Several members called tapoiyhim to speak
plainly, and M. Lecointre Pyraveau i a id,
4 Robertfpierre, do not tell us what you did
in the comtitueut alTemblv, but fay plainly,
whether you have aspired to a deflatorfhip, or
a triumvirate !"
In anofher part of his speech, three mem
ber-, M. M. Cambon, Babey, and Lalle, re
peated tie lame demand. M. Robertfpierre
continued hji equivocal defence to a great
length.
Marat was also accused of writings tend
ing to excite the people to aflaflination. It
was with difficulty that he was permitted to
speak ; and when he observed, 44 that he had
many personal enemies in the convention,"
the whole body role up amidst (houts of dis
approbation, and declared their hatred to him.
Being at length permitted to proceed, he
spoke of his attachment to cause of liberty ;
his comtant and open enmity to a corrupt
court; his long iinprifonmeut; and, above
all, his predictions relative to La Fayette,
whole treason he had anticipated, and whose
guilty Juccefs lie had been lucky enough to
prevent.
M. Boileau, who futceeded him in the tri
bune, pulled out one of the afliches, or adver
tifeinents, circulated by him, in which he
told the people, 44 that if in the eight firft
feiiions of the convention, the basis of the
was not laid and adjusted,
a new infant;<Jtion, and a subsequent di&a*
ture would be absolutely neceiTary."
There is no manner of doubt hut the af
feinbly would have launched a decreeof accu
farion against him, if he had not declared his
repentance in regard to this proceeding, and
produced a journal polterior to the date of
tiie above, in which he evinced more modera
tion, and recommended far different princi
ples to the people.
In the course of his defence Marat said,
lt If you enquire concerning my heart, I can
answer with t(udi that it is pure, but as to
my thoughts, tney are my own ; no power
under Heaven has a right, to demand an ac
count of them. I declare, that if the decree
is carried against me, 1 lhall here biow my
brains out." —The fight of the weapon, and
of the exprellive gestures of M. Marat, agi
tated the convention considerably, and a loug
debate followed, until the call for the order
us the day.
Mar Dial Luekner sent a letter to the con
vention, j ullifying himlelf from the asper
sions thrown out againlt him in the fitting of
the 27th ult. to the charge made against him
of having left the incendiary Jarry unpunifti
ed, he replied, that the court martial of the
army of'the north Was not organized ; that
there was neither a coinmiflai y of stores, nor
a commiiTary of accounts ; and that he had
requested the itiinifter at war, but in vain, to
appoint such officers.
" When 1 let out for the Belgian Nether
lands," added he, " I was alfured that I
should be joined by 30 or 43,030 men ; but 1
remained there 14 days without feeing one of
them. I however continued at Courtray,
from which 1 wrote to the minister, entreat
ing him to fend me a reinforcement, that 1
might either maintain my post, or March
against Ghent, which 1 could not do without
more troops, because the enemy, who were
on my flank at Tournay, would infallibly have
cut off my retreat."
He concluded by observing, that his papers
were among his baggage, which would arrive
next week, and t: at he would then lay before
tbe commissioners the different letters he had
received from the ministers.
DIPLOMATIC AFFAIRS,
The following is a copy of the memorial de
livered in last nigluby the miuifterof foreign
affairs, concerning the situation of the prin
cipal European Powers, as far as refpcCts
trance.
RuJjU—" It has been announced, that a
Ruflian fleet is to piri's the Dardanelles, and
enter the Mediterranean ; but this fleet is
not as yet equipped.
4t It has a]lo been told us, that 20,000
Ruffians have left Poland, and are now on
their march tosVa vd \ out frontiers ; but
22,033 more are still wanting, hi order to
subjugate that country.
Denmark—" I-> too poor and too wife not
to remain neutral.
Sxu.den—" His been enlightened by a great
doineitic example, which has evinced the
dangers with w.iich despots and ufuipers are
conltantly surrounded; and its Regent polfeffes
too many virtues, not to re!pe£t a people de
termined to the laws only, which are Co
many written virtues.
md Aujtnu.—" At Berlin, the greut
elt fermentation reigns among the people of
a king who wiflus to attack our rights. They
adore that liberty which he blasphemes and
combats, but cannot overturn.
The I'uairn oj Brandrniurg—Auftria, which
can never be united but by means of criminal
passions, are nearly divided by those very
passions; and the King of Pruflia is actually
defirou , of making peace with France.
ou t to declare war against
us; lhe wants money, notwithfhinding her
mines ; and men, notwithstanding her pof
ieilions in the two worlds.
Gr eJ t.J),,ia, n .-*"ln England the king detests
us, but the people efteein us; and although
the constitution permits the king ta declare
war he dare not do it without the consent of
ins luojeCts.
Smucrbnd.—" Thcle brave mountaineers
are irmated aga.r.ft it ; but they will never
be luch parru-.de, as u, run, their arms a
gainst a people w!l0 wi.O, to be the brothers of
all the nations nprvi earth.''
t0 b - P-''"*-''', and tranf-
Dlitti'd tj the 83 departments.
tae inotion of Vi. Canibjii, who fta< . e .|
plat they (h.>uld liare ».> French Princes in a
republic, and tjat tl.c nation paid an annuity
of three millions, as the appanage oJ the gen
tlemen.
44 The National Convention no onger ac
knowledging French Princes, fuppnfl.es their
salaries of appanage."
M. Leonard Bourbon observed, that the
Lsgiilative Alfembly had fixed the salary of
tjhe ci-devant King at five hundred thousand
livres, he obierved that no prifonerhad ever
such a salary ; and therefore propo/ed that it
be fuppreired, and tne Municipality of Paris
charged to supply the wants of the prisoners.
After a few observations from M. Tallier,
it was referred to the Committee ot Fi.iqce,
and the Convention rose at five o'clock.
Paris, Sept. 29.
44 The two leading factions jfl-rm ai.mi 4
which (hall be the firft to betray ach e'er,
by delivering up the King and Roy. 1 Family
to the Duke of Brunfwick, should tl vbe able
to eleape being maiTacred in this conflict of
super-eminent wickedness and treachery.
<4 The Chiefs of the Jacobin faction in Pa
ris are perfectly well allured among them
selves, that their armies cannot face the
Duke of Brunfwick. They therefore mean
to put the best face on a bad cause, in order
to prcferve a little popularity with the peo
ple at large, and retire with an army, such as
it is, composed of the' hordes of banditti who
are very numerous, to Bourdeaux, fVom
whence it will be an easy matter for the
chiefs to embark for some part of America.
Most of the leading men of the fa&ion have
plenty of money, for they have been pillaging
the public coffers for the last two years, par
ticularly Duinourier. Condorcet's wife is
already gone off with the most valuable of her
husband's etfe&s, and he always carries his
own paflport about about him, that he may
be able to escape on the firft moment of dan
ger. Bourdeaux is evidently their place of
refuge. Whether in the event of the king's
not b«°ing delivered up, he is to be forced to
go with seems a matter Undetermined.
But probably he will be taken with fhem.
" 1 have reason to expect, that Gkneral
MOll tefquiou,who commands tTieFr'encl forc
es in the South, has made an irruption into
Savoy for no other purpofc than to capitulate
with the enemy.
" The city of Lyons is particularly favor
able to the aristocratic party, and the Sardi
nian trnops will be welcomed whenever they
come there with great joy by the inhabitants
at large, if we except about joo of the ban
ditti, who compose the Jacobin Club of that
city. The Sardinian troops would have been
there already, had 10,000 of the Auftrisns
from Milan joined themfooner.
" Although the King of Spain has not feem
cd much disposed to interfere, yet he proba
bly will now,the fame as the Swiss have done,
rhe latter would have declared war long
since, had not many of their regiments been
divided in several parts of France, which
made them apprehensive of their troops fall
ing-victims to such a proceeding.
" The troubles in the Department of Fi
nifterre are not yet terminated. Foartien
parishes have revolted, refufing to pay the
taxes, under the pretext that without a King
there can be 110 nation, and consequently nei
ther government nor authority capable of ex
acting contributions from the people. The
volunteers, provided with artillery, have
marched to crush this rebellion, but it is tho't
this expedition will not terminate so fuccefT
tully as the former one. The unfortunate
peasants have been condemned to pay 2j,000
livres to defray the expenses of the patriots,
incurred at the time of the firft infurreftion.
" It is generally known, that there is some
very bad news in town from our armies, but
what it is, I have not been able to learn.
Every thing that turns out unfortunate is so
cautiously concealed, that we know very lit
tle of what goes forward till two or three
days after the news arrives, and then" it is
pre r ented in so mangled a (late, that it is dif
ficult to discover the truth."
" P. S. We havejuft learnt the news of
Chalons and Rheims being taken by the com
bined armie*. This news niuft have been
known by some for many day» pad, but all
the Gazettes are silent on the fubjeft."
It appears that the Canton of Berne is dis
posed to give up the paPs of Portentrui to the
Emperor, and to a<st hoftilely against France.
A letter from Bienne toM. Carra, which no
ticed this inclination, was referred to the ex
ecutive power.
Lucknei is at Paris. He came to concert
th nof a campaign with the temporary
ve Power. He demands an audience
ot the National Convention, who appointed
him an hour to-morrow. He is to give his
observations in writing in the German lan
guage.
The execution of the Thieve* who stole
the Crown Jewels, is respited.
The Marine Mmifter has prepared a most
fatisiaftory account of the French Navy, for
the purpose of laying it before the National
Convention. From this llatement it will ao
peli' , tha ' the .- v have one hundred and two
L «T ,OUS r ateS ' P , ' fri^ates ' P^k
ets, and flutes at sea, or prepared to fail im
mediately ; and fifty-three Ihips of the line
£ r 'Ae.g h t frigates, and a proportionate num
ber of (mailer veiTels, in ordinary, or repair,
ing, witha lufficient quantity of navalftores
to put their marine on such a footing at the'
(horteft warning, that the minister observes
it may defy all the naval powers of Europe.
L O N D O N, October 2
P S' lC f Po ' X ' and ar
rived in England. He was among the armed
force m the rhulllerieson the 13thof Autn,ft :
he was taken in a Marechal's uniform, and
being left in the room of the committee of
j lance, e^ ca P et l by borrowing a coat
and waistcoat of the commillioners, and has
ever (met oeen secreted by a friend, in Paris ■
214
but escaped in dlfguife, as he /ays, haying
bought a paflport for one hundred thousand
livres.
The following is the present state of the
plan for relieving the unfortunate French
Priests.
The chief subscription amounted, onThurf
day, to four thoufaud pounds.
About four hundred and twenty persons
have at present applied for relief. The Pa
lace at Winchester, which, in the last war,
held 1,100 Fr«nch and Dutch prisoners, is
now preparing for their reception, and a
thousand may probably be accommodated
there, in such a manner as to fhfew that our
cb irity is nbt iniuitiiigly given. But the no
tion that the place is a lort of prifori has, we
ui. .erftand, prevented great numbers from
applying for admiflion to it.
A contractor furnifhes beds, during a cer
tain term, for 20001. : each person adopted
oy the charity,is to have two guineas a month
for the purchase of food ; and the greater part
will receive betides, twenty (hillings, the fir ft
month, as an allowance for clothes.
The great saloon in the Palace will be en
tirely filled with beds.
In the mean time,fubfcriptions are proceed
ingin several of the principal towns in En
gland ; and, as this is purely a question of
humanity, all political confidei ations are hap
pily excluded from it.
Should M. Dumouiier have Sfted, as is re
ported he has done, from principles of loyalty
to his Sovereigu, the worst that his enemies
can fay of him, is that he was a good kernel
in a bad shell.
M. de Calonne reached Dover on Sunday,
and went to pay his refpefts to Mr. Pitt at
WalmerCaftle. But he was not arrived in
London yefttrday afternoon, though hourly
expected.
M. Duma-., a member of the late national
aflembly in France, is arrived in London.
He is among those who voted for M. de la
Fayette, and of tourfe it was not fafe for him
to relide any longer in Paris.
It appears by Utters from Fribourg, in
Germany, that the Viscount Mirabeau, who
arrived at Oflemboutg on the 15th ult. at Jjrft
refufed every kind of remedy, dreading that
he should bo poisoned. At length he resigned
bimfelf into the hands of his physicians,' and
became better. In a violentdifpute with one
of his officers, he fell into an apoplexy, of
which he died, much regretted by the mili
tary under bis command.
The erouils of foreigners who land,and tra
vel to the metropolis on all fides of the stages,
render it very difficult to get a palTage from
the sea coast in any fort of carriage., All, all,
all, from the broad wheel waggou to the fly
ing dilly, are occupied.
Of the aftonilhiug increase of business in
the bank of England, the bcft idea may be
formed from considering the. increase of its
servants. Between 40 and 50 years ago there
were scarcely more than that number of
Clerks in employ there; this is still in the re
eolleftion of a few of the oldeit servants of
the bank ; at present the number employed
amounts to more than 400.
It has been averted that some merchants
have advanced l'ums to a considerable amount
to the King of France, (153 millions) nothing
can be more falfe. Had this been fact, their
houses would have been plundered, and their
lives forfeited to the summary vengeance of
the many-headed monster, the mob. They
have denied the charge, and it has not been
supported.
The Canton of Berne, in Switzerland, has
ordered a public mourning for fifteen days
on account of the defeat and slaughter of the
Swiss Guards at Paris on the loth of August.
During this time all the public fpe&acJes are
to be (hut up.
Tumult at Toulon.
The following is a letter from Toulon, dated
September 12.
" A plan of a counter Revolution discover
ed itfelf here fifteen daysfince. Unfortunate
persons confined in prison, forced, with sa
bres in their hands, the gaolers; and. those
malefactors, who were in number 1536 per
sons, spread themselves in bands over the
city, and gave rife to well founded fears. The
council general of the community allembled
immediately, ordered the gates of the town
to be (hut, the generate to beat, and seized
the galley prisoners, who, upon interrogation,
answered, that arms, and the means of ensur
ing their liberty, had been promised them.
u The authors of this movement were also
arrested and iniprifoned. They were inter
rogated, and declared guilty of confpiracv ;
yefterdav they were hanged. M. Flotte, com
mandant of marine, and M. Rochmaure, cap
tain of a vefTel, met with the fame fate.
There are flill in the prisons many officers,
accused of having refufed to take anns on the
day of the tumult."
The following decree, proposed by M. Du
mas, in the National AlTembl v was adopted
in the following words :
The National AiTembly confidently the ne
cetuty of providing as fpeedilv as possible, for
an exchange of prisoners of war, and fjr re
leasing luch of our brethren in arms; who, in
combat ng for their country, mj»y have fallen
into the hands of the enemy. Considering al
io, that the basis upon which the Executive
power, or the generals of armies, may con
clude treaties, conventions, or agreements,
ought to be founded on the principles of li
berty and equality, pass the following decree
refpecHng the exchange of prisoners.
i. There ftiall be no pecuniary tarif for the
exchange, according to the difference of rank,
but in terms relative to the corresponding.
ranks in the armies of the enemy.
2. There fliall be 110 tarif of exchange, so
that no officer or subaltern can be exchanged
aoamft a greater number of individuals of an
inferior rank.
3' The fcommon basis oi ail eVch- i
winch no modification can alter, fiiall b n "
change man Cor man, and ra,,k for rank.
Lxtrad tij a letterJiotn Lijle, dated Sept. 27
" We arc absolutely furroundeil bv the <■
nemy, and all the roads arc intercepted The
cannonading was kept up all day yeiter.l'.v
from both parties.; that of the befie» d
well as the besiegers. We hadfive m.n k'iled
by one ball. We fee the enemy (Vein tie ra-ti
parts carrying off their dead in' waggons. w
fet fire yesterday to part of the luourbs.
enabled the enemy to approach r.c-.cr tat'«
wall."
CONGRESS.
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES.
Friday y November 23.
In committee of the whole.
A bill for regulating foreign coins u».
aer conlideration, which enacts that the
gold coins of Great-Britain and Portugal
(hall be a legal tender for payment of all
debts, at the rate of one dollar for everv
twenty-seven grains of the actual weight
thereof, and the gold coins of France and
Spain at the rate of one dollar for eveiy
twenty-seven and two-fifths of a grain of
the weight thereof.
Mr. Page said, he wished to be inform
ed whether there really was the difference
between the French and British coins
rtated in the bill—if so, how that differ,
ence had been ascertained 'That a few
years since he had examined hydroftati
cally the different gold coins named in the
bill, and a variety of coins of the German
empire ; and that although he readily dis
covered that the fpecific gravity of the
latter was so little as to juftify the low va
lue at which they were generally rated
he remembered well, that there was by no
means such difference between the fpeci
fic gravity of the former as could juflify
the discrimination made in the bill. He
added, that he doubted whether, iftheie
leally rtiould appear to be that difference
between the coins, it would be proper ta
introduce the diftin&ion by a law of the
general government, as it might be at
tended with some inconvcniencits, and
might be construed into a partiality to
Bi itifh commerce—he theiefore, to take
the lenfe of the committee, moved to
amend the claule, so as that the goldcoitu
of Great-Britain, Fiance, Spain, and Por
tugal (hould be payable at the fame rates.
Mr. Tucker seconded Mr. Page, and
supported hrs motion with fitnilar argu
ments.
Mr. Fitzfimons said he should vote a
ainft the amendment,becaufe, he believed
that the diftin&ion proposed in the bill
was really that which did exist in the in
trinlic value of the coins alluded to.
Several other members opposed the
motion, because, said they, we have no
doubt that the Senate, who originated the
bill, had conlidered the fubjeft fully, and
had made the proper ellimate (on full ir
foi mation) of the real value of the differ-
ent coins.
Mr. Page replied, that since he had on
ly heard the opinions and suppositions of
gentlemen opposed to his opinion, and no
latisfadlory proof offered to fnpport the
bill againlt his amendment, he (liould per
sist in his motion ; for, said he, although
I will not be so dogmatical as to assert
that 1 am right, and the Senate wrong —•
yet, in a matter of this nature, which ad
mits of politive proof and\demonfttatiou,
and which, as far as my own a&ual expe
riments have gone, eftablilh my opinion,
I cannot give it up, till I have been con
vinced by other arguments than such as I
have heard. Had 1 been told that the
different coins alluded to had been exa
mined hydroftaticaDy, or had been alTay
ed by proper persons appointed for that
putpofe, I (liould have acquicfced. I
might poflibly however have supposed that
they were of a different coinage or emis
sion from those which I had examined.
I think the clause under confideiation is
of such importance as to require full and
fatijfadtory proof to the world, that it has
not been adopted without a thorough w
veltigation of the truth and propriety v'
the diferimination it establishes between
the coins of the nations with which we
have such a conTiderable commercial m
tercourfe; with that proof, I Ihoiild be fa
tisikd, and would defy the invidious lu>-