The American herald of liberty — Exeter, N.H., 1793-06-11 00:00:00, page 1

the 28th of March, addressed to Bou r nonville,
in which he gave an account of the retreat of the bo
dy of the army under the command of Generals
Neiully and Ferrand, who by the defertidn of
a great number of volunteers, were obliged to evac
uate the city of Mons during the night of the capitu
lation of Gen. Marasse,. military commander of
Antwerp, who, by that method, though not the mbit
honourable, yet, indifpenfibly necessary, laved a bo
dy of 10,000 men. ~ln these letters, Dumourier
describes the arm^ as in the greatest disorder, and
not having provisions for more than ten days : He
fays, that the pretended fuccours of men, from the
departments of the North, consist only of old men
and children, who, so far from being ufeful, serve
only to increase the confufion and consume the pro
visions. He declares, that if order and discipline,
be not restored —that if fifty authorities, each more
absurd than the other, continue to direst all political
and military operations, France is loft ; he, declares
that he, with a small number of brave men, would
bury themselves under the ruins of their country. —
Dumourier concludes this melancholy representa
tion of the state of affairs, by faying, 1 have always
affirmed, and I repeat, that a republick can only be
founded on virtue, and that freedom can be main
tained only by order and wisdom.
Cambac e r es, after having read these letters of
Dumourier, gave an account of the proceedings
of the Commissioners of the Executive Power.
Arrived at Vahncienes, they learned that Gen.
Dumourier was at Tournay.
. They repaired thither,. and found him with Ma
dame Sillery, with Pamela, Egalite, and Va
lence. He.was surrounded with deputation^ from
the diftrift of Cambria. The interview was violent.
Dumourier expressed himfelf in terms of infeftiye
against the Jacobins. “ They will ruin trance,” said
he t But I will save it—though they f haul d call me a
Casar, a Cromwell, a Monk." The Commillioners
carried the conversation no further. they departed
and returned the next day, determined to diffembie,
in order the better tb dilcover the extent of his
views. Encouraged by their overtures, Dumou rier
no longer kept any bounds. He said, that the Con
vention was a herd of ruffians, whom he all, equally
held in abhorrence. That all the volunteer^ were
■ poltroons —but all their efforts would be ill vain.-—
“As for the rtjlf added he, “ there fill remains a
party —-the Jacobins have only£o cover with their bodies
the furvivoiy of ihe Fioyal Family, and to dismiss the
. Convention. If the Queen and her children are threat
ened, I will march to Paris $ it is my fixed intention :
the Convention will not exf three w^efs. longe*.”
m —cx^xAltfioners afleed him, by whaf means he
r ’'•■'-ntion ? His anfwar was.
2. That the Minister at War shall instantly fetout
to examine the state of the Army of the North.
3. That our Commissioners, Members of the Con
vention, Ihall repair to the said army with power
to suspend and arrest all Generals and Military Offi
cers whom they shall fufpeft, and bring them to the
bar.”
MELINEt, reid a letter, stating, that from In
grand to Maure, the left bank of the Loire was cov
ered with insurgents, who, to the number of 300 c,
had entrenched themselves with 36 pounders, and
had erefted batteries. They had, however, been at
tacked' —two hundred of them were killed, and 300
who had been made prisoners, were massacred by
the patriots. After this the insurgents returned in
greater force, and took 85 patriots prisoners. The
letter added, that it was much to be apprehended
that the Englilh would take advantage of these dis
orders, for the rebels who were commanded by ex
perienced Chiefs, were continually Ihouting out fl
uent les Anglois.
A deputation from the Municipality of Paris, re
euefted freely justice on Gen. Dumouri er, and all
those, who like him, wiffied to lessen the national
authority. “ In vain,” laid they, “ are attempts made
to calumniate our generous defenders, the soldiers who
compose the army of which he is the head. Give, Legis
lators, to that army a chief worthy of it—aplebian chief,
who has never breathed the infectious air of courts—
let the heads of all the guilty roll at the bottom of the
fcaffold."
Camus. —Committee of General Defence
1 has charged me to propose to you
measures of fafety, resolved upon this night, in
}>t*efence of a great number of Deputies, and after a
ong deliberation.
“ Dispatches arrived yesterday from the army in
form us, that the most odious plots are in agitation
for the deftruflipn of the Republick. We do not
know the v/hole, but we Ihall soon be in polfeflion
°f it. I propose,
1. To order Genera! Dumourier to the bar.
Volume VIL ]
MONDAY, APRIL 1.
Marat denounced the three hundred Deputies
who had joined to form a Committee of Publick
Safety, as conspirators, who were entirely under
the influence ofßaissoT, Gaudet and Vernio.
La Source replied, that Marat was an impos
tor. V,..-;’. .... ■’
Camb a ceres, in the name of the Committee of
Publick Safety? read a letter' of Dumourier to the
National Convention, of the 12th, and another of
This decree was passed almost unanimously.
After the Convention had decreed that General
Dumoußier should be brought to the bar,Mar at
moved, that the Minister at War should remain at
Paris, where he would be more ufeful than on the
frontiers infpe&ing the army of the North.
Camus said, that the Minister had yesterday made
two objections to the committee, ift. The necefiity
of his presence at the War-Office ; 2d. The bad state
of his health. The Committee replied, that his
health would allow him to take a journey of seven
or eight days to lave his country from danger ; and
that his afliftants would attend to the bulinels of the
war office.
NATIONAL CONVENTION.
Latest European Intelligence.
The American Herald of Liberty.
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SATURDAY, MARCH 30.
FRANCE.
SUNDAY, MARCH 31.
Q. Do not you wish to have the Conftitution’?
A. It is a foolith Constitution : I cx-pefied better
from Condorcet ; the former, with ail its imper
fections, was preferable.
Q. Do you wish to have a King ?
A. We must have one.
Q. And from what quarter would you take him ?
“ Os what cohfequence is it whether it be a James>
a Louis, ora Phi li p ? said Paoli.
A. It is new outrage of the Jacobins to call me .
of die Ori an party.
o_. How would you contrive to cause your new
Constitution and your King to be excepted P
A. I have along with me all the Presidents of dif
trifts ; besides, Lambufiedto restore peace to France;
I have already entered into a negociation with the
Prince of Coboukg for an exchange of prisoners ;
and.for the purpose of withdrawing from Holland
those battalions who are on thfe point of being cut off.
£. But your negotiations with Cobourg, and the
peace which you wish to procure to France, will
not have the effeClto metamorphose Republicans in
to Royalists 1
A. No matter. Must I again tell you ? I will be
at Paris in three zoeeks ! and I will then be able to
prevent them from going on with their proje&s of
liberty and a republick. Since the battle of f enappe,
I have wept over my fucceis in so bad a cause.-—
France mujl have a King.
g. Do you think we ought to abandon the French
territoryto the enemies.
Q. How would you inftal your King ?
A. My army, if I choose, ftiall be an army of Ma
melukes. With 12,000 men I will take Paris, or
compel it to surrender by famine.
g. But may not you, perhaps, be ftopt in your
projects ?
A. I despise the Convention ;it uillJoon be redu
ced to the Bailiwick of Paris. Bel des, my horse
will soon carry me among the Austrians.—They ef
teetn me ; and I ftiall be received by them.
Duboiston then proposed to communicate to
him a plan of a Counter-Revolution.
A. It is not practicable. Mine is better. I mean
to invade Belgium, of which I will make the con
qucft for myfelf, and of which I will render my
felf Chief, under the protection of the House of Au-
Here terminated the interview of the Commis
sioners. They quitted Tournay, on the fame even
ing, on their return to Paris,
A member announced, that several committees
had fat all night to extraCi the different plans of
Constitution sent by the Departments.
Marat laid, it would be time enough to think
of the Constitution, when Dumoruier and the o
ther felf-chofen Statesmen should be known and
pu'nilhed.
Bi rote au moved, that without regard to the
national representation," and the inviolability of
members, crcry r-rmber fufpeCled of conspiracy a
gainst the puplic fafety, should be put under arrest.
This was adopted unanimously.
Cambaceres after reading General Dumou
rier’s letters, and giving an account of the conver
sation which had passed between him and the com
miflioners at Tournay, concluded the reports made
by him, in the name of the committee of public
fafety, by observing that there was a grand conspi
racy, of Which Dumourier was the principal a
gent, and that several persons attached to the house
of Phi lip d’Orleans, commonly called Egal
ite, were vehemently' fufpeCled of being concerned
in it. He announced as a measure of fafety, that all
those supposed to be connefted with Orleans, or to
wilh for royalty, ought to be apprehended. Phil
ip Egali te and Sillery would have been ap
prehended but from refpeCt to the national repiefen
tation of which they were members. Being brought
before the committee, they both answered that they
would confider it as their duty to submit to whate
ver precautions the publick liberty might require,
and invoke the most scrupulous examination of their
conduft. .
Several members wished to speak on the conduCl
of Dumourier, but it was observed, that it would
be better to wait until his arrival. Danton, how
ever, entered into some explanations of his own
conduCl, and expressed his indignation at the treach
ery of Dumourier.
Lasource said, that Danton abandoned Du
mourier only because he saw his perfidy unmask
ed. The precipitate journies of Danton ; his re
fufal to appear in the committee ; his efforts to raise
the people in a body; and the immenle sums which
he had Ipent without producing any account, prov
ed clearly that he was in concert with Dumourier.
He moved, that Sillery and Egalite should be put
under arrest ; that a commission should be formed
to examine the conduCl of the Commiflioners in
Belgium ; that the minute addressed by DubiJ[on,Pa
tiryrae, and Paoli, should be printed and sent to the
army ; and that an addrels should be prepared to
explain to the french people the misfortunes of their
country. .
Boiteau denounced Fabre d’ Eglantine as having
proposed the re-establishment of royalty.
Delmas moved, that these denunciations, which at
the present moment might ruin the public liberty,
should be referred to the commission proposed by
Lafource. —Decreed.
Danton. —“ The patriots are oppressed by the ar
istocracy. It is meant to murder them, by making
the people believe that they have heen tampering in
Dumouricr'.s plot. [He was interrupted by a vehe
ment agitation of the Convention and afterwards
proceeded] —-—You reproach me, you who fit
in the Mountain, with not' exerting all the ener
gy of character which nature hath bellowed upon
rne. You accuse me of weakness. Very well 1 I
confefs my erroiir, and I proclaim before all France,
that those who through stupidity or weakness meant
to withdraw the tyrant from the sword of the law,
are thfe fame men who indulge in the insolent prac
tice of calumny. lam reproached with not re
pairing to the committee at the moment of my re
turn from Belgium —How could I ? —-overpowered
with fatigue, after passing several nights without rest,
was.it not natural to yield to this firfl call ? Scarce
ly had I obtained a few hour* of repafe, when I re
paired to the Committee, and, I call to witness all
who were present, what were' my firfl words.—
V Dumourier must be watched. Dumourier is a
traitor. Dumourier has J aid that the Convention con-
JiJls of three hundred fools, led by four hundred ruf
fians . •. )
TUESDAY, June n, 1793.
“ Gen. Dickman, who has this instant entered
our office, informs, that nothing remains to be dene
but to recover our camp equipage, and pUt the dis
banded army in order. This intelligence comes
from Gen. Dampierre, whom we have named com
mander of this division, and who is of great help to
us. One of Dumourier’s domeftkrks has put'into
our hands the packet of papers enclosed. It is said
the enemy, in two columns, are marthing towards
Conde.* We are not certain of this—it is, however,
^now our only inquietude.”
[The promulgation of this important Intelligence,
fays the Editor of the Patriote Francois, (M.Briflbt.)
was received with agitation. ”1 is agitation, in
philosophic mindsj was tempered by profound re
fleflions on the inftabiiity of all human affairs.
They saw a General, not long since, the Couqueror
of the Austrians, very lately the buckler of his
country soured by perfidious manoeuvres, blind
ed by revenge, and urged on by ambition, betray the
country he had saved, and seek an alyluni among
the enemies he had vanquiffied* They saw another
•General [Valance] not long since etteemed for his
openness and fubmiflion to- the Convention still cotA
ered with the wounds lie had received in fighting
the battles of the Republic, also become a traitor,
either through blindness, regard’ for his personal
fafety, or the necessity of circuniftances. They saw
fcnothir General, [Egalite,] an adopted child of the ■
Revolution, who had renounced his family,join the
• A town of the French Netherlands, in Hainault;
and seated 7 miles N. £, of Valenciennes, and 417 £,
at Pari,
APRIL I .
A letter from Dumourier to BournonviUe, dated
28th uft. at Tour nay, was called for, and read. It
was to the following effeft ;
“ I have given orders to garrison St. Omer, Cam
bray, and all other places in a line from Dunkirk to
Civet —a Itep the more necessary, as the Austrians,
after the evacuation of Malines had attacked Ghent,
and had from thmee taken the route to Antwerp.
“ General Omer an will still continue in the camp
before Dunkirk, fortified with entrenchments,having
under his command a part of the troops of General
Marajje. I have sent to the camp before Maul de. all
the arms and artillery I could poiiibly spare. I can
not hold out long at this place ; and ihall therefore
rctreatto the back of thzScheldt, where I shall resist as
long as lam able. I have heard nothing of Gen
eral Harville, but trust that he will make good his
retreat by the route of Mauberge and Givet.
“ I have not resources similar to those I poffefTed
in Champaigne. Then was the energy of republic
anism in full force ! Then it was that the kingdom
was not diftra&ed by civil War. And then did the
resources of money, which have since disappeared,
exist ! Weigh these melancholy truths : Never was
there a crisis more dengerous to any nation ; and
never was any nation so infatuated as ours.
“ It is poifible for us to profit by the conduft
our enemies observe towards us—to receive it as a
lesson and an example. They have sent the Emi
grants to a distance—and they treat our prisoners
and wounded with a compaflionate humanity, al
though they know that many cowards among us
have maifacred theirs ! The capitulation they have
granted to General Marajje is an example of rare
moderation which I should never have expefted af
ter the exceifes we have committed.
“ It belongs to you to concert meafnres with the
Executive Council ; but I have always said, and I
repeat it here, that a republic can be founded on
virtue alone, and that Liberty can be maintained by
good order and sagacity only.”
APRIL 6.
A letter from the Commiflioners at Valenciennes,
dated April 5, 8 o’clock in the evening was received.
They write,
That the whole of the camp at Maulde is disband
ing ; and they have nearly all reached them. It is
to be hoped, they add, that Duyiourier will be com
mander-in-chief of two or three dozen French offi
cers, without foldiersor cannon ; for the rest of the
army are returning into France. The firft entry
was of 80 pieces of cannon, part of 500 pieces, and
700 artillery-men.
“ Half pajl Eight. Our military chest is retaken.
The light artillery are returned here ; but we are
still in want of more money and military imple
ments.
" But Dumourier wiffies for a King, and Danton
is fufpefled of having been his partner in this auda
cious, this criminal idea. Danton, who, if I may
fay so, led the tyrant to the fcaftold. But let us
cease to impute to innocence a crime of which those
only -who had the wickedneft to keep terms with
Louis can alone be reasonably fufpefled.-Thofe who
wished to puniffi the civifm of Paris, by arming the
departments against it Those who at clandestine
flippers concerted plans of conspiracy with him. I
defy the traitor to produce a single line of mine that
can compromise me with him. If he can, let my
head pay the forfeit.” He concluded with proposing
to levy fifty thousand men for the protection of Pa
ris ; and that the Commiflion above decreed ihould
take cognizance of all the deputies since the open
ing of the Convention, and of all publications against
the unity of the Republick, &c. &c.
Obfelin, from the Committee of Surveilance, zn
nounced that a great number of deserters was flock
ing to Paris. He read a declaration of the com
mandant of the light cavalry of Calvados, denoun
cing Dumourier and his Aid-de-Camp Baptijle, for
merly his Valet-de-Chambre. The Convention paifed
a decree for apprehending of the barriers of Parri all
military men who should not produce leave of ab
sence.
“ Now the danger-is pall, we can inform you,
that we narrowly escaped being arrested by Dumou
rier ; and we should certainly have been, had citi
zen Ferrand been less prtriotick. Among the pa
pers taken yesterday were his orders for our arrest.
The Commiflioners of the Executive Council were
arrested for us, but were set at liberty. Our col
leagues Camus,Quine Ite, Lamar que, Bangal,and Bour
nonville, have been sent to Maejlricht.
“ Nine o’clock, P. M. Vive la Republic. Dumou
rier, Valence, Egalite (the younger,) the two Thouve
nets, the Commiflary Soliva, some officers, and the
Hui Tars of Bercheni, are gone to the enemy. All the
rest remain firm.
Decreed that Babtijle be put under arrest.
“ Rifed your enemies are in the midst of you; cruih
them, or they will cruffi you ! The people only’ can
save themselves. Let them then, it is time ! Re
member the 10th of August. March 1 You have not
a moment to lose !”
Hebert. “ The counter-revolution is in the Con
vention. Your Legislators are your tyrants ; they
are in concert with the Generals and the executive
power. Let the people then rife. The Convention
instead of saving, mean to betray uS.” [Several voi
ces from the galleries here cried out, No more quarter,
let us rife andJlrike.]
Another Member, “ Let us proceed to the Con
vention. Let the Mountain be in force, and let it
fay to the people, here, are your friends there are
yOur tyrants.
This infurteftion must be the last, for such ffiocks
exhaust the machine ; the blood of your enemies
must run in large streams. At the fame hour or. the
fame day, in all the towns, in all the villages, all the
hamlets, and all the cottages throughout the nation, the
heads of conspirators must rollinthe dust. [Applaud
ed with much tranfport.J
Teraffon. “ When we always speak and never aft,
it is to no purpose. Let us begin by disarming the
Aristocrats, and we shall afterwards proceed farther.
The Committee of General Defence is corrupted,
and the Executive Council ought to be watched .: in
the mean time let us execute.” [Here the galleries cri
ed out, Bravo !J
A Member. “ Danton has been the apolpgift of
D urn out i er. Let him be called to this bar to ex
plain the reasons of the praises given to that perfidi
ous General ; and if herefufe, let him be confidered^
as a traitor, and treated as such.” Adopted with
much applause.
MARCH 17
Marat. “ The people of Paris should surround
the Convention, ana demand whether it will or can
save the publick cause ; and ought to pursue
measures according to the answer they may re
ceive.”
Ruberfpierre, “ The only means of saving our
felveS are to declare war against our enemies,as they
have declared war against us. Let us remember the
10th of August. Let us not go to alk the Conven
tion whether it will save us. Yes, it will, but we
must second it. I propose then, that all foreigners
be bamlhed, all the agents of the cabinets of Vienna
and Berlin, all fufpefted persons. You will alk
'me how they are to be ditcovered ? Let a revolu
tionary Committee, edthpofed of warm patriots,
cbe established in each feftion. Banith from these
- feftions all the ci-devant nobles, priests, &c.” Ap
plauded. -
• Dufiurti propofitd, ‘‘that todifeover evil-minded
persons, every landlord should be obliged to poll
<upon His doors the names of the persons who lodge
in their houses, with the time of their refidence,and
their occupations.” Adopted., .
-’ Several Members 1 proposed different measures of
general fafety, but all agreed on thenuejjity of anew
infurredion. .
Bojfcl. “As the law is not executed, the people
The Commiflioners of the Convention, write
from Douayj that the frontier towns are reinforced
daily ; and will speedily be out of danger from fei
ges. They add, that Dumourier had flown to the e
nenly that he had re-entered France ; but, that he
quickly would be entirely abandoned. They tell a
great truth, when they fay, that the enemy well
know, France can never fall but by her own exccffes,
or, by a bad dire&ion of her force.
In consequence of a letter from the Administra
tors of a decree of accu.i’ation palled against
DeVaux, Dumourier’s Adjutant-General. The fame
decree was extended to the Gendarmes who arrested
the Commiflioners of the Executive Council, sup
posing them to be the Commiflioners of the Conven
tion.
General ChaZot was denounced.
The Secret Executive Committee, proposed, that
the Members of the family of Bourbohs, be removed,
to the castle of Vincennes— this place not being con
sidered as fafe, on the proportion of Marat, the
Convention preferred Marfcilles.
Marat, speaking of Bourdeaux, said, that “that ci
ty, where the laws had been refpe&cd ; where the
contingent had been more than doubled ; which had
furnilhed a .great number of battalions of volunteers,
and had relieved Sables ; was now in a state of
connter-revolution. [J Maratifm.]
proteftors of that family Against the revolution, to
which he owed every thing. J
It was this day decreed, That all the members of
the family of the Bourbons should be put under ar
rest, as hostages for the liberty and personal fefety
of the Commiflioners of the Convention, sent by
Dumourier to the. Aujlrians.
APRIL 7.
Philip Egalite, arrested by virtue of the decree of
last night, claimed the privilege of inviolability of
Members of the Convention—But the order of the
day was pafied to.
Marat.*^ lt Dumourier pretends that the cause of
all our misfortunes ought to be ascribed to the dif
organizers who exist in his army ; but there are no
other diiorganizers except the chiefs whom he him
felf has chosen. ”
An Administrator of the Department ofDeUx-Sev
res, after mentioning the troubles by which the ter
ritories of the Republick are desolated, Cried out.
A violent debatearofe oil the question, whether
the Society ought not to fend Commissioners chosen
from its own Members, to accompany those of the
Convention into the Departments.
, Desfieux, said that the finances of the Society were
in a very deranged state.
Marat treated this as a frivolots excuse, and said
that the society ought to fend into the departments
trusty persons, who might fccretly found the public
opinion. This added he, would be the only means
to save your emissaries from the poignards of assas
sins.
Bentaboile communicated to the society the bad
news received from Belgium ; 800 millions of ex
-sences, and 150,060 men condufted to {laughter.—
'hefe are the fruits of all our conquefls in the Nether
lands 1
SITTING OF THE JACOBINS.
MARCH 2£.
APRIL 8.
[Numb. 49