The Connecticut courant and Hartford weekly intelligencer — Hartford, Conn., 1777-01-06 00:00:00, page 2

Litany refy^ng find leqnft, gad prifoteg unani
mity in the Country; and afj confidxriAg the loose
and disjointed State, the people of the Maihehufetts-
Bay, have been in for divers years past, in which rima,
many er>=; have crept in and been supported with the'
remains of ih^ late conftitationa ; that the evils are
daily iacreafing and in all probability will continue till
a fixed and permanent firm of Government beeftabli
fhed. T.rerefne to pr^v^t, (is much as in them
tier) anarchy and confufi n, and the undue influence or
power of individuals in monopolizing incompatible of
fieas in the hands of particular persons, of the one hand
and on & other to {Lengthen ths hands of Govern
ment, ag^iatt an uaatural enemy,andlay a permanent
foundation for fafety, peace and happiness for this and
succeeding generations ; said Convention have come
into the following votes,&c. wi'h intention to lay Che
fimebefete the refpeaiviTpwn A for their coaAcieration.
VTaereas an a& paff«d in the late General Court,
foking the reprobation of the State vary unequal
and unfafi, thi^ Convention is of cpinion that the pre
fect General Court irnot the most suitable body to
form a system of Government for this State, moreover
the business being of the greatest importance, will re
quire more timeand clqfer attention than can be spared
by a house of reprefentativee, from the ordinary and
daily conerrnsof the State. Therefore voted, That a
State Co^refs chosen for the sole purpefi offorming a
Conftitutirn of Government is (in the opinon efthis
Convention) more eligible than an Hjufe ofßeprefen
tarivef.
Voted, Thatit be recommended to our refpedive
Towns, that they inland their Representatives, to ex
ert their influence, that writs be ifid from the Gene
ral Court impowering and direding the Towns to
chute members, to form 3 State Congress, by a mode
of replantation agreable to the last charter and a,
praaifud in the year 1775, " r the purpofa of forming
a plan of Gove rnment, which, when formed, tote
laid before the people for their in fp^ftion, approbation,
rej^dion, or amendment, (if any they have to propofs)
and when approved by the people, that said Coagr^s
solemnly tftiblilh he fame, iffic out writs far conven
ing a I,%iflative body, agreeable to said Constitution
and dissolve.
Voted, That the-proetedings of this Convention be
submitted to the consideration of the other countiesin
this State, find reqreft the favour of their fintiments
e, the fubjid.
Voted, To public the foregoing in the Boston, Wor
cester and Hartford Nawa-Papera, atfo in Hand Bills.
Bv order of the Convention.
—— J!°"''" HENSHAW, Chairmah,
The American C K I S T S
NUMBERS
By the Author of Common Sense.
T^ESE are the times that try men's fouls : The
sum aer foidier and the funffiine patriot will,
in this crilb, Shrink from the service of his
country ; but he that Hands it now, deserves the love
and thanks of man end woman. Tyranny, like hell,
it not easily conquered; yet we have this confutation
with us, that the harder the coaflid, the more glori
rout the triumph. What we obtain too cheap, we e-
Ream too lightly :---'Tis dearness only that gives e
very thing its value. Heaven knows how to fit a pro
per price upon its goods , and it would be strange in
deed, if so eeleftiai an article as Freedom fhouid not
be highly rated. Britain, with an army to enforce
hr tyranny, has declared, that ihe has a right (n^t
0„4 to tax) but " to BIND us ix ALL CASES WHAT
SOEVER,' and if oelng bound in that manner is not Ila
very, then is there not fach a thing as slavery upon
earth. Even the expression is impious, for so unli
mited a pow-r can belong oriy to God.
Whether the Independence of the Continent was de
ebred too soon, or delayed too long, I will not now
enter into as an argument ; my own simple opinion is,
that had it bean eight months earlier, it would have
been much better. We did not make a proper use of
left winter, neither could we, while we were in a de
pead^t stare. However, the fault, if it were one,
was all our own ; we have none to blame but our
filvei*. But no great deal is loft yet; all that Howe
has bean doing for this mouth past is rather a ravage
than a conqu^ft, which the fpi-it of the Jerfies a year
ago would have quicker repulftd, and which time and
a little refutation will soon recover.
I hav? as little faperftition in me as any man living,
bat myfxret opinion has ever been, and still is, that
Gob almighty wi^ nos give up a people to military
deftruaion, or leave them unfupportedly to perish,
who had so earneftty and so repeatedly fought to avoid
the calamities of war, by every decent method which
wisdom could invent. Neither have Ifo much of the
infidel in me, as to suppose that He has relinquished
the government of the world, and given us up to the
flare of devils ; and as Ido not, I cannot fee on what
grounds the king of Britain can look up to heaven for
help against us: A common murderer, a highway
men, or a houftbreaker, has as good a pretence as he.
~" furprifiag to fee how rapidly a panic will some
times run through a country. All nations and ages
nave b^nfubjaa to them : Britain has trembled ike
* " Ibe prfot winter, (waning the last) is forth ^
<< age, if rightly employed, but if loft, or Q^ed, the whole
<< continent will partake of the evil; and there is ^opunifo.
<' ment that man does not dfove, be be who, or w bat," or
< c where be will, that may be the means offaertfeirg afa
*' fafo precious and uffol? Common Sense.
an ^gue at the repatioi % French flaat of flat bottom
ed boats; and in the fourteenth century the whole
English army, after ravaging the kingdom of France,
was driven back like men prtrfi id with far; and this
brave exploit was performed by a few broken forces
collard and heaped by a woman. Joan of Arc.
Would, that Heaven might i^fpirc force Jersey maid
to spirit up her countrymen, and save her fair fellow
fuffsrers from ravage and raviffiment! Yet panics in
force cases, have their uses; they produce ns much
^°°' r , "rt. Their duration is always ffiort; the
mine won grows through them, and acqmiesa firmer
habit than before. But their peculiar advantage is,
that they are the touchdenes of sincerity and hypocri
sy, and bring things and men to light, which might
otherwise have lain forever undifeovered. In fad,
they have the fame tfft on secret traitors, which an
™ 3 ^'"'7 a P,^ r i f io % jo'ould upon a private murderer.
I hey sis: out the hidden thoughts of man, and hold
them up in public to the world. Many a disguised
I ory has lately ffiawn hi# head, that shall penitentially
folemnizs with curses th? day on which Howe arrived
upoh the Delaware.
# As I was with the troops at fort Lee, and marched
with teem to the edge of Pennsylvania, I am well ac
quainted with many circumft&nces, which these, who
lived at a distance, know bel little or nothing ts, Our
fixation there was exceedingly cramped, the place
being on a narrow n,ck ?f land between we North ri
ver and H^ckenfack. Our fore? was inconfidtfable,
being Ro t one forth fogreat as Ho^c could bring a
gainfl us We had no army at hand to have relieved
the garrison, had we ffiut oafelves up and ftced on
the d^fance. Our ammunidon, light artillery, arid
the bast part of our ftrres, had been removed upon the
app-ehenfion that Howe reoeld endeavor to penetrate
the J^fies, in which case fort Lie could be of no vf*
to us; for it must occur to every thinking man, whe
ther in the army or not, that these kind of fill'd forts
are only for temporary parpens, and hfl in use mo
longer than the enemy di^& his force rgainft the par
ticular objed, which such forts ar# raised to defend.
Such was our filtration and condition at fort Lee cn
the morning of the zoh of November, when an cffi
c:r arrived with information, that the enemy with 200
boats had landed about fven or sight miles ibdve:
Major - General Green, who commanded the gurifon,
immediately ordered them under arms, and fait d
press to his Excellency General Washington at the
town of Hackenfack, diflaat by the way of the ferry
fix miles. Our firft object was to secure the brity?
over the Hack^fick, which laid up the river be
tween the enemy and us, about fix miles from ns ^d
three from them. General Waflu^gton arrived in a
bout three quarters of an hour, and marched at the
head of ths troops towards the bridge, which place I
expeaed we ffiould hx^ a bruffi for ; however they
did not chafe to difpur 1 with us, aad th^ greatest
part of ou! troops Q. + tirebridge; the ,^ ever
the ferry, except feme vAich paCd at a mill on a
final! creek, between the bridge and the ferry, and
made their way through force marshy grounds up to
the town of Hackenfack, and there puffed the river.
We brought eff as much baggage as the waggons could
contain, the rest was loft. The simple object was 10
bring off the garrifan, and to march them o m till they
could be strengthened b, the ferfey or Pennsylvania
miritia, so as to be enabled to makeafland. We staid
four days at Newark, coHeded in our out pests with
feme of the farfey militia, and matched out twice to
meet the enemy on information of their king advanc
ing, though our numbers were greatly inferiofto theirs.
Howe, in my little opinion, committed a great error
in generalship, in mot throwing a body if forces iff
from Staten Island through Amboy, by which means
he might have seized all our stores at Brunswick, and
intercepted our march into Pennf Ivanin ; But, if we
believe the power of hell to be limited, we most like
wise, believe that their agents are under some provi
d,ntial controul.
I ftiall not now attempt to give all th# particulars of
cur retreat to the Delaware ; fuffi^ it fo r the prefat
to far, that both offices and men, though greatly ha
rass d and fatigued, frequent!,- without red, covering,
or provision, the inevi able confidences cf along re
treat, boreit with a meal, and a inerti.il spirit. All
their wishes were one, which wt,, that the country
would turn out and helfcthem to drive theenemy back.
Voltaire has remarked, that king William never ap
peared to full advantage but in difficulties and in ac
tion ; the fame remark may b< made on General
Wallington, for the charter fits him. There is a
natural firmnefsin fume minds which cannot be un
locked by trifles, but which, when unlocked, dlfco
vers a cabinet of fortitude; and I reckon it among
those kind of public bliffiags, which wi do got im
mediately fee, that God hath bleft him with uninter
rupted health, and given him a mind that can ev^n
flourish upon care.
I Ihall conclude this paper with fume mifeelhneGus
remarks on the Hate of our affairs ; and Ihall beein
with a&iag the following qusftion, Why is it that the
enemy bath left the New-England provinces, and
made theft middle ones the feat of war ? Th^ answer
is easy : New Englands not infefted with Tories, and
we are. I have been tender in raising ths cry against
theft men, and used numberless arguments to Auto
them their danger, hut it will not do to facrifice a
world to either their folly or their bafenefi. The pe
riod is now arrived, in which either they or we most
change our sentiments, or one or both must fell. And
a lery , Gocd.GoD : whst IF be ; I
V^ " g ° " i:h ^^rud Whirs
t^u^d ,^.ft w&e they to attempt to CT h
x^very Tory ^ a coward, f or a f e >vi.c f& ffi
feri-rntrnft^d fear y the foundation cf Tirft.
a men under such n^ucac*, though he ms, beoii
never can be brave. .-
But before the line cf irrecoverable fepewfem
drawn between os, let us i,r& the matter ^o^
1 jur conduftis an invitation to the Q
^e in , thoukndcf you has fr ^^h teil
H.>wen as much deceived % you ^ &
can fins injured by you. H^x„a, y„j ,„;] a h „
opa^s, and flick to hi, ^^d so teifo}
U^G ro, ffr t him perfonaljy ; for *i, fokfo’
arid net I orfes, t^at he Prints.""
1 once felt all th'-t kind of ange% freh a mam
ought to feel, against the mean principles that s^ held
Tories: A noted one, who k^pt a tavs+,
1%.™ *? di ^ ^ ^ door, with s , ^^~
^,^, about tighter rfo old/L
most 1 aver f^, ^d after forking hr smin'd $ frfy
as he thought was prudent, fyi/h.-d with this
ie? y exy^ffi n, " Well ! give me peace in ray
^ot a man lives on the Continent but sally bek
that a ftparatren mu st f^ ti ^ ~ o & r fo^f
place, anu a genera, parent. .would, have f a id° ^V
t^e^Uft, let it be in so,, tb at
b CTCT ^^ Q refl dion, well spp^d
is km lint to awrkan every min fodutf. 'N^Vn'sc^
upon earth might be so happy as America. H^foa
tion is remote from all the u ran ft wor% 2 .d ^
has nothing to do but to trade with them. A
^p difli^uilh ie sos ^ t . ^A,
principle, and I am as confident, a* I araQa^t
'" "^d' th " America will re^
nil ihegets ciear rs foreign dominion. W^ s, with
out effing, will break foil that period ar .+,,
the Conti,, mutt in the end 7
thine, thecoal never cmexrirc.
Am^ca did net, art doss not, went fo ;c „ but
ire wilted a proper rppjfcatier. es that force
dor, ^ the p u chafe c f a day, a r .d it is ^^
der list we moulded at firftfetting off. Foman ex
^^ t 0
:1 u ^ d °V, r . " ute to the temporarv defa.ee cf
aweri m,% militia. A fummc's experience has
taught ^ better; yet with iLdfe while
^'’ ^, € *" r tc te ' bounds to the
he enemy; and, th^k Godthey P .^^_
,h, IQs coxfidered a militia as th &
‘ T ldfar * fudd ^ CTrioR > but they
'V;W (A ^ city ; ffioaid h,
Lul on tnis fide the Delaware, he is mined ; ifft f uc „
,^, ©vreaefe is mot rife. He hi#
' P "'?u°" * '^% he %cmz
""' be> tha< armies f^ m both e„&
the Continent will mareh to assist t hrir fuff.
f,as, the middle State, ; for he carpet go _
where, it 1,?,,. J colder Howeas the great
est enemy the 1 Gms have; he is bringing a war into
^r'dv'f""'?' 7, ch ' ^ " not b ^ for and
partly tor themselves, they had be^n c'ear of. Shoi-U
: xp '^ 1 ^ w 'h all the .devotion cfa
Chri^an, that, names of Whig and Tory fry ne^er
more ae menmned ; but fh^ld the Tories pi ve hira
,^,m, [o ccme , or affiance Xhe coLs 1 „
^ that ? ur next yeai's arms mar expel
J, ^ Commit, ard the Cengrefs ^proori
, then prff ffions to the relief of those who fo c fa;
sered in we 1 doing. A single fucccQul n
year will fqtle the whole. America ccu 'd a
% 6 war b 7 th < c°r ; fiction of tbe p^V^f
persons, and be made happy thei, ex .
', f"° ,> "'' '^" 'hit is revenge, call it rather
the feft refatment of a firing p^,, wto ,
n ° r^ a 2ra vre ^ b , the GOOD of all, hav^fta.
, ,ir own all upnn a feelingly doubtful
Yet it is folly to a gu# agaißft dewni^d ha&fs ;
ckq,ce may ftike the ear, and the language rffor
row d;aw forth the tear of compiffim, but no&a,
can r ^ca the heart that is feiri with p Jochce.
Quitting this elaf, of men, I turn with the warm
ardour of & fiend to those who have nobly flocd
are yet determined to fland the matter cut ; I cnil not
upon ,% but upon all ; n o ton this State or that
State, but on every State ; up and help u, -
your moulders to the wheel ; better have 'w much
than too little, when so great an obj ft is ^
,ke. Let it be rid to the fatu^woJd, that in the
depmef winter, whn nothing but hope nd vi tee
couid iurvive, that the fyy and the country, alarm
cd at on, common darge,, came firth to m eet and to
repu Lit. Say not, that th ufa^L are grn, turn
out your tens of ihoufindi; ih^w rot th/b^t^n of
the day upon Provider, bp t "fawy^fob fy,
w%s,” that God may bless vou. It matters hot
,h-r c you or what rank of.i^ you hold, the e
vf or the bluffing will reach you all. The far a^d
the near, the home counties kind hr birk the rich
and the poor, fall fit, or rejoice dike. The fort
that feels not now, is dead: The bleed ofhis chil
!tn fhs.ll cuife his cowardice, *.ho sh ikks back ata
time when a little m^hl hsva fayed the whole, zed
made /fra, hajity. Ilove the min tbat can smile in
trouble, thatean gather lhen %l h rirm diftref?, ^r,d
grow brave by refleaion. 'Tit the business of little
minds to ffirink ; but he whose heart i$ fism, and