fhould have the privilege of making war on their neighbours, of fending their spies or ambaffadors), into every country in the world; raife infurrections, hire incendiaries and affaffins by thousands; but if the injured nation takes up arms to avenge itself, or adopts any efficacious measure to drive the mifcreant and bloody race from its bofom, they begin to cry Murder! and call on the universe to affift them against their oppreffors.

As it happened, the ambassador, Jumonville, did not fucceed. He was found with arms in his hands, was attacked and killed in the field of battle, and with the weapons of honourable war. This brought things to a point: the French commandant was obliged cither to acknowledge the hoftile intentions. of Jumonville's errand, or to represent his death as an affaffination.

Still actuated by the fame policy, Villiers, who took Fort Neceffity, as we have feen above, artfully fays in the capitulation, that he is not come to make war, but merely "to revenge the affaffination, &c." The fort was taken, the horses, and cattle, and cannon feized, and yet this Frenchman was not making war! He was only come "to revenge an affaffination!" The fincerity of this declaration will be seen in a moment.

When men are expreffly fent to revenge a murder, they generally do revenge it, and that too by taking the life of the murderer, if he falls into their hands. How did it happen, then, that the avengers of Jumonville never thought of demanding Mr. Washington? This, one would naturally fuppofe, would have been the firft condition they would have offered to the befieged, and one that they would never have departed from; yet was this so far from being the cafe, that Mr. Washington was fuffered to march out with the honours of war, when they had it in their power to impose whatever conditions they pleafed, and they humanely confined their

vengeance to the horses, oxen, and cannon, found in the fort,

Such mercy and forbearance in any Frenchman, when triumphant, muft naturally feem incredible; what, then, will the reader think of it, when he is told, that the Frenchman who took Fort Necefity, Coulon Villiers, was the brother of Jumonville ? Will he, can he believe, that a man, who was fent exprefsly, by his fuperior officer, to inflict vengeance on the affaffin of his brother; who attacked a fort, loft many lives, and hazarded his own, to come at him; can any one believe, that this enraged brother (a Frenchman too) would, when he faw the affaffin within his grafp, have fuffered him quietly to depart, without fo much as asking pardon for the heinous deed? No; he would have retaliated on him, the moment he was poffeffed of him; the first tree would have been his gallows, if the impatience of the victor would have fuffered him to delay his death, in order to render it the more ignoble.

This circumftance alone is a clear and undeniable proof, that Villiers knew that his brother had not been affaffinated, and that the word affaffination was introduced into the capitulation merely as an excufe for attacking thofe, with whom the befieger wifhed the world to believe he was not at war.

WEDNESDAY, 13th MARCH.

Wilcocks to Adet.--Sir, you fent a certain French general to explore the western part of the United States; the counties of Pennfylvania beyond the Alleghany; Kentucky; the country along the Ohio to the Miffifippi. You inftructed him, in writing, to tell the people that Louifiana would probably be furrendered to the French. You inftructed this general (I could tell his name) to found the difpofition of the people about a feparation from the

United States, and an union with Louisiana. You inftructed him to perfuade them, that the Atlantic States were, in their interefts, prejudices, and inclinations, English: that the interest of the western people made them French. Sir, you inftructed this general to found the difpofition of the people with regard to a Prefident for the United States, and to promote the election of Mr. Jefferson! You alfo defired him to obferve the country, as to military purposes, ftate of fortifications, &c. And lastly, Sir, this fame general was furnished with money, to be employed in accomplishing the objects of his miffion.

You may not have known that this general was detected in promoting the very bufinefs you fent him on; but I have satisfactory reason to know, and believe, he was detected.

You may wonder how I came by my knowledge, and I am forry that I may not at this time disclose it. But I fancy, if you recur to your files, you will be convinced you do not hear without authority, from March 9. WM. WILCOCKS.

I think Mr. Wilcocks has given us here a pretty fair fample of French fraternity. The facts he has brought forward are certainly of great importance now, but they ought to have been laid before the people of the United States long ago, for they must have been very long in the poffeffion of those whose duty as well as intereft demand the communication.

The expedition of the French general to whom Mr. Wilcocks alludes, is not such a secret as he seems to imagine. When he was on his journey weftward, he got into difpute, with fome perfons in the ftage, about the British treaty, which had juft then been ratified. The difpute grew warm; the prudence, which the nature of the Frenchman's miffion impofed on him, gave way to his uncontrollable vanity and infolence; and he fwore, that

he hoped, in a few years, to return with an army, and lay the city of Philadelphia in ashes !

This is, I believe, the only country on earth, where fuch a declaration would have gone unpunished. Let not a cold infenfibility to outrages of this nature be called magnanimity; it is no tuch thing, it is rather a proof of a total want of public fpirit, without which no nation ever did, or ever will, long preferve its liberty and independence. Thofe who can hear their country flandered and menaced, infulted and degraded, without refenting the injury as done to themselves, will patiently fuffer an hoftile army to invade it, without drawing a fword in its defence.

War with France, and an Alliance with Great Britain propofed by a Correfpondent.-After Mr. Bache and his correfpondents have laboured for more than three years paft, by degrading the government of this country, as far as they have been able, to draw on us the arms of a rapacious enemy, it is extremely provoking they'fhould affect furprife at the idea of our feeking redrefs by the only means left in our power. Shall we continue to fubmit patiently to the infults and robberies of the French, until we have not a failor left to navigate our veffels, nor a dollar to freight them, rather than recur to a lawful defence, and a natural alliance? Honour, intereft, fafety, all point to means of defence; and fhall we be deterred from ufing them, by the clamours of a faction in the pay of our enemies? If this faction has interest enough with the Executive Directory, to perfuade them to make compenfation for what they have already taken by force and by fraud, and to recall their execrable decrees against the United States, it will be wifely. done to exert it. We are averfe from war; peace is most agreeable to our intereft as well

as

as inclination: but let them ceafe to flatter themfelves or their French mafters with a hope that we will much longer bear or forbear. Is there a fingle American who has the leaft refpect for the honour or welfare of his country, that will hesitate a moment to" declare war against France, and form a treaty "of alliance offenfive and defenfive with Great

Britain," rather than continue any longer to be a butt for the infolence, and a prey to the rapacity of the French Republic? What is there in the name of a republic, or of allies (and nothing but the names of either exift), that can warrant robbery, perfidy, and infults on her part, or fuch fervile fubmiffion on ours? Or what is there in the name of monarchy or Great Britain, that fhall deter us from uniting with her in arms, to obtain juftice, when all other means have failed? Names have amused and deceived the honeft unfufpecting Americans long enough: the charm is diffolved; the French themfelves have broken it; and we are now compelled, by provocations without measure, to vindicate our own dignity, and to endeavour to obtain compenfation for our plundered property.

To Tredwell Jackfon, Hangman to the Democratic Society of New-York.-CITIZEN, Your having been appointed to burn my Gazette, a paper that your fociety had formally condemned; I can look upon you in no other light than that of their Jack Ketch extraordinary. You will, undoubtedly, look upon this as a compliment, fince, as you well know, your fellow-labourers, the guillotiners of France, have been honoured with an honourable title, and that their employment is one of the most important in that free and happy republic.

They tell me you have fomething to do in the infurance offices; I hope, therefore, that the drubbing which the burning of my Gazette brought on

you,