French liberty, has contrived to entangle her rivals in a war which exhausts them, in order to make herself mistress of Poland, and fo open to her the gates of Germany? I know it may be faid, with fome foundation, that the Ruffian empire is a Coloffus with feet of clay; that in it corruption has preceded maturity; that the flavery which exifts in it deprives its force of all folidity, and its resources of all energy; that its extent is immense, but partly defert; that it is proud but poor; that it is already too vaft to be governed; that by extending itself it accelerates its own diffolution; and that every conquest it makes is a step toward its ruin. I admit these truths; but this/giant, before he perishes, will crush you; it is upon your ruins that he muft fall; he will not dismember himself till after you are ravaged, dispersed, and annihilated. Danes, Swedes, Germans, Pruffians, Ottomans, think of this! time flies, the thunder rattles; Vienna be the Muscovite torrent trays you; is augmenting; Attila is once more advancing, and if you do not unite in time to arrest this deftructive scourge, you are undone. You are taught to fear France. What a strange error! if your government be wife, and founded on true principles, why envy us? if from its nature it be as difaftrous, as you are told, why dread a people that carries in its own bofom a fource of weakness or of agitation, that must prevent it from meddling with you?-the constancy of our efforts, the duration of our facrifices, the permanence of our victories, do they not demonftrate beforehand the stability VOL. XXXVII. of treaties that may be made with Oh, ye politicians of Europe, who boaft of wisdom so exalted, of penetration so profound, how is it poffible, that you have not yet lifted up the veil which hides from your eyes the Machiavelian politics of the English government!-How is it ye do not fee to what degree it abufes you, and what a game it makes of all it profeffes to respect! That government accuses us of immorality; and when, by an armed neutrality, the robbery of neutral commerce was to be repressed, it was the only civilized government which, unblushingly, opposed the mea fure measure. It accuses us of having broken the peace and violated the right of nations, and it infulted our ambaffador. It professes to hate intolerant papacy, and it takes up arms to defend the fuperftitions of Rome. It pretends to cherish liberty, and it is in alliance with the oppreffors of Poland. It reproaches us with cruelties of which we execrate and punish the authors; and it has filled Afia with pillage aad dead bodies, has hired favages to entlave the Americans, and purchated men of a German prince, fixing beforehand the price of each wound, of each mutilation; in a word, fettling the tarif of every drop of blood of those miferable flaves. It charges us with ambition, and foolishly strives to render itself mafter of all the colonies. It has the audacity to say, that we make war without humanity; and it has attempted to avenge its difafters, by expofing twenty-four millions of men to a famine from which chance and our valour have protected us. It clamours every where that we want to attack the independence of other states; and it attempted to compel Genoa, Venice, Sweden and Denmark, to renounce the most respectable and the most facred of all rights, that of, remaining neuter amid the horrors of war. Finally, it has the affu rance to declare, that it is not fafe to treat with us-that government does so, which, when in alliance with Ruffia, excited the Turks to make war upon her, and afterwards abandoned them that government, which encouraged the Poles in their revolution, and left them without fupport-that government, which armed Sweden against the Ruhians, and betrayed it-that go vernment, which forced Holland to fight againft us, and after lending it a feeble aid, confined its efforts to diminishing the account of its loffes-that government, in fine, which, after having feduced the unfortunate inhabitants of La Vendée and Toulon, tranquilly enjoyed the spectacle of their ruin. Irresolute Spaniards, what do you expect? if chance should difappoint our courage, if, perfifting in your unaccountable coalition, you should paralize our efforts against your implacable enemy, and if that enemy, establishing herself in our colonies, should deftroy the aliment of our marine? do you not see her already laying hold of your galleons, digging your mines, wret ing from you the empire of Mexico, that of Peru, Porto-Rico, Cuba ; driving you from all the feas, and from the heights of Gibraltar, infulting your misfortunes, and enjoying your misery? had the not already drawn the sword against you, because the thought you in no condition to defend yourselves? Did not we turn it afide at the moment when, rec. koning on our troubles, she hoped to strike you with impunity? Do not her attempts upon Corfica announce that the wishes to expel you from the Mediterranean, as the afpires at chafing you from the ocean? In 1790, Awake, then, at the call of truth; appreciate at their juft value the calumnies spread againft us; fee in the speeches with which the parliament of London refounds, nothing but the fear of peace, but the language of ambition unmatked, and let us take upon ourselves the care of our vengeance and of our fafety. It is not only fafe, it is honourable, to treat with us: but the measure is become indifpensable to your safety; we have made known to you the neceffity of it, learn the means; we are too grand, too powerful, to have any thing to disguisfe. Our past dangers, the neceffity of rendering the return of them impoffible, the example of the menacing league which wanted to over-run us, and at one time carried desolation into the heart of Fiance; the fincere defire of rendering peace folid and durable, obliges us to extend our frontiers, to take for our limits great rivers, mountains, and the ocean, and thus, beforehand, and for a long series of ages, to secure ourselves from all invafion and from all attack. At this price, the powers of Europe may depend upon an inviolable peace, and upon courageous allies, capable of disengaging them from the weight of the two rath Coloffusses that, in their guilty delirium, want to arrogate at once the empire of the land and of the feas. Such, citizens, are the grand truths which every thing now commands us to develope before the eyes of Europe. In vain is it attempted to miflead the people of other nations, by telling them that our government being only provifional, no tie, no no treaty, can have any guarantee. Our government is the plenipoten tiary nominated by the totality of the French people to terminate in their name the revolution and the war; and I doubt if ever ambaffador was seen invested with power more ample, or a character more auguft. What fignify the combinations of which governments are formed, when treaties are formed with the people to whom those governments belong! the peace which you will foon folicit, will be much more folid from being given to you by the affent of the whole people. Our government is the will of the nation; our forms are justice; dur principles are humanity; your guarantee is the fincerity and the courage of a nation which has willed to be free. Appreciate our actual govern ment by the spectacle which it offers to the world; it has repreffed inteftine troubles; annihilated rebel factions; broken down the seaffolds; opened the prifons; avenged innocent blood; devoted to death and infamy the minifters of terror; it has restored liberty, to commerce; tranquillity to agricul ture: in the interior it has made. justice the order of the day, and victory on the frontiers. Ah! all enlightened nations will listen with the smile of contempt and of pity, to the absurd or per fidious politicians who call in quef tion, whether a nation that can conquer has the power of nego ciating; who dare still to maintain that peace is impoffible at the moment when every thing demon-. strates that obftinacy is infenfate and refiftance vain ? Adopt, citizens, the ideas I have traced; fpeak with that noble frankness which befits the ma jesty of the French people, and you will foon fee the diplomatic fubtleties of your enemies confounded by the wisdom of your councils, as you have seen their temerity punished by the courage of your warriors. Proclamation of the Royalists of Anjou and Upper Poitou, in Answer to the pacificatory Proclamation of the Representatives of the People. IN THE NAME OF THE KING. The Military Council of Anjou and Deluded Frenchmen, tunes? Alas! were we to believe them, our murdered relations and friends would rife from their graves to tell us, "Take care of the poifon concealed under those appearances: it was in proclaiming to us life and fafety, we were immolated-the fame fate undoubtedly awaits you-the faction that was then domineering is still reigning; its spirit is the fame; it aims at the fame end; means and agents only are changed." If, however, your wishes are fincere-if your hearts, foftened and changed, are bent towards peace, we must tell you, Restore the heir of your king his fceptre and crown; to religion its worship and minifters; to the nobility its rights and estates; to the whole kingdom its ancient and respectable conftitution, free from the abuses introduced in it by unfortunate eventsthen, forgetting all your wrongs and enormities, we may fly into your arms, and mingle with yours, our hearts, feelings, and wishes. But, without the previous adoption of these meafures, we despise an amnesty that crime should never have dared to offer to virtue-we despise your efforts and threats; fupported by our brave and generous warriors, we will fight till death, and you shall reign but on the tomb of the last of us. Refolved unanimously at Maulevriere, the 28th January, the year of grace 1795, and the third of the reign of Louis XVII. (Signed) STOFFLET, gene. ral in chief, TROTTEVIN, MOUNIER, MARTIN, CORDE, and GUIBERT, fecre tary-general. We rather to die than to live unde such tyranny. r But now the government of blood has disappeared. The leaders of that impious faction which covered France with cypress and mourning, have paid with their heads the forfeit of their criminal designs. The representative Ruelle, the friend of the laws and of humanity, is come to bear among us the words of peace. That confidence which had been so lowered by the acts of barbarity, which have preceded his miffion, begins now to revive. On his appearance we feel no difinclination to fuch approaches as may tend to remove the calamitous effects of the divisions that afflict us. New formed them of our intentions, and UNPRECEDENTED attempts againft our liberty, the most cruel intolerance, despotism, injustice, representatives, worthy of our efand horrid vexations which we teem and our praise, have been have experienced, have assembled joined to the first; we have inus with arms in our hands. We have seen with horror our unfortunate country delivered over to the ambitious, who, under the appearances of the pureft patriotism, and the seductive mask of popu- piness of our country, and what it larity, aspired to a perpetual dic- belonged to their prudence and tatorship. Difcerning their pro- wisdom to grant, for the purpose jects through the veil in which of obtaining the defirable end of they enveloped themselves-could peace. United in the fame tent we do otherwise than try our last efforts to replace the authority in hands which our principles made legitimate? Whilft an oppressive government deprived our fellow-citizens of their moft precious rights, we have de. fended our's with conftancy and firmness. We have had recourse in our misfortunes to new powers Despair even lent us its frightful fuccour, and rendering us infenfible to those confiderations which with the representatives of the people, we felt more strongly, if poffible, that we were ftill Frenchmen, and thould be animated only by the general good of our country. It is with these sentiments that we declare to the national convention and to France, our fubmiffion to the French republic, one and indivisible, and our acknowledgment of its laws; and that we make a formal engagement not to make any attempt against them. foften the moft ferocious hearts, We promise to furrender, as foon engraved on our's the resolution as poffible, all the artillery and 03 houfes |