled by them ant
:he hatchet is never iaken up but r.gainfl
:he maleparfof their fpes—but in France
neither age nor sex lias been refpefted.'
It isonly neceflafy to read the above tc
know, that these are the aflertions of the
tools of party, who pay as little refpeft tc
truth, as they do tothe rights and happincf
ot their fellow creatures, and whofepow
eris e,.abli,,.ed by usurpation and injustice
and t ail only be fuported by falfehood anc
oppceflioii. The aflertion of Mr. Burke'
can be proved to hefcJfe by tljoiifaiifls o:
l.vjng witnefles ; and the other i< knowi
to be a notorious lie by every child of o:ih
tea years old in America. It appears, tha
Burke and allot kites are endeavoring t<
make people beiieve that tyrants, arifto
cr tsandfav ges, are less cruel than thi
defenders of. liberty : But let us judge
from facts. During the American w:;
there were many criieltiesexercked by.thi
American:, (tho' perhaps fewer than ii
wars in general but they were done bj
individuals, andnsvcr countenanced bytln
majority of the party, nor by tliofe in pow
er ; on the contrary, they always treated
their, prisoners with the greatest humanity
But the royal party did not imitate them,
but encouraged every species of cruelty
and praiVifed it 011 their prisoners : The)
sent them to gacl, and fuft'ered them to be
hung by Cunningham the goaler, withoui
trial ! —l'hey flow ed thousands of them or
board afhip, where they died by hundred:
of a week 1 becanfe thty would net fighi
againit their country ; and their bone,
now lay bleaching on Long-Island fiiore.
(not one mile lrom this;) where these
who doubt may be convinced. /
As to the cruelties of the patriotsi-oj
France, (so much talked of) the accounts,
ill the firft place, come to us much exag
gerated by Britilh aristocrats, and they
were generally committed while the nation
was in a fete of warfare in every -depai t
ment. The Joyalilts,nobility and piitfl-.
opposing the progress of liberty ; ..;:ti tl.t
people determined to suppress tlicfe tyrants
who had so longoppreiic-d them. But the
scenes which liave drawn our principal at
tention are, the 10th of AugiHL, and the
death of Louis ; who foine people pretend
to qali innocent, but who oppoud die lib
erty of tiie people from Hie firft : Aild
every advantage they gained was by force,
and for the want of it in him.—He would
haye.butchered the people, but his soldier*
defertcd him : Tile people carried their
point, but yet they jorgave him ; and, to
prevent further bloodllied, put him at the
head of their government, and endeavor
ed to make him good n>an, by
him for what he could not prevent. Kilt
experience has proved, that kings, whol:!.e
other robber?, have imbibed bad principles
in their infancy, cannot be made good ■ ar,4
the only way to prevent their doing
;o put them to death : For v. e find'thaf
Louis, after being placed at the head of thf
government, aijrf fiveariag to maintain th'c
confUtut< 11, became a traitor to his cmit
try, and furniOiecl its mortal enemir?, the
emigrants; with money, and encouraged
them to invade their country: w inch the
patriots having discovered, and knowing
that the einig ants, Aufirians and Pruflia,.?
were approaching, mii h the vowed inten
tion of b; lltging Paris, and jullly
ing that if the executive power was left in
the hancfS,oi Lun:s, the combined armies
would ma,et with luit little oppolition-in
their way i and when they arrived, t
vvouid be too late to wrest the power from x
!nrn—they resolved upon the only expe
dient, (and the event has proved it : j I' or,
when the people aflembled on this glorious
day, which fecyred the freedom of France,
they found he had gained over theSwifs,
and part of the National guards, and that
thereAvere several thouland priefls and
aristocrats ready whenever a.favorable op
portunity faunldoSer, to draw their fworcis
againil their coontry : How dreadful then
would have been their, situation, had they
ovyu delayed tne only cefource they l ad,
-.I* the combined armies were at their
gates. $'
The mafiacre that follow ed was a mat
ter of necessity, not of choice ; the patri
ots mult crulh tlie aristocrats, or thev
tiiemfelves inuft perish : Therefore, if
there were any innocent persons perifhcd
that day, (though I have never known a
'ingle one named) their bleed n.uft be 1; id
to those who caused the necessity of tie '
measure, and to those followers oTcvtry
party who take advantage of public disor
der to gratify private resentment. and not
to the patriots. The last dQ of cruelty
imputed to them, is the death of Louis.
But, the patriots of France can no more be
called cruel for putting Louis to death,
than our laws can for hanging the chief of
a gang who had rdbbed a honfe, and when
they were opposed, murdered part of the
family: For,though he murdered no perfi n
1 im elf, yet others did it for him, and he
vidently encouraged and countenanced
them : And the lives of all those patriots
who fell on the tenth of At:;_ufl. a:,d in
oppolingthe combined armies, are ju<My
charged to this enemy cf mar, Kir.d ; who
yet was so void of remorse as to decline
when at the fcaffold, that he was innocent,
hich many good nntured peopleare wil
ling to take as. a'proof.
But fljould George, of Fnglarrcl, (that
monster, who has committed nr re rob
beries and murders than all the highway,
men who ever existed in that ifiand, and
whose name will never be mentioned by
poiierity but with detection,) be brought
into tile fame situation, he would probably
mak.e the fame plea.
The fact is, kings' confeienees are feared
by fall'e education.—Tliey are t, tight t;>"
.wok upon mankind as their propel iy. and
they traat them accordingly.
[Inserted by Desire.3
A/fR. Harris and Mr. Nicholfqn haying
met on the Banks of the Potown.; ck,
oppolite to Ceorge-To\Vn, to fet:le a dis
pute between them, on which a challenge
had pa fled, they took their ft and s at ten yai clj
diflance, and exchanged a hot fore
they fired, Mr. Harris dec sreci, " that l.e
was innocent of the charges allec'ged {-gainst
him, andflioiild he fall, heliad Jest avirit
ten declaration to.ihat pnipcie with major
Wright."—While pre .nations w ere n .
ing lor a fecund Harrs fa:d. 11 j
ajrain repeat that 1 an. innocent of the
' charges' made again!! ; rby Kr. Nici.ol
fori, and that a ' bribe' v. a; farthefl ii <,;n
my thoughts." I pon which for. Kicholf'on
[Total No. i 54. J