The Sun.
London, England, 1802-10-26 00:00:00

SWITZERL AND.

*.

THE HELVETIC DIET.
TO CITIZEN BONAPARTE, FIRST-CONSUL OF THE
FRENCH REPUBLIC**
- • _ . _

CITIZEN FIRST CONSUL,
" The Proclamation which you did us the honour to send
to us on the 3oth of Sept. by Citizen RAPP, your Adjutant-
General, arrived at Schwitz on the 6th of Oaober.: •
" We could-have wished that the letter we took the
liberty of sending you, General First Consul, on the 3oth oL
Septeuther,,Cbuld have reached you sooner, it contains a faith-
ful the present state of S'iVitzerland. Permit
uS to, send yOtt inclosed a dupliCate of it; and to entreat you
to receive -it .falourably. It will prove to you that the.
Moxernents whieli have. taken place, in Switzerland are
rot the result of a spirit of Party, and that the Swiss nation'
has no other. :objea in view than to make use of the right
which she claims., of giving herself a central and cantonal
Constitution, founded on her position andter. wants=--a Sacred
and precious right, which you d' eigned,yours4f, to ensure her
by the Treaty of I,imeville.
" Switzerland would long since have been tranquil,:if the
Members of the Helvetic Government, :those obscure meta-
physicians, had consulted the.real. state of affairs, instead.
obstinately attaching themselves to theoretic attempts, as
erroneous as they are expensive. '
"The violence with which they have tried to impose their
system upon the Democratic Cantons; 'the Civil War they'
have organized to attain their end, direaed at first against
those Cantons, then against all Switiorland; .the unex-
ampled severiiy with which they have done it, have pto- .
duced a discontent-equally general and just, and a determin—
ed and avowed will tb shake off this unsupportable yoke.

" It is not then, General Pra‘r CoNsul., an Affair of
Party—it is the sacred Cause of Humanity ;if is the general,
wish of a whole Nation, which has given us our Power and
our Instrudions, of a Nation which you yourself wished to
free, and which has been ill-treated and irritated, contrary to
your intentions.

" Yet that Nation, we render ourselves Guarantees, will
never abuse the _Liberty it claims. The Swiss have nothing
more at heart than to attain a State •of- Repose, in which,
under, the Shield of a mild and just Government, each Inha-
bitant may enjoy his .Property and Existence. We•are con-
vinced that we shall arrive at that essential objet of all social
order, from the moment our will and our eft'orts-shall be no
longer fettered'.
" General FIRST CONSUL, all 'Europe admires in you
the SUpreme Head of an immense Power and EMpire; which,
without doubt,• according "to your own views, will be di-•
reeled to the good of Humanity ; your magnanimity assures
us, that you will not make use of it against a people Who
only desire what you have made them hope, and who only
Wish what they believe themselves authorised to do by your-
self. '

" Penetrated with eternal Gratitude, the Swiss Nation
will do its endeavour to deserve the good will of the French
GoVernment ; and will fulfil all the duties which are im-
posed upon it by the desire of cultivating good neighbour-
hood.

" It is with the most distinguished respeel that we remain,
General, FIRST CONSUL;

"The DEPUTIES OF THE HELVETIC DIET.
" Schwitz, Off. 8, iso2."

The State Cotumision at Sehwitz also publi6hed
a Proclamation, declaring that Switzerland neither
is, nor wishes to:be,at 'War with. France;, butLthat
she would do all-that honour permitted her to do,
to preserve her ancient relations with that Pow,er.

EXTRACT OF A LETTER F4OM. A MAGISTRATE OF

BERNB, •TO A FRIEND IN LONDON, DATED
BERNE, OCT. 2, 1802.

" OUR-Sovereign Council, as it was before the
Revolution of 1798, has again been assembled, and
ha's juStly found that in such a crisis, so.numerous a
deliberating body was not fit to meet the times. It
has, in the'most spirited manner, given over all its
rights and, powers, for. an unlimited timer to a Com- :
mission of, ten persons ; and never had men a more
weighty, diffictilt, and nnpleasing task. We are to'
raise a new building, with searce.any mean; for it
We must gilt it• onu'against the tyrannical and
absolutelyniadileried Government we have expelled
from. Berne, • -sword in hand,: We must pursue,
through the 'greatest difficulties, the task of keeping
foreign influence at a distance : We must support an
Army of zo,ooo men in the field without Treasury,
without Magazines, without any ready supply of
implements of war : We must prevent a whole
nation from avenging 'its, wrongs in adisordetly:
manner, and give security to the persons and pro-
perty,of those very men, who, for four years past,
have. preyed, in-a most shameful manner, on our.

own,

'46 TO do all this, and a great deal more,. we have
no assistance but our private ruined fortunes, the
'• love and confidence of our people, which bursts
forth with unparalleled radiance, and our own patient
firmness, public spirit and determined resolution to
stifle every low passion, and ad up. t 9 the highest
feelings of love for our. Country. Whatever may be
the result of our exertions, the last month will for
ever' remain the fairest page of our History, and
when well known, will give a striking contrast to
those selfish scenes which degrade civil -society. No
. sooner was the Helvetic Government with a strong
Garrison expelled from Berne by a handful of men,
but Cohorts of •Swiss in arms rose out of the ground
spontaneously From one end of Switzerland to the
other,: they ran to t their banners without pay, with-
out proper cloathing, without any of the advantages
Of a • regular soldier. In their progress not one
instquce Of want .of discipline sullied their cause
.
and if I Waii to give .you a circumstantial account
of all the scenes we have witnessed here,:you would
be moved to the inmost of yOur.ioul.. They have
44 640 as eff:e4 on two of your iouptrynr'ci

JEW

of noble birth, who accidentally were here, thw:
they went to our General and offered to fight
by his side to the -last drop of their blood, with
such men, and in such a cause. By voluntary Con-.
tributions we have raised a sufficient fund for the •
Military Chest : Our wives and daughters, by a
single subscription, and uprernitted exertions,.have..
relieved the wants of the Army in point of cloa thing:
..GenerallAclusrArr has the...chief command. To-mor-
row the Enemy will be attacked on all points near
orar ; and ,j have nodoubt, that place. will, fpr„,theT
second time, be lathed in our Annals. TheriArfor
of the Enemy a'ie-Tr7.ii-riect,Soldiers, With-Which they
mean to secure their tyrannical power ; ."StT.if our
Menh fight for Vielork,. and theirs foi Pay. They:
. , .
are, ashamed ..ofi.theit-. cause, and desert by whole,
bands. ',shall not. send off this, till fean tell you-'
The event of that, important day.
• 'r
-OCTOBER 5, 1
" gaj.ped,r,,tll4 4.4f;before
.yektertlay, acorn_
.plete victory, with little loss. Men who had never
- -
:seem fire, have. Caryied.a strong Battery with tl
:Bayonet. A wood near Avanches has been" the
,clii4scene of action'; and our Troops have behaved
th;oughont to their•highest credit. The atilan be-
gan at ten o'clock, was renewed in the course of the
War- four times.; between Morat and Payerne, and
erideiliiiith the captUre of the last place, at eight:
o'Clock:at night. .Ours Army pushed yesterday-be.
yond Maudon, 'making-a great many Prisoners, and
"finding no. resistance, the Country rising as they
'advanced, to join them. To-day a_ thunderbolt lias
succeeded, which,- however. heavy, does not entire.
.Iy-dismay us. The Helvetic Government was ac.
w
ally embarking at Ouchy, to escape into Savoy,
'and Our General was to enter Lausanne, this morn-
ing, when, an Aide-de-Camp of 110-NAPARTE
.rived from f'aris, with such a Letter to us,,,..as.orilly
no doubt, excite the indignation of'ail roy.)ey more'
than any other State Paper in Modern HistarYl:
the audience we gave him, he declared to us, that
if we did not immediately bend to she will, and the
•;shatheful...terms prbposed to us by the F 1 asT Con.
Army of '40,00b 'Fr'tnch had orders :to'
!march--.-in five days into the Country, and to lay
•Swit;erldrid.wite by fire and swcrd. We referred
'him-to the Congress at Scheuitz;-_but he refused-to
leaVe' Berne, and gave; us five .days -to send to
.Sch,witz,. and bring back an Answer from thet,m-•
gress. There are no. words: for a behavicur.
We have, as far as.concerns us, rejedeci the terths,
1:17e shall leave to BODtAPARTE the-detestable gory'
of bringing back to Herne, a set of Rulers.execrtred
by the Public Voice of all Switzerland, . and vho
have shewri theinse"lyea as cowardly as thiy are, yar
ranuical.Wq exped .the.,blOw with firmness. None
of as wiil.leave Berne;,-and•this. new Bit ENNUS tivr •
alt the, part he is so fit to perform in this o=4lll
Tragedy.'.'
The Grisons, goo in number, -arriv.ea
here last night, having yesterday marched eleven
Leagues. The same day, notwithstanding the coat'
Mands.received'frOm Paris, we have taken and
! rateslFr;boupg, and made the PatrisOn of Soo WI
vetic Soldiers, Prisoners of War." :

SUN.OFFICE,

- THREE O'CLOCK, P. M.

. SINCE our Parer was pot to PCCSS, we, have
received French Pafiers of the. 23d inst'
Article from Lausanne, of the 16th, states,-
the Senate was to' assemble at Berne on .the ath'

Thus the triumph of France over the unfortunat6
Swi,,s seems complete ! .

. .
Researches are industriously making to discover
Anticiuitiesfin a place, about two ieigues frog!
Carlsrohe, in the MargraViate of Baden, 'Mier°
further-Iy was a brook,.. hich is since dried up. I),'
digging there for'stones to repair the Great RoaaP
a wall of considerable dimensions was discovered'
' The iMaigrave, On being informed of the circa:ln—
stance, ordered .a diligent search,to be Made, if/
consequence of which several. Urns were fountLill
good preservation, with Rowan Inseriptionsr
Ilan Tiles, &c. The attention of those emploYe
was arrested by a spacious place, which on csaal.
rninatipn proved to be a large Chamber, ornainenica
with Columns and Niches, in which were four:
Bones. The Columns are of a Gothic form. 7',1
Chamber -is traversed by two Canals. Severn„
Coins ;"have also been 'found, one bearing the Jr"
script ion imper. Anton.: f. Aug. sanimus sactrdT
at-d another that of !viper. Nerva'Trajanvs C.
The resenches.bccome every day more interesting;ci
We are. Well assured that many of the par§et er
in. different. Papers respating Robberies, are
groundless, or much misreprented. Fewer rObberl;'.e
r.
',, o outrages have‘been corntriitted of late than`4,c,4o '.''
ever known at the conclusion of a-War, whee,..:,
Many SFldiers and Sailors are disbanded, i!ha„c11:ji:? ~.
•;
tha
t are :dually committed are generlitili...-
persons who have no other pretensions to the C'
rater of either Stildieror Sailor,. but their dre'i.,9:ll,:
•We feel it due to the Magistrates to set thc, is-:
lie right upon a point on which a. very gener3(a'.o(
conCeptiOn-seems to- prevail. The miscondu 1,0
Watchmen, instances of which are unfortunafelY_ or,
frequent; is attributed tp the want of arrenti°r"a
rtc,
the part.of,the Police, when in fat the Milgisr 0-
Fel
of that department have no controul over Lb- iaby.
Phial. Watchmen, who are appointed and
the Pitrish Qfcer,s. .