[No Date or Place Given.]
It appears, that the greater part of the inhabitants of Poitou, Anjou, and the Southern diviſions of Brittany, now diſtinguiſhed by the general appellation of the people of La Vendee, (though they include thoſe of ſeveral other departments,) never either comprehended or adopted the principles of the French revolution. Many different cauſes contributed to increaſe their original averſion from the new ſyſtem, and to give their reſiſtance that conſiſtency, which has ſince become ſo formidable. A partiality for their ancient cuſtoms, an attachment to their Nobleſſe, and a deference for their Prieſts, are ſaid to characterize the brave and ſimple natives of La Vendee. Hence republican writers, with ſelf-complacent deciſion, always treat this war as the effect of ignorance, ſlavery, and ſuperſtition.
The modern reformiſt, who calls the labourer from the plough, and the artizan from the loom, to make them ſtateſmen or philoſophers, and who has invaded the abodes of contented induſtry with the rights of man, that our fields may be cultivated, and our garments wove, by metaphyſicians, will readily aſſent to this opinion.—Yet a more enlightened and liberal philoſophy may be tempted to examine how far the Vendeans have really merited the contempt and perſecution of which they have been the objects. By the confeſſion of the republicans themſelves, they are religious, hoſpitable, and frugal, humane and merciful towards their enemies, and eaſily perſuaded to whatever is juſt and reaſonable.
I do not pretend to combat the narrow prejudices of thoſe who ſuppoſe the worth or happineſs of mankind compatible but with one ſet of opinions; and who, confounding the adventitious with the eſſential, appreciate only book learning: but ſurely, qualities which imply a knowledge of what iſ due both to God and man, and information ſufficient to yield to what iſ right or rational, are not deſcriptive of barbarians; or at leaſt, we may ſay with Phyrrhus, "there is nothing barbarous in their diſcipline."*
*"The huſbandmen of this country are in general men of ſimple manners, naturally well inclined, or at leaſt not addicted to ſerious vices." Lequinio, Guerre de La Vendee. Dubois de Crance, ſpeaking of the inhabitants of La Vendee, ſays, "They are the moſt hoſpitable people I ever ſaw, and always diſpoſed to liſten to what is juſt and reaſonable, if proffered with mildneſſ and humanity." "This unpoliſhed people, whom, however, it is much leſs difficult to perſuade than to fight." Lequinio, G. de La V. "They affected towards our priſoners a deceitful humanity, neglecting no means to draw them over to their own party, and often ſending them back to us with only a ſimple prohibition to bear armſ againſt the King or religion." Report of Richard and Choudieu. The ignorant Vendeans then could give leſſons of policy and humanity, which the "enlightened" republicans were not capable of profiting by.
—Their adherence to their ancient inſtitutions, and attachment to their Gentry and Clergy, when the former were aboliſhed and the latter proſcribed, might warrant a preſumption that they were happy under the one, and kindly treated by the other: for though individuals may ſometimes perſevere in affections or habits from which they derive neither felicity nor advantage, whole bodies of men can ſcarcely be ſuppoſed eager to riſk their lives in defence of privileges that have oppreſſed them, or of a religion from which they draw no conſolation.
But whatever the cauſe, the new doctrines, both civil and religious, were received in La Vendee with a diſguſt, which was not only expreſſed by murmurs, but occaſionally by little revolts, by diſobedience to the conſtitutional authorities, and a rejection of the conſtitutional clergy.
Some time previous to the depoſition of the King, Commiſſioners were ſent to ſuppreſs theſe diſorders; and though I doubt not but all poſſible means were taken to conciliate, I can eaſily believe, that neither the King nor his Miniſters might be deſirous of ſubduing by force a people who erred only from piety or loyalty. What effect this ſyſtem of indulgence might have produced cannot now be decided; becauſe the ſubſequent overthrow of the monarchy, and the maſſacre or baniſhment of the prieſts, muſt have totally alienated their minds, and precluded all hope of reconcilement.—Diſaffection, therefore, continued to increaſe, and the Briſſotines are ſuſpected of having rather foſtered than repreſſed theſe inteſtine commotions,* for the ſame purpoſe which induced them to provoke the war with England, and to extend that of the Continent.
* Le Brun, one of the Briſſotin Miniſters, concealed the progreſs of this war for ſix months before he thought fit to report it to the Convention.
—It is impoſſible to aſſign a good motive to any act of this literary intriguer.
—Perhaps, while they determined to eſtabliſh their faction by "braving all Europe," they might think it equally politic to perplex and overawe Paris by a near and dangerous enemy, which would render their continuance in power neceſſary, or whom they might join, if expelled from it.*
* This laſt reaſon might afterwards have given way to their apprehenſions, and the Briſſotins have preferred the creation of new civil wars, to a confidence in the royaliſts. Theſe men, who condemned the King for a ſuppoſed intention of defending an authority tranſmitted to him through whole ages, and recently ſanctioned by the voice of the people, did not ſcruple to excite a civil war in defence of their ſix monthſ' ſovereignty over a republic, proclaimed by a ferocious comedian, and certainly without the aſſent of the nation. Had the ill-fated Monarch dared thus to trifle with the lives of his ſubjects, he might have ſaved France and himſelf from ruin.
When men gratify their ambition by means ſo ſanguinary and atrocious aſ thoſe reſorted to by the Briſſotines, we are authorized in concluding they will not be more ſcrupulous in the uſe or preſervation of power, than they were in attaining it; and we can have no doubt but that the fomenting or ſuppreſſing the progreſs of civil diſcord, was, with them, a mere queſtion of expediency.
The decree which took place in March, 1793, for raiſing three hundred thouſand men in the departments, changed the partial inſurrections of La Vendee to an open and connected rebellion; and every where the young people refuſed going, and joined in preference the ſtandard of revolt. In the beginning of the ſummer, the brigandſ* (as they were called) grew ſo numerous, that the government, now in the hands of Robeſpierre and hiſ party, began to take ſerious meaſures to combat them.
* Robberſ—banditti—The name was firſt given, probably, to the inſurgents of La Vendee, in order to inſinuate a belief that the diſorders were but of a ſlight and predatory nature.
—One body of troops were diſpatched after another, who were all ſucceſſively defeated, and every where fled before the royaliſts.
It is not unuſual in political concerns to attribute to deep-laid planſ and abſtruſe combinations, effects which are the natural reſult of private paſſions and iſolated intereſts. Robeſpierre is ſaid to have promoted both the deſtruction of the republican armies and thoſe of La Vendee, in order to reduce the national population. That he was capable of imagining ſuch a project is probable—yet we need not, in tracing the conduct of the war, look farther than to the character of the agents who were, almoſt neceſſarily, employed in it. Nearly every officer qualified for the command of an army, had either emigrated, or was on ſervice at the frontiers; and the taſk of reducing by violence a people who reſiſted only becauſe they deemed themſelves injured, and who, even in the eſtimation of the republicans, could only be miſtaken, was naturally avoided by all men who were not mere adventurers. It might likewiſe be the policy of the government to prefer the ſervices of thoſe, who, having neither reputation nor property, would be more dependent, and whom, whether they became dangerous by their ſucceſſes or defeats, it would be eaſy to ſacrifice.
Either, then, from neceſſity or choice, the republican armies in La Vendee were conducted by diſſolute and rapacious wretches, at all timeſ more eager to pillage than fight, and who were engaged in ſecuring their plunder, when they ſhould have been in purſuit of the enemy. On every occaſion they ſeemed to retreat, that their ill ſucceſs might afford them a pretext for declaring that the next town or village was confederated with the inſurgents, and for delivering it up, in conſequence, to murder and rapine. Such of the ſoldiers as could fill their pocket-books with aſſignats, left their leſs ſucceſſful companions, and retired as invalidſ to the hoſpitals: the battalions of Paris (and particularly "the conquerors of the Baſtille") had ſuch ardour for pillage, that every perſon poſſeſſed of property was, in their ſenſe, an ariſtocrat, whom it was lawful to deſpoil.*
* "Le pillage a ete porte a ſon comble—les militaires au lieu de ſonger a ce qu'ils avoient a faire, n'ont penſe qu'a remplir leurſ ſacs, et a voir ſe perpetuer une guerre auſſi avantageuſe a leur interet—beaucoup de ſimples ſoldats ont acquis cinquante mille francs et plus; on en a vu couverts de bijoux, et faiſant dans touſ les genres des depenſes d'une produgaloite, monſtreuſe." Lequinio, Guerre de la Vendee. "The moſt unbridled pillage prevailed—officers, inſtead of attending to their duty, thought only of filling their portmanteaus, and of the means to perpetuate a war they found ſo profitable.—Many private ſoldiers made fifty thouſand livres, and they have been ſeen loaded with trinkets, and exerciſing the moſt abominable prodigalities of every kind." Lequinio, War of La Vendee. "The conquerors of the Baſtille had unluckily a moſt unbridled ardour for pillage—one would have ſuppoſed they had come for the expreſs purpoſe of plunder, rather than fighting. The ſtage coacheſ for Paris were entirely loaded with their booty." Report of Benaben, Commiſſioner of the Department of Maine and Loire.
—The carriages of the army were entirely appropriated to the conveyance of their booty; till, at laſt, the adminiſtrators of ſome departmentſ were under the neceſſity of forbidding ſuch incumbrances: but the officers, with whom reſtrictions of this ſort were unavailing, put all the horſes and waggons of the country in requiſition for ſimilar purpoſes, while they relaxed themſelves from the ſerious buſineſs of the war, (which indeed was nearly confined to burning, plundering, and maſſacring the defenceleſs inhabitants,) by a numerous retinue of miſtreſſes and muſicians.
It is not ſurprizing that generals and troops of this deſcription were conſtantly defeated; and their reiterated diſaſters might probably have firſt ſuggeſted the idea of totally exterminating a people it was found ſo difficult to ſubdue, and ſo impracticable to conciliate.—On the firſt of October 1793, Barrere, after inveighing againſt the exceſſive population of La Vendee, which he termed "frightful," propoſed to the Convention to proclaim by a decree, that the war of La Vendee "ſhould be terminated" by the twentieth of the ſame month. The Convention, with barbarous folly, obeyed; and the enlightened Pariſians, accuſtomed to think with contempt on the ignorance of the Vendeans, believed that a war, which had baffled the efforts of government for ſo many months, waſ to end on a preciſe day—which Barrere had fixed with as much aſſurance as though he had only been ordering a fete.
But the Convention and the government underſtood this decree in a very different ſenſe from the good people of Paris. The war was, indeed, to be ended; not by the uſual mode of combating armies, but by a total extinction of all the inhabitants of the country, both innocent and guilty—and Merlin de Thionville, with other members, ſo perfectly comprehended this deteſtable project, that they already began to deviſe ſchemes for repeopling La Vendee, when its miſerable natives ſhould be deſtroyed.*
* It is for the credit of humanity to believe, that the decree waſ not underſtood according to its real intention; but the nation haſ to chooſe between the imputation of cruelty, ſtupidity, or ſlavery— for they either approved the ſenſe of the decree, believed what waſ not poſſible, or were obliged to put on an appearance of both, in ſpite of their ſenſes and their feelings. A proclamation, in conſequence, to the army, is more explicit—"All the brigands of La Vendee muſt be exterminated before the end of October."
From this time, the repreſentatives on miſſion, commiſſaries of war, officers, ſoldiers, and agents of every kind, vied with each other in the moſt abominable outrages. Carrier ſuperintended the fuſillades and noyades at Nantes, while Lequinio diſpatched with his own hands a part of the priſoners taken at La Fontenay, and projected the deſtruction of the reſt.—After the evacuation of Mans by the inſurgents, women were brought by twenties and thirties, and ſhot before the houſe where the deputieſ Tureau and Bourbotte had taken up their reſidence; and it appears to have been conſidered as a compliment to theſe republican Molochs, to ſurround their habitation with mountains of the dead. A compliment of the like nature was paid to the repreſentative Prieur de la Marne,* by a volunteer, who having learned that his own brother was taken amongſt the enemy, requeſted, by way of recommending himſelf to notice, a formal permiſſion to be his executioner.—The Roman ſtoiciſm of Prieur accepted the implied homage, and granted the requeſt!!
* This repreſentative, who was alſo a member of the Committee of Public Welfare, was not only the Brutus, but the Antony of La Vendee; for we learn from the report of Benaben, that his ſtern virtues were accompanied, through the whole of his miſſion in thiſ afflicted country, by a cortege of thirty ſtrolling fiddlerſ!
Fourteen hundred priſoners, who had ſurrendered at Savenay, among whom were many women and children, were ſhot, by order of the deputy Francaſtel, who, together with Hentz, Richard, Choudieu, Carpentier, and others of their colleagues, ſet an example of rapine and cruelty, but too zealouſly imitated by their ſubordinate agents. In ſome places, the inhabitants, without diſtinction of age or ſex, were put indiſcriminately to the ſword; in others, they were forced to carry the pillage collected from their own dwellings, which, after being thus ſtripped, were conſigned to the flames.*
* "This conflagration accompliſhed, they had no ſooner arrived in the midſt of our army, than the volunteers, in imitation of their commanders, ſeized what little they had preſerved, and maſſacred them.—But this is not all: a whole municipality, in their ſcarfs of office, were ſacrificed; and at a little village, inhabited by about fifty good patriots, who had been uniform in their reſiſtance of the inſurgents, news is brought that their brother ſoldiers are coming to aſſiſt them, and to revenge the wrongs they have ſuffered. A friendly repaſt is provided, the military arrive, embrace their ill-fated hoſts, and devour what they have provided; which is no ſooner done, than they drive all theſe poor people into the churchyard, and ſtab them one after another." Report of Faure, Vice-Preſident of a Military Commiſſion at Fontenay.
—The heads of the priſoners ſerved occaſionally as marks for the officers to ſhoot at for trifling wagers, and the ſoldiers, who imitated theſe heinous examples, uſed to conduct whole hundreds to the place of execution, ſinging "allons enfans de la patrie."*
* Woe to thoſe who were unable to walk, for, under pretext that carriages could not be found to convey them, they were ſhot without heſitation!—Benaben.
The inſurgents had loſt Cholet, Chatillon, Mortagne, &c. Yet, far from being vanquiſhed by the day appointed, they had croſſed the Loire in great force, and, having traverſed Brittany, were preparing to make an attack on Granville. But this did not prevent Barrere from announcing to the convention, that La Vendee was no more, and the galleries echoed with applauſes, when they were told that the highways were impaſſable, from the numbers of the dead, and that a conſiderable part of France was one vaſt cemetery. This intelligence alſo tranquillized the paternal ſolicitude of the legiſlature, and, for many months, while the ſyſtem of depopulation was purſued with the moſt barbarous fury, it was not permiſſible even to ſuſpect that the war was yet unextinguiſhed.
It is only ſince the trial of the Nantais, that the ſtate of La Vendee has again become a ſubject of diſcuſſion: truth has now forced its way, and we learn, that, whatever may be the ſtrength of theſe unhappy people, their minds, embittered by ſuffering, and animated by revenge, are ſtill leſs than ever diſpoſed to ſubmit to the republican government. The deſign of total extirpation, once ſo much inſiſted on, is at preſent ſaid to be relinquiſhed, and a plan of inſtruction and converſion is to be ſubſtituted for bayonets and conflagrations. The revolted countries are to be enlightened by the doctrines of liberty, fanaticiſm is to be expoſed, and a love of the republic to ſucceed the prejudices in favour of Kings and Nobles.—To promote theſe objects, is, undoubtedly, the real intereſt of the Convention; but a moraliſt, who obſerves through another medium, may compare with regret and indignation the inſtructors with the people they are to illumine, and the advantages of philoſophy over ignorance.
Lequinio, one of the moſt determined reformers of the barbariſm of La Vendee, propoſes two methods: the firſt is, a general maſſacre of all the nativeſ—and the only objection it ſeems ſuſceptible of in his opinion is, their numbers; but as he thinks on this account it may be attended with difficulty, he is for eſtabliſhing a ſort of perpetual miſſion of Repreſentatives, who, by the influence of good living and a company of fiddlers and ſingers, are to reſtore the whole country to peace.*—
*"The only difficulty that preſents itſelf is, to determine whether recourſe ſhall be had to the alternative of indulgence, or if it will not be more advantageous to perſiſt in the plan of total deſtruction. "If the people that ſtill remain were not more than thirty or forty thouſand, the ſhorteſt way would doubtleſs be, to cut all their throats (egorger), agreeably to my firſt opinion; but the population is immenſe, amounting ſtill to four hundred thouſand ſouls.—If there were no hope of ſucceeding by any other methods, certainly it were better to kill all (egorger), even were there five hundred thouſand. "But what are we to underſtand by meaſures of rigour? Is there no diſtinction to be made between rigorous and barbarous meaſures? The utmoſt ſeverity is juſtified on the plea of the general good, but nothing can juſtify barbarity. If the welfare of France neceſſitated the ſacrifice of the four hundred thouſand inhabitantſ of La Vendee, and the countries in rebellion adjoining, they ought to be ſacrificed: but, even in this caſe, there would be no excuſe for thoſe atrocities which revolt nature, which are an outrage to ſocial order, and repugnant equally to feeling (ſentiment) and reaſon; and in cutting off ſo many entire generations for the good of the country, we ought not to ſuffer the uſe of barbarous means in a ſingle inſtance. "Now the moſt effectual way to arrive at this end (converting the people), would be by joyous and fraternal miſſions, frank and familiar harangues, civic repaſts, and, above all, dancing. "I could wiſh, too, that during their circuits in theſe countries, the Repreſentatives were always attended by muſicians. The expence would be trifling, compared with the good effect; if, as I am ſtrongly perſuaded, we could thus ſucceed in giving a turn to the public mind, and cloſe the bleeding arteries of theſe fertile and unhappy provinces." Lequinio, Guerre de La Vendee. And this people, who were either to have their throats cut, or be republicanized by means of ſinging, dancing, and revolutionary Panſ and Silenuſ's, already beheld their property devaſtated by pillage or conflagration, and were in danger of a peſtilence from the unburied bodies of their families.—Let the reader, who has ſeen Lequinio's pamphlet, compare his account of the ſufferings of the Vendeans, and his project for conciliating them. They convey a ſtrong idea of the levity of the national character; but, in thiſ inſtance, I muſt ſuppoſe, that nature would be ſuperior to local influence; and I doubt if Lequinio's jocund philoſophy will ever ſucceed in attaching the Vendeans to the republic.
—Camille Deſmouins, a republican reformer, nearly as ſanguinary, though not more liberal, thought the guillotine diſgraced by ſuch ignorant prey, and that it were better to hunt them down like wild beaſts; or, if made priſoners, to exchange them againſt the cattle of their country!—The eminently informed Herault de Sechelles was the patron and confidant of the exterminating reforms of Carrier; and Carnot, when the mode of reforming by noyades and fuſillades was debated at the Committee, pleaded the cauſe of Carrier, whom he deſcribes as a good, nay, an excellent patriot.—Merlin de Thionville, whoſe philoſophy is of a more martial caſt, was deſirous that the natives of La Vendee ſhould be completely annihilated, in order to furniſh in their territory and habitations a recompence for the armies.—Almoſt every member of the Convention haſ individually avowed principles, or committed acts, from which common turpitude would recoil, and, as a legiſlative body, their whole code haſ been one unvarying ſubverſion of morals and humanity. Such are the men who value themſelves on poſſeſſing all the advantages the Vendeans are pretended to be in want of.—We will now examine what diſciples they have produced, and the benefits which have been derived from their inſtructions.
Every part of France remarkable for an early proſelytiſm to the revolutionary doctrines has been the theatre of crimes unparalleled in the annals of human nature. Thoſe who have moſt boaſted their contempt for religious ſuperſtition have been degraded by an idolatry as groſs aſ any ever practiced on the Nile; and the moſt enthuſiaſtic republicanſ have, without daring to murmur, ſubmitted for two years ſucceſſively to a horde of cruel and immoral tyrants.—A pretended enfranchiſement from political and eccleſiaſtical ſlavery has been the ſignal of the loweſt debaſement, and the moſt cruel profligacy: the very Catechumens of freedom and philoſophy have, while yet in their firſt rudiments, diſtinguiſhed themſelves as proficients in the arts of oppreſſion and ſervility, of intolerance and licentiouſneſs.—Paris, the rendezvous of all the perſecuted patriots and philoſophers in Europe, the centre of the revolutionary ſyſtem, whoſe inhabitants were illumined by the firſt rayſ of modern republicaniſm, and who claim a ſort of property in the rightſ of man, as being the original inventors, may fairly be quoted as an example of the benefits that would accrue from a farther diſſemination of the new tenets.
Without reverting to the events of Auguſt and September, 1792, preſided by the founders of liberty, and executed by their too apt ſectaries, it is notorious that the legions of Paris, ſent to chaſtiſe the unenlightened Vendeans, were the moſt cruel and rapacious banditti that ever were let looſe to afflict the world. Yet, while they exerciſed thiſ ſavage oppreſſion in the countries near the Loire, their fellow-citizenſ on the banks of the Seine crouched at the frown of paltry tyrants, and were unreſiſtingly dragged to dungeons, or butchered by hundreds on the ſcaffold.—At Marſeilles, Lyons, Bourdeaux, Arras, wherever theſe baleful principles have made converts, they have made criminals and victims; and thoſe who have been moſt eager in imbibing or propagating them have, by a natural and juſt retribution, been the firſt ſacrificed. The new diſcoveries in politics have produced ſome in ethics not leſs novel, and until the adoption of revolutionary doctrines, the extent of human ſubmiſſion or human depravity was fortunately unknown.
In this ſource of guilt and miſery the people of La Vendee are now to be inſtructed—that people, who are acknowledged to be hoſpitable, humane, and laborious, and whoſe ideas of freedom may be better eſtimated by their reſiſtance to a deſpotiſm which the reſt of France has ſunk under, than by the jargon of pretended reformers.—I could wiſh, that not only the peaſants of La Vendee, but thoſe of all other countries, might for ever remain ſtrangers to ſuch pernicious knowledge. It is ſufficient for this uſeful claſs of men to be taught the ſimple precepts of religion and morality, and thoſe who would teach them more, are not their benefactors. Our age is, indeed, a literary age, and ſuch purſuits are both liberal and laudable in the rich and idle; but why ſhould volumes of politics or philoſophy be mutilated and frittered into pamphlets, to inſpire a diſguſt for labour, and a taſte for ſtudy or pleaſure, in thoſe to whom ſuch diſguſts or inclinations are fatal. The ſpirit of one author iſ extracted, and the beauties of another are ſelected, only to bewilder the underſtanding, and engroſs the time, of thoſe who might be more profitably employed.
I know I may be cenſured as illiberal; but I have, during my abode in this country, ſufficiently witneſſed the diſaſtrous effects of corrupting a people through their amuſements or curioſity, and of making men neglect their uſeful callings to become patriots and philoſophers.*—
*This right of directing public affairs, and neglecting their own, we may ſuppoſe eſſential to republicans of the lower orders, ſince we find the following ſentence of tranſportation in the regiſters of a popular commiſſion: "Bergeron, a dealer in ſkinſ—ſuſpected—having done nothing in favour of the revolution—extremely ſelfiſh (egoiſte,) and blaming the Sans-Culottes for neglecting their callings, that they may attend only to public concerns."—Signed by the members of the Commiſſion and the two Committees.
—"Il eſt dangereux d'apprendre au peuple a raiſonner: il ne faut paſ l'eclairer trop, parce qu'il n'eſt pas poſſible de l'eclairer aſſez." ["It is dangerous to teach the people to reaſon—they ſhould not be too much enlightened, becauſe it is not poſſible to enlighten them ſufficiently.">[—When the enthuſiaſm of Rouſſeau's genius was thuſ uſefully ſubmitted to his good ſenſe and knowledge of mankind, he little expected every hamlet in France would be inundated with ſcraps of the contrat ſocial, and thouſands of inoffenſive peaſants maſſacred for not underſtanding the Profeſſion de Foi.
The arguments of miſtaken philanthropiſts or deſigning politicians may divert the order of things, but they cannot change our nature—they may create an univerſal taſte for literature, but they will never unite it with habits of induſtry; and until they prove how men are to live without labour, they have no right to baniſh the chearful vacuity which uſually accompanies it, by ſubſtituting reflections to make it irkſome, and propenſities with which it is incompatible.
The ſituation of France has amply demonſtrated the folly of attempting to make a whole people reaſoners and politicianſ—there ſeems to be no medium; and as it is impoſſible to make a nation of ſages, you let looſe a horde of ſavages: for the philoſophy which teaches a contempt for accuſtomed reſtraints, is not difficult to propagate; but that ſuperior kind, which enables men to ſupply them, by ſubduing the paſſions that render reſtraints neceſſary, is of ſlow progreſs, and never can be general.
I have made the war of La Vendee more a ſubject of reflection than narrative, and have purpoſely avoided military details, which would be not only unintereſting, but diſguſting. You would learn no more from theſe deſultory hoſtilities, than that the defeats of the republican armies were, if poſſible, more ſanguinary than their victories; that the royaliſts, who began the war with humanity, were at length irritated to repriſals; and that more than two hundred thouſand lives have already been ſacrificed in the conteſt, yet undecided.