Gazette Of The United States

FROM THE NEWPORT MERCURY.

To all those who are pleased to see the French Nation emancipate Themselves from a government too preposterous and corrupt to be any longer tolerated - To all those who are anxious and fearful of their success, in a struggle the most daring, the most dangerous and virtuous that was ever made by any portion of the human race, at a moment when their whole horizon seems darkened with enemies - BE IT KNOWN. That this Same French Nation have heretofore fought and conquered against this same combination of foes:

"January 16th, 1689, At the Congress of the Hague, consisting of the Princes of Germany, the Imperial, the English, Italian, Spanish and Dutch Ministers, a declaration was drawn up, wherein they solemnly protested before God, that their intentions were never to make peace with Louis XIV. until he had made reparation to the Holy See for whatever he had acted against it; and till he had annulled and made void all those infamous proceedings against the Holy Father, Innocent XI - Nor till he had restored to each party all he had taken from them since the peace of Munster - Nor till he had restored to the Protestants of France all their possessions and goods, and an entire liberty of conscience - Nor till the Estates of the Kingdom of France should be established in their ancient Liberties: that the Clergy, the Nobility, and the third Estate might enjoy their ancient and lawful privileges - Nor till their Kings, for the future, should be obliged to call together the third Estate when they desired any supply, without whom they should not raise any money on any pretence whatever, and till the Parliaments of that Kingdom were restored to their just rights. And the Confederates invited the subjects of France to join with them in this undertaking, for restoring them to their rights and liberties; threatening ruin and devastation to those that refused." But how much the French regarded this threat, the following facts will show:

"April 10th, 1692. Mons was surrendered to the French.
"June 5th, 1692. The town of Namur surrendered to the French.
August 3d. A battle was fought at Steinkirk. the Confederates were commanded by King William in person, and the French by the Duke of Luxemburgh - The Confederates were forced to retreat with the loss of several thousand brave officers and soldiers.
"June 16th, 1693. Admiral Rook with twenty-three men of war, having the Turkey fleet under his convoy, was attacked off Cape St. Vincent by the whole French fleet, under the command of Admiral Tourville. Twelve English and Dutch men of war, and above four-score merchantmen were taken or destroyed by the French.
"July 29th. The Confederate Army, commanded by King William, was entirely defeated by the French, under the command of Luxemburgh, at Landen, in Brabant.
"Sept. 29th. The French, under the command of Monsieur Catinat, defeated the Confederates, under the command of the Duke of Savoy and Prince Eugene, at Marsiglia, near Turin.
"June 8th. The English fleet with a body of land forces on board came before Brest in France, and Gen. Talmash landed with the first five hundred men, where they found such batteries and entrenchments that they returned immediately to their ships; but the tide going out, the flat boats stuck upon the ooze and were not able to get off. most of those that landed were killed or wounded, and among the rest General Talmash himself was mortally wounded, and died at his return to Portsmouth.
"May 26th. The French made themselves masters of Carthagena, in America, from which Admiral Pointis brought away with him to France the value of twelve millions of crowns, according to the Spanish account.
"July 26th, 1697. The Earl of Portland, and Marshal Boufflers, adjusted the differences between King William and the French King near Brussels, without the privity of any of the Allies, who were treating at Ryswick: And Sept. 11, the peace was signed between France, Great-Britain, Spain, and Holland, and ratified by King William at Loo, the 15th. King William concluded this peace, without the concurrence of the Emperor and Empire, and let them to contend alone with France."

Thus did this nation (who at that time were spoken of by the English as tattered, half starved Frenchmen, fed on frog-soup) defy and triumph over a combination of enemies nearly equal to the present, and upon the same ground.

From this piece of history, the friends of France, of humanity and equality, may learn two important points. First, That one hundred years ago, the miseries and sufferings of the French nation, from a cruel government and policy, was not a mere vulgar notion, but a real grievance, that employed the Councils and arms of nearly all Europe to redress it. And secondly, That this fine French people, under this cruel government, badly clothed and fed, by dint of numbers, bravery, activity and ingenuity, were a match for England, the Emperor, and the Princes of Germany, the Dutch, Italy and Spain. - Good Heavens! of what contradictions are men capable: - In 1692, the Princes of Europe pledge themselves to their God and to each other, that they will reform the abuses of the French government, and mend the condition of the people but are not able to do it. The French groan under these increasing abuses one hundred years longer, and then rise together and break their chains. And lo! these same Princes combine, with the most Herod-like ferocity, to exterminate the people of France, for doing of themselves, and for themselves, what these Princes wished and attempted in vain to do for them.

Kings and hereditary Princes, from Pharaoh and Rehoboam, down to the Fredericks and Georges of our time, have been just as beneficial to the human race, as school-boys have been to the race of sparrows. - They have killed more men by Kindness, in administering the benefits of good government, than have been destroyed by famine; pestilence, earthquakes, and every other scourge to which men are liable. - Our late Most Gracious Sovereign, in the richness of his clemency, and the fulness of his Royal mercy, put about 150,000 of his very good subjects of America to death, to convince them how to live comfortably, and after all failed of conviction. The present combination of Princes in Europe, actuated by the noble and godlike motives of bettering the condition of mankind, are about to teach the most polished and enlightened nation in the world, that they are wholly unable to manage their own affairs; and that they must receive a good plan of government from them, viz. All the natives and inhabitants of France, to be divided into three grand divisions; the first, an hereditary nobility; the second, soldiers; and the third, commoners, or tiers etat; in plain language, hewers of wood, and drawers of water; so that every Common man in France shall have two masters, the one called a civil officer or master, who holds a pen and paper, and marks down how much he must pay to government a year; the second, called a military officer, that is, an uncivil master, who carries a bayonet, and pricks him on in case he don't pay in season. The two first divisions are to eat the egg, the third estate the shell and the broth; the two first divisions will be taught to fight and read, and keep the third to hard labor and poor living. But we trust, and sincerely believe, that the same wit, activity and bravery, that have maintained their territory and reputation, amidst surrounding enemies for ages past, will still support them, to verify by practice and example the truth of that position, made by one of their own writers, that mankind may be happy without Kings.