The American herald of liberty — Exeter, N.H., 1794-08-05 00:00:00, page 1

Battering reception which
jL you were so good as to give
to my .last letters; concurs with
the occalion, .which a latfe visit to
France has furnifhed to obtain
some ioterefting intelligence re
fpeding that country, to give me
another opportunity of renewing
to you. the affurancesof my most
refpedfelefteem. ;
France at this moment, exhibits
such scenes as the pencil of Salva
dor- Rosa would Haye been well
Employed to delineate ; abounding
in light arid (hade, which is atbnce
iplendid and awful. •,
To ule the language of i more
modern artist, and one tonjet of
gilding than Salvador, France is
in truth “ an armed nation,”
her exertions and firmnefs seem
well proportioned co the r^fiftance
which her situation requires, and
far exceed the expectation which
our limited acquaintance with the
power and resources of such a na
tion, refdlved to be free, could have
excited.
No longer resembling Venus
attended by the Graces, (he now
represents Minerva followed by
the fates; You riiuft pardon this
imagery, it is really necessary to
convey ail idea df fads* or to de
fcribethe change which has there
taken place; indeed it is only by
what, id common parlance, would
be accounted extravagant hyper
bole, that node can express the fit
nation of that mdft extraordinary
people. ,
' Wherever you nipve,or to what
ever quarter your atttention is turn
ed nothing meets the View but
warlike preparations, every confid.
eration is facrificed to public exi
gence, every contribution of pro
perty and service which the public
necessity 'requires,' appears to be
cheerfully made/ and in the few
instances, where reltf&arice may
exist, terror fuppiies the absence
of patriotism and operates its full
effect. •
Age and infancy are employed
in extracting from the earth (and,
by a late refinement in chemistry,
from vegetables) the thunders
which your youth and manhood
are to dired, while the cares of
domestic life are altogether devolv
. ed on the female part of society.—
Fifteen armies, forming a force
which 1 do not think exaggerated
1,200,000 men are now in the
service of the Republic; and it
has been surmised that a part, of
the second requisition would be
made before the opening^ of the
campaign.—Should this additional
effort be deemed necessary, the
coalesced powers of Europe must
unquestionably yield co the mo.
Letter frotn a gentleman in London
to bis friend in Philadelphia) dated
April 18, <794.
; . .S I R,
w *
Important Intelligence*
Volume IX]
Valuable information.
* " ' 1/ v j 1 > .7-
American Herald of Liberty.
From the Philadelphia Gazelle.
PubUJhed on Tuesdays, ^Stearns and .Winslow,, in Main-Street, Exeter, (New. Hampshire at 6/8 per annum.
mentum of an individual power,
•exceeding in numbers arid array
all that the world has hitherto ex
hibited. , , \
.Perplexed by the variety pfin*
terefting objects, which attract my
attention, 1 am really at a loss
where to begin in giving you the
details of these formidable prepa
rations.
The firft requisition has been
carried into complete effed, that
is to fay,all the unmarried men of
that extensive nation from th? age
of eighteen to twenty five, whatever
their situation or fortune, for nei
their money nor fubftituces would
exempt them from service, have
joined the several armies of the
Republic, which they have aug
mented with a force of '600,000
men. These levies have been in
corporated with the ancient corps,
and have been under a ftridi difei
pline for several months. .
The cavalry has been so consi
derably increafedas torequire that
jhe swords exceeding thirty inches
in blade (hould be taken from the
infantry for their use. The aug
mentation is upwards of 50,000,
and the remountedexcceds 30,000.
The whole force in cavalry being
at least 100,000. So that in this
arm, which, during the last cam
paign, was the weakest part of their
cpmpofition, 1 am persuaded the
French willbefuperiorto the com
bined forces. \ .
The artillery, so formidable in
the last campaign, has received an
addition of two choufand pieces for
fieldlervice, and judging, from its
former effect, , must 1 think, be ab
solutely irrefiftable. ,
The fuel which is dd nourish
this immense volcano, is, as 1 have
already intimated to you, prepar
ed by those hands, which are
otherwifeunableto serve their coun
try-r-and, under the direftion of
persons, well (killed in the process,
faltpetre is produced in astonishing
quantity. I had daily opportuni
ties of observing its product in the
several fedions of Paris, and the
operation is the fame throughout
the Republic.
The public foundaries and manu
fadories of small arms, aided by
the mechanicks, who work in me
tals, and who for this purpose arc
all in requifitionare constantly em
ployed, and furnifti immensely.
And y&, amidst all this din
and preparation, of arms, the coun
try is more carefully and extensive
ly cultivated thap in any former
period-’-ypu will ask by whom ?
By old men, by womens and the
youth of both (exes, under the age
of 18. This I can assure you, from
personal obfefvation< wherever I
have travelled not a fingte spot is
negle&ed. The very avenues and
approaches to the Chateaux are
ploughed, even walks in the gar
dens of the Thuilleries are sown
and planted, and nO country pre
fems a more promising appearance
in agriculture than France does at
this moment.
TUESDAY, August 5, 1794*
It has become a public care
with the several municipalities to
plant those grounds, which were
formerly approprf&d to pleafura-
Sle.purpofes, with ufeful vegeta
bles, and to this end, regular in
♦ ftitutions areeftablilhed.
? The value of the potatoes is
known, and fufficiently apprecia
ted to remove every apprehension
of want. Indeed so promising is
the grain now in the ground, that
1 am fatisfied, from my informa
tion of the present state of their.\
granaries, the quantity on hand,
the ensuing crop, and the proba
ble importations, will furnifti an
advance of provision for at least
two years. , . •
You may be assured that the i
dea of fkrving France is as un
founded as it is unworthy. The va
riety of foil and climate in that ex
tensive country reduces the chance
of a general failure in their corps
to a very remote podibiliry, and
the invigorating energies of prop
erty and freedom have more than
balanced the deductions from their
agriculture, occasioned by the call
of their peasantry to the frontiers.
Indeed a very considerable propor
tion of their farming was always
done by the women of France,who
still continue to cultivate the
ground.
Take a Angle ill uft ration of my
supposition that theif granaries are
well stocked, the price of bread in
Paris, at this moment is not half
as much as it is in London—-true
the bread is browner, but it is no
less nutritious^
Extensive manufactures of ufe
ful fabricks continue to flourilh
and even the most refined articles
.of luxury are not neglected
Os the former, 1 have attentive
ly observed the cloth manufactured
at Abbeville, which is in full vi
gour ; and of the latter, I have vi
sited the Gobelins, where the most
exquisite productions of the nee
dle and the Ihuttle still continue to
charm and aftonilh. This last is
continued as a public eftabhfli
ment.
Even, the palaces and the plea
sure grounds of the ci-devant roy
alty, are refpedted as national pro
perty/ and as such are carefully
’ preserved. The greater part of
the furniture has been removed
from Ver failles, some of the paint
ings remain. Those by the best
masters have been sent to the gal
lary of the Louvre; which is now
the national museum, and now ex
ceeds any other collection of the
fine arts in Europe. It is under
the direftion of a committee ap
pointed to protect the arts, and is
' maintained in the very best style.
The late Queen’s favourite reft
dence of St. Cloud* remains as
when (he occupied it. The paint
ings will be sent to the Museum,
and the furniturriwill be fold.
In remarking on the agriculture
. and manufactured T have digress
ed from the fubjedt of the public
force, to which £ return.
The operations of the army of
the North appear to engage the
greatest degree of attention, and
from its composition as well as its
situation it seems destined to the
most arduous and important ser
vices. • * >
Including the detachments on
the fide of Dunkirk, and the garri
sons, which without hazarding
their ports may be called in:o field
service, 1 do not suppose this army
amounts to less than 154,000
men-— composed riearly in the
following manner.
Brigaded infantry 70,000
Light corps 20 000
Cavalry 44 000
Brigaded Artillery 15,000
Artillery attached to corps . 5,000
y
154 000
In addition to this immence force, na
lets formidable by the d cided fupcriority
of their artillery, the im proved fta-e of the r
discipline, arms and economical arrange
ments of fuppiies, than by their number-,
the army of the Moselle, may by a rapid
movement to ita left, be brought into full
co-operation, and at very (hort notice, with
the army of thr North, for experience has
demonitrated, that they are capable of form,
ing these sudden junftions by transporting
their troops in carriage?. That they are
difpefed to efFeft whatever a profufe appli
cation of money can accomplish, must be
admitted—and that the means are in their
power, cannot be denied.
Their treasury is, at this time, by far
the richest in Europe, perhaps more sbun-^
dant than all the rest of Europe—and im
moderate as their expenditure appears, the
sources of their tuppiies seem bucto increase
with the streams that flow from them.
The taxes that are colleded with the
donations, church property, and money re
ceived from -emigrants’ eflates, form ako
getber an inordinate mass.
On this fubjefl, also it is fair to remark
that the persons who direst their fifeal ar
rangementshave been long enough in office
to give to them all the advantsges which
result from method and eftabtifhed order—
of this a very strong proof was given some
days ago by Cambori, in. hrs report on the
ftate>of their finances. He therein aflerts,
which, without foundation he dared not to
do, that a diminution of a hundred and
seventy millions of livers per month had
been efFefted in their expenditure—leaving
the adual disbursement about fifty four
millions sterling, per annum.
Enormous as this sum may appear, even
after the deduftion, it is not immoderate
compared with their refources—for, how
ever extraordinary, it is true that includ
ing the eflates of the crown, the Clergy and
the Emigrants, one third part of the whole
property of France is in confifcatiop—fuch
having been the tendency of the ancient
regiment to abiorband concentrate the na
tional wealth in the hands of the law.
This faft is well understood by the men
of property who have remained in France ;
and the rtfleftions, which arise out of it,
have fully decided them to go uith the re
volution, and to support it at all hazards.
• They l arenow aware of the werft that may
; happvft ti lh’em itnder the republic,and they
know fullWH, that the confifeated prop
er 1 vis more than competent to threepences.
Which have been or may be incurred to
maintain the war—Whereas a counter re
\ .volution would not only place the expencei
of the war to their charge, but prostrate
the remainder of their proper ty to the in
demnity of those who have emigranted.
These influential epnfiderations of prop
erty, by which the more wealthy pert of
the people now in France are aftuated,
aided by the enthusiasm of some, the fear
of others, and the resentments of all against
their external enemies, have not only sub
dued all spirits of revolt, and condenfedl
the public opinion in favour of the revolu
tion t but appear to me to have decided
the nation literally to adhere to their dec
laration” To live free or die.”
[Number 5.