The ill focceft «f the campaign of last yrar.
had taught tue Auftrians and PruiTans the
difionlties that mall attend entering France ;
and produced declarations, tltat it was nut
tUeir intention to diktat? a form of Govern
ment, for the French, but to prevent tlie efc
fcfts of tbofil licentious principles wMeti t'.'irf
ed to tin iobverficn of every cftabli&ed gn
vernraeiit.
By tne however, it was resolved
jto comnrencc a plan of active operations a
gainst France, and instead of the chimerical
project of marching directly to Paris, to be
fiegc at dnce as many as poflibie of the (tron*
places on t .e frontier, which will block up
or call off the greafeft part of the Republican
troojs from the interior of tire Kingdom, and
leave the Royalists within it without much
opposition. If these places fall they wiil be
immediately occupied by the troops of the
Combined powers, and 'erve as points to act
fr<?m according to circuinftances, while tire
fleets of England, Holland, and Spain are to
form a chain of cruizei? round the coast, rea
dy to favor the Royalists wherever they ap
pear, and to cut off all the supplies by fi?a, as
the armies wiII do by land. Thus attacked
and hemmed in on all fides, with a strong par
ty to ad against them at home, the Republi
cans, it is hoped, must be soon subdued.
The cessation ofboftilities was declared at
an end, and the a!l"»es immediately commen
ced their Operations.
Such we understand to be the plan agreed
upon at this memorable Cong/e r s, in the ex
ecution of which Great-Britain is toafiift with
all her forces by sea and land. Of its practi
cability we prefiime not to give an opinion ;
but from the condutt of the allies in other
cases, we have little doubt but that if the
garnfons on the French frontiers (hould fall,
the Auftrians will take pofleflion of French
Flanders, Lorraine, and Alsace. This being
accomplished, Pruilia will have an equivalent
in another quarter, and peace will be offered
to the French without much regard to what
form of government they may choose to efta
blifli.
EatriSt of a letter from Antwerp, dated
April 8.
u The Deputies put under arrest by Dunrnu
rier, and sent to prince Cobourg, are at Ma
eftricht —Dumourier with young Egalite,who
now calls himfelf the duke de Chartres, and
his lifter Mariemoifelle D'Orleans, are at
Mons.
" The army which general Dumourier
lately commanded, is in the utmofl confufion,
and it is even said entirely dispersed, without
any regular leader. That General persua
ded himfelf, from the persona! attachmrnt
lhei.cn him by his a my, that he might pro.
mife himfelf their support, to the extent of
bis wilbes, in the project he had formed. He
was, however, miftakeu. He had advanced
as far as Cambray, on the wad to Paris,
when he found his army deserting him; the
artillery firft forfook him, then the national
guards. He then harangued the troops of the
line, who, in return, informed him, that, not
withstanding tbeir love to him as their ge
neral, and as a brave foidier they were deter
mined, to a man, neither to fight against their
country, nor to violate that constitution which
they had fwom to maintain.
" General Dumourier finding that he could
not depend upon the army, immediately set
Out with young Egalite at the head of two
regiments of horse, and took the road for
Mons. He Was, however, so closely pursued
by a party who followed him, that he was ab
solutely obliged to fight his way.
" It is said that Dumourier intends to re
cruit among the royalists, who now are very
numerous in France.
" The Auftrians have laid siege to Conde,
and expect to have made considerable pro
gress it] Fran<e before the end of fix weeks.
•' The French garrison that were in Bre
da have made a requisition to be allowed a
strong escort, left rhey should be murdered bv
the Brabantert, who are highly incensed a
gainst the French." '
Dumourier wrote from Mons, requeuing
permission to attend the Congress which was
refufed him.
General Valence was at Antwerp on the
day the Congress met, not as a member of it,
nor as a prisoner, but having gone thither
during the fu r penfion of hostilities. Our ac
counts do not (late on what motive.
The made of electing officers in the French
army which Dumouner in his letter, after
the battle of the 18th of March, propofeH to
suppress, has been the means of saving the
northern army to the republic. 'Had Du
monrier had the appointment of the officers
ever since he took the command, the army
would have gore with hiin. By the mode of
ele&ion they are worse ToMiers, but much bct-
Ur citiz'.ns.
BARCELONA, March I
M. Bourgoin, the French M nifter, previ
ous to his departure for France, had proposed
to leave M. Durtabi/e in quality of Charge
d'Affoires, per interim, and MefTrs. Piivabri
and Payou, as Consuls. The Minister agreed
prpvifionally to receive the two latter, but
rejected the former.—By thcTe dispositions,
the French here are exposed to the insults of
the people, extremely irritated on account of
the tragical death of Louis XVI.
Our fleet will soon be on a molt refpeftable
footing. The coinmandof it is given to Vice
Admiral the Marquis de Co'atelli.
The fleet of Cadiz consists of seven fail of
the line, seven frigates, and one brifeantine ;
that of Cai amounts to fix foil of the
line, three frigates and one brigantine, that
of Ferrol fix fail of the line. Total 20 fail
of the line, 10 frigates, or.e cutter and three
brigantines.
STATE PAPERS.
GENERAL DUMOURIER
TO THE
French Nation.
SINCE the Commencement of the Revolu
tion, I hare devoted myfclf td the main
tenance of the Liberty and Honour of the Na-
tion.
The fcrvices I rendered in the year 1791,
are the most memorable. Minister of Fo
reign A/fairs during three months, I elevated
and sustained (he dignity of the 1 rench name
throughout all Europe. I was calnmxtiaied by
an odious Cabal, by whom I was chargcd of ha
vingplundered fix millions of Livres, defined
for secret services. I have proved that of this
sum 1 did not expend half a million. v
Having quitted the career.of Politic*
the close of the month of June, I comman4eU a
small army in the Department of the North—
This Dq»artment 1 was ordered to quit with my
troops at the very time the Auftrians entered
in force that part of the Republic. 1 disobeyed
the order, fa ved the Department, and an attempt
was made to come on me by surprize, for the
purpose of conveying me to the citadel of Metz
where 1 was to be condemned by a Council of
War to fuffer death.
On the 28th of August, I took upon me, in
Champagne, the command of an army of twen
ty thousand weak, and wkhout either di
scipline or organization I arretted |jro
grefs of eighty thousand Pruflians and Heißans
and forced them to retreat after they had facri
ficed the one ha sos their army. } was then the
Saviour of France ; and then it was that the
most wicked of men, the opprobrium as French
men , in a word, Marat began to calumniate me
without mercy. With a part of the victorious
army of Champagne, and some other troops, I
entered on the sth of November, the Beigic pro
vinces, where I gained the forever memorable
battle of Jemappe ; and, after a fuccefTion of ad
vantages, entered Liege and Aix-la-Chapelle,
towards the close of that month. From that
moment my deftru&ion was resolved on ; and
I have been accused of aspiring, now te the ti
tle of Duke of Brabant,now to the Stadtholder
ship and again to the Di&atorfhio. To retard
and crufti my fiicceffes, the Minister Pache,
supported by the criminal faction, to whom all
our evils are to be ascribed, fuffered the vi&ori
ous army to want every thing, and succeeded in
diibanding it by famine and nakedness. The
consequence was, that more than fifteen thou
sand men were in the hospital, more than 25
thousand deserted through misery and disgust,
and upwards of ten thousand horses died of
hunger!!!
I transmitted to the National Convention ve
ry itrenuous remonstrances, which I followed
up by repairing in person to Paris, to engage
the LegiHators to apply a remedy to the evil.
They did not even condescend to read the four
memorials I delivered in. During the twenty
fix hours I spent at Paris, I heard almofl: e?ery
night bands of pretended Federates demand my
head; and calumnies of every as
well as menaces and insults followed me even
into the country house to which I retired.
Having delivered in my resignation, I was
retained in the service of my country, because
it was proposed to me to negociate the f'jfren
fion of the war against England and Holland,
which 1 had conceived as indispensable to the
fafety of the Netherlands. Whilil I negotiated
and that fuccefsfully, the National Convention
itfelf hastened to declare war, without making
any preparations and without either power or
means for its support.
I was not even advised of this Declaration,
and learned it through the medium of the Ga
zettes pnly. 1 hafttned to form a small army
of new troops, who had nevfer fought, and
with these troops, whom confidence rendered
invincible, I made myfclf miller of three strong
places, and was ready to penetrate into the
middle of Holland, when I learned the disaster
ot An-la-Chapelle, the railing of the siege of
Maeflricht, and the fad retreat of the army.
By this army I was loudly summoned. I aban
doned my conquests to fly to it* fuecour ; Mttt
considered that we could be extricated from our
difficulties by a speedy fu.cefs only. I led my
companions in arms to the enemy. On the i6th
of March I ha/1 a considerable advantage at
Tirelemont. On the ißth I brought the enemy
to a general a&ion ; and the centre and right
wing under my charge were victorious. The
left wing after having attacked imprudently,
fled. On the 19th we retreated honourably,
with the brave men that were left together, for
a part of the army disbanded itfelf. On the
1 ill and lid we fought with the fame courage,
and to our firmnefs was owing the preservation
of the remains of an aftny which breathes solely
for true Liberty, for the reign of the Laws,and
for the extinction of Anarchy.
It was then that the Marats, the Roberlpierrs,
and the criminal fe<9s of Jacobins of Paris, plot
ted the fall of the Generals, and more tfpecially
of mine. These villains, bribed with the gold
of foreign power, to cnmpleat the disorganiza
tion of the armies, caused almost all the generals
ti be arretted. They keep them in the jails of
Pans, to Septemberize them ; for thus it is
that those monsters have Coined a word, to
hand down t« posterity the remembrance us the
horrid massacres of the firft fa days of Septem
ber.
Whilst I was employed in re-compoCng the
army, in which employment 1 laboured night
and day, on the ill of April (yesterday) four
commiflionen. reached me with a decree, pur
porting that 1 Ihould be brought to the bar of
the Convention itfelf. The War Miniiler,
Boumonrille, my pupil, was weak enough to
accompany them, to fucceeil me in my com
mand. The persons who were in suite of these
perfidious er.iiflaries, informed me themselves,
that different groups of aflaffins, cither fugi
422
tires from or driven out of my army, were dis
persed on the raid to kill mc before I could
r.ach Pari*. 1 spent fcvcral hours in endeavor
ng to convince the commilEoners of the impru
dence of thisarrcft. Nothing could (hake their
prida, and I therefore arreted the whole of
them, to fcrre nx;M the crime*
of Part.. I •hh the Impe
rialilb a fufpenfibn «T *rtw» and mythed to
wards the capital, to extinguiA, at fooa aipof
fible.the lighted tmkeh of civil war.
My dear countrymen ! it is expedient that a
tree and brave mu remove from you the veil
which covers all our crimes and misfortunes —
In * 789, we made great efforts to obtain Liber
ty, Equality, and the Sovereignty of the People.
Our principles were consecrated in the Declara
tion of the Rights of Man, and there have re
sulted from the labours of our LegiQators, ift.
the declaration which fays that France is and
shall remain a Monarchy; idly, a Constituti
on to which we swore fealry in 1789, 90,
and 91.
This constitution might, and indeed mud
have been imperfeA ; but it ought and might
have been believed, that with time and experi
ence its errors jvould be rectified, and that the
necessary ltrifi: between the Legislative and
Executive powers would establish a wife equili
brium, which would prevent cither of these
powers from feiking the whole of the authority,
and attaining despotism. If the difpotifm of a
single individual is dangerous to Liberty, how
much more odious must be that of 700 men,
many of whom are void of principles, without
morale, and who have been able to reach that
lupremacy by cabals or crimes alone I
Licentiousness and excess fooa rendered it
impofiiblc to support the yoke of a constitution
that gave laws. The tribunes influenced the
afiembly of reprf Tentative s, and were themselves
awed by the dangerous club of Jacobms of Paris.
The llrife between the two powers became at
length a daily combat, then was the equilibriarr.
destroyed. France ceafcd to have a king, and
the vi&ory of the ioth of August was foiled by
the atrocious ci imes of the firft days of Sep
tember.
All the departments, but more especially the
wretched city of Paris, were delivered up to pil
lage, to denunciations, proscriptions, and mafla
cres. No Frenchman, the afiaflins and their ac
complicesexcepted, had either his life or his pro
pel ty in fecunty ! The consternation of slavery
was augmented by the clamorous orgies of vil
lains. Bands of pretended federates ran thro*
and laid wade the departments ; and of the
700 individuals who composed thisdefpotic and
anarchial body, 4 or 500 groaned and decreed,
and decreed and groaned, exposed to the exter
minating swords of the Marats and Roberffi
erres. It is thus that the unfortunate Louis the
16th perilhed, without a judicial trial and with
out a tribunal; and 'tis thus that the decree of
the 19th of Nov. has provoked all nations by
holding out to them our aid, provided they will
disorganize themselves. 'Tisthus that the un
just and impolitic decree of the 15th of Dec. has
alienated from us the hearts of the Belgians,
has driven us from the~ Netherlands lind would
have brought about the massacre of the whole of
our army, by this nation, provoked at our out
rages and our crimes, if 1 had not saved that ve
ry army by my proclamations. *Tis thus that a
decree established the bloody tribunal which
which places th« lives of the citizens at the mer
cy of a small number of iniquitous judges,with
out recourse or appeal to any other tribunal.
*Tisthus that during the last month all the de
crees have been marked by the (lamp of infaria
ble avarice, by the blindest pr .de and more espe
cially by the delire of maintaining power, by
calling to the most important posts ©i the ft ate
no other than d?ring, incapable and criminal
men, by driving away or murdering men en
lightened and of a high chara&er, and by sup
porting a phantom of a republic which their er-
rors in administration and in policy, as well as
their crimes, had rendered impra&icable. These
700 individuals despise, detest, calumniate and
revile each other, and have already, and that
frequently, thought of poignarding the one the
other. At this moment their blind ambition
has impelled them to coalesce afrefh ; and bold
criminality allies itfelf to feeble virtue, to pre
serve a power as unjust as it is unileady. In
the mean time their Committees devour every
thing, that of the National Treasury absorbing
the public funds, without being able to render
any account of the expenditure.
What has this convention done to maintain
the war it has provoked again 11 all the powers
of Europe ?
It has disorganized the armies, instead of re-
inforcing and recruiting the troops of the line,
and the ancient battalions of national volunteers
which would have formed a refpeilable army,
Instead of recompensing these brave warriors
by promotion and praises, these legifiators have
left the battalions incomplete, naked, di farmed
and discontented. In the fame way have they
treated the excellent cavalry : and the brave
French artillery is in the fame manner exhaufl
ed, abandoned, and in want of every neceffa-
ry. They notwithstanding create new corps,
ccmpofed of the iatellites of the ad of Septem
ber, and commanded by- men who hava never
served, and who are in no other way to be di«a
ded unless by the army they surcharge aod dis
organize. The convention facrifices every thing
to these satellites of tyranny, to these cowardly
headloppers. The choice of officers, and that
of adminifixators. are in every particular the
fame; we fee throughout the tyranny which
flatters the wicked, because the wicked alone
can support tyranny . And in its pride and its
ignorance, this convention orders the connuell
anddiferganization of the whole Univerft; it
fays to one of its generals, Go and take Rome,
and to another, fully forth and fubduc Spain',
to the end that defpoilipg coniniiffioiiers, simi
lar to tl-.ofe horrid Roman procoDfuls again (I
whom Cicero declaimed, may be sent thither.
In the wtrft season of t>j rrCr it feoA tfceo*.
ly fteet it poTeff'i iiito the Meditemfl!Uij t*
fp'.it and founder on die rocks of Sardinia •
whiMl it exfotet the fleet at Bret ta the fnry of
the fierns, by fending them in qu~ft ofm
Engliih fleet that has nor ret left it* port.
In the mnn time a civil war fpreaos thrWMfc
all the department*. Some of the infinwnts
are excited by fanaticism, the efle&of
perfecntion j others by an «d>jp»it*at> at (K«
tragical and frutleft end nf I.r.uis XVI. ando.
then final 1 j-, by the natuia! principle of refit
injf perfccottoti.
Arms are every nrh-rrt taken op ; mor«W,
every where committed ; and evtrv where ate
pecuniary fupplie* and prorifiona intercepted.
The Englift foment these trxubiEs, and win b
their fuccoArs,fiipply fud to tKem at.thrir pl-a.
sure. Soon will every one of o«r corfiirj diff».
pear on the ocean ; fain will the foqthera dfc.
partment eeafe to receive supplies of com fro*
Italy and Africa, and a tread y have thole from
the north and from America been intercepted
by the fqaadrons of the enemies. F.-un oe will
annex itfel/ to all otir other scourges, nod the
ferocity of our cambala will but encreafe our
calamities.
Frenchmen! we have a rallying point which
can ftifle the monfler of anarchy; 'tis the coo
ftitution wefwore to maintain in 1789.
'tis the work of a free people; and we
(hail remain free, and recover our glory, by r<v
fuming our conilitution.
Let us display our virtues, more especially
that of mildness ; too much blood has aires y
been spilled. If the monsters by whom we have
been diforgaitized chufe to fly, let us leive them
to meet their punilhment elsewhere if they do
not find it in their own corrupted hearts ; Hut
if they wi£h to support anarchy by new crimes
then /hall the army punift them.
In thegenerofity of 'be enemies we Fare of
ten grievously outraged, I have foundthe feca
rity of external peace. Not only do th y treat
humanely and attentively our wognded iielc,
and prisoners who fall into their hands; and all
this in despite of the calumnies fprtad by our
agitators to render us ferocious; hut they en
gage to suspend their march, not to pass our
frontiers, and to leave to our brave array the
termination of all our internal difientions.
Let the sacred torch of the love of our cmn
try awaken in us our virtue and our courage!
at the bare name of conftitut on, civil war will
cease, or can no longer exjlt unless againfl cer
tain malevolent men who will no longer befup
ported by foreign powers. These have no hat
red to any others among us except our feSious
criminals, and desire nothing more fervently
than to reltoi« their esteem and friendlhip to a
nation, whose errors and anarchy difturW tnd
trouble Earcjji* Peace \vin 0>4,, 0 f
this resolution, and the troops of tbe
well as the brave national volunteers, whb r*.
the fpase of a year have offered themselves as
willing facrifices to liberty, and who abhor i.
narchy, (hall repose in the bosom of their fami
lies after having accomplished this noble work.
As to myfelf I have already made an oath,and
I repeat it before the whole nation, and in the
presence of all Europe, that immediately after
having effefled the fafety of my country by 'tie
re-eftabli(hment of the conditution, of peace
and good order, I fliall abandon every pilhtic
function.and lhall seek in solitude the enjoynu«t
of the happiness of my fellow citizens.
Tbe General in chief of the French armv,
DUMOURIER.
Baths of St. Amand, April 2, 1793.
The Marefchal Prince of Saxe Cobourg, Gene*
ral in chief of the armies ol his Majesty the
Emperor and of the Empire,
TO THE FRENCH.
The general in chief JDumouricr has commu
nicated tome his declaration to the French cati
on. In it 1 find the fentimects and principles
of a virtuous man, who truly loves hi- coun
try, and who wishes to put an enH to the cala
mities and anarchy by which it is defolatcd, by
procuring for it the happiness of a conftitutiofl
and a wife and permanent govefnmetlt. Ikno*
this also to be the unanimous wish of all the
sovereigns whom foroc fadbou* perfaEs have ar
med against France, and particularly that of hit
Majesty the Emperor, and his Prussian Majef
*7-
Filled at this moment with esteem for the
bulk of so great and so generous a nation, to
whom the immutable principles of honor and
justice were held sacred, until by the repetition
of outrages, difordens afid impolhires, that part
of it has been estranged and corrupted, which
under the maflc of humanity and of patriotism,
fpealcs of nothing but aflaf&hations & poigna'rds
Knowing also that this is the wi(h of all vir
tuous people in
ri — -
Profoundly penetrated with these great truths
mddeQring nothing but the prosperity andglo
j of a country torn by so many convulsions &
misfortunes:
I declare by the present proclamation, that I
will support by all the force «n my power the ge
nerous ar.d beneficent intentions of the gene
ral in chief Dumourier, and his br ve army.
I declare besides, that having lately fought us
on several occasions as a gallant, intrepid and
generous enemy, I will join a part of my troops,
Ihoijldgenerat Dumourier desire it, or even all
mr army to that of France, to co-operate a*
friends and companions in arms worthy of rer
ciprocal e eem, so as to restore to France her
constitutional king, the constitution (he has cho
sen, and as a neceffiry consequence, the means
of perfecting it, if the nation fnould fine? it im
perie<sl; thus to restore to France, as well as to
the rell of Europe, peace, confidence, tranquil
lity a«d happiuefs. I therefore declare on my
word of honor, that I willnot enter the terri
tory of France to make conquests, but limply
and purely for the purposes above mentioned.
I further declare upon my word of honour,
that should the nvlitary opjrations require one
or more fortre lies to be given up to my troops,