Gazette Of The United States

W E S E L, (Ger.) Feb. 2.

Proclamation by the Emperor.

"Convinced that our faithful subjects of the Netherlands will not be happy unless they enjoy the rights and privileges granted to them by our ancestors, and wishing to reign over them only as a tender father reigns over his family, we publicly declare that our intention is that they shall enjoy these rights and privileges in their full extent; and that we will exert all our strength to prevent the infringement of them, as well as to re-establish all things on the same footing as that on which they were under our great grandfather Charles VI. It is agreeable to our way of thinking, to act with kindness and clemency even towards the enemies of the Belgic provinces and others. For this reason we grant a general amnesty, and without exception, promising that every thing which has hitherto passed shall be buried in the most profound oblivion, and we desire that those who at present bear arms against their country, and who are comprehended under the name of Belgians, will peaceably return to their families, since they are not excepted from the present general amnesty. As some words liable to misconstruation may have slipped into this declaration, we promise to repair in person to the Netherlands, to deliberate jointly with the Three Estates united, on every thing that may remain to be settled, in order to establish the repose and tranquility of those provinces, and to effect their happiness."

Done at Vienna, this 6th of December, 1792.

(Signed) "FRANCIS."