Star. — 1814-03-30 (London, England)

RENCH. Frenchmen !—Your own preservation induces )ice more to address you.  Attempts are made to mislead you by procla-1 r tv., which try to persuade you that we have no ..hject than to desolate and to divide France ; ;•:; t'v lying accounts of advantages which it is prethat the French troops have gained. it enough to recal to mind the conduct of our •:. n and the conduct of yours, to contemplate :1 , oassed in Germany, Spain, Italy, Switzer. Holland, and to see that our armies are at • •.. inc...• numerous and finer than ever, to know tinkv:,rti 1y your credulity is constantly abused. In yrtiAr to judge of the events of the war, you Lave to enquire of the inhabitants of Laon, conc, reing what happened on the 9th and 10th of this menth, on which days the French army, commanded by the Emperor Napoleon in person, was totally defeated under the walls of that town ; ask them if they did not see the army fly before our victorious troops ; if they have not seen the trophies of our victory, conristing of 50 pieces of cannon, of numerous caissons, and some thousand prisoners ? And it was, besides, rill; a part of the army entrusted to my command eliA gained this decisive victory, while another part made themselves masters of St. Quentin, where they took 15 pieces of brass cannon, and while the grand army, after having on the 3d and 4th defeated near Troyes, the corps opposed to it, is advancing on the ether tide towards your capital. " Do not, then, be so blind as farther to listen to the promises, the deceptions, the instigations of a Government, whose only object is to arm you against lie to ptulotig the war at the expense of the last drop of your blood, and of the property of all of you. " Excesses have been committed by our soldiers; this pi oceeded from a sentiment of revenge which they Lnerisiled, because several of their comrades had been murdered by the inhabitants. T have, however, tep7essed them. I have had the guilty punished, even with death ; but reflect, that there is no more certain means to prevent the excesses of the soldiery, than to remain quietly in your houses; not to shut your doors, which are then of necessity forced open ; and, above all, not to keep up any communication with our enemies, or take up arms against as. " I have not punished, as I might have done, the cruelties c,mmitted by some towns and villages against couritcs and single soldiers of the Allied army, hoping that afiy moderation would call them back to their duty. But I inform you, that from this day stronger measures shall be adopted ; and that the towns and villages whose inhabitants shall dare to take up arms against our troops, or to oppose our military operations, shall be burnt, painful as it will be to me to be compelled in this Manner to punish the innocent with the guilty. 44 We desire nothing else, I repeat it to you, than the peace and repose of Europe. The negotiations at Chatillon, when they are once published, will convince you, that it •is your Sovereign alone who, in spite of what he says to.you, continually throws fresh obstacles in the way : mean time, I need only remind .you of the celebrated speech which a Frenchman (Mr. Raynoilard) made to the Legislative Body, to found your opinion upon it. " For the rest, all the nations of Europe combat for one end. The event cannot be doubtful. A lon• ger resistance, and even some advantages, if you may flatter yourselves with them, will serve merely to render you more 'Unhappy than you already are. " Given at my head•quarters at Laon, March 13, 1814, (Signed) 44