Dunlap's Pennsylvania packet , The general advertiser — Philadelphia, Pa., 1776-10-29 00:00:00, page 2

h the PRINTER of tie Pennsylvania Packet.
SIR,
[f you mill attorn the following letter a place in your paper,
which is intended for one of the public fteakers at the
State-House in this city, on Monday and luejday, the
zig and zed of this infant, you mid obligejcur bumble
formant.
SI R,
Y WAS much furpriz'd A few days ago at ~he eondu&
of some gentknr n whom I greatly reaped, in thor
bringing a inirnber of naity revives to be iw^lowcd by
an iuconfiderme multitude. For men warmly inspired
by popular haran^urs may be brought ;d.ncß to do, or
Hfent to any thing. T^he attack was apeirh a new tor
med Flan of Government, which'has its inperktticns,
but which; with them all, is possibly u-t much infirior
to any on the Continent. It was formed by a great num
ber 'of ironed, upright, and fenfrle men ; and feme of
them very refpe&able 'orthei learning and wisdom, and
knowledge of Rate affairs. Their Bill cf Rights, as was
publicly acknowledged by thnfe very gentlemen, dots
taen great honor; and is equal to any thing of the kind
row extent in the various governments that we know in
toe world. And to traduce, or vilify them, when we
certainly know that they were veiled with all the powers
of the good people in this province, to frame a new
Plan of Government, and that they have honestly and
uprightly discharged this great trust, according to the
meufure of their abilities, is very wrong and unkind.—
They were not expe&ed to be infallible, and their plan,
like all oilier human performances, may be mended ; but
it ought to be mended or let aside, in whole or in part,
, by a Convention delegated by the people for that purpose,
and not by an Assembly.
For if a diffatisfied junto may at any time be allowed
to raise a cry against our Constitution, or Chattels, and
Plan of Government, and call on the populace to invest
the Assembly with powers to pluck up the foundations,
and to new model Our Crnftirutibn, we can never have
any/ftable Cenftitfition or Plan of Government ; but every
new Assen bly may be called on to alter or amend our
Charters, and Conftitutibn, or to make a new one.—The
Magna Charta or Great Charter cf Britain, and the Bill
of Sights exhibited at the Revolution, are not touched,
nor allowed to be touched, by their Parliaments, and we
at this time blame them, and bear arms againit them,
because they have deprived us, and still attempt to de
prive us of the privileges of that Constitution.
Our old and much admired Charter and Constitution
was not to be altered, without the content of the Gover
nor, a. # ,d a great majority of the Assembly ; and in feme
cases rUfeaing religious liberty, it was never by them to
be altered.
This new p'an had all the authority that the people
could give the Convention to make it; and if it was not
to their minds, on trial, they had a power, when they
pleased, to call a new Convention, to alter and amend it,
or to lav it Hide, and to mend the old one, that we so
much c (teemed. But if a fewYjfcontented demagogues
have - t any time a power to mafeca noise, and to call
on their flighted fellow fu=je&s to mveft the AtTembly
with a power to alter or destroy our Constitution, or
Plan of Government ; and if the Assembly take this li
berty, we ihall never have any (table Constitution to
depend on. There is nothing in the netv plan so de
ftrudive to our happiness as this ill timed piec< of con
dua, that mult let all afloat, and dll this once Hoppy
province with anarchy and confufion. And lam per
suaded that none that have appeared on this occasion, to
invest Assemblies with this po^er, would have taken this
course, had they considered the consequences that mull
attend it.
The present Constitution as soon as published, has all
the force and authority of the people, as much as if it
had continued many years. And the freemen of this
province, who commissioned the late Convention to alter
or set aside our good old Constitution, and they only,
should, on due deliberation, appoint another Convention
to alter, or amend, or set this aside, but some plan or
Constitution n^uft be fixed, net to be altered,when ever
an Assembly must be hurried into such measures, by
pride, or p^ffion, or venality and corruption.
But, Sir, I was still more alarmed to hear a gentleman
of your good sense pu'lifh to the world, and inlift on it
in a public assembly, that " in this New Constitution
formed by the said Convention, the Christian religion is
not treated with proper refpe&." No good judge ever
blamed the great founder of the Old Constitution cf this
Province for not treating the Christian religi on with pro
per refpe&: ; and for this reason I offer to your conside
ration a part of the fi:ft article in his charter cf piivileges,
which article no Assembly was ever to alter, and you and
the whole woild may then judge, whether this great
statesman or our late Convention have treated the Chris
tian religion with the greatest refptdt. These are his
words:
“ All persons who profefs to believe in Jesus Christ the
Saviour of the world, mail be capable (notwithitending
their other persuasions and practices in point of consci
ence and religion) to serve the goverment in any capa
city, both ieghlttively and executively, he or they Solemn
ly promising a legiance to the King, or fidelity to the
Proprietary and Governor. In this excellent constitution,
all that is required as a religious test, or can ever be re
quired, to qualify any freeman to serve the government,
as a M^giftrate or an Assemblyman, or in any capacity
" legislatively and executively," is to prefers faith in Je
sus Christ the Saviour of the world; and this every man
must profefs to believe, who believes that the Scriptures
of toe Old and New Testament are given by divine in
spiration ; but this old plan makes no mention of the Sa
vtour's eternal Soufhip, nor of his being one God with
the Father, nor that the Scriptures of the Old and New
T Lament are given by divine inspiration.
The gentlemen of the late Convention require, as a
religiousteft, that all perfens, who serve the government,
declare that he or they “ believe in one God the Creator
and Governor of the universe ; the rewarder of the good
and the punisher of the wicked ; and that they do acknow
ledge the Scriptures of the Old and New Tritament to be
e ven by divine inspiration." When, therefore, you well
knew that their religious test required an acknowledg
ment of the divine inspiration of the Holy Scriptures,
which alone contain all the articles of the Christian faith,
and all the rules of the Christian life, how could you
charge them with ^ant of lefea for the ChriftH, red
gion? They indited on mere than was in the old plan,
which fatitfied all men ; and to affirt this in a public
manner, to the disadvantage cf the Convention, either
Shewed a degree of weakness, that I could not have ex
pe&ed from the leaders of your meeting at a late house,
or a degree of chicane and meanness to inflame the peo
ple, that I can hardly imagine any of them could be
guilty of.
But you, Sir, in a particular manner harangued the
meeting, as if you were the only prop cf Christianity ;
and as if the majority of that Convention were Infidels
or Alheifts. Have they not here laid the great corner
done of all true religion and found policy in the belief
of one God the Creator and Governor of the universe,
the rewarder of the good and the punisher of the wicked ?
And did they not eftablilh the Christian religion on a
fare foundation, viz. a profeffon, that the scriptures of
the Old and New Testament are given by divine inspira
tion ? Did not they mention these sacred books in the
language cf infpiratioq? Christ opr Redeemer bids the
Jews search the Scriptures, for they testified of him, and
the A pottle fays " all Scriptures are given by divine in
spiration," and will you accuse them for want of refpe&:
to the Christian religion, because they mention the Scrip
tures after the example of Christ and his Apoltles? Or,
I beseech you, what is there in Christianity which ought
to be treat d with refpe&, that is not contained in the
divinely infpi=ed Scriptures? This was the basis and
foundation of our holy religion, laid by our great re
formers from Popery, and this enabled them to cast off
all the rubbish built on that foundation by the men of
fin, that great corruption of Christianity- But you and
others cry out, they did not call them holy; did the
great Perm in his plan call them holy, or even mention
them in his test ? Did Christ and an inspired Apostle
leave out that epithet, that is applied to many things in
a very low sense? But did not the Convention give them
a higher and more honorable epithet, when they profits
that they are all given by divine infpiraticn?
But another ground of your outcry is, that they did
not make the belief of the doctrine of the Trinity and
Unity in the divine nature and qualification to fit a man
to serve the government. For this you propose, as a ne
cessary qualification es all Assemblymen, in jour 26th
resolve, for there you 4rder that before he takes his feat
he must fay, “ I profefs faith in God the Father, and in
Jesus Christ his Eternal Son, and in the Holy Spirit, ore
God bleffrd for ever more." If this be scripture doftine
(as I verily believe it is) it is contained in the scriptures
of the Old and New Testament, established in the new
plan. But if thousands that profefs “ faith in Jesus Christ,
Saviour of the world," do not believe this doctrine,
and look on the Eternal Sonfhip as a thing they cannot
understand ; did not the gentlemen of the Convention
do wifely to follow the reformers, and leave every man
to read the .Scriptures, and explain them for himfelf,
without depriving him of his civil rights, even though
he could not join with them and many others in the be
lief of this profound history?
You certainly know. Sir, that the Christian world was
early deluged in blood contending about this mystery;
and that the orthodox Emperors persecuted their Arian
fubje&s; and Arian Emperors persecuted their ortho
dox fubje&s, because they did not hold the fame opinions
about the Trinity. You do know that latterly the great
Doftor Samuel Clarke, after all that he had written in
defence of the Christian religion, was prosecuted by the
convocation of the church cf Engl nd, for his opinions
about this mystery ; and that some of the greatest digri
tsrles of that church, on this occasion, declared ti/em
felves to be his friends. You know that Whifton, whose
learning, integrity of heart, and purity of moi als, no
man ever called in question, was persecuted 'or the fame
cause, until Queen Ann, at the head of the church ofEng
land, freed him from the power of his enemies. You
knowthat about the fame time some of the most eminent
Ddfenters in England were broken to pieces, by their de
putes on this fubjeft, at Salter's Hall in London, to their
great reproach and disadvantage.
You well know that there is no such article in the Apo
stles Creed as that the Father, Son and Holy Ghor: are
one God, as you have it in your test ; ^nd you cannot but
know that many in the Communion of the Church of
England, that are obliged to profefs they believe the
Athanafian Creed, and many of the church who really
believe it, yet shudder at the damnatory clause contained
therein, and are unwilling to u.e it. I ask you, then,
whether the gentlemen of the Convention, who 1 new
this article had so divided the Christian world, did net
aft wifely in leaving every man to think for himielt in
these high and difficult points, without making their be
lief of this doctrine a religious test for holding offices in
the government ? But as you and your friends are for
establishing this test, why did not ye also oblige all our
Assemblymen to renounce the absurd do&rine of tran
substantiation, as was done by one of our orthodox As
semblies in the fourth year of the reign of Qieen Ann,
and why did jou not add to that, that all should, to (how
a proper refpe& to the Christian religion, be obliged to
receive the Holy Sacrament before they be allowed to
serve the government, as has bem tna&ed by the Parlia
ment of England? Confider, my dear Sir, that there is
no warrant for, nor end of tnefe tests, if once admitted !
Our condition must be most deplorable, if comments and
expofiticns of Scripture, made by fallible men, are to be
irnpofed, as terms not only of Christian communion,
(which is often severe and unreasonable) but even of en
joying our rights in civil society. You well know that
such tests have ever given great grounds of complaint 'in
Christian churches and dates. Yep know that not long
ago, the great Dr. Deadly bore the reproaches of a furious
Convocation, and of ail tlie big; ts of the church of Eng
land, for a sermon preached by him from these words of
our Redeemer, “my kingdom is net of tais world." In
his excellent defences he has (hewn, to the fatisfa&ion of
thousands, tl at Chief's kingdom did neither want or de
mand the assistance of the secular powers. That the Sr
cramental test, and all such religious t its to qualify men
for offices in the date, served no good purposes, but were
a mrft.tution of our holy religion, and should be laid
aside. You cannot but know that great fbugglts have
been made in England a ffw years pad, and are Ilill nra
king, both bv Churchmen and Dff rters, to get rid < f
these tests. And 1 must add, that many ot us, from Bri
tain and Ireland, who groaned under these civil tests,
have fled totre freouve!Aments of America, to shake
cff this yoke of bondage, and shall we here frame it again
lor ourieivts, or like tyrants bind it on other. ?
How unmerciful is it (b^fides his oath of allegiance to
the State, which is realonable and nectfibry) to bind
every member of our Assembly to swear to your com
ments and interpretations -f the divinely inspired Scrip
tures ? Why do you, contrary to the great Penn's ad
mired plan, and contrary to this new plan, which vou
break and observe as suits you, and contrary to the'ci
vil and religious rights of mankind, hold out this your
new test, to be taken by State Officers ? Or when, or
where, will these tests have an end ? Confider then, dear
Sir, whether ycu have net vilified and reproached the
gentlemen of Convention, where they deserve the thanks
of mankind for their care to preserve the Christian reli
gion in its purity, to support the great Protestant prin
ciple that every man must think for himfelf in religious
matters, and to preserve men from swearing, that they
believe what they do not fully comprehend.
You may be assured that, though a freat number of
inconsiderate men readily held up their hands, to show
their confect to all your rash and hasty refclves, that you
warmly recommended, yet there were some, that did
not approve your worrying the characters of hontft men,
who deserve better treatment, even where ihev are mis
taken, and have failed in forming their plan. They had
no authority delegated to them, to bind their cenftitu
ents, to do nothing in prejudice to the plan they estab
lished ; but this they did by an oath, which in your lag
edition of your resolves, you have justly determined to
disregard. But how could a number of you, in a private
meeting, hammer out, and order to print, an oath to be
taken by all electors, which is more hard, more unrea
sonable, and supported by as little authority ? Or why
do you kill retain this religious test, to lximpofed on all
our Afftmblymen ? If ye fay that when you law your
mift^ke you made an alteration, and ftrqck opt the
twenty-third article, have they not said the fame about
their oath ? And if you exp & charity and indulgence
for your mistaker, ought you net to shew the fame to
your neighbours ?
In a word, Sir, I heard your religious harangue with
great uneasiness. And it was the greater, as'l do really
esteem you as much as any one that there heard you.
But I never expected to hear such narrow slavish do&rines
proceed fiom your lips, er thatyou would expose anum
ber of gentlemen to popular resentment, as not treatin ;
the Christian religion with proper refpe&, who, in their
plan, had established t e divine iafpiration of the scrip
tures of the Old and Ntw Teftamert. Ycu are able to
inform trie better, if I am wrong ; this I expt& ; and it
will fatisfy your re I friend, and •
A Real Friend to the Cbriflian Religion.
^^^*^^ty^s^s^ ^fo@^*o^s
WILLIAMSBURG, (Virginia) October 18.
IT was last T^efday resolved in the House of De
legates, tnat fix new battalions of infantry be
railed and employed in the continental service, nton
the terms and according to the requisition of the Ge
neral Congref), and that provision be made for com
pleating the nine battalions formerly raised, and ex
tending the additional bounty to such of them as Ihal!
be willing to enhft on the like terms; and a bill is or
dered to be brought in pursuant to the said resolution.
1 he following bills are now depending in the House,
viz. /I bill to enable tenants in taille to convey their lands
Vifee Jingle; read the fecund time, a bill declaring
saves to be personal eJlate. A bill for the naturalization
of foreigners; read the second time. And, ri bill for
the removal of the feat of government; for the dilcuffion
of which a general call of the Houle is ordered the
I Ith of next month.
A small Baltimore privateer has taken, and brought
into a fafe port, a Jamaica man of 200 tons burthen;
her cargo, 260 hhds. of rum, i;o hhds. of sugar, and
a quantity of coflee.
Advices from the faith weft Frontiers.
On Thursday the 26th of September a soldier be
longing to Capt. Gilmore's company was killed and
Icaiped near the main camp of our army. Abcutthe
fame time one of the inhabitants was killed, and ano
ther taken prisoner—On Sunday the 29th cur spies
came in and informed, that they had discovered the
tracks of a large party of the enemy making towards
the settlements ; upon which, that very fame evenir^
Col. Christian went in quest of them with about 500
men, who after marching part of the night, and most of
the next day, found that the enemy had tacked about
suddenly, and made off towards their towns. On
Tuesday and Thursday, theist and 3d instants. cur
whole army, consisting of about 2000 men, healthy,
well equipped, and in high spirits, ereffed the river,
together with the pack-horses and bullocks ; and Col.
Christian expected to be at Broad river in 8 ortodavs.
within 40 miles of the enemy's towns, where he had in
formation they intended to fight him.—Advice had
been received, that General Rutherford, with the
North Carolina troops, had penetrated as far as the
Cherokee middle ferlements, and that the savages were
flying precipitately before him.
PORT SMOU 1 H, October ^.
Yesterday arrived here the Brigantine Marquis
of Kildare, Captain Thomas Fainter, in seven weeks
from Bourdeaux, with a cargo of military stores,
&c. He informs us the French treated him with the
utmost kindness, and seemed ready to do every thing
in their power to serve him ; that the Custom Heu'e
offices permitted ,he American v ffcls to pass without
examination, while the Eoglilh were all searched.
October T 2. Last Wedrefday arrived a: Falmouth,
a prize (hip of betwern three and four hundred tors,
from Pordmoufh in England to Q^ebep, laden with.