The Pennsylvania packet, or, The general advertiser — Lancaster, Pa.;Philadelphia, Pa., 1779-09-23 00:00:00, page 2

is a great burlesque upon his profeffion, which renders him
unworthy my notice. What Spectator means by a Gen
tleman in office under me being crulhed, I know not; if I
may venture a guess, it was that the flore keeper, who
had firved under Dr. Morgan, was not appointed Com
missary of the eaflern department upon the last arrange
ment. I have no objection to the condud of that young
Gentleman, and have given him a certificate in his favor ;
but did not think him so fit a perlon to be Commissary of
Hospitals for four States, as a Gentleman farther advanc
ed in years, who was master of a family, and had consi
derable property. I had no friendfhip or private interest
in view, as the Gentleman I appointed I had never seen §
but he was ftrongfy recommended by persons I could de
pend on, and his conduct has dene justice t® his recom
mendation. The other Gentleman was continued in his
former place. If not gaining an appointment we exped,
may be called crushing, I have been crushed at lejft twice.
At the' commencement of the war, I was at the head of
the Medical Department : soon after Dodor Church ws
appointed Director , upon his arrest, I was again, by His
Excellency, appointed Director. Scon after which, Dr.
M®rgan arrived from Philadelphia with an appointment
from Congress; but I preferred the service of my country,
to either interest or a puufWio of honor. This Gentle
man thought otherwise, retired ; and, if I am not mistaken,
is now a speculator in partnership wr Spectator. As to
the expenditure of public money, I troft ^y accounts will
bear as ftri& an examination as those of any other de
partment, or as Congress shall think necessary : The ex
penditure of stores, my answer to the memorial will Suff
iciently explain: By'me resolves of Congress of Feb. 6,
I am no further accountable than for their delivery to the
proper officers. One thing I forgot to mention. Specla
tor seems to inhju.de, that I am D< puty Director for the
hospital at Danbury only. It is not amiss to inform the
public, that I am Deputy Director and Purveyor for the
four New England States, and for that part of New-
York State on this fide Hudson's River, at least up to
Poughkeepsie. The insinuation by Spectator, that One
Hundred and Fif'y Thousand Dollars were drawn for the
use of the hospitals at Danbury, when it was drawn for
so large a department, is of a color with the rest of his
piece.
I absolutely deny any person unconnected with the hos
pital having, to my kuowlege, been supplied with public
tie s. It I had been willing to countenance abuses of that
k .d, Congress would never have been troubled with the
D anbury memorial ; nor do I suppose that Spectator
would have ever been concerned himtelf with the matter,
had I been as complaisant as some ether Gentlemen in
signing certificates. I have never lived more expensively
than I ofed to do in private life ; and that was what my
private ufinefs and fortune entitled me to. I have not
nor do 1 expert to make money by the war ; if my coun
try will place me in as good a situation at the close of it,
as I was at the beginning, I shall be obliged to her; she
is welcome to my service. If Spectator appears again, it
is to be hoped he will sign his real name. I shall take no
further notice of any anonymous performances.
] am the public's obedient
And most humble servant,
ISAAC FOSTER.
Danbury, Dee. 14, 1775.
To the Honorable the Congress of the United States of
North-America,
W E, the fubferibers, being the authority, the Selectmen
and others of the town of Danbury, the State of Connec
ticut, being deeply sensible of the great uneasiness refpeft
ing Isaac Foster, Esq; Deputy Director General—particu
larly in this town--the sick being entirely destitute of wood
a great part of the time, and at this severe season of the year,
and obliged to distress this already too much distressed
town, by burning rails, laying waste inclofures of wheat,
&c. and providing no check against the most profufe ex
pence of public stores And iaftiy, we cannot but ob
fcrve his arbitrary and tyrannical condud, and even his
threat, which are not to be borne.—Therefore we think
To the Printer of the PENNSYLVANIA PACKET.
Boflon, Augufi 31, 1779'
SIR
AN illiberal and ill natured attack upon my character
having been made in your paper of the 19th instant,
under,the filature of Spectator, common justice requires
you ihould insert this as soon as it comes to your hands.
I am too well known here to fear any thing from such ma
licious scandal, but 1 with for the good opinion of all the
United States. For the early decided part I took in the be
ginning of this glorious contest, as well as for thefacrifices
I have made in the common cause, I can appeal to all who
know me, but it seems I did not please some people at
Danbury; next to the deteflation of all good men, I Ihould
esteem the approbation of the Danbury memorialifts the
greater curse. I by no means intend a reflation on the
town, as there are many worthy people in it. Spe&ator
gives ns the namesof the memorialifts, but why does he
not give us the Memorial ? Is it not because he is ashamed
ofthe do' ghty performance? This memorial was handed
about, while I was sick, by Thaddeus Benedict, Esq; in
the most secret manner to obtain fubferibers. One honest
man, to whom it was offered, informed me of it: I wrote
to my friends at Congress, desiring nothing might be done
until I had an opportunity of answering for myfelf. As
soon as 1 recovered, I set out for Philadelphia, expreflly
for that purpose, and which the memorialifts could not be
ignorant of. Waen I arrived at Philadelphia, 1 found tie
memorial committed to the Medical Committee, but not
^ single evidence to support the charges, frivolous as they
are, it would have been no more than justice it the Medi*
cal Committee, upon my appearing to answer for myfelf,
had dismissed the unsupported memorial, but I desired no
such thing. I lodged an answer in writing for the fatis
fa&ion of Congress, and assured them I Ihould be ever
ready to answer in person ; but that the public may judge
as well as Congress, I now fend you a copy of the memo
rial old of my reply, and desire that you would publish
them, that the public may not be deceived nor the Hon.
Cougrefs abused. I had once fufpefted that a Gentleman
of rank in this department, had been concerned in pro
moting the above memorial, but am now convinced by
his declaration he had no hand in it, and sorry I ever fuf
pefted him. One Parjon, belonging to the deparment,
1 know forwarded it to Cougrefs ; but his general conduct
Philadelphia, May, 1779.
Gentlemen,
HAVING been informed while I lay sick at Danbury,
that a memorial to the Hon. Congress of the United States,
to my prejudice, was handing about in the most secret
manner, by Thaddeus Benedict, Esq ;,to obtain fubferi
bers, I wrote to several members of that august Body, to
desire nothing might be done uppn it, until I had an op
portunity of answering for myfelf. They referred the me
morial to you, and with your usual candor you have wait
ed my arrival : I am now on the spot, and ready to meet
my accusers face to face, or to hear and answer any evidence
they have against me; but as it is not the nature ®f assas
sins to (hew themselves in open day, I do not expert they
or any persons on their behalf will appear. Yet it being
generally known that a memorial has been forwarded a
gainst me, the' its contents have been carefully concealed
from all but the fubferibers, I am bound, in justice to my
own charader, to desire you would aft upon it, and beg
your patience while I make some remarks on the memori
al itfeif, and your indulgence to hear, as soon as it is con
venient to you, such evidence as I can offer in vindication
of my conduct. They begin : “ We, the fubferibers, being
the authority, Selectmen, and others of the town of Dan
bury ;" t ought to have been rather : We, the fubferibers,
being part ofthe authority, &c. I am not enough acquaint
ed with the internal police of that town, to know how ma
ny the authority, Selectmen, &c. consist of, but this is
a fad the memorialifts dare not deny, their memorial was
offered to Col. Cooke, to sign, (a gentleman undoubtedly
of the most sense belt education amongst them, who
has as great an attachment to the cause of his country as
any one in the place, and whois at the head of the autho
rity) but he refufed, altho' he had a better opportunity of
judging of my conduct than any other person, as (except
for the firft fix weeks) I kept at his house the whole time
I resided iirDanbury, and trenfaded most of my business
there. They proceed to express a deep sensibility of the
great uneasiness refpeding me, particularly in that town.
I am at a loss to guess, whether this uneasiness arises from
my conduct in office, or from my holding an office, which
they wifn for another ; I fufpe& the latter, notwithstand
ing they, in the next paragraph, aim at fixing the neglect
of supplying the hospitals with wood on me. I blufli for
them at this attempt; for altho' lam still doubtful whe
ther the furnifhing of wood is properly in my department,
they cannot be ignorant that wood was procured, but
hardly a team in town could be got to cart it, altho' I of
fered them immediate payment, nor would the authority
give me any afliftance in pressing, tho' repeatedly applied
for. This appened the latter end ofthe year 1777, and
the beginning of 177 g, at which time I believe some fences
were burnt: I never gave my orders for it, but could not
find in my heart to punish the tenders, who, in compassi
on to the sick, committed this irregularity, and which the
ex.r'tioL f efs than common indufiry in Jhe inhabitants
wouldh.c rendered needless. There was never but one
person who claimed payment for his fence that was so
burnt; and as he had exerted himfelf more than any one
in drawing wood, I had his damage apprized, and paid
him for it ; but when I came to pass my accounts at the
Treasury-Board, the charge was disallowed. This last
winter the hospitals have been plentifully supplied with
wood, and when I came through Danbury there was e
nough to last until the fall. They complain of my pro
viding no check against the most profufe expence of oublic
stores. Ido not believe that the stores have been profufe
ly expended; but if they have, lam not accountable for
it, as by the resolves of February 1778, the controul of
the expenditure was taken out of my hand, and put into
that of the Surgeon-General ; if he has negie&ed regulat
ing the expenditure, let him answer for it.' By my'arbi
trary and tyrannical conduct, I suppose they mean my
taking little notice of, and having no connexion with
them, except when the bufioefs of the hospital made it ab
folutety necessary. I recoiled no threats, except one to
Thaddeus Benedict, Esq; having repeatedly remonstrated
to him, against his felling liquor to, and fuffering the pa
tients to tipple and debauch themselves in his house : He
told me he would fell liquor to whom he pleased : Upon
which I threatened to complain to the commander of the
department, which I did, and by that means put an end
to the deftru&ive praaice.
Confeious of my own integrity, and ignorant of what I
was accused, I had collected no evidence before I came on,
but am happy in finding here Doftors Hutchinson, Lati
more, and Fallon, who, not belonging to our department,
are uninfluenced by the little feuds of it, while at the fame
time, having done duty in it, they are able to inform you
how matters have been conduced.! beg they may be called
before you, and their evidence taken, happy in the confi
dence, that you will never fuffer a man, whe has at heart
endeavoured to serve his country faithfully, to be facrificed
to the malevolence of the revengeful, or the aspiring am
bition of the ignorant. lam,
with the greatest refped and esteem, Gentlemen,
Your obedient and most humble servant,
ISAAC FOSTER.
The Hon. the Medical Committee
of Congress.
For the PENNSYLVANIA PACKET.
TXJHE N a part only of the proceedings in Congress
v on a particular fubjed, is not only published, but al
so miftated ; and especially when the part so published is of
a secret nature, and for that reason no mention is made
of it in the Journals of Congress, there is the greatest
room to imagine that the publication is intended to answer
it our duty to remonftrafe against the (aid Dr. F@fter 6 be
ing comfidered in the new arrangement.
Signed,
Daniel Taylor, Thomas Starr, jun. Amos Hoyt, Zah
nin Taylor, Andrew Comftock, Samuel Gregory, Elna
than Gregory, John Trowbridge, Nathan Starr, Abijah
Siarr, Nathan Gregory, Levi Stone, Matthew Gregory.
Thad feus Benedit, Eli Migat, (Justices of the Peace)
Stephen Trowbridge, Joshua Knapp, Selectmen for the
year ,77, for the town of Danbury.
Joseph Benedict, Major Taylor, Comfort Hoyt, Da
vid Boughton, Elijah Hoyt, Zadock Benedict, Seledmen
for the town of Danbury for the year 1778.
Thaddeus Barnum, Josiah Starr, Daniel Hitchcock,
Ezra Dibble, Richard Shute, John Bemedid, Selectmen
for the town of Danbury for the year ensuing.
,th. Whether any, and which of their Delegates ever
shewed improper attention to Tories, and intermeddled
in the parties and politics of this State.
6th. Whether any, and which of their Delegates com
municated the aforefaid pretended Report to the Printer of
the New-York Journal; what his view in so doing might,
probably be; whether by holding up that testimony a-'
gainft Mr. Lee, he meant that people Ihould from thence
infer, that Mr. Deane, Mr. Lee's opponent, was entirely
innocent, and his own conduct therefore, in supporting
Mr. Deane, highly commendable ;—-whereas nothing is
more clear than, altho' Mr. Lee may be a very ungraci
ous Minifler, that Mr. Deane may have been a very ini
quitous agent; that while both of them may deserve con
tempt, their rffpedive partizans are unworthy the confi
dence of a free and virtuous people. Men who will delibe
rately go unjuftifiable lengths in supporting a servant of
the public, must be actuated by motives that are incom
patible with the public welfare. It seems highly probable,
that if the honor and interest of our country had been du
ly attended to, that Mr. Lee would have been recalled,
and Mr. Deane detained till he had rendered a fatisfaaory
account of the vast sums of public money which have
passed thro' his hands.
The paper referred to above is as follows:
From the New-York Journal of August 9, printed at
Poughkeepsie.
" 17 °R 'he information of the good people of the
1 „United States of America, I fend you for publica
tion a report of a Committee of Congress made to that Bo
dy on the 30th of April last. The information contained
in this report being of the highest authenticity, it is evi
dent that Mr. Lee could do this country no essential ser
vice as a Commissioner, either in France or Spain. What
then could have induced fourteen gentlemen in Congress to.
vote for his continuance, (twenty-two being against it) and
feme of them to assert, that he was the prepereft person to
represent these States at the court of Madrid, is hard to
conceive. But how they can reconcile their conduct to
their conflitueats, it is now become necessary for them to
explain. Fads speak for themselves, and are placed in a
clear light by the following report of the Committee of
Congress, appointed for that purpose.
The under-signed Members of the Congress of the United
States of North- America have the honour to inform the
said Congress,
"THAT upon good grounds, having been led to be
lieve that the conduft of Arthur Lee, Esq; late one of the
Commissioners representing these United States at the
Court of yerfailles, and now foie Commissioner to repre
sent the (aid States at the court of Madrid, was difguftful
to these Courts, unconciliatory to their fubjeds, and pre
judicial to the honour and interest of the said States.
" They were astonished to hear an assertion made in Con
gress, ou the 15th inst. by an Hon. Member from Massa
chusetts-Bay, as from the highest authority in America,
that the laid Commissioner is possessed of the confidence of
the court of Versailles ; and since, another assertion, by
another Hon. Member from the fame State, that the said
Commissioner is the most proper person to represent the
said States at the court of Madrid, assertions which, be
ing made in the debates on foreign affairs, were made to
influence Congress to continue the said Arthur Lee, Esq;
1 Surre,itiouJly, because at the time of their procuring
Mr. Gerard's opinion, a question was pending before
Congress " Whether Mr Gerard Ihould be applied to up
on such an occasion ?''—which was very properly opposed.
—This question had been moved by Mr. Paca, seconded
by Mr. Drayton, who, after delivering at the table the
subjoined paper, withdrew their firft motion for enquiry.
—Had Mr. Gerard been fairly apprized of these circum
stances, he would not have made himfelf a party in the
factious proceedings of interested and prejudiced individu
als of Congress
As it appeared firft in the New-York Journal, printed
at Poughkeepsie, it seems as if the publication was intend
ed to serve some private end in that State.— How far cabal
and intrigue here may have had a lhtre in the bufigefs,
and whether the indirect management of Dodor Franklin
and others, friends or partners in trade of Mr. Deane,
drew such declaration, as is mentioned, from Count de
Vergennes, I shall not aow ex mire f would only re
commend it to the persons in the State of flew York, who
eleß the Delegates to Congress for that State, to enquire,
ift. Whether any, and which cf their Delegates did
urge in Congress that Mr. Deane fliould^ive a verbal nar
rative of his traafaaions in Europe instead of a written
one, notwithflanding it was represented in opposition
thereto, that a verbal narrative, in case he was guilty of
the abuses he was fufpeaed of, would leave him at liberty
to fay and unsay, to explain away and evade matters, just
as it might best suit the purpose of eluding public justice.
2d. Whether any, and which of their Delegates urged
in Congress that Mr. Deane Ihould be e^ I'l from an
swering qweftions which tended to criminate himfelf;a
proposal which implies a conviction in the author and a
bettor of it, that abuses had been committed, and could
have no other end than to screen the party from detection,
3d. Whether any, and which of tieir Delegates voted
for the recal of Mr hard and Mr. William Lee; and im
mediately afterwards also voted for this very extraordina
ry motion, “ That thoje Gentlemen be tnJormed, that it is
the sense of Congress that they need net repair to America.”
by which means, all enquiry and information relative to
the merits and demerits of the several Commissioners, f®
far at least as an examination of those Gentlemen would
throw light on the fubjeß were entirely cut off.
4th. Whether any, and which of their Delegates were
concerned with other persons in trade, or made propofols
for that purpose which were refufed.
some infiduons purpose. The fubjoihed paper, which is
fulfeiy failed " A Report of a Committee of Congress,"
is of that nature; for the truth is, that Mr. Paca of Ma
ryland, and the late Mr. Dra yton of South Carolina, who
adually signed the paper, were never appointed a Com
mittee for that purpose ; but officiousy and without the
knowiege of Congress, and therefore we ^ay presume with
some finifler view, took upon themselves to wait on Mr-
Gerard, and from him I surreptitiously obtained the said
paper, which one of the gentlemen read and laid it on the
table, and there it rested and hill rests without further no
tice.
HONESTU S.