PUBLISHED WEDNESDAYS AND SATURDAYS BY JOHN FEN NO, No. 69, HIGH-STREET, BETWEEN SECOND AND THIRD STREETS, PHILADELPHIA [No. 54, of Vol. lII.] Wednesday, August 24, 17 1. FROM THE GENERAL ADVERTISER. [Our Readers will be pUafed with the following Letter cf the Mayor cf Paris, translated from a Parij Paper : Independent of the light tt throws upon the Jituation of Paris, at the time our latcfl accounts left that city, it cor tains fuck juji principles of rational liberty, a»d Jack warm effu/ions ojgenuine patriot fn t as mujl interejt the jeel i rigs oj every American.] Letter from the Mayor of Paris to M. Le Fluv re d* Arles. ctmmandant of the Battalion oj Penis- Auguttms. Paris, June 5, »79 l - THE Commander in Chief informs rne, Sir, that, on Satur day, even before the receipt of any orders, the battalion of Fctits-Augujtinsy which you have the honor to command, had re ioived to meet velterday at fix in the morning in the Iheet Bourbon, to preserve good order about the church of the Theatins, and se cure the execution of the law which efltablifhes religious freedom. I have learnt, Str, that their resolution was carried into execution; and am informed that your battalion had fulfilled that duty with zeal, and has been fortunate enough to protect from violence a diftrefled Priest. As a citizen and as magistrate I applaud the conduct of your battalion, and am made happy by tlie refpelt 1 hey have shewn for the laws. I view 111 their conduit the pat riotism of citizen-soldiers. It is not enough to fight for our country when in danger from attacks ; but it is alio neceilary to ■watch over its tranquility, and prevent its falling a villi m to in ternal diilentions. The soldier-citizen has this double duty to attend to, and you have performed it. In paying attention to the croud which is atfralted towards the Theatins, I am forty to find that the people of Paris are misled, — 1 am lorry to find in that croud, enemies to the public peace and "welfare, drelfed in national uniforms, to appearance the mod ac tive leaders. It can't be denied, Sir, the public weal is in dan ger ;—our enemies wish to avail themselves of the divisions of the clergy, and disputes of the priests to involve us in difficulties : they wish to bring about a civil war, through the means of religi ous contentions. Similar attempts have always succeeded, when undertaken by the seditious of every country and in every age ; hut it concerns our glory and iutereft,that they should fail among the French, who, in two years, have brought about a most won derful revolution, and have framed a molt admirable constitu tion. Our enemies tremble to fee the edifice of this constitution completely railed, and the last hand put to it to complete it, theirlaft resource to oveiturn it is t > lay to the people, 44 The cause of Re li g ion is in danger, a dreadful schism will take place ; the ex-clergy are enemies of the contfitution, and the di rcltory, the municipality, their chicfs, the military who protelf them and execute their orders, are aristocratically inclined." Arid I answer the people,— 44 That religion is in no danger ; no thing of its eflentials s changed ; its tenets are prcferved in all their puriiy ; the doltrine is the fame with the priests, who have acknowledged the new constitution, and have taken the oath, ■with those, who, upon conscientious principles, or for other rea ions, have thought pioper to refufe. This conscientious princi ple is 111 themselves, and nothing is to be feared from it by others . it is of no importance to the people, so tha: it breeds no disputes,* —as disputes and diffentions only can disturb the public happi nels, and throw an obstacle in the way, which may retard the completion of the constitution. If the views of aristocrats have given rife to thele disturbances, let us bury in oblivion their bad intentions, which we re to give rife to civil wars and commotions, their latt resource. Let us not however, by our conduit, iecond their efforts ; let us peifevere in this important work of securing public happincfs,by preserving peace, andof bringing about good ordei, bv shewing fubmiilionto the laws. The National AHembly has decreed that no restraint should be laid on lib rty of conscience, and that religious worfnip of every kind Ihould be permitted. If the tenets and worfhipof the ex clergy arc the fame as those profeffed nnd that praltifcd by the clergy paid by the nation, they are our's, and we ought to refpelt them. If it differed from our's we ought to bear with it, just as we permit other forms of worlhip totally different from that we profeis. liut, then, the pee>ple aie told, if ihefe priests are per mitted to fay ma<*s, they should not be fuffered to preach, or con fels!—Why not ? I would ask—Where then would be their li berty if you lay restraints on their tenets and mode of woifhip ? Where is the freedom of citizens, if on account of these tenets and mode of worship they are not matters of chufing their own Spiritual guides ? More has been laid—it has been aliened that some peifons have been seen at the communion table two arid three times a day. The report is certainly [faWe ; but if it was n ue, if it were one of their religious principles, that principle 15 free by the decree of the National Aflembly. Frenchmen under (land tli nature of liberty ; it ought to be complete and common to all ; by granting it to one set don't de prive others of it-—The National Guards are yet told, take care to w hat use your patriotism and courage are put ; —examine the orders givt n you, ana only obey those which appear to you just and of a ufeful tendency : And, who is it, that thus pretends to lubjclt the law, wbich is the reason of ail, exprellcd. to the rcafon of a few ; the law, that is the general will, to private will ( Soldi *rs, Citizens, and even Magiflrates, are not to deliberate when the law has pronounced, when it is exprcft'ed by the organschofen and appointed by vourfelvo—obedience is then necefTary, it is a duly or abioluie nec< fftiy, and to oppose, or even evade it, is a l»reach ot iheconftitution, it is d ftrultive of the order of civil fo cety, it is fnbftituting all the evils, which depend on anarchy, in the room of national order, which it !S ourgloiyand interest to preserve. li mv voicc could be heard bv all my fellow-citizciu, if I could h ve deft rvtd their confidence lo far aj lo hope that they would I'ften to the exprt llious of my councils, I could tell them : Don't jutier y»»ui lelvcs to be m'Qi d ; your happincfs is at hand, it is al rcady in your poflTeflion ; the cmititution is neatly compleaied. you are ab<nt enjoying the blcifings you have a right to expiit ♦ ">in its influence, uul<\t> you overset th work ot your hands. 1 herr i're a number of seditious aud ill-intentioned persons, ac tuait d by the hope of enriching thcinfelvcs bv if coniufion cau be pioductd. In Par is you are surrounded with a prodigious Dumber of people ol this (lamp. enemies of the public good, and active in (ftoits to deiiroy :t ; fomc ©f ihefe speak, and profanr the language of liberty, and the cxpredions ot patriotism by thei» nfc of them, others a£}, and commii cxctlTcj in the violation of the rictus ol pt ifon and properly. To you foremoft it belongs to oi>p«>f« their aiit mpts. When the duty of our magistrates and or our citizi'ti-ioldiers nrompt them to purlue these pcrturbatois ot public pea< <, ihe pcorie, who arc not performing military dutv lo unite their eilorts with tltofe of the ftratts and Nan- rtnal Guard. In ta& those very Magistrates and that National Guard are the people themlelves ; it is their cause they defend, ii s in defence of liberty they a&, desirous to secure it on the firm ba is of public tranquility, You are told that your Magistrates deceive you; you are told leir orders are tyrannical ; and it is undoubtedly the interest of hose who tell you so to repeat it again and again—all they want s the return of anarchy and confufion, and the boldeit step to this s disobedience to legitimate authority. You have every calami y to dread, if your magistrates are deprived of our confidence, md if legal authority is diverted of its influence. I certainly am lot deceived, and it is impoflible that I could wish to deceive you. What am I ? One raised by your own hands, after 50 years of fcnown probity, and about to return to the obfeure retreat from which you have taken me, there to carry nothing besides a confid ence, which docs not reproach me with having done any evil, if I have not the fatisfathon of having done much good. I cannot wish lor any thing more than your interest and prosperity. You have evinced your esteem tor me ; I refpeft and love you. You raised me, and I watched foryour fafety. I have not had a thought for these two years, but for you ; I beg you will be convinced of the security of my intentions, and the fmcenty of my exhortations. Yon are free, and you wish to be happy ; you can only be hap py and free by your fubmiftion to the laws ; every breach of the law is an encroachment on your liberty. You are reminded of despotism; it is done away. You have a beloved King, his right to rule is granted to him by the constitution ; —he toremoft obeys the law when he executes it. You have magistrates chosen by yourselves ; —they arc chosen but for a time, and are refponfi b'e. You have adminiitrative bodies who watch over the pro ceedings of each other, and over those of the legislature, the organ of the law, the focus from which the rays of justice diverge. Op preilors have no longer means to oppress ; the opprefled shall al ways be heard, or rather oppreflion can no longer exist. Let us then banish distrust ; suppress the difturbanccs which afTemblies and mobs of motion-makers* occasion ; all these irregularities strike the minds of peaceable citizens with terror, they drive away the opulent, depopulate the capital, encreale the misery : And by re storing peace and good order, let us by wifdorn ftnifti a revolution begun with courage. This, .Sir, is what I (hould wilh to fay to my fellow-citizens : These are the truths and principlesby which you and the battalion you command have been led. You are at liberty to publilh this letter in any manner you may think proper. Mayor ot Paris, (Signed; [ * The fie are men from the party called Enrages, or mad Demo crats, who would be better pleased with no government at all than any— who have nothing to lofc y and may gain much, if the kingdom could be thrown into a Jlute oj anarchy. These men, chiefly paid by the Enrages, harrangue the people in the jlreets and public squares, and then make motions oj a nature to create disorder and dijlurbance, which they always cart y. b\ acclamation from the mob, and these seditious opinions, collided in this vague and tumultuous mannei, they then Jpread abroad as the sentiments of the body oj the people.] A Letter from the Provincial Afoubly of the North of St. Domingo, to the King of the French. " SIRE, " \7"OUR children, your faithful colonics of -1 St. Domingo, offer at the foot of the throne, their just complaints, and deposit in your paternal brealt, their fears and their alarms. I'he province of the North of St. Domingo lias, until this moment, difcovercd the molt refpetftful fubinifiion to the decrees concerning the colonies, made by the legiil.ttive body, and /auctioned by your Majeily ; and this fubmiflion has entitled them to the molt flattering applause from the narion in general. We have relied on the reite rated promises comprehended in the decrees of the Bth and 28th of March, and 12th of October, 1790, to pass no decree upon the fubje*st of qua lification of persons, but what lliould be precise ly and formally represented by the colonies; but a new decree of i!ie 15th of May, which (.an be but the result of surprise, of cabal and intrigue, causes all our hopes to vanish, and plunges us in the greatest confiernation. This decree, which is absolutely contradiiHory to those which have preceded ic fays, " 1 he National Assembly de " crees, that it will never deliberate upon the " qualities of the colored people who are not " born of free parents, without the previous, " free and fpomaneous wish and desire of the " colonies: that the Colonial Allemblies now " exiiling fliall be continued ; but that the co " lored people born of free parents lliall be ad " mitted into the Parifhional and Colonial As " femblies ; provided always, that they poflefs " the other requisite qualifications."* We fliall not attempt to paint to your Majelly the shocking sensations the news this impolitic decree has caused in this town ; and the misfor tunes that will follow its promulgation are un accountable ; they will be such as will draw af ter them the total annihilation of this flourishing colony The profpenry of your kingdom, Sire, is eflen rial'y connected with that of the colonies which form a part of it, and these cannot flourish ex cept they maintain the ltritftelt subordination among those employed in the different kinds of * A> u» nioprrtv. coin! loihc pavrrifnt of thue '.ivies for %J\) taxe; 133 BAILLY. [Whole No. 242.3 culture: this subordination will cease to exist, the instant the line marked out which separates the whites from ihe colored people lhall be bro ken through, and both placed upon the fame line of equality. The order established in the colonies, sanction ing certain prejudices, is by no means originated by pride, as those pretended philosophers who call thernfelves the Apoitles of Humanity sup pose; it is dictated by the extreme necessity which will never admit the colored people, the offspring of former slaves, to be entitled to the fame privileges with the whites, and be compre hended without di&in<ftion with them. If this indifpenfible order of the colonies is annihilated, the ruin of them must inevitably ensue. This, Sire, is what the legislative bodies had in their wisdom particularly attended to, when forming their decrees of the Bth and 28111 of March, and 12th of October, 1790; the colonics according to those decrees were left to make their formal reprefenrations concerning the qua lifications of persons, because it was judged im poflible to do ample justice without such repre ientation ; the infraction and violation of these principles of justice aud equity, the refultof the new decree of the ijth May, become the source of the greatest ills. It is in calumniating us that these Philanthro pists have propagated their dod:rine; they re present us to those who are unacquainted with the colonies as the murderers of our slaves and the tyrants of the colored free people. Huma nity and our interest induce us to preserve the former, and the latter are upon the footing of white citizens under the immediate protection of the law which renders their persons and pro perties secure. Cart, Sire, a kind look over your colonies, and you will fee them peopled with Frenchmen who tenderly love you, and who are entitled by eve ry claim to youraffetftion. CondelVend to receive in a favorable manner their jnft complaints. If it is not too late, prevent the calamities with which we are threatened, and refufe your aflent to an atft so bigwirh mifchief; and if it is alrea dy faniftioned, interpose your authority and ltop its promulgation. We are, Sire, with refpe<ft for your Majesty, the most humble and faithful French colonilts of Sr. Domingo. (Signed) Gremier, Prefidenr. Petit Deschampeaux, Vice-Prefidem Bouysson, Poulet, > Secretaries Francois de Chaumont, j LISBON, May 14 WE have received an affecting account from our squadron which failed from this port the latter end oflafl month. Don Joseph Mello Brayner was giving his orders to the captain of the Minerva frigate in the bay of Lagos, on the 29th of April, when a sudden squall broke the cordage of a yard, which fell on the breast of the admiral, who died a few hours afterwards. By his death our navy loses an experienced and a man who is universally regretted. VIENNA, June 4. The Turks have thrown a bridge of boats over the Danube near Siliftria, and mean to pafa th£ river, notwithilanding the representations that have been made to them. They have already pafied hoi f'e» once into the opposite meadows to the number of five or fix thouland, and hare even erecfted tents there. This proceeding of the Turks gives cause for reflection, and as it is by no means conformable to the terms of the Armistice, which will expire in a few days ; we (hall soon fee what steps they will take when the ufc of the meadows isrefufed them. Our Bifliop Filaret has just received certain advices, that the Ruffians are in motion near Si.» liltria, with an intention, as is supposed, of de stroying the bridge of boats which the Turks have tonllrufted there. Extrafl of a letter from Cofiflantinople " Wt have been tor tliefe fix weeks pad in the most cruel alarms—fires exist night and day, both in the city and suburbs ; neither the strength nor activity of the government has been able to put a Hop to this calamity, which will destroy all the habitations. From what we obfeive with our
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