The Pennsylvania packet, or, The general advertiser — Lancaster, Pa.;Philadelphia, Pa., 1783-06-21 00:00:00, page 2

Gentlemen,
JT is high time for us toawake, and to be up and
be doing for the liberties of the land we live in.
It is tiie Land of Cakes, and I hope hereafter it Ihad
be called tne land of men.
It is high time for us to show to the surrounding
nations, that a country, /hichbred a Wallace, a Bruce,
a Buchanan, a Napier, a Thornton, an Arbuthnot, a
K uh, and a Hume, can breed and fend fortn more
t^ah one Fletcher, that it can breed Hamdens, Pyms,
Hollis's, Sidneys, Pitts, Burkes, and Savilles. The
acceptable imeis at last come, when you will have an
opportunity of workingout your political Nivation ;
and f trust, as you are brave, and not enervated by
luxury, that you will do it without fear and trembling.
Toe time is happily come, when the spirit ofknowledge
and of freedom has stirred the dry bones of Caledonia,
and made pa riots arise, to point out to you the road
to independence and prosperity. You have long groan
ed tinner the baneful consequences of the feudal fyfiern,
and foolifhly permitted the deleterious (hade or the
tree of flay ry to involve you in the gloom of political
obs. urity
Scotchmen come forth! Lay your axes of Locha
br to the root of toe accursed tree! Your mod emi
bent countrymen call upon you to attend to the ?efo
lotions of the great northern counties, of Inverness,
Moray, and Caithnef , approved of by many pro
prietors of great eGates al over Scotland, —certainly
ardently desired by the fmalier proprietors every
where, and formally approved of on the sth of Aegufi,
by a meeting, confining of gentlemen from twenty
toree of the largest counties, who are about to lay an
overture before you in your different counties, the
success of which will determine the fate of your coun
try, and the future fortune of your families.
The overture on which you will assemble in your dif
ferent counties, is whether it is not necessa r y toapply
a raoicai cure to the intolerable grievance of nominal
and fictions votes, erefVd on (uperiorities and wadL-tt,
f. r toe purpole of g ving undue and artificial weight
to the great proprietors of fbil, or to great superiors,
in a manner altogether incomparable with the British
vonflitution, and totally subversive of the importance,
which oucht to belong to independent country gentle
men, of small fortune ?
The feudal fytiem is at an end; heretable jurifdidi
oru have beenabodlhed by law. The fubflance is gone,
h .pmly gone, and why ought the noxious consequences
of 11 to be fuffered to remain?
The enemies of Scottiih freedom and happiness will
endeavour lomtimate and to deceive you. They will in
form you, that such votes and influence are conllitu
timidl, because th?y are produced by legal forms. That
innovati ns are dangerous, that the fabric has flood
long, and public fecuruy has flood along with it.
Tell them, that the practice so huftile to your wel
fare, and to the due choice of your representatives, is
an innovation itfelf, and an innovation of the most
dangerous nature.
Te I them, that you are free citizens of Great Bri
tain, not the feudal vassals of Scotch lords and nabobs;
and that, as this country is happily united to a free
Coui try, so you are resolved if possible to share the free
dom of that country with which you are u died.
But you Dll be told, that it is unjust and imprac
ticable to deprive men of tne profitable issues of their
] gal property.
Your answer is obvious and conflitutional. Thecre
adon of nominal and fictitious votes on superiority and
is adfett, is a flagrant abuse, and a right incompatible
withtne nature of British conflitution. It is therefore,
n >t unjust to restore the primitive purity of our Scottish
fy ftm of eleßion, and it is highly just to prefer the
d arefl interests of a whole community, to that of a few
individual , wnohave wrested a law, founded on a con
flitution feudally constructed, and which no longer ex.
ids, to the deftrudion of the immunities, privileges, and
security of the people at large.
The enemies of liberty, and of your conflitutidnai
importance, will allow none of you to have any vote%
From # the "Edinburgh Evening Toft, dated September
To the PROPRIETORS of LAND in SCOTLAND,
whether holding of the Crown, of the Prince, or of
a Subject superior, the following ODE, with a (hort
Admonition on the present exigency of their as
fair , is zedoufly dedicated by a Sincere Friend
~T O HISCOUNTRY.
Av ODE in imitation of ALCAE US.
W H A T conßitutes a State?
Not hiph-rai 'd battlement or labour'd mound,
Thick wall or moated gate;'
Not cities proud with spires and turrets crown'd;
Not bays and broad-arm'd ports,
Where, Lugging at the dorm, rich navies ride,
Not Garr'd and (wangled courts,
Where low-brow'd baseness wafts perfume to pride ;
No: —MEN, high minded MEN,
With pow'rs as far above null brutes endued
In sorest, brake, or den.
As bahs excel cold rocks and brambles rude;
M~o, wnd their duties know,
But know th ir rights, and, knowing, dare maintain,
prevent the long-aim'l blow,
And trulli the tyrant whijethey rend the chain :
These conft tute a State,
And fov'reign LAW, that date's collected will.
O'er thrones and globes elate
Sits Fmpreis, crowning good, repressing ill;
Smit by her sacred frown
The fiend Dfcretion like a vapour finks,
And 'to the all-dazzling Crown
Hides his faint rays, and at her bidding shrinks.
Such wis this heav'ndov'd die,
Than Lefbos fairer and the Cretan Chore !
No mere fiall freedom fmi ? e?
Shall Britons languish, and be MEN no more?
Since all mod life resign,
Thof^ sweet rewards, which decorate the brave,
'r>s folly to decline,
AnTGeal inglorious to the silent grave.
infereft in the determination of this question, except
you are freeholders, parchment varfals, or c&mmiffi
oners of supply. Call, therefore, a great general meet
ing in each of your counties, of all the heritors what
soever, whether holding of the crown, prince, or ofa (ob
ject superior. Form your spirited resolutions in fa
vour of your country, and transmit them to the Hand
ing commitee at Edinburgh, figging a petition to the
house of commons setting forth your grievances, and
your conflitutional rights touching the election of your
representatives, and it is certain, that, " r you unite
'' heartily in your different counties, you will, without
'' difficulty, obtain the accomplithment of an object so
" essentially necessary to the personal liberty, these
" curity of property, and the general freedom and wel
" fare of the lubjeds of this kingd om*."
You will at such meeting-give your general approba
tion to a proposed bill for.
I ft, Striking off freeholders on superiorities of every
kind, and verting the right ofeledion in actual propri
etors alone.
2dly, Enabling, That the qualification, which shall
be held fu Geient to entitle a perlon to vote, ought not
to exceed two hundred pounds Spots.
gtio, That proprietors of land, which flands valued
in the king's books, or otherwise, at 200 L Scots, (hall
have right to vote, whether the land holds of the crown
or of a subj ft uperior.
.qto, That all proprietors of land, yielding of yearly
rent one hundred pounds fierling, deducting ftp duties,
cefs and flipends be entitled to vote for either fhch pro
prietors hold blench of the crown, of a fubje& superior,
or are fubj< ft to annual payments, to the superior for
their feu.
sto. That the oath, appointed to be tken, by the
aft of the 7. Geo. 11. c. 19. fhdl Gill remain competent
to be put in terms of that aft with this addition, that
after the words " and do really and truly belong to
" me," the words " in property" fhall'be inferred.
Such general heads elf a ill being recommend ed to
the conhderation and approbation of the ce era! com.
mittee at Edinburgh, signed and transmitted, I am
persuaded, that trie bill will meet with success in both
houses of parliament, and receive the royal affect.—On
your firmnefs, gentlemen, and unanimity in your dif
ferent counties, will depend the political salvation of
this country, and the esteem or infamy with which you
will be handed down to posterity.
You have nothing to oppose you in the present un
dertaking but your own habitude to infignificancy,
arising from the evil you are about to remove.
You have none te oppose you in this attempt but
prerogative lawyers, ftrs, and gentlemen of great un
entailed estates; together with that tribe of timed luke
warm fpeflators in society, who are afraid o b Birring a
leaf in opposition to power or influence. Awake, my
dear fellow citizens, from the lethargy of a century,
and let not this be your condemnation, that Political
Light has at last fitme upon our horizon, and that
you have chosen darkaefs rather than light.
When your representatives shall be chosen by the real
proprietors of land, then y>u may expert to fee your
real interests attended to by a British senate. You
will hear no more of making a Scoth militia a machine
for draining your country to recruit he British army.
You will hear no more of Prohibitory Tobacco Bills ;
and if it shall be found to be really the sense of the
people, that the Patronage Aft Should be repealed,
the good people of Scotland will be allowed to groan
no longer under that spiritual b adage.
Finally, my countrymen, if you wish to be fuccefs
ful in gaining the place and importance which belongs
to you, banilh from your tables all foreign and un
necessary luxuries ; recall milk and cold meat to your
hardy breakfafis, and infufions of your own sage and
rosemary to your afternoon repasts. Dismiss the en
slaving juice of 'the grape, and the flave-concoß'd
rum of the Indies. Adopt the invigorating liquors of
your own lands; the mil 4 ale and the Gout water of
life; and eloath yourfelv^s in the manufactures of
Scotland. Your great men have debauched you, and
with you to be the pandars of the<r pleasures and of
their importance, founded upon the denru&ion of
your privileges —" Come out from among them.—l
fay, “ comeout from among them," and make it ho
norable for them to come among you; to court you
and to depend upon you as they conftiturionaly ought.
You are the Greogth of the people, and by your re
presentatives we ought to be governed.
I, who now address you, have nothing to gain in the
present pursuit, but the happiness of my country,
which, though now disregarded, I confider as my lole
happiness upon earth.
The success of your undertaking is to deminifh my
importance ; for my eflateis equals m/ny qualificati
ons on the present odious fytiem ; and 1 can avail my
felf of advantage in no other refpea, being legally in
capable of voting for a member of the commons house
of parlament. I am, gentlemen, with unfeigned
attachment, your sincere well wisher, ALBANICUS.
* This quotation is taken from the address of the
worthy and excellent, ). Grant, enquire, to the land
ed gentlemen of Scotland.
By the ship Brother;, captain Hathorne, arrived
here last Thursday afternoon, in four weeks from
Bristol, we have the following Advices.
CONSTANTINOPLE, (Turkey) March 30.
BY the important concessions demanded by tne em
press of Russia, and which it is supposed the grand
fignior will never submit to make, a war must neceffa.
rily break out. The court of Vienna supports tue
claims of the empress.
LONDON.
April 24. The reduction of thearmy will come as low
as the 65th regiment, which is fix regiments under the
last peace eftabliihment, it being the intention of go
vernment to throw the strength of the nation into the
marine as much as possible.
My i. Yesterday the earl of Northington kissed
his majefly's hand atSt James's, on being appointed
lord lieutenant of Ireland, in the room of earl Tem
le. as did Mr. Colville, his lordship's secretary.
Extras of a letter from Paris, April 24."
" By a sloop of war lately arrived at I'Orient, go
vernment has received dispatches from the Eafl Indies,
dated the 15th of November, the contents of these dis
patches are of a very unpleafiog nature. The famine
which rages at Madras is dre dful indeed, as it carries
off weekly 1400 in that city, and the adjacent diGrias;
but this calamity is not confined to the English fettled
ments, it has reached the French army, and the domi
nions of Hyder Ally Khan ; its ravages were so great
among our forces, that monf. D'Offalis, who succeed
ed to the command on the death of monf. Duchemin,
found it impossible to maintain his p>ft near Madras,
and fell back three days march from his former Rati
on near the town. The supplies which used to be sent
to our army from Hyder's dominions, have greatly
fallen sho t, and that prince is scarcely able to fubfiff
his army. The Carnatic is so ravaged, that it can fur
nifh him no fubfiflence, and hecan draw very (paring
ly from home, for there the famine rages with infinitely
more fury than at Madras for., by computation, 1200
of bis fubjefts are daily carried off by it. Tois has
fa ved Madras, which, weakened b famine, muff ne
ccffarily have fallen in o our hands, if the famine had
not made its appearance in our army. Hydtr Aly can
not recruit his army with the number he expected, as
men begin to be as scarce as provifims in these once
most populous provinces.
'' While the Carnatic sfhtis famifhed, the utmost
plenty reigns in Bengal, where the last crops w r re as
plentiful as could have been wished for; so that t ere
is a redundancy of rice in that kingdom, fufficieut to
fupp'y the wants of the Carnatic, but what with the
superiority of our fleet, and the florms that have rag
ed of late, the unfortunate Carnatic derives little or no
benefit from the plenty in Bengal. About a month
before the sloop of war left the Eafllndies, a fleet of
tran(ports, laden with provisions, appeared off Madras,
but was dispersed by a dreadful florm, in which most
of the ships were loft, and with them an immenfequan
tity of rice, which the governor general of Bengal was
Zenling to, Madras. It was computed, when the dif
patc^es came away, upwards of 300,000 persons had
periled by famine in the English territories and those
of Hyder Ally Khan ; so that if this (course should
rage for any great length of time, as dreadful coufe
quences may be 'apprehended from it, as were produc
ed by the famine in Bengal some years ago, which
carried office millions of people."
May 9. The house of commons yeßerday proceed
ed to take into confederation the amendments made by
the house of peers to the American manifeft and do
cument bill the amendments were read a firfl time,
and the further consideration, upon motion, put off
for three months.
A letter from Copenhagen has the following article:
We have lately fen? out fix fail of flrips to trade with
the Americans- ,and by letters from thence we find
that taade will turn out to great advantage, which as
given encouragement to some more adventurers to fit
out Grips for thof cparts. A fleet of men of war is
failed for the Mediterranean, to chastise the Moors,
they having taken some of our merchant ships.
Sir Jo eph Vorke it is (aid, is appointed his majef#
ty's ambassador to the Gates general, the terms of pa
cification being finally adjured.
The navy is twenty (even months in arrears; during
the wars't was seldom above twenty one>
Letters from Paris mention, that Mr. Hartley h d
succeeded in concluding a commercial treaty with A
merica, and would shortly return to England.
1 he pre ent sessions of parliament will, in all proba
bility, runout to an unusual length; the middle of Ju-s
ly is talked of.as the earheft time of rising
May 13. Le comte d'Allhemar, the French ambassa
dor, arrived in London with a numerous suite on Satur
day last. It is expelled that the definitive treaty will
be concluded in the course of a few days.
Extract of a letter from Paris, April 29.
" Last Wednesday two naval officers, lately landed,
were carried to the SaGile; it i> thought the two pri
son rs are captainsde Forbin and de Marvile w 0 ar
rived lately at I'Orient, on board the Subfile frigate "
Advices from Constantinople fay, that the grand fig
nior has issued orders for the immediate equipment of a.
naval force fufficient for the defence of the Dardanelles,
and the preservation of the sovereignty or the Black Sea-
May 14. The French ministry hav° adopted a plan
of very great importance. It is proposed to make a
port and harbour at Kerquerville, near Cherburg As
the erection of the works will require a prodigious
number of hands, in addition to the ordinary pay
three millions of litres, part of the capitation tax of
Normandy, and the fame sum taken from the linking
fund, are to be appropriated to the execution of the
plan. The harbour is to be conftrufted on a very large
scale, and buildings are to be ereßed for the fuperin
tendants and officers of the marine. This plan is at
tributed to M. de Carries, whose attention is folel,
devoted to the agr ndifement of the French navy
Let'ers from Naples advise, that the last Clocks of
the earthquake had plunged the people into the utmost
conßernation, aud to such a degree, that they foppli
cated the king to withdraw himfelf from the imminent
danger; but his majefly, with great fortitude of mind,
replied, “ that he would share the fate of his people,
and be buried with them in the ruins of his capital, ra
ther than abandon them."
Sir George Saville is (aid to have lately received a
letter from Mr. David Hartley, at Paris, intimating
every thing the friends of a commercial union with A
mericv can wrih.
Extract of a letter from Meffina, March 29.
" These five or fix days part the ground seemed to
be entirely fettled ; but yeflerday evening a frefh career
of calamity opened for us. Ten minutes after the firft
hour a dreadful shock was felt again; it was of a long
duration, and so violent, that even in the barracks,
tnat serve us for a habitation, it seemed to us as if eve
ry thing was fallen to pieces, and tht the earth was
opening to (wallow us up, Every body fled without
knowing where to direct their fleps; they clung to the
trees, and with di(mal holdings endeavoured to fa ftea
about them. This last shock had so completely fimlh-