The Pennsylvania packet, or, The general advertiser — Lancaster, Pa.;Philadelphia, Pa., 1779-09-14 00:00:00, page 2

Mr. DUNLAP,
IN your paper of Au t uft 31st was published an extrafl
of a letter from Paris, dated May the 21st, in which the
writer among other things, fays:
" It is long since I felt, in common with every sther
“ welt-wilher to the cause of liberty and truth, the obliga
" tions I was under to the author of Common Sense, for
'' the able and unanswerable manner in which he has de
“ fenced those principles. The fame public motives lam
" perfoaded induced him to address the public against Mr.
66 Deafle aud his associates. The countenance and support
ft which Deane has received is a melancholy presage of the
" future. Vain, assuming, avaricious and unprincipled
" he will flick at no crime to cover what he has coinmit-'
" ed and continue his career."
“ The impunity with which Deane has traduced and ca
« lumniated Congress to their face, the indulgence and
<c even countenance he has received, the acrimonious and
" uncandid spirit of a letter concerning Mr. Paine's pub
“ lications nhich accompanied a resolve sent to Mr. Ge
“ rard, are matters of deep concern here to every friend
, to America "
By way of explaining the particular letter referred to in
the above, the following note was added.
“ The letter here alluded to can be no other than that
" signed '' John Jay, dated January 13th, and pub
“ lifted in Mr. Dunlap's paper of Jan. 16th. It is very
“ extraordinary that Mr. Jay Should write such a letter,
'' because it contains the fame illiberal reflections which
" Congress, as a Body, had rejected from their resolve of
" January 12, as may be seen by an^ one who will peruse
< c the proceedings of January last. Congress has since tie
s' clined to give countenance to Mr. Jay's letter; for tho'
6< he had a public authority for writing st letter toMr. Ge.
is core;—when rewards shall seek merit in misfortune ;
and punishment (hall unhorse guilt, in the fulleft careerof
its prosperity. Do not you, General Burgoyne, prolong
the difraal night which has so long defrauded us of that
glorious day.
From you, then, it is expelled to mark out unequivo
cally, the plotters and contrivers of your tragedy. Fix
determinate y on the man from whom you received your
orders, and ihew to conviction, that tlefe orders left you
no choice df conduct ; that they required by their autho
rity, that implicit obedience which they found in your
duty. Do this ;—and if there be any thingiyet unknown
from such intelligence as we have got, of ignorance, of
negligence, or of treachery ; the people demand the fact
and the party at your nands. When, thro' you, the people
are poffeffcd of those circuroftances, and made acquainted
with tnofe perfous ; you nave done your part, —leave the
r-fi to them.
It will then remain t, befeen, Whether ignorance, with
every means o' information, will be admitted as a plea.
Whether negligence will be urged in palliation, when the
unexampled important of the business demanded, and
ought to have created the mod vigilant attention. We
Ihiil find how tar a combination of difficulties opposed by
art and nature ; —a country impassable to a degree not ad
mitting of companion with any in the known world; a
brave, a numerous, and an irritated enemy ; —we shall find
how fir thefr were proper foundations for hasty Confidence,
and what kind of juflTuation they will form for arrogant
presumption. Thtfe things we shall know and find, as they
affitt all the contrivers and schemers of this expe
dition.
You have yourfelf fuggefled that your army was devot
ed. If so, bring the Mmifttr to that confeffion ; let him
o>n, that he sent such an army on purpose to bedeftroyed,
and it will belong to others to examine him, as to the im
portance of the end, to be atta ned by such means ; to
make him produce the idol, who was to be adored by such
an horrid Sacrifice. Recoiled, Sir, that you are already
half condemned by the House of Commons, in their half
acquittal of Lord George Germaine. It is incumbent on
your honor to bz completely free'd from this censure, and
trust me nothing can operate as a total acquittal of you,
but an iatire condemnation of some other.
I have laid already, and I repeat it, that I do not (peak
from absolute diilruh of you. It is not your want of
strength, but the artifice of yours, and our enemies, that
I fetr. Have you not already been tampered with ? Have
you not already been tempted to accept of profit with in
famy ? and has not silence as to the cause been already re
commended as the means of drawing lucrative confequen-
Ges from your military misfortunes? We have Seen Gene
ral bind up the wounds of his honor with a red
ribband, and means were found to make Cornwallis pati
ent under the unmerited injuries done to his General and
his friend. You will perhaps ask, Whyam I fufpeßed ?
Am I not in disgrace at Court ? Am I not forbidden to ap
pear there ? Alas ! General Burgoyne, I have feeh a mark
ed displeasure the immediate forerunner of signal favor ;
and there is a Court in which, to have descended to the
lift degree of infamy, is, to have set your foot on the firft
flep of pronation.- You will fay that you have already
pledged your honor to the House of Commons, to bring
out (omething extra ordinary and unfufpefted. True, you
have done so. But this security to the people is an alarm
to the Minister, and he will leave no arts untried, to make
you forfeit the deposit. To remind you of its ineflimable
value, so urge you to redeem it, at any price, is the busi
ness of this address.
Be assured that a real, and not a mock enquiry ; a per
fect, and not a partial difeovery, is expected from you.
Should the people be disappointed by you ; rely on it, that
you cannot divert their rage to an American Commissary ;
or at all interest them in a dispute about the rent of the pri
sons, in which your army is confined ; or make tiiem par
ties in litigating the price of the bread, that sustains those
lives which were forfeited to the courage, and (pared by
the mercy of your enemy.
General Burgoyne, you may yet serve your country
most essentially ; it is in you, to turn your misfortune to
her advantage, and she may gather better, and richer fruits
from your defeat, than victory could have offered from
her fulled hand. By you, the folly of her armaments may
give wisdom to her councils ; from the blood, the brave
blood of her Slaughtered foos, her con ftitution may imbibe
new vigor ; and the captivity of your army may establish
the freedom of your country. Amen.
I am, willing and wifhiog to be your friend,
Your very humble servant,
My 23. PLAIN SENSE.
" rard, be had no authority for the refleaions he used;
“ besides which, the letter would be perfectly laughable
“ were every circumstance known which happened at that
" particular time, and would likewise show how exceed
" ingly delicate and cautious a President ought to be when
“ he means to a& officially in cases he is not lufficiently
“ at quanted with."...
Every person will perceive that the note which explains
the letter referred to, is not a part of the letter from Paris,
but is added by another person ; and Mr. Jay, or any
other Gentleman, is welcome to know that the note is of
my writing, and that the original letter from Paris is now
in my possession. I had fuffi. lent authority for the expref
fioos used in the note. Mr Jay aid not lay his letter to
Mr Gerard before Congress previous to his fending it; and
therefore, tho' he had their order, he had not their appro
bation. They, it is true, ordered it to be published, but
there is no vote for approving it, neither have they given
it a place in their Journals, nor was it published in any
more than one paper in this city except Benjamin Towne's,
tho' there were at that time two others. Some time after
Mr. Jay's letter appeared in the paper, I addressed another
to Congress, complaining of the unjust liberty he had
taken, and defined to know whether I was to consider the
expreflions used in his letter as containing their Sentiments,
at the fame time informing them, that if they declined to
approve what he had written, I should confider their fi
ience as a disapprobation of it. Congress ch&fe to be si
lent; and consequently, have left Mr. Jay to father his
own expressions.
I took no other notice of Mr. Jay's letter at the time it
was published, being fully persuaded that when any man
recollected the part I had acted, not only at the firft but
in the worst of times, he could but look on Mr. Jay's let
ter to be groundless and ungraceful, and the more so, be
cause if America had had no better friends than himfelf to
bring about independance, I fully believe Die never would
have fucteeded in it, and in all probability been a 'ruined,
conquered and tributary country.
Let any man look at the condition America was in at
the time I firft took up the fubjed, and published Com
mon Sense, which was but a few months before the decla
ration of Independance ; an army of thirty thousand men
coming out against her, besides those which were already
here, and ite without either an obje& or afy stem ; fight
ing, fire scarcely knew for what, and which, if Die could
have obtained, would have done her no good. She ha^l
not a day to spare in bringing about the only thing which
could save her, A Revolution, yet no one measure
was taken to promote it, and many were used to prevent
it; and had independance not been declared at the time it
was, I cannot fee any time in which it could have been
declared, as the train of ill-successes which followed the
affair of Long Island, left no future ( pportunity.
Had I been disposed to have made money, I undoubted
ly had many opportunities for it. The single pamphlet,
Common Sense, would at that time of day, have produced
a tolerable fortune, had I only taken the fame profits from
the publication which all writers have ever done, because
the sale was the most rapid and exteufive of any thing that
was ever published in this country, or perhaps any other.
Instead of which I reduced the price so low, that instead
of getting, I yet hand thirty-nine pounds eleven Killings
out of pocket on Mr. Bradford's book, exclusive of my
time and trouble, and I have aded the lame difinterefled
part by every publication I have made. I could have men
tioned those things long ago, had I chofan, but I mention
them now to make Mr. Jay feel his ingratitude.
In the Pennsylvania Packet of last Tuesday, some per
son has republished Mr. Jay's letter, and Mr. Gerard's
answer of the 13th and 14th of January last, and though
I was patiently silent upon their firft publication, I now
think it necessary, since they are repubhftied, to give some
circumstances which ought to go with them.
At the time the dispute arose, refpeanig Mr. Deane's
affairs, I had a conference with Mr. Gerard at his own re
quest, and some matters on that fubjef twere freely talked
over, which it is here unnecessary to mention. This was
on the 2d of January.
On the evening of the fame day, or the next, Mr. Ger
ard, thro' the mediation of another gentleman, made me
a very genteel and profitable offer. I felt at once the refpe&
due to his friendship, and the difficulties which my accept
ance would fubjed me to. My whole credit was flaked
upon going through with Deane's affairs, and could I af
terwards have written with the pen of an Angel, on any
fubjed whatever, it would have had no effeft, had I fail
ed in that or declined proceeding in it. Mr. Deane's name
was not mentioned at the time the offer was made, but
from some conversation which pafhd at the time of the in
terview, I had fufficient reason to believe that some restraint
would have been laid on that fubjeft. Besides which I
have a natural inflexible objection to any thing which may
be construed into a private pension, because a man after
that is no longer truly free.
My answer to the offer was precisely in these words
" Any service I can render to either of the countries in
" alliance, or to both, I ever have done and shall readily
" do, and Mr. Gerard's esteem will be the only recom
" pence I Shall desire." I particularly chose the word
efleem because it admitted to no nufunderftanding.
On the fifth of January I published a continuation of my
remarks on Mr. Deane's affairs, and as I have ever felt
the highest refped for a nation which has in every flare
of our affairs been our firm and invariable friend, I spoke
of France under that general description. It is true I'pro
fecuted the point against Mr. Deane, but what was Mr
Deane to France, or to the Minister of France ?
On the appearance of this publication Mr. Gerard pre
sented a memorial to Congress refpeQing some expressions
used therein, and on the 6th ^d 7th I requested of Con
gress to be admitted to explain any passages which Mr.
Gerard had referred to; but this request not being com
plied with, I, on the Bth, sent in my resignation of the of
fice of Secretary to the Committee of Foreign Affairs
In the evening I received an invitation to flip with a gen
tleman, and Mr. Gerard's offer was, by his own authori
ty, aga^ renewed with considerable additions of advantage.
I ga^the farce answer as before. I was then told that
wa : very '": and desired to me - I replied,
That as a mat.er was then depending in Congress uoon
« a r epr e ' entatro ° °f Mr. Gerard against some parts of my
« P ublicatl °, I thought it indelicate to wait on him till
“ that was determined."
In a few days after I received a second invitation, and
akewife a third, to sup at the fame place, in both of which
CHARLESTOWN,"(South-Carolina,) Augud 6,
F,HOMAS FARR, Esq; is elected Speaker of
A the Hon. House of Representatives, in the room of
John Matthews Esq; lately appointed a Delegate from
6 this State to Congress.
A few days since a house and lot in Beaufort, now in
the possession of the British forces, v^x,fold here for thir
ty thousand dollars.—A tranfaftion similar to this at an
early period of the Roman State, when their city was in
vefied by Hannibal, has been trahfmitred to posterity with
the plaudits of ages, as a memorable and singular inflance
of magnaminity, and confidence in the success of the future
exertions of the Commonwealth.
Augujt 10 Yesterday the flag of truce which lately
failed from this place for Savannah, returned here, and
brought a number of prisoners. By a gentleman who came
in the flag we learn— That on Saturday the 7th inst. a fleet
of about 37. Vessels, failed from Tybee, under convoy of
the Perseus, an armed brig, and two (loops, for New-
York That the Ariel, a2O gun ship, was to cruize off
this bar until the fleet puffed by—That some time last week
Sir James Wallace was married to Mils Nancy Wright,
qf ü bhter of Sir James Wright, Governor of Sa<va%nab —
That Sir James, in the Experiment, mounting 50 twelve
pounders, was to fail on the Bth instant for New-York,
with hi lady and her sister—That the little pilot boat that
was carried off from this place the iff instant, had arrived
at Savannah, where she had been condemned, and was
going out on a cruize—That the troops in Savannah are
very sickly, particularly the Heffans, who cued from 4
to 14 of a day—That they have no less than five hofpitala
in Savannah, the barracks one of them, a building made
the fame offer and the fame invitation were renewed an|
the fame answers on my part were given : But being re
peatedly pressed to make Mr. Gerard a visit, /engaged to
do it the next morning at ten o'clock ; but as I confidefed
myfelf Landing on nice and critical ground, and left my
reputation Ihould be afterwards called in quefiion, I judged
it best to communicate the whole matter to an honorable
friend before I went, which was on the 14th of January
the very day on which Mr. Gerard's answer to Mr. Jay's
letter is dated.
While with Mr. Gerard I avoided as much as potable
every occasion that might give rife to the fubjefl. Him
felf once or twice hinted at the publications, and added
that “ he hoped no more would be said on the fubjeti,"
which I immediately waved by entering on the loss of the
dispatches. I knew myown resolution refoeßing the offer,
had communicated that resolution to a friend, and did not
wish to give the l^aft pain to Mr. Gerard, by p. rfonally
refuting that, which, from him might be friendship, but
to me w®uld have been the ruin of my credit. At a con
venient opportunity I rose to take my leave, on which
Mr. Gerard said, "Mr Paine, I have always had a . reat
" refpe& for you, and Ihould be glad of some opportunity
" of Showing you more solid marks of my friendship?'
I confefs I felt myfelf hurt and exceedingly concerned
that the injustice and indiferetion of a party in Congress
Ihould drive matters to such an extremity that oife fide or
other must go to the bottom, and in its confequ^ces em
barrass those whom they had drawn in to support them
I am confeious that America had not in France a more
strenuous friend than Mr. Gerard, and I fiocerely wish
be had found a way to avoid an affair which has been
much trouble to him. As for Deane, I believe him to be
a man who cares n^ who he involves to screen himfelf.
He has forfeited all reputation in this country, firft. by
promifiog to give an “ htjiory of Matters imports for the
people to kr^iv, and then not only failing to perform that
promise, but neglecting to clear his own fufpeded reputa
tion, though he is now upon the spot and can any day de
mand an hearing of Congress, and call me before them for
the truth of what I have published refpeaing him.
Twodays after my visit to Mr. Gerard, Mr. Jay's letter
and the answer to it were published, and I would candidly
ask any man how it is pofiible to reconcile such letters to
such offers both done at one and the fame time, and whe
ther I had not fufficiest authority to fay that Mr. Jay's
letter would be truly laughable, were all thecrcumftances
known which happened at the time or his wrhingit.
Whoever republished thole letters in last Tuesday's p a .
per, must be an idiot or worse. I had let them pass over
without any other public notice than what was contained
in the note of the proceeding week, but the republishing
them was putting me to defiance, and forcing me either
to submit to them afrefli, or to give the circumstances
which accompanied them. Whoever will look back to last
win• r, must fee I had.my hand's full, and that without any
person giving the least assistance. It was firft given out
that I was paid by Congress f®r vindicating their flota
tion against Mr. Deane's charges, yet a majority in that
House were every day pelting me for what I was doing.
Then Mr. Gerard was unfortunately brought in, and Mr.
Jays's letter to him and his answer were published to ef
feft some purpose or other. Yet Mr. Gerard was at the
fame time making the warmest profcffions of friendfhip to
me, and proposing to take me into his confidence with ve
ry liberal offers. In fli©rt I had but one way to get thro',
v^ich was to keep close to the point and principle I set out
upon, and that alone has rendered me fuccefsful. By%ak
ing this my guide, I have kept my ground, and I have
yet ground to spare, for among other things I have au
thentic copies of the dispatches that were loft.
I am certain no man set out with a warmer heart or a
better difpofitien to render public service than myfelf, ia
every thing which laid in my power: My firft endeavor
was to put the politics of the country right, and to show
the advantages as well as the neceflity of independance;
and until this was done, independance never could have
succeeded. America did rot at tiiat time underfland her
own situation ; and though the country was then full of
writers, no one reached the mark ; neither did I abate in
my service, when hundreds were afterwards defeating her
interest and thousands afraid to speak, for the firft number
of theCrifis was publiflied in the blacked stage of affairs,fix
days before the taking theHeffians at Trenton. When this
State was diftrafted with parties on account of her Con dilu
tion, I endeavoured, in the most disinterested manner to
bring it to a conclusion; and when Deane's impositions
broke out, and threw the whole States into confufion, I
readily took up the fubjeft, for no one else understood it,
and 'he country now fee that I was right. And if Mr. Jay
thinks he derives any credit from his letter to Mr. Gerard,
he will find himfelf deceived ; and that the ingratitude of
the composition will be his reproach, not mine.
COMMON SENSE.