The Columbian informer, or, Cheshire journal — Keene, N.H., 1794-07-22 00:00:00, page 1

(^ filming is the brief, but com,re
henfive ^Q oj M. Dumouricr's Life, made
Atmore interring, as bring witters by bim
flf-frfw men havefilledfo large afpace in
human attention, and jevcer jlili can have ag
itated mere rhe "various and o„ofie emotions
of hope andfear of admiration and contempt !
^-Gallant he undoubtedly was, and with an
enable difdam of pefoal danger, be never
failed to 'exemplify, until bis fall, resource:
"ac hfs rare of frff rate intellectual parts.]
IL HE following month (April 1794)
By age wHib„;.~ Is it imaginable that
I.can wish, my concealment perhaps scan
dalous, toget a few days mort of uneasi
ness, of bittffneG and.fhamez & •
I was born at Cambray, irt the „ar
1739. My family were noble, but not
rich. My father wes a.very knowing; a
fery viltuoue irqn. t^y education was
right, both as to ftrißnefs arid extent; and.
when 18 resold, in 1757/1 went into
the aripy as my trade% There I was dif
.tinguifaed without delay !—when I was
22 years old, 'I had the military order
(LaCroix de St. Lodis) and ray Strands
like tp, yeaas, were it.•
• In 176$ was the peace. Then I btgan
to travel, with-a view for languages and
manner;; "for moral- p^olophy ever, was
my favorite theme. Thence sh^. v ^g.B°.
fc4 French fvgifos have imagined
that Iwas occupied as a spy for the then
Administration of France ; as if there had
been in Greece such vermin as them, (les
Marquis) they would not have said the
fameof Pythagoras and Plato!
In 1768, I was recalled from 7, pain,
and sent to Corsica, where I was raised to
the rank of Col. after the two campaigns
of 1768 and 1769.
In 1770, the Due de Choiceul Cent me
to Poland, Miniver to the Confederates ;
2nd I was in two campaigns, and in nego
tiations, of no fraall magnitude, I was
the leader, with various faccefs. As the
affairs of Poland were ill-considered, that
revolution ended ill !—a partition of that
country ensued.
In 1773, the Marquis de Montagnard,
the war Minister employed mein his de
partment ; and at the end of that year he
lent me, by order of Louis XV. to Swe
den, on the revolution which had hap
pened.
Titis employment, on which ! had my
orders direct y from the King, was known
tc the Duc d'Auguillon, the Minister for
Foreign affairs. He had me arrested at
Hamburg, and conduced to the Bafiile in
2771 !
' Louis XV. naturally weak and inciden
tally weakened more by his mistress La
Dubarry, and his Minister, disgraced the
virtuous Montignard ! concealed tbe part
fee bimfolf bad taken in fending me to Swe
den, and left me exposed to a criminal
process, which the Due d^Auguillon had
began; but doubting ofits being tena
ble, had net dared to try. At fix months
end I was exiled to Caen for three months !
In 1774, Lous XV died. D'Auguil
lon wasdifgr^ced. I wrote to Louis XVI.
defiringto be, removed from Caen to the
Baftile, and tb be tried. The three min
isters, de Ndy, de Vergennes, and de
Sartines, where my Judges, and they
zttefted, thqhardfhips of my case, that I
Lad been persecuted urjuflly.
As Colonel I was sent to Lille, with
the new military maneuvres the Baron
de Perfch had brought from Prussia—with
s project of reform for the river Lytand
["No. 17. of Vol. ll.]
toghvfi&4fr,V^> ^g3>^
FROM X LAZE ENGLISH PAPER.
M. DUMOURIEIVS LIFE.
bittyGcUcUfllj.
•°. THE,
Columbian Informer ;
Or, C HE S HIRE JOURNAL,
PRINTED and PUBLISHED- BY HE NRrBLAK E, & CO. iv KEEN E, New-Hampshire.
•'TUESDAY, July 22, 1794.
^hvffi v4^ wfffavfa vfrd vfr&dftwi%&fo<#%
On the suppression of the Military com
mandants I went to Paris. There I
made the Revolution my study. The Prin
ces, by running away had hurt the King's
cause. The Veto I saw would be useless,
and might be fatal. Though not a Legif
lator,l endeavoured to undo it, as far as I
could.
In 1791, I had the command, from
Mentz to Bourdeaux. The war, a war of
religion, then raged in the Vendee.—
The religionists were burning all before
them. I fared every thing ; I quieted all,
another plan then in agitation, fora port
it Ambteteufe. Ou there occupation# 1
parted 1774 2n d 17'ty °• „ „
- Ira 1776 1 was King's Commifltintry
with the Chevalier D'Oify, a Captain of
a ship. and Field Marfhaf de Roziere, a
celebrated military Engineer, on a furve,
of the Channel, far the coLftiudion of a
new Port.
The year 1777 flived in the country,
eighty miles fym Paris. It is tKe/nly
year of repose Ihave had. At the end,of
it there happened the American war, a# I
had foretold. Aad I was accordingly sent
for by the w#r Miniller, M. de Mpnt
bakez.
In 1778, I had the command at Cher
bourg,which appeared to me moft/avjjrable
for a port on the channel ;' and ai'dcd.b,
the zeal, the aOivity, and the kntwn char
acter of the due d'Harcourt, who had the
government of the province, we decided
the point, above a hundred years disputed,
viz.—Thar far a military port, Chcr
b°ujg was preferable to La Hogue. From
thaitime to 178^,' I was wholly occupied
here, and nevermore than three jimes at
Paris. •
Pcrfonally I have gained nothing.—!
was among the field Marfhab. I was sure
of being Lieut. Gm. of having a red rib
band and a command. I had 10,00 livres
(tool, fterling)a year. That was enough
for me. But I saw the fate of France
di(honorcd without, ruined within. A
destiny, of which Ministers, by my me
morials had been long forewarned 1
The year 1789 was glorious by the Re
volution ! Where I was, it altogether was
rational and mild ; for, without trenching
upon liberty, every excels of liberty into
licentiousness was punished by law, even
unto death.
And he then addsn with, which may
extend rather wholesomely to some other
countries on the continent, where there
have been certain ingenious gentlemen,at
the top cf life, with such a flare of talents
and sccomplifhments to earn a mental
livelihood, that they would not have been
certain ingenious gentleman at the bottom
of life. The with is,that every man,who,
by luck of birth, cf wealth, of place,
may bcpllcd to {tipport the fame and wel
fare of a country, may render himfelf
qualified, by 6milar studies and similar
labours ; and then Revolutions will be no
more ;
Cherbourg, when „I -found it, had but
7300 inhabitants ! When I left it,the pop
ulation was 20,0,0.
The vagabond French fugitives have
dared to add, to the former calumny of
m, being a spy, incther imputed infamy,
vii—of intriguz? in the war-office 1
Though inshe whole period of a dozen
years, ardall my journies taken together,
my fay at Paris did not amount to fix
months ; and during that time I had very
Some important negociations.
The creation of a town and port.
And twenty years spent in travel,
and in the Rudy of languages and poli
tics.
little fefiftt to Verfeillea.
Thus*,, to recapitulate, the account is 4b ;.
Twenty-two wounds in battle ;
Six Campaigns in Germany ;
Two ditto in Corsica.
Two ditto in Poland ;
b&MOuniER the continues 1
till February 1792# when I was called to
Paris, and named Lieut. Gen. and Minis
ter for foreign affairs.
With the war, they reproach me. It
was inevitable. It had existed long before.
For the rest, my opinion was for de
claring war ! The King was for it too !
[he King net only read my report to the
r'ffembly, but hetorrefied it ; the correc
tions are in his owo hand writing, and his
own speech was writen by himfelf.
At three months end, confounded by the
fußioas which raged, and failing of the
King in council to fan&ion two decrees,!
wiflicd to retire. Retirement was refufed.
I changed the administration by the King's
order, and took the department of war.
But finding that the court had deceived
^e,l would not be the Minister of intrigue:
I foretold to Louis and his wife every evil
!>hich awaited them, and in three days I
'resigned. The vagabond fugitives (Lea
Emigres} have said that I was turned out ;
;it :s a lie. I resigned my place, though
Louis was urgent that it might be other
wj e ; though for two days together he op
posed my resignation ; and though when 1
departed, he mingled hi- tears with mine.
The war has been splendidly fuccefsful to
the French. If the French had (hewn equal
wisdom and virtue, peace would have re
turned long ago ; Louis would have lived ;
there had beer, no anarchy ; but France
had been glorious and happy in her con-
Hituticn.
" 1 believe in one God, and no more ;
and I hope for happiness beyond this life.
'' I believe the equality of man, and I
believe that religious duties consist in do
ing justice, loving mercy, and endeavour
ing to make our fellow creatures happy.
" I do not believe in the Creed protef
fed by the Jewish church, by the Roman
church, by the Turkish church, by the Pro
testant church, nor by any church that I
know of. My own mind is my own church.
" All national inftitutiopa of churches,
whether Jewish, Chriftain, or Turkish, ap
pear to me no other than human inventions
set up to terrify and enslave mankind, and
monopolize power and profit.
" I do not mean by this declaration to
condemn those who believe otherwise, they
have the fame right to their belief as I have
to mine, ^ut it is necessary to the happi
ness of man, that he be mentally faithful to
himfelf. Infidelity does not consist in be-
Living, or in disbelieving : It consists in
profeffing to believe what he does not be
lieve."
Such is the rapid Sketch cT my exifter.ee;
a Sketch which may fuffice, if! cannot fin
ifh the work and give it to the public.—
Adieu 1 [ny worthy friend. This is an
important letter ; & as such it foothea me;
here it is*, I wait without inquietude, the
wifies of the Emperor, and decisions of
r^tte 1 M< chara^'er /bill assert irfeff,
and instead of weakening; Ihall strengthen
by miffiap. I shall be at all times, my
felf.
This production displays in full fierce
all the qualities that characterize Mr.
Paine's other writings^ and proves that his
mind is neither impaired nor embarreffed
by the events passing around him, or by
what he himfelf may have fuffcred. As few
of our readers will have an opportunity of
feeing the work itfelf, we insert
•' As several of my colleagues, and 0-
thers of my fellow citizens of France, have
given me the example cf making their
voluntary and individual profeffion of
faith, I a!fo will make mine ; and I do
this with all the sincerity and franknefs
with which the mind of man communicates
with itfelf.
Being an investigation of true and Fabu
lous Theology.
BK THOMAS ^AINE.
THE AGE OF REASONS
Ma. PAINE's CREED. ^
Sundry QUERIES are circulat
ing in Newspapers ; among others this ;
Wasfa created jubfantiaily, or an unavoid
able confluence proceeding from those good
Merits which " Were all very good ?"
We know there are feme, who will think
in spite of the world ; and we know the
world will out vote any man whose name
begins with /. No man may be allowed
to (peak in the firft person, for it is faying
the fame a,,/ am all the world, and mean to
have a casting vote, if all the world fficuhl
oppose my opinions; and forthwith her
ladyship infamy will save him as hand
somely as any guillotine 1 believe that
man was made at the firft in the image cf
God, that is, the fovercign people with
whom I worship the Sovereign of the U
niverse, believe so; and without depute
they believe right. Now the fovercigu
people believe that Adam left this image
of God, and after that, all mankind were
made in theimagc of the devil, and 1 be
lieve the fame ; that is,the sovereign peo
ple believe it: That they believe a lie is
very evident, but the royal /fivaltows me
up, my vote is just nothing at all. Great 1
has'a creed, and all the reason that little
faithlefs i is out ofheil is because he is
numbered with these who fepport his maj
tf, without grumbling. Satan's leaving
his " own habitation" was thefirft breach
of order that has ever been heard of in this
ManGon of the Universe; and this was the
hatching of the fnafe that poifor.szhe world
ofmankind, even fa 'When man broke
out of order the breach was called fa. So
then it Appears that fin was not created
.fabfantially, nor r.n unavoidable confe
quenre ftocceding from thole f nd corks
which " AVcre all very, good" When
English men began to make Eng?Uh words,
they called the nature of man humanity,
meaning the native turn of his mind, or
good will. But now a days, the fame is
called mere devilish good nature.
HETER-OD-OX.
NEW-MILFORD, (Cenne^ieuf) JUNE 24.
LAST Thursday week, we were vifit
rd with the most tremendous Torna
do, ever known in these parts or perhaps
in America. It entered this town a little
below the northwest corner, and proceed
ed a few degrees fouth cf east:
Several intelligent gentlemen have pur
faed its path through this town, and made
at accurate observations as ihe confuted
ruins will permit. Its bieadth,t a medi
um, was about 60 rods varying according
to the Situation of ground, widest in val
leys.
Happily for us it passed through a tra&
not the most thickly inhabited. The hav
ock it made with timber is indescribable.
The ftardieft oaks and toughest walnuts,
with every other tree in its way,arc proft.
For the Columbian Informer, &c.
Messrs. Printers, you will oblige one
of your readers, by inferring the following
SYLLOGISM.
IS it confident with the Divine nature,
that man should will the good of his
fellow men ? Then must it not follow that
it is consistent with the Divine will, that
man should use his endeavors to effed the
happiness of his fellow men? If so, what
shall we^afonably expeft will be the final
event, as it refpe—s that infinitely benevo
lent being, who hath both the disposition
to will, and power to effe& their Imppi
nefs ? To will their happiness, and not to
effed it, would argtie weakness and im
perfection—and not to will nor effect their
happiness, would argue malevolence, nei
ther of which can be attributed to Deity.
For tie Columbian Informer, &c.
HURRICANE.
[Whole No. 6,.]