National gazette. — Philadelphia [Pa.], 1793-06-08 00:00:00, page 1

Gen. DUMOURIER's LETTER
to the French Ration, dated Bat/u of St.
A>nand, April 2, 1793.
[Continued our laj} and concluded]
T ICENTlOVSNESSandexcefsfoonren
tiered it impossible to support the yoke
of a cojiltirution that gave laws. The tri
bunes influenced the aiii-'tubly of represen
tatives and were themselves awed by tlie
dangerous club of the Jacobins at Paris.—
• Thf ftrife between the two powefs became
at length a daily combat. Then was the
equilibrium de'.troyed—Francs cesifed to
have 1 kingi; and the victory of the 10th ot
August was foiled by tlie atrocious crimes
ot the firll days of September.
All the departments, but more especially
the wretched city of Paris, were delivered
np to pillage, to denunciations, proscripti
ons, and No Frenchman, the
aS'ailins ami their accomplices except-,
ed, had either his li: - or his property in
fecurityl The coiiflernation ot slavery
was augmented by the clamourous orgies
of villains. Bands of pretended Federates
ran through and laid waste the depart
ments; and of the seven hundred indivi
duals who composed this tlefpotie body,
four or five hundred groaned aud decreed,
and decreed and groaned, exposed to the
exterminating sword of the Marats and
Robefpierres. It is thus that the unfor
tunate Louis the iwcteenth perilhed, with
out a judicial trial, and without a tribunal:
and'tis thus that the decree of the 19th of
November has provoked all nations by
holding out to them our aid, provided they
will consent to disorganize theml'elves.
'Tis thus that the unjult and impolitic de
cree of the 15th of December has alienated
from us the hearts of the Belgians, has dri
ven us from the Netherlands, and would
have brought about the maiTacre of our
whole army by this nation provoked at
our outrages and our erimes, if I had not
saved that very army by my proclamations.
*Tis thus that a decree eftablilhed the bloo
dy tribunal which places the lives of the
citizens at the mercy of a final! number of
iniquitous judges, without recourse or ap
peal to any other tribunal. 'Tis thus that
during the lait month all the decrees have
been marked by the (lamp of insatiable av
arice. bv the blindest pride, and more es
pecially by the desire of maintaining pow
er, by calling to the mart important polls
of the Hate 110 other than daring incapa
ble and criminal men, by driving away or
murdering men enlightened and of a high
character, and by supporting a phantom of
a republic which their errors in adinini
ftration and in policy, as well as their
crimes, had rendered impracticable. These
leven hundred individuals despise, detell
calumniate and revile each ottier ; and have
already, and that frequently, thought oi
poignarding the one the other. At this
jmotnent their blind ambition has impelled
them to coalesce afrcfh ; and bold crimina
lity allies itfelf to feeble virtue, to preserve
a power as unjust as it is unfteatly. In the
mean time, their committees devour ever)
thing, that of the national treasury abforb
inp the public funds, without being able
to render any account of the expendi
ture.
What has this convention done to main
tain the war it has provoked againlf all the
powers of Europe?
It has difbrganized the armies, instead
of reinforcing and recruiting the troops oi
the line, and the ancient battalions of na
tional volunteers, which would have form
ed a refpettable army. Inltead of recom
pensing these brave warriors by promotion
andpraifes, these legislators have left the
battalions incomplete, naked, disarmed
and discontented. In the fame way have
they treated the excellent cavalry ; and
* the brave French artillery is in the fame
manner exhaufled, abandoned, and ir
■want of every necellary. They notwith
flanding, create new corps, composed ol
the fatellihes of the second of September,
and comma.-.ded by men who have never
ferred, and who are in no other way to be
dreaded unlefsby the armies they surcharge
and disorganize. The convention facri
fices every thing to these satellites of tyran
ny, to these cowardly headloppers. The
choice of officers, and that of administra
tors, are in every particular the fame :
we fee thoughout the tyranny which flat
ters the wicked, because the wicked alone
can support tyranny :—And, iti its pride
and its ignorance, this convention orders
the conquest and disorganization of the
whole universe : it fays to one of its gene
rals, go and take Rome—and to another,
Numb. 64 of Vol. ll.]
By r. Flt ENEAUi (at No. 209, Mark«t Street) Pub'ijhid Wednesdays and Saturdays, [Three Dollars per annum.]
sally forth and subdue Spain —to the end
that despoiling commiflioners, limilar to
those horrid Roman proconsuls againfl
whom Cicero declaimed, may be sent thi
ther. In the worst season of the year, it
fends the only fleet it poffefles into the Me
diterranean, to split and founder on the
rocks of Sardinia; whilst it exposes thr
fleets of Brest to the fury of the storms,
by fending them in qnelt of an Englilh
Seel that has not yet left its port.
In tile mean time a civil war spread
through all the departments. Some ot the
mfurgents are excited by fanataciim th;
neceilary effect of perlecution; others,
3 y a n indignation at the tragical and trmi
ffs end of Lotlis the Sixteenth ; and fl
eers, filially, by the natural principle of
,-efifting persecution.
Arms are every where taken up ; mur
iers every where committed; and every
■vhere are pecuniary supplies and proyili
>ns intercepted: Ihe Engiifli foment
hei'e troubles ; and will, by tneirfuccours,
"apply fuel to them at their pleafurc.
toon will every one of our corsairs difap
>ear upon the ocean, soon will the fouth
;ru departments cease to receive supplies
>f corn from Italy aud Africa ; and alrea
ly have those from the North and from
-iinerics been intercepted by the fquadroni
jfthe enemies. Famine will annex itfelf
o all our fcourg*»: and tiie ferocity ot
iUr canibals will but increase with our ca
amities.
Frenchmen! we have a rallying-point
•vhich can ftifle the monster of anarchy ;
tis the conflitution we swore to maintain
n 1789, 90. and 91 • 'tis the work of a free
>eople, and we fha.ll remain free, and (hall
•ecover our glory, by resuming our conili
ution-
Let us display our virtues, more efpeti
dly that of mildness : too much blood has
)een spilled. If the nionfters by whom
we have been diferganized chufe to fly, let
is leave them to meet their punilhmerr
>lfe where if they do not find it in their own
orrupted hearts; but if they wifli to fup
jort anarchy by new crimes, then shall the
irmy punifli them.
In the generosity of the enemies, we
lave so grievously outraged, I have found
he security of external peace. Not only
lo they treat humanely and attentively
)iir wounded, sick, and prisoners, who
"all into their hands —and all this in despite
if the calumnies spread by our agitators to
ender us ferocious—but they engage to
"ufpend their march, not to pass our front
ers, and to leave to our brave army the
ermination of all our internal diifenti
jns.
Let the sacred torch of the love of our
:ountry awaken in us our virtue and our
:onrage I at the bare name of constitution.
:ivil war will cease, or can no longer ex
ist unless against certain malevolent men
who will no longer be supported by foreigr
lowers. These have 110 hatred to any o
thers among us, except our factious crimi
nals, and desire nothing more ferventlj
:han to restore their esteem and friendflii}
to a nation whose errors and anarchy di
[furb and trouble all Europe. Peace wil
be the fruit of this resolution; and the
troops of the line, as weft at the brave na
tional volunteers, who, for thefpaceof;
year, have offered themselves as willing
'ucriiices to liberty, and who abhor an a r
=hy, will repofe'in the bosom of their fa
milies, after having accomplilhed this no
ble work.
As to myfellF I have already made ai
aath, and 1 repeat it before the whole na
:ion, and in the presence of all Europe
that immediately after having effected t'n<
"afety of my country by the re-eftablifn
ment of the constitution, of peace andgooc
arder, I (hall abandon every publicfunftion
and (hall seek in solitude the enjoyment oi
the happiness of my fellow-citizens.
The General in Chief of the French Army,
DUMOURIER.
Baths of St. Amand, April 2, 1793;
From the NEWPORT MERCUR Y•
TO all those who are pleased to fee the
French nation emancipate thenifelves
from a government too preposterous and
corrupt to be any longer tolerated —To all
those who are anxious and fearful for their
fucccfs, in a struggle the most daring, the
molt dangerous and virtuous, that was e
ver made by any portion of the human
race, at a moment when their whole hori
zon ("eems darkened with enemies—BK IT
KNOWN, that this fame FrencU uation
SATURDAY, June 8, 1793.
have heretofore fought anil conquered
against this fame combination of foes :
"January l6tb, 1692, At the Congress
of the Hague, confining of the princes ot
Germany, the Imperial, the Englifli, Ita
lian, Spanish and Dutch ministers, a decla
ration was drawn up, wherein they so
lemnly protested before God, that their in
tentions were never to make peace with
Louis XIV. until he had made reparation
to the Holy See for whatever he had acted
against it; and till lie had annulled and
made void all those infamous proceedings
against the holy father Innocent XI : or till
he had reltcred to each p«rty ail he had-ta
ken from them since the peace of Munftrr
—Nor till he had restored to the Protelt
ants of France all their pofleilions and
goods, and an entire liberty of cohfcieilce
—Nor till the e'ftatcs of the kingdom of
France {hould be eltablHhed in their anci
ent liberties; so that The clergy, the nobi
lity, and the third eflate m'rglit enjoy their
ancient & lawful privileges — Nor till their
kings, for the future, fliould be obliged to
call together tilt.- said eltates when they
delired any supply, without whom they
Ihould no: raise any money 011 any pre
tence whatever, and till the parliaments of
that kingdom were restored to their jult
rights.—And the confederates jnvited the
fubjeils of France to join wi'h them in
f'lis undertaking, for lettering them to
tkeir rights h id liberties; threatening rll -
ir and devaflation to thole that refi<led.'
B it how much the French government re
• rded this threat, the tollowing lads
« ill Ihew.
"April loth, 1692, Mons was furrcn
dered to the French*
" June sth, 1692.' The town of Namur
surrendered to the French*
" August: A battle was fougbt at
Steinkirk, the confederates were comman
ded by king William in person, and the
French by the duke of Luxemburg —"1 he
jnfederates were forced to retreat with
ftie loss of several Uioulr.nd brave oi .cers
and soldiers.
" June 16th, 1693- Admiral Rook with
:wenty-three men of war, having the Tll r
key fleet under his convoy, was attacked
uff cape St. Vincent by the whole French
leet, under tlie command of Admiral
Tourville ; twelve Fnglilh and Dutch men
of war, and above sour-score merchant
men were taken or dcflroyed by the
French.
" July E9th. The confederate army
commanded by king William, was entire
ly defeated by the French, under the com
mand of Luxemburg, at Landen, ill Bra
bant.
" September 24th. The French under
he command of Monsieur Carmat, defeat
ed the confederates, under the command
:>f the Duke of Savoy and prince Eugene,
it Marligiia, near Turin,
" June Bth. The English fleet with a
Dody of land forces on board came before
Brest in France, and gen. Talmarlh land
ed with the firft five hundred men, w here
they found such batteries and entrench
ments that they retired immediately to
;heir ihips ; br.t the tide going out, the flat
joata ltruck upon the ouze and were not
ible to get off, and most of those that land
ed were killed or wounded, and among
:he reft general Talmarfli biuifelf was
mortally wounded, and died at his return
to Portsmouth.
May 26th. The French made themselves
masters of Cathagena, in America, from
which admiral Ponts brotight away with
him to Franca the value of twelve millions
of crowns, according to the Spaniih ac
count,
" July 26, 1697. The earl of Portland,
and Marflial adjulled the differ
ences between king William and the French
king near Brufl'els, without the privity of
any of the allies, w.hu were treating at
Ryfvvick : And September it, tha peace
wasfigned between France, Great-Britain,
Spain, and Holland, and ratified by king
William at Loo the 15th. King William
concluded this peace, without the concur
rence of the emperor and tne empire,
and left them to contend alone with
France."
Thus did this nation (who at that time
werefpoken of by the English as ragged,
hals-starved Frenchmen, fed on fiog-foup)
defy and triumph over a combination oi
enemies neqriy equal to the present, and
upon thefume ground-
From this piece of hiftoi y, the friends
of France, of humanity and equality, njay
learn two important points. Fnit, that one
hundred yearsago,tlie miferiss &fufferings
of the French nation, from a cruel govern
ment and policy, was not a mere vulgar
notion, but a real grievance, that employed
the councils ant! arms-of nearly alt Europe
to redress it. And secondly, that this
fame French people, under this cruel go
vernment, badly cloathed and fed, by'diut:
of numbers, bravery,'activity and iugenui
ty, \\ ere a match for England, the emperor,
and the princes of Germany, the Dutch,
Italy, and Spain—Good Heavens ! of wljat
contradictions are men capable:—ln the
year 1692, the princes of F.urope pledged
themselves to their god and ro eaehother,
that they will reform the abuses of French
government, and mend the condition of the
people, bur are not able to do if. Thi;
French groaned under these increasing a
buses one hundred "years longer, and then
(jreuk their chains. And lo ! these f3ine
princes combine, with the molt Herodian
K rocity, to exterminate the people of
France, for doing of thenifelves, and for
thenifelves, what these princes wished and
attempted in vain to do for them. Kings
and hereditary princes, irom Pharoah and
Kehoboam, down to the Frederick's and
George's of our time, have been just as
beneficial to the human race, as fchool
iioys have been to the race of fparrovv?
They have killed more men by kindness,
iii adminiltering the benefits of a'good go
vernment, than havJ been destroyed by fa
mine, pelfiTence, ea/thquakes, and every
other scourge to.which men are liable.—
Our late moll gracious sovereign, in the
richnofs of his cleitiency, and the fulnefs
uflijs royal mercy, put about 150,000 of
liis very good fubjeftsin America to death,
to convince them how to live comfortably,
and alter all failed of conviilion. The
present combination of princes in Europe,
actuated by the noble and godlike motive
nf bettering the condition of mankind, are
about to teach the molt polilhed and en
lightened nation in the world, that they
are wholly unable to manage their own
affairs ; and that they mull receive a good
plan of government from them, viz. AH
[he natives and inhabitants of France, to
be divided into three grand divilions; the
firfr,an hereditary nobility ; the fecond.fol
ilieri; and the third commoners, or fieri
?tat ; in plain language, hewers of wood,
and drawers of water ; so that every com
mon man in France lhall have two masters,
the one called a civil officer or matter, who
holds a pen and paper, and marks down
low much he mull pay to government a
year; the second, called a military officer,
chat is an uncivil mafier, who carries a
tiayonet, and pricks him on in cafe he don't:
jay in season. The two firft divilions are
.0 eat the egg, the third eAate the fliell
and the bruth ; the two firft divisions will
t>e taught to fight and read, and keep the
third to hard labour and poor living. Butt
we trull, and sincerely believe, that the
wit, activity and bravery, that have main
tained their territory and reputation a
midlt furroundhig 'enemiej for ages past,
will dill support them, to verify by prac
tice and example the truth of that potition,
made by one of their own writers, thau
mankind may be happy without kings.
No. J.
COOL REFLECTIONS RET. ative Tt»
THE FRENCH REVOLUTION.
Mr. Kreneav,
■"pHE affairs of France, the late measure
of putting the king to death particu
larly, have produced much diflerence of o
pinion in the world ; so that some who
wi 111 well to the true happiness of mankind,
but have not the time or the means of ex
amining the matter for thenifelves, are at
a loss how the revolution ought at prefect
to be viewed, or what should be the right;
difpolitiyn and feelings of this country to
wards that. To this temperate descripti
on of lionert citizens I ihaM offer, for their
conlideration, a few thoughts 011 rhe fub
jett founded on fa£ts, and dictated by rea
son and morality. Infodoingl ffiall en
deavour to keep in the line of true liberty,
equally defpiling the hard-hearted sons of
arrillocracy who seek to crulh it, and dis
regarding the hot-headed promoters of
levellil'm. if any such there be, who would
run into anSoppolite extreme.
Rel'pecting the lentence against the un
fortunate Louis, I would oblerve, that the
tlilFererfce in convention was not occa
fuined by any appearing do tibtfulnefs of kis
[Total Numb. 168.]