Dunlap's Pennsylvania packet , The general advertiser — Philadelphia, Pa., 1775-04-10 00:00:00, page 2

To revere and honor them, you must confider
their generosity, their benefactions to men of
learning, their policy, and their fcientific institu
tions. To viewthem with horror and amazement,
you need only listen to the undoubted outrages of
their private lives, by which, you will be con
vinced, that few or none of the whole race was
endued with the fofter passions of the human foul.
I with that, in many of their group, their love
was not lud, their good-nature, ostentation, their
dignity, pride, and their sense, cunning.
I have already told you a Locking story of Cof
?no \. Let me mention another, of the fame
Prince, if possible, still more horrid.
Cosmo de' Medici, the son of John de Medici, had
two wives, Leonora of Toledo, and Camilla Martelli.
By the firft, he had two daughters, and several
sons. His (on {John) was, by the singular and
extraordinary favour of Pope Pius IV. created a
Cardinal in the year 1560, when he was only
seventeen years of age. He was killed, in hunt
ing, by his next brother Garcias, a youth, who
had always difeovered an untoward and barbarous
disposition. Whether the young Cardinal was
killed purposely, or by chance, remains uncertain.
He was the favourite of the Great Duke his fa
ther, who had observed in bis second son as great
an inclination to wickedness, as in his eldest
to piety. Cosmo's anger on the occasion was out
rageous. He ordered Garcias never to appear be
fore him: He positively accused him of wilful
murder. He would hear no mitigating circum
flance or excuse in his favour.' In this wrathful
disposition the Great Duke continued some months,
tiil by the repeated intreaties of the Grand Dot'-
chefs Iconora, he at last consented, that his son
might throw himfelf accidentally, as it were, at
his feet.
Leiters from hah in the years t,„ and 175% fy
the fate Right Hon. John Carl of Cork and Orrery ;
foi ! >!i/bedfrom the Original, with notes by his
Chaplin, the Rev. John Duncombe, M. A.
Florence, Feb. 27th, 17^5.
AT length niy old enemy has overtaken me
in ltdy. The gout, that hereditary legacy
entailed upon me by my ancestors, confines me to
my bed. The tiuth is, I have felt some threats
from it, during the greatest part of the winter.
Neither the way of life, nor the climate, agrees
with me. The flaw approaches of my distemper
are always worse than the distemper itfelf; asthe
apparatus is often worse than the incision. The
sharp flings of gouty pions are more tolerable
than the lingering tenting complaints, Which precede
this invincible dileafe. The paroxysm over, we
feern to renew file again. We piefume, that we
have taken a new Icafe, and with great joy cancel
the old one; but alas ! the terms and clauses grow
Ids and less advantageous to the poor tenants May
you, my dear friend, defeend the hill of life, and
enter into the vale of eternity, by gentle and im
perceptible degrees, without finding the least ftonc,
or bramble, in your way!
Imprisoned thus within the narrow limits of
my curtains, I have no better amusement, no
surer incitement to patience, than what must arise
from books. The few volumes, which I brought
from England, I have long since read over and
over. A fpeetdadve mind is always ifffearch of
novelty. With this view, I have deeply immer
fed myfelf in the Florentine hifory; and, from
time to time, have epitomifed as much of it, as to
me appears most remarkable. As there are many
anecdotes in the latter part of it, which the hifto
rians, either from prudence, or feme other cause,
have not inferred, and as I have learned those
anecdo es from theconverfation of such Florentines,
as are bed versed io tl e story of their own country,
I fbT not Icruple to recite to you certain fids,
which, at least, bear a great femblancelo truth,
id probably have been suppressed during the
p r wer and reigns of the Medici, for reasons eafly
re reared.
' — already fuggerted to you, perhaps not in
a m.i.te fifficiently explicit, that, if you take a
view, of the Princes of Medici in a group, you
will feel reverence and refpcA at one part of the
pi&ure, and be struck with amazement and horror
at the remainder.
1 he time chosen for this interview was on Rafter
day, at the Great Duke's return from Church ;
the tender mother imagining, that, at such a sea
son, all former resentment must be buried, and
paternal nffe&ion restored. Garcias presented
himfelf before his father in the manner intended
when, in a moment, without the least hefitation',
Cosmo drew a dagger, (which he had concealed on
purpose,) and dabbed Garcias to the heart.
Reflect on every circumstance, the time, the
manner, and the object,—you will scarce remem
ber so strong an inttance of nature darting from
her course, and diverting herfelf of every spark of
humanity.
None of the Italian hidorians have dared to
mention this horrible cataftrophe*. I have seen
the monuments of the two youths among the ducal
family, in a small butying-plaCe within the facriftry
of St. Lorenzo. What cannot power do, when it
could conceal and efface so atrocious a murder ?
The general character to be formed of Cosmo I.
seems to be the fame, as that given by Lord Cla
rendon of Oliver Cromwell, " A great wicked man."
The parallel might dill be carried farther: He
was courageous and fuccefsful; he lived in bloody
tempeduous times; he had fltill, activity, and
strength, both of body and mind, to bullet the
forms. His sense, or rather his cunning, direct
ed him when to yield properly, not timidly, to
the fierceft winds, that could blow. He put an
end to the common-wealth. He wished and en
deavoured to be King of Tufeany: finding that
point impossible to be carried, he contented him
felf with the title of Great Duke, which comprised
the regal power. Thus far the parallel holds.
It will go no farther. Cfoo was learned and vi
cious: Cromwell was neither.
What faith can be given to historians, when
Scipio Ammirato, who carries down his history to
* " I have read it in manufeript, but it was
shewn to me with the utmost caution, even now
when the House of Medici is no more."
the death of Cfoo I. gives an account of Cardinal
John and his brother Garcias de Medici, in the
following manner.
" This year [1562] a domestic calamity af
feAed the family of Cosmo, who had been kept
long at Sienna fettling the affairs of that state,
and afterwards had been engaged in designing a
fortification at Grofeto, where the air is ex
tremely unwholeforiie. This possibly might be
the occasion, —per she cofi ala diviha bonta fuffe
piaciute] of because it so pleased the divine good
ness, that Cardinal John, and afterwards Garcias
his brother, notwithstanding the utmost fltill of
their physicians. died, and occasioned the death
of their mother, who, having been long ill of a
complaint in her stomach, was not able to sup
port this frefh affliction.”
By killing his own son, Cosmo killed the mother
of that son, hi; wife. What an agonifing fight
must it be to her, to behold her child, whose for
givenefs the thought eftablifned, weltering in his
blood? thatblood fpilt by her husband, his father;
that father just returned from the altar ! But what
shall we fay for Ammirato, who conceals one
certain, and one supposed, murder, or places
them to the account of divineimpulfe ? “ It pleased
the divine goodness," that a brother should destroy
a brother, and a father murder his son. To the
fame account, by this way of reasoning, may be
placed every wickedness that can be perpetrated.
The historian cannot plead ignorance. He be
trays his confeious knowledge at the end of his
work, where, after summing up the praises of the
Grand Duke, perhaps not very much in too ex
alted a strain, he concludes the character by fay
ing, that “ if Cosmo had not sullied the bright
ness of his virtues by two bad anions, the one of
incontinence," [with his own daughter,] “ the
other of cruelty," [the murder of his own fon,]
very few of the most renowned Princes of any age
could have been compared to him.
11l or well, I must be always yours,
CO R K.
Resolved on accumulating an unbounded for
tune, he enters into all the schemes of war, treaty,
and intrigue. The British sword is set up for
sale; the heads of contending Nabobs are offered
at a price, and the bribe taken from both sides.
Thousands of men or money are trifles in an India
bargain. The field is an empire, and the trea
sure almost without end. The wretched inhabi
tants are glad to compound for offences never
committed, and to purchase at any rate the privi
lege to breathe; while he, the sole lord of their
lives and fortunes, disposes of either as he pleases,
and prepares for Europef.,
* Battle of Piaffey in the Eatt Indies, where
Lord Clive, at that time Col. Clive, acquired an
immense fortune, and from which place his title is
taken.
t In April 1773, a committee of the House of
Commons, under the name of the Sekd Commit
tee were appointed by the House to enquire into
the state of the East-India affairs, and the condu&
of the several governors of Bengal. The Commit
tee having gone through the examinations, General
Burgoyne the Cbairman prefaced their report there
of to the House, informing them "that the reports
contained accounts of crimes Shocking to human
nature, that the most infamous designs had been
carried into execution by perfidy and murder. He
recapitulated the wretched situation of the East-In
dian Princes, who held their dignities on the preca
rious condition of being the highest bribers. No
claim, however just on their part, he said, could be
admitted, without being introduced by enormous
fum# of rupees, nor any prince fuffered to reign
Departed from India, and loaded with the plun
der, Jfee him doublingthe Cape and looking wifh
fully to Europe, I fee him contemplating on years
of pleasure, and gratifying his ambition with ex
pected honours. I fee his arrival pompously an
nounced in every news-paper, his eager eye ram
bling through the croud in quest of homage, and
his ear hftening left an applause should escape
him. Happily for him he arrived before bisfo^,
and the short interval was a time of rest. From
the croud I follow him to the court,! fee him en
veloped in the sunshine of sovereign favour, rival
ling the great in honours, the proud in fplendour,
and the rich in wealth. From the court I trace
him to the country, his equipage moves like a
camp; every village bell proclaims his coming;
the wondering peasants admire his pomp, and his
heart runs over with joy.
But, alas ! not fatisfied with uncountable
thousands, I accompany him again to India. I
mark the variety of countenances which appear at
his landing. Confufion spreads the news. Every
passion seems alarmed. The wailing widow, the
crying orphan, and the childless parent remember
and lament; the rival Nabobs court his favour ;
the rich dread bis power, and the poor his seve
rity. Fear and terror march like pioneers before
his camp, murder and rapine accompany it, famine
and wretchedness follow in the rear.
From the Pennsylvania Magazine.
Reflections on the Life and Death of Lord Clive.
AH! The tale is told—The feene is ended
—and the curtain falls. As an emblem
of the vanity of all earthly pomp, let his monu
ment be a globe, but, be that globe a bubble; let
his effigy be a man walking round it in bis deep;
and let Fame in the character cf a shadow, inferibe
his honours on the air.
I view him but as yesterday on the burning
plains of Plaffey*, doubtful oflife, health, or vic
tory. I fee him in the instant when “Tobe or
not to be" were equal chances to a human eye.
To be a lord or a slave, to return loaded with the
fooils, or remain mingled with the dust of India.
—Did necessity always juftify the severity of a
conqueror, the rude tongue of censure would be
blent, and however painfully he might look back
on feenes of horror, the pensive reflexion would
not alarm him. Though his feelings fuffered,his
conscience would be acquitted. The fad remem
brance would move serenely, and leave the mind
without a wound—But, Oh India! thou loud
prociaimer of European cruelties, thou bloody
monument of unnecessary deaths, be tender in the
day of enquiry, and shew a Christian world thou
canst fuffer and forgive.
long, who did not quadrate with this idea; and
that Lord Clive, over and above the enormous Turns
he might with some appearance of justice lay claim
to, had obtained others to which he could have no
title. He (Gen. Burgoyne) therefore moved,
'' That it appeals to this House, that Robert, Lord
" Clive, Baron of Piaffey, about the time of depof
" ing Surajah Dowla, Nabob of Bengal, and efta
'' blilhing Meer Jaffier in his room, did, through
''the influence of the power with which he was in
" trusted, as member of the Select Committee in
" India, and Commander in Chief of the Br ; tifh
" forces there, obtain and possess himfelf of two
" lacks and 80,000 rupees, as member of the Seleft
'' Committee, a further sum of two lacks of rupees
" as Commander in Chief, a further sum of 16 lacks
" of rupees, or more, under the denomination of
" private donations, which sums, amounting toge
" ther to 20 lacks, and 80,000 rupees, were of the
" value in English money, of £234,000, (equal to
" £340,000, Pennsylvania currency,) and that in
'' so doing the said Robert, Lord Clive, abused the
“ powers with which he was entrusted, to the evil
" example of the servants of the public."
X Lord Clive in the defence which he raade in
the House of Commons, against the charges men
tioned in the preceding note, very positively insists
on his innocence, and very pathetically laments his
situation; and after informing the House of the
thanks which he had some years before received,
for the fame anions which they are now endeavour
ing to censure him for, he fays,
“ After such certificates as these, Sir, am I to be
brought here like a criminal, and the very bed parts
of my conduct conftrned into crimes against the
state? Is this the reward that is now held out to
persons who have performed such important servi
ces to their country ? If it is, Sir, the future conse
quences that will attend the execution of any im
portant trust, committed to the persons who have
the care of it, will be fatal indeed ; and lam lure
the noble Lord upon the treasury bench, whose
great humanity and abilities I revere, would never
have consented to the resolutions that passed the
other night, if he had thought on the dreadful con
sequences that would attend them. Sir, I cannot fay
that I either rest or fit easy, when I find that all I
have in the world is likely to be confifeated, and
that no one will take my security for a shilling.
These, Sir, are dreadful apprehensions to remain
under, and I cannot look upon myfelf but as a
bankrupt. I have not any thing left which I can
call my own, except my paternal fortune of 500 b
'per annum, and which has been in the family for
ages past. But, upon this I am content to live, and
pernaps I shall find more real content of mind and
happiness, than in the trembling affluence of an un
settled fortune. But, Sir, I must make one more
observation, that, if the definition of the Hon.
Gentleman (Gen. Burgoyne) and of this House, is,
that the State, as exprefled in these resolutions, is,
quo ad boc, the Company, then, Sir, every farthing
that I enjoy is granted to me. But to be called,
after sixteen years have elapsed, to account for my
conduct in this manner, and after an uninterrupted
enjoyment of my property, to be questioned and
considered as obtaining it unwarrantably, is hard
indeed! and a treatment I should not think the Bri
tish senate capable of. But, if it should be the case,
I have a confeious innocence within me, that tells
me my conduct is irreproachable. Frangas, non
fieaes. They may take from me what 1 have ;
they may, as,they think, make me poor, but I will
be happy ! I mean not this as my defence. My
defence will be made at the bar ; and, before I fit
down, I have one request to make to the House,
that, when they come to decide upon my honour, they
'will not forget their own.
As a cure for avarice and ambition let us take
a view of him in his latter years. Hah! what
gloomy being wanders yonder? How visibly is the
melancholy heart delineated on his countenance.
He mourns no common care—His very steps are
tim'd to sorrow—He trembles with a kind of men
tal palsy. Perhaps 'tis some broken hearted pa
rent, some David mourning for his Abfalom, or
some Heraclitus weeping for the world.—l hear
The conqueror of the east having nothing more
to expert from the one, has all his court to make
to the other. Anxiety for Wealth gives place to
anxiety for life; and wifely re-collecting that the
sea is no refpe&er of perfonsy resolves yn taking
his route to Europe by land. Little beings move
unseen or unobserved, but he engrosses whole
kingdoms in bis march, and is gazed at like a
comet. The burning defart, the pathless moun
tains, and the fertile valleys, are in their turns ex
plored and parted over. No material accident
distresses his progress, and England once more re
ceives the spoiler.
How sweet is rest to the weary traveller; the
retrofped heightens the enjoyment; and if the
future profpea be serene, the days of ease and
happiness are arrived. An uninquiriog observer
might have been inclined to confider Lord Clive
under all these agreeable circumstances: One,
whose every care was over; and who had nothing
to do but to fit down and fay, Soul takethine ease,
thou haftgoods laid up in fore for many years.
The reception which he met with on his leeond
arrival, was in every instance equal, and in many,
it exceeded, the honours ofthefirft, 'Tis the pe
culiar temper of the English to applaud before
they think. Generous of their praise, they fre
quently bestow it unworthily; but when once the
truth arrives, the torrent stops, and rushes back
again with the fame violence ^. Scarcely had the
echo of applause ceased upon the ear, than the
rude tongue of censure took up the tale. The
news-papers, fatal enemies to ill-gotten wealth !
began to buz a general suspicion of his conduct,
and the inquisitive public soon refined it into par
ticulars. Every post gavea stab to fame—a wound
to his peace,—and a nail to his coffin. Like fpec
tres from the grave they haunted him in every
company, and whispered murder in his ear. A
life checquered with uncommon varieties is seldom
a long one. Action and care will in time wear
down the strongest frame, but guilt and melan
choly are poisons of quick dispatch.
Say, cool deliberate reflection, was the prize,
though abftrafted from the guilt, worthy of the
pains? Ah! no. Fatigued with victory he fat
down to rest, and while he was recovering breath
he loft it. A conqueror more fatal than himfelf
beset him, and revenged the injuries done to
India.
Uncommon fortunes require an uncommon date
of life to enjoy them in. The usual period is spent
in preparing to live: And unless nature prolongs
the time, fortune bestows her excels of favours in
vain.
him mutter fumething about wealth —Perhaps he
is poor and hath not where withal to hide his head.
Some debtor started from his sleepless pillow, to
ruminate on poverty, and ponder on the horrors
ofajail. Poor man! I'll to him and relieve him.
Hah! 'tis Lord Clive himfelf! Bless me what a
change! He makes, I fee, for yonder cypress
shade—sit feene for melancholy hearts !—l'll
watch him there and listen to bis story.
L. Cl. Can I but fuffer when a beggar pities me?
Ere while I heard a ragged wretch, who every
mark of poverty had on, fay to a sooty sweep,
Ah, poor Lord Clive ! while he, the negro colour
ed vagrant, more mercifully cruel, curftme in my
hearing.
There was a time when Fortune, like a yielding
mistress, courted me with smiles—She never wait
ed to be told my wiflie^, but studied to difeover
them; and seemed not happy to herfelf, but when
Ihe had some favour to bestow. Ah ! little did I
think the fair enchantress would desert me thus;
and after lavishing her smiles upon me, turn my
reproacher, and publish me in folio to the world.
Volumes of morality are dull and fpiritlofs com
pared to me. Lord Clive is himfelf a treatise upon
vanity, printed on a golden type. The most un
letteied clown writes explanatory notes thereon,
and reads them to his children. Yet I could
bear these insults could I but bear myfelf.
A ffrange unwelcome something hangs about me.
In company I seem no company at all.— The fef
tive board appears to me a stage, the crimson co
loured port resembles blood—each glass is strange
ly metamorphosed to a man in armour, and every
bowl appears a Nabob—The joyous toast is like
the found of murder, and the loud laugh are groans
of dying men. The feenes of India are all re
hearsed, and no one fees the tragedy but myfelf.
—Ah ! I difeover things which are not, and hear
unuttered founds.—
O peace, thou sweet ' companion of the calm and
innocent! whether art thou fled? Here take my
gold, and all the world calls mine, and come thou
in exchange; Or thou, thou noisy sweep, who
mix thy food with foot and relish it, who canst
defeend from lofty heights and walk the humble
earth again, without repining at the change, come
teach that viyfiery to me. Or thou, thou wan
dering beggar, who, when thou canst not beg fuc
cefsfully, will pilfer from the hound, and eat ther
dirty morsel sweetly; be thou Lord Clive, and I
will beg, so I may laugh like thee.
Could I unlearn what I've already learned—
unad what I've already aded—or would some sa
cred power convey me back to youth and innocence.
I'd aft another part —I'd keep within the vale of
humble life, nor wish for what the world calls'
pomp.
But since this cannot be,
And only a few days and fad remain for me,
§ I'll haste to quit the feene; for what is life
When ev'ry passion of the foul's at ftrife.
§ Some time before his death, he became very
melancholy—fubjed to strange imaginations—and
was found dead at last.
0+46-7 Q -ft * +---flp+4-&+ * -L^^
N E W-LON D 0 N, March 3 r.
[The Honourable House of Representatives of thia
colon, at their last Jeffion, voted an address of thanks
to the refpeflable House of Hfenb'y of the important
island of Jamaica, for their late kind and seasonable
mediation, oc, by their petition and remonstrance
to his Majefly— a cop, of which, with the Speakers
letter enclosing the fame {which have been forwarded)
we have obtained, and have the pleasure of present
ing to the public, viz.]
Colony of Connecticut, fs. New-Haven. March,
1775. '" ^e H-use of Representatives.
RESOLVED, That the thanks of this House
be given to the worthy and patriotic House
of Assembly for the Island of Jamaica, for their
kind and seasonable mediation in favour of the
Colonies on this Continent by their late humble
petition and remonstrance to his Majesty. And
that the Speaker of this House be, and he is here
by directed, to write.to the said Hon. Assembly,
and enclose a copy of this resolution, also of the
resolution of this House, at their session in May,
1773, appointing a Committee of Correspondence,
and invite them to come into that, or a fimifar
method of mutually communicating such intelli
gence, as may be of public importance, and more
immediately affeding the inhabitants of the British
Colonies and Islands in America.
Test. RICHARD LAW, Clk.
Colony of Connecticut,
SIR, Lebanon, March 14, 177 ft
IN pursuance of the direction of the Hon. House
of Representatives for this colony, I have the
pleasure of transmitting the enclosed resolution,
and at the fame time to return you their unfeign
ed thanks, for your late kind and seasonable, yet
Spirited and pertinent mediation, in their behalf,
by your remonstrance and petition to his most gra
cious Majesty.—The clear knowledge you have
of the inherent and unalienated rights of the Colo
nies, and the readiness you have shewn to assert
them, with a temper and firmnefs worthy of such
a cause, of Engtiftmen and Americans, at once re
flects the highest honour on your worthy and pa
triotic Assembly; and merits the most grateful
acknowledgements of tins whole continent.
1 he unnatural contest between the Parliament
of Great-Britain and these Colonies is, at length,
by the unwearied efforts of our enemies for a
course of # years, brought (to all human appear
ance) near to a most alarming crilis; in which,
threatened as we are with the dreadful alterna
tive, of surrendering all for which our fathers
fuffered and bled, all that is deferring thearten
tion of Men, Englishmen and Americans, in life;
or fuller all the horrors of a military contention
with the Parent State. The striking union of
these Colonies, a confeioufnefs of the juOice of
our cause, and the redivide of our views, wha
the approbation of our fellow men, seem, order
Heaven, our graateft confutation and support.
The reprefentatiows of so refpeCh:ble a bouyas
the Assembly of your large and in : ^ r ^nt Island,
will, we flatter ourselves, meet w 1 tire most fa
vourable ©cation of his Majesty and kis Mioif-