The Pennsylvania packet, or, The general advertiser — Lancaster, Pa.;Philadelphia, Pa., 1783-07-10 00:00:00, page 2

'll th: PRINTERS throughout the United States.
Gentlemen,
Jr A^ a,^s ofyeco^metd^g to you the insertion of the
, fyelh^au part if 4 letter. It was written by a gentle
"" nan*of rflaWifaJ honor and integrity, and a Jincere
frier ! to the cause and charader of America, to bis
friend in fai fax, in Virginia, and was occafoned by the in-'-,
fractions ^~ei,om that face to their members in Afembfy,
7' v fib of 'Any iff as you will Be by the concision of it.
it has a ^^ 0/ thinking and exbrffion which is rather new,
an !, though 1 fc^reg hope there nay be no occasion of ap
f^ a; t'^.m to an^atfer place, than that to which they are.
a^dcfd, yet it may ferae as a beacon to others, to avoid"
toe r^cx on which national reputation may be /hip-wrecked.
lam, Gentlemen, ybur's, &c. § g
" but if we must deify a vice, and give it a place in the
parieon of America, pray let us, for our honor's fake,
put it ill the molt obfeure corner of the building, and
r ver let its snaky visage be seen, until the amiable god
deb confidence gives some symptoms of sickness. He
would be a fool and a wretch of a husband that fliould,
the morning after his marriage, place the figure of jea,
I >ufy in Ids house, to secure the fidelity of his wife.
' There is some consistency in being jealous of power
in the hands of those who assume it by birth, or without
cur consent, and over whom we have no controul, nor the
p ^er of removal, as was tire case with the crown of Eng
hnd over America. But to be jealous of those whom we
chufe, the instant we have chosen them, (hews either the
folly of our choice, or she absurdity of our politics; and
that in the transition from monarchy to a republic, we
have unfortunately bastardized our ideas, by placing jea
]oufy where we ought to place confidence.
" It a man does not do his duty, remove him; if he
transgresses it, punish him; but this little, mean, break
ing, andfnaky temper of jcalbufy, this poison to human
haopinefs, and which in a thonfand instances, for one to
the Contrary, is only the (talking horse of party and pri
vate design; ought either to be banished from amohg us,
or admitted only with the unnoft caution.
" But if we must ue jealous, pray let us be jealous of
our character and honor, led, from our negligence of
those things, or our disregard to them, the world fliould
hereafter call us cheats, and fay that our politics were ma
migerl to get and borrow every thing we could, and pay
no-body.
, Extract of a letter, &c.
" It now remains to he proved whether the people of
America are an booed people or not, and whether they
h ve in them the rue principles of faith, honor and gra
thale, or only the unfabttantial profeffions of what they
An not poflhs; whether virtue be an emoty, hackneyed
r. me, prostituted to th: purposes of passion, party and
d tign; or whether it has a national exigence among the
citizens of this new world.
" There is now a crisis of the most delicate nature ta
kiqg pl.ee: The crisis of moral and national reputation:
Aiff tho' I am ardent in my willies for the issue, I fliould
be exceedingly happy could I fay, I was equally as fan
gnia? in my hopes.
“ Th" cause of America was beyond exception just; it
now remains to know whether the people are io: For it is
on the union or disunion of those two points, that the
ci r^t^r of the country will ttand with luftre, or fall
with difgrice.
" To be jealous of power, which is now, with some,
the cant phrase of the day, and is very unmeaningly infi
noited in your instructions, is a passion which may be
periled by the hravert or the basest mind, for the best or
tne woift of purposes, It belongs as much, and perhaps
more, to the conspirator, than to the patriot. Theenvi
urs wretch, who can bear no equal, and hates all merit
bit his own, is never free from it; and he who wants to
avoid a duty, which the circumstances of his country calls
for, will affect to be jealous of power, as a pretence for
Jrs delinquency. It is, therefore, in itfelf no virtue, and
in is belt stage is but a vice refined. I never knew a man
wh> til much of this jealousy of power in him, bitt I
could discover a littienefs of foul, an enviousness of heart,
a fractionfiefs of temper, and a fondnefs for himfelf, at
the bottom.
" The independence of America has been very cheaply
obtained, and, betides this, she has received extraordinary
h^ps, without any expence to her. A debt, then, of
thiriy or forty million of dollars at the end of eight years
war, doling with every fuqcefs she could wish for, and
more than she expected, an universal trade, and in the
fovgre ; gn p ffeffion of a country which before was added
t> the foverrignty of another, is, I fay, compared with
the advantages gained, a trifle.
" The Iris, then, this trifle is, the greater will be the
(liferace not to adopt measures to dheharge it. But we are
jealous of the power of Congress, fays some cunning mind
ed modern politician. No, Sir, he is not jealous of the
newer of Congr p fs---but he wants to play the cheat, and
he wants a pretence for doing it He wants to draw his
neck from the collar, and leave the burthen on other peo
ple's th Hilders He wants the blellings of independence
at other people's expence, and the benefit of an universal
trade without paying any thing for it; and mod probably
too he wants to get into power, by meanly and treache-
r b ufly undermining those who have been preferred before
hi 11.
" But it is impossible the world can either be long duped
or nfttikui ; the real character of the States mull come
out, and I molt caruehly and devoutly wish it may be fu Ji
as they may collectively and severally have cause to glory
" 0 never fear it, fay some; yes, but Ido fear it, I fee
cause to fe <r it. This bag-bear of the power of Congress,
which. Ged knows, and every one of us knows, is the
meft fi ufey tale of a falfhood ever invented, can only be
iiventel for a bad purpose. It is a trick contrived to
cheat with, and nothing else.
" Congress, beset at all times with a ihoufand difficul
ties, have, nevertheless, gone through the war, and con
cluded a.peace. In the course of it they have been obliged
to b Trow money in France, in Holland, and at home,
and happy did America then think herfrif that Congress
was able to procure it for her. They have been obliged to
nofume a great put of the pay of the army, un^l the
1 sr ih raid en I, when the return of peace and the increase
of trad 1 fhiuld enable the country to do it more easily.
France has not only lent money, but has given money,
adjoined her ar&s in the GGnt&MandJWland, by lend-
ing us money, his involved herfelf in a war T^ftrous to
her imereti. This is a true and concise state of the case.
Do you not, Sir, begin.to feel a blush riling in your coun
tenance, a remuloTCs appreheiffion beginning in your,
heart, left that which is to follow fliould not be so honor
able as that which is pall.
“ Congress have now laid before the States the amount
'of the in foies borrowed,' and the debt contrasted, and
recommended to them means for difeharging it.
" Had they not doae this, the clamour would have been,
that they hid differed the honor of America to be Gained
for ever. That tie people, p oud of that hon >r, and de
termined to tranfnit it uninjured to potterity, and desirous
of nothing so much, as securing their future peace and
the good affections of the world, by a just and grateful
difeharge of their debts and obligations, were ready to
rife up against them—-and now they have done it, the
clamour is reverted, at least with you, and as a pretence
for not complying, the cry is, O the power of Congress !
O the power of fraud and nonsense! fay I in return.
" If the character of America fhonld be Sacrificed in
this instance, or her future hapoinefs didurbed by it, the
fault cannot be l±id on those wetall tories,---it Cannot be
laid on the refugees, it mult rest on the country itfelf,
and on the whigs themselves, and therefore it becomes
every one of them to reflect that his individual honor and
that of his country is at (take.
" There is no such thing in the nature of our constitu
tions, either confederated or individual, or from the cir
,tmftances of them, as granting money to Congress. The
idea is a falfe one, when applied to a republic. 'Whatever
money is railed in a republic is for public service, and this
which is now called for is to diCharge a public debt.
Does a man grant money when he pays his debts? Cer
tainly not. A man's creditors may grant him indulgence,
but he certainly grants them nothing by paying them.
“ A grant means a gift, or present, done out of meer
good will or good opinion. But here is a debt to be paid,
which all America has contracted ; and the States, in fend
ing up their money for that purpose, grant nothing.
They have a right, and ought to fay to their several dele
gates entrusted with the payment of it, “ There, Gen
tlemen, is our part, and we direct you to fee that it be
applied, according to the purpose for which it is raised.
We have tried very hard, but, however, we have done it;
because, being our duty, we would have no reproach fall
on us for not fulfilling it; neither can we bear the reflec
tion of having it said, that we lay under obligations we
do not difeharge. You will immediately acknowledge
the receipt of it, and furnifh us with accounts of its ap
plication. We have chosen you for this and other busi
ness of the State, because we had confidence in your in
tegrity, and in difeharging this fruft, you will acquire our
further confidence; but if you fail herein, your head, at
least, and perhaps your estate, must pay for it."
" This would be an honest and peremptory way of
freaking, and such as people who do their duty have a
right to use.—Now let us examine the contrary fide.
" I am truly aihimed to begin upon it. There is some
thing so exceedingly trickifh, felfiffi, mean and low in it,
that I feel foiled by it. A man never ought to aft the
rafcil even in jest ; and we have that in our natures,
which unfits us for the imitation of characters not natu
ral to our minds. I know I shall make a bungling hand
of it.—But the plain case is this—
“ When a man wants to drift, he will set on foot a
thousand inventions. It will not do to tell the world that
he intends to be dishonest; but he will affigh this excuse,
that excuse, this pretence, that pretence, he will stretch
a little, then a little more—Something has disappointed
him---but you may be sure, Sir,---you may rely on it,
Sir,---and so on, till all the changes are run through, and
then, as the last resource, he grows impertinent-calls
himfelf a Gentleman an independent Gentleman
keeps his doors locked---abuses his friends---and puts his
creditors to defiance.
“ Nov, what more is necessary to understand the iu
ftru&ions of Fairfax, than to compare them with this
kind of conduct
“ When the address of Congress, with the statement
of the public debt, and the means for difeharging it
(which is one of the best principled and liberal performan
ces which have, at any time, come from that body) arriv
ed among the people of Fairfax, they, instead of express
ing their gratitude for the extraordinary assistance they
have received during the war, and instead of honestly and
cheerfully entering into the measures recommended for the
discharge of their debt, and the support of the public faith
and character of America, instead, I fay, of these things,
which it wastheir duty to do, they attempt to fhift that
duty off in the following manner:
“ We like not, fay they, in their infractions, the lah
“ guage of the late address from Congress to the different
“ States, and of the report of their Committee upon
“ the fubjeCt of revenue, published in the fame pamphlet.
“ If they are carefully and impartially examined, they
“ will be found to exhibit strong proofs of lull of power.
“ They contain the fame kind of arguments which were
“ formerly used in the business of flrip money, to juftify
“ the arbitrary measures of the race of Stuarts in England."
" The only remark necessary to be made on these in
ftruftions is, that they require no examination at all, to
fee that they are a mod flimfey affectation of patri^tifm,
Hying in the face of truth, and calculated to cover one of
the greatest frauds and molt scandalous actions a people
can commit.
“ If truth, honor and justice are to prevail over falffiood,
disgrace and dishonesty ; if every thing which can inspire
the mind with virtuous emulation can triumph over things
which can debate it ; the fhiftinefs of character, exhibited
in those inftruCtions, will every where be held in (irrita
tion : For either let men be honelt, as they ought to be,
or aC t their dishonesty in buff.
I am, Sir, &c. &c.
TO BE LE T,
A LARGE Front Store, fuitahl, for Dry Goods
rith an exceeding good Cellar under it ; in as
good a flotation for bafow as ^Qy ia this c%. ,En.
quite qf th: Pifor. July w [
—LL persons indebted to the State tor
CITY LOTS, arx rtqu red to pay immc^iatdy;
the several times a'l-wed for payment being fu'T xo r
♦d. DAVID RIT TENHOUSE, heu&e•
^, HE committee to whom were referred a letter of
g the 17th June, from colonel R. Butler, at Lan
cafler, and sundry papers communicated to Congress
by the executive council of Pennsylvania, through there
delegates, having on the 19th of June made a verbal
report, and on the 20th of the fame month, a report in
writing, and the written report being on the 30th recom
mitted, that they might amend it, by adding thereto
their verbal report, and the report being this day
brought in with the am^dment:
Ordered, That it be entered on the journal.
The Report is as follows:
The committee to whom were referred the letters and
papers communicated to Congress by the executive
council of Pennsylvania, through their delegates, re
port,
Tnat they had a conference yeflerday, as directed,
with the supreme executive council, in which, in the
firft inflance, the propriety of calling out a detachment
of militia to intercept the mutineers on their march
from Lancaster, was proposed to the council, fugged
ing the danger of their being fuffered with impunity to
join the troops in the barracks, whoa few days before
had manifefted a dangerous spirit by an infoleot and
threatening message feat to Congress in the name of a
board of ferjeants, and who, it was apprehended, would
be ready to make a common cause with those on their
march for mutinous purposes. That the council hav
ing shown a reludance to call out any part of the mi
litia, expressing an opinion that they -Would not be wil
ling to ad, till some outrage should have been commit
ted by the troops; there appeared to the committee no
alternative but to endeavour to dissuade the mutineers
from coming to town, and if they failed in that at
tempt, to make use of expedients to prevent the troops
in the barracks from joining in any excesses, and to in
duce the detachment from Lancaster to return to that
place. That in this view, and at their desire, the as
sistant secretary at war met the detachment then on its
march to the city, and endeavoured to engage them to
return to the former place, urging the considerations
contained in the annexed infiruftioos to him, but lira
said detachment perfifled in their intention of coming
to this city, and arrived here this morning. That up
on conferring with the fupcrintendant of finance, the,
Gad there is a probability that the paymafler general,
to whom the settlement of the accounts of the army ha s
been committed, and who having all the documents i.i
his possession, can alone execute the business with pro
priety, will shortly arrive from the army, and will im
mediately enter upon a settlement with the troops in
this state; that in the mean time measures will be taken
to prepare the business for a final adjustment. That
there will immediately be feht to Lancafler a sum of
money to be paid to the troops on account of the
month's pay heretofore directed to beadvanced to them,
the payment of which has hitherto been delayed by
particular circumflances, together with notes for three
months pay, intended to be advanced to the men when,
furloughed. That they have desired this information
to be transmitted to the Commanding officer here, and
at Lancaster, with this declaration, that the corps Ra
tioned at Lancafler, including the detachment, can on
ly be fettled with or paid at that place.
The INSTRUCTIONS to Major Jackson.
SIR,
INFORMATION having been received, that a de
tachment of about eighty mutineers, are on their
way from Lancafler to this place, you will please to
proceed to meet them, and to endeavour by every pru
dent method to engage them to return to the poll they
have left. You will inform them of the orders that
have been given, permitting thera to remain in service
till their accounts shall have been fettled, if they pre
fer it to bring furloughed, and of the allowance of pa,
which has been made to the army at large, and in which
<hey are to be included, you will represent to them,
that their accounts cannot be fettled without their of
ficers, whom they have left behind them at Lancafler.
You will represent to them with coo'nefs but energy,
the impropriety of such irregular proceedings, and the
Tte curtofify of the public being eiger for tire fa&
upon which Congress found'd their adjournment
to Primeton, a correspondent has favoured the Prin
ter with the following proceedings of that honourable
body relative to this event, which he has reason to
believe may be looked upon as authentic, and com
prehending the mod materia! fads.
By the UNITED STATES in CONGRESS Affem
t bird, June 21st, 1783.
T, ESOLVED, That the president and fnpreme exe
cutive council of Pennsylvania be informed, that
the authority of the United States, having been this
day grofily insulted by the disorderly and menacing ap
pearance of a body of armed soldiers, about the place
within which Congress were aff-mbled, and the peace
of this city being endangered by the mutinous disposition
of the said troops, now in the barracks, it is, in the o
pinion of Congress, necessary that effectual measures
be immediately taken for supporting the public au
thority.
Resolved, That the committee on a letter from colo
nel Butler, be directed to confer, without loss of time,
witn the supreme executive council of Pennsylvania,
on the practicability of carrying the preceding refold
tion into effect ; ahd that in case it shall appear to the
committee, that there is not a fatisfa&ory ground for
expecting adequate and prompt exertions of this state,
for fuppoi tirg the dignity of the foederal government,
the president, on the advice of the committee, be au
thcrifed 'and direct d to summon the members of Con
gress to meet on Thursday next, at Trenton or Prince
ton, in New-Jersey, in order that further and more
effectual measures may be taken for suppressing the
prefect rev dr and maintaining the dignity and autho
rity of Ilie United States.
Resolved, That the secretary at war be dire&ed to
communicate to the coramander IM chief, the state and
drfpofi ion of the said troops, in order that he may take
immediate measures to dispatch to this city, such force
as he may judge expedient, for suppressing any diflure
bances that may ensue.
The UNITED STATES in CONGRESS Afierabled,
July ift, 1783.