The Connecticut courant — Hartford, Conn., 1774-02-01 00:00:00, page 1

t f^rom the London Magazine.
QF^U the vices with which the
present age is affeded, none
prevalent, none so disregard
ed, as that heinous fin of profane
cutfing and swearing. All ages and
all conditions have caught the dan
gerous infedion j the peer, the la^>
bourer, the decrepit old maoj the lisp
ing infafit, are alike distempered, and
..each in his turn daily makes use of
the fame horrid imprecations, boldly
calling down the vengeance of the
Deity, who hath said, thou (halt not
take bis name in vain, upon their own
and each other’s heads. I fay, that
1 Almighty Power in whom we live and
move, and have our being, hath in
dired and positive terms told us, that
the man who taketh his name in vain
shall not be held guiltless. Shall we
then dare fb frequently to break-this
article of the Decalogue, when truth
<and iuft>ce have declared the gu It in
doing it, when such impending dan
ger threatens; the wretch, arid seems
every moment ’ready to crush him ?
Sure every one, whole guide is reason
and would avoid so danger
ous, nay so fruitlefs a fin as- this, for
fruitlefs it certainly is : like many
other vices, it brings with it no tem
poral advantage, and serves no other
purpose but the falfe opinion of mak-'
ing a man’s assertion of confluence.
i Avarice heaps up gold, and though
it dares not use it, yet it has heart
felt fatisfa&’on in turning o’er and
o’er its unheaped (lores ; dishonesty
brings, perhaps, a timely supply to
the necefiiries of a villain^ and keeps
him without the melancholy walls of
a loathsome dungeon ; gluttony and
drunkenness satiate the appetites of
those who are their refpedive vot-a
ries ; adultery and fornication fatisfy
the desires of an heated imagination j
and even;murder,- the moll (hocking
of all crimes, pleases with the thought
of drawing a veil over malpractices
we have been guilty of, which if dis
covered might bring us to due pu
nishment here ; at least, it is often
the cruel effed of revenge, through
the common though, falfe notion a
mong men, that revenge is sweet. All
these fins we fee have the ; probability
cf effecting some wicked purposes we
may have in agitation^ and> may be
proper instruments of bringing them
*7^. ’ /* * '
„ .v„V' ■ NUMBER 4^6.]
[FIBRUARYjM.DCC.LXXn.
THE '
coNNEcncui: c o u r t.
Containing the freiheji ana moji import an. *idvices. both Fotetgr. ant LitnHic,
From TUESDAY, February i, to TUES DA Y, February 8, 1774 .
The following if a copy of a tetter from the coun
try to a gentleman in Philadelphia Said
to be wrote by the AMERICA ft f ARPfIhR,
My dbar Friend
61 T AM very fbrry for the piece of iotelli
-1 I geoce you were pleased to commonicite
co me io your last. Fire (hip*, loaded with
TEA, 00 their way to America 1 and this with
a view not only to enforce the revenue aft, but
‘to cdablifti a Moroply for the tS.il India Com
.pany, who have cfpoufed the cause of the Mi
□ sftry ; and hope to repair their brokeo fortunes
by the ruin of American Freedom and Liberty !
Mo wonder the minds of the people arc exafper
ated as you fay, to a degree of madneft. The
Scripture tells us : ‘ Opprcffioo will make a wife
mao mad.’ ; , And when insolence i$ joined with
opprefHon, I (hould deem him not far from a
fool or idiot, who did not fed a degree of mad
□cfs. Pray have you heard, whether they and
the minister have not made a property of us,
and whether we, our wives and children, to
gether with the hard earned Fruits of our labour,
are not made over to this alm&ft bankrupt com
pany, to augment their flock, and to repair tkeir
ruined fortune ? Jufl.ice seems to hive forfiiken
the old world. Three public robbers io Eu
rope have taken pofleffion of a neighbouring
kingdom, and divided it among ihcmldves as
lawful booty. The rights of free slates and cities
are swallowed up in power. Subje&s arc conG
dered as property. . If I am wc l informed not
longer ago than last year* a company of mer
chants in Spain purchased from the King the cx
c ufive right of the trade of one of the most coo
fiderable islands in the Weft-lndici, and to in
demnify thcmfelves for the purchase money, are
now carrying on that trade in a manner that
must ruin every inhabitant in that island. Arc
io like manner to be given up to the difpo-
to pass 5 but /wearing can ans ver none
but that of giving us a feem’ng con
sequence, as I said before, though it
here also misses its aim ; for the ex
pressions of the swearer are now be
come so common as only to be consi
dered as mere cyphers, at lead ex
pletives in discourse. Indeed,the ra
tional part of mankind confider the
affirmations of the common Iwearer
as doubtful and futile, and the more
so in proportion to the number of
oaths that accompany them. To what
a wretched ebb must a man’s reputa
tion be funk, who thinks he is not to
be credited, unless he confirms what
ever he advances with the most iolemn
imprecations !
Let us then endeavour to forfake
a vice so replete with danger, folly,
and madness, nor boldly call down the
judgments of an offended God upon
ourselves and others, left at some
time he (hould vific us with those ve
ry curses we have wickedly desired he
would affliCt us with.
Philosor.
i ... ■ - • > ... K
fa! of the East India company, who have nov?
the aflurance to flop forth in aid of «hc aiiniftci>
to execute his plan of enslaving America I Theie
condud io Afla. for fame years past has given
ample proof, how little they ,rcgard..the laws of
nations, the rights,. liberties, or lives .of
They have levied war, excited rebelliomL, de*
throned lawful princes, and facrificcd millions
for the f«kc of gam The. revenues of mighty
king oms hare entered into their ccfT rs And
these not being luflicient to glut their avarice*
they have; by (he must unparalleled barbarities*
CXtprlioos, and monopolies, (tripped the misera
ble inhabitants of their property and . reduced
whole province) to iodigerec ^nd turn / .Fif*
teen hundred thoufaod it is (kid. perilled by f#r
mine in one year, not bee use ibe ea th denied
it’s fruits, but this company amt their fervante
engrafted all the ncc< (T ties of ife *od set them
at Ie high a rate, that rbe po tr copld not pur«
chafe them. Thus hating drJf.cd the,h'UrceC
of that imeneof- wealth 'yhic.h /hey bivc fut!
fetcraJ years past be n accustomed to »ma(s. and
fqoaoder aw<y on die r oft , and io corrupting
their country they now, it (terns, csft rhei?
eyes on xmcrica, a. a new theatre, whereon to
exercise their taleo s of rapine oppftffiwo and
cruelty. The monoply of tea, is I d.re (ay,
but a (mail part el h plan they have formed
to flrip 33 of our prope ^y. But, .hi’ k GOD^
we are not Sea Puys, nor Marauas, bat Bin (h
Sud 6b. who are boro t© liberty who knjw
its worth ard pr ze it high We are cogaged
in a mighty ftrugglc. Thee use is of the ut?
most importance ard the determina : oo of it
wilt fix our condition as fl tes or freemen. It
is not the paltry fu n of 'hree pence wh ch is
now demanded, bm the ptioep es upon which
it is demanded that we are cocicndi g «g ^(1.
“ Before we pay any thing let us fee whr her
we have any thing we can c«!l our own to pay ”
“ Hitherto ba difpu e h.s been carried on>
with a spirit, temper, and moderation, thui most
prose Ui worthy to c jjy that liberty, for which
we coatend And 1 hope and caroefl’y w.ftj,
that the prudence we have hitherto exercifed*
may not be borne down by the indignation which
you fay is so justly and univerfaHy k'ndled at
these irfoient intruders lam very e thle bow
the spirit of a mao rises, when unworthy agents
are used to deflroy him. it is fomethiog of
coufolatioD to be overcome by a lion, but to be
devoured by rats is ioto'erable.
But, my dear friend, it is not only the cause
but our manner of conducing it, that will efta
blilh our chandler. The happmefs and pmfpe
rity boih of the colonies and of Great Britafa
depend upon an intimate coion and conncdlioo.
This otioo it is true, depends upon freedom.
For without freedom there can be no coufideocc.
Without confidence no afledbon ; and without
afiT iftion, coufideri< g our fixation and diftauce
from Britain, the union between this country
and that cannot lorg fobSft. To preftrve,
therefore, that union,and promote the happirefu
and profpexity of both countries, let us refobc
to maintain our liberty. M But in doing this,
wheo any difference .arifev. as on the prefenf
unhappy eccafion, le* us sdl so as to 'eave room?
for a return ®f the old good humour confidence
and affrflion, which has fubfifled between
Great Britain and this country, fiocc the fsttls
meat of ihc colomes.——