The Pennsylvania packet, or, The general advertiser — Lancaster, Pa.;Philadelphia, Pa., 1780-01-25 00:00:00, page 2

request them to fit down (trioufly to the fubje& and
t will then venture to pronounce that they will inevita
bly fall intemy train of thinking.
They will quickly acknowledge, that it is not the a
mount of nominal dollars which constitutes the
obt of America ; which alone arises from tne real value
of home produce confuted, of foreign goods imported,
and of labour, wages and lalariei paid ; these cooftitute
our lebt. With refped to the nominal amountin paper
money, I contend that it is of small importance, whetner
the fam be called 5 millions or 500 millions, with this
proviso, that we do not, in the latter case, transmute
paper into silver, and determine at all events to pay
a bar I doll r, for every imaginary dollar emitted.
Suppose the,crew of Captain Cooke's fllip in his 3 years
voyage round the S >uth Pole, had carried their amuie
ment, of gaming, to so high a pitch, that it became ne
ceff ry to pass notes of hand for the payment of the sums
lofl, and that these notes had amounted to millions of
pounds : Suppose they had even divided the entire flock
of provisions, and sane had won from the others their
whole flare. I would ask, whether the ship would he
interrupted in her voyage by such exchange of proper
ty, er would the be lets able to proceed than if no such
gaming had happened. As a Jittle Commonwealth, her
internal resources and abiliti* would undoubtedly remain
the fame ; the rich must of necessity permit the poor to par
take of the flock for the common good of the voyage,
and tuelhips general design of making new discoveries,
would be pr>fcutcd without any other difficulties, than
those naturally incident to the sea, and the gradual de
cline of tee Blip's Rock of provifioos. If frith supplies
could from time to time be procured, they might fail,
play and pass notes from year to year, till tne lhi?,s bot
tom could be rtiem no longer; but fhoullit prove im
prafli able to command such Supplies, them, and not till
then, the voyage would from necessity terminate. So with
America —W rift the country can supply the actual neces
saries of government, noex^efs of paper money van prove
a bar thereto, What we have mod to fear is from injudi
cious attempts t© give a value to our currency, beyond
what its quantity dem :nds.
I have endeavoured to prove, that the decrease of the
value of money has been generally occasioned by its in
creased quantity ; that in its progress it has operated as a
tax ; that Loan Office Certificates are money to all intent?
and purposes, and therefore tne interest irking thereon :s a
a burthen on the community, without our deriving the ad
vantage thereby proposed ; that in good policy, these Cer
tificates should all be called in, and a just compel)fation
made to the holders ; that foreign loans, during the pre
fect war, may prove ruinous dr tins to the Continent, and
era answer noone good purpose more effectually than pa
per money would; that a total appreciation of the sum
now current, would bring us under a deot, which an 1/6
tax for 400 yea's would Scarcely clear us from, when 011
die contrary it is evident, the fame tax of 1/0 would fink
the whole in less than tm years, if the m ney should re
in ia at its prefect value. I have also endeavoured to thew,
that depreciation has not been so rapid as was generally
thought ; that an imreafe of quantity ought not to alarm
us; taat the fear of its becoming flagrant is entirely groua 1-
l^fs, and that it would circulate as freely as at present,
although the quantity should be encreafed to a great
If the thoughts I have her? thrown together, should be
deemed injurious to the common intere fls of America, I
should be obliged to the writer who would point it out; and
should be happ, to be released from the dread which has
l^g preyed on my mind, that a general difirefs would be
brought on the country, by appreciating the money. I
decide upon honor, th t I am no other way interefled in
the event, than as a citizen of America ; nor have I in a
(ingle inti nee, an advantage to make by depreciation, but
am daily fuflYrmg by it. I have stated my sentiments with
candour, and submit them to the public ; and all I ask in
return, is a candid perulal, and fair refutation, if I am
wrong.
ERRAT A in the Letters on Appreciation, publish
ed in Lift Thursday's paper.
In the frft letter, and iali paragraph, for carried, read
varied.
In the second! etttr, and third paragraph, for 16 times
X 3, read 13 times 13; fw 25 years read, 30 years
Near the end of tne filth paragraph, for two thousand,
read two hundred tbeuf^d.
An ESSAY co CONSCIENCE.
/, ONSCIENCE is the law of theall-wife author of
so nature, written on our hearts, or properly the appli
cation of this law, as it regards toe judgments we should
form of particular actions. It is like a Cenfur noting and
oof rving our actions, and therefore it has not undeserved
ly been called by some a p rtion of the virgin-foul, as not
admitting the leaftblemdh ofprevarication. Hence good
actions beget security in the conFien.e, but bad cause an
guilh and vexation, which is better known by experience
than explained by words : For, if it be pain'ulto us to a
bide by the the lodgments of those we live with, and to
put up with their reprehenfious, it will be more so
to be condemned by our own reafco, and to carry about
us so severe a judge, of our nElions : And thus it is that
confeience performs the fusion both of a witnefsand judge,
when it reprimands us for having doneamifs, as Juvenal
fays :
But why mu ft those be thought to '(cape, who feel
Those rods of (corpions, and those whips of Reel,
Which conference shakes, when file with rage controuls,
And spreads am zing terrors thro' their fouls ?
Not sharp revenge, nor hell itfelf, can find
A fiercer torment than a guilty mind;
Which day and night does dreadfully accuse,
Condemns the wretch, and flill the charge renews.
Many infiances might be given of the wonderful force
of those inward compunctions and horrors, that some
times p ffefs a guilty mind, and are awakened there by
the mod unexpected circumstances, When these are at
once let loose upon the unhappy patient, the beloved af
fociationsof interest, power or pleasure, burst asunder
l ike bubbles of air : The whole Icene of his past life riles
full to his -view, and appears big with extravagance and
frenzy ; the bale or wicked parthe has a&ed flares him in
the face, nor can he find any relief from those flings of
remorse that pierce his inmost frame, till he has disclosed
his gu It, expelled the exorbitant passion, and becomes
sensible to more worthy sentiments and affections.
Our acquaintance with hiflory and the world wll sug
gest to us many examples of this kind, in which it must
be cenfeffed that the hand of the sovereign physician of
nature is very conspicuous. One happened in a neigh
bouring State not many years ago :
' A jeweller, a man of good charaHet and considerable
we !th, having occasion, in the way of his business, to
travel at fomediftance from the place of his abode, took
along with him a servant, in order to take care of his
portmanteau. He had along with him some of his best
jewels, and a large sum of money, to which his servant
nis hkewife privy The matter having occasion to de
mount on t^e road the servant watched his opportunity,
took a piflol from his matter's saddle, and (hot him dead
on the spot ; then ruling him of his jewels and money,
and hanging a large stone to his neck, he threw him into
the neared canal. With this booty he made off to a dif
taut part of thecountry, where he had reason to believe
that neither he nor his mailer were known . •There he
be,an to trade in a very low way at firft, that his obscu
rity might screen him from ebfervation ; and in the course
of a good many years, seemed to rife, by the natural
progress of bufinef into wealth and consideration; so
that his good fortune appeared at once the effect and re
ward of his industry and virtue. Of these he counter
feited the appearance so well, that he grew into great cre
dit, married into a good family ; and by laying cut bis
hidden flores difcreeily, as be saw occasion, and joining
to all an universal affability,he was adm tta toa Chare of
the government of the town, and rose from one port to
another, till at length he was chosen Chief Magistrate.
In this office he maintained a fair character, and conti
nued to fill it with no final applause, both as a Governor
and Judge ; till one day, as he fat on the bench with some
of his brethren, a criminal was brought before them, who
was accused of having murdered his matter. Tne evidence
came out full, the jury brought in their verdict that the
prisoner was guilty, and the whole Affimbly waited the
sentence of the Frefident of the Court (which he happened
to be that day) with great suspense. Mean while he ap
peared to be in an unusual disorder and agitation of mind;
his colour changed often: At length he arose from his feat,
aad, coming down from the ben.h, placed bimfelf just by
the unfortunate man at the bar, to the no fm^ll aftonilh
ment of all present. " You fee before you," said he, ad
dre ffin; himfelf to those who had fat on the bench with
him, " a striking infiance of the just awards of Heaven,
which this day, ^fter thirty years concealment, rrefents
to you a greater criminal than the man just now found
guilty." Then he made an ample confeffioi )of his guilt,
and of all its aggravations, particular y the ingratitude of
it to a matter who had railed him from the very dust, and
reposed a peculiar confidence in him; and told them 111
what manner he had hitherto screened himfelf from public
justice, and how he had escaped the observation of man
kind by the specious malk be had wore. " But now,"
added he, "no sooner did this unhappy prisoner appear
before us, charged with the fame crime I was conscious of
myfelf, than the cruel circumstances of my guilt betet me
in all their horror, the arrows of the Almighty fluck faft
within me, and my own crime appeared so attrocibus, that
I could not consent to pass sentence againfl my fellow cri
minal till I had frft impanelled and accused myfelf; nor
can I now feel any relief from the agonies of an awakened
conscience, but by requiring that justice may be forthwith
done against me, in the most public and folemu manner, for
so aggravated a parricide. Therefore, in the prefenee of the
all-feeing God, the great witness and judge of my crime,
and before this whole Assembly, who have been the wit
m%ffes of my hypocrisy, I pie d guilty, ^d require sentence
may be passed againfi.me as a most notorious malefactor."
We may easily suppose the amazement oral! the Affem-dy,
and especially of his fellow Judges However they pro
ceeded, upon his confeffion, to pass sentence upon him;
and hedied with all the symptoms ofa penitent mind. An
exemplary infiance of the fatal effects of an exorbitant pas
sion; and of the ttemend ms justice of Providence, in
detecting one of the most cool ond artful villains, after
such a long concealment !
The annexed copy of a letter was given me by a gentle
man just arrived from L'Orient; if it has not reached
you, I imagine you will think it worthy a place in your
paper, —You may depend on its being authentic.
Baltimore, Jan. 15, 1780. Your's, &c.
W. S.
Copy of a letter from Commodore Jahn Paul Jones, late
Commander of the ship of war Good Man Richard,
to Mess. Gourlade and Moylan, of L'Orieut, dated on
board the ship of war Serapis, off the Texel, 3d Octo
ber, 1779.
11l AV E only time, my dear friends, to inform you,
that I have this day anchored here, having taken this
fllip in the night of the twenty third ult. on the coast of
England, aft r a battle of three hours and a half. Two
hours and a half sf that time the Good Man Richard and
this ship being made faft along fide of one another, both
flips being in flames, and the Good Man Richard ma
king water father taan all the pumps could deliver it. This
fllip mounts forty four guns, and has two intire batteries,
one of them 18 pounders, so that my situation was severe
enough to have to deal with such an enemy in such a dread
ful situation. Judge then what it must have been when
the Alliance came up, towards the clof^ of the action, and,
inflead: of afßßing me, directed her whole fire against
the Good Man Richard, not once or twice, but repeat
edly, after being spoke to, and Shewing a private signal
of recognizance.
The Alliance killed eleven men, and mortally wounded
an officer on the Good Man Richard's forecaftle, at one
volley. T have loft in killed and wounded, the best part
of my men. The Good Man Richard went to the bot
tom on the morning of the 25th vlt. in spite of every ef
fort to bring her into port. No adion before was ever,
in all refpe&s, so bloody, so severe, and so lafiing. I beg
of you to communicate this, with my best refpeds, to the
gentlemen of your port.
From the Maryland Journal, of January 18.
PROVIDENCE, December 18.
Wednesday last arrived her° from the grated arr^r, on
his way to his feat in New Hampshire, the Hob. Major-
General Sullivan.
Since our last two prizes have arrived in. the river, ta
ken by the Franklin and Pickering privateers of Salem ;
one of them is a schooner from New Providence wiri
fruit, bound to New-York ; the other a (loop from New-
York, laden with lumber.
BOSTO N, December 27.
Thursday the 2d inf l thehoufe of Ivb: Osborne, at the
Upper-Ferry, in New Haven, was ftru.f < with lightning,
by which Mr. Osborne (who was fitting near the chim
ney) received so violent a shock, that IRs life was at firft
despaired of, but be had nearly recovered ; the rest of the
family were all flruck down, but they (bon recovered,
P H IL A DEL :P H I A.
In CONGRESS, January 13th, 1780,
Resolved, That it be recommended to rhe Executive Au
thorities <f the several States,, to t;raplmit with all possible
expedition, to General Washington, the names and rank
of all officers ; and the number of privates belonging to
the ehemy, held as prisoners of war within their respec
tive States, and the places they are at, in order that the/
may be included in the general exchange, should a cartel
be agreed to, between the Commanders in Chief of the A
merican and British armies.
Congress took into consideration the report of the Board
of War, relative to prisoners, and thereupon came tothe
following resolutions :
MANY inconveniencies attending the present ma
nagement of prisoners of war, and great diffatis fa Elion
having arisen from the mode of exchanging them hereto
fore used, from the partialities inevitably attending the
fame, while conduced under various directions by divers
Commissaries independent of each other ; and fuffivient
provision not being made for their security, in many cases
frequently occ^ring :
Revived, Tba f all prifaners of war, whether captiva
ted by the army cr navy 0 ]theUnited States or]>y the fub
jc&; troops, or ships of any particular S ate, shall be de
livered into the care and cufiody ot the Commissary-Ge
neral of Prisoners, bis Deputies or A ffiftants, and be deem
ed and treated in all refpefls as prisoners of war to the U
nited States.
That it be earneflly recommended to the governments
of the refpeClive States, thatihey m ke no exchanges of
prisoners, to the intent, that all exchanges may be made,
thr o 'the Commiffiry-General of Prisoners, by direction^
of Con refs or the Commander in Chief, or Board of Ad
miraby : And when prisoners are taken by the particu
lar fubjefts, troops or vessels of any State, not in the ser
vice of the United States, or by private Flips or vessels €6
war fitted out in any particular State, these shall be fir ft
exchanged, so far as is neceflary, for the fubj^Os or inb a
bitants of the fame State, t ken by the fubjefts, adherer its,
Arps or vessels of the enemy, and the overplus, if a ny,
fliall go towards redeeming the prisoners in the ban^ s of
the enemy, without regard to their being fubjeds or in
habitants of any particular State.
That all matters or commanders of private fh : ps #or ves
sels of war, ihall take the utmofi care to bring ir no port
all prisoners estivated by them. And if from 'neceffity
they flidl be obliged to dismiss any prisoners at f ea, they
fhail, on return from theircruize, makereport t fhereof, on
oath, to the Judge of tie Admiralty of the Staff to which
they belong, or in which they arrive, within twenty days
after their arrival, with their reasons for such difmiffion.
And if the Judge fliall not be fatisfied with thf ' rerfons as
signed, or if it'fhall appear that the prifory rs were dis
charged to avoid the trouble or expence of b inging them
into port, and delivering them into cuftod'y, or in any
wife unnecessarily, then the Judge filali tr anfmit an ac
count thereof to the Executive of the Sta f re, who are re
qutFed to examine into the matter, and ' vacate the com-
The fire was not quite extiagtiffied ca board of tb<
Good Man Richard til eight hours after the enmiy had
fliuck; and at last it had reached within a few feet of th^
magazine. We loft all the stores and all our private ef
feels; but no lives were loft from the conflagration. Th^
Pallas took, at the fame time, an armed ship of twenty
fix-pounders.
JOHN PAUL JONES.
N. B. The prizes taken and ransomed by the Good
Man Richard, during her cruise of about three months,
amounted to at lead a million of livres.
NEW-LONDO N, December 8.
Last Friday Captain Perkins, in a sloop belonging
to Norwich, arrived here in 29 days from Cape Fran
cois.
A letter from the Cape dated theyth ult. to a gentle
man here, informs, that 17 fail of merchantmen, convoy
ed by a frigate, arrived at the Cape in October lad ; that
the frigate brought money to pay off the French troops,
and landed it at Porto Plata, to be carried by land
to the Cape. At this time the Ruby, of 64 guns, and
Bristol of 50 guns, (Rriiifh) were cruising off Monto
Chrifto.
Yeflerday fe'nnight, a small British ship came close in
with Say Erook bar, and it being almof lcalm, sent her
boat and took a (loop which was bound into Conneaiegt
river, from the eaßward, laden with salt. The people ©a
board the (loop attempted to run her on fliorty and had
got so near that one of them by running up the bowsprit
jumped on the land and got off.
Sunday last the privateer Bever, Captain Havens, re
turned from a cruize, and brought in with her ahrig from
Surrinam, bound to New-Yoik, laden with 157 hogf
heac's of meiaffea, and 240 cases of gin.
Monday returned here from a cruize up the found, the
Continental (loop Argo, Capt. Talbot. In the hate florin
file run on Fairfield reef, when her guns were thrown 0-
ver in order to get the vessel off, but they were after
wards recovered.
Dec. 15. In the gale of wind about the frfl inflant,
Capt. Davidson, in a small flcop from Cape Francois, la
den with me] ffes and coffee, run on Watch H 1 beach ;
when by cutting away her mist, the vessel and cargo were
saved.