The Columbian informer, or, Cheshire journal — Keene, N.H., 1793-08-28 00:00:00, page 1

'[No. az. of Vol. I.]
HE Frontier of France, towards
Germany, begins at Bsfil in Switzerland,
and rurs in various directions from thence
to Dunkirk, in French Flanders. I'lKall
divide thia long line into three parts, and
confider each of them frparatcly. The
firft part goes from Bafii to Landeau, and
covers Alfatia; it is near 130 miles in
length. The lecond part goes from Lan
deau to Sedan, on the Mofeile, covers
Lorrain on the fide of the Electorate of
Treves, the Dutchies ofDeux Ponts,Lux
czabarg and Limburg : It is 190 miles in
length. From Sedan down the Meuse to
Ch&hmont, in French Flaadars,and then
to Dunkirk, gees the third part, and is
about 150 miles; io that this whole fron
tier is about 470 miles.
The firft part of this line is covered by
the Rhine, on which are placed Hanning
hen, New Brifac.S:ra.fburg and Landeau,
all which are very strong. Stratfourg has
a bridge over the Rhine ; on the back
part of Alsace runs a chain of mountains,
which separates it from the Franche Com
te and Lorrain ; the dirtance between
these mountains is from 10 to 15 miles.
An army en'eamped near Stratlburg, cov
ered by the Rhine and the fjrtre£:s above
mentioned, could with eafc prevent an en
emy from pafiiug that river, or at leah
from befiegiag any of them, and without
taking them all, he could not leparate his
army, and take winter quartets ia Alsace,
while the French hare any considerable
force encamped or cantoned in the moun
tains above mentioned. I am therefore
turprized the Adrians ever made any at
tempt on that fide ; and more so that the
French were so very alarmed at it. For
ray part, 1 am confident, thet an able
General, at the head of thirty or forty
thousand men, so far from being terrified
at the approach of an enemv, or opposing
his puffing the Rhine, would with to lee
him ffiut up between the mountains, the
river and the fortreffes ; because he would
fee the facility of preventing his repaffing
it all, and of cutting him off entirely.
The second part of the French frontier,
viz. the line which goes from Landeau to
Sedan, is very Hrong, both by nature and
art, having several Itrong places on it;
and the country before it is no less difficult,
being very mountainous, aid consequent
ly full of narrow passes. The direction of
this line is concave towards that part of
Germany ; so that an enemy who advances
©n that fide, must have his depots on the
Rhine, at Mentz or Coblentz, or at
Maeftricht and Namur, on the Meuse ; in
both cases the army, which I suppose
encamped at Landeau, can hinder him
from advancing from the Rhine, by ail
ing on his line of operation on that fide,
while another of forty thcufand men, plac
ed on the Meuse near Sedan, will prevent
an army frc:i advancing into Lorrain or
Champagne on that fide.
Whether we confider the strength of
this line, the direction of it, or, finally,
the obstacles which the country before it
offers, it will appear that no enemy can
approach it, much less attack it, with any
profped of success : afmall corps poked at
Luxemburg might indeed advance from
thence, and ravage a few villages in haste ;
but no solid enterprize can, I think, ever
be executed on that fide.
The thir^and last part of the French
frontier runs from Sedan down the Meuse
to Charlemont, from thence to Dunkirk,
and is 150 miles in length, it hasbeen
the feene of successive wars far near two
centuries, the mo£ expensive, bloody and
OBSERVATIONS on the FRON
TIER oF FRANCE.
•B, <b& lais G&x. Lloyd.
^lcfeUam^.
^^<gfri V^faV^%W/fr&^fr ^%to^ftU^ZQjfr, ^^CT^fcvfr^W^fr&hx^^l^
, THE
Columbian Informer; (
Or, C HESHIREJOUR NA L.
Printed and Published by HENRY BLAKE, & CO. in KEENE; NEw -HAMpa HIR a.
durable, of any recorded in the annals of
mankind.
This line is stronger by art than nature,
having a prodigious number of Ibong for
treffes and polls upon it; moreover it
prejedsia many places, so that an enemy
can enter it no where, without having
some of them in front or on his flanks;
his depots must be at Namur, Mons and
Toarnay. Am army of forty thousand
men, placed on the Sambre and another of
equal force about Conde, will so bridle
his operations, that he cannot advance a
itep without imminent danger; for that
which we suppose on the Sambre, by
mtfki#g fiamur, penetrates in the coun
try tQwrflfsls, &c. which will force the
enemy to retire and abandon his own
frontier. In the present Rate cf Austrian
IFlanders, and the adjacent parts of Hol
land, nothing could prevent the two ar
mies from overrunning the above mention
ed countries in one campaign.
In the war for the focceffion of Spain,
at the beginning of the present century,
ten fuccefiful campaigns broughtthe al
lies,no farther than Landrecy, not thirty
miles from the Austrian frontier; a very
inconsiderable defeat at Denain, obliged
Prince Eugene to raise the liege of that,
and in a short time abandon his conquests,
the £ wits of many yidories.
I know molt people suppose this was ow
ing to the defection of the English. Had
this never taken place, perhaps the allies
might in time have advanced to the Mar
ne, and sent parties to the Seine ; but
will any officer suppose, that any army,
marching that line from Mons, Tournay,
&c. could Separate and take win.cr quar
ters on the above mentioned rivers, while
the French Ware in poffefiion of Picardy,
Normandy and Champagne ? No it is im
possible ; the great fault of the French
Generals, when on the defenfive, was in
opposing the enemy in front, whereas
they should have operated against their
flanks.
The final event es this long and bloody
war shews the strength of this frontier, and
the prodigious resources of the house of
Bourbon. From the description we have of
the French frontier towards Germany
and Flanders, though very incomplete,
it appears that an enemy, though his do
minions were on the upper Rhine, opposite
to Alface,would find it extremely difficult,
or rather impossible, to conquer that pro
vince, from whence alone he could pene
trate into Lorrain, &c.
The second part of the French frontier,
from Landeau to the Meuse, cannot be
attacked by any German power marching
up to the Moselle, between the Rhine
and the Meuse: the event on the dif
ferent wars waged in Flanders proves the
superiority of the French ; I mean the su
perior advantages they possess in ading on
that frontier, which are indeed so very
great, that no forces can be collected and
Supported in Flanders by the house es Au
stria, the English, the Dutch, and the
German Princes, which can preserve that
country against the efforts of the French ;
most certainly the Austrians alone cannot
do it.
AND so my wife CiCELY has been
complaining of my attachment to Liberty
and Equality.
So let her do. It is my business to bet
ter myfelf ; and if she wont better herfelf,
(he ought to remain a Have, as the French
Count's Valet fays.
Oar Club Sir, is a meft refpe&able one
—it consists of Jack Shuttle, the weaver,
Jemmy Knot, the porter, Billy Barebones,
the undertaker, Tim Shaving, the carpen
ter, Ned Suds, the barber, four scene-
Las Tear of Slavery, Cobler's Hall.
Mr. Printer, —Sir,
From a late LONDON PAPER.
WEDNESDAr,AuQvst 28, 1793.
drifters, two Lamplighters, belonging to
the Drury Lane Company, Five French
Hairdriers, who can speak English, four
Jacobites, which my wife calls Jack-rib
bons, <.? French Jesuits, a Preibyterian
Parfo: A: an an:imir.ifterial paragraph wri
ter, making two dozen of the most Haunch
revolution men, that ever overturned
Monarchy and arbitrary power, and level
ed all dihinaion.
King: and Lords and other superiors are
therefore no part of nature's creation, and
they fhauld be deftreyed. Power is an u
furpatien that curbs the will, and in so do
ing is an enemy to freedom. Man in his
prefer.; Fate does not enjoy half so much
liberty as a tiger, a liori, a fox, or any oth
er wild beast, and of course he is at pref
entiu llavery.
Our principles are these. Every man is
made of fire, water, earth or air, and
these being elements common to the com
pofitiou of all men, birds, beasts and in
fers, there ought not to be any diftindion
in the world.
'Now our plan,whig is the French plan,
because the French have sent it to cur
club, and pay all eftenfes thro' our chair
man, who is # a Democrat, difgoifed as a
Fri.ch Count's Valet—l fay, Sir, our
plan isto level all Engliflimen to one
common Uandard, and make the rich till
th: ground as the poor do ; and as every
period is to be his own master, we shall
have Ao taxes —no law—no religion—no
king—no biffiop—nojudges—no lawyers,
nor ahy one to impede our will, but we
shall 90 all alike enjoying Liberty and
Equally,
A & cade and mzcuf^erei, they are
fyfleca of fiavery. Why ihould I mend
another's shoes; and why should a tailor
make a coat for a man who would not
make one tor him. We are all one flefh
and blood, as I laid before, and there is
no real difference between a dead King
and a dead Ccblcr,
I tell you plainly Mr. Conductor,
that the fulnefs of time, as our parson lays,
is come, and that this plan has long been
in agitation,and as soon as ever our friends
in France destroy the German trco;s, and
and h;ng the King of Prussia, the Empe
ror and the Duke of Btunfwick,the grey
morning of universal liberty shall open its
eyes here, and even Scotland shall laud
her dales with the enchanting founds
of Liberty and Equality ; and the un
brecched Highlands of the North become
the Sant Culottes of the South, and accor
ding to the true state of nature, explode
Galligafkings from the Breech of mankind
forever. Then shall we be happy—no
magistrates to terrify—no gallows to deter
—no taxes to oppress—no master to com
mand—no foldicrs to shove us off the ftor.es
—no cor.ftable—no bailiffs—no parson? —
no religion-plenty of porter withoutpay
ing for, and plenty of gin for nothing, ev
ery man become his own baker, his own
distiller, his own taller and his own cob
ler—O bluffed time, make haste—come,
O quickly come, thou dear companion
Liberty—and set us all free from sue ty
rannical dextrines of law, order, civiliza
tion and religion.
Our Parlon writes this letter for me, and
if my wife writes again don't insert her
nonsense, and so farewell, for you shall
never hear'again from me until the work
ed cap of Liberty is flying at the top of the
monument.
THIS faying feta the world a gad
ding—girls and boys, old women and all,
for the New Store—Timothy Cbowderbead,
who is too lazy to hoe corh, gees to New-
York, and gets a boghead of rum, a few
fans, gauzes, buttons, buckles, tapes,
ribbons, &c. &c. on a credit for fix months
From the Western Star.
He Sells Cheap ! !
CRISPIN HEEL-TAP.
Tim. is now coaxing his confine, 2nd
every idle dunce, to purchase—when an,
person that wears half a head, might knojr
they won't pay for them in fix years—but.
He fells cheap —Tim. Ghowderhead, will,
perhaps, by a deaconilh fiory; and fair
promifss (which he knows he never can
fulfil) get a new recruit next fall—after
which, friend Timothy may have leisure to
wind up his bobbin, and seek a retreat in
Canada.
Peleg Watefrat, was, by birthright 3
horse jockey of the firtt fort—He could
drink new-rum, chew tobacco, and tell
negro stories—He bought 0 d continental
horses, at thirty fhillirgs a head, at the
clofc of a campaign, that were broken
winded, fpavin'd, lore back'd, and ring
boned—kept them till spring, and, with
the aid of bis honest father, lord them to
the feme hands, for good and young— —
His cheats were known—but what of th?: ?
—'twas the universal cry, Peleg fils cheap
He then commenced merchant, full
blooded—Every eld maid in town visited
his f.ore—'twas a New Stare —he trifled
till after harvest, and he fold cheap ■
Harvest after harvest peffed, but no ha.~-
vest came for Peleg the bugs had eat
en up the wheat four years in advance —
Peleg goes to Vermont, and turns preach
er—and he fells cheap —No taxes—no fall
ry—who would net go to hear Peleg
he is a Jack at all trades—he can fay a
little of every thing—he can read wither:
spelling—tell fiories, and alraolt work
miracles—drink new-rum—chew tcb?c
ca, and tell negro stories—he does it cheap.
Peter Threfbalout, is a sturdy lad, and
might do honour to the broad hoe, cr:
ditching fpade—ft/rr has been Bailor, sol
dier; fiddler, and petty fogger, and has
twice entered the Stone Jug as a broken
merchant—But Peter always fold cheap.
Felix Mercury, mounts an old flanking
hag of a mare, with old saddle-bags fluf
fed with nostrums and boluffes, and fillies
forth a Dodor at all points—the canker
rafh and the belly-ache are vanquished
only at the smell of him : But Felix trades
cheap -^-If an old maiden chances to have
the heaves, 'tis, rem.'con. dignified wih
a polypus upon the heart If a girl has
flimfy ancles, and turns her toes in, it is,
to be sure, St. Anthony's dance, and fho
must be salivated Felix Mercury's cc
nundrums are all of his own preparing ;
and if they don't quite make th: dead live,
it is thought they will, and often do, make
the living dead—and fill he fells cheap —
Felix is a man of tolerable abilities, and
wields the bladder with 2 good deal of
eclat —'Tis conjectured, that if Felix could
be purfuaded to confine his genius within
a proper sphere, he might cut a ref,ena
ble figure at a plough-tail—But he is cheap.
N. B. A Justice of the Peace has soli
cited a post next in order to Do&cr Felix
—however, as the measure of his iniqui
ties remain as yet unfilled, he must Hand
for the present.
From the Connecticut COURANT.
MefTrs. Hudson and Goodwin.
oß'/defire of the parents of the child
decoyed in the tragical fecae at Winton
bury in the town of Windfer, on the 20th
of July inst. and others whole attention
was commanded, you are requeued to pub
lish in year next paper —That Ezekiel
Case the perpetrator of the horrid crime,
had dwelt in the house of Mr. Ackley a
bout ten weeks next preceding ; and had
been there employed as journeyman at the
fheemaking bofinefs: That in the fame
family,a filter of his, an amiable and wor
thy chara^er aged about 34 years, had re
faded as a nurse and houfe-laborcr about 3
weeks—in the course of which he had dis
covered upon several ocsafions, an inimi
'cal disposition towards his filler. Thaton
the morning of the fatal day, he arofr
[Whole No. 22 ]