t,\vr vrhea.. & (even freeholder* may find' it fieeefisry n> s k their opinion on f_»me other fubje&. Aa thcfjfewVtiftg* can be called immediately on jjown sn ,m*s taking a:>y important step, the ariftocrati will have neither time nor opportunity.to i*fnfe doubts, and raift arguments, their insidious projeftt may be defeated before they are mature for execu tion. The public mind at such a conjuncture will be like a clean (heet of white paper, without any, or with very few arguments pro. or. con. We Ihull then have its opinions witho.uc prejudice or biafs.— It', on *iir other hand, by the arts of placemen the meeting should be delayed or adjourned, a variety of obje&i >is and answers, replies and Rejoinders •Will be pnbl'.fhed by anonymous writers ; tne peo ple mjy nor be able to discover whether the re fpe£tivc writers are ariftpciai* or democrats, pub lic creditors, or insolvent debtors, and thus may be induced either to give no opinions at all or to gire such moderate and mistaken ores, as will grieve the ji-hteous foul of every zealous patriot, and ftrcßglhen the hands of the government, to the ut ter fuWei fion of our liberties. By the unfair dif cufiion above mentioned.a cloud of darkness and obfeurity will he thrown on the fubjeft, the pub lie will be divided, and unanimity, the glory ofa de- tnocraticlcwn meeting, will be frittered away to -i small majority. When the debate is carriedon in open town meeting the audience can fee who {up port, and who oppose, whether they are whigs or tories, members of Congress or candidates ; weight will l«f given to their fevcral arguments according ly ; the friends of the people will be applauded, their enemies will be hilled, or driven with deferred contempt from the hall, fhowersof stones will telti fy the indignation of all honest and candid men a gainst British stents, and public robbers, while reK olutions'couched in the animating language of mo- tlcjrrt declamation, and calculated tq rekindle the ex pVing flame of patriotism, (hall meet the loud re peated itclanatMn'ff of a f'ee unantmolis multitude A u,unerom herd of aristocratic Cavillers, some it terse gnd others in humble prose, have lately un their npwfpsper batteries upon the town o B for giving their opinion of the treaty hcfore they had read it. I alk why fhonld they have read it when they were fatisfied they could not give it their approbation ? were not many of them oppose ; to entering into any ncgoeiation at all, and could it be fuppmed that they who wete opposed to the negotiation wouid fanftion it when finirhed ? uati jh._-y delayed their resolution* till they had formed an the treaty upon calm enquiry mpd Ctyol deliberation, the Preiident might have rati tied it before theii sense of the measure could have rcJehed him. They were therefore obliged tither to' vote theii refutation? hallily, without re gard toA-he merits of the £[ue(lion, or to delay them till they would have failed of their effedl. But so pa tiotia was their zeal, so induftilous | irwr.'they to prevent the impending ruin, that great i and pteffing as was the cunofity of many who had not teen the Treaty to Icnow what its content# were they nobly preferred the falvatioit of their coun -try to the gratification of an inquifitivc difpofitio : ; they iranedia:ely condemned the odiou» bargain in the Bioft pointed and uo^alifie^t|; r Marlcnow itig all the bitizens from their refpe&ive advocati ons in order & discuss lb* tftmrriu of tnis ignoni m Hi-, Convention, they parted their vote of cenlurcj and then a refpeftable committee voluntary ofFe-ed to fnrnifh fiilficient reasons for their conduct : this offer was accepted, anr) the citizens leturned with unexampled regularity to the r refpeftive habitati ons. The members of the Democratic Sociefy were in9n-need by some particular reafont to urge an immediate decilion. Ever watchful for the com mon weal, they saw that by delay the public mind might cool ; they were apprthenfive, that fupiiie- j ncls and indifference to their sw.i intereih might creep upon tJ»e people,and that their enemies might tak; the opportujiity to peifuadethem (a 6 they had done with regard to other obnoxious naeafurel of government) that the "! reaty was not so very bad, a, it had tic en represented : So careful were the I frien.ls of the People to counteract the treacherous wiles of Ariflocracy. t think then that all good men and Hue republicans are convinced with me, that Town-Meetings are wholesome and cafy reme dies for all d>{orders iii the bodyjpolitic. 1 hat tl ey adminilter salutary correction t even troubling our 'leads with rcafoning-give our fandtion to tlieir cc dust, or if we think prope- can blow up a fire from New-hamp (tiire to Georgia, which wil coafurrte to the utter fji the plan and its A'uthsrs. Happy country, guards, the checks, the controls of whose con ation are so numerous "and 'well contrived, that no motion can be ande in one part of the ma chine without exciting a contrary motion in another The congress is the centripetal, the town-meetings #re the centrifugal force, which compel the govern ment to move iu its orbit, with a never ceasing whirl. Concrete cannot destroy our Freedom, because town meetings can fetter th«-ir hind*. Town-meetings cannot change ! he conlfitution because they have 110 right to ail. Though envy and British gold have barred out from the supreme legiflatme all incor ruptible patriots, yet unmindful of ingratitude, ne glect and tvrn contempt, they watch without wea riness, ts eat in the ftrcets t'«e bodies of the dead patriots. The national inditutiou of music entered. Tft e hall instantly resounded with those airs so dear io the friends of liberty ; the hymn,Ca-ira and several others excited theloudcll applause. Jean de Brie—" Let us rtftore to he public spirit all its energy, by those foiigs whicli were a prelude to the victories of freedom. 1 move that the Marfe.lleshymtr, whi h contributed to gain the lirit riftory ovet she corhblned (laves, b>. inserted in the minutes of the d ty, and tha the military committee ifTue ord rs that it he performed eVery day on the mounting Guard." Decreed. Legen ire, " On the day of the fellival of the 14th of July, it becomes a friend of liberty to speak to patrons. I invite the committee of general fafe ty to separate among the prifoneu, those who are 1 patriots 111 their hearts, and wh'.fe hands air pure, i 1 from the drinkers of blood. Undoubtedly the fef fionj have afel well in denouncing the teiroriiU, but it is poffi de that some trival injury, some private animosity, rhay have led to the arrelt of par ticular citizens ; and it is not fitting that th« ty rannyofthe oppressors should be fuc e.ded by the wf}B tSSy'fie'cfangerous to liberty a'B t\le public fafety ; but we ought not to leave in prison those who have served their country, and who may j tlill beferviceable." Applauded. i Bailieu!—" The committee of general fafety have anticipated the willies of our colleague.— Tli:y were la'l night engaged in difcuiTmg the means of reltorinjj to liberty, those true patriot! who have been unjnftly arretted." Applauded. The discussion was then opened again on THE NEW CONSTITUTION. Daunotl.—'• Your coromiffion of eleven persist in prcpofing to you the adoption of the article.*, that from the 12th year of the republic, it (hall be necefTary to be able to read and write, in order to be inferibed on the civic rcgifter, and admitted into the primary assemblies. These obje&iont which, have been urged might have some weight, if we wi(hed to demand fueh a qualification in the pre sent moment : but against whom will this regula tion now apply ?—Only agninll those who, being now minor», ftiall refnfe, at the age fixed, to acquire arts so ufeful in all the situation« of life. Is there any citizen wh« has not had an hundred timet rc»- son to regret his ignorance of reading and writing ? Despotism might dread the propagation of know ledge ; liberty ought to call in the aid of inflruc tion. The difFufion of knowledge is the best mode of producing a proper equality, which i» not an nbfuid levelling, but an inHrnment of protefling the citizens from the despotism of intrigue. How can citizen* be worthy of taking part in the choice of their legiflatois and magftrates, if they cannot read the laws of their country ; and, remark, there is no intention to exclude those from whom our old government ,withheld the means of reaiing and writing. All citizens of 2 t years or upwards will be inferibed on the civic regiller, and cannot be fit tick out from it. There is no doubt that the young people placed in your primary schools, bet ter distributed and better organised, will be able to acquire that simple and elementary inllruftion. Those will be without excuse who refnfe to learn what you put within the reach of all. I move, that you adopt the article, in the following terms : VIII. Young petfons cannot be inferibed on the civic regifler, if they do not prove that they are able to read and write, and to exercise the me chanical profeflion.—the. manual operation* of agriculture are included in the mechanical pro ftflions. This article (hall not be in force till the twelfth year of the republic. The article was decreed. A member called the attention of the conventi on to title 3'. relative to the primary aflVmbliei : — he ftatcd the necefiity of fubltituting eledtoral bo dies i ileadof the immediate ele£iioj>s of the prima ry 4flemblics, such as the commission of eleven had proposed. Bentabol—" This will have place in aiticle 14. I move that the order of dift uffion may not be in terrupted, and that we fir ft dispose of the thirteen rticles before we discuss this motion." Decreed" The firft eleven articles of title J. we.e decreed without alteration. Gaupilleau de Montnign, just. returned from his mifflon to the south—" You have already been told citizens, that a new fyllcm of terror was the order of the day iji the louib, where the enemies of the republic hate made every effort to ftiflc liberty. AfTafiinations, calumny, lies, falfe intelligence, eve* ry expedient, in flhott, ha* been resorted to, to ac complish rhis aim. A longer (ilenea on this head would be * ci-irae, the new terrorills have (bed more blood in the space of a few- months than was (bed by Rob«fpierr.f and hie agents. Children, old men, women and girls—neither age nor sex is spared by the homicidal Iword. The affaflins murder without (nercy all those who hare dtfplaycd any patnotifm." The prefidenf anno«nced that the mayor and pu!)fic ju.vufrr of Lyons were piefent. He tlxn addrellcd himlclf to rhem and tefiifk'd the indigna tion of the convention, at the afTalTmations com mitted in their commune. He demanded of them an account of their condtitt. The mayor replied that the afTaflinaliong alluded looriginated with.foreigners, who had kindled up the resentments excited by the recollcftion of what the citizens"nf Lyons had fuffered under the reign of terror ; the constituted authorities did every thing in their power to repress these excesses ; but their meat s were inftlffkient. 1 myfclf, continued he, feiied one of the instigators, when, in an in stant, another made his appearance, a man of a ve ry tall stature, wearing a mask. In one hand he held a sword, in the other a pistol, but in spite of his arms I apprehended him, and delivered him up to the Gens d'Armes. These acts will prove to you unquestionably, that we were very far from peaceably fuffering these exeefles to whi;h these ter rorills proceeded. He next recurred to the senti ments which animated the. inhabitants of Lyons, whose inviolable attachment to the convention he atteftfd. He urged, that they had replied by their conduct to the calumnies circulated against them, and cited a trait truly honorable to them. They were each of them reduced to four ounces of rice per diem, when 50, COO quintals of corn arrived from Marseilles for Paris ; money was needed for the transport ; the national chelt was empty ; of this circumstance the merchants of Lyons yfereap piir.ed, and they did not lofc a moment in tender ing 600,000livres for" the purpose of the transport. The mayor eoncludcd by declaring that he was ready to reply to any charge that might be bro't ngaind him. Rovere bore te p (imohy to the patriotism of this citizen, •add moved that a« well as the public acctl fcr, he should be admitted to th* honors of the fit »>nß- This was opposed by fe*errl member!, who ob ferved,that the invelligation was not yet concluded. The convention referred the affair of Lyons to the committee Fertnond, in the name of the committee of ge neral fafety, made a report on colonial affairs. He observed, that noiwithftanding their small number, the republicans of St. Doningo had refitted the efforts of the English and Spaniards. The report w?.s terminated by a decree, that the brevet of ge neral of division should be sent to general Lavaux ; that the tanks granted by that general to -fevcral i .ffit-cro are <-""^"-med; and that there shall be no .colonial aflemblies, unti" !t {hall have been oFlered by the constitution. Tki» decree to lie dispatched instantly to St. circumftancts will allow.' It was decreed, that the conrention should meet at trn o'clock to-morrow morning,' when the nati onal establishment of mulic should execute airs ana logous to the feftival of the 14th July, to be then celebrated. 28 Meflidor, July 16. The Convention proceeded to the discussion «B THE NEW CONSTITUTION} The following article! were decrced : IV. The primary affesnbiies are provisionally constitut ed under the presidency of the senior member in poin> of yeart. The youngest it provisionally to fill the office of secretary. V. They are definitively constituted by the appoint ment by ballot of a president, a secretary, and three fcrutineert. The convention terminated by dtcrteing, at a priri cipd, that the elrflbral bodies are preserved. By the plan of the committee of eleven they were fupprefled, and the primary aflemblies allowed the right of all the elf