320 
of peace now can view nothing but 
general mourning, univerfal mifery, 
and vaft defpair. It is under thefe 
circumftances that the cabinet of 
St. James has revealed to afflicted 
Europe, that fhe alone has felt no- 
thing of thefe vaft difafters. Hear 
the difcourfe held “ from the height 
of the throne.”” ** Our revenues,” 
fays the King of England, “ have 
been meliorated; our national in- 
duftry has even had a new increafe ; 
our commerce has pafled its former 
limits.” 
If the King of England has told 
the truth, what a terrible leffon is 
this for you, ye other powers of 
Europe! Of what defcription is 
that power which is interefted in 
your difcords, who derives an in- 
tereft from your calamities, who 
profpers by your diftrefs, and who 
fattens on the tears, the blood, and 
the fpoils of other nations ? 
This cabinet may defire war, be- 
caufe they are enriched by the war. 
It is this government, however, who 
‘has lately accufed France of an 
¢¢ infatiable avarice.’”’ It does not 
fay that the English, the firft devaf- 
tators of our Ifland of St. Domingo, 
have alfo taken without a blow the 
colonies of Holland, at that time 
their ally, and that they pretend to 
retain thefe robberies under the 
name of conquefts. — The King of 
England, however, ftiil fpeaks to 
the powers of Europe of the am- 
bition of France! 
The difpofitions of the French 
towards other nations are now un- 
derftood. They are not to be ob- 
fcured by vague allegations. If 
the French Republic can, by attain- 
ing her natural limits, repair the 
faults of her monarchy, fhe difdains 
the acquifition of foreign conquetfts 
for this purpofe. She wifhes not 
ANNUAL REGISTER, 
1797+ 
to opprefs the fecondary ftates or 
the feebler powers. She punifhes 
without hatred, and, naturally ge- 
nerous, fhe does not even hate the 
Englifh nation. In France, no 
minifter fhall ever be deified for his 
hatred to the Englifh nation. But 
the people of France are agreed on 
one point :— When they remember 
Toulon, Dunkirk, Quiberon, and 
La Vendee, they muft deteft the 
cruelty and perfidy, the bloody 
Machiavelifm of the Britifh minif- 
try. They muft deplore, at the 
fame time, the inconceivable blind- 
nefs by which the people of Eng- 
land fuffered themfelves to become 
the horror of the world. 
The great nation will avenge 
the univerfe, and for this end, 
Frenchmen, it offers you feveral 
means. The firft and the moft 
rapid is a defcent upon England. 
By your unheard-of exploits vou 
are difufed from reckoning upon 
obftacles. In fuch enterprizes the 
name of the army is the promife of 
triumph, and the juftice of its caufe 
the guarantee of fuccefs, There is 
no longer a time to difcufs the 
means, or to dwell on the probabi- 
lity of effecting adefcent. Where 
Frenchmen are at the point, their 
will is the victory. The army of 
England is about to dictate peace in 
London, and there, republicans, 
you fhail find your auxiliaries. You 
will find there a number of men 
whom reafon has not fo far aban- 
doned, not to feel the odium which 
their governors have caft upon the 
Englifh name. You will there find 
thoufands of men who have long 
ftruggled to promote parliamentary 
reform. You will there find arti- 
zans without 'number who figh for 
peace, and whom the war reduces to 
wretchednefs, and who weigh as 
light, 
