Gazette Of The United States

ADDRESS from the NATIONAL CONVENTION to the French Nation.

Proposed by BARNAVE, and adopted by the Assembly, on the present crisis of their situation.

Franks,

Such is the inevitable lot of nations who have given to themselves kings, that they never can shake off their yoke without a struggle with every neighbouring tyrant.

Scarce had you proclaimed your own sovereignty when the emperor and king of Prussia took up arms against you, but now that you have proclaimed your constitution to be republican, there is not one despot who has not resolved upon your utter ruin. Those who have not already forced you into open war, are probably temporising, that they may the more easily deceive you, and it is but too true, that the projected struggle is between the enfranchised France and enslaved Europe.

Be that as it may, France must eventually triumph if its will is firm and constant: for nations are stronger than armies. Those who have fought for independence were ever victors. Let Holland, Switzerland, and the United States, be proofs of this assertion.

Free nations find resources in their utmost extremities and distresses. Rome reduced to the circumference of the capital, arose from defeat more formidable than from victory.

Remember, Franks, your own exploits, when the Prussians dared to pollute your territory.

Ever did the enthusiasm of liberty triumph over numbers; ever did fortune smile on the valorous enterprise, and victory on true courage!

Heroes of Marathon, Salamis, and Jemappes, we invoke your testimony, Infant republic, such are thy models, such are the presages of thy success. Surely thou wast reserved to give the universe a display of a scene hitherto unknown, hitherto unimagined in the mind of man; or never did such a cause occupy the soul of mankind, never was such a cause reserved to the ultimate decision of war. Not the interest or concerns of the day is the theme, posterity and ages to come are the subject; not the liberty of one nation—no, the enfranchisement of the human species.

Franks, may the sublimity of these ideas inflame thy valour, crush every tyrant, rather than thyself become a slave! What shall then new kings feed on thy gold, on the sweat of thy brow, on the profusion of thy blood? Shall again unfeeling Parliaments, at their caprice, dispose of thy fortune, of thy life?—Shall again a fanatic priesthood decimate thy industry and thy harvests? Shall again an fastidious nobility tread thee under the foot of contempt?

Such is the inevitable lot of nations who have given to themselves kings, that they never can shake off their yoke without a struggle with every neighbouring tyrant.
Insolent contempt? Shall holy equality, shall sacred liberty, the produce of thy unparalleled exertions, again be ravished from thee? Shall that noble empire, the inheritance of thy ancestors, be dismembered? Shall there be for us no longer the word country, no longer the name of a Frank? Shall this generation be destined to this accumulation of infamy? Shall it bear the scorn of all Europe, and the contempt of posterity? No; we will disappear from the surface of the earth, or we will remain upon it independent Franks?

Let every true republican arm for his country, let our iron and brass transform themselves into the thunders of war, let our forests become steel; let France become one camp, let the nation become one army; let the artist quit his art, and the peculator his peculation. It is more urgent to acquire liberty than riches; let cultivation retain but the arms that are necessary for it; before we ameliorate our soil, let us enfranchise it; let those veterans who have deserted their standards, blush to see their laurels fading before the victories of inexperienced but valorous youth. Above all, let the young and vigorous citizen fly to the defence of the republic. It is just that he should be exposed to the combat, ere the father of a family risk his more sacred person.

And you, tender mothers, wives replete with love and sensibility, instead of attracting and holding back in your arms those citizens who are dear to you, excite them rather to fly to victory!

It is not in the cause of a despot that they are to combat, it is for you, for your children, for your homes. Instead of weeping for their departure, repeat, like Spartan women, enthusiastic and martial songs; and let your hands, ere their return, weave them cloth for their bodies, and crowns for their victorious heads.

And thou, patriotism, and thou, passion of liberty, and of glory, who art the preservative essence of republicans, the source of heroism and of virtue, enflame their souls! Let us all swear upon the grave of our fathers, and upon the cradle of our children—Let us swear by the victims of the 10th of August, by the bones of our brethren yet scattered over the fields, that we will revenge them, or die like them...

As for you, opulent and more favoured men; who are rather egotists than republicans, who sigh or nothing but for repose—aid us to conquer, and soon you will have peace.

If relaxed by indolence, you cannot sustain the fatigues of war—open your treasures to indigence, and buy defenders, who may supply your place.

Whilst your brethren triumphed in Belgium, and upon the Alps, whilst they bid defiance to cold, to hunger, and to death; whilst they climbed up mountains and scaled ramparts, you were reposing in the arms of luxury, and can you refuse even pecuniary succours! Is then gold more precious than blood! If on one hand the love for your country persuades you to make sacrifices, let at least on the other, interest impel you to it: reflect that your property and your security depend upon the success of this war; Liberty will not perish before public fortune is also annihilated, and France dismembered, if the enemies triumph, woe to them who have wronged our country.

Rich citizens, if you wish your country to be generous towards you, fulfil your duties towards her; too often man becomes a victim, because he has refused to do justice. Let your opinions be what they will, your cause is common: we all are but passengers in the vessel of the Revolution, she is launched, she must come into harbour, or she must go to pieces, and none will save a plank in the universal wreck. There is only one means to save us all, the whole mass of citizens must form a powerful column who standing upright before the nations, must hold with one hand the exterminating sword of the nation, and waving it over the earth and over the seas shall overflow all enemies and fleets.

Popular societies, ye ramparts of the Revolution—ye who gave birth to Liberty, and who watch over its cradle, create defenders to it by your eloquence, your examples; imprint a great motion, and elevate your souls to the highest degree of enthusiasm.

Warriors, who at the voice of your country fly to the field of combat, we do not endeavour to excite your courage. Frenchmen and Republicans, you are full of honour and bravery; but we recommend to you in the name of the Republic, obedience to your chiefs, for without discipline there can be no armies, no success; without discipline courage is useless, and number is impotent; discipline supplies every thing, and nothing supplies its place.

Conquerors of Valmy, Spires, and Argonne will you suffer to perish what you have once saved? No, you will also vanquish these new phalanxes the North is vomiting forth; you will defeat England on that element at present the theatre of her power. Let our brave sailors fly to the vessels of the Republic. Our marine as renowned for their patriotism, as our armies, shall heap victory upon victory, disencumbered of an effeminate nobility, it is invincible. Sons of commerce, who under the yoke of a despotism that overwhelmed you with insults, produced a Jean Bart—Duquesne—Duguay Trouin, what is there not to be expected from you under the reign of Equality?—No more restrain the combat to the discharge of cannon—a freeman should depend only on himself. Our grenadiers have themselves dismounted batteries with their bayonets. Our Hussars have charged on horseback from the ramparts.

Do you in your turn attack their decks. There let these proud islanders; these despots of the sea, fall under the stroke of your hatchet.

Sailors, soldiers, may a salutary emulation animate you! may an equal success crown your endeavours! Are you conquered? France becomes the scoff of nations, and the prey of tyrants; already see your savage conquerors dart upon her, see them insult, ravage, and lay her waste! See them at a loss for victims to glut themselves with, to appease the manes of Capet! See, illuminated by the flames of Paris, whither they carry their vengeance, whither the hangman drags your friends and your brothers; your defeat covers the earth with mourning and with tears, liberty hunts these desolate regions, and with her vanishes the happiness of the human race; long after you shall be no more, the unhappy will clank their chains over your tombs, and insult your ashes.

You vanquish, and there is an end to tyrants; mankind embrace each other, and ashamed of their long error, extinguish the torch of war; they proclaim you the saviours of your country; the founders of the republic, the restorers of the universe; and the nation will crown you with laurels you have earned for it.

For you may fall in the field of honour, what can equal your glory? Your grateful country will provide for your families, will engrave your names on marble, and on brass, or rather they shall dwell for ever on the frontispiece of the great temple of universal liberty, and future generations, when they read them shall say, these are the French heroes who broke the chains of the human race, who interested themselves in our happiness, when we did not even exist.

Happy France! such is the exalted destiny that is prepared for you. Lose not yourselves in its vastness; perform it with heroism, that history may not furnish from its annals, any triumphs to compare with yours. Efface at once the glories of the republics of Greece, and Rome. Accomplish more in one year, under the reign of liberty, than you have done in ages under the reign of kings. Compel strangers to speak of the French republic but, with respect—of French citizens but with enthusiastic admiration.

As to us, firm at our posts, we promise to set you the example of unbounded civicisme, courage, and devotion. We will imitate, should there be occasion, those Roman senators, who waited their death upon the curule chair. They have said that we are divided among ourselves, take care how you listen to them; if our opinions differ, our sentiments are the same. We differ as to the means, but our object is one. Our deliberations are tumultuous, but how can we help being animated in discussing our nearest interests. Tis our eagerness for the public good which agitates us; the decree once passed, the clamour is at an end, but the law remains.

Frenchmen, rely upon your representatives, whatever may be the event, they will courageously struggle against fortune and against man; never will they in thy name, capitulate with tyranny.

When first we were constituted a convention it seemed to us as we heard the voice of our country, suggesting to us, "go, and render me free, and insure my future happiness at the expense of momentary tranquillity."

If to insure freedom Europe must be conquered, speak and I will join battle with her, whatever may be my losses, my dangers and fatigues. Give me no definitive peace, without pure and simple independence. Oh! my country! that sublime language has penetrated our souls; has remained impressive on our hearts: will form the unerring rule of our conduct, and thou shalt be saved.