The Wheeling repository — Wheeling, Va. [W. Va.], 1808-04-28 00:00:00, page 3

'seqftently subdued ? What said Junot
in ilia proclamation on entering the city
of Lisbon ?
“ Inhabitants of Lisbon,
u My army is about to enter your
walls—We have come to save ijour har
bour and your prince from the influence
of England.
“ 1 his prince, so respectable for his
virtues, has allowed himself to be bias
sed by the advice of evil men that en
compass him, and has gone to throw
himself into the arms of his enemies.
1 hey have made him fear for his
personal safety : to his subjects he has
paid no regard, and your interests have
been sacrificed to the cowardice of a
few courtiers.
“ Men of Lisbon, be at rest in vour
houses, stand in no fear either of my
army or of me. We are terrible only
to our enemies and the enemies of vir
tue.
I he Great Napoleon, my master,
sends me to protect you : I will protect
VOU. JUNOT.”
With this palaver—this new r-end
mg 8c never-failing syren of France de
struction, Alons. J unot, a principal
butcher of the “ Great Napoleon,” en
ters the city of Lisbon to save its poor
inhabitants from the 4k influence of Kng
!and,” and to protect them ; “ and I will
protect you.”
Now for his protection.
Having entered Lisbon to protect
the inhabitants, he issues the following
bulletins.
“ Dec. 8. The use of arms, except
by the French military, is this day pro
hibited under severe penalties. The
inhabitants shall make a declaration of
English prope rty, under the penalty of
paying ten times the amount ; and suf
fer besides corporal punishment.
Dec. 12. Tavern keepers and sellers
of wines and spirits are ordered to close
their doors at 7 o’clock.
Dec. 13. The inhabitants are prohi
bited meeting together under penalty of
suffering death.”
This is admirable protection. “ The
Great Napoleon, m\ master, sends me
to protect you : I will protect you.”
Junot immediately strips them of their
property.
Shuts up taverns at seven.
Prohibits the inhabitants from mcet
ng together under pain of death.
This is energy !
Champagny’s note to General Arm
Irong is incipient. Let us but crouch,
and by crouching, invite the approaches
oi the tygers, and a second edition of
Junot’s proclamation would shortly be
addressed :
“ Inhabitants of the United States !
“ My army is about to enter your
country—we come to save you from
England ! &c.
“ 1 he Great Napoleon, my master,
sends me to protect you : I will protect
you.”
But without coming here to protect
our persons, the Great Napoleon, in his
ivaij, is protecting our property within
his immense dominions. Declaring
war for us against England, having in
his opinion no right to declare war our
selves, his Majesty has “ordered that
American vessels, &c. should remain se
questered
“ Vv nr says this horrific note, exists
then in fact between England and -the
United States ; and his majesty consi
ders it as declared from the day on
which England published her decrees.”
[November.]
Is this then the first time that his ma
jesty's consideration has been mention
ed to Gen. Armstrong ?
Shall we suffer the Great Napoleon
thus to declare war for us ?
But if, allowing wc are degenerate
enough to admit Bonaparte to declare
war lor us, the orders of England are
in themselves just esuse of war, is not
the decree of France, which one year
after it xcas passed brought those or
ders into the world, also just cause of
war ?
We are now to determine whether we
will maintain our freedom and indepen
dence.
Without yielding either to French
blandishments or French force, we
should at every hazard honourably and
satisfactorily settle our affairs with
England, or not settle them at all ; and
without surrendering an iota of our
rights to England,we should with mode
ration and dignity resent this most inso
lent attempt on the part of France to
subdue us.
From the Washington Federalist.
Oar readers will perceive, that in
our last we were correct in what we stat
ed respecting the letter of Champagne.
That letter, in language which can nci*
tlu-r be mistaken nor palliated,commands
our government to declare war against
England. It is with pleasure we state,
that this command is spurned at by
some of the representatives belonging
to that party which entertains the most
violent hostility to England. Mr. D.
Williams and Mr. Taylor, both of
S. Carolina, in arguing on the bill for
augmenting the military force, declared,
that though they were, at the time of
the meeting of Congress, in favour of a
declaration of war against England, on
account of the outrage on the Chesa
peake, they would now, in consequence
of this letter, consider it an improper
course. rhe latter gentlv.nran said that
he would then have considered such a
measure magnanimous—that he would
now consider it pusillanimous and ser
vile. Such sentiments are honourable
to the country and to those who utter
them.
From a London ^nper,
Peace zvith America.—The question
of most general interest is what is to
be our future connexion with America
—Are we to have peace or war ?
It is to be feared that upon this sub
ject, the public f eelings under the man
agement of parly, and the fermentations
of somewhat of the old leaven, is in a
dreadful state of irritation. What is
the vulgar cry—Let us have wrar with
America! It will punish her insolence,
destroy her commerce, cripple her fu
ture attemps at rivalry, and throw her
back a whole century in her national
growth.
She has been dieted from the imbeci
lity of her infancy to her present mature
strength, upon the industry and manu
factures of England. She has no wealth
but the wealth cf merchants ; no civil
sustenance but what she draws from us.
Let us make her feel our supremacy,and
confess our power, by this pressure up
on her necessities.
An American cannot shave or clothe
himself without the aid of Sheffield or
Manchester—Without the warmth of
our fleeces he must be racked with the
rheumatisms and agues. Have we net
a whole continent in check, ?
Is.it possible that America could sub
sist independent of the clothiers of
Yorkshire ?
Such is the popular cry ; it is the old
delusion, a scion from the same stock of
prejudice which originally lost us these
colonies.
In every crisis of danger and difficul
ty we have never hesitated to speak,
the truth—\vc pronounce it therefore
now, with a confidence which we trust