©
IMPROMPm 1
Virgin—i—a, Virgin—i—-a,
What cap 1 do, what tan 1 fay ?
My wit doth himc, my pride is hit,
My pride alas, cats up my wit;
What; f. nd our brats, to Yankey's towns, |
To learn (good God, blood,fire & zounds)
Virtue I Ah ! hah ! and not to swear,
To visit churches ? I declare,
Fine times, to learn to read, not drink,
To learn morality, and how to think,
To learn fubmifiion, modesty ?
No, damme, that (hall never be.
From, all our vail, our old dominion,
To banish each young ilarving minion,
.Learn him to read, by fear of rod,
To keep his word, and worlhip God ?
Republicans, learn such vile tralh ?
No, np, thro' thick and thin they'll dalh,
Drink, garpe, swear, lie ; and lay they'll
nght wifii sword,
But are 100 much of gentlemen, to keep
their word.
Why flionld our children better than their
fathers be ?
Thus far I wrote my firft impromtu,
and after I looked it ovei, I thought I
could write a better one, so I fat down
and wrote two and sent them to Mr. Os
wald, as I said before, and as it took me
so long to blot and write and write and
blot, I thought such a preface as 1 sent
him neeeffary to make folks read it, and
also to shew, that all the time from the
date to printing, was not taken up in
writing, but in diiappointments by the
obstinacy of Printers. But finding how
very well people like those two perform
ances, (especially the Virginians) I am
induced to bring to light this last impromp
tu, not last in writing but last in appear
ance—As to A ms, and A s, I
wilh they would.read this, and those two
impppmptues, and then let them make
more stories about learning the youth of
Virginia virtue, if they dare They will
find hard work to make either the young
or the old in Virginia believe them, and
besides their politics (hall be lalhed a little
more by my poetry if they do not mind,
pye, and mend too, for I hear they are
Loth againll a war wilh Great Britain.
A SUBSCRIBER.
March 7thj 1794.
N. B. I wilh you could print those
pieces, preface, &c. of mine from Os
wald's paper, that people may have one
view of the whole : This impromptu is
more like the Pindaric, a little irregular,
but those other two are perfectly ruleable,
and are what they call Hexameter, or
Pentameter—l forget which.
m the Independent
From a Correspondent.
T''ie inclosed Impromtu and explanatory
Introduction have been presented to
more than one Printer of a Daily Pa
per in this C -y, and met with such a
strange reception as induced the Au
thor to fuppufe them of fufficient im
poitar.ee to be presented at lead to the
view of Virginians : They are now
tranfinitted to you for publication, with
a wish that they may appear in your
A SUBSCRIBER.
The following lines were written on
feeing in Fenno's paper of this evening,
a piece said to be from Davis's Virginia
Gazette, from which the following extra#
is taken to explain the Impromtu.
" The noblest examples of Republican
" virtues now exiltsng, are to be found
"in the New-England States. There
« our youth could not fail to imbibe lef
" sons—perhaps superior to those former
"ly furnifhed by Athens itftlf. A so
" journing among these virtuous People,
" previous to any public employment,
" might be attended with the most bene
" ficial effects," &c.
March 21ft, 1794. 1
IMPROMTU.
VIRGINIA listen to the sage advice 1
And fend your sons to Salem in a trice.
Follow sage Fijher in the round he went;
And glean the learning which to A—she lent.
Despise your country, and from Yankey's
learn,
How your true interest jufUv to dilcern:
Learn how to value Britain s sterling worth;
Despise the man who'd t-ich that France
brought forth
Columbian States; and bid them France des
pise.
Learn, where aloqe you may, who's truly
wife;
Distinguish 'twixt the patriot and the knave ■
The fugitive from Shay's, or truly brave.
• (
See in mad Jtflerfon, the deep defiga,
With iVlSdilon ani Gjiitt, tp combine/
Learn how the Furtdmg Syilem to luppcrt;
And how to recommend yourselves at Court.
Learn how to answer all—«rho fhlitll complain;
And all the myitie fyfterft of finance explain.
IMPROMTU,
On reading in Fenno's paper his account
of the Vice-Prelident's giving the call
ing vote, when the Senate were divi
ded, Ayes and Nays 12, on the ques
tion refpedling the sale of Prizes by
the French in our harbors—See the
paper—Adams is complimented as hav
ing saved his country from the horrors
of War.
LOVERS of Peace and Titles lend your
aid 1
Your debt of gratitude is not yet paid.
To A-m-s, utinoft stretch of praise is due !
He loft your t tics—but gain'd peace for you.
Betwixt the Tivelve, the balance well he held
Or at one stroke the foe, —Columbia would
have fell'd.
March 21, 1794.
For. jhe Gazette of tie United States.
Mr. Fenno,
BY Mr. Z. the orator's reply to my ad
dress to you the other day, he seems to have
got out of his leading firings—and being now
arrived to the state of manhood, he comes
forward a bold hero to support men and
measures calculated for piblic uffulnefs. —
Happy, thrice happy America—who in this,
thy adopted son, hath lo able a supporter—
not only in thy Councils, bnt in the war
which he so anxiously desires; it may be
expected ((hould it fortunately for him and
a few of his speculating friends take place)
that he will lead thy armies to battle —and,
like Scipio of old at the gates of Carthage,
carry his thunder to the walls of Quebec —"
which mull crumble to the dull at his ap
proach.
Having thus presaged the future exploits
and glory of this truly patriotic orator, give
me leave Mr. Fenno, through the channel
of your paper, to liy before the public a few
remarks on the little details he gives us of
his eminent services in the late war.—•With
great gravity he tells us 'n the firft place,
that in J7Bl, he was appointed receiver of
taxes for Pennsylvania, and Treasurer to the
department of f nance —in which stations of
great importance, he was happy in lending
his aiding hand in the franfa£tions which led
to the peace of 1783" —Adding, that ever
since he has been employed in aflive life,
and extenuvc scenes of commerce, beneficial,
at once, to the country and liiinJVli'.
Vain presumptuous man ! —thus to arro
gate to thyfelf the mer'.trefulting from tranf
aiftions due only to thy guardian angel, the
financier —who among many other adts of his
benevolence towards you, placed you under
bis own direflions in both offices —holding
himf If rrftonfble ior your conduct in them—
and all :wmg you a commifpon on your re
ceipts ai;t? expenditures, which laid the cor
ner /lone oj our present fortune —and of the
consequence you no<w afume —What claim
then can you pretend to have to the public fa
vor for these services of which you boast so
much ?—reverfe the matter, if you please,
and honestly confefs that you fer-ved your/elf
alone—which in every cafe is the rulingprin
ciple with you.
The orator, Mr. Fenno, to shew his early
attachment to the cause of American Inde
pendence, tells us that in the year 1777, he
took the oath of allegiance to the govern
ment —to this I (hall fay with Hudibras,
that— r
It is he who makes the oath that breaks it,
Not him who from convenience takes it.
His loyalty being thus put out of the question,
he concludes by telling us " that in his inde
pendent career neither the -venom of private
malice, nor the rage oj public faSions shall
interrupt him"—Go on my truly patriotic
orator —go on—you are secure from both—
for you are not yet arrived to that degree of
consequence in the world, to excite either
private malice, or come under the serious no
tice of any party —but when next you mount
the rostrum, I think you will do well to
confine your oration within the bounds of
modesty—and learn, if you can, a little grati
tude to the country which gave you birth,
and to a nation which has been so generous
to vour father.
lazetteer.
April Bth, 1794.
Foreign Intelligence.
RECEIVED BV THE
BRUSSELS, January 7.
The excursions of the Prince of Ssxe
Cobourg to Guise and St. Quintin, have
concluded molt unfortunately. On Thurs
day last the two columns were attacked at
the fame moment, with fiush impetuosity,
that they were both forced to retreat to
their old positions between Valenciennes
and Quefnoy. There came in here last
night, by the gate of Ancfcrlecht, an
HONESTUS,
(continued.)
immense transport of wounded and sick,
in no less than 84 waggons.—Thii day
large quantities of amunition and ilores
were dilpatc'icd to the army at Mons.
RATIONAL CONVENTION.
December 15.
" J. B. Lacofte and Baudot, representatives
of the people, with the army of the Rhine
and jVLlelle, to the Naional Convention.
" Hiad-quarten at Nuairhrum, Dec. 11.
" The defenders of the republic, citizens
colleagues, have just obtained a iignal victory
over the Auftrians. Yoji know that the sa
tellites of the kings, relying more upon the
strength of their cannon than their own cou
rage, had intrenched themlelves upon the
heights of Reichfhofen, Genderfhofen, pe
chevillers, and Werth, before Haguenau, re
doubts of three Itoiies, not less formidable
those of Jemappe
" The front of their intrenchments was
attacked this morning with the greatest suc
cess. The soldiers of the republic took 26
pieces of cannon from the enemy, 20 tum
brils, and made upwards of joo prisoners,
among whom is the colonel of the firft re
giment of the emperor, bedecked and covered
with crofles and ribbands, and eight other
officers. The number of their killed is very
considerable ; we would not make any pri
soners till we were tired of killing ! Our !oi
-I'es have been but trifling.
" It would be too long to give the details
of all the prodigies of valour on the part of
our brave soldiers ; their fucceifes repref-nt
them better than all we might fey: the gene
rals, in other refpe<fts, will be eager to give
you all the military particulars. This vic
tory is the more important, as it is the open
ing which will condudl us to Landau.
" We have been all day long in the field
of ba'tle with our brothers in arms.—We
ourselves discharged the cannon upon the
enemy ; and it (hall not be our fault :f this
victory is not followed up without relting,
and with the greatest ardour.—
Greeting and fraternity.
(Signed) «'J. E. LACOSTE,
. " M. A. BAUDOT."
January 3.
CAPTURE OF SPIRES AND
Guermersheim by the French.
Extract of a letter from General Hoche,
to the Minister at war.
Head Quarters,
Landau, Dec. 31.
"We are in pofleffion of Guermer
iheim and Spires with its magazines, arms
and an immense quantity of forage.
'' Landau has coll us (not fncluding
200 men killed, and
800 wouuded. _ - '■ I
The representatives of the people of
Toulon write (23d December) " Since
our lait letter we have been enabled to as
certain, from the different points of attack,
the lols of our enemies ; and we with
pleasure inform you, that it amounts to
jooo men k: f .led and w'ounded, exclulive
of prisoners, of whom there are a great
che
PARIS, December 27.
SITTING of the JACOBINS.
Hebert—" We need not doubt, that
there exiils among us a confpiraey. To
fiuftrate it, we ought to go to work. By
purifying ourselves with the greatefl ri
gor, we (hall without obtlacle do themoft
eflintial service to the common weal.
" I denounce to you Beurdon of Oife,
whose conduct, ever ambigous, cannot in.
spire us with great confidence. Remem
ber he has been a Briffotine, and propo
sed to expel Marat from our focietv. Is
such a man worthy to fit among us ? I
move for the endure of his name from the
Socisty.
" 1 do not confine myielf to this sole
denunciation. I accuse Philippeaux, who
has sometimes the impudence to come to
deliberate with the Jacobins. He has writ
ten works which ought to exclude him
from our bosom.
" 1 accuse Camille Defmoulins, who
formerly could render great service to the
Repuhlic. Since he has married a wo
man who brought him a certain fortune,
he thinks he may despise the true Jaco
bins, and become the friend of the Arif
tociats and Mufcadius, with whom by his
own confeffion, he lives upon familiar
terms. He proteas Dillon : He believes
T urenne to be a man of fupenor genius.
He kept silence for some time; and now
he only takes up the pen to devote Bou
chotte to ridicule—Bouchotte, whose pa
triotism cannot be queitioned. He said
in his journals, that George Bouchotte
was governed by Pitt Vincent. Is Bou
chottc so imbecile as to be governed by
the perion who governs the Britirti minif
tfcr ? I demand the exclusion of C&mille
Defmoulins.
" I here is another individual, under
whom the persons above' mentioned only
3ft in a secondary manner. is 3 Jau-
V }
gerous ierpent, who, by his tortuous
windings, infijiuates hinifelf every where,
moves the machine at his pleasure. This
man is I'abre d'Eglautine. Firfl Ramp
ant at the feet of the Aristocrats, hecoin
pofed counter-revolutionary works. Find
ing that Aiiitocracy would not thrive,he,*
through mean nets' and intrigues, ihifted
himlelt among Patriots, wiio elected him
a Deputy of the. Convention. Figaro
Eglantine, not contented to intrigue for
himfelf, caballed also for Fabre Fond, his
brother. Do you, Citizens, know the
merits of Fabre ? It is true, that for this
long while palt, he has been drefled in
Hussars regimentals; but it was only for
the purpofc of feljiog Balm on the Square
of Toulonfe. This Balm-merchant be
came a General of Brigade. Andonin
can certify to you, that Eglantine intrigu
ed for his brother the HiiiFar ; and that,
as soon as the latter had obtained his
commission of General, be wished that a
Ccurier Extraordinary be sent to an
nounce that extraordinary appointment!
Do you know why Eglantine accuses
Roniin ? It is because Ronfin reproached
his Brother with the luxury he difplsyed
in Da Vendee, and because he reproach
ed him with having never once fired off
the priming of a gun. This is the enig
ma, and the origin of the hatred of Fab
re d'Eglantipe again (I Ronfin. 1 de
mand that he be flruck off. r
" I know my enemies—l know how
powerful they a-- ; I expose my life in
aceivng them : But nothing shall intimi
date m= ! And I (hall be always fupport
cd by the jacobins, not forfake
me wlien I was under the dagger of Arif
toeracv. If my enemies accuse me if
they have power fufficient to thiow my
liberty into chains—Jacobins ! I suppli
cate yon to demand my speedy trial, 'that
I if I (hould not fall, I may loose no time
j to serve the People, who iland in need of
I mC '
" I demand that Camille Defmoulins,
Bourdon, the red haired Phihppeaux, and
Fabre d i" ''antine, be bani'htd from this
oocie:y ; that a petition be presented to
the Convention, to demand "the speedy
trial of the accomplices of Brifibt, and
the report of Arcar refpe&ing the con
; fpiricy announced by CliaHot and Bazire
j in mortj thf¥t this Society do declare that
co:' ti ience."
Mizuel arrived to notify, that tfje vil
lain FaKre d'Eglantine had c.used a de
cree of arrcll to be palled againll him
and that he vent to obey the law.
A member " Livaux ought like'
wile to be expelled fiom this Society," '
■\fter a very animated difcuflion, the
So tv resolved, that Fabre d'Eglantine,
B.urdon of Oife, Camille Definouliiih,
and Lavaux, (hall be invited to to
thsf next meeting, to answer the charges
exhibited againll them ; that an extras
ot' the proceedings of this fitting be pre
fenttd to Ron fin and Vincent, to convince
them that the Society preserve, with re
fpeft to them, its attachment to their
principles, add its fraternal unity; and
that commifiioners (hall announce to them
the said extract.
LONDON, January 11.
It may gratify cui iofity to know, that
Hoche, to whom the chief command was
given, when the afmies of the Rhine and
Mozelle joined, who out-generalled both
Wurmfer and the Duke of Brunfwic, &
whose letters are so laconic, was formerly
oneoi the French King's postilions, and
afterwards a k-.jrsnt in the guards, the
highest rank to which he rcfe before the
Revolution,
Monday a lad? about nine years of
age, lon of Mr,' Brown, Pilot, of Cowes,
playing wuh a pii,ol, (not being known to
be loaded) he put a na;i, made hot in the
fire, into the pi'.tol, which caused it to go oft"
at the instant iie was locking into the barrel,
and lodged the nail in his head, which occa
sioned the loss of one eye,
Friday morning a oerfon gave a loaded
gun to a little boy to hold, in the Rope-Walk,
Bnftol, while he went en some bufintfs, when
tilt child accidentally let the gun fail, which
caused it to go off, tne contents lodged in the
temple of a hide g it l, caused her immediate
oefth,
The d«flriw»bnof Tout a is certaiWan
objert of thefirfl coaftqoflgfc to
try.— ihu;m pl great ffiafure effected.
The French: will do the reft; for
they raze the city,
contdl betveta
Ward and Mfcrfoza dr» a vast contoorfc
of people tn HouH>WH<§h vtirerday monx
•'l*Vl thc civ ' ic P o *" a3ifhrd by a party
ot Jjo.dur', viry properly interfered broke the
, an : - tJ»-fe rufi-.an* f.om ex
fi.ch a dbgracct'ui fjK&aelc.