The Pennsylvania packet, or, The general advertiser — Lancaster, Pa.;Philadelphia, Pa., 1779-07-24 00:00:00, page 1

BY virtue of a warrant under the hands of Richard
Sewell and Francis Gurney, Esquires, two of the
Commiffionera for the county of Philadelphia, and the
seal 0. said county, and a fublequent order for sale un
der said Commissioners hands and county seal aforefaid,
to me directed, will be fold by Public Vendue, at the
house of Benj min Cotman, of Oxford township, Phila
delphia county, on Monday the second day of August
next, sundry Houfhold Furniture, Implements of Hus
bandry, &c. seized and taken in execution as the pro
perty of said Benjamin C tman, by
JAMES CLAYPOOLE, Sheriff.
. Philadelphia, Jul, 12.
WAS STOPPE D,
On Friday last, fufn^e to have been stolen, \
A N E W fafhioned GREAT COAT, with a
scarlet velvet cape. Whoever has loft the fame, by
proving property and paying for this advertisement,
may have it again, Apply to the Printer.
THIR TY DOLLARS REWARD.
DE S E'R T E D at Philadelphia, from Colonel
Benjamin Flowers's regiment of Artillery and Ar
titiers, Thomas Brodia, born in Scotland, by trade
a Wheelwright, but an no Carpenters woik, twenty
five years of age, five feet eleven inches high, dark
brown hair, stout made, of a fair complexion ; had on
when he went awa,, a brown linen coatee, white linen
ja ket, and white ticken breeches; formerly worked at
New Windsor. Whoever t^kes up and lecu^es the Rid
deserter so that his officer may have him again, shall
receive the above reward, and all reafenable charges,
paid by HENRY STROOP,'
Lieut, of Artillery and At tificers.
TO BE SO L D,
At WILLIAM CROSS'S STORE,
ENGLISH Porter in bottles, Bohea Tea, Coffee;
Sugar, Pepper, &c. in small quantities, at the re
gulated prices.
Philadelphia, July 24, 1779.
On TUESDAY, the 24th day of August, at Eleven
o'clock in the forenoon, will be exposed to Public
Sale, at the Court-house in the city of P riladelphia,
AC ERTAIN three-story brick M ffu?ge, Kitchen,
Stables, Store, and Lot of Ground (whereon the
said buildings are erected) situate on the south fide of
Chefnut street, between Fourth and Fith ftreetz, in the
city of Philadelphia; the lot containing in breadth on
Ckefnut-freet one hundred and fix feet, and extending
in depth two hundred and fifty five feet, be the lame in
breadth or depth more or less; bounded eastward by a
meifoage and lot in tenure of Benjamin Armitage, sou h
ward by the back ends of Wanut-ftreet lots, westward
by ground belonging to the eftre of Charles Norris, de
cealed, and northward b Chefnut street aforefaid : Part
of th? estate formerly of Peter Campbell, 1 tr of the said
city, P adlitioner in Physic; forfeited and seized ac
cording to law, and to be fold bv
CHARLES W. PEALE, 7
WILLIAM WILL, /Agents.
ROBERT SMITH,J
^l""' H E Surgeons and Surgeons Mates of the
Army of the Middle Department, who are ab
sent, are defined immediately to repair to their refpe&ive
Regiments. JOHN COCHRAN, Surgeon Gen.
to the Army M. Department.
Smith's dome, Jul, 2.
Philadelphia, Jul, 21, 1779.
BY virtue of a writ of Fieri Facias to me directed,
will be fold by Public Vendue in the Meal Maiket
in this city, on Saturday the thirty fi ft day of this inst.
(July) at Eleven o'clock in the foenoon, sundry House
hold Furniture, &c. seized and tafren in execution as
the property of John Smith, of the Northern Liberties,
Philadelphia County, by
JAMES CLAYPOOLE, Sheriff.
BY virtue of a writ of Fieri Facias to me directed,
will be told by Public Vendue, at the above.men
tioned time and place, sundry Houfhold Furniture and
Wearing Apparel; feiz d and taken in execution as the
property of Robert Rice, at the suit of Hugh Macclena
chan, by JAMES CLAYPOOLE, Sheriff.
CLEAN LINEN RA GS,
B Y
JOHN D U N L A P.
SATURDAY,. JULY 24, r 77 9.
THE
o^re^ rwn ^#w^
OR ' THE
GENERAL I^^B^^B^ ADVERTISER
The H IG A E ST PRICE
IS GIVEN FOR
[ Price 2s. 6d. single, 2s: by the quantity. Published every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. ]
A town meeting being to be held on Monday next, the
following letter sent to Robert Morris, Esq. rucl fin^,a
report, are published for the consideration of tire people
previous to the meeting.
SIR, - Philadelphia, ,ulv 21, 1779.
WE received your favour of Junea^th, inclofe.l in
your subsequent letter of Jn y 7% and like^fe Gw
the fame published ia Mr. Dunla. 's paper of t.e ^r, and
Mr. Bradford's paper of the 14m inftabt, ^urre doa for
not waiting on you again is affixed by you, prtlyn
account of your indisposition, and par ly by the publica
tion itfelf, because it was appe Ing not from a report, but
prior to a report, and it was not any part of our latentin
to have published any report without fitft prefcmin^ you
with the whole.
Enclosed is the report we shall make to the town meeting
on Monday next, and which we fhdl publish in the paper
of Saturday, and think it our duty to furnifh you with a
copy thereof, for your peruf J, animadversion, or expla
nation.
In our condufl in this business we have ftridly • dhered
to faffs, and scrupulously followed candour and juttie;
and, tho' the relation may in foine parts appear unplea
sant, we hope you will acquit us of exag^r ti®n.
We observe, both in your conversation with us and in
your letter of June 26th, and publication of the fame date,
that you expressed fume concern that your name had been
so disadvantageously mentioned at the last town meeting.
It often happens that those who ought to be the firft, are
the last persons to hear circum fiances refpe&ing themselves,
The cargo in queftiou had ere led much conversation be
fore any town meeting was thought of. Its remaining so
long in the river without any proposals fur file, nd a
public guard being placed over it, gave rife to many
conjectures; among tlie rest and whic' iwas a very general
one,, that it was the property ol Mr. Silas Deane, and
detained by Congress till toe sh uid fettle his accounts, and
as your connexions with Mr De ne had beeen known
from an account published by you in February last,
the Idea, without t. eaffiftaoce of any thin; malignant,
easily extended to vourfelf, ani p^r aps quick ned'other
apprehensions when it was firfl given out t iaty u was be
come a purchaser of the wnole, and however no willing Mr.
Morris may be to acknowledge the term engrossing or
monopolizing, yet she did not import the r argo, and
did, in partnerlhip with Mr S<lbk:rf, get the whole into
his poffeflien, we are at a loss to find any o'ter name,
th? the expedition with which he entered on the sale
abates the rigorous sense generally applied to these
words.
You mention your having entered, or intended to enter,
into treaty for a remaining part oitue cargo, which is de
scribed by you as unfutud to th jeajo, and coun r, as we
have not ben the invoice, and cannot learn, from those
who have seen it, what part r ereof ran property come
under that description, we leave it to Mr Morris to give
what fatisfaftion thereon he may think proper, either to
us, or the town meeting, or oy any other means he'may
chufe.
We are persuaded that enquiries of this kind are atten
ded with niceties and I fficu ties, which wopld be innova
tions on the rights and freedom of trade, at any ot er
time than this; but, embarked in a cause whi h has been
in a great measure supported by emeroufly surrendering
individual ease and advantage, we ar^ persuaded that Mr.
Morris can but approve the principle which the public.and
we by their authority, have proceeded 011, and to which
himfelf on many occasions has contributed.
As we are not authorifed to condemn, so neither can we
juf tby, and are persuaded that when Mr. Morris reflects
on the uneasiness which such a mode of purchasing has oc-
Cafioned, that he will take measures in future to prevent
the fame consequences; for tho', asa merchant, be may
be HriXiy vithin rules, yet when he confiders the many
public and honorary flat,ions he has filled and the times he
lives in, he must fed himfelf some what out of character.
If Mr. Morris pleases to convey any thing to us in an
swer to this and the enclosed, we shall deliver it with these
at the town meeting, and do every thing in our power to
remove uneasiness and restore tranquility and public
friendffiip. r
'We are, Sir,
Your obedient humble servants,
TIMOTHY MATE AC K
DAVID RITTENHOUSE,
\ THOMAS PAINE,
CHARLES WILLSON PEALS
J. B. SMITH,
On the part of Mr. Sollikoff there is fbm r thing very
nearly akin to foreflalling, for th? the peffi-ffin? himfelf
of a promise of the whole cargo was net, as wear 'firft ap
prehended, beore the veffei arrived, it was on, or before,
the day on which the cargo became /rya//^ merchantable,
which we presume takes place as to ou die sale from the
time the is entered with the Naval Officer, which was on
the 25th of April.
PHILADELPHI A.
UH EREAS at a Town Meeting held in the
State House Yard, Ue 25th of My Est, Ti
mothy Matlick, Davie Rutennoufe, C'apt J >f'ph Blew
er, Thomas Paine, CharlysWiilfon Pe de, an. ;J. B Smith,
were appointed a Committee, to enquire into ne circum
flances of the cargo 0 the ship ViXuri >us, lofar as refpeH
ed the purerafe and sale or the fam # , nd report thereon
at tl e next Town-Meeting : They do accordingly report
as follows
May 26ta the Committee f except Capt. Blewer, who
has ten nearly the wh le tme ibient from town) propo
sed b letter to meet Mr. Morris it the City tavern, at 7
in t e evening.
The Committee met agreeable to time and place, when
a letter from Mr. Morris was read, mentioning tris being
confined to his room by an- inflamaticn in one of hiscyes,
and desiring to fee the Commit ee at hs hrufe.
The Committee agreeable to Mr Morris's requef, met
at his houf he next morning. The Rev. Mr. White,
and Jolin Nixon Esq; whom we presume had attended
there by defirc of Mr. Morris, were prefcat during the
who'e of the conversation, most of the heads of which has
already men related by Mr Morris, and signed by himfelf,
inMr Dunlap's pape of the Bth, and Mr Bradford's pa
per of the 14th infl. and we Ihail now rin? into one view
such matters as we ; ave been able to colhX, as well from
the conversation had w<th Mr M rris, and his publica
tion thereof, as from other enquiries we have made.
The ship with the cargo in question arrived at Philadelphia:
on the zotb of April. Mr. Sollikotf of Baltimore, who is the
person referred to in Mr. Morris's publication under the
description of a " gentleman feted in a neighbouring bate,
went on board her before she came to am hor, aud on our
learning from Mr. Morris that Mr. Sollik iff ad used 'is
influence with the owners or supercargoes, and obtained
from them a promise to give him the pre erehceof purcha
sing or remfifl, the whole cargo, and that Mr. Morris
had agreed with Mr. Sollikoff, up n his application, to
become a partner in the purchase, Mr Morris itt e fame
time reserving to himfelf the right, as he expressed if to us,
" of dilating the terms of the purchase " on the part of
the purchasers, we on this discovery found it necessary to
make farther enquiries. However confidant with therules
ot trade such a proceeding mi ht be in times when trade is
open and plentiful, we cannot he ! » cot fidering it, at this
time,as adouble fpecits 0 engr ff g, ft.ft of the proo ife,
andyZo/OT, o' the cargo; and what, ver might be the in
tentoin of Mr. Morris in being concerned therein, we are
persuade I that many ill consequences have arisen therefrom
which it is now cur duty to flare
We had some reason at firft to apprehend that Mr. Solli
koffhad en, aged this promise before the fllip arrived at an
chor: but Mr. Sollikoff himfelf ifavows it to nave been
at th time ®f his sirs tgoing on board, but fays it was some
few days afterwards, and fixes it to thethree, Nur or five
and twentieth of April, and fays that he immediately ap
plied to Mr. Morris, who agreed to become a partner
with im under the terms above expr ffed, and the con
diiioosas set forth in Mr. Morris's publication.
T, is pro nife, thus privately obtained by Mr. Sollikoff,
efFeXuaily laid the cargo faft till it was hawked from per
son to person and from plae to place, and when the
highest price fhouk l be o sered, ftili Mr. Sollikoff was to
have the refufal. It w&?, in effect, put up to be bidden for,
not to be bought.
On tot 27th or 28th of April, the Commercial Commit
tee or Con? ,refs proposed to the owners or supercargoes to
purchase the wholecargo for the Continent intending to
take what ,was wanted for public ferv ice, nd to lot the re
mainder out for file m small quantities, laying thereon a
small advance to defray charges
The Commercial Committee made their proposals to
the owners, which were, that they, the owners, mould fix
the prime cost of the cargo and Ik a sum per cent, there
on, leaving it to themselves to mention what.that sum
sh uid be The mode of payment proposed by the Com
mercial Committee was, either the whole in tobacco at a
Lui D^or per hundr J, or part in tobacco and part in bills
of exchange. The owners desired time to confider, and
tho' they might in an, case have found it neceff ry to take
time for that purpose, they were in this case ob iged to it
by way of excule, because they had promised the offer of a
refufal to other persons.
Afacna Meeting was held at a future day, between
the Commercial Committee a d owners, to no purple ;
an I a third to 00 other effect. At the last Meeting tie
owners or supercargoes, told the Gentlemen of the
Commercial Committee, that they had looked over their
ioftruaions and found that their orders were to fell fir
Continental money only, and they asked sixty for one.
On t is, all farther conference between the Commercial
Committee and the owners broke off, and the bargain, ac
cording to the prior engagement, was ffruck off t@ Mr.
Sollikoff and Mr. M>rris on the third of May.
On: his condu d we think it necessary to observe that the
C mmmil Committee of Cougrefs, ading for the p blic,
wer^un urly trifled with, yet how far Mr. Morris might
ku V Nt.^fe ev^five tranfaaious, e, in justice to him,
whocm bed inform, leave to his own explanation.