The Pennsylvania packet, or, The general advertiser — Lancaster, Pa.;Philadelphia, Pa., 1783-01-18 00:00:00, page 2

'On Saturday home fetters were received from Quebec,
brought by the Aurora ca tain Hughes, arrived at
Erifl I, which mention that every thing remained quiet
in tlrar province, but the governor had ordered a body
of troops to Montreal and St. John's, information hav
ing been received, that the Americans, in conjunaion
with the French, intended to attack those places so
soon as the frofi sets in.
The treaty of amity and commerce, between the unit
ed provinces and the dates of America, was signed on
the 6th inflant, at the Hague. The copy of it being
produced, one fide in Dutch, the other in English, the
former was signed h y their high mightinesses, one for
; each province, and by the grand pensioner; the other
by his excellency Mr. Adams, minifies ad hoc on the
part of the Americans
Extract of a letter from Paris, Offober 6.
" On the firfl of this month Mr. Fhzherbert had a
long conference with the comtes de Vergennes and
D'Aranda, meffeurs Gerard de Brantfen, Benjamin
Franklin, and de Berkeorode, and presented frefblet
ters of credence, by which his Britannic mgefty au
thorifes him to Sign a treaty, in which that prince and
his parliament proposed to acknowledge the indepen
dence of the Americans, as a prelude to the great work
of peace: at present the arrival of ministers from con
gress are waited for, and certain intelligence of the e
vaCuation of the fourteen united provinces by the En
glish troops, before the conferences can go on.
" It is fait! that Mr. Gerard de Rayneval, firflfe
cretary of the navy, was sent to London by the comte
de Vergennes, to get the aft which eflablifhes the in
dependency of the Americans Signed by king George
the third and his ministers."
'Further ADV I'C FS by the Vessels
lately from Ostend.
The reverend Mr. Wyvill,
chairman, &C.
Extrad of a letter from Amflerdam, Nov.'s.
" A letter from LiSbon of the Bth of October fays,
that the Ruffian men of war, the Conflantinow, Swiatof
kow, David, and Slava, had arrived in the Tagus, lafl
from the Downs: the letter further adds, that three o
ther Ships, two of 68 guns, and one of 32, which form
ed part of the above squadron, were loft on the 18th of
September.
A gentleman who came over in the packet boat from
Holland fays, that the Dutch had a suspicion that some
of their people carried on a correspondence with the
English, which was the reason of taking the packets,
that they might difeover the persons.
The royal society assembled last week, for the pur
pose of christening the new planet, when, after vari
ous propositions and learned Speeches, it was at length
7) Y letters received yeflerday from I'Orient, we are
[] informed of the arrival's! that port of two Ameri
can privateers, tn- Alliance and the I uccaniec, They
brought in with them five.(hips belonging to the Jamai
ca fleet. The Alliance alone hath taken nine, which
file conduced into American ports The Buccanier,
winch was laden witbrfobacco, hath taken two.
Nov. 12. The following letters passed some time
ago between the earl of Shelburne and the reverend
Mr. IVyvill. On the 17th of October, 1781,3 manufeript
copy of the second address, adopted on that day by tee
Yerkfhire committee, was transmitted to lord Shel
burne, together with a letter of the fame date by their
chairman; a copy of which is here given, and alio
his lordship's answer of the 24th of ORober, 1781.
York, October 17, 1781.
" My Lord,
" I TAKE the liberty to inclofe for your lordship's
perufil, a manufeript copy of the second address to
the electors of Grat-Britain, agreed to by the commit
tee of association for the county of York; at a mod nu
merous and refp^flable m eting held here this day. Jt
contains their just acknowledgments of your lordship's
distinguished exertions in the general cadSe of parlia
mentary reformation ; and expresses their grateful sense
of your generous endeavours to accomplish a coalition
on rhe principles adopted by this association, and other
refpe&able bodies in different parts of the kingdom.
" These, I beg leave to assure you, are the genuine
Sentiments of this committee; and not more warmly
felt by any one member of it, than by,
My lord,
Your lordship's mod faithful,
And most obedient humble servant,
C. WYVILL"
" I WAS yesterday honoured with your letter of
the 17th instant. The repeated approbation of the
committee of the county of York, gives me perfonai
ly the greatest fitisfadion; and I am happy to find
nearly the fame opinions, which I expressed to this
county las lyear, more ably, as well as more fully in
culcated in the address you do me the honour to in
clofe to me. Their perseverance mufl command gene
ral respect, and will, I trufi, finally conquer every dif
ficulty in so found a caufr. As to myfelf, I am Gill
ready to enter into the firidefl and mod unequivocal
union with any public man, or public body of men,
who may be deemed, in point of national weight and
opinion, competent to the effecting those important
ends.
" Words cannot express how much I am alarmed at
the public situation at home and abroad; or my ap
preheofions for wh^t may be the refult.'
" The difihterefbd zeal, as well as temperate con
du&, which you have Shewn in the public Service, has
impressed me with a reSpeft with winch 1 muftalways
remain,
The earl of Shelburne.
Bowood-Park, Odober 24, 1781
“S I R,
LONDO N,
P A R I S,
SIR,
Your mod faithful,
And most obedient servant,
SHELBURNE."
October 25
October 21.
unanimotifiy reSolved, that the new corner mould, in
honour of his majesty, the patron of artsand Sciences,
be known in future by the name of Georgium Sidus.
This planet was at firft, from the rapidity of its moti
on, mistaken for a comet, but it was afterwards disco
vered, through an improved telescope, that it was a
planet : Its dimensions are now pretty well ascertained,
and it is classed in the fourth place as to size. The
society voted their thanks to the ingenious mathema
rician at hath, through whose improvement of the te
lefcope it was discovered that the Georgium Sidus was
a planet.
The following ships are equipping with the greatest
dipatch, and it is imagined they will all be ready Soft
Tea by chri flmas next, viz.
November 13. Orders are gone from the war office
for the breaking up the camps at Plymouth ; the Wor
cestershire militia march on the 19th into winter quar
ters, at Dorchester, Wareham, and Corfe castle.
H : s majefiy's new Ship Carnatic, of 74 guns, launch
ed last week, is ordered into dock to be copper-bot
tomed, and got ready for sea as soon as possible.
Extra of a letter from Fowey, November 8.
" Last night the Fox privateer, captain Verco, be
longing to Plymouth, lying at anchor in Meyagiffey
road, the captain and officers being a(hore, some Irish
men who were on board took the advantage, and car
ried the vessel to lea; they were seen the next morn
ing fleering for the coafl of France.
" The last catch of pilchards taken at Mevagiffey,
which was about 1200 hhds. were fold yeflerday for
40s. per hogshead, exclusive of the bounty, which is
6s. 6d. per hundred.''
Extract of a letter from Mr. John Foster, of the Bet
sey, capt. Storey, of Whitehaven, to his merchants,
messieurs Robinson and Sanderson, dated at Liver,
pool the 17th oaober.
" We arrived here last night, and I think I may
add, without exaggeration, after as disagreeable a
passage as ever fleet met with. Long before this you
will have heard of the dreadful hurricane which fepa
rated the fleet on the 16th of September ; but you will
hill be Short, even after this, for it is not in my pow
er to describe it in its most melancholy feenes, nor do
I think any person has an adequate idea of it who had
not the misfortune of beholding it.
" ft began in the S. E. quarter, and ended in the
N. W. From about one o'clock till four was the seve
rity of the gale, with every Symptom of the hurri
canes in the Weft Indies, bejng attended with smart
lightning and no thunder At that time I felt for the
poor beings who were in vessels similar to those I have
been Sometimes in at sea, and thought myfelf happy in
being in a firm vessel. We had nothing to fear from
the gale, except falling foul of some vessel, on which
account we were very anxious for day-light. But
when the wished for day-'ight came on, on every file
appeared deOruftion ; vessels without malls or yards,
rum puncheons, various parts of wrecksand dead bo
dies of both sexes covered the sea ; there was no fide
on which you could turn your eyes, but presented you
with a wreck.
" The Caton and Hercules parted with the fleet be
fore the gale, and the Jan u s never joined us. The
Caton went to America."
YeHerday passed the seal, a difbenfation to the reve
rend Myles Cooper, LL. D. enabling him to hold the
reßory of Cowley, in the county of Gloucester, with
the reftoy of Sulhamfled-Abbas, and the rectory of
Sulh^mfled-Banifter, in Berks.
Many people begin to be uneasy for the arrival of
the Buffalo man of war, which lord Howe sent home
with a duplicate of his dispatches, fufpeaing that file
has fed in with the French Ships that failed the latter
end of lafl month from Brest.
The Adventure, Norman; Union, Norfar; Hope,
Brigs; and Thomas Adventure, MTnch, laden with
coals, which failed with lord Howe's fleet, having loft
the convoy, were taken off the Burlings by two small
Spanish privateers, and carried into a port near Lif
boo; the crews are arrived at Lisbon.
''We kept near the Centaur till about twelve o'clock,
at which time the Ville de Paris spoke to her ; the lat
ter had received no damage. The gale still iscreafing
and looking very difmd, we were afraid of falling foul
of ships masts, or other wreck, and feeing no hopes of
any further assistance from the men of war, we bore a
way before dark under a reefed forefail, in order to
ftetr clear of the wrecks before night, though we did
not lose fight of them for 24 hours.
" We sustained no damage, except splitting our
room mainsail, which we were laying to with club reef
ed; the remainder of the night we had every fail furl
ed, and then our leading blocks were in the water.
After we left the fleet, we fell in with the Abbey, capt.
Court, and the Agnes, captain Bailiff, both for Laa
cafter, who had got some of the Ramilies crew on
board.'
“ About eight o'clock in the morning we saw a man
floating on some wreck. We were then under a reef
ed main-flay fail, but the gale abating (very form
nately for the poor fellow) we found ourselves to wind
ward of him, and the vessel answering the hdm, and
wearing equalto our wishes, we ran along-fide of the
wreck, and threw him a rope, which he got hold off,
and very easily got on board. He is the second mate
of the Minerva, captain Robert Holmes, of Glasgow •,
tbey had cut away her mizen-maft about ten minutes
before she foundered ; which mas lwe took him off, as
ter being in that dreadful fi nation for fix hours. The
Minerva had 20 people on board, with passengers, a 1
of whom perished except the above person, whose
name is J. Scott.
" His maje?y's ship Centaur was the firft vessel we
knew ; She was entirely difmafted, and had loft her rud
der. The Glorieux was the second, She had loft her
bowsprit, fore mafl, and main-top mast. Several mer
chant vessels were in equal bad condition ; but what
fl ill encreafed the difa greeal?le fpeTacle was, that it was
not in our power to give them any assistance.
Elizabeth 74I
Albion 74 j
Grafton 74|
Triumph 74|
Carnatic 74<
[ Trident 64
1 Scipio 64
IStandard 64
ISalifbury 50
I Granipus 50
We are very furry to inform the public, that Mr.
Henry Laurens, late president of congress, has had the
misfortune to lose his (on, colonel Laurens, who, to
the unspeakable regret of all who kn^w him, and the
great loss of the cause of America,' was killed near
Charleftown by a foraging party of the enemy. He
had about 50 men at a pofl, the enemy were about
500 ; he made a brave refinance, repulsing them two
or three times, until he fell, with 20 or 30 of his men.
ft is now said that earl Cornwallis will succeed gene
ral Burgoyne, as commander of the forces in Ireland.
The have trade of America is pursued with vigour
by congress. It is humourously remarked in one of
the last letters received from that part of the world
“ that a negro cultivating tobacco, (peaks better Eng
“ lifh than half the shopkeepers in London !"
The Union is the seventh ship of the line the Dutch
have loft this war. Two were taken just at the com
mencement ; a third in the Weft-Indies ; one was loft
in the D gger-bank engagement, and another in the
Texel, by the carelessness of the pilot, to which is
now to be added the Union, loft in the North-seas.
Count de Welderen, who is loft in the Union Dutch
man of war, was the eldef lNn of count de Welderen
lately ambassador to our court from Holland: the
Dutch nobility having few second titles, the eldest
Ton bears that of the father, being distinguished only
by his surname.
Extras of a letter from an officer on board the Vido
ry > L'^e authenticity of which our readers may de
pend on] to a friend in London.
Victory at Sea, October 24, 1782.
" My former letter conruned some account of our
relieving the garrison cf'Gibraltar, in the face of fifty
fail of the line, French and Spanish. We were kept
some time within the Mediterranean, and the enemy,
I judge, vexed and disappointed at their not being a
ble to terrify us from an attempt to throw in the°fuc
cours, followed us into the Mediterranean, apparently
with an intension to annihilate us. They having the
advantage of being to windward, came down in battle
array. Weformed our line in a mod compact man
ner, to receive their attack ; but at dusk in the even
ing, they hauled their wind, and food close in under
their own coafl. We at this time, had some, valuable
ships of our convoy in company, they having miffed
A letter received by a merchant of Dublin, by the
lafl packet, from a great banking house in Paris, fays,
" 1 he accomplishment of your desire for peace, is not
so diflan: as the news writers with you seem to
imagine; for I r an till you with confidence, that if
Gibra tar is relieved, die sieg e of that fortrefs will be
raffed, and a negociation for establishing a peace will
be seriously begun; and from the known disposition
of all the helh/ereat powers, the event will be happy."
It is confidently Spoken of at the Hague, that unless
the belligerent powers enter into terms pacific, the
empress of Ruffin has declared her intention of fending
out a flet in favour of Great Britain early in the
Spring-
A very Scandalous attack has been made on admi
ral lord Howe in one of the morning papers, by which
we fee, that though the lafl administration are de
parted from office, they are not extin&. The fame
spirit of detraction still exifls, and now exerts itfelf on
one of the greatest officers of the age. The skill of
this attack, as well as the spirit, leads us to the au
thor ; and we fee the active powers of that turbulent
man, who some years ago arraigned his conduct for
not having fought frigates against firft rates.
November 15. The Dublin papers by yesterday's
mail, fay. that in addition to the fencible scheme, admi
nistration has determined to create three additional
judges, a measure condemned in the administration of
lord Buckingham, upon the motion of Mr. Yelverton,
the pref nt attorney general. A mea fu re proposed to
lord Carldle, and rejected by him as unneffary, expen
sive, and tending to delay the progress of business. If
the appointment fliall be made during the recess of par
liament, the house of commons, which heard with in
dignation, and was ready to condemn the intended ap
poimment of an attorney and Solicitor-general to the
quern, may cen ure, but cannot prevent the measure.
This day there is to be a board of treasury relative
to the granting money for raifiog the levies in Germa
ny.
Yeflerday morning an officer arrived at the admiral
ty with dispatches from lord Howe's fleet, but are said
to contain nothing new.
Yeherday a messenger arrived at the admiralty with
dispatches from Plymouth, giving an account, that a
merchant (hip hal arrived there on Tuesday lafl from
Madeira, that they saw lord Howe's fleet within three
days fail of the Lands-End, and that his arrival might
be hourly expeCLd. The above account was imme
diately sent ro his majefiy at Windsor.
Lord Howe s fleet is daily expected, in consequence
of which orders have been f nt for the immediate vic
tuallmg and watering twelve fail of the line on their ar
rival at Portsmouth. This squadron, it is reported,
are defined for the Weft-Indies.
Dispatches are received from Holland, which inti
mate a correspondence having been discovered that
threatened total change of government in that conn
try, and in which feme of 'he firfl families are said to
be concerned. Great altercations had ensued in conse
quence of the difeovery, and both parties were so busily
employed in watching each otner, that the warlike ope^
r lions of the republic were nearly at a fland ; and the
far of Ships of war, intended for Brest, had been pre
vented from failing.with a favourable wind, by a de
lay publicly reported to be purposely designed.
Private lett p rs from France mention the great arma
ments fitting out at Bred and ; onion, which are in
tended for Cadiz, to join a part of the combined fleets,
and to proceed together for the Weft fnd.es, unler the
command of d'Frtamg, or Guichen. 7 hefe letters add,
that the Spanish court, at the earned entreaty of the
French, I av^ gi^n up all idea of the siege of Gibral
tar, and that 10,000 men from the army before that:
place will embark the brgimrng of next month for
Martinico or Cuba where a fleet of near 50 fail of the
line are to co-operate with them id attacking some of
toe English fatlemeuts.