STATE PAPERS. 
of husband and father: the proud; 
the cruel, shall no longer treat you 
as slaves; you shall no longer feel 
the blows of the cudgel which 
was only made for ruling brutes, 
and not for governing free’ men ; 
the old warrior, who has grown 
grey. in arms, or who bears the 
scars of his wounds, those marks 
of his bravery, shall no longer be 
- subordinate to the orders of young 
fools, who, by the title of an ima- 
ginary prerogative of birth, or of 
riches given by chance, have ob- 
tained the right to command as 
officers, 
No: brave defenders of your 
country ; virtue, capacity, or me- 
rit shall create hereafter to the rank 
of your officers. Any one of you 
shall be capable of attaining the 
highest military posts, who shall 
render himself worthy of them by 
his virtue, the knowledge he may 
have acquired, by his courage, by 
his obedience to the military laws, 
and by his’ attention to discipline 
so indispensable. Go then, bro« 
thers, acquit yourselves of your 
duty like brave men; serve the 
time of the engagements you have 
agreed upon. You shall not be 
compelled to remain an instant be- 
yond the period for which you have 
enlisted, and no cunning artifice, 
no seduétion, shall be employed 
again to subject you ; but your free 
will, alone, shall oblige you, and 
your new companions in arms, to 
embrace the service of your coun. 
try. ' 
As soon as the army shall have 
been reformed and put upon a bet. 
ter footing, you shall be better 
clothed, better fed; and in mak- 
ing that reform we shall endeavour 
to convince you by our first actions, 
that what we now declare, relative 
_Vot.XXXVIL. 
225 
to your promotion, is. not words 
only, nor vain sounds. 
Brave Batavian soldiers, swear 
then, by a solemn oath, and in 
presence of the all-seeing Power, 
that you will be true and faithful 
to the country and to the sovereign 
Batavian people, of whom you 
yourselves are members. Embrace 
your French brethren who have 
delivered you from the yoke of sla- 
very, and if it is necessary, fight 
like intrepid heroes by their side, 
for the liberty of mankind. 
- Done and decreed in the assem- 
bly of the States General of the 
United Provinces of the Low Coun- 
tries at the Hague, the 27th of Feb. 
1796, first year of Batavian liberty. 
(Signed) W. QUARLEs. 
: ) 
Proclamation to the Dutch Peoples 
, from the Prowistonal Representa 
tives of Holland, dated 26th March, 
1795+ 
WHEREAS we gave to the in- 
habitants of Holland, in our pub- 
lication of the 4th of March, a 
true description of the melancholy 
situation of the finances of the 
country: every one must easily 
have-been convinced of the neces- 
sity of restoring them, in order to 
extricate the country from the dis. 
tress in which it is plunged, and 
to defend it vigorously against the 
threatened attack on the part of a 
nation which seemed formerly to 
be the friends of the Batavians, 
but which has already done great 
damage to them, and is now taking 
the necessary measures to attack 
them, as an avowed enemy, by 
force of arms, and to destroy them 
entirely, if possible. But whereas 
it is impossible to resist the ops 
i 
