Gazette Of The United States

DUBLIN, April 5.

Extract of a letter from Paris, to a gentleman of respectability in this city, dated 19th of March, 1792.

"You have asked what is my opinion of the present posture of affairs? It is the same, I believe, as that of every man, who is not strongly an infatuated friend, or enemy to the constitution—All, I think, must agree, that the present posture of affairs is most wretched—that we have neither liberty nor security—that anarchy, a state much inferior to the most despotic Government, pervades the land: and, in short, that we seem to be rushing precipitately into that state of disorder, in which force supplies the place of law and justice, and in which all the bonds of social union are dissolved.

In Paris, though the fermentation of men's minds be extreme, greater tranquility is enjoyed than in any other part of the kingdom. Never, however, were libertinism and irreligion carried to the pitch which they have here attained: In the provinces are daily committed disorders of every denomination.

Perhaps before this letter reaches its destination, the flames of civil war will have broken out in the southern provinces. The clubs of the Jacobins, dispersed through the kingdom, I consider to be the principal cause of the disorders. They inflame the minds of the people, excite them to riot, counteract the measures taken by the civil magistrates for the re-establishment of order, and whilst they are violating the constitution, pretend to be its chief support.

The Majority of the National Assembly is composed of men of that party—hence the confusion and tumult which accompany all their debates, their continual complaint of the inactivity of the executive power—the denunciation of Ministers—that indecent abuse of foreign governments—the provocation of war," &c. &c.