The Pennsylvania packet, or, The general advertiser — Lancaster, Pa.;Philadelphia, Pa., 1779-03-27 00:00:00, page 2

(a) The Rate of New-York, Mr, Hunt, has found a
way of propagating the gospel without the appendages of
royalty, or the assistance of tyranny.
(b) Doubtless a secondary motive, at least, for the con
version of the poor fouls at Rye.
(c) It is inconceivable what could induce this angry le
nite to place Mr. White in his group of changelings that
gentleman being universally known to have preserved,
throughout the whole dispute between America an 1 Great-
Britain, the most uniform and unambiguous conduct All
who know him, know him to be a clergyman of the most
amiable charader; and he is the more to be admired for
having preserved his integrity in the midst of so many
falfe brethren.
(d) A morsel 9/ bread is certainly a very trifling consi
deration for committing perjury. But how far an induction
into the chapel near Hfbeate may juftify that perjury, of
which every priest is guilty who swears, that he is moved
by the Holy Ghost to enter into orders, when he feels no
other motion but that of avarice and an empty stomach,
this reverend Thunderbo t may do well to confi^er in some
of his more difyafionate moments.
(e) Pray, what church, good Do^or, is to be destroy
ed with the monarchy ? I know a church that made its
way in the world, not only without the patronage of any,
but a;ainfi the oppoJi ion of all the mon rchies upon earth.
Art tiou of that church ? Why then more afraid of Pref
byterianifm, than of the Gates of Heil, whicn the divine
author of it afi'ures us, shall never brezail againji it.
There never was any church eftablifoe^ in America, in
virtue of the Britilh monarc J; and, consequently, none
Ta the Printer of the Pennsylvania Packet.
S I R,
To shew the temper of some men, to whole malevolence
and misrepresentations the tyrannical attempt of Great-
Britain upon America is in great measure to be ascribed,
please to insert in your paper, with the explanatory notes,
the following:
Extra& of an intercepted letter from the Rev. Mr. Isaac
Hunt, (late an Attorney in Philadelphia, and carted
about that city for being a traitor to bis country, andface
admitted into Holy Orders Jor bis great merit) dated
London, April the z<b, 1778-
“ r F this defireable event d©es not soon happen, so great
l is my anxiety to be with you, that I must, be the
coufequences what they may, very soon be at New-
York (a) , the Society for propagating the Gospel in fo
reign parts having given me the niiffion of Rye in that
province when I firft went into orders ^), The salary
is forty pounds sterling per annum ; and there is a good
glebe and parfona e house. But America is by no means
the country where a Clergyman of the Church of Engl nd
c®uld live tolerably comforta le, unless like a Smith, a
Duche, a Coombes, and a (c) White, he could creepanci
cringe, and trim and perjure himfelf for (d) a morsel of
bread. Moreover, if independence is established, the (e)
church with the monarchy will be destroyed, and repub
licanism, with prefbyterianifm, its (t) brat, erected on
their ruins; and I should not at all be surprised to hear
that the reverend gentry above-mentioned had burnt their
(g) prayer-books, gowns andfurplices as rags of the
whore of Babylon ? and mounted the (b) tub of a prefby
teriam (i) conventicle. Such priests would fell not only
their (!) King, but their (/) Saviour, for a good fat liv-
one would think Efficient to fatisfy every man who could
content himfelf with the peaceable enjoyment of his own
religion, and hod no desire of being exalted above, or do
mineering over, others.
U) If prefbyterianifm is the natural brat of repub
licanism, how passing strange that this brat was never pro
duced by the Republic of Venice, nor by any one of the
many Republics of Italy. And what, if I should prove
upon Farfon Hunt, that if this brat is really the offspring
of republican ism, our republicanism is the offspring of
episcopacy ; and fe episcopacy is, at least, grandfather to
the brat, which, without a grandfather, could never have
had a father, and consequently would not have been at all.
For Virginia, which is the firft colony that began the op
position, is episcopal, and consequently the firft author of
our republicanism, and consequently, upon Mr. Hunt's
principles, the grandfather of the brat prefbyterianifm,
whose immediate father, he fays, is republicanism. But
can be destroyed by i's dedruCtion. But ad chriflian
churches are established by our present conjrituttons ; which
the truth of the matter is, that this fame brat existed in
America at least a century before its reputed father;
which, I dare fay, has €oft the pious Mr. Hunt, and all
6tner the like fiery zealots, many an heavy hour.
(4) What an irreligious bigot, to put the Common-
Prayer Book, which contains many excellent and sublime
pieces of devotion, upon a footing with gowns and sur
plices ; which, though very decent and unexceptionable
habiliments, have certainly no more fanftity, than so ma
ny pair of lay trowfers or breeches !
(b) You well know, good Maser Surplice, that the Pref
b)terims in America do not preach from tubs -, and are
therefore guilty of a malicious slander in charging them
with it. If they really did, I defy you to prove that a
tub is less scriptural than a pulpit.
(t) Happy for America, Reverend Mr. Faggot, that we
neither have nor can have a single conventicle among us.
Such is our catholicism, that in whatever place Christians
are pleased to assemble for the public worlhip of God, we
never call by any opprobrious names, and we suppose,
that the supreme object of their adoration, pays more re
gard to the Sincerity of their hearts, than to the decora
tions of their buildings, whatever Mr. Hunt, in his gown
and fur,lice, ihall vouchfafe to think, or to scold, to the
contrary thereof notwith Handing.
(!) Indeed, Mr. Chap ata, whatever such novices in
making bargains as Dnche or Coombes may attempt in that
way, Dr £mrth knows too much about chipmanry to put
up his King for sale in America: For if his own nation
got but a croat fora King four times as good, I leave you
to calculate what the dodor can expert for his present
Majesty, in his present unmerchantable condition.
(1) Well fai , most illustrious pattern of charity! To
compare men who, in virtue of the right of difearding
Kngs for assuming arbitrary power, (the very right by
which you now hold your chapelry near Highgate 1 threw
off their allegiance to Judas Ifcartot, who told his Lord
and M Her for thirty pieces of silver! Rather too fevers
from a levitical Ambassador of peace and mutual forbear
ance I You have certainly fold jour country for a living,
ing. (m) Smith lias been endeavouring, ^nce the ecfr
quest of Philadelphia by his Excellency General Howe,
to make his peace with the Society for propagating the
Gospel. I must tell you the Society very justly deprived
him of the mission of Oxford; in consequence of which,
he has been mean enough to write the most humiliating
letter that could be possibly indicted by the pen of an ab
j.£l traitor, supplicating to be restored again to the mis
sion. The Society, however, have rejected his petition ;
and, therefore he will very probably turn round again to
his old dirty trade of manufacturing and preaching rebel
lious sermons and eulogiums. Of all vile caitifs, that
caitif is the most vile; and you may depend upon it there
is not a character in America looked upon by all parties
here in so infamous a light. At a very early stage of the
dispute between the mother country and her colonies, this
man endeavoured to ingratiate himfelf into the favour of
government as a ufeful instrument to be employed in Phi
ladelphia ; and did actually solicit a friend of mine to
procure him a grant of some of the crown lands in Ameri
ca, for his past as well as future services. You may de
pend upon the authenticity of this anecdote, and not hesi
tate to assert it whenever and wheresoever you think pro
per. It is the duty of every man who loves his country,
to expose such a twiftical villain, and it would meet with
my approbation if (^) all I have written concerning him
was publilhed in every raewfp^per from one end of the con
tinent to the other —But I beg pardon for wafting so much
time on so worthless a fubjeCt."
fat or lean : A country too, worth a million of such Kings
as you fold it for. But still I have too much charity for
you to think you would fell your Saviour for any consi
deration short of a fat bijkopric.
(m) I make no other observations upon all that is said
by this Reverend Divine refpeCting Dr Smih, except on
ly that I take it for granted he will not deny the allega
tions of so refpeclable a witness as a brother of the cloth,
unless he can confront his teftimohy with the evidence of a
Frefoyterian Parfn.
(n) You have your wiffi, Sir, as to our newspaper,
and much I presume to your honour, Parson Hunt !
For the PENNSYLVANIA PACKET.
Mr. DUNLAP,
I have sometimes seen fpce hes that never were spoken,
and sometimes speeches intended to have been spoken. I
hope there will be no more impropriety in publishing a
speech which ought to be spoken in Congress. Your
giving the following, upon the fubjeCt of our Conti
ne tal Monty, a place in your ufeful paper, will
oblige Yours, &c.
A CUSTOMER.
Mr. President,
T'H E affairs of this country wear a most alarming af
' pe&. When our victorious enemies planted their
standard upon the Delaware in the year 1776, our affairs
wore a more protoifing appearance. It is true we were
then without an army, without arms and ammunition,
and a hundred otoer resources for a war; but we had vir
tue, and that virtue furmouuted every difficulty, and soon
planted the American flandard upon the ground teat had
been occupied and fortified by our intuiting enemies.
Itis now no longer a secret, Sir, that the depreciation
of our money is the fouree of all the evils which impend
and afflict this country. We have too long fufpeded,
and charged our enemies with being the causes of this
disease in our currency. Ido not mean, Sir, to excul
pate monopolizers, nor the manufacturers of counterfeit
money, whether they carry on their detestable bwfinefs
within our own or toe enemies lines. But, Sir, I main
tain that the principal cause 0. the depreciation of our mo
ney is to be fought in its quantity. It is this which
has enhanced the price of every necessary of life. It is
this which has unhinged all the springs of industry, and
introduced so much fraud in business, in every part of our
country. It is this which has dissolved the obligations of
morality every where, and almost baniflied justice, fideli
ty, benevolence and piety from the face of the continent.
The noon-day feaft, the evening dance, and the midnight
revel, are all the offsprings of the quantity of our money.
It is to no purpose to complain of tne want or defection
of servants to the public. While one half the community
are seduced from serving their country by the love of gain,
the other half are compelled to double their diligence and
ingenuity in the arts of ceconomy, in order to acquire a
bare subsistence. Thus the honour of our cause, and the
dignity of public virtue, are wounded through the quan
tity of our money.
But further, Sir, our enemies are encouraged by no
other circumstance to prosecute the war than the low value
of our money. This, Sir, is a most alarming considera
tion. Have bloodshed and devaluation become so familiar
to us that we wish to fee them continued ? Have the sweets
of peace loft their relish by long absence? No, Sir, I hope
not. But I beg, fir, you would remember that every
village that is plundered after the present day; every
house that is burned, and every widow and orphan that
are aided to the number of those distressed members of
society now in our country, will all be chargeable upon the
quantity and depreciation of our money. If no remedy
can be found to check this depreciation, there is but one
tiring can save us from being conquered and subjugated by
Great- Britain. Our vices (engendered by the quantity of
our money) will become so general, so enormous, and so
inveterate, that even the tyrant of Britain will not accept
of us as slaves, nor fuffer his Britifli fubjeds to be conta
minated by a union with us.
From this view of t ; e fubjed, let us turn our attention
to our army. We can neither carry on the war, nor
make an honourable peace, without a refpedable body of
troops in the field. But how are these to be raised, or
kept together upon the depreciated pay we allow them ?
Can you expect any thing but resignations from your effi
c@rs, and desertion from your soldiers, when a month's
wages will scarcely purchase a meal's victuals for the one,
or a pair of shoes for the other ? Sir, my he rt bleeds for
those brave men who, added to the common hardships of
a camp life, have borne all the calamities of poverty with
a degree of patience and perseverance that is almost with
out a parallel in the history of mankind. It is not in the
power of cold, of nakedness, nor yet of the cruelty of our
enemies, to force a complaint from our army: But, Sir,
they are not insensible es the injustice we do them in pay
ing them with a depreciated currency. Their liftie huts
ring with murmurs from this quarter.
What, Sir, shall I fay of the aged citizen, of the help
less widow, and weeping orphan, whose incomes (former
ly competent to all their wants) we have reduced to a
pittance scarcely fufficient to purchase their daily bread ?
The measure of their distresses is now filled up; and um
lefs, Sir, we can contrive to lessen, or remove them, I
sh ill with to be exempted from my share of those judg
ments which a righteous Providence has never failed to
infiid upon the oppressors of those weak and unprotected
members of society.
We Hand, Sir, upon the brink of a precipice: We
have not a moment to lose. While lam now speaking
our money is defeending with a most alarming rapidity.
Our dollars pass for less this afternoon than they did in the
morning. Let thecare of our money absorb all our atten
tion, and swallow up every thought. I wish it was the
standing order of the day, than no fubj&Ct should be de
bated, no idea introduced into this House, until we have
arrested the progress of ®ur money, and fixed it upon a
permanent foundation.
Cur case, Sir, I believe, is not hopeless. The vitals of
our country, I slitter myfelf are not impaired. Tuere is
an intimate connection between the quantity of money
and the degrees of vice in a country. The diminution
®f the quantity of the money now in circulation among
us, will soon restore us to our ancient habits of simplicity
and virtue. Several remedies have been proposed for this
purpose. We have in vain attempted to recommend laws
for regulating the prices of the necessaries of life.—They
are as incapable of execution, as they are absurd in their
nature. We have called in the emissions of May 20th,
1777, and April 1 th, 1778, but alas! in attempting to
recover the value of our money by this scheme, we have
injured its credit. Taxation is too flow and part ; al in its
effects, to appreciate our money. What are fifteen mil
lions of dollars collected in taxes in the course of a year,
compared with the expences of maintaining our army ?
The Quarter- Master General alone, will soon be obliged
to call upon us for that sum every month.
There is but one remedy, Mr. President, that can save
our money—can save our morals—can save our liberties
can save our country.—lt is a Foreign Loan. The na
tions of Europe are so much interested in the establishment
of eur independance, that the wealth of the most power
ful of them is at our service. They with to secure their
money in our funds, in preference to any of the funds in
Europe. Let us then seize the proffered boon. God for
bid that any difpu es among ourselves, about the manner
of importing t is loan, or about t' e persons who shall
negociate it should protrad t^e blessing a tingle day.
The delay of a weekday be fatal to us. Let not yonder
fun set, before a vessel is dispatched from this port with an
agent to trans Ct the necessary business; and let prayers,
in the mean while, be offered up to heaven for his fafe and
speedy arrival in Europe. Then shall all our difficulties
and calamities have an end Truth and justice will de
feend from heaven (whither we have banished them) and
once more dwell among us. Our citizens will gradually re
cover their firft love for liberty. Our namis too will be
mentioned with the illustrious founders of our new empire,
who filled these feats in the year 1774—and our enemies
will be taught to revere us, and to thank us for restoring
fafety and commerce to their dominions by accepting of
peace, and an acknowledgment of our independance from
them.
PHILADELPHIA.
In GENERAL ASSEMBLY of Pennsylvania,
Tuesday, March 9th, 1779.
The bill intitled, “ A supplement to the aft, intitled,
an aC tfor emitting the sum cf one hundred and fifty
thcufand pounds in bills of credit on loan, and providing a
fund for the payment of public debts ;" was read a second
time, and being again read and debated by paragraphs,
was ordered to be tranferibed for a third reading, and
printed in the mean time for public consideration.
Extract from the minutes,
JOHN MORRIS, Junior,
Clerk of the Genetal Assembly.
Afarther SUPPLEMENT to an aB, intitled, an ad
Jor emitting the sum of one hundred and fifty thousand
pounds in bills of credit on loan, and providing ajund for
the payment oj public debts.
WHEREAS, by an aft of General Assembly
passed at Lancaster the twenty-third of Decem
ber, one thousand seven hundred and seventy seven, Tho
mas Barclay, John Thorne, and John Agnew, are ap
pointed Trustees of the General Loan- Office of this state,
in the room and stead of Samuel Preston Moore and
others. AND WHEREAS the said Thomas Barclay
has not taken upon himfelf the execution of the said of
fice, and whereas the said John A, new is desirous to re
sign, and it is necessary that two other fit persons be ap
p®inted in their room and stead :
Be it therefore enabled, and it is hereby enabled by the
Representatives oj the Freemen of the Commonwealth of
Pennsylvania, in General Assembly met, and by the autho
rity of the fame, That
fhal'l be and they are hereby appointed Trustees of the Ge
neral Loan-Office of Pennsylvania, in the room and stead
of the said Thomas Barclay and John Agnew; and they
and each of them, before they enter upon the execu
tion of their trusts refpeftively, shall give bend with fuf
ficient securities, and also take the oath or affirmation of
office, as in and by the aft herein recited is directed and
required. And the said
and each of them, ihall be and are hereby declared to be
vested with all the Dowers, rights, and authority, which
were by the said a^ vested in any former Trustees; and
shall, in like manner, be entitled to the fame compensa
tion and reward as, by the said aft, were allowed and
given to the former Trustees.
Be it further enacted by the authority aforefaid, That the
Trustees of the General Loan-Office may and shall, with
all convenient speed, remove the said office, with the pa
pers and books thereunto belonging, to the city of Phila
delphia, and there open the fame for the future admini
ftratioa and management thereof.
Be it turther enabled b, the authority aforefaid. That so
much of the several afts of Assembly, to which this is a
supplement, as is hereby supplied, altered and amended,
shall be and is hereby repealed and made vaid.