Star.
London, England, 1814-01-17 00:00:00

.DbfiCH PAPERS.

DORDRECHT, JANUARY 9.
we heard a heavy cannonade in the
This morning
leighbeerhood of Gorcum, and the wind being N.E.
y g ,und shook with the explosion. The dis-
til' ver.be-:'n at about seven in the morning, and con-
gilatedru—ntTla about half past nine, but we do not at
tiothe firing was from the town,
ffeseat know whether
err from the batteries which the Allies,have raised at
trick, k for the attack of the fortress.
p
sox DATE.—We understand that the garrison of
Gorcum has proposed a cessation of-hostilities. It is
farther reported, that Gorcum was ter have surren.
tiered yesterday evening, a t half past nine. We hope
to confirm this agreeable intelligence to-morrow.
HARDENBURG, DECEMBER es. . •
The day before yesterday for this and the neighbour-
melancholy and destructive. The
iForegnpcl,hicegsaw as very
r•r
isun from Koevender, , nine miles from
hence, made a sally with a considerable force to the
241.theurhood of our city, which produced the
greatest confusion, all'persons endeavouring to pack
;p their goods and put them on board boats and
in waggons. The enemy was detained about two
tiles off by the Cossacks, the burghers, and the pea-
ants,but he overcame them, and proceeded to Aaner-
rmandHalthen, which they plundered of every thing,
as well as this place, when they rifled our chests, our
drawers, and stole our clocks, and all the household
goods that were valuable. a_
PRIVATE LETTERS.
r 44 BANKS OF THE LOWER RHINE, JAN.I2.
e A gentleman who quitted Paris as late as the
yOth of December, having made his escape and era-
felled through France by the usual means of bribery
assisted by a,Danish passport, states, that on his way
m Holland he first went to Soissons and Laon, where
ate large founderies for the manufacture of arms of
ill descriptions, and they all appeared to be working
with great rapidity ; but his observations were limited
of course, wishing not to give any suspicion that
eight lead to a discovery. At both these places are_
/pots for troops ; but although he could not ascera.
pis whether they were or were not full, he saw a
great many recruits who were manoeuvred and ex-
ercised daily. On the road from Paris he had met
numerous detachments of troops, many of whom
were not such mere boys as has been represented.—
They had all clothing, and most of them arms ; in
general, from his own personal knowledge, and from
what he had heard, he was of opinion that the num-
her of men raised in and conveyed
.to- the vicinity of
Paris, was very considerable.
" At Mons he saw nothing remarkable excepting
the continuance of military organization with uncom-
mon vigour, in consequence of the order's received
from the Minister of the Interior. He did trot think
it sate to proceed by Brogvel, and therefore took the
road by Namur. He says, that at that fortress, a day
or two before he arrived, a considerable park of ar-
tillery had been marched in, as well as a body of
troops not lets than 15,000 strong ; they were priia-
tipally levies raised within a feel months ; bat ac-
cording to all appearance, as far as he had an oppOrl
tunity of judging, perfectly disciplined. They were
t 3 remain there as the garrison of the place. It WAS
true that on the walls very few pieces of cannon were
mounted, but it -was soon expected that.tbe artillery
could be placed upon the ramparts, and the fours.
clerics There were at work as diligently as the mann.
factories of small arms in other places. It was stated
;Int several new fortifications or additions to the old
works had been made, and It was understood when
he left Paris, that orders to this effect had boen sent
to Lisle, Arras, Brussels, and other fortified townkon
Vie frontiers for the same purpose: He only men-
tions this circumstance as a matter of public rumour,
as he saw nothing which Roved the execution of
-those commands.
" At Ramillies he met a body of 7000 men, on its
march Southward : these were conscripts raised in
that vicinity, and most of them were certainly not
more than from 15 to 17 years old: they had no arms,
bat were cli their. He has reason to believe from
what he could learn, that here there was a consider-
able quantity of artillery collected, but he saw only
a few pieces, and they were upon the ramparts ; but
in the neighbourhood of Tiflemond, and between that
place and Louvain he overtcok several transports of
guns and men : the artillery he calculates about fifty
pieces, and the men, perhaps, altogether, 9 or 10,000;
they were not recruits, but apparently veteran cavalry
well m'wntcd. With the artillery were also a num-
ber of horses, apparently in good condition—:hejr des-
tination he dal not know. He had intended to have
passed through the country adjacent to Antwerp, but'
WAS deterred by what he tlard at Louvaine respec-
ting the situation of that city ; he therefore proceeded
to the eastward to 14atestricht, here he heard more
distinctly of the sassage of the Rhine by Generals
'Hitcher and D'Yorke, who were represented as on
their march with 50,000 men, from the neighbourhood
of Cologne, towards Aix-la-Chapelle and Macstricbt.
This intelligence created great alarm, tis the French.
troops in that direction were in no fore to resist the
Prussians, should they advance. -*
•.‘ Ire could not form any correct estimate of" the
force of the enemy4st Macstricht, Liege, Aix-la Oise
pelle, and in that part of the country, but he shoulJ
have thought that they outnumbered the Allies. The
• Puste of
„the Rhine, however, had panic•strock the
F. rerich', - who hid sent manjimessengera to Namur,,
a...-. 4 evert tb Paris, requiring muirediate assistance.a—
arom hlaestricht he went, by Winsterlag to Hech-
"lel, on his way to Bois:le-.le hearing that the
French had quitted et; bat before he had proceeded
far, he turned of to Brea, which he reached the slay
liLt,,:e yesterday. The whole district between Maes:'
trick and Bois-to-Duc, at far asle went over it, bore
a very military appearance, the march and counter-,
blarch of troops in large bodies of 4000 or 5000 men,
being continued with great activity.
46 1 here is one circumstance in this Gentleman's,
narrative that will seem remarkable, for he stars*
that so great and so active were the warlike prepare:
tions in France, that when he entered the districts'
freed from the controul of the Emperor, where lie
expected to find at least equal energy and bustle, he'
was somewhat struck with the comparative tranciloil-
r lity that prevailed, In France all persons seemed
Ibusily engaged in one object, the whole country was
in motion, but in the Netherlands,,little was obvious-
ly accomplished, and little vigour shewn, but on the
trpression'nf joy at being relieved from the enemy.