The Connecticut courant and Hartford weekly intelligencer — Hartford, Conn., 1777-05-19 00:00:00, page 2

ft^<m*4 ^ & ^^ the w^ under the government rs
Britan, is true; but thare is every natural reafen to
batiks, that had she been an independent country
from tW firft fettltment thereof, uncenir^uled by any
foreign power, free to make her own laws, regular
and ^couraga her own commerce, She had by this
timabeen of ranch greater worth than now. The
case it imply thin, The firft fattier#- in the different
Colonies were left to Hiift for themselves, unnoticed
and anfapported by any European government ; but
a# the tyranny and perfscation ofthe old world daily
drove numbers to ths new, and, as by the favour ®f
Heaven on their iaduHry and perseverance, they, grew
into importance, fr, in a lik* degree, they became
an obj'^l of prefit to the gresd, eyes of Europe. It
was impossible in this ft^ of infancy, hroarer thriv
ing and promising, that whs, could refill .he power of
any araed invader that firrald fiek to bring them
natter Mfrothorit,. Im this fixation Britain thought
it worth her while to claim them, and the Continent ,
received and acknowledged the ciaimer. It was, in
reality, cfap very great importance who was her
matter, feeing,, that from the force and ambition of
th^ different powers of Europe she muff, till Hie ac
quired drength enough ta assert her own right, ac
ktoebdgefon^^nr, As wJI„ ,perhaps, Britain as
another; and it might have been as well to have been
under the S tiles of Holland as nay. The fame hopes
©feagroffing and profiting b, her trade, by not up
preffing if too much, would have operand "alike with
any matter, and produced to the Colonies th# fame
#ffe&. The clamor of protedion, likewifa, was all
a farce; b?cauf& in order to make that protection
mactfoy, she must fir,ft, by her own quarrel# crea.e
as enowep, Hard te;mt, indeed !
To knr-v whether it be the inters# of the Conti
nent to be independent, we n^d only #& this easy,
simple q^ftinn .• is it theintcrefl ©f a men to be a
buy all nia life ? The aaGarto one will be the un
feer to both. America hath been one continued
foie ofleriflativs contention from the fi ft king's te
rr^fantativa to the lsft: and this was unavoidably
fniqld in the natural opposition cf interest between
the old country and the new. A gov<rn?r feat from
England, or racrivih, hit authority therefrom, ought
^^r to have beenceafidered in any other light than
that of a genial cammiffioned spy, whefs private bu
fineft w*« infirmaries, ,^d his rubric bufineft a kind
of civilized pppreffim la the fi# of these charadeis
he we# to watch tha tempers, fentimeats and difpofi
tian of the people, the growth of trade, and the en
cre^fe of private firtwee; ; and in the latter, to fup
prels all such a&s of the Assemblies, however benefi
cial to the people, which did not diref/ly or indir^d
1, throw fsmeencreafe of power or prefix into the
hands of thefc who feat him.
America, till now, could never be called a free
evantr,, becaufa her legislation depended on the will
ifA man three thoufagd miles distant, wh/fa iatereft
was ia opposition to ours, and who, by a Single "no,"
ecud forb d what law he pleased.
The freedom of trade likewise, is, to a trading
country, an,article of fu^h veil importance, that the
principal foarce of wealth depends upon it ; and it is
impoflible that any country can flourish, as it other
wiis might do, whose commerce is engrossed, cramp
ed and fettered by the laws and mandates of another
—• yetthefe evils, and mere than I can here enumer
ate, the Continent has f^ffered by bring under the
government of Great Britain. By an independence
we clear th# whole at once—put an end to the bufi-
R 0" of unanswered petitions and fiuit^fi remonftran-
CTs---exchsmgeß iuin for Europe-- -shake hands with
the w^rid--live at peace with mankind-- and trade
to nay market where we bail can bay and fell.
111. The necessity, likewif- of being inde
pe,d^nr, even before it war declared, became fa evi
dsntand im,„t^t, that the ContMient ran theriik
of being ruined every day She delayed it. There
were rations to believe that Bitein would endeavor
t, rathe s European matter of it, and rather than
*„ the whole, would dismember it like Poland, and
drfpofe of hrr fivers) claims to th# highest bidder.
Genoa, failing in her attempts to reduce Cerfica,
raadea fate ofit to the E^ch, and such traffics have
bae^ common in the old world. We had at that time
no Aabaff^dor is an, p-rt of Europe, to connteraa
hjr negotiation,, mad by that m^n She had herange
»f every foreign Court uucsnu&cli&id on cur part.
W^fon knew nothing of s ha treaty for the Heffian#
till it was c^McUd&d, and the troops read, to embark.
Hid we bean inlepe^d^nt before, we had probably
prevented her obcriaiag them. We had no credit a
broad bvciafe of our rebellious dependency. Our
flips could claim me proteftiga in foreign ports, be
cauf# we affoidtd them an juftiitble realbn f„ grant
ing it tpas. The calling ourfeives fubj^fb, and as
the fan# fighting against the power we acknowledged,
WAS a dangerous precedent to al! Europe. If the
grievances justified op, taking up arms, they jaftified
ear reparation ; if they did netjellify car reparation,
neither ceuldthey jeftify eur taking up arms. All
Europe was interefad in reducing us as rebels, and
all Europe (or the great*ft part at hd) is interested
in fepporting ?« aa ladepeadentState!. At home our
condition was flill worfa : Our currency had mo foun
dation, and the fall of it would have ruined Whig end
Tory alike. We had no other law than a kind cf
moderated paffian ; no other civil power than a# ho
nest mob ; and no other proteaion than the tempo
rary attachment ofone man to another. Had Inde
pendence been delayed a few months longer, this
Continent would have been plunged into irrecovera
ble coafufioa : Some violent forit, fame agaiaft it,
till in the general cabal the rich would have been ru
ined, and th^poar defrayed/ It is to independence
that every Tory own the prafent ftfity he lives in ;
for by,that, and that o^lj, we emerged from a state of
dangerous fufpanfe, and became a regular people,
+ The neceffitylikewife of beiagindepeudaAt,had there
been no rupture between Britain and America, would
ia a little time have brought ene on. The eacreafiag
importance of commerce, the weight and perplexity
cf legislation, and theantsagled state of European po
litics, would daily have fhswa to the Continent the
impuffibility of continuing subordinate; for, after
the caoleft reflaicns on the matter, this ras be al
lowed, that Britain was too jealous cf Ame ica, to
govern it j^ftly ; too ignorant of ir; to govern it well;
and too diftaat from it, to govern it at all.
(Te be ceutinuid )
Mr. Watson, Plcafe to irfert tbtfdloivixg,
THE Spartans ma*umited their flares for the re
cruiting of theirarmr. Such an expedient would
soon fill up ours. The blacks are naturally brave as
any people under heaven ; their motives of fidelity, if
liberated, stronger, if pcffible, than theft which ope
rate on the whites. The raoft salutary effe&s would
be produced by such a movement. It would free from
bondage a number of wretched people - add strength
to America, and perhaps purge the country of the ac
cursed thing that inflames the divine anger again# us.
The sum, in many pieces given far a soldier to inlift,
is about equal to the value of a Have. It seems as
though interest, found policy, and humanity would
plead for the measure ; ar.d if unmoved by such in
cements, we are loft.-- If conquered, our condition
will exceed theirs for wretchedness. Let us feel time
ly for them, and by that means for ourfelve# and pos
terity ; let us rife to happiness and freedom by letting
the oppraffed go free. The owners of Haves on such
an occasion would accept of a moderarc catopenfatiox ;
otherwise they themf,lves ought to be detached.
May Heaven direct us in the things of our political
peace --inspire eur feaater# with unanimity, fortitude
and wisdom, and crown all our enterprizis with suc
cess. Amen. A Son of Freedom.
N B. If those who have flares, or those who faall
purchase them, would give them their time, and pro
cure them to be inlifted ; I fee not but it would com
port with the defigu of coagrefs. O r , if the fines of
those classes that have failed of hiring their men should
be appropriated this way by an order of the fta=e, what
,herm could arise? The two hundred acres of land at
the end of the war, cloathing, together with their free,
doa and other attachments to the country, would a
buudaßtly encourage the Have# to inlift and abide
faithful to the caufi.
GILL Belcher of Hebron, AmbiofeT^eTof Tor.
rington, Amafa Scott of Harwinton, Abiel
Canfield and J ha Gardner, are hereby dir#&ed to
repair to Litchfield immediately, in erder to join the
continental army. James Morris, Lieut.
Litchfield; May 15 1777.
Mind this all ye Pot-AJh Men.
gASH, and the highs# price given for Put Alh
Salts, and unmerchantable Pot-Affi, at the Pearl
Alh oppofi.e & meeting-house in Marlborough, by
l lsaac Sherman.
State of Mafchufetti-Bay, May 5, 1777.
Mr. Watson,
^S it is the rightaf every free subj a of a free peo
ple to off-r his fentimsats upon public meifufis ;
I beg leave through your uGful paper to address the
public refpeaing the law of this flare commonly cal
led the limitation ad : In which I prupofe firft to
fha% that without a legifl&ture poffiff d of infinite
wisdom and justice, no such law could be attempted
with a tolerable profpe& of fuccafi ; and without
which qualification no perfen is a proper judge be
tween himfelf and hi# neighbour.
Cicero tells us, " That the end of civil society and
civil laws it fecuriu, of property, and equal treatment
to the members cf the fame ftaie :" which while there
is such a natural though necessary inclination cf man
kind universally to his own inters# is not to be ex
ps&ed in the making of such, law: more particular
ly from the almost infinite variation es tims, place,
and other flu&uatimg circumdances attending the in
tercourse between man and man. A few particulars
may ffiew that the thing is impracticable —As for in
stance, Farming labour, in the fummnr season, viz.
mowing, Ihave beam credibly informed has been in
femoof the out pariflis# at zs. 6d. ard as credibly
that in forae old towns at 4 1. 6 d. —And ne doubt all
th# intermediate prices have their place. Indian corn
varies in the course of a year commonly about one
third, without any thing remarkable, and is at New-
London and feme other eastern towns from gd. to 1 s.
higher than in force other towns in the middle and
weftera parts of this state. These difference# are such
as arise from the nature of things, and cannot be al
tered without the greatest wrong, as some of the ne
csffaries of life, (viz, firewood) are fix times the price
in fame places which thr^ are in others, which mu&
increase the price of labour, Why then is all the colo
ny at one price ? --To proceed to enumerate tnofe va
rieties would fill a volume, which the candid reader
will easily perceive by giving scope to refl'&iou. The
engagement with the soldiery wa# a laudable thing,
that their families should be supplied at a certain rate :
buffo far a# it rafpefyd private dealings hath suc
ceeded much as I thought it would, which is very ill ;
the repeated and loud spplauf## in favour of it, have
therefore been very fur^rifing to the public's humble
fervent, T. M.
„ UN aw^y fora th# fubferiler the 11 h hf^nt, a
£1 negro bey turned GILLIUM, 18 y^ars cfago,
but fmali and Header, v^ry bkeb, u.fo quick tad
plain Engltffi ; had on alight brown jacket and bree
ches, black and white flecking# and half hoots.
Whoever will take up Lid boy and return him to the
owner, or fend word, ffiall ba properly rewarded a%d
all charge# paid, by Israel Ashley.
N. B. Said boy had a great desire to go into the
firvice 12, 1777.
TAKEN up ia New-Milford, in Conncarcutm
or about the 27th day of April Jaft, and is now in
the custody of the lubferibar, a brown HORSE about
13 hand# and hUf high, with a flar in hia forehead , in
chnas to trot. Whoever will appear as proper &wnar
to the hojie, and phy the co# mar have him agai^ ty
applying to Daniel Bostwick, jau.
New Milford, May 1, 1777.
JOSSER FED frura Capt. Sanford'? Ci mpanj, Col.
Bradley's regiment, William Fleet, about 32
years of age, 5 fat 8 inches high, fall face, blue
eyes, red cempltajon, dark brown ffiort hair.-——
Henry Williams, in liiffi lad about 5 feet 6 inches
high, 35 years of age, dark compilation, black &)#s„
ffiort curled hair, is very much given to drink. Who
ever will take up fa d soldiers #nd return them ta
their regiment or confine them in any goal in in, of
the United States Ihall receive Five Dollars for such,
by Ezekiel Sanford, Capt.
May 16, 1777.
fthilb may certify that iha jfldg# of tueT^77"cf
probate for the diftria of S^fbury has le^gthan&d
the time for the e editors to bring in thrir claims to
the commissioners appointed to fettle and aejeft the
accounts on the estate of Elkanah Fox, late cf Hart
land deceas'd, until the 4<h day of September next :
And we the cemmifficum# have and do hereby warn
said creditor# to bring in their c^i^s to us, as we ffi*ll
attend toexaminiag the ferae on ths 2d mor.day if
June naxL atoneef the clock in the afinmeon, nt the
dnel!iag-hcufe of Capt. Abel B-a'ce, in Hartland.
Oliver Bates, )
Abel Brace, 4 CommiHiener#.
Eleazer Ensign.)
Hartland, May 14, 1777-
COPI'ERAS and aElOm, co bv fold by ihehid.
or fueller quantity, by MOSES SEYMOUR
of Litchfield May 16, 1777.
T H l E .officers be caging to Cat. Pairip B. Braddy's
battalion, are ordered to march on with their re
cruits immediate!, to Ridgefield. One cfficeriß each
of those companies which are not fall js to continue in
th, country on the recruiting service,
Roger Alden, Adjutant.
Msy 14. 1777.
Yy HEREAS th# Ge^ia; Affuciaiien at their Lust
session in Cornwall, did a ppoint their next meet
ing to be held at the Rev. Mr. Sherwood's inNorfidd,
on the third Tuesday in June hext, and the circum
ftaßC^s of laid feciety render it inconvenient for the
meeting to be held there.
The Delegates are hereby notified to meet at that
time in ths firft focitty in Fai field, at the house of the
fubfcriber--.and they will be expected there accord
i^v.Andrew Eliot.
ItyfriEN the ennui) m^d# their approach at Danbury
there was a general invitation to people to fecuro
as many of the stores as possible, such as tenh, cloath
iag, and all other stores belonging to the Quarter-
Master- General's department ; now! ft ek-d be much
obliged to all the good people in whose hand# they are
if they wru d retain the fame to the Hore in Danbury,
for which I shall ewe them a theufand favours.
From the Public's humble ftrvant,
JOHN WOOD, Ass, D. Q_ M. G.
N. B. If they a^ net returned in 10 days, th&y will
be treated #2 enamie, to their country wherever fu^d.
° ~ D&R- M'E,
is $ removed from Wttbmfald to Far^^gtox, and lives
in the hsuu dirtily opposite to the meeting house,
where he will be glad to ebay the commands of an,
family that defirr# his assistance in any case of Physic,
Surgery, or Midwifery.
ALL ptrfonshaving any demandton theuHfat otd,.
meon Loomis, late ofWiachefter daceafed are de
sired t" exhibit th# fame to tbefubferiben for fittlemeni.
All perfens indebted are requiftgd te make immediate
payment, to Reuben Thrall,? h
t } vommiffioners
uldah Loomis,,
VVischrfi#r, April 30 1777-
}— E the fubferipe s being appo„attd byuehoa.C' u't
es probate for the dittria of Litchfield, cowmif
fionerr on the estate cf Caleb Shetland, late of Kent
deceas'd, raprefentad ihfolvent; to examine the claim*
of the creditors to said estate Do hereby notif) Aid
creditors that we (hall attend said business cm th* fir#
tuefday of June next, at the dwelling houle of Willi
am Cogfwell in New Milford
Josiah Caswell, )
r , Cemmiffion^r#
William Cogswell,)
April 29, 1777.
T)ES £RI ED from Capt. Ciifts company, in Cel.
Wylly/i regiment some time past, one Abraham
Parkhurft, 5 feet glacles hi,h, 23 years old, ftrdt
black hair, dark eye#, dark complexien ; served in
Cel. Darkey's regiment left campaign, lately lived in
Killing!,, in th# State of Conne&icut ; it is fuppefed
he has gone to the town of Oakham, it Maffichufeti#
government. Whoever will take up said duferter
and facare him in goal or return him to hi&dety shall
have tight dollars reward and all neceffar, charges.
Silas Goodall, Lieut.