The Pennsylvania packet, or, The general advertiser — Lancaster, Pa.;Philadelphia, Pa., 1780-09-09 00:00:00, page 2

WJ/iim Bennet, the deponent bring did that both he
anl Nichhas Rimmel mufl go, for th, greater security
of -the Tme, and of toe money, whidhuaid Bennet should
pay for trie sugar and wine ; arid he further declares, he
received < note from Mr. John Okely, A. D. Q M. Gen.
certifying that the waggon which carried the (aid stores,
was engaged in 'ne hospital feryice, dated at Bethlehem,
thezxiday Of December, ,777, and thatthe pay allow-,
cd for the waggon was only for four days, as a waggon
in p rihic f-rvice.
Several Jepofitions were then read in Court to prove
there was no, such man as Thomas Brown at Bethlehem,
a trader in sugar ; and Dr. Shippen at length, compelled
by the force of the evidence, owned as much himfelf, and
that the account was made out in the hand writing of
James James, Clerk and son of Hugh James, his Com
miff ry of Hospital Stores
But what serves to crown Dr. Sbippen's conduct on
this head, isthe deposition of Joseph Tatem, of Wood
berry, in the Jerfies, who deposed,
That, in the winter of the year 1777, be fold a hogs
head of brown sugar to Mr. Bennet, tavern keeper in
Buck# County, that some short time after be called at Mr.
Rennet's house, who fiiewed the deponent another hogs
head of brown sugar, which he said he had purchased, not
lon^ before of Dr William Shippen, jon. Director Ge
neral of the Hospitals, at 42b a hundred, together with
a quarter calk of Madeira wine; —that whilst the depo
nent was at Eafton, Gmetime in the course of that w oter,
some persons aAing under Dr. Shippen's authority, in the
General Hospital, seized and took possession of a hogshead
of fu:ar belonging to the deponent and company, as th 7
Pledged, for t le use of the General Hospital, and direct
ted him for payment toMr.JofephShippen, Pay-Mailer to
the Hospital at Bethlehem, which herefufed to make, ex
cept in fug: r, o' which ft id Joseph Snippen told him there
was a great quantity on hand in the Hospital ; that the de
ponent thereupon told him, he should be well pleated if
he would do so, chuting rather ^ have the sugar back
than money, at the prue he had charged, which was on
ly -81, per ct. for he had charged it lower on a supposi
tion of its bem,; wanted for the sick of the hospital, than
he ofherwife would have done : But the PayMafter re
trarid from his word, and then did not chute to ethim
have the fogar; that this, with wh^t he knew of the affair
of the Gies of sugar, &c. to Mr. Bennet, convinced him
there were fame persons of rank in the hospital, who car
ried on improper dealings in sugars ; but Mr. Joseph
Shipper referred him for payment to his brother tl e Dj
reftor General ; that the Hores being faertiy after remo
ved to Manheim, he was obliged to take a journey there
for his money ; that be according y went there, and cal
lin? at Dr. Shippen about an hour before sunset, a
servant told him the Doftpr was engaged in company,
and that the deponent could not fee him, whereupon, he
desired the servant to tell his matter there was a gen
tieroan in waiting .there who must fee him, on which Dr.
Shippen came toltypwhis bufinefe, of which the depp.
neot informed him, and complained, of ill ofage in not
leaving been paid pisarcount, alt'^o' he had made two vi
sits to th, Doßor'A brother at Bethlehem, and hiw partner
Mr. Coaks Bit§< rs, had made one to no efle£t, and being
reduced to the ne'effity of performing a journey to Man
heim, (which is above four score miles difta.ut from Eaf- 1
top) at no fmhll expence and in very bad weather ; that
Dr. Ship en at firft refufed in a very haughty manner, to
pay him at rcrate of 38!. per ct. as he had charged,
and without rhinte or reason, infixed on his taking only
fob per ct. th^t t.e deponent then told him with some
indignation at his airfoil and arbitrary condria, that if
the 'deponent I t him have his <ugar at 381. per ct.
*,h6n he had fold a thogfhead of sugar himfelf to Mr.
Bennet ar^d per ct. he ought to be wellßatified, for
he thereby mace a greater profit, without any trouble or
rhk, than the deponent did, who had much trouble in the
purchase and tranfpottation, exclusive of the risk and'
wafie; that this reply icftsotly silenced all Dr. Shippen's
objections ; that in a foft soothing way, he then complai
fantir gave him to underftaud, that what he had fold
Mr. Bennet was a (mail adventure he had made ; that
Dr Shippen immediately after called his brother Mr. Jo
. frph Snippen, who was in the house, and directed him to
payhis accompt, at it Hood, allowing it then to be ery
removable, and he did fo § but the deponent did not de
mand, nor did Dr Shippen offir to pay him one farthing
for the expence of his journey.
Mr. Adam HhtzeJer of Reading, a retainer of sugars,
also de r osed, th it'Dr Shippen offered,abcur the fame time
or earlier, to fell him sugar by the hundred for £SO per
ct. but he refu ed to buy.
What, my virtuous fellow-citizens, can , excuse
a perlon in the high rank of Direßor - General,
fella fr<n the h.dpitals to tavern - keepers and
retainers, article- of so much consequence to the sick, as
the choices wmes and sugars, at a. time, when a mortal
fever raged amougft them with the utmoH violence ?
What claim had he to infringe the rights of the meanest
fobita, by prefling a wagon, and compelling the own
er, at the hazard of life, to fubferve his private purposes,
and to make the public pay toe exoence of his iniquitous
and clandeiliae trade? Is it confident with the idea of
American Liberty ? In my next paper, I (hall prove that
he fold hospital Hores, vra. sugar and wine, purqhafed
with public money, and put the profits in his own pock
et : that he fold wines (as well as sugar) after being
traofported in public waggons, lodged in hospital maga
zines, and both returned, and in part used, as public
property. What but a confeious of fraud, could induce
him to aitumea fiaitious name to conceal his tranfaai.
ons ? Can a charge be supported on better evidence? If the
positive oaths of so many reputable witnesses are not fuf.
ficient,bow many oaths are nectffary ; for many yet re
main ? I am at a lots to judge whar would appear fraud
in the e>es of a Court Martial, if this charge is not pro.
perly (upported. lam well informed by eminent council
it would be deemed fraud in a Court of Civil Law.
Laurence Powell, a continental baker, (old a little far,
which he said he had bought with his own money, but it
was an article of the department in which he was employ
ed. For this he was tried, and a jury found him guilty,
not of feling an article that might be called ftercs fit for
the baking department ; but cf felling continental floor,
for which he fullered the mod ignominious punishment :
yet he pressed no public waggons, nor did he assume a
fictitious name to conceal the tranhaion.
I avoid making further comments. Every mad will
naturally exercise his own judgment on the proceedings
of the Court Martial—their partial and dishonourable acc
quittal of Dr. Shippen, and the refufal of Congress to
approve of the acquittal, and fay whether this charge is
not supported on the most inconteftible proofs.;
(To be continued)
LONDO N,
HOUSE of C OMMON S.
Friday, April zB, 1780.
r^^ H E House being in a Committee of the whole, on
, the Bill brought in by Mr. Eurke, this Member
rose, and moved for the abolition of the offices of the great
master of the Wardrobes, and the under officers of that
department. A long conversation ensued, which was
lengthy, each Speaker endeavouring to thine as a wit, and
ea h witty Broke furnifhing room for brilliant remarks
from the other party. From simile to simile, the Mem
bers transported their audiace to the Hurons of North
America; and from the 18th century, back to the creati
on. A grave Senator, in fpeakinz ofa business on which
he supposed the very being of the empire to depend, no-'
bly compared a Bill amended by toe Lords, to an oil
woolen H ,citing, darned with silk, which we feled among
a thousand parages of this nature, because it was a great
genius; an author, in Ihort, Mr. Eden, who made use of
this agreeable simile. For two hours, these witicifms, like
Bathes of lightning, dazzled the hearers, and toe queflion
before the House got ioo. leagu.es put of fight, when Ge
neral Conway tried to bring it back again, by obferying,
thit if it was fuffer.ed to firay any further, th? Members
would forget the very nature of it. 'Let us return then/
said toe General, ' let us recoiled our minds, and fee
' what we are about. This Committee is met to confider
1 of divers Clauses of a Bill, founded on a planol general
' ceconomyi The voice of the people has compiled an
' hearing fits only cry is for ©economy : This Houfe,'
' without diftmfbon of party, is for a long time agreed
' that afyfiem of ^aonomy must take place, iaftead ofa
' system &fdiHipatidn. In a word, this nation has entered
'upon a new kind of war with France : A war of finance,
‘ which we have to (uppo. t against car enemies, the issue
4 of which, must necessarily be their run or ours. I fear
'we sh a ll adopt the new plan full late; for France is before
‘ hand ofus in the business. We can bpt follow her steps,
' playing the part of imitation only. What afy.ce have
' we to travel, befcye we discover the length to which our
f rival has attained !" (Here the General read to the
House, translations of some of the most affefting pre
ambfes, which will immorudize the-e^Qs of Louis the
16 h, bis perfoijal wisdom, and that of his Mini Hers of
State ; he represented the young King, as the successor,
and as emulating the good, the great Henry the 4th,
speaking to his fabjefts, like a father to his children, fet
fing bes re them, the Hate in which he found his fawc,,
at his acctffion to the throne; thus anticipating to them,
the fruits of his wifeoro, by opening his planso (economy
and reformation.) ' Louis the 16th,' continued the Ge
neral, 'has fucceedeq,a Prince, whole reign was an un
' interrupted course of dissipation arid prodigality; he
' perceived thatjRgQEQQ: was the only remedy which
' could be efficaciously applied to a disease which border -
' ed on a consumption, leading by flow steps, but sure,
'to the difTolutioo of the body politic Struck with this
' truth, the patriot K ng, turned all his views towards
' ceconomy. Strengthened in his design by wife councils,
' and fixed in his resolution, he has had the vigor to exe
' cute the great business, which his greater foul had plan
' ned: An happy people already enjoy the advantages ;
' a marine is erected; a most burdensome war fupport
ced; immense expenditures of all kinds, provided for.
' Louis the 16th, has done all these, and his fubjeds have
'not, as yet, paid one penny of new tax; whilst we, to
' Supply a part only of these wants, have already encrea
‘ fed the capital of our national debt, for which we pay
' interest, above forty millions sterling ; whilst we, for
' the payment of the interest of these forty millions, are
' forced to impose an infinity of taxes, as burdensome as
' they are new. How has this patriot King mariared, to
c exempt the (haulers of his fubjeds humiiads, under
' which ours fink ? He has, among oth« ; plant of fading,
' retrenched considerably, the expenses of bi boufrh^d •
'he has facrificed, in a great degree, the v?ic pomp of
' a Court, to theeafement of his people. S at 'we ven
' ture to compare his Court with ours? Al s, if we should
' hazard the comparifoo, in what differin'points of view
' should we contemplate the Ministers ofthetwo nations!
' in what a ma'hrly manner have theMimfl'er' of France,
<acquired a right to the veneration, the confidence, the
' bleffirgs of ther country by giving to their master, fa
< lutary advice, so favourably received, so happily fodow
'ed How much, on the other hand, are the" English
c Minihers eclipsed by the merit, by the glory of the for
' mer, to be condemned, for neglecting to awe t^eir so
c vireign those ufeful advices, on which', ^lakte of em
' pires depend?
If tnis parallel was mortifying to the Enplilh Minifies
in general, it tended particularly to v-x Lord North, be
cause, as Mini tier of finance, the disadvantage cf he
contrail fell diredly on him. He was not master of himfelf,
upon the firft impressions he received, but rising with great
emotion, and still more heat, he took care to hide the
Mtnifter behind the King. He teemed to fee in the pa
rallel, a design, only to expose the glory of his matter;
'and said, that - for patriotism, paternal affection, and
' every virtue, which adorn the man and the Prince, the
' King, his sovereign, yielded not to any monarch what
' ever.' General Conway, provoked at this, called the
noble Lord to order, cbferving that he had not drawn
the comparison between the Kings of England andFraose,
but between the Ministers of France and England. 'The
former,' continued he, ' visibly, have nothing in view,
' but trie glory of their sovereign, and the good of his
' people, whilst the others manifeft a perfe& indifference
' to both. I well know that the King whom I serve
' gives place in virtue, to no Prince upen earth, but I
' cannor fuffer the virtue of the mailer to be placed as
' a screen, to conceal from the people, the folly and inca
' pacity of his fervants.'
Lord North made a paltry defence, bytrying to shew,
thatin (peaking as he did, he only meaned to do that
justice to the King, which was his due. 'ln that cafe,'
replied Mr. Dunning, ' your.intent ion was mifplac^,
' altogether wrong, for you must know, iha{ this house
' is not the pulpit, from whence paoegypicks oubke fo
' verelgn, ate pronounced; a Prince; whose virtues we
' all know, and revere, but of whom you have spoken,
'only that you might aft under the influence of his name.'
Lord North, however, negatived the motico, by
210 votes against 162,
T RE N TO N, September 6.
Extract of a letter from an officer, dated English Neigh
bourhood, goth of August, 1780.
« On the 24th the light camp, which you know iscom
manded by Major General the Marquis de la Fayette,
took up its line of march from the place of its encamp
ment in the vicinity of Fort Lee, and moved 00 the road
to Bergen. We arrived near the town about one o'clock
at night, where we halted, and fixed our picquets and pa
troles. Col. Steuart with his regiment took poftwithin
about musket (hot of Paulus,Hook, the place where
our friend Lee so very deservedly gained such reputation.
Altho' I have been on this ground before, I was not till
then (efficiently fenfire of rhe multitude of difficulties
which must have been opposed to his success.
" In the morning the light camp tock a pofitioo on the
high ground between Bergentown and Paulus Hook." Tire
city, the flapping, Lon,flancl, and toe harbour lay rx.
posed to our view. The troops in New York of course
bad an opportunity cf feeing us, and I make no doubt
felt themselves injured by our near approach.
" All th is day the infantry were employed in foraging
as low as the Kills. The enemy fired a number of ffiot
upon those on Bergen Neck from Staten Iflan), but they
were too inef&aual either to difiurb toe waggoners who
were loading with grain, or to drive off any of the fcra
gers.
“ 1 cannot fay the amount of cattle and dry forage col-
Je&ed ; but certificates were given to the people that'they
might have as little room as possible for complaint. These
will procure thereat some future day, compensation ; and
in the mean time they should configer, that they have con
tributed heretofore very little to the support of this war;
and that what was taken for the use of t : s army, and to
prevent itr becoming 'afource of fubfiflence to the enemy,
does not amount to the value oftbeir taxes. In this li>ht
we have only affifled them to liquidate a tax, cheerfully
paid by their fellow citizens, and which they could
have paid in no other manner, owing to their parti
cular situation.
''But a business of this kind is seldom unattended with
more or lefsif injury to the houfhold property of the in
habitants. The foldieri will find occasions to pilfer, hew
ever watched by the officer. It is impoffibk to exclude
every practice of this hattire. All the officer can do in
this case, is to punish the offender when difeovered, and
reflore the goods. This was done in every ibßance ; 4nd
one of the soldiers hanged on the spot.
" What think you of all this, with Clinton's eyes fixed
upon every motion of ours? Have we not offered him
an opportunity to fight us, had he been so disposed ? And
as he has not done i, was it not fubmiatog to a gla
ring insult? Will not the world confider itiri this light ?
And can he any longer boafl to his vain Court, that he
only wished and waited for a fair occasion to fight ? Have
we not offered him battle every day fir.ee we re crofted the
North river and took pofl Dear Dobl>'o ferry ? And at
this infiant is not our situation at the liberty pole, and (be
neighbourhood of Fort Lee, of the nature of a military
challenge,? We have done the fame thing, precifciy, as
a man in private life who has been injured, and who twits
the fellow by the nefe, or fykes a cudgel oner his fhoul
d?rs, who abused him. Clinton has behaved like the
fellow who quietly submits to (he chaflifement.
" Tie light camp in this movement were supported by
the Pennfylvani 1 line. It commanded t e passage at Hoe
buck. The Jerfry brigade Bull's ferry, and the Y?rk
troops the intermediate space between that and the rest of
the army which remained encamp'd at the liberty pole.
The whole was under Major General Greene, who com
mands the right wing of the army. His arrangements
in th ; s movement do him 2 great deal of credit.
'' We."ire again where we -ere. Clinton 'tis said, has
landed ar Frog's point, in the county of Westchester, with
indention I would suppose, to take care or himfelf. I
wilh we could irr ; tate him to corue where we want him.
'' I think it probable that tire army will change its
fituatioq in a few days."
To THE I'RINTE R.
SI R.
As ite inclofed letter, which was intercepted coming
from New. York, may possibly entertain some of your
readers, it is sent to you for publication. The writer
will perceive that proper care has been taken to conceal
her name. I have only to ask the Lady's pardon for the
few comments that are added.
August 30th, 1780.
Fetv Yur% Awfcufi 27, 1780.
W"' ' almofi, fivcet filler, been frighten'd to death,
"Nor have we, as yet, quite recover'd our breath,
An army of rebels came down t'other eight,
Expecting no doubt that the Britilh would fight.
Next morning we saw them parade at the Hook •,
Abd thought, to be sure, this was too much to brook ;
That soon would the river be Crowded with boats,
With Hessian and English, to,cut all their threats :
r So we drefs'd in high taste to fee them embark.
Not thinking Sir Harry would go in the dark §
To light a retreat, as seen in his letter f,
He once uf'd the moon—for want of a better;
Much lets, having sworn, that the rebels he'd maul.
Could it enter our headt,—he'd not go at ad.
Th®' now I think on't, ere since Greece beat old Knyp 1,
Not one of his heroes have open'd a lip,
* Paulus Hook
t The battle o f Monmouth, where Sir Harry Clinton
fays, that be took advantage of the moon. I suppose this
is what the Lady alludes to. It may be well enough
however, to set her right, by inf rming her, that he did
not begin his retreat till the moon had gone down, which
vulgarly speaking, was really to take advantage of the
moon.
I Battle of Springfield, 33d of June, 1780.