You too, who have been included in the requifition, and have been able, by means of the exceptions which government has thought proper to make, to preferve yourfelves at home with your families, fhould recollect, that the favour you have met, renders it particularly incumbent on you to refpect government, and to affift it by combating the enemies at home, while your brave comrades are engaged in contending with thofe abroad.)

Citizens of all claffes; at the commencement of hoftilities against England, thefe coafts are about to be covered with the numerous battalions of the conquerors of Italy.-Welcome these brave defenders, and receive them with honours; obferve their wounds; remember the acts of valour which they have performed-remember, that half naked, in want of every thing, and forgetting that they had relations and children, and confidering only that their country and liberty were threatened, they fecured thefe bleflings by their blood-remember that they daily braved death, while you, quietly at home, were contented to read the details of their victories by your fire-fide.-Render them then that tribute of gratitude which they have a right to expectapplause, at least, you owe them.

They indeed may speak of their country and of liberty-they know what they have done for them, and may confider them as their own work, fince, without their efforts, neither the one nor the other would have been in existence. It is by uniting yourfelves to thefe men that you will learn to appreciate the value of thefe great bleffings, liberty and the republic. As to you who abhor thefe benefits-you efpecially, ftrangers, to whom the republic affords an afylum-you, too, whom paffions, prejudice, and refentments, render infenfible to her glory and to her triumphs, who daily pour forth your guilty wishes for her overthrow, whom the memory of paft horrors cannot deter-whoever you be, and wherever you exift, be careful not to mistake the indulgence of government for weaknefs. I give you notice, that the end of this indulgence is at hand; and remember, that the power which has deftroyed all the kings of Europe can with a breath annihilate you.

Internal enemies! believe that government knows and fees every thing; clubs, taverns, and places of public entertainment, nothing can escape their vigilance. Awaken all of you from your error: you efpecially who have fuffered yourfelves to be corrupted by perfidious influence, return to thofe fentiments which you owe your country, and draw that line between you and the agents of England which can alone protect you, can enfure you fafety, and hinder you from fharing the punishment which awaits all men who seek to thwart its projects.

Citizens of all claffes, I fhould betray you were I to conceal a ervel truth. In spite of my conftant efforts to distinguish the

mafs

mafs of the inhabitants of Calais from fome individuals, perhaps more imprudent than culpable, I have not been able to prevent government miftrufting this commune; I have not been able to prevent them from confidering it in an unfavourable point of view, and from fufpecting that there are a number of individuals in it who oppofe its measures, who regret the monarchical fyftem, and who, devoted to perfidious England, are ready to affist the views of that power. "We are in poffeffion," fays the Directory, in its letter to me, "of the clue of this plot, and we already know part of the truth, that the public fpirit is corrupted among you, and you alone. You, commiffary, in whom we have placed confidence, you alone, among thefe numerous denunciations, cannot find one guilty perfon. What are you about ?— We remind you of your duties, and of your oath."

No, my fellow-citizens, I profefs it loudly-po, you are not given up to perfidious England. Its gold has not corrupted you; public fpirit is not extinguished among you; and if the English who threatened the walls of Dunkirk, thould have come to prefent themselves before the memorable gates of Calais, it is then that the world would have been convinced that if fome among you were formerly devoted to a king, you would all have been refolved to perish, in order to preferve liberty and the republic,

No; both of them are for you the only object of your wishes and of your folicitude. You have proved this, by the numerous facrifices which you have already made, and you may hereafter make. No-no, you are not Englifhmen; you are Frenchmen-you are even republicans. I undertake to convince go vernment that it has been deceived.

At this moment, when the armies approach, when the government is making every preparation for invafion, you must, citizens, remove every fufpicion, by breaking off all connexion and communication with the country which the republic is about to attack, and cover with its arms: you will avoid every correfpondence, which, though really innocent, might excite the jealoufy of the government, and caufe intentions to be ascribed to you which you have not, and which you are far from entertaining. This is one facrifice more, but it is time to make it; and you will make it readily, because it is indifpenfable; becaufe, by fo doing, you will prevent new infinuations from occafioning new errors; because it will be one proof more of your devotion and your civism.

A patriotic loan is now opened at Paris, in order to accelerate the approaching invafion.. Already have the administrations and the body of merchants at Paris fubfcribed feveral millions. A number of individuals in the departments are haftening to follow this example. You will no doubt imitate them.

VOL. VII.

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Government has left it to the merchants of Paris to fix themfelves the most speedy mode of repayment; and they will themfelves affift the operation of it, which, as far as it appears at prefent, is by the produce of the poftage of Calais.

You will join your offering to mine of 100 franks, which I propofe to add to those already made. I fhall tranfinit it to the municipal adminiftration, who will keep an account of the names of the lenders. The whole fum will be fent off from Calais in ten days, and you will prove, that, fo far from the gold of England being all-powerful with you, you can yourselves lay down money to humiliate and reduce it.

I repeat it again, fecond my efforts: do not reduce me to the cruel alternative of being obliged either to use severity in the performance of my duty, or to betray it by a culpable indulgence. May I always be happy enough to be able to proclaim the civifm and the virtues of my fellow-citizens, and never unhappy enough to profecute the guilty at the expense of my own feelings.

No! citizens of Calais, you will ftill be what you always have been the friends of the country, of liberty, of equality, and of the conftitution; and you will always gladly exclaim, Vive la republique !

(Signed)

PIGAULT-MAUBAILLARCQ, Commiffary of the Executive Directory.

Refolution propofed by Villers to the Council of Five Hundred, and adopted, refpecting Ships, on the 11th January.

I.

THE fituation of all fhips and veffels, with regard to their quality, as neuter or enemies, fhall hereafter be determined by their cargoes; therefore, every veffel found at fea, laden, or partly laden, with the produce or merchandise of England, or of any of its poffeffions, is declared a lawful prize whoever be the proprietor of the faid produce or merchandise.

2. No foreign veffel, which in the course of her voyage may have entered an English port, fhall be permitted to enter any port of the republic, unless fhe be in diftrefs; in which cafe, fhe Thall be obliged to fail as soon as the caufes of her distress shall have ceaf d.

3. This refolution fhall be sent to the Council of Ancients, by a meffenger of state.

[The Council of Ancients approved of the refolution.]

Reports

Report, by Riou, to the Council of Five Hundred, 5 Pluviofe (Jan 24), refpecting the Treatment of French Prifoners in England*. YOUR committee has executed a most painful task. They

are now to place before your eyes a series of crimes at which they have already fhuddered--to demand vengeance, in the name of outraged humanity, against the English government-to intereft, while they wound, your feelings-and, in fine, to offer thofe means which they regard as effectual for faving the nearly exhaufted lives of 22,000 republicans, entombed in the dungeons of England.

The English government has heaped the measure of oppreffion, and the cries of death are raised against it from the four quarters of the globe. It has every where fuftained, by guilty means, a power first established by corruption or by treafon. It feems to with that rivers fhould not flow but for the ufe of England-that the feas fhould bear their veffels only, and that all the productions of the New World, and of the distant regions of Hin doitan, fhould become the prey and the aliment of her univerfal commerce. In oppreffed India, not a step can be taken without difcovering the train of English guilt. In that fair country, favoured of heaven, but defolated by man, the English gave, a few years ago, a dreadful example how far defpotifm may go, when joined with avarice and inhumanity. To obtain the merchandise of India at a better rate for England, the company of the latter coined rupees of gold to the amount of feveral millions, but into which there entered at least two-thirds of alloy. Thus the wretched inhabitants were deceived and robbed in their fales. But foon after the English had put this falfe money into circulation, they perceived that they muft fuffer themfelves, from its return in the way of commerce and of contribution. The Indians were, therefore, ordered to exchange thefe gold for filver rupees. They came with confidence to make this exchange, when the money which was fabricated to rob them was taken only at its actual value-an immenfe lofs to the oppreffed-as great a gain to their oppreffors.

A short time afterwards, Bengal was afflicted with an horrible drought. Rice grew only in fome parts, and there in a small quantity. Of this the English took poffeffion; they monopolized with avidity whatever provifion was to be found, and held it in referve for themselves and their fepoys. Thus fecure, they difdained to attend to a numerous people, who were threatened with

The English government published an account of their treatment of French prifoners, which our readers will find in a fubfequent part of this volume, and which proved the allegations of France to be totally unfounded.

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the approach of famine. It came, accompanied by despair, and followed by the moft fearful of deaths. For many days the Indians, confumed by hunger, but ftill meek and fuppliant, were feen wandering like plaintive ghosts around those fortreffes where their tyrants revelled in abundance. A vaft filence foon reigned throughout and the public ways and places were covered with dead bodies, and the rivers rolled them by thoufands to the aftonifhed feas! Three millions of men perished! and their wretched remains, abandoned without interment, fo corrupted the atmofphere, as to create a peftilence, which had nearly destroyed this unfortunate nation!

On recollecting these facts, diftin&tly and eloquently stated by the hiftorian of the two Indies (Raynal), we may refent, but we can never be surprised at any conduct of the English government. It is the exclufive task of that government to deceive, to corrupt, to fow divifions, and to employ for their profit all the violent and moft hateful paffions of the human heart. It is their task to combat our revolution, after having contributed to excite it; to avenge the fall of the throne which they had previously weakened. They it is who give an asylum to the emigrants, and then cover them with humiliations-who pretend to fuccour these traitors, and then confign them to death. They landed them at Quiberon, and there not only abandoned them to the republican bayonets, but actually fired with grape-fhot on those who fought to fave themfelves by returning to the veffels which they falfely deemed hofpitable! It belonged to that government, in fine, at that epoch, fo glorious for Hoche and his brave companions in arms, to expose as privates the officers of the ancient royal marine, and, on their fall, to fay, with a fmile but ill difguifed," There the best mariners of France have perifhed!"

You must remember, citizens representatives, the misfortunes which marked the first year of the republican æra-Lyons in a state of infurrection-Marseilles agitated-Toulon furrendered-our magazines deftroyed, and our fhips either burned or carried off by a perfidious enemy. A civil war was then kindled in our territory; and the rebels were armed and furnished with provifions by England. The infamous Puiffaye, whom even emigrants muft hate and cowards defpife-this confidential agent of Pitt was then organizing affaffination in the western dcpartments;

What thall I fay of the fufferings of your colonies, inflicted and paid for by the English? Am I now to speak to you of their dogs, formed into regiments, breafted with spikes, and, after having been ftarved for the purpofe, let loofe among the ranks of our foldiers?

It may feem impoffible to add to this long catalogue of their atrocities; but the conduct of this government to their republican

prifoners