food, and expences; and out of this you are to find all things neceffary for the existence of man; you have nothing of your own; even the common heritage of nature, perfonal liberty, is not yours; you are tied up like dogs; the lafh fharpened with cruel knots lays bare your very bones; the fpike runs through the fole of your foot, makes the fufpended wretch writhe and howl with agony. These are the rewards of your loyalty and these the bleffings which attend the fervice of a K-!!! Let not the dignity of the man, or the honour of the foldier, be ftarved like a beaft, or whipt like a flave; exercise your reafon; put on the uniform of liberty; make ufe alone of the arms of juftice, and let the foldier be united to the man. The years of freedom approach-the halycon epoch of liberty draws near-philofophy erects the ftandard of happinefs, and the nations of the earth unite beneath its fhade. Nature is preparing a feaft upon the ruins of tyranny, and invites all the univerfe to partake of the banquet. Will you, foldiers, refufe her gifts, and turn ungrateful from the feaft? Will you defert the colours beneath which your brethren unanimouily unite, and mutiny against the dictates of your hearts! Is it your duty to obey your or yourself? Confult your own feelings, and do not violate the oath which truth imprints upon the heart-unite with the oppreffed against the oppreffor, and terminate the year of oppreffion. Whether you shoot your fellow-creatures under the impulse of private refentment, or whether you obey the nod of a tyrant, and maffacre us by thoufands, the guilt is the fame; you are convicted of murder! and nature herself accufes you at the bar of focial justice. Be murderers no longer-follow no more the ftarving practices of military affaffins-ler foldiers protect the rights of citizens, and citizens will avenge the wrongs of foldiers. In fhort, if you wish to fag and labour your lives away without comfort, to linger in a half-ftarved existence, the flaves of eruelty and engines of murder and oppreffion-If you wish, when old age has ftolen away your frength, to have your tottering limbs want a bed to repofe on, and to be whipt from parish to parish as a vagrant, then kifs the hand that fcourges you, and be the means of enflaving the country that has nurfed you in its bofom; but if you wish to enjoy the bleffings of life and liberty, to have a competency prepared for your age in return for the labours of your youth-If you have the leaft regard for mankind or yourfelves, make your mufquets the means of peace, and your fwords the just defence of your country's liberty. WHEREAS, No. 2. It is notorious, that certain wicked and malicious perfons, not having the fear of God before their eyes, but being moved and inftigated by the Devil, have from time immemorial infefted, and 7 U 2 do do ftill infeft the greatest part of the world, to the utter fubverfion of the RIGHTS OF MAN, and the total overthrow of civil and religious liberty, and inftead of thofe glorious bleffings, introducing, wherever they have prevailed, an infernal fyftem of terror, flavery, and oppreffion, with all their attendant evils of poverty and famine, of fraud, robbery, murder, and fuicide, likewife haftening and augmenting every other mifery incident to human nature. To put in force the above fyftem, and give the fullest effect to the evils infeparable from it, they have frequent recourse to enormous taxation, armies of ignorant and unprincipled favages, bribery and corruption, places and penfions, axes and gibbets, baftiles and banishment, fpies and informers, with a cruel and rigorous fuppreffion of every attempt to diffuse inftruction, and cherish the dawnings of reafon; to enlighten the people, and roufe them to a fenfe of their importance and their rights; likewife with additional cruelty employing a band of mercenary priests (called national clergy) to rivet the fetters of ignorance, by inculcating among other fuperftitions the doctrine of non-refiftance and paffive obedience, and pronouncing eternal damnation on difobedience to the fanguinary mandates of TYRANTS. And whereas it is notorious that this banditti arrogate to themfelves titles which the light of nature, and that divine philanthro pift, the illuftrious founder of the chriftian religion, declare can only be applied without blafphemy to the Deity himself, who alone is the most high and mighty prince, moft puiffant Prince, dread Sovereign, moft facred, moft excellent, and moft gracious Majefty. Likewife adding folly and abfurdity to their daring impiety, they are paffionately fond of being called by a variety of nicknames, and are often mad to diftraction for childish playthings, which they imagine give dignity to their odious perfons, and excite wonder and awe in the minds of the ignorant. Another trait of their character is their unbearable infolence to their fuppofed inferiors, demanding honours which in reality belong to no created being (much lefs to the vileft monsters ever created) and requiring the most abject fubmiffion to their tyrannical pleafure. Likewife continually infulting the people with a profeflion of fcornful and humiliating epithets, fuch as fubjects, flaves, mobs, fwinith multitude, vulgar rabble, base wretches, raggamuffins, fans-culottes, acquitted felons, &c. &c. Likewife waiting many precious lives, and much property of the people, to import luxuries from every clime for the gratification of their depraved appetites, while the above "fwinish multitude" are cruelly denied a little clean ftraw and a few wholefome acorns. Again, the difpofition of these incarnate fiends is manifeft in a horrid thirst for blood and delight in flaughter. Peace and tran quillity quillity they view with ftedfaft hate, and banish from their courts with oaths of eternal feparation. The fights which afford them the greatest pleasure and fatisfaction are the dreadful glare of murderous steel, blazing towns, and fields covered with flain, rivers of fmoking crimfon, and the once fmiling garden of plenty exhibiting fcenes of defolation and famine. Their greedy ear drinks in like harmonious music the hoftile roaring of the brazen trumpet, the impatient clashing of the inftruments of death, the groans of the dying, the fhrieks of widows, and the cries of orphans. Hence it ceafes to aftonifh us when we hear of plundering terreftrial Paradifes, of exterminating their millions of inoffenfive inhabitants, and re-peopleing with other millions torn from their native hores. Hence we hear of the murder of thirty thousand men in cold blood; at another time, twenty-feven thousand five hundred men, and three thoufand women and children of a brave and virtuous people, falling beneath the fword of a facred and fainted Empress, And hence we have heard from a Tyrant more fanguinary fill, of farving twenty-five millions fruggling for liberty. PRODIGIOUS NAMELESS WICKEDNESS!!! Thefe are your Gods! Ye advocates for K- Do not your bofoms fwell with indignation? Are you not refolved to crush thefe ferpents, and rid yourfelves and mankind for ever of the worst of plagues? Let them exhibit the glittering magic of their ufurped authority; let them threaten to crush us with their frown; let them plead their divine hereditary right, and iffue their pompous proclamations. Alas! how vain! how weak and imbecile, when opposed to a nation brave and unanimous, that wills to be free. Fellow Citizens! Brethren! We hail you with Vows of Health and Fratenity! APPENDIX, (No. 8.) Addrefs from United Britons to United Irishmen. Fellow Men, ANXIOUS to diffipate those prejudices which a mistaken and interested policy of opinion, from being held by the people of England and Ireland, we in the name of the former, with whofe fentiments we are acquainted, and whofe confidence we poffefs, declare that we will, by every poffible means, promote the emancipation of both countries. To forward this great object we offer you our confidence, and in return demand yours. Though labouring under the yoke of the fame oppreffion, the fifter countries have been differently treated. Ireland has always been the object of direct and open violence, England of fraud; Ireland has been robbed, England has been cheated. By one uniform plan divifion has been carried on in both. Sacrificed as Ireland has been to the ambition of England, the idea of her being treated as a free country was too grofs to be obtruded upon the meaneft understanding. But England, whofe avarice was flattered by the defpicable lure of exclufive trade, greedily fwallowed the bait. She was taught to believe that riches flowed upon her, while poverty was fecretly infinuating itself into her vitals. Amidst mock contentions for liberty, and real ones for plunder, fhe vainly imagined herself free, and was thereby induced to pay the interest of a debt of greater amount than the value of the whole landed property of the country, without reflecting that bankruptcy, however late, muft be the confequence of an overftretched credit. That bankruptcy has arrived. The religious diffenfions between catholic and proteftant in Ireland, whose opinions admit of a real diftinction, and the party fquabbles between whig and tory in England, whofe political ones admit of none, were affiduoufly fomented. The people differed about a fhadow till they loft the fubftance. The plan of oppreffion was fyftematically directed throughout both countries to the fame object, though in apparent oppofition. In Ireland, revenue was only raifed to be lavished in unmerited penfions, without the infult of pretended national advantage. In England, the veil of fraud was neceffary to cheat the people of large fums under the plausible pretext of public neceffity. The undifguifed oppreffions of Ireland, by rendering fubfiftence precarious to the poor, have made her a conftant hot-bed for the fubtleties of tyranny: but in England, occafional crops could only be raised, when the flame of war unufually force the foil. This marked diftinction in the treatment of the countries produced as marked a difference in the characters of the two nations. Ireland has acquired that of manly openness, England that of mean difguife. England, though abufed with forms, has never been without fincere friends to fubftantial liberty. Among them a number of dark and defigning characters have always intended, and their conduct has furnished fuch a tiffue of apoftacy, that general apathy had nearly fucceeded general diftruft. Various political focieties have been inftituted for the purpofe of reform, but of those few could boaft purity of principles or integrity of leaders. Formerly Richmond headed the votaries of univerfal fuffrage, Fox thofe of reprefentation by householders, and Pitt thofe who wished to disfranchise the corrupt boroughs, to throw their proportion of reprefentation into the counties: But these have vanished. The fociety of the friends of the people, and for conftitutional knowledge, have difcontinued their exertions. The London Correfponding and other Societies in union with it have arifen upon their ruins, and as univerfal good is the bafis, we doubt not, but fupported by numbers and principles, they will not be wanting in the hour of danger. The Irifh, always an heroic people, have during the American war become an armed nation. They took up arms for defence and undertook the caufe of reform for fecurity. England like wife engaged in the cause of reform, but her efforts were weak, as fhe had not endured fufficient to convince her of the neceffity of union. The efforts of a number of eminent perfons in both countries, in the cause of freedom, were infufficient, because prejudice yet prevailed, and more were not yet awakened to their just rights and true interefts. The apoftacy of several leaders in the public caufe, added to the famous coalition, fmothered for a long time the flame of liberty, till the French revolution again fanned its dying embers into a glow, which we hope and truft will never be extinguished. The conduct of the two countries on this important event difplayed a ftriking contraft. Ireland, who by her arms had extorted from the English government fome fragments of her rights, feemed ready in the fame manner to demand the reft. England alfo formed focieties whofe object was emancipation; but alas! they over-rated its force. The bills in Ireland, the treafon and feditión bills in England, and their confequences in both countries, need hardly be mentioned. On the people they brought chains, on the government irreconcileable hatred. One good effect has however refulted from mutual fufferings and mutual commiferation; the prejudice of nations is done away, and the English burn with defire to hail the Irish as freemen and as brethren. Our numbers are immenfe, our influence ftill more confiderable, and our fentiments accord with yours; we are unthinned by the tyranny of the law or the fword; 'tis true we have had our fears and our jealoufies ; fpies and informers have been introduced. amongst us; but all thofe have ferved only to point out more clearly the men who are worthy of truft, and in thefe, whether rich or poor, we have the highest confidence. Our delegate is entrusted to lay before you our whole proceedings; we therefore decline entering into particulars in the prefent addrefs. We have repofed confidence in you, and fhall expect fuch a return as you may think our integrity and talents deserve. We doubt not but you will, with us, fee the propriety of eftablishing unlimited confidence, or declining our interference as fruitlefs. Should you think our fituation, our influence, and our opportunities calculated to ferve the common caufe, rely upon our diligence, zeal, and our fidelity. With beft wishes for the amelioration of the condition of man, and hopes that your exertions and virtues, aided by an united people, will fpeedily emancipate your country,-We remain, in the bonds of brotherhood and union, Your's fraternally. (Seal) Friday, January 5th, 1798. APPENDIX |