The Pennsylvania packet, or, The general advertiser — Lancaster, Pa.;Philadelphia, Pa., 1781-09-15 00:00:00, page 3

KINGSTON (Jamaica) July 14.
ON Moday the Hero letter of marque of 28 guns,
captain Beaver, returned from a cruize. Last
Friday night about ten o'clock, this vessel unfortu
nately fell in with, and engaged his majefly's frigate
Licorne of 36 guns, the honourably captain Cadogan,
they mutually miflaking each other for enemies. They
fought very obflinately within pistol (hot, for an hour
and a quarter before they d,fcovered their mistake,
during which time the Hero had three men killed and
seven wounded, two of whom are since dead of their
Bounds. Seven are said to have been killed and nine
wounded on board the Licorne. The Licorne Bill con
tinues her cruize, butthe II ro being exceedingly da
maged in her hull, as well as her fails, masts and rig
ging, was obliged to return to Port Royal to be refit
ted, and is now under repair.
July 21. His majesty% sloop of war Vaughan, cap
tain Slow, arrived at Fort-Royal on Tuesday, in eight
days, express from Barbados, with dispatches from
admiral Rodney to vice admiral fir Peter Parker. By
this vessel, information is received, that the French
squadron, confining of 28 fail of the line and some fri
gates, with upwards of 200 fail of merchantmen under
their convoy, failed from Fort-Royal, Martinique,
the 6th instant, supposed to be destined for Cape Fran
cois : there to be joined by the ships bound to Old
France, from the different ports in Hispaniola, in or
der to proceed to Europe. When the Vaughan left
Barbadoes, fir George Rodney lay there with twelve
fail of the line, having dispatched admiral Hood on a
secret expedition with eight ships, a number of frigates
and transports with t oops 011 board.
We have allo the mortification to learn by the Fox,
that our homeward bound fleet, of which we have hi
therto had such favourable accounts, has been entirely
di perfed, owing to a series of calm, hazy weather, and
partial currents. Captain Windsor received this very
disagreeable information from captain O'Hara of his
majesty's ship Janus, which he fell in with on Wednes
day off the N^vafla :—Captain O'Hara loft fight of the
fleet on Saturday last in latitude 19. 30 and has not since
seen any of them or the convoy, excepting his mejefiy's
Ihipßuby,which had parted with tlem the night before
July 28. Last Saturday and Sunday, the homeward
bound fleet which failed from Port Royal the begin-
Ding of this month, returned to that harbour, with his
majesty's ships Albion, Princess Royal, Ruby, and
Janus, in consequence of orders for that purpose hav
ing been difpa chef to the commodore by the Resource
frigate and Punch tender.
It is said the Resource was then to proceed to Cape
Francois, and the Punch to the Havanna, in order to
reconnoitre these harbours.
From the best information we can obtain, upwards
of twenty of the fleet are fii:l miffing, but we have
not been able to learn with any degree of certainty.
We do not find that any of the ships have received
any material damage, but what the public is a ready
acquainted with; the Lrfng, captain Wilson, except
ed, which has loft her head and bowsprit.
His majesty's ships Ramifies, Licorne, and Pelican,
with a French brig privateer, k Cerf, prize to the lat
ter, arrived on Tuesday. The Cerf is from Aux Cay's,
mounts 16 guns with 120 men and had been out only
^ few days, in which time file had taken the Blandford,
a ship from Glafeow, and sent her into Aux Cay's.
The capt. of the Blandford, is arrived in the privateer.
Jtis said that fir George Rodney was in hourly ex
pectation of a reinforcement of ten fail* of the line, un
d° he orders of fir John Lockhart Ross, and that as
K. -ne is job ed by them, he means ,to leave she
wino, lands, in order to watch the motions of
the count de Graffe, now at Cape Francois.
CHARLES TO WN, August 23.
Last Tuesday ' his majelly's packet boat, Queen Char
lotte, captain Clarke, failed for Falmouth. Fn her
rant passengers, the right honourable lord Rawdon,
Leutenant colonel Doyle and his lady, Mrs. Clarke,
and Mr. Anfter.
Auguff 29. A gentleman who was passenger in the
brig Dfpatch from Jamaica, informs us, that they
. On board the Sandwich in the harbour of St. Eufta
tius, Feb. 6, 1781.
This letter was written, and the vessel that was to
convey it upon the point of its departure, when we
received the difagrteaole news that the Mars, a vessel
of war belonging to the Republic, and its convoy,
confiding of 23 fail, which had set fail On theist in
slant had been all taken, and that the rear-admiral
Crul had been killed. Bis vessel was brought here in
tow, which proves that it must have fuff red a good
deal before it furrended. The admiral makes me hope
that I (hall soon be difpatche% together with my crew,
for Europe. I wait for that moment with impatience.
F. S. BVLAND.
Bon Mot. The late fir Thomas Robinson, usually
called, on account of his tall feature, long fir Thomas,
talking with the celebrated lord Chefterfield, force
months previous to his decease, lamented feelingly over
his own lingering indisposition ; and when the other
observed that his health olfo was rapidly decaying, he
answered, " Aye, my nobl^ friend, we are both dying
by inches." " Sir, (replied his lordfllip) if that be
the case, I give you joy ofthe certainty of surviving me ;
for, such is your extraordinary height, and so diminu
tive is mine, that when I drop into the grave, you will
be at lead fix and thirty inches out of it."
Anecdote. At the breaking out of the present war
with the French, and their joining the Americans, fir
Joseph Yorke meeting the French ambassador at the
Hague, censured his court for interfering in the dispute,
and taking so ungenerous a part; " you have been
“ guilty of a dishonourable ad, fays he, that is un
" pardonable--no less than that of debauching our
" daughter." “ I am sorry," replies the Fiench am
bassador, “ that your excellency should put such a fe
'' vere confiruflion on the matter; she m?de the hi fl
" advances, and absolutely threw herfelf into ur arms;
“ but rather than forfeit your friendfllip, if matrimo
" ny will make any attonement, we are. ready to a&
" honourable and marry her."
Thus the American army loft five hundred disciplin
ed troops, (btfides the militia compelled to join them)
which number, added to the British forces, gave them
the advantage of a thousand regular soldiers, feafooed
to the climate, and each man equal to two newly raff
ed sent from England. Therefore the enemy have been
two thousand men gainer by that tingle instance. it
may be asked, whether we have not equal success in
inlifling British prisoners? I answer, No: the reason is
obvious, for we do not supply our soldiers with cloth
ing, nor have we hard money to fend them during
their imprisonment ffo of course they are necefftated
to accept of British gold and get garments to cover
their nakedness. Prisoners in our hands are not in such
a deplorable situation.
But to lay aside policy, humanity demands that we
should not delay a moment to relieve the distressed.
How void of feeling muff that man be, who can live in
volu ptuou fnefs and lie down at ease, when it is in his
power, and he does not release his brethren, his coun
trymen, from loathsome dungeon, from the most poig
nant calamity that can befall mankind. Alas! my
country, what numbers of your inhabitants have ex
pired by inches in prisons ; not less than fifteen hun
dred starved and perished to death in one winter asNew-
York! Stop reader and dr^p a fympathifing tear at
the remembrance! 0 Americans ! Congress, Congress!
will you any longer delay to convince your inveterate
enemy that you dare take vengeance for such savage
treatment of those whom the fortune of war throws
in their hands ? Can you reflect upon these things with
out starting up, one and all, in a noble rage, and deter
mine to put Retaliation in execution? O you r^rs of
each cf the United States, let the lamentable filuation
of your friends in captivity raise a fellow-feeling in
your hearts, and urge you to leave to done unturned,
to release them and mitiga e their fufferings. Have
not many of your countrymen been transported from
New-York across the ocean to England, where they are
now undergoing the most bitter heart-rending distresses ?
If those proceedings are pemitted to go on, can you
expert the blessings of heaven on your undertakings ?
Fired with indignation at the Bufferings of my bre
thren, I shall be provoked to proclaim truths, which
perhaps may be galling to many ; but the times de
mand that every friend to America, should probe its
wounds to the quick! There are men, who during the
war, have been like vultures preying upon the vitals of
the commonwealth. Several of the quarter-mafiers
and commissaries deserve particular notice.—Ha! I
have fiepped into a gulph of labyrinths, which if ex
plored will astonish the world.
PLAIN TRUTH.
@®®o^^®®®^@®®^
A Person capable of teaching
Writing, Arit metick and Geopraphy, that will give
A tendance orce a Day at a private House, to inffru&
tour Children, will met with great Encouragement.
Apply to th* Printer.
To be fold cheap,
ALA^tGB and Valuable Aflortment of DRUGS
and MhDltm^S; and (hop furniture, being the
flock in hand o' the late D,. V_n Solinger, dec afed-.
They will be fid all together, or in quantities, to suit
the purchasers, by the fiibfcriber, at her dweinngy in
Second street near Arch-street.
SARAH VAN SOLINGEN, Executrix.
N. B If the above are not fold by private (ale by the
10 instant, they will be fold by public vendue.
Sept. 6, 1781.
The barbarous enemy, by cruel usage and meander
ing deceptions, forced upwards of five hundred of those
heroes to enlist, under the fraudulent perfu fion that
they were not to fight against their countrymen:
Matchiefs chicanery!
left Jamaica the 31st of last month; that the French
fleet were at the Cape, and that on theist of this
month, in the evening, it blew a most severe Form;
there were then in company with the Dispatch, the
Constantia, Nancy, and two other ships, homeward
bound, and the brig , captain M'Lean, for
New-York, none of which (attained any material inju
ry.
4 Sympathetic feeling for the misery of my coun
' A trymenfuffering in most obnoxious provofis and
prison-ships ; the many difad vantages accruing to our
cause from a delay to enforce an exchange; enrages my
bread at such pufilanimous proceedings, and makes
me at times conclude that those in power lacl< either
Honefly, Humanity, Judgment, or Resolution.
There has been a most erroneous opinion entertained
by many, with regard to the advantages given the
enemy by exchanging prisoners ; because, fay they,
the British have three thousand miles to bring their
men, therefore cannot obtain a supply so quick as the
United States. Hence such conclude that if each par
ty have a certain nu mber of prisoners, suppose a thous
and, it would not be for the interest of America to
forward an exchange; as we might rep ace our num
ber in a much fliorter period than the enemy could
theirs; which, on a transient survey of the matter,
seems to have some appearance of good policy; but
upon invefligation may be proved vague, and a fuper
ficial way of reasoning. One example will fuffice to
invalidate the argument; only advert to the fall of
Charleftown: out of near two thousand continental
troops made captives that day, I believe not above 8
or^coever rejoined the American army. Never did any
body of men shew more intrepidity than they, during a
long fatiguing siege: it was astonishing to observe their
uncommon^attachment to the cause of their country;
insomuch that I heard numbers declare, a few minutes
before the surrender, that they would prefer marching
out of the lines and boldly attack the foe, though a
bove four to one, rather than submit. Tee (offerings
of those brave fellows made I fe a burthen to them, as
they wanted for every neceliary to mol ify an irksome
confinement.
To the P RINTE R.
Office of Finance.
September 13, 1781,
IN purfotpee of an a& of the United States in Con
^refs affercbled, Notice is hereby given, that propo
fols will be received in this office, from the date hereof
until theist day of October next, inclusive : For supply
ing by contrast, the rations deliverable by the public
at the post of Wyoming, to such Officers, Soldiers and
others, as are or may be entitled to them, from a certain
time le be fixed in the contr^a until the expiration of
twelve months thereafter. The rations to consist of
One pound of Bread,
One pound of Beef, cr three quarter of a pound
of Pork,,
ons gill of good Whifcy,
And of One quart of Salt, \to every hundred
T^oquarts cfVinegar,) rations.
81b. of Soap, \ to every seven hun
gib. of Candles, / dred rations.
Tie contractors to issue the said rations: The pay-'
menes to be made in gold °r silver at the times to bg
Stipulated in the contr2&. The prepofals to be sent in
feared and to contain the lowest prices, and longest
t^rms of payment at which the parties will contraa.
N, B. The ftipulitions tc be entered into may be
seen in the draft of a contrast at this office.
A further SALE of the
Public Lots of this City,
For the redemption of the Bills of Credit
of this state, dated April the 29th, 1780, will be held
at the Coffee-hcuie, on THURSDAY, the 20th of Sep
tember instant, at TE N o'clock in the forenoon. A
Plan of the Lots may be seen it the Coffee-houfe, and„
at the Survivor General's Office. The conditions the
fame as the last files. Auguff
yirC?>^MOR~RTs,
On the weft fide of Front-street a few doors below
Walnut-street, has for Sale,
COARSE, Laval, Nombattu, Linens,
Bedticks,
Womens and mens coarse and fine cotton Hose.
Brittol window Glass of different sizes,
Spanish Brown, yellow Oaker, and Venetian Red
Paints ground in oil,
Englilh Tin, &c. &c.
Tench Coxe
Has for SALE, on the south fide of Walnut-street,
near Second-street,
AN rffo-ment of QUEENS WARE, consisting of
Pla'e*, D (hes, Tureens, Mugs, and Bafons. Nom
baitu, Pontivy, and Laval linens; white Swanskins,
Coating, coarse E oidclnaths, dark and light Chintzes,
ft^ped and clouded Lute firings. Also brown and white
Sugars in hogsheads, boxes and barels ; Maryland To
bacco, and a quantity of white Bifeuit in kegs.
-TO"B E SO-L^
A strong healthy NEGRO WENCH, about 22 years
of age. Enquire of the printer.
Wanted, a Wee Nurse that can
be well recommended. Enquire of the Printer.
Philadelphia, September 6.
STOLEN, last Sunday night, out of the pasture of
the fubferiber, livng in Upper Sochna township,
Northampton county, a dark Brown M^RE, between
riband r$ hands higi, -& years old, has a little star in
her 'orrh^ad mixed with brown hairs, one faddie
majk the Igaris of eleven p^y bit, the mane hang,
on boo fi ee, (he is higher behind than before, pacts
and traits Whoever bring# the said Mare to the fub
feriber, shall have SIX POUNDS Reward or for Marer
and Thief NINE POUNDS, paid by
JACOB BLTTENBkp.*&
(Being the 17th Instant)
At TEN o'Clock in the Forenoon,
At the Marshal's STORES, on Messrs James and
Drinker's Wharf, between Arch and Race streets,
Will be Sold by Public Auction,
SIXTY boxes of Briftul window glass; twenty cases
of patent fheithing paper ; a large quantity of cast
iron pots, kettles and bake pans ; seventy groce of vel
vet co ks; boxes and mills for fnuff makers; harness
and bridle leather; a case of 3 and a half, 4, and 4 and
a half pound pins ; two casks, containing hinges; locks,
bright augers, coffee mills, iron squares, buckles and
buckle Shapes, awl blades, tacks, brass nails, bolts, gun
w>rms, hair fievs, gimblets, fpcaacles, &c. also, from
packages, containing brass candlesticks, fifh hooks,
hammers, adzes, drawing knives, trowels, screw drivers^
nippers, pincers, cempaffes, (hovels and tongs, andi
rons, latches, curry-combs, pullies, (butter bolts,
gim'leta, gun locks, tacks, fours, awl blades, (hoe
knives, docks and bits, locks, fnuffers, (crews, &c. &c
twelve millfnws, and thirty-fix handsaws; part of the
cargo of the prize ship DIMSDALE.
The ironmongery will be fold in large lots, by the
original invoices.
CLEMENT BIDDLE, Marshal.
0# MONDAY Next,